The Thomas Garrigue Masaryk Memorial is one of the more obscure pieces of Chicago public art. An impassive medieval knight perched astride his warhorse installed after World War II, he surveys the Midway Plaisance stretching out before him on the campus of the University of Chicago.
Out of place, transplanted, a lump of European sculpture facing the gothic architecture of campus. Nothing special, perhaps. Except, to me, the inscription, which summons up the mystic spirit of a battered nation, in this case Czechoslovakia.
Out of place, transplanted, a lump of European sculpture facing the gothic architecture of campus. Nothing special, perhaps. Except, to me, the inscription, which summons up the mystic spirit of a battered nation, in this case Czechoslovakia.
"DEEP WITHIN THE MOUNTAIN," it begins, in all caps, for emphasis. "THE KNIGHTS OF BLANIK SLEEP/WAITING FOR THE HOUR TO/DELIVER THEIR PEOPLE FROM/THE OPPRESSOR."
Long oppressed peoples dream of liberators. The weak imagine a strong hand that will lift them up after their own strength has given away. Rescue is coming.
Long oppressed peoples dream of liberators. The weak imagine a strong hand that will lift them up after their own strength has given away. Rescue is coming.
Patriotic Americans — truly patriotic Americans, who believe in the tenets this country was founded on — are not weak, not cast down. Yet. We still can save ourselves. This year. That might not be true next year.
"ACCORDING TO AN OLD LEGEND,/SLUMBERING WITHIN ITS MOUNTAINOUS DEPTHS/THE BLANIK/KNIGHTS STAND GUARD. READY TO RIDE FORTH ... IN THEIR NATION'S HOUR OF NEED."
"ACCORDING TO AN OLD LEGEND,/SLUMBERING WITHIN ITS MOUNTAINOUS DEPTHS/THE BLANIK/KNIGHTS STAND GUARD. READY TO RIDE FORTH ... IN THEIR NATION'S HOUR OF NEED."
Who will lead us in our nation's hour of need? Joe Biden, apparently. He is the one riding forth, anyway, delivering a heartfelt speech Friday at Valley Forge. No barrel-chested knight he. Biden looks old. Sounds old. He is old. But Biden is also what we've got. He invoked George Washington and revolutionary times — not from personal memory, one assumes.
"American made a vow," he said. "Never again would we bow down to a king."
Until now, that is. Half the nation has found its savior, and it isn't any band of knights sleeping in mountain cave outside of Prague. They found him and they're sticking with him, come hell or high water. They would gladly abandon everything else to prop him up.
I once defined addiction as trading everything for one thing. They are addicted to Donald Trump. They would trade everything about America they once professed to love and value to serve him. It's a bad deal. A mad junkie scramble, trading grandma's fine silver set for an hour of relief. A scam. Another Trump scam that worked, and keeps working, because — never forget — the defrauded become invested in the scam. The truth won't set them free. They can't even see it. There is no truth, only the lie they cling to like a beloved scrap of blankie.
Biden posed "the most urgent question of our time." He said:
"Jan. 6. A day forever seared on our memory because it was on that day we nearly lost America. Lost it all. Today we're here to answer the most important of questions: 'Is democracy still America's sacred cause?'"
It is to me. And you too, I imagine. You're here. Biden didn't mince words:
"We saw with our own eyes the violent mob storm the United States' Capitol. For the first time our history, insurrectionists had come to stop the peaceful transfer of power in America. First time! ... Because of Donald Trump's lies. These lies brought a mob to Washington."
"TRUTH WILL PREVAIL" reads the plaque facing campus.
Will it? Twenty-five percent of Americans — and 1/3 of Republicans — believe the FBI instigated the Jan. 6 insurrection. You lie to people long enough, they believe the lies, if the lies suit their fancy. The harsh reality outlined by the president is just so much static, and they focus, gleefully, on his slight stumbles.
Or as I put it: Once you get in the habit of ignoring reality, the exact nature of the reality being ignored hardly matters.
To the duped. To those ready to fight for our nation, the truth is the only thing that matters.
"In trying to rewrite the facts of Jan. 6, Trump is trying to steal history," said Biden. "This is like something out of a fairy tale. A bad fairy tale."
But we are not in a fairy tale, good, bad or indifferent. No mythical knights will emerge from any mountain cave to save us. We will have to save ourselves.
"Remember who we are!" Biden said.
We are Americans. That will have to be enough.
