In a Fix no 'Fix' Can Fix

 

Michael Moore’s most recent film, Fahrenheit 11/9 refers to the day following the  elections of 2016, which he equates with 9/11 as a comparable assault on the U.S. I’ve watched the film twice in less than a week. What stands out earlier, and in the most recent viewing is that the images speak even louder than its words. The first frames show you a rogues gallery of suited male heads, alongside statistics reporting how many times women have accused each of predation. But these words take on an entirely different level of meaning in the heart of the film, when we see the current White House imposter haranguing the Detroit Economic Club where the protocols forbid any questions from the floor. One by one, women protesters in the audience stand up to object to the proceedings only to be manhandled by stone-faced goons who whip them around and force them from the room. Those shots tell you infinitely more about the way women in this society are treated than any statistics can.

Through much of the film we see footage of National Conventions, and political rallies, with their abundance of flags big as aircraft carriers, five-story-high amplified images of political figures, balloons, confetti, strobe lights, cascades of water, etc. which preview the concluding shots of Hitler’s rallies with their display of flags, screaming people, and which document the autocratic body language of the presiding demagogue.  We even see the image of his U.S. counterpart projected on the Empire State Building. And by comparison, it dawns on us how subversive rock concerts can be and how they mock all our political posturings, much as the feast of the Saturnalia, with its idiot-king-for-a-day satirized the Roman empire in its day.

 

Coming to a City Near You

We see the moment when the black children of Flint Michigan are deemed dispensable as a politician presses his finger to the water gage which will shut off the waters of Lake Huron and divert the Flint River and its contamination to fill the taps of Flint, consigning everyone of its children to the lead poisoning which will  devastate their bodies and minds, and condemn each one of them to being less than human—the moment when Rick Snyder, the devil’s spawn Governor of Michigan, destroys a whole city more effectively than any so-called terrorist ever could.  But Moore doesn’t stop there. He shows a triumphant Air Force One flying Obama to the rescue. And as the people who voted for him with their whole hearts watch, he drinks or pretends to drink the contaminated water of Flint—twice—in a PR stunt Madison Avenue could only dream of. And not satisfied with his twice betrayal, he allows Flint Michigan to be bombed, strafed, and terrorized by the Army which uses the city for target practice without any forewarning to its terrified inhabitants.

At first viewing, the separate strands of Moore’s film seem like something of a hodge podge, the poisoning of Flint, the student anti-gun resistance movement originated by the students of Parkland High School in Florida, but the point Moore is making is that from Clinton on, each American president has paved the way for the Walpurgisnacht of the current Ozministration. Yes, dear children, we are in a fix. The taps of hatred have been turned on, and they can’t be turned off because the pipes are corroded, Flint’s black children’s lives have been forever blunted, and nothing can wash the stain off these lily white hands. We are in a fix, and no ’fix’  can fix it. Not even an electoral upset.

Donate so hundreds of black Georgians can cast their ballots.

Tell Congress to end U.S. complicity in the Saudi-led Yemeni war.

Sign to demand Brian Kemp who scrubbed more than 300,000 Georgia voters from the rolls take his marbles and go home.

Donate to resist GOP voter suppression of native Americans in North Dakota.

Veto troops to the border to ‘repel’ desperate men, women, and children.

Please tell San Mateo district attorney that the Okobi family deserves justice NOW.

Women

Catholic synod declares women’s inclusion in Catholic leadership is a ‘duty of justice.’

Must watch: Maggie Doyne changes lives of 200 children starting with this one thought: forget the 80 million, start with one.

Physicians for Social Responsibility honor visionary leaders, Beatrice Fihn and Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton.

Nuns on the Bus logs 5600 miles for tax justice.

A record number of women poised to win elections.

Voting rights

Florida fighting to restore voting rights to individuals with minor felony convictions.

NAACP issues dire warning about Texas voting machines that like to flip for Cruz.

U.S. Supreme Court paves way for state supreme courts to strike down GOP gerrymanders.

After GOP tries to stop one bus of elderly black voters in Georgia, ten more buses join in the fight.

In victory over GOP suppression scheme, court rules thousands of Georgians must be allowed to vote.

San Francisco grants non-citizen residents voting rights in local election.

The Courts

Free Press raises funds to sue Ajit Pai.

Mom and four-year-old sue DHS to reunite after seven months of separation under administration border policy.

U.S. citizen wrongfully detained and mocked by ICE awarded $55,000 settlement.

UK fracking protesters freed after convictions are overturned.

In the UK, hundreds are ready to go to jail over climate crisis.

Peasants’ rights declaration presented before the UN general assembly.

Puerto Rico tribunal verdict: U.S. guilty of crimes against humanity.

Lawsuit depicts First Crime Family as a ‘racketeering enterprise that defrauded thousands of people.

Gabby Gifford’s organization  sues the administration.

Tenth Circuit panel grants summary judgment bars Wyoming from enforcing Ag-Gag laws.

The Climate

Swiss philanthropist donates $1 billion to conservation efforts.

Oakland City Council adopts resolution declaring climate emergency.

San Jose, CA wins award to fight climate change.

Resistance

FedEx finally cuts ties with the NRA.

Google workers worldwide leave desks demanding end to sexual harassment and improvements to workplace culture.

Demonstrators block the White House Impostor during march for love and solidarity in Pittsburgh.

Supreme Court halt to Juliana vs. U.S. youth climate lawsuit inspires nationwide resistance.

With Mattis’ call for Yemen ceasefire, congress getting closer to forcing military to withdraw, according to Center for Economic and Policy Research.

Foremost Farms, U.S.A. and Aria Food, a European dairy coop are forming a strategic partnership.