Idiomatic...Idiotic...So Close...and Yet So Close...

Let's talk about idioms.

Here's the cold and clinical dictionary definition.

id·i·om

ˈidēəm/

noun: idiom; plural noun: idioms

1.

a group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deducible from those of the individual words

Wow.

If my favorite, long ago English teacher, Mrs. Baker were here, I'd say to her "there...right there....that's the reason a lot of us were looking kind of glazed in class a lot of the time....honestly trying to learn but thinking to ourselves 'wha?....please....give us something we can use....'..."

Okay.

Here's some idioms.


It's raining cats and dogs. 

The ball's in your court.

I fell flat on my face.

We'll cross that bridge when we get to it.


Okay. Got it? Or as my dad used to say, gruffly, tongue in cheek..."capice'?..."

Here's another, less abstract, example.

Burning down the barn to kill the rats.

Which brings us around to AnOmaly.

Not the anomaly which deviates from the norm, the standard or what is expected.

I'm referring to the AnOmaly who is.....well.....

Here's a quick bio line from his Facebook page.

"...An0maly is a world-renowned news analyst, hip-hop artist, activist & social media influencer..."

Despite occasional purported evidence to the contrary, I have a healthy respect, even admiration, for those who are gifted and/or talented enough to offer a diverse resume'.

But I'd be lying if I said I didn't chuckle, just a skosh,  at the "news analyst / hip hop artist " conjoining there

Not sure exactly why, but at the moment I read that, I was reminded of a classic Bob Newhart stand-up routine from the early 1960's.

"The Grace L. Ferguson Airline And Storm Door Company"

And while I'm literate enough to clearly understand what the words social, media and influence mean, I'm not so crystal on what, exactly, qualifies one to be a social media "influencer."

Or, at least, be one to the extent that it deserves to be a title.

It occurs to me that I do a little enlightening, a little thought provoking and, more than likely, more than just a little pissing people off via the ol' Interweb here, so I guess I can add social media "influencer" to my own skill set stack.

Actually, come to think of it, the phrase would look both cool and enigmatic on the business card.

None of this good natured poking is, by the way, meant to be any more than good natured poking.

Because AnOmaly is very obviously an articulate and intelligent young man.

And these days, things being what they are, I'll trade being cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs, in a heartbeat, for the chance to be admiringly awestruck for articulate and intelligent.

I was unfamiliar with AnOmaly until I came across this video.

It was published on the political commentary website of a friend of mine, who, in turn, posted the link to Facebook.

Offering only the request/direction..."listen".

Upon which I hit "play" and, in very short order, was asked by AnOmaly to "please hear me out."

So I listened.

And I heard him out.

(Oh...and just so I can be true to AnOmaly's obvious admiration for "blunt" truth.....I've clearly never met the man, so, no offense is intended by my possible rudeness in calling him "AnOmaly" as opposed to, say Mr. AnOmaly, for example, but AnOmaly is all I got. I even spent a few minutes on the Google (yes, THAT viciously slanted, prejudiced, infamously rigged Google) to try and find Mr. AnOmaly's real name, but my search for it, much like my search for talk radio these days that doesn't make me want to punch the speaker, was in vain......and, hey, I'm down with you, AnOm....since I started waxing political big time a coupla years ago, many is the time I wish I had had the foresight to come up with a non de plume of my own......"PoeLittyCo"....what da ya think?)

Meanwhile, back to the listening.

And hearing him out.

The hearing takes fourteen minutes, give or take.

I'll be right here when you've listened.

And heard him out.






Okay.

Here's my two cents.

Six cents, adjusted for inflation.

I don't have any doubt about the gentleman's sincerity.

And I don't see any demons lurking.

At the same time, the challenge presented here is resisting the now almost primal instinct to start engaging/debating/arguing point by point by point the assertions he asserts and the opinions he opines.

Because political discussion/debate/argument/back and forth bitchin' hasn't changed, structurally, since the rest of the Founders sang out "sit down, John / for God's sake, sit down."

And, of course, long before that.

Pete Seeger's iconic lyrical adaptation of the Book of Ecclesiastes , made top ten terrific in the 60's by The Byrds, reminds us "to everything / turn, turn , turn / there is a season / turn, turn, turn"......