Although Biden is 81 years old, he is not "old", Neil! He is in extraordinary shape, exercises and bicycles with ease, and maintains a rigorous work schedule! He is no ordinary 81 year old either! He is a statesman who built up relationships with leaders worldwide during his 48 years in the Senate, and 8 years as Vice President! His vision to uplift the Middle class is being realized in legislation passed during his first 2 years as President! The Media should talk about his individual attributes and recent accomplishments, not about a mere number! I am just Kate, from Chicago! Thanks for your columns and willingness to entertain comments!
ReplyDeleteBrilliant, thank you
ReplyDeleteExcellent piece, Neil. If Biden could speak as clearly and succinctly, his message would be more powerful. Listening yesterday, I wondered if the speech was that bad, or had he botched the delivery. When you make a point with a perfect sentence, stop. That's what the period is for. Adding "I mean it" or anything similar only detracts from the message. In Sales, it's called selling after the Close. When you've got them, shut up and hand them the pen. Combined with the misreads of the teleprompter it diminishes the effect of his words. Fortunately the believers dismiss this, as the MAGA crowd ignores all of Drumpf's words that are laughable or would make a mother want to slap him. But I fear he fails to reach the undecided despite having the superior message. I hope I am wrong.
ReplyDelete"Undecided" between making the Biggest Loser emperor-for-life or continuing with Biden, a good man doing a good job trying to govern in a way that benefits the country, while preserving our fragile republic in its current form? What kind of message would reach such a person, after they've witnessed 8+ years of the orange guy's malicious, self-serving ego trip, yet are still undecided?
DeleteOn one hand, we have a guy whose "sins" include extending compassion to and trying to help immigrants and minorities in this country that many old white guys have spent a lifetime despising. On the other hand, we have an egomaniac who refuses to accept the results of fair elections and who has, and would continue to, abuse power in a completely shameless and often illegal fashion. Their relative shortcomings are not proportional, to say the least, and if it weren't for a well-funded, decades-long propaganda effort on behalf of the so-called "Right," so many people would not be confused about that.
Perhaps a more compelling message from a more charismatic candidate could move someone undecided on voting at all. Hearing snippets of the speech today, properly edited to their core message, I believe they could be a powerful indictment of Drumpf's antidemocratic administration and the Republican Party.
DeleteI dont think either candidate is working to sway undecided voters. at this point there are likely few of those. Unless you mean people who haven't decided if they are going to vote . Many people seem unable to support either of these candidates. One flawed, though likely a good man . The other , I want to say deeply flawed though this doesn't begin to plumb the depths of his depravity.
DeleteI watched Bidens speech in its entirety . I dont know who wrote it, who was the target audience, or if it gained him a single, vote but it needed to be said and framed the contest for what it is, a struggle to keep a traitorous megalomaniac from regaining office against a competent professional administrator at the end of his effective capacity.
A vibrant charismatic candidate nowhere in site to take up the mantle of leadership of our nation at this perilous juncture in its history.
I agree with our host there is no great figure about to emerge and come to our rescue.
Encourage people to vote its the only option we have.
Perhaps, JP. But lots of Democrats from the charismatic to the tiresome have railed against him for years. Along with our intrepid host, lots of journalists have tried to crack the code of reaching the indifferent in calling out what a unique danger the orange guy presents. Many compelling messages have been presented, this post by NS among them.
DeleteIn a better country, the Access Hollywood tape would have prevented the ensuing nightmare before it started. Or his dissing of John McCain. How many times since then have hopeful people thought "this -- this will be the thing to wake people up"? January 6 and some of the scathing rhetoric even from Republicans like McConnell in the immediate aftermath being a prime example. But the nation marches on, zombie-like, to what seems like an inevitable renomination of the most inappropriate major-party nominee of our lifetimes.
Again, thanks Neil for so deftly articulating what needs to be said. Hell, shout it from the mountain tops. Hope this column is published beyond our bubble here in Chicago and finds its way onto the social media feeds of all who read it.
ReplyDeleteOne disagreement, more like 25%-30% of the nation thinks the fat orange traitor & seditionist is their savior & bizarrely, a huge part of them are truly delusional evangelicals, who ignore all of his sins: Taking the lord's name in vain, his constantly adultery, cheating on each & every wife of his, his bragging about his sex life to Boy Scouts, his perverted ogling of his own teen daughter & his financial crimes, all the subcontractors he stiffed, telling them to take only 30% of their bill or take him to court & lies about being a great businessman, who somehow managed to go bankrupt running multiple casinos.
