John James Audubon's Washington Sea Eagle is a magnificent bird. But there is a problem with it.
It might not be real.
While America's master of depicting birds is not known for just making them up, the fact is that this glorious specimen has never been found in nature. So either it went extinct after Audubon captured its golden glory, or he just got the bird wrong -- it isn't as if he could take reference photographs.
Making the Washington Sea Eagle the bird of the moment. As a stand in for our beleaguered nation. Glorious yes. But is it real? Or just a pretty picture? Did our land of freedom and liberty ever really exist? Or is it just a flattering story we've convinced ourselves is true?
It might not be real.
While America's master of depicting birds is not known for just making them up, the fact is that this glorious specimen has never been found in nature. So either it went extinct after Audubon captured its golden glory, or he just got the bird wrong -- it isn't as if he could take reference photographs.
Making the Washington Sea Eagle the bird of the moment. As a stand in for our beleaguered nation. Glorious yes. But is it real? Or just a pretty picture? Did our land of freedom and liberty ever really exist? Or is it just a flattering story we've convinced ourselves is true?
Glory seems in short supply, as congressmen cave and the thin veneer of values that many at least gave lip service to is utterly abandoned. Economic responsibility? Gone. Concern for the struggling? Gone. Half the nation watches in horror through latticed fingers as Donald Trump codifies and strengthens his hold on power and entrenches his administration policy of cruelty and abuse. While the other half either cheers or yawns, cycling through Instagram, bored with it all.
I'm ... what? Tired. Distracted. A little bored, to be honest, because the story lately never changes. The bad guys win. Still keeping track, sort of, despite a personal life that has suddenly become very, very busy.
Honestly, I've enjoyed the break. I could get used to this. In fact, I have a fine obituary ready to go for Old Obit Week #5.
But ... well ... am I the only one who thinks Old Obit Week is feeling a little ... old? Stale. I like to give you your money's worth (which is a joke, ha ha, because you don't pay anything. Get it?)
While I'm still officially on vacation, from the paper, helping my son relocate his new family, extending my week off to bury my mother to a second week off to welcome my granddaughter — talk about a shift in tone — an email from a reader served as a firebell in the night, a call to duty, such as it is.I'm ... what? Tired. Distracted. A little bored, to be honest, because the story lately never changes. The bad guys win. Still keeping track, sort of, despite a personal life that has suddenly become very, very busy.
Honestly, I've enjoyed the break. I could get used to this. In fact, I have a fine obituary ready to go for Old Obit Week #5.
But ... well ... am I the only one who thinks Old Obit Week is feeling a little ... old? Stale. I like to give you your money's worth (which is a joke, ha ha, because you don't pay anything. Get it?)
"Hi Neil," JS begins.
"I am of German heritage. I have friends that are German immigrants. I have always struggled with how the German citizens of the 1930-40 era could capitulate to the horror of the Holocaust. Today, after the passing of the big bad bill, I understand how good people will look away. It's very sad and i need you to write about it. Help me make this ok or help me make it better.Please write something to help me. Help all of your readers.Thx. Your readers love you."And I love you guys, too. Truly. I'd feel stupid writing this for nobody.
My first thought was that I could never make this okay and wouldn't want to try. How could it be okay? This confederation of cowards kneecapping the poor while lavishing resources on our aborning police states. This is the exact opposite of okay. It's horrible. My general optimism sags under the weight of events. With far worse certain to come.
One thing that made taking time off easier is there is nothing useful to say that I haven't been saying for years. This is a process, turning our flawed republic into a totalitarian state and then, maybe, turning away from that doom. We punched the ticket, we need to take the trip, to go through it, unfortunately. This is the part where we endure. It isn't pleasant. Bad things are supposed to feel bad. If you think this is terrible, wait. It gets worse.
One thing that made taking time off easier is there is nothing useful to say that I haven't been saying for years. This is a process, turning our flawed republic into a totalitarian state and then, maybe, turning away from that doom. We punched the ticket, we need to take the trip, to go through it, unfortunately. This is the part where we endure. It isn't pleasant. Bad things are supposed to feel bad. If you think this is terrible, wait. It gets worse.
There is good news: this epoch will end someday. But until it does, all that decent Americans can do is pay attention and manifest ourselves in whatever small ways we can. I can't pretend this blog post or my Sun-Times column have any influence whatsoever. But they can buck up readers like JS, and that is not without value.
