In the Sandwich That Is North America, We Are the Baloney in the Middle
... with high levels of processed toxicity & unhealthful impacts.
Yes. It’s true. I’m going with a sandwich analogy. That’s where things sit at the moment. And I’m aware that bologna is the correct spelling for this health-challenged meat-product, but given baloney’s meaning—“the derogatory term for nonsense or foolish talk,” with synonyms like “hogwash, hooey, and humbug”—that spelling seems a better fit for the points to follow.
On Monday, April 28th, Canada’s Liberal Party candidate, Mark Carney, won the election to hold his seat as prime minister, in bold and plate-shifting defiance of Donald Trump’s demand to his (in his mind only) soon-to-be subjects of the 51st state of Canada. They were commanded to elect Conservative Party candidate, Pierre Poilievre, but apparently Trump’s soon-to-be (in his mind only) subjects didn’t give a hoot what the addled president of their southern neighbor foot-stomped, because Pierre not only didn’t win the PM slot, he lost his seat in Parliament … to a Liberal candidate. Yes, it remains a truism that #ETTD (Everything Trump Touches Dies … as coined by political strategist, Rick Wilson).
So, in the sandwich (yep, still going with it) that is North America, Canada’s the top slice. The bottom slice is Mexico.
In a country known for its cultural machismo, rampant drug violence, and systemic patriarchy, brilliant leftist candidate, Claudia Sheinbaum—a climate scientist, activist, and former mayor of Mexico City (first woman to hold that position)—became the first woman in Mexico’s history to be elected president. Bringing her fearless, aggressive energy and intelligence to the position, she has loudly (with glint and grin) stood up to the bloated bombast of her counterpart to the north, much to admiration of many, including us middle people. And not only has she held firm with the man, she’s found ways to best him (“You’re tough,” Trump’s reported to have admitted), which you know must drive him crazy. She is widely, wildly, applauded, particularly by women both here and there, for her candor and courage.
Side-note: when a country as patriarchal as Mexico elects a female president for the first time in 200 years, it seems undeniable that the States’ continued resistance to the same is a flagrant example of regressive, persistent sexism.
To continue with my analogy, it’s the United States of America that’s tucked in between these two emerging liberal powers, north and south, and no sandwich filler better represents our current state of “hogwash, hooey, and humbug” than the processed combo of hooves, meat hash, and organs known as “baloney.” We, the once-great land of opportunity, the melting pot that carved Emma Lazarus’s words— "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free”—into the Statue of Liberty, priding ourselves on our global respect, cultural excellence, and innovative spirit, have become Play-Doh in the tiny, bruised hands of the dumbest man who’s ever been in our White House, stupidity made toxic by his malevolent narcissism and desire to, like an orange Dr. Evil, take over the world. There are stronger words to fling at that grossly unpleasant reality, but baloney fits the analogy so I’m stickin’ with it.
It’s shocking, though, how much “hogwash” has been splattered on us during these first 100 days of crime and chaos, and if you suffered though a viewing of the recent cabinet meeting “celebrating” Trump’s first 100 days, you might think you’ve landed in North Korea where servile staff are obliged to “adore” Dear Leader, or stumbled upon a besuited cult gathering. I only caught clips, but Attorney General, Pam Bondi, was particularly cringey…
“Mr. President, your first 100 days has far exceeded that of any other presidency in this country. Ever. Ever. Never seen anything like it. Thank you.”
If you’ve got the stomach for the entire roll of hooey, I present this video, a smorgasbord of simpering sycophancy. I advise skimming while sipping club soda to keep your stomach settled.
A hundred days in, we can no longer polish our medals and pretend we citizens of the United States are superior examples of democracy, freedom, and integrity, better and more admirable than either our northern or southern neighbors. At the moment, with their shiny new leaders and us under the thumb of ignorance, cruelty, and authoritarianism, we are not. Far from it. We are, instead, fodder for a party that has all branches of government in hand, and is using that power to decimate, demean, and destroy that same government and its people. We’ve been talking, reading, discussing what to do; we’ve been marching, protesting, calling, and writing. And while we must continue doing all those things, especially as we get closer to the midterms, we need our representatives in government (the ones not gushing about Trump’s “accomplishments”) to step up in a big way, one that eschews bothsidesisms, rejects timidity and ineffectual decorum, and comes out with gloves on, ready to fight like hell.
