Unforgettable. That’s the best word to describe Joan Baez’s recent show in Cleveland. The setlist consisted of socially conscious songs spanning nearly 60 years and topics from the Civil Rights movement to women’s rights and labor activism. Her voice was as clear and beautiful as it was at Woodstock and she surrounded herself with gifted musicians and singers. As sonically pleasing as the concert was, it was so much more.
During a rare interaction with the audience, she talked about marching through Washington on the same day as Dr. Ford’s hearing. At the age of 77 and after countless protests, Joan Baez was still in the streets with the people on the right side of history. She succinctly summed up the current political situation with: “we’re fucked.” She didn’t steer clear of politics to maintain an audience or commercial viability. Her words were blunt and direct (qualities that are sorely lacking on the left and which helped elect Donald Trump). Joan said what needed to be said and carried on. It was a lesson that needs to be learned by every progressive, most importantly those running for office or in charge of a nonprofit. Those individuals need to scream from vegetable garden-covered rooftops in support of the issues we all hold dear. They need to explicitly call out the wretched incumbents who, in Joan’s words, fuck up our country.
The evening’s most powerful moment arrived just before the encores. The band and road crew assembled on stage, arms draped over each other. Out of nowhere Jimi Hendrix’s performance of the national anthem played over the loudspeakers and everyone on stage took a knee. There was a momentary stunned silence swiftly broken by a raucous standing ovation and tears of joy and gratitude. The sights, sounds, and spine shivers generated by hundreds of aged strangers standing in support of human rights will never leave me.
As I walked out of the theater, I found I had a renewed energy for the fight against neo-fascism and neoliberalism. I also had a clearer mind with which to describe and analyze the national political news of the week.
“Silver Blade”:
You don’t need me to tell you that sex criminal and partisan politician (and creepy uncle who tickles everyone at Thanksgiving) Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. The blood pouring from your faucets, the dark clouds hovering over your home, and the sudden deaths of beloved pets already let you know. The FBI investigation lasted a few days and included only nine witnesses. A single report was printed, and senators were allowed to see it for only an hour alternating between Republicans and Democrats. The Republicans claimed it exonerated Kavanaugh and they thus had no reason to vote against him (the final vote was 50 scumbags to 48 normal human beings). The Supreme Court now has two justices credibly accused of sexual assault and five justices who will repeatedly vote against the vast majority of the population.
As well as the Democrats did during Dr. Ford’s and Kavanaugh’s testimonies, they dug themselves a shallow grave by harping on about the need for an FBI investigation. Jeff Flake made himself look like a big man by requesting one and the administration came across as conciliatory by ordering it. They all knew nothing would be found and that there are enough dumb Americans for them to get away with the narrative of a lack of evidence against the accused being evidence against the accuser. They also turned the Democrats into the Goldilocks of the process. The Republicans may say climate change is a hoax and vaginas can consciously prevent rape, but they are very, very good at politics.
Even though Kavanaugh is now a justice, the fight is not over. Impeachment on the grounds of perjury is a distinct possibility, as are making his private life such a misery he is forced away from public life or occupying the Supreme Court so it cannot function and the far-right justices cannot ruin any more lives. I’ve always believed in fighting until the bitter end and that was reaffirmed by what I saw and heard last week. Joan Baez, 77, has been protesting and campaigning for social justice almost her entire life. The battles rage on and new ones emerge, but she doesn’t give up. If she can stand up for what’s right for so many decades, so can the rest of us. There is always more work to be done.
I thought about the Kavanaugh story as I listened to “Silver Blade”. The song tells the story of a woman who is taken home by a charming gentleman. As soon as they arrive at his castle, he rapes her and tells her to leave. He turns his back and she plunges a knife between his ribs. She returns to where she buried him every night, with no remorse, no sadness. The woman did not have someone to protect her, she did not have someone to make the man pay for his crime. She took matters into her own hands and struck a blow for justice. I see eye to eye with Joan on the issue of nonviolence, so I am in no way advocating stabbing Brett Kavanaugh. Nonetheless, the song’s protagonist set a beautiful example for the rest of us. We cannot rely on the FBI, Senate, or administration to give justice to the millions of women who are victims of sexual assault. Little is done by law enforcement, public schools, and communities to prevent boys from becoming sex criminals. So it is up to the people, the good-hearted population at large to bring down criminals and restore compassion to politics. Whether by reporting every single instance of sexual assault, running for office, or good old-fashioned boots on the ground activism, it will be possible to stop animals like Brett Kavanaugh destroying lives and institutions.
“Diamonds and Rust”:
Humanity’s final hope for sanity last week was Maine senator, Susan Collins. She failed to come out strongly for Kavanaugh early in the confirmation process, and she is what looks like a female human being. Her offices were surrounded by people imploring her to do the right thing by not confirming a sex criminal and perjurer. She always maintained she was on the fence and would let the process play out before making a definite decision. On Friday, the day before the final vote, she gave a speech that showed what a truly despicable liar she is.
