I wrote this blog seven years ago about the time that Trump assumed the office of the President of the United States of America. As I stumbled across it again, I could not help feeling that nothing has changed in this country. Therefore I am posting this blog again in the futile hope that one voter might read it and change his or her mind.
January 21, 2017
Many of you have no doubt heard the tone poem by Carl Orff titled Carmina Burana. One of the famous parts of this musical piece is taken from a poem called “O Fortuna.” It is a Medieval Latin poem written early in the 13th century. I started thinking about it today as Trump became the 45th President of the United States of America. I have never much believed in fate, preferring to think that we are masters of our own destiny and fate be dammed. But as the inexorable reality of the inauguration kept intruding on my existence, I was forced back to the conclusion that perhaps fortune does rule the world. (To listen click here O Fortuna)
Like the moon you are changeable,
ever waxing and waning;
hateful life first oppresses and then soothes as fancy takes it;
poverty and power it melts them like ice.
I loathe this greedy narcissist. I loathe his values. I loathe his words. He represents everything I hate in myself and in humanity. We keep trying to destroy the racism and fear and prejudice that we are brought up with but fate impels us to confront a world that seems to thrive on such iniquities. My relatives, my friends, my co-workers —- they voted for this reprobate and now exult in his coronation. I stand impotently on the sidelines questioning (as many Jews in the Holocaust questioned) why God has deserted us. Have we committed some grave sin worthy of the future that fate now seems to have assigned us?
Trying against
Fate – monstrous and empty,
you whirling wheel,
you are malevolent,
well-being is vain and always fades to nothing,
shadowed and veiled you plague me too;
now through the game I bring my bare back to your villainy.
My good intentions. My desire to be tolerant and virtuous. My goal to treat others with compassion and kindness all seem to melt in the face of a Fate that decries a monster who will now rule over us. I hear the voices that say “give him a chance.” I wonder what chance they want. A chance to create more greed. A chance to create more racism. A chance to create more sexism. Have we not enough bigotry in this country? Have we not enough inhumanity towards others? We created the Atom bomb. We created the Hydrogen Bomb. We created weapons of biological and chemical warfare that can destroy millions. We take no heed whether they kill children or innocents. We are now all guilty in our incessant warfare. The only thing that counts is creating more efficient means of murdering people.
Fate is against me in health and virtue,
driven on and weighted down,
always enslaved.
So at this hour without delay pluck the vibrating strings;
since Fate strikes down the strong man,
everyone weep with me!
I wake up disbelieving that I live in this reality. I joke that I am in Wonderland and whatever one believes is the reality that exists. But I did not believe in this reality. I have done everything that I thought I could to help make the world a better place. I thought my friends and family and neighbors wanted the same world that I wanted. It seems clear now that we did not share the same reality.
I curse the fate that has brought our nation to this point. I curse the people that voted for this Frankenstein. I curse the party that nominated this abomination. Deep inside, I wonder what I did to contribute to this horror. Does my own hate somehow create the fate that I seek to escape from?
Abraham, John, Robert and Martin all dead — killed by that coward called fate. But let us not forget Jimmie Lee Jackson and Clyde Kennard and Juliette Hampton Morgan and James Reeb and Jonathan Myrick Daniels and Viola Gregg Liuzzo and Vernon Dahmer and Oneal Moore and George Lee and Harriet and Harry Moore. They also were martyrs. They also died fighting fate.
Do not believe that the good die young. The good die pregnant with a dream for a better world.
Time for Questions:
So what is left? Nihilism? Apathy? Hate? Bitterness? Resistance? Fight? Hope? Will a dream for a better America arise from the ashes of despair?
Life is just beginning.
“I will permit no man to narrow and degrade my soul by making me hate him.” — Booker T. Washington
Aging Capriciously 
Jan 24, 2017 @ 13:53:17
It is disappointing that just when I thought we were just making progress in the war against hate and bigotry, along comes Trump to incite the masses and drag us back 50 years. Trump is a disgusting and deplorable excuse for a human being, and now he is the head of our nation. It does not get worse. I am anxious to see how his first year as president evolves. How sad to think that he has duped so many people into believing the many promises he will not be able to keep.
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Jan 25, 2017 @ 19:39:02
I know many people who feel the same way. I thought I could get out of politics for a while and the country would get better under Hillary. Now we have this asshole who will only make things worse unless we fight him every step of the way less he take us back to the “good old days” where women had abortions in alleys and minorities were routinely discriminated against.