I wrote her back, saying, essentially, now is a time for courage and forbearance, which are free, and no one can deny you. I am a fan of an organization that puts much stock in the concept of hitting rock bottom — that you have to reach some unacceptable nadir before improvement is possible. For a while, I hoped the insurrection of Jan. 6,2021, had to be that bottom. But I was wrong. Obviously we have further to slide. The future of America includes concentration camps.
Shit, the present of America includes concentration camps.
If being in a state of constant anxiety would shorten the Trump's era by 15 minutes, I would do that. But the entire collection of voices thundering against him have done exactly diddly squat. He's stronger than ever. Yet I remain strangely optimistic. Maybe it's some kind of psychotic disconnect and denial. Maybe I'm relieved I'm not in a camp, yet. But I do retain a bedrock faith in this country that cannot be shaken . The good guys win, eventually. This country defeated King George III, the Confederacy, Imperial Japan, the Nazis and the Soviet Union. The liar, bully, fraud and traitor cannot prevail forever. We will defeat this monster. Just not anytime soon.
I wrote her back, saying, essentially, now is a time for courage and forbearance, which are free, and no one can deny you. I am a fan of an organization that puts much stock in the concept of hitting rock bottom — that you have to reach some unacceptable nadir before improvement is possible. For a while, I hoped the insurrection of Jan. 6,2021, had to be that bottom. But I was wrong. Obviously we have further to slide. The future of America includes concentration camps.
Shit, the present of America includes concentration camps.
If being in a state of constant anxiety would shorten the Trump's era by 15 minutes, I would do that. But the entire collection of voices thundering against him have done exactly diddly squat. He's stronger than ever. Yet I remain strangely optimistic. Maybe it's some kind of psychotic disconnect and denial. Maybe I'm relieved I'm not in a camp, yet. But I do retain a bedrock faith in this country that cannot be shaken . The good guys win, eventually. This country defeated King George III, the Confederacy, Imperial Japan, the Nazis and the Soviet Union. The liar, bully, fraud and traitor cannot prevail forever. We will defeat this monster. Just not anytime soon.
Our land of freedom and liberty exists and is doing better than the picture you paint.
ReplyDeleteEmployment is strong.
The border is secure.
Iran has been held to answer for its actions aimed at the destruction of Israel
The markets are strong.
Crime is down.
While I may not agree with all the outcomes our system of checks and balances seems to be functioning as intended
Other than that encounter with the iceberg, the ship is doing fine...
DeleteI watched Trump and DeSantis yuk it up in the concentration camp they built in a day in a dismal alligator infested swamp and did not have the thought that things are better than we think. I don't recall reading about Hitler visiting Auschwitz and having a good laugh in front of the press.
Delete"Our system of checks and balances seems to be functioning as intended." If that were even close to true, the orange felon would have been convicted at one of his impeachments -- certainly the second time, probably the first time. He should have never been allowed to run again after refusing to concede defeat in 2020. The other felons from January 6 would not and should not have been pardoned.
DeleteHe has monetized the presidency for his own benefit in a previously inconceivable fashion. Checks and balances would involve the Supreme Court reigning him in, not blatantly declaring that he is above the law. I could go on ... and on ... and on, but what would be the point?
Those who created the system of checks and balances could conceive of a carnival barker like Il Douché perhaps gaining power. They evidently could not conceive of a whole party of cult members who would ignore their oaths and supposed convictions and let the guy get away with whatever he wanted to.
"Our system of checks and balances" has thus far proven to be wholly inadequate to the challenge we currently face.
Thank you, Jakash! Excellent and accurate response to the troll.
Deletethe border was strong before trump took office, so was the economy, so were the markets, and crime was down as well. seious adults many of whom support the bombing, believe the jury is still out on the effects and will remain so for several months. the only real claim to fame that trump can take credit for is turning america into a fascist utopia
DeleteThank You.
ReplyDeleteI needed something no matter how slim the thread to hope. Congratulations on new baby. You will feel such a love like never before.
Not a happy independence day but maybe the start of relearning our interdependence on each other to beat back the masked black shirts.
ReplyDeleteThank you for writing, as always. I just listened to Cory Booker on a Freakonomics podcast. If anyone can improve on the doom and gloom many of us, Cory can.
ReplyDeleteI agree. The ship will right itself. It's built that way.