ReplyDeleteExactly how do you lose money running a casino, because the house always & I mean always has the edge?
Not merely the worst president ever, but the worst person to even run for president, let alone become it!
When I retired before 2015, I could never have imagined the last 9 years. People flee countries all over the world to have what we take for granted. This is why we have a “border problem.” People aren’t rushing over borders, risking their lives, to get into Russia. I could never imagine the a large number of Americans would be willing to give up what we have for a madman or that elected officials charged with governing this country would be among them. We are still way too comfortable and when we are no longer comfortable it will be too late. You are right, Neil. This is not WWII and no one is coming to save us
ReplyDeleteWhen David Duke first ran for office way back in 1991, here's what Mike Royko had to say:
ReplyDelete"I think [David] Duke`s candidacy and ambitions are good for the country. There's been enough talk about being a kinder and gentler nation, 1,000 points of light and all that kissy-face nonsense. Those 1,000 points of light are beady eyes, glaring with hate, envy and resentment."
Unfortunately the ones who need to see this either are not subscribers or are immune to anything they don’t already believe as Neil has stated. We can only hope that the ones who are “not political” or just lazy will for at least once get off their dead butts and accomplish something positive.
ReplyDeleteThe lazy or not political types did get off their dead butts and accomplish something positive. They helped vote trump out. So complaining about them will not inspire them to go out of their way again. If we and people like us, overwhelmingly old white people , only offer old white men as options as presidential candidates , dont expect them to rescue us from our own stupidity again. Even if one of the old white men is clearly a better option than the other.
DeleteDemocratic systems allow people to chose their representatives and their leader. We've picked some lousy ones the last nearly 250 years. I'm not surprised when it happens. Dont forget patriots, this country was founded by people stealing the land of others while owning other people and oppressing woman.
MAGAs call this when America was great. The rest of us just live with the benefits and ignore how our standard of living was gained on taking advantage of others.
This caught my attention because a lovely, major street in Polanco, Mexico City is named Boulevard Mazaryk, after Tomas Masaryk the first president of Czechoslovakia. There’s a statue of him there too. The statue was donated by Czechoslovakia
ReplyDeleteHerr Drumpf, The Cowardly Liar has just recommended Iowans to "Get over" the most recent shooting there. Yet he can't get over losing the last election. If that doesn't show his followers what is most important to him, more clearly than all the written words, what will? His vanity matters more than their lives.
ReplyDelete"Cowardly Liar". Ooh, I like that.
DeleteI don't know how many times I've "seen" that statue, though it's probably a lot. But, unless I've forgotten (always a possibility), I've never really "looked at" it, nor read the inscription. When I saw it atop the blog, I wondered where it was, but now realize it's been hiding in plain sight, so to speak. Anyway, it certainly prompted a fine post today. Alas, the knights didn't do a whole lot for Czechoslovakia in 1968, nor for decades before and after that. Just like "No mythical knights will emerge from any mountain cave to save us. We will have to save ourselves."
ReplyDeleteAfter WWII, American history has always been of the most interest to me. It was even my minor in college. It's a sobering subject in many ways, especially when you study the Civil War and what preceded it and what followed it. In too many ways, we have never really recovered from that conflict, and some of our biggest and most unresolved issues stem from it.
ReplyDeleteSo many hundreds of thousands of young men and boys answered the call of their sovereign states in 1861, and died to preserve an evil institution...but also the only way of life they had ever known. And even more died for Old Abe's belief in the Union, and felt, just as Lincoln did, that those states needed to be whipped back into it.
We have already learned that too many Americans are now, just as they were then, more than willing to literally fight (and die) to restore Orange Julius to the throne. But how many others are willing to do the same for Old Handsome Joe? And is it really it going to come down to that?
What Royko said so well, after MLK died, is even more true now...we are pointing our own gun at our own head, and it is our own finger on the trigger. Who is going to come along and save us from blowing our own brains out? Perhaps Joe can inspire enough Americans to wake up and to wise up, and to save ourselves from self-destruction and from one of the worst threats we have ever faced---home-grown fascism. Is it already too late? I ask myself that...every goddamn day...many times over.
Remember Dorothy and Toto and the red sand in the hourglass, the one that scared the hell out of so many of us when we were kids? That hourglass is no longer on a screen. It's real. And it terrifies me. Remember when the Witch picked it up and threw it, and it exploded? And then all hell broke loose, followed...in the end...by...yeah...a meltdown? Dorothy's friends fought to save her. We may need to do the same. Use your imagination.
