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The Mask of the Red Death
Author: BobR    Date: 05/25/2017 13:33:06

THE "Red Death" had long devastated the country. No pestilence had ever been so fatal, or so hideous. Blood was its Avatar and its seal --the redness and the horror of blood. There were sharp pains, and sudden dizziness, and then profuse bleeding at the pores, with dissolution. The scarlet stains upon the body and especially upon the face of the victim, were the pest ban which shut him out from the aid and from the sympathy of his fellow-men. And the whole seizure, progress and termination of the disease, were the incidents of half an hour.
- "The Mask of the Red Death" by Edgar Allen Poe


We humans all share the same planet. From space, there are no boundaries, save for natural ones (the oceans, rivers, and high mountain ranges). There is a tribalism that we pass on from generation to generation, however, that seeks to divide us, to compartmentalize us, to instill an "us -vs- them" conflict that is unnecessary and harmful. Our xenophobic and racial and religious and cultural mistrust of "others" is like a scourge upon humanity. Even acknowledging its existence does not preclude us from engaging in wars both big and small. So much energy and time and money is employed in perpetuating it, that it prevents us (or perhaps at least retards us) from attaining those heights which would benefit us all.

But the Prince Prospero was happy and dauntless and sagacious. When his dominions were half depopulated, he summoned to his presence a thousand hale and light-hearted friends from among the knights and dames of his court, and with these retired to the deep seclusion of one of his castellated abbeys. This was an extensive and magnificent structure, the creation of the prince's own eccentric yet august taste. A strong and lofty wall girdled it in. This wall had gates of iron. The courtiers, having entered, brought furnaces and massy hammers and welded the bolts. They resolved to leave means neither of ingress or egress to the sudden impulses of despair or of frenzy from within


Americans in particular are prone to this. We divide ourselves by race and class and region, perpetuating myth and anger at one another. We claim superiority over all the world while studiously ignoring our failings. We ignore the horrors occurring daily around the planet - in Africa, in the Middle East, in parts of Asia... Only when fellow European (i.e.: white) humans suffer do our hearts feel the pinch. That pain pain fades quickly as we return to celebrity and sport, as we allow ourselves to be sedated by the soporific lure of network TV. We clamor to build borders around our country to keep the undesirables out and our treasures in.

It was toward the close of the fifth or sixth month of his seclusion, and while the pestilence raged most furiously abroad, that the Prince Prospero entertained his thousand friends at a masked ball of the most unusual magnificence.


Even within the walls of our country, however, we are building fences. The rich keep getting richer and the middle class keeps shrinking. As more wealth defies gravity and falls upward into the offshore bank accounts of the wealthy, the poor become ever more destitute, and the majority of the populace grabs onto whatever they have, and cast suspicions up anyone they think might be trying to alleviate them of it.

And the revel went whirlingly on, until at length there commenced the sounding of midnight upon the clock. And then the music ceased, as I have told; and the evolutions of the waltzers were quieted; and there was an uneasy cessation of all things as before. But now there were twelve strokes to be sounded by the bell of the clock; and thus it happened, perhaps, that more of thought crept, with more of time, into the meditations of the thoughtful among those who revelled. And thus, too, it happened, perhaps, that before the last echoes of the last chime had utterly sunk into silence, there were many individuals in the crowd who had found leisure to become aware of the presence of a masked figure which had arrested the attention of no single individual before.


Thus, there grows suspicion in the fertile soil of imagination, and he who can plant the seeds of distrust may harvest the crop of allegiance which grows from it. Republicans in general, and tRump in particular have been the major benefactors of that mistrust, as voters go to the polls and choose those politicians whose positions are outwardly against those voters' best interests, because those politicians are better at the propaganda and sowing of mistrust. Whenever there occurs a grotesquery (such as a mass shooting), the suspicion immediately becomes terrorism, and liberals are blamed for not engaging in extreme tribalism.

The figure was tall and gaunt, and shrouded from head to foot in the habiliments of the grave. The mask which concealed the visage was made so nearly to resemble the countenance of a stiffened corpse that the closest scrutiny must have had difficulty in detecting the cheat. And yet all this might have been endured, if not approved, by the mad revellers around. But the mummer had gone so far as to assume the type of the Red Death. His vesture was dabbled in blood --and his broad brow, with all the features of the face, was besprinkled with the scarlet horror.


This feedback loop of tribalism, mistrust, fear, and lashing out creates the situation we are in today. When Bob Dylan wrote "when you ain't got nothing, you got nothing to lose", it foretold the situation we are now in, where desperate people cling to religious extremism with the hope that the reward they could not find in this life will be granted them in the next. That desperation does not respect borders or class or the subtleties and commonalities of the three major Abrahamic religions. The walls go up in a vain attempt to keep the desperation out.