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Mar 03, 2023 @ 19:48:18
Reblogged this on Aging Capriciously and commented:
I wrote this six years ago on the day of Trump’s inauguration. I was re-reading it and wondering if those that disagreed with me at the time have ever had a change of thought? My question still stands “Will a dream for a better America arise from the ashes of despair?” Or will we see an even worse cadre of political prospects in 2024 than Trump was. People just as regressive but even more cunning like Ron DeSantis, Ted Cruz, Glenn Youngkin and Greg Abbott.
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Mar 04, 2023 @ 00:31:49
There will bemillions of unthinking morons looking to see Trump reinstated in 22024 but many more who are seduced by the words and actions of DeSantis in Florida. When are the Democrts going to learn to use the same ractics in the eelecdtiobs as their opponents? ThE lies of the Republicans must be called and countered with the truth before the people vote and the Depaetment of justice must act against ALL the leaders of the JAN 6TH attempt to overthrow the rightful Government.The AG Must resign.
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Mar 04, 2023 @ 10:21:43
I agree with you 100 percent David. It seems like the Republicans have been one or more steps
ahead of the Dems for a long time now. John
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Mar 04, 2023 @ 08:41:12
John, could it be that you are “lookin’ for love in all the wrong places?”
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Mar 04, 2023 @ 11:38:43
John – seems like an alternate reality during the T-RUMP years. The fact that his base has not abandoned him says so much about the peevishness he has tapped into. I’m astounded when I see interviews with his supporters who spew misinformation and cannot be dissuaded by facts. It’s time for him to be indicted, convicted, and imprisoned.
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Mar 04, 2023 @ 14:06:04
Nancy, I can hardly wait to see him in orange and behind bars where he belongs. John
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Feb 08, 2024 @ 13:06:45
I’ve come across your blog (by chance/fate?) from 2017. It is now 2024. Your last post was in ’23, which answered my first question – “Did this fellow make it through the pandemic alright?” So, good. ;^j For years I have been a fan of this music (O Fortuna) and the images of marauding hordes it conjures, sweeping across the landscape, mostly due to movies like Excalibur, I suppose.
I’m now 61 and have been aged-out of leading the IT department at the company where I’ve worked for 33 years, electing to retire early as opposed to remaining, diminished in the eyes of my coworkers (and in my own mind). Be that as it may, dreading this fall’s Presidential election and any possibility of that troll’s return to power, I’ve bought an RV. (Is that why you apply “Snowbird” to yourself?)
Now, in my mind, it is I and my faithful Dog Bella in our 24′ Forester – christened Rhoda Fortuna moving East to West across America, like some 21st century Genghis Kahn, with this music blaring from the external speakers a la Apocalypse Now. That’s been what’s going on in my head since last October. It wasn’t until TODAY, 2/8/24, that I even knew there were words to this Tone Poem. I also found the image of “Fortuna Rota” which you have incorporated in this posting. The blazing background is certainly fatalistic and readily evoked by any mention of DJT. But, I’ve got just one question.
Can you tell me Dr. John, is the image of the wheel itself free from the small “c” in a circle? Not trying to draw eyes or anything.
I just want to use it for some exterior artwork I’m imagining for the over-cab bunk of my RV. Oddly, in my visions from 2023, flames played a part. As of today it is something less permanent and more “In Tune” with Fortune. Not trying to project. Just don’t want to be stuck, sitting in one place if it all does go WHOSH!
I hope for a reply.
Jimmy Holloway
Savannah, GA (…not for very much longer.)
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Feb 17, 2024 @ 07:56:43
Dear Jimmy, I appreciate your comments. I wrote this so long ago I will have to reread it to comment fully to you. As for artwork, I have played fast and loose with my pictures. I get them from Google online and have used many that have been copyrighted. My justification is that I am not selling anything on line or charging anyone to read my blogs. Never have and never will. Thus, I give free exposure to the artists that I use. I do not edit their work and I leave their trademarks on the pictures if they have them. In 15 years and nearly 900 blogs no one has yet complained asked for any kind of redress for my use of their pictures. I am sorry for you being felt somewhat useless or “diminished” at your job. I have written about this very subject that as we get older we lose contacts with the newest stuff and even less interest with staying “cutting edge.” Old AGEISM is certainly in the work places and I have fallen victim to it a few times. Not much to argue about in some cases. As a general rule, our society does not value seniors very much IMHO. John
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