The people whose actions matter most, in the coming months and years, are the ones now mostly on the sidelines...the ones caught up in their own lives, and who don't have much room in their lives for politics, let alone far more abstract concepts...such as fascism versus democracy. They are caught up in their own little bubbles. Something along the lines of "Die for my country? I'd rather have my country die for me." Which it most definitely will...if they sit back and watch the circus, popcorn in hand.
What Joe and Jane Average decide to do, one way or another, will make the difference between whether we still have some sort of shaky future a year from now...or if we're screwed, blewed, and tattooed. And, possibly, whether or not some of us (if we're not already too old) will be compelled (perhaps out of necessity) to do whatever needs doing, by any means necessary. I'm hoping for the best. I don't expect it. Hey, I'm a Cub fan.
A couple of friends voted for Drumpf, a couple aren't convinced the situation is dire. Another says "they're all the same". The Boomers were going to change the world, stop the war, ensure equal rights for women and other minorities, clean up the planet, feed the poor, etc. While we did make inroads in all those areas, all are at least partially in retrograde. I am guilty of doing too little, especially in this century. Being behind bars long ago means nothing now. Walking in protest or street speaking in Republican neighborhoods won't be enough. If the Cowardly Liar ascends the throne again, how many will take to the streets?
DeleteMaybe a third...40% tops...want Dolt 45 to become Dolt 47. An overwhelming majority of Americans do not want Orange Julius to regain the throne. If it happens, millions will fill the streets, just as they did in late 2016 and early 2107. This time, it will probably not end well. All bets will be off.
DeleteBoomers did not change the world in any permanent and substantial way. Somehow, the world changed them. Same shit, different century. But we did stop the Vietnam war...not war itself. Women are better off than they were when we were kids, but too many fascists are trying to turn back the clock and make it run backwards.. The planet is less far piggy, in some places and in some ways, but the oceans are now full of floating crap. We progressed, and now we've regressed. Makes me want to puke.
I sat on my ass for too many years, but I finally stood up and did my bit for the Good Guys. share. Worked for Obama. Twice. Worked for Hillary, despite Ridin' with Biden for a decade now. Wanted to work for Joe, but the Plague got in the way. Gonna get another chance this year. Too old to bang on doors, hate phone banking and texting. But if they can find some useful tasks for a geezer who wants to help the cause, I'm in. Maybe data entry again. That was fun.
Ah, come on Grizz, you sound like my kids: "the world's messed up and getting worse every day!"
DeleteReally? Gay marriage, and in fact, the acceptance of homosexuality as part of normal human sexual behavior (and not pathologized in the DSM). Legal cannabis (though here the feds are notoriously behind the 8-ball). Bilingual education. The ADA. The ACA. The realization that representation matters in media and in professions. The BLM movement. Black people living in Cicero, for god's sake, without being killed.
I'm no bozo-brained pollyanna (guess where my kids get their pessimism from?), but when I'm feeling blue I try to remember that progress isn't linear but a sine wave. It generally moves forward but the slope changes. Sometimes it points up, and sometimes it points down.
Ohioans voted 57% in favor of both legal weed AND abortion rights in 2023, and the Bible-thumpers in Columbus are still working on ways to thwart the will of the people and screw us over. It's not a done deal yet. Ridiculous.
DeleteAnd yes, blacks are indeed living in Cicero, but mainly because most of the white ethnics fled, and were replaced by a Hispanic majority, over the last several decades. Cicero is now about 20% white. And about 4% black. Which is a whole lot better than zero.
And thank you, Neil, for recognizing ham-handed humour...
ReplyDeleteI’m a bit late to the party, but I’m in true fear of the future of this nation. The divisions of this nation has also affected my extended family, and my relationship with them. Never in a million years would I have thought that any of this was possible a decade ago. I just don’t understand how so many can still be under the effects of Chump Ether. Those contrails? It’s not just water vapor. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist that last sentence). If I don’t have a passport, should I be getting one? Somehow, I’ll bet real money that his minions have already reported me, and I’d be one of the first to go. Sadly, I’m serious about the last sentence, and I’m already tired of being fearful. I don’t know if we will ever be the same…we already are not the same. Meaner, uglier and dumber. Bad attributes, bad future.
ReplyDelete