Then, summoning the wild courage of despair, a throng of the revellers at once threw themselves into the black apartment, and, seizing the mummer, whose tall figure stood erect and motionless within the shadow of the ebony clock, gasped in unutterable horror at finding the grave-cerements and corpse-like mask which they handled with so violent a rudeness, untenanted by any tangible form.


We elected a "man" who claimed he would build a wall to keep us safe from the marauding hordes of brown people looking for jobs and economic opportunity. He claimed he would bomb a geographically incongruous band of pillaging modern-day vikings led by their bastardized vision of religion. He claimed he would protect our economy from the less conspicuous and consumptive lifestyle of the rest of the world. He has done none of this of course. The wall would be paid for with the meager earnings of lower middle class. He has kept out Muslim doctors while the terrorists infect the minds of our disadvantaged and pliable youth via the internet. And his budget, health care and government proposals all favor the wealthy and big business. As a final insult, he has invited the "red menace" within the walls of the castle, and provided access to the highest office of power.

It's time to reboot and find a different path forward. The path we are on now has hit a dead end.

And now was acknowledged the presence of the Red Death. He had come like a thief in the night. And one by one dropped the revellers in the blood-bedewed halls of their revel, and died each in the despairing posture of his fall. And the life of the ebony clock went out with that of the last of the gay. And the flames of the tripods expired. And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all.



 

 
 
 

55 comments (Latest Comment: 05/26/2017 00:24:08 by Scoopster)
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Comment by wickedpam on 05/25/2017 13:27:07
Morning

Comment by Raine on 05/25/2017 13:44:23
Woah.

your blog gave me shivers this morning.

good Morning.

Comment by wickedpam on 05/25/2017 14:01:24


Comment by Scoopster on 05/25/2017 14:03:26
Mornin' all..

Polls are now open in Montana!

Comment by Raine on 05/25/2017 14:05:45
Quote by Scoopster:
Mornin' all..

Polls are now open in Montana!

That dude needs to be in jail!

Comment by Will in Chicago on 05/25/2017 14:05:50
Good morning, bloggers!!

BobR, this is a great blog which I will be glad to share later. We have leaders who do not lead and we have fools filling posts once held by people of great talent. Above all else, we have a regime where compassion, competency, and knowledge are vices and the cardinal virtues include hatred, incompetence and a celebration of ignorance.

I have a sense of foreboding about this administration and where we may go if we do not change the path of our nation and our world. The following is one of my favorite poems and I think that Edgar Allen Poe would have thought that pairing it with the Masque of Red Death would be fitting.

The Second Coming Related Poem Content Details
BY WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?




Comment by Scoopster on 05/25/2017 14:09:05
And now I've got an earworm for both Iron Maiden and the Stone Roses.

Comment by trojanrabbit on 05/25/2017 14:12:46
Quote by Raine:
Quote by Scoopster:
Mornin' all..

Polls are now open in Montana!

That dude needs to be in jail!


Apparently assault only gets you a max of 6 months in jail. I'm sure his sheriff friend will just gloss it over. Remember the Republican way, shooting a lawyer in the face while being shitfaced gets you an apology from the lawyer.


Comment by Scoopster on 05/25/2017 14:13:03
Hannity's turn to take the vacation of shame.

And there's now seven advertisers who've pulled ads from his tv show.

Comment by Scoopster on 05/25/2017 14:14:50
Quote by trojanrabbit:
Quote by Raine:
Quote by Scoopster:
Mornin' all..

Polls are now open in Montana!

That dude needs to be in jail!

Apparently assault only gets you a max of 6 months in jail. I'm sure his sheriff friend will just gloss it over. Remember the Republican way, shooting a lawyer in the face while being shitfaced gets you an apology from the lawyer.

From what I'm hearing, Montana's law regarding assault requires a broken bone for the charge to be escalated to a felony. Just beating someone senseless and breaking their personal property (glasses) can still be considered a misdemeanor.

Comment by Raine on 05/25/2017 14:21:39



Comment by Raine on 05/25/2017 14:29:09
Can we call this EPIC level shade towards dolt45?







Comment by Scoopster on 05/25/2017 14:31:29
BTW, can I just say that I think Gianforte did this deliberately for the incessant press coverage. Good or bad, he's monopolizing the entire news cycle while everyone who hasn't already voted does so.

