Literally Anybody Else!

A friend earnestly asked me: how do you cope these days with the images of Gaza and the West Bank always in the camera of our brain even when we aren’t actually watching the carnage? I tell her that I am really not coping, that I feel like a robot going about and doing all the things I usually do and that I used to look forward to and enjoy, but feeling drained, listless, dejected, helpless, guilty, sad, angry and beyond comprehending this Extreme Level of Cruelty. There is no joy, no anticipation, not even a feeling of hope! And, most perplexing, is how when we love this country and so much about it, and that we are worried and wanting to protect it from malfeasance whether from the outside, or internally, can we despise its politics and political figures so much, especially regarding us Palestinians? In my over eighty years of life this War of Vengeance has affected me the worst yet.

Speaking of politics amongst many other things going on in the nation, there seems to be a general dissatisfaction in the US with the way we have been conducting our affairs, and how we, as voters, are being herded into accepting either A Republican Candidate for President, or a Democrat, both of whom are supported by nauseating amounts of money from billionaires and corporations, thus excluding any of us small donors and skewing our elections tremendously. It all started, of course, when our zealous Rightwing, Entitled, Arrogant and Corrupt Supreme Court decided that “Corporations Are People” thus disgracing and corrupting our entire electoral landscape! Shameful! Of course, the bought-and-paid for corporate media is all in on this configuration and, therefore, does not allow its viewers – who are decreasing in numbers by the day – to listen to any Third Party Candidates as yet. This is called Brain-washing in my books! It should Not be allowed in a democracy such as we pride ourselves on being. Enter: C-Span! On its three channels C-Span – whose viewers are increasing in numbers -covers a whole lot of very interesting alternatives to the superficial mainstream media, and offers its listeners and viewers a trove of information through which one can make an informed decision on a whole range of government issues, and especially on our upcoming 2024 Presidential Election. Moreover, rather than listening to talk show hosts with their smug, arrogant, biased points of view, we get to hear from the Candidates themselves, as well as from Actual Human Beings of all ages, political parties, religions, genders and all else sharing their opinions. C-Span interviewed all the “Other” Candidates for President in 2024 giving them a chance to state their own views without any filters, or bullshit. Nevertheless, there are still a few more months to go until that important Tuesday when the Nation will cast its vote, and anything can happen between now and then in this very unpredictable and volatile world we live in. However, all those “Other” candidates offer grains of hope that tell me all might not be lost yet, and that there is a chance, if not during this election, than in the near future, that things will change for the better. Here are the “Others” that the bought-and-paid for media don’t want you to know about. You can also access their websites.

Jason Palmer
Dean Phillips
Marianne Williamson
Cornel West
Jill Stein
LiterallyAnybodyElse
Robert F Kennedy, Jr
Libertarian Party

So, essentially, we DO have Choices, especially that most voters are saying: Please! We badly need Literally Anybody Else!! I was so intrigued by this name – ergo the title of my post – and found out that this party was Founded by Dustin Ebey who literally and legally changed his name realizing that most of the nation, especially our disenfranchised young voters are fed up and disgusted with our political establishment and with having only two Presidential Nominees being rammed down our throats.  Jill Stein said it perfectly when she urged voters to vote their conscience, rather than the “lesser of two evils.” Moreover, the Choices we have indicate that we do not have to go where the corrupt corporate media and the political vested interests are herding us and laying out Only two choices before us: on the one hand we have Trump, a Bible toting radical  hypocrite who wants to chip away at all our freedoms, and on the other we have Biden. On Monday, April 8, the One and Only Jon Stewart had a fantastic program about the hypocrisy and bullshit rampant in our foreign policy by portraying Genocide Joe’s and Worthless Blinken’s own words regarding Ukraine as compared to the double standards of the same events regarding Gaza! He hit it right on the head as he usually, and brilliantly does!

There is so much going on in our tumultuous World that it is becoming more and more stressful for me, and many others, simply to think straight, to be calm, to even be sensible! Amidst all of these torturous feelings, the uplifting highlight of the past two weeks for me was the Eclipse! In Fairfax, Virginia where I live I saw from my window that the skies had darkened and become more cloudy as it was happening in our area, but we did not experience the event per se. However, I was following it all on my television, and every time it happened over one location after the other, the crowds roared, oohed and aahed and I teared up! NASA had amazingly calculated the timeline to perfection! The whole event had a surreal ambiance that left me wondering why it had affected me that much this time around. After all, I had witnessed previous Eclipses. So, I eventually concluded that it is one: because I am older and much more teary and sentimental at this stage, and two: that I, and many others, needed to feel Joyful about Something, Anything, to tune out, even for a few moments, the sorrow and wickedness of our World while we marvel at Nature and at our Smallness and Irrelevance in this humongous Cosmos! I wish, though, that this phenomenon could have Eclipsed all the Negativity and Belligerence surrounding us! Sadly, that didn’t happen, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to anytime soon!

. . . and let me end up with the Million Dollar Question after the events of the past few days between Iran and Israel: What is Genocide Joe going to say and do as the Middle East Blood Pressure rises by the hour – as well as mine?