ReplyDeleteGlad you're back, Neil. Onward!
I have spent most of my 80 years waiting and working to elect a woman as president. That hope is pretty much gone, as we repudiated two very well qualified women in favor of a convicted felon and con man .. twice! Now, apparently, I will spend my remaining years watching fascism creep .. gallop full speed .. into government. I fear mightily for the generations following mine. I am tired. I am sad. I am frustrated. I am frightened. But mostly I am furious.
ReplyDeleteConsciously celebrate this Independence Day for it may be the last one.
We will likely have good shot at having woman win the presidency in 28. Both parties will nominate one.
Deletesorry tom, but i think you're delusional
DeleteWish I had something helpful to say. Sometimes things just suck and I’ve been told that sometimes you just have to “embrace the suck” and work to get through it. Easier said than done, for sure. Sorry about your mom and congrats on the new granddaughter. Being a grandparent is wonderful! We’re glad you are back to help us all with these times. Thank you.
ReplyDelete"My general optimism sags under the weight of events. With far worse certain to come." Indeed, I feel just as you do. My husband and I say to each other daily (after our morning blood pressure-raising recitation of what we've just read in our papers and email feeds) that we just need to find the joy in each day. It seems hard work, some days in particular. But there IS joy ... we, too, have a new granddaughter, just 2 weeks into a life that we can help shape for her as we eagerly and joyfully have been doing for our other four sweet young ones. My UU church's social justice team - in an effort to calm the congregation's horror of and anxiety about what's happening here - began its own weekly email with 5 or 6 simple tasks to do or calls to make, to help us feel we are able to do something!/anything! to avert complete catastrophe. The message includes a reminder that we can't change everything all at once, but: Every stone thrown in water has a ripple effect. So … Go throw your stone today!
ReplyDeleteSteve: And the trains are running on time!
ReplyDeleteI beg to differ, Steve. From what I have heard and read, that's not so. Trains running on time, like they did in Italy under the Duce? Not if you're riding on the CTA. And crime isn't down on those delayed trains, either. The knives have come out. Of course, since I no longer live in Chicago, what I hear and read is just second-hand prose, so never mind.
DeleteNor is once-trendy River North so good anymore. The clubs close and reopen under new names. but the carnage continues, on the very same sidewalks. Four dead on Ohio. No, wait, sorry...it was on Chicago Ave. this time. But what the hell, Steve, just POC killing their own, doncha know. Don't mean nothin', right? Yeah, crime is certainly down, all right.
And all those lucrative new jobs, Steve, with high pay and bright futures. And the markets are up. It's always about the markets. Never mind the declining quality of American life, and the basic freedoms being eroded away, every goddamn day.
Business as usual in the Mideast, and our system of checks and balances is functioning as intended...checking the progress of the poor, and balancing the bottom line of the rich. Oh, yeah, Steve...sweet land of liberty. Everything is hunky-dory on this Glorious Fourth, 2025.
Happy happy, Steve! And don't burn yourself!
Neil, you have the gift of articulating how I feel before I'm even conscious of it. Or in the case of the last few sentences of today's blog, how I'd LIKE to feel. But with your two up-and-down life events of the last few weeks, the lesson has been delivered that life goes on. That's the lesson that the last seven months have delivered to me as well. Thank you for your perspective and your daily dose of excellent writing and resonating so deeply with me almost every day.
ReplyDeleteThe Washington Sea Eagle looks sad as the ship sails away.
ReplyDeleteBarb T July 4, 2025
ReplyDeleteHi Neil,
Congratulations on your first grandchild. Caring thoughts after losing your mother. Will anyone be out there today protesting rampant ugliness and hatred?! If so, why?! 14,000,000+ showed up on Flag Day -to what end?!
I’ve lost ‘family’ and friends in Denmark and Northern Ireland who don’t understand how ‘we let this happen’! How we’ve put them in harm’s way. Now ignoring my texts.
Since June 14, my ‘NO KINGS’ sign hangs in my window-against condo rules-but no one bothers to complain.
The ugliness and glee I read on social media about the Aligator Concentration Camp leaves me heartsick. I try to chalk it up to paid trolls and bots but know better! A larger element than I believed possible-relish the thought of immigrants and others perishing in muck and mire of the Florida Everglades.