...and if Pete were offering up a, God forbid, 2018 "re-boot", he would be spot on to go a little more political and suggest "for every black / there is a white / for every red / there is a blue / for every left/ there is a right / an excuse to gather / and throw stones at each other".....

But, I'm not only a newly designated social media influencer, kids, I'm a certified primal instinct resister.

So, as just as it is with any feature film that offers me the mesmerizing acting genius of Mariah Carey...I ain't goin' there.

Here's the thing, AnOmaly.

And, at this moment, I want to step out for just a quick sec and solicit some congratulations for, thus far, avoiding the ba dum bump-ready use of phrases like.....

"Here's the anomaly, AnOmaly"

Until, of course, just now.

Back to the thing.

I listened. And I heard you out.

And, believe it or not, I hear you.

That's not my issue with what you think, believe and have to say about it.

My issue is what I didn't hear.

And since the day Donald Trump began campaigning for the job, I've been "didn't hearing" from a lot of others what I didn't hear from you a lot.

A whole lot. From a whole lot of others.

I realized, just now, that I've never come up with a quick phrase to define it. And since it takes a considerable amount of time and energy to lay it all out, I probably should have "sound byte"-ed it by now.

But I like my medicine with a spoonful of sugar, so, in the spirit of whimsy, let's refer to it thusly.

"The Oh, Yeah, Well, There's That, But....."

It's really more of a "sidestep" or even a "slight slowdown where there oughta be a full stop at the intersection", but the former is a little boring and the latter is way past verbose.

So, let's stick with "Oh, Yeah, Well, There's That, But..."

And the "that" to which I refer here is, to my way of thinking, then, now and forever and ever, amen, the linchpin, the touchstone, not only the whole, but the essential, kit and kaboodle when it comes to opposite sides finding a way to get back, get back, get back to where they once belonged,

Ladies and gentlemen, presenting (small drum roll only, here, because pretty much no one is going to be surprised at this pronouncement), the "that" in the "Oh, Yeah, Well, There's That, But..."

Donald Trump.

Now, as the jaw instinctively clenches and the fist instinctively tightens and the knee instinctively begins to jerk, here's what I need you to do.

Listen.

And hear me out.

All of the points that AnOmaly raises are valid, reasonable and fair. With the understanding, though, that valid, reasonable and fair each get an asterisk because each of them falls neatly and unavoidably into the category of "subjective". You see fair, I see unfair, you see unreasonable, I see reasonable, reasonable, unreasonable, fairly, unfairly....

...if only we could call the whole thing off.

That's been the way of things since not only long before the Founders pleaded with John to put a sock it it, but, arguably, all the way back to the Garden.

You see natural fructose, high fiber, low calorie nutrition, I see forbidden knowledge of good and evil....delicious / malicious /  sustaining / uh oh, it's raining.......

Well, that brings Noah into the plot and that wanders us a little off the point.

And that point is this.

At any given time, in the timeline of mankind, there is an ever present need to confront our flaws and failings, to take stock of our psychological, spiritual, cultural, societal evolutions, ideally, find some way to work together or, at the very least, not beat each other up or down so badly that the wounds are fatal, to keep the civilization up and running for another year, five, ten, twenty or the foreseeable.

Put simply, we are, out of necessity if no other reason, faced with finding a way to live life not because of that which we have in common, but in spite of that which we do not, cannot, probably will never agree upon.

For all of the contemporary, hip and happening, cultural cool cat approach AnOmaly brings to the issues of the day, those issues still remain as simple and basic as they have been since the apple hit the fan.

And "those issues" boiled down to a single issue come down to this.

Conservative versus liberal.

Liberal versus conservative.

Liberal / conservative / conservative / liberal.

Let's call the whole thing off.

Really. I'm serious.

The "whole thing" in this instance being defined as the naive notion that one side or the other will ever be the "winner" in the ongoing, destined to be perpetual dogmatic tug of war.

We're meant to keep tugging. Because it is only in the back and forth that we move forward. It is only in the give and take that progress, of any kind, takes place.

It's the philosophical and political equivalent of the pearl created by the oyster.

Ain't no frippery without a whole lot of friction.

Ain't no ruby without a whole lot of rubbin'.

Agree to disagree. Remember that oldie but goodie?

Even more profound.....disagree without being disagreeable.