Comment by Raine on 05/25/2017 14:35:33
meanwhile in Brussels...
Capital police in Brussels reported a crowd of 9,000 protesters.

Brussels marks the fourth stop of Trump's first overseas trip as president. There, he is set to attend a NATO summit before leaving for Sicily to participate in the G7 Summit.



Comment by Raine on 05/25/2017 14:36:06
Quote by Scoopster:
BTW, can I just say that I think Gianforte did this deliberately for the incessant press coverage. Good or bad, he's monopolizing the entire news cycle while everyone who hasn't already voted does so.

I thnk we have 'roid rage going on.

Comment by Scoopster on 05/25/2017 14:47:13
This isn't an isolated incident. From one of the three MT papers who rescinded their endorsements:




Comment by wickedpam on 05/25/2017 14:49:47
Macron Won't Let Go Its at the very end of the video

Comment by Raine on 05/25/2017 14:51:31
I think that Trump is now running scared in Brussels.
The president is expected to get an earful from British Prime Minister Theresa May following the apparent leak. In a statement, Trump said "there is no relationship we cherish more than the Special Relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom," and promised that his administration would get to the bottom of the matter.



Comment by Raine on 05/25/2017 14:54:28
Does anyone know if Bannon came back Stateside before or after MAnchester?

Someone leaked and it had to be from the Bannon wing of the National Security Council.

Comment by Scoopster on 05/25/2017 14:55:56
Quote by Raine:
Does anyone know if Bannon came back Stateside before or after MAnchester?

Someone leaked and it had to be from the Bannon wing of the National Security Council.

Yes both he and Priebus returned iirc.

Comment by Raine on 05/25/2017 15:01:36
Quote by Scoopster:
Quote by Raine:
Does anyone know if Bannon came back Stateside before or after MAnchester?

Someone leaked and it had to be from the Bannon wing of the National Security Council.

Yes both he and Priebus returned iirc.

Yes they did, I have to wonder now more than before, WHY.

Comment by Raine on 05/25/2017 15:05:04
Quote by wickedpam:
Macron Won't Let Go Its at the very end of the video

That seems a little passive agressive -- and well deserved!

Comment by wickedpam on 05/25/2017 15:09:08
Quote by Raine:
Quote by wickedpam:
Macron Won't Let Go Its at the very end of the video

That seems a little passive agressive -- and well deserved!



Yeppers - good on Macron.

Comment by Raine on 05/25/2017 15:13:57
This needs to be verified, and if true, jeebus a krispy.





Comment by wickedpam on 05/25/2017 15:14:31



Comment by wickedpam on 05/25/2017 15:16:08
Quote by Raine:
This needs to be verified, and if true, jeebus a krispy.






We are all going to have a permanent twitch by the time this is over

Comment by Raine on 05/25/2017 15:16:52



Comment by Raine on 05/25/2017 15:22:00
Quote by Raine:







Comment by Scoopster on 05/25/2017 15:32:30
Both Trump and Pence have recorded robocalls for the GOP candidate in Montana.

Robocalls are illegal under Montana state law.

Comment by Raine on 05/25/2017 15:45:30
Quote by Scoopster:
Both Trump and Pence have recorded robocalls for the GOP candidate in Montana.

Robocalls are illegal under Montana state law.

GDMT.

Comment by livingonli on 05/25/2017 16:04:53
Good morning, folks. Just giving you an update on where things are going right now. My roommate moved out this past weekend to help out his mom in South Carolina. He's been down there since August and it seemed to be going that way when he took the cat and the living room TV down in January. Now, I have to get a new roommate and my landlord wants it done as quick as possible. And this is while I am still supposed to be looking for a job. And since I can't afford the full rent, there is much to do. And this week, I have four and a half shifts so I don't have a lot of down time this week. Hopefully next week will be a little better.

Comment by Raine on 05/25/2017 16:07:34



Comment by Mondobubba on 05/25/2017 16:09:07
Quote by wickedpam:
Quote by Raine:
This needs to be verified, and if true, jeebus a krispy.






We are all going to have a permanent twitch by the time this is over


Mala, I already have one.

Comment by Raine on 05/25/2017 16:10:02
Quote by livingonli:
Good morning, folks. Just giving you an update on where things are going right now. My roommate moved out this past weekend to help out his mom in South Carolina. He's been down there since August and it seemed to be going that way when he took the cat and the living room TV down in January. Now, I have to get a new roommate and my landlord wants it done as quick as possible. And this is while I am still supposed to be looking for a job. And since I can't afford the full rent, there is much to do. And this week, I have four and a half shifts so I don't have a lot of down time this week. Hopefully next week will be a little better.
Yikes.