Susan Collins railed against left-wing groups who were opposed to Trump’s nominee before they even knew who it was. Those groups (presumably Planned Parenthood, the Sierra Club, etc.) had no effect on the proceedings. It was normal for them to hate whoever Trump nominated because of his campaign rhetoric and track record while in office. There was no reason to expect the nominee to be anyone other than a bigoted, misogynistic, rich white male. Collins said Kavanaugh had reassured her he would not vote against a woman’s right to choose or same-sex marriage and she believed him. Thanks to years of perjury and conservative rulings, his word isn’t worth the air it’s spat into. She said he is more centrist than most people believe and that he is an “exemplary public servant, judge, teacher, coach, husband, and father.” No-one would go from being on the fence about someone to being their biggest fan overnight. Collins was disingenuous and spineless all the way up to that speech. She intended on voting for Kavanaugh from the second Trump uttered his name. Whatever political games she was playing will hopefully backfire. There is already a fund for unseating her in 2020 and more than one individual has expressed an interest in taking her on.
Collins is another example of the old, out-of-touch politicians I wrote about last week. At 65, she should be ready for retirement, spending long afternoons on the porch reading Ayn Rand novels and ingesting mountains of toxic pills. She trembled and bumbled her way through a speech glorifying a sex criminal and ultimately sending the Supreme Court off the deep end. Under a lot of pressure, carbon turns into a beautiful diamond. Under a lot of pressure, the United States Senate becomes an ugly representation of the worst elements in our country. It is nothing more than a bunch of rusty seniors who don’t want to give up their car keys. However, I would gladly vote for Joan Baez!
“Joe Hill”:
To continue his run of fulfilling campaign promises, Trump renegotiated NAFTA. “Renegotiated” may be a big strong, “tweaked” is probably a better word. The fundamental structure remains in place and nothing completely new has been added. The updated deal includes a requirement for more cars to be made in America and an increased use of domestic steel. Dairy farmers can sell products to Canadian markets and Mexican workers can go fuck themselves. There are no improvements in environmental protections and no increases in wages. The only concrete effect is that corporations would have more markets in which to sell their goods, raising profit margins even further. All three countries (Mexico, Canada, and the US) will need to ratify the agreement, but with ongoing and upcoming election seasons, it won’t happen. The current NAFTA will stay in place and no economic progress will be made.
Every labor activist has also been a human rights activist. They’ve wanted higher wages so families can afford the most basic of life’s essentials. They have fought for shorter working days and weeks so workers can recuperate and enjoy life. They’ve struck for benefits because private health insurance is a crime that targets the neediest. They have sought to unionize entire industries because they know success rates are greater when people band together. Nothing short of the elimination of free trade agreements and a complete transformation of the economy will now suffice. We need industries like renewable energy where workers can enjoy job security for life. Minimum wages have to be raised and indexed to inflation. Automation must be outlawed while education and training programs are provided for free. A million things can be done in the name of Joe Hill, and they will be done because it takes more than guns to kill workers’ rights.
“Altar Boy and The Thief”:
The Trump administration announced that, by the end of the year, it would deny visas to and deport same-sex partners of foreign diplomats unless they are married. Less than 1 in 8 countries allow same-sex marriage so most of the partners will be forced to leave or not join their loved one on their new mission. The new rule makes no sense other than to punish homosexuals for doing something the Republicans find icky. It is the typical spite we have come to expect from the far-right Republican Party.
Those bigots need to understand that love will win in the end. They can ban homosexuals from becoming parents and refuse to make rainbow wedding cakes, but they will never destroy their love. Men will always fellate other men and women will always be scissor sisters. The Republicans can continue their evil, but men and women will still find themselves some relief.
“Deportees”:
For months now, ICE and other paramilitary forces have been ripping apart families. Children have been stolen from their parents and adults have been deported to dangerous lands. The media lost interest in this story all too quickly until it came to light that thousands of children are being rounded up and shipped off to a “tent city” in Texas. Some of them have been ripped away from their parents by immigration forces while most came across the border on their own. Now think about what makes a child walk across a desert or hide in a suffocating truck to get to an alien country. Famine, disease, drought, violence, loneliness? Whatever the reason, they have been through things no-one in this world should experience. America’s response is to round those kids up and keep them captive in a row of tents. Then, because suffering makes them feel alive and causes them to ejaculate, our leaders search for relatives to claim the children and arrest them when they come forward. The children are used as bait to trap immigrants so they can be sent south across the border. As you consider what the government does on a day-to-day basis, picture those children all alone in a dark, scary desert.
Just like the victims of the Los Gatos plane crash, those children have names. They have stories to tell and they have value. In no way are they inferior to white Americans, and they are only here to live good lives. It would be a travesty if they too were to disappear into history. Humans are not illegal and should be wanted. They should not have to move on.
Despite my and Joan Baez’s politics not exactly lining up (she has an aversion to far-left ideologies and frequently argued against a socialist friend), she has set a wonderful example for generations of activists. Her decades-long fight against injustice encourages us all to continue. Her blunt language and straightforward songs break down the filters far too many progressives employ in politics. The topics and issues she tackles fill us with the knowledge and associated anger required for success. Irrespective of your feelings towards folk music, the past horrid week doesn’t seem quite so bad when you know tomorrow could be better.