I know, stop, right? Yeah, I'm getting all misty, too.

AnOmaly's perspective is an interesting melange of uptight right, peace and love left and can't we all just get along as long as you go along, but it stumbles into the same tar pit that all points of view stumble when they are mostly just differently dressed editions of the classic bottom line "them vs. us."

"Us" ain't gonna ever do it completely "them's" way.

And vice versa.

Or verse visa.

And I promise no more Gershwin punchlines.

But, here's where my head nodding and hmm-mm-ing at the beginnings of some common ground discovery as I listened and heard him out, came to an abrupt finito.

It was the first occurrence of the "Oh, Yeah, Well, There's That, But...."

The first time that he referred to Donald Trump.

"Is Donald Trump really the worst president of our era? I don't think so. I think he's the loudest. I think he's the most blunt. I think he throws the most words in your face. But if you look at his actions, I'm actually impressed."

Hmm.



Let's spare each other yet another rambling back and forth with the entire catalog of Trump's contributions to the nation and history and just do a quick check off of the greatest hits, so far.

• Pledge to replace Obamacare with quality health care for every one. Nope.
• Pledge to build a wall to "protect" America. Nope.
• Completely overhaul and reform the tax code giving all Americans huge tax relief. Nope.
• An immigration "policy" that has, so far, pretty much only torn children from their mothers' arms.
• Pissing off pretty much every other nation friendly to America and insuring that none of our allies take him seriously for one second, let alone respect and wish to work with him.
• Constant denigration and undermining of bedrock American institutions.
• Revocation and/or reversal of policies designed to keep America's air and water clean.

And, just for laughs, let's wrap this Cliff Notes version of catastrophe off with the refusal to be unmistakably "blunt" and "tell it like it is" to white supremacists, neo-Nazis and assorted other gangs of glee and giggle, giving them the impression, if only by default, that their behavior is A-OK because, after all, they are "very fine people".



"Is Donald Trump really the worst president of our era? I don't think so. I think he's the loudest. I think he's the most blunt. I think he throws the most words in your face. But if you look at his actions, I'm actually impressed."

Hmm.

That's what I heard from this articulate, young fellow who freely admits that he "goes out on a limb and tells Republicans to stop being mean, to stop hating certain people."

Speaking of "most blunt", I have to be blunt and tell you that my sarcastic response light is flashing at the moment in a manner that is very likely to cause seizures, but I'm going to honor my inner goal to stay on point and do it with dignity.

"Go out on a limb and tell Republicans to stop being mean, to stop hating certain people."

The sarcastic me would be whipping out something that punch-lined with some form of "I'd like to buy the world a Coke".

But, respectfully, is it either unfair or inaccurate to offer what the gentlemen offers sounds incredibly naive'?

Because history has taught us over and over and over again how easily we can make the person with the gun put it down by simply asking politely.

But, put a pin in that.

Let's back to "loudest" and "most blunt" when it comes to Trump.

Again, that's what I heard.

But, as I said before, what keeps me standing on the soapbox here in the pulpit is not what I heard.

It's what I didn't hear.

What I didn't hear is...

Donald Trump....

...is a bully.
...is a liar of a magnitude unheard of in the history of man, let alone the history of politics.
...is a practitioner of motivation by playing to fear, prejudice, hysteria, panic, bigotry, racism, sexism, the ism's are simal as in infinitesimal.
...is a brutal and petty man, given to denigrating, humiliating, degrading, devaluing people, any people, all people for petty reasons, often for no other reason than said people have had the astonishing audacity to not adoringly agree with every word, thought and deed that comes out of his mouth or brain.
...is not only representative of, but clearly an advocate for, the very worst of our universally human character flaws, not only not calling on our better angels, but convincing too, too many people, much, much too easily that those better angels are somehow something of which we should be ashamed and embarrassed. Tough it up, snowflakes. Go make your pussified snow angels somewhere else.

That last one occurred to me as AnOmaly began elaborating his disdain for the dreaded spread of the "PC culture"

For the record, I'm on board. And AnOmaly wisely calls on another generation's hip spokesperson to underscore the point.

"Political correctness is fascism pretending to be manners"--George Carlin.

Agreed.

But here's yet another thing.

That's not all fascism is.