This comment is going nowhere. Like all my comments and protests over the years-worthless to effect change or even understanding.
Tomorrow is another day.
Such sadness in the comments section. It's like watching someone you love die of cancer over a period of a few weeks. And the worst is yet to come: If I read it correctly, Trump's bill gives the Gestapo "police" over 40 billion dollars just this year. That's Trump's private army of Proud Boys to use in the coming "martial law, no federal elections" police state. Our blue state governors should withhold federal payroll taxes for the duration of this administration.
ReplyDeleteMade it a better day to read your post today.
ReplyDeleteSteveJuly 4, 2025 at 6:22 AM
ReplyDeleteOur land of freedom and liberty exists and is doing better than the picture you paint.
Employment is strong.
As it was with Biden.
The border is secure.
Based on what? Pictures of Kristi Noem posing in front of illegally imprisoned people?
Iran has been held to answer for its actions aimed at the destruction of Israel
When will Israel be called to account for its actions aimed at destroying Palastine?
The markets are strong.
This is vague and not full of meaning.
Crime is down.
stats? studies?
While I may not agree with all the outcomes our system of checks and balances seems to be functioning as intended. Intended by whom, Project 2025?
How can you say that? Our country is dying. We are on the precipace of an Autocracy.
DeleteI posted this comment elsewhere, but what the heck, I'll throw it in here, too.
ReplyDeleteThe man who’s told more documented lies than anybody in the history of governance actually hit on the truth, for a change.
“We also have a lot of bad people that have been here for a long time. … Many of them were born in our country. I think we ought to get them the hell out of here too, if you want to know the truth.”
Of course, they’re not the “bad people” that he’s referring to, and the tragic irony for America is that he and his cult are too clueless, self-satisfied and craven to realize that the orange felon is at the very top of that list and a lot of his henchmen (and henchwomen) would be on it, too.
As for the celebrating the Fourth. This is a fucked-up country and always has been. I grew up celebrating an America that, to its everlasting shame, enslaved black people for hundreds of years, enacted Jim Crow laws when that was no longer allowed, didn’t allow women to vote until 1920, and has always catered to the rich, despite the (relatively) egalitarian nature of its founding documents. Among many, many other shortcomings. To do so was always rather hypocritical, to a an extent.
But I don’t plan on ceding my appreciation for the American ideal to the fascist crowd that has gained the upper hand, despite the fact that the majority of citizens do not support its despicable regime. I’ll be celebrating the idea of America that has always been a beacon for the dispossessed around the world, even though the nation itself has never come close to living up to its ideals.
While those in power are doing their best to try to dismantle the progress, a lot of progress has been made in 2 1/2 centuries. As a sign on No Kings Day put it: “We’ve come too far to only come this far.”
Such attempted optimism in the face of this onslaught may be Pollyannaish, but, for me, it beats wailing and gnashing my teeth (not that I don’t do plenty of that already) rather than hoping for something better to yet be possible, even given the increasing darkness of the hour.
Well said jakash
DeleteWelcome back and thank you for this column!
ReplyDeletedo really believe we defeated the confederacy? where's the proof?
ReplyDeleteSocial media is fast becoming both unreadable and ungovernable. Big platforms the size of Farcebook and Nextdoor either have weak moderation now (like you, Zuck), or little moderation at all. They're combat zones. And the magats have overrun them, like maggots in a trash can. The newest excuse is: "Voted for Trump to piss off the liberals." That's the really scary and sickening and disgusting part of this whole mess.
ReplyDeleteEven if he went away tomorrow, millions still want to do whatever they can to "piss off the liberals." Even if it means cutting their own throats, and voting against their own best interests. That deep anger, that resentment, and that hatred will destroy these Untied Snakes. And millions more feel the way I do...the exact opposite. They want to "piss off the fascists." Don't get me started...again.
How can this dichotomy lead to anything other than chaos, and eventual disaster? With so much intense emotion, on both sides, there's not a lot of hope for the future. And with a divide in America that is now the size of the Grand Canyon, the Untied Snakes no longer smells like eggs and bacon frying in the morning. More like toast. Burnt toast.
The president that I never liked is that I would have never voted for that did terrible things that we thought we'd never recover from and some of which that we haven't had this to say about what makes America great and why immigrants are so important https://youtube.com/shorts/J5upAEZOchM?si=qBgDOPBnU9AOpTSS
ReplyDelete