Making the rounds on social media is a speech by Illinois governor, J.B. Pritzker, given to Democrats in New Hampshire this week; it’s gone viral for good reason. He’s been both praised (by sane people) and pilloried (by MAGA, of course) for his unvarnished call-to-action, mostly because of the fearlessness with which he speaks, holding truth to the chaos, corruption, and criminality of the Trump administration, as well as the too-frequent tepidness of well-meaning but ineffectual Democrats. His fire has inspired ears to perk, heads to turn, eyes to widen, and fists to rise in solidarity. It’s been transcribed by The Democracy Labs, but I’ll share a few excerpts from political guru Heather Cox Richardson I found worth pulling out:
There has been a change afoot in the Democratic Party for a while now as its leaders shift from trying to find common ground with Republicans to standing firmly against MAGAs and articulating their own vision for the United States.
That shift burst dramatically into the open last night when Democratic Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker gave a barn-burning speech to Democrats in New Hampshire. After walking out to the American Authors song “Go Big or Go Home,” Pritzker urged Democrats to stop listening to “do-nothing political types” who are calling for caution at a time when Americans are demanding urgent action, and to “fight—EVERYWHERE AND ALL AT ONCE.” …
He called on Democrats to “stop wondering if you can trust the nuclear codes to people who don’t know how to organize a group chat. It’s time to stop ignoring the hypocrisy in wearing a big gold cross while announcing the defunding of children’s cancer research. And time to stop thinking we can reason or negotiate with a madman. Time to stop apologizing when we were NOT wrong. Time to stop surrendering, when we need to fight. …
Pritzker called on Democrats to be “bold and our ideas fearless…. And we must deliver on that agenda for working families and for the real people who truly make America great.”
“I understand the tendency to give in to despair right now,” he said, “But despair is an indulgence that we cannot afford in the times upon which history turns. Never before in my life have I called for mass protests, for mobilization, for disruption. But I am now.
“These Republicans cannot know a moment of peace. They have to understand that we will fight their cruelty with every megaphone and microphone that we have. We must castigate them on the soap box, and then punish them at the ballot box. They must feel in their bones that when we survive this shameful episode of American history with our democracy intact—because we have no alternative but to do just that—that we will relegate their portraits to the museum halls reserved for tyrants and traitors.”
“Cowardice can be contagious,” Pritzker said, “But so too can courage…. Just as the hope that we hold onto in the darkness, shines with its own...special light.
“Tonight, I’m telling you what I’m willing to do...is fight—for our democracy, for our liberty, for the opportunity for all our people to live lives that are meaningful and free. And I see around me tonight a roomful of people who are ready to do the same.”
“So I have one question for all of you,” Pritzker said. “Are you ready for the fight?”
I am. Everyone I know is. The millions out in the streets every week are. And more and more of our representatives in Congress are finding their “fight-spines.” So thank you, Governor Pritzker, for the pep talk. We needed it. Our representatives needed it. Hopefully they’ll implement it. Because no one in this once-great country wants to be the toxic, crappy filler sandwiched between two countries who are currently showing us up by a whole host of metrics. We want to reclaim our brand as the powerful beacon of light, freedom, and democracy we were deigned and designed to be.
I urge you to read Pritzker’s full speech and let it infuse you with the fire we need to spark and nurture without interruption. Cuz it ain’t gettin’ easier or less insane out there. Every single damn day there’s something new to bemoan, protest, be terrified or enraged about. Every. Single. Day. So keep fighting. Don’t stop. Sit for moment when you have to, do your art, your life, your walks in nature, then get back up and out every chance you can. Because, as the man said, we’ve got to “FIGHT—EVERYWHERE AND ALL AT ONCE.”
And that ain’t no baloney.
Galvanizing words, Lorraine, written by someone unafraid of getting into the fray. Your words are inspirational and NECESSARY, not conciliatory nonsense sprinkled haphazardly and politely to quell the mounting rage at the injustices being waged.
We’re in for the fight of a lifetime. FOR our lives, and for those to come. I believe more and more people are finally realizing this.
Keep writing. If you stir just one other person to get up and join this movement - if each one of us could move just one other person to join, this would become an inexorable tide that would wash clean the stench in the WH.
You say baloney, I say bologna.... Another great article, Lorraine!