The kindness, politeness and respectfulness to which you refer, can be damaging, even toxic, when taken to extremes.

But, isn't that true of pretty much anything and everything in the human experience?

Old joke. You can't be too thin or too rich.

Not true, actually.

We can be "too much" of just about anything.

That's yet another thing I didn't hear while I was hearing you out.

You devote a sizable portion of your op/ed to the unprecedented amount of venom and viciousness that is directed at the Donald. And, again, please correct me if I am mistaken, but his own behavior and presentation are never addressed with more than just a quick reference, another "blunt truth" or "straight talk". I've written and broadcast extensively on this little pebble in the Cheerios since the day this candidacy was spawned and my take on it, and my calm, measured, long and respectfully considered self assurance of the validity of that take, haven't changed a micro since day one.

You offer that "there's a difference between being nice and being kind and respectful and political correctness and being straight up naive'."

Again, agreed.

But I'll offer you that there is a difference between being "blunt", "straight forward" and....wait for it....the one that has always banged around my brain like a turbo tambourine, "telling it like it is"...AND being a crude, rude, obnoxious, profane, obscene, insulting mouth in search of a steering wheel or, total best case scenario, brake pedal.

I'm going to take a page from your book, AnOmaly and go out on a limb here.

You're far too intelligent and articulate for me to believe for a second that you can't clearly see and hear the mouth that I am describing.

And far too intelligent and articulate for me to believe for a second that you don't know to a certainty to whom that mouth belongs.

But I can't be one hundred percent certain of that.

Because I didn't hear you say that.

What I heard you say was he is blunt and loud.

And, given that, it's hard not to assume that it's likely were I to speak with you in person and say "he's crude, rude, obnoxious, etc,", your reply to me would sound a little something like.....

"Oh. Yeah. Well, There's That, But...."

Here's the last thing.

There is no "but".

There is no excuse. There is no justification, rationalization, normalization or exemption from responsibility for this man and his presentation. Nor is there any pardon for those who continue to support and endorse him.

Own the man. Own what the man presents. Displays. Contributes. Commits.

And, just so we're clear, permit me to offer you this by way of an honorable assurance of my agreement with your wishes for our society but my polar disagreement with your preferred way of achieving them.

This nation, as it always has been, is in need of confronting our flaws and failings,taking stock of our psychological, spiritual, cultural, societal evolutions, ideally, find some way to work together or, at the very least, not beat each other up or down so badly that the wounds are fatal, to keep the civilization up and running for another year, five, ten, twenty or the foreseeable.

Maybe that need is more dire than in recent past. Perhaps even more dire than ever before. Frankly, too much time is spent these days splitting those hairs.

A forest fire is a forest fire is a forest fire.

Which brings us back to idioms.

The big, bold, beautiful barn that is the United States of America has a particularly nasty problem with rats in this particular period of our history.

And those of us who share space in that barn, who live and work in that barn, who raise our families in that barn, who want our kids to be safe and our hopes to be realized and our dreams to come true, we all, all of us, need to find the way to deal with that particularly nasty rat problem.

First, best way is facing some bet the farm facts.

It's a noisy barn, a chaotic barn, even, at times, a pretty damned annoying barn. But it's our barn. Yours, mine, his, hers...theirs.

And we're not gonna fix that barn by fighting amongst ourselves. Rats don't go pausing from gnawing just because we can't get our shit together.

Humans being humans, though, the smart move is to decide amongst ourselves who can organize us, motivate us, inspire us, encourage us, build us up, buoy us up, prop us up when we need it so that we can keep this rickety old building up and running and get about the business of sending those rats on their way.

Of course, we could just burn the damn thing down. That would sure take care of the rat problem.

But, then, we wouldn't have a barn anymore would we?

Think about it, though. It'd be pretty easy. We just light it up with the flames of hatred and fear, prejudice, hysteria, panic, bigotry, racism, sexism. Denigrating and devaluing each other.

Or just putting somebody in charge who would keep those flames burning hot and hostile till the job was done.

Ashes by morning.

Ridiculous, right?

Only a fool would burn down the barn to kill the rats.

And only a fool would fail to see someone standing right in front of them playing with matches.

And you're clearly no fool, AnOmaly.

You see those matches, don't you?.

Of course, you do.

Right over there.

In the hands of that guy you say impresses you.