07/03/24

Good morning! It’s Wednesday, July 3rd.

National Stay Out of the Sun Day

Good advice no matter what, but especially in the middle of a heat wave.

And now, the news.

So listen – I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the last few days have been jam-packed with some really tough news.

In its last week, and a day, in session, the Supreme Court ruled that homelessness is a crime for which folks can be jailed, bribery is okay, experts are not, and the president is immune from prosecution.

It is currently an open question about whether President Biden should be the democratic candidate, even though Trump has 34 felonies against him. And speaking of those 34 felonies – though sentencing was meant to be done on July 11th, it has been delayed until September 18th because, thanks to Monday’s Supreme Court ruling, Trump is appealing his guilty verdict.

So it’s not been the very best moment.

I’m recording this on an energy drink, tea, coffee, and very little sleep. I’m tired and more than that, after this week, I’m exhausted.

There is so much news and I am just… tuckered! Exhausted from the news and tuckered from the lack of sleep.

So today’s going to be a quick one. I promise that next week I’m going to get back into regular episodes. Because there is still news. We are still a nation.

But we are a nation at a very serious turning point.

These next few months are going to take work.

But I do believe that it is work worth doing.

Or, to quote Leslie Knope - “Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.

Technically that’s Theodore Roosevelt but I mean… come on…

Anyway, the point is… the work is worth it. The country is worth it.

But that work is going to take time and energy. It is going to be fun and difficult and it is going to empty reserves if only to fill that back up again.

I had a whole plan of doing a really optimistic look at the country, as a whole, for this episode ahead of the 4th of July break.

But I don’t think that’s the right move here. Because the truth is, I don’t know how to feel about a country that will only regulate what I can do with my body. Presidents can do insurrection, and any elected official can do bribes. Experts no longer have authority. Homelessness is a crime punishable by jail.

But my decision about my body is not my own.

That, they will happily regulate.

And so I don’t know how to feel about this country, in this moment.

Except.

Except I think of James Baldwin - “I love America more than any other country in the world and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.”

Fireworks have been going off for the last couple of days. We’ll see and hear them everywhere this weekend.

Patriotism looks different for everyone.

For me, it has always looked like loving this country enough to demand better for her.

To demand better of her.

This weekend I will see friends. Take naps. And make plans.

The news will be back on July 8th.

I suggest you also see friends and take naps this weekend. Because starting on the 8th, we’re getting to work.

And that’s it – that’s the episode.

I’m proud of the sun. It’s blistering and relentless and impossible to ignore.

Wear sunscreen.

But more than that, more than the sun, because you are impossible to ignore but in a good way… I’m proud of you.