May 11, 2020: WORKING for Biden & MeToo & Walk

May 11, 2020: I'm WORKING for Biden! or Me Too/Moral Complexity & A Walk TO READ PREVIOUS BLOGS: TERRYBAUM.BLOGSPOT.COM PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO ANYONE WHO MIGHT BE INTERESTED. Click Here to Subscribe to the Blog. One of my greatest pleasures is my garden and one of my greatest sorrows is that I can't invite anyone to share it with me. Maybe soon! Okay. Time for your friendly neighborhood BlogMistress to face this difficult subject. Here are two of the thoughtful pieces I've read on the subject of Tara Reade's allegation that Joe Biden raped her (whew! I first wrote "rapped her") 27 years ago. Please read these before or after you read my thoughts. Or don't! But they're both worth reading: The New Yorker: A Fair Examination of the Allegations Against Joe Biden Can Strengthen the #MeToo Movement The New York Times: I Believe Tara Reade But I'm Voting for Joe Biden First a warm and kindly message to those who are considering NOT voting for the Democratic candidate in the Presidential election: ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!? Democracy is not a game for the fastidious. It's about being a grown-up and making the best choice when faced with a reality that might not be altogether thrilling. Yes, I would have preferred ANY of the top ten Democratic candidates to Biden -- except Bloomberg. I gave what was for me a significant amount of money to Bernie Sanders. I volunteered for his campaign in California. I have been planning for quite a while to spend October in Pennsylvania campaigning for whoever is the Democratic candidate. I briefly reconsidered that commitment, even before Tara Reade spoke up, because of Biden's very mixed record and because he's so supremely "Meh." BUT THE EVIDENCE IS IN MY FACE (AND YOURS) EVERY DAY THAT THE OCCUPANT OF THE WHITE HOUSE IS VERY DANGEROUS AND APPEARS TO BE GETTING MORE UNHINGED EVERY DAY. It's not just about our obligation to the country. We have an obligation to the WORLD to defeat Trump. This is someone who believes he is the only person in the universe. And this total narcissist has, easily accessible at every moment, a button he can push to obliterate any part of the globe he wishes. WHAT IF HE BECOMES SUICIDAL? DOES THIS NOT KEEP YOU UP AT NIGHT? NO? WHY NOT? HAS IT NOT OCCURRED TO YOU THAT THE LESSER EVIL IS, IN FACT, LESS EVIL? (which, by the way, is the reason it's called "the LESSER evil!") (You see, this is why I need to blog. If I was actually talking to you, I would be jumping up and down yelling loudly. I think big red letters are much more pleasant, don't you?) I am not talking about throwing Tara Reade under the bus. Her allegation deserves the full investigation that the New Yorker article calls for. It is outrageous that the Senate refuses to make public the complaint she submitted at the time of the alleged assault. Reade herself says she did not describe being raped in that complaint. But if we could see the complaint, then we would know more. I don't turn my back on Reade when I say that I am choosing to support Joe Biden for President by campaigning for him in Pennsylvania in October. (Okay, I admit, it was a little hard to type that last bit about October in Pennsylvania.) What I am talking about is: MORAL COMPEXITY People who do good things also do bad things. And when we are talking about this very human phenomenon in politics, it is difficult to know how to deal with it. How can we demand justice and accountability without throwing out the baby with the bathwater? And in Biden's case, we're talking about moral complexity burdened with IRONY, since his proudest political achievement is legislation to strengthen protections for women who have been sexually assaulted. Moral complexity is just very very hard to get our brains around. Carolyn and I are working on a play about the pioneers of the womens' suffrage movement, who were incredible charismatic visionaries ... and also made racist statements. It would be so much nicer for us if they hadn't done that. The play probably would be much further along now. You want to get away from moral complexity? OK! Let's turn from 19th Century suffragettes and Joe Biden to our current President! What a relief! Not a smidgen of moral complexity here! We're talking about ABSOLUTE EVIL. 'Nuf said? I am not asking you to just vote for Biden. Voting is the teeny tiny tip of the pyramid that is all the work that goes into electing someone. Many will ask you to give money. I am asking you to volunteer on the campaign. I know that very few can or want to travel to a purple state in order to affect the outcome of the election. But quite a few people did that when Obama ran the first time in 2008. And I submit that it is at least as important to elect the Democrat this time as it was then. Perhaps not QUITE as joyful, but more important. Do something. Do a lot. Do as much as you can. You can start now by writing letters for VOTE FORWARD. This is a wonderful project where you write letters to registered Democrats who are infrequent voters, encouraging them to vote. You don't talk about issues or candidates, just the importance of voting. Vote Forward sends you a template and you fill in your own reasons for voting, in your own hand. You can start writing letters at any time. They'll be mailed closer to the election. I've already written some letters. It made me feel good to do it. AND NOW, LET'S WALK! On Saturday, I walked through the Haight to Golden Gate Park I just love deep blue and yellow. Got to Golden Gate Park. It was FREEZING. The wind was howling. I tried to convince myself I was enjoying it, but I had not dressed for such cold. We experienced what I thought was a serious case of Ball Evaporation. I threw the ball straight in a flat meadow with short grass, I saw Nikki start to run after it, I looked away for a second... and when I looked back, he was searching for the ball. This is not uncommon, as his eyesight is really bad. So I went to get it and it was simply GONE! There were no holes, no slope, no bushes... another strange and fearful evaporation of a NEW orange-and-blue rubber ball. Very troubling. Nikki and I both looked and looked. Loulou doesn't care that much about the ball. She was doing her own thing. I finally gave up, got ready to leave, turned around .... and there was Nikki standing behind me with the ball in his mouth! Where did he find it? Truly, I do not get it. Time to head home past the gorgeous Victorians of the Haight Okay, here's a command. I stopped and did it. Now you do it. I'd never seen anything like this... this TOMBSTONE in the sidewalk. A lovely memorial I found this Bernie sign, half obscured by a medieval image of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, rather disturbing. Was the resident implying that, with Bernie out of the race, we would plunge toward the Apocalypse? Was it a threat or just an observation? And on the other hand..."Laundry is the only thing that should be separated by color." I love this. It was attached to a giant wooden dog bone. When I look at the photo below, I see a naked woman with her legs spread wide apart giving birth to the beautiful succulents coming out of her vagina. Maybe I've been alone too long. I think these are such steep stairs to live at the bottom of. I marvel at them every time I pass. And so to home. Bloggelinis, waddya think of this fabulous photo of me, with niece Rose and Lawrence up in the corner? We were FaceTiming (only my 2nd FaceTime time) and I started fooling with the effects, and Lawrence took a screenshot. I think I really LIKE myself as a cartoon!