There are a number of Roommate finder services -- I suggest looking in that direction.

DO NOT USE CRAIGSLIST!


Comment by Raine on 05/25/2017 16:29:03
Seriously -- the looks on thier faces.






Comment by livingonli on 05/25/2017 16:31:19
Just flipped on MASN and see someone at the Nats game who's sitting there with his face in the Washington Post. Why did he buy a ticket to the game? I know they moved it from 4 PM to Noon because the weather is supposed to be bad later.

Comment by Raine on 05/25/2017 16:38:09
Quote by livingonli:
Just flipped on MASN and see someone at the Nats game who's sitting there with his face in the Washington Post. Why did he buy a ticket to the game? I know they moved it from 4 PM to Noon because the weather is supposed to be bad later.

Probably bought the ticket a while back?

Comment by BobR on 05/25/2017 16:42:32
So this is tRump for this week. Did I miss anything or mischaracterize anything?

- Told a hostile foreign leader we had 2 nuclear subs off the coast of N. Korea
- Admitted to passing classified information to the Russians, but hey - "didn't mention Israel", at least until this week
- Pushed a fellow NATO attendee out of the way to get to the front of the group
- Refused to sign an acknowledgement of Article 5 of NATO pact
- Berated fellow NATO countries in an address, while they laughed at him

Comment by Mondobubba on 05/25/2017 16:47:36
Quote by BobR:
So this is tRump for this week. Did I miss anything or mischaracterize anything?

- Told a hostile foreign leader we had 2 nuclear subs off the coast of N. Korea
- Admitted to passing classified information to the Russians, but hey - "didn't mention Israel", at least until this week
- Pushed a fellow NATO attendee out of the way to get to the front of the group
- Refused to sign an acknowledgement of Article 5 of NATO pact
- Berated fellow NATO countries in an address, while they laughed at him


Nope. That seems all correct.


Comment by Raine on 05/25/2017 16:50:48
Quote by Raine:
Seriously -- the looks on thier faces.





Just gonna drop this here.


BRUSSELS — President Trump, speaking at a ceremony Thursday to dedicate a memorial to NATO’s resolve in the wake of the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, publicly chastised his fellow alliance leaders for not being “fair” to U.S. taxpayers.

Trump used the occasion of his maiden summit with NATO leaders in Brussels, where he was invited to dedicate the September 2001 memorial, to remind the alliance that “23 of the 28 member nations are still not paying what they should be paying and what they are supposed to be paying,” and that they owe “massive amounts” from past years.



Comment by wickedpam on 05/25/2017 16:51:45
Quote by Mondobubba:
Quote by wickedpam:
Quote by Raine:
This needs to be verified, and if true, jeebus a krispy.






We are all going to have a permanent twitch by the time this is over


Mala, I already have one.





Comment by TriSec on 05/25/2017 16:56:50
How much longer until Trump is expelled from Europe? Should the republic survive, I wonder what future historians will make of this era?

Comment by Scoopster on 05/25/2017 18:00:36
4th Circuit Court of Appeals just announced that it's upholding the injunction on the Muslim Ban EO.

Comment by wickedpam on 05/25/2017 18:04:22
Quote by Scoopster:
4th Circuit Court of Appeals just announced that it's upholding the injunction on the Muslim Ban EO.


nice :D

Comment by Scoopster on 05/25/2017 18:06:51
Quote by wickedpam:
Quote by Scoopster:
4th Circuit Court of Appeals just announced that it's upholding the injunction on the Muslim Ban EO.

nice :D

Full text of the ruling (PDF)

Comment by Raine on 05/25/2017 18:11:32
Quote by wickedpam:
Quote by Scoopster:
4th Circuit Court of Appeals just announced that it's upholding the injunction on the Muslim Ban EO.


nice :D

YES YES YES!

Comment by Raine on 05/25/2017 18:12:37
Quote by TriSec:
How much longer until Trump is expelled from Europe? Should the republic survive, I wonder what future historians will make of this era?

The Drumf Ages is what I would call it.

Comment by Scoopster on 05/25/2017 19:03:38
From the ruling doc (snipped a lil bit):
The Government does not contest that, in some circumstances, the prolonged separation of family members can constitute an injury-in-fact ;.... instead argues that Doe #1’s claimed injury is speculative and non-imminent, .... such that it is not “legally and judicially cognizable.” According to the Government, Doe #1 has failed to show that his threatened injury—prolonged separation from his wife—is imminent. It asserts that Doe #1 has offered no reason to believe that Section 2©â€™s “short pause” on entry “will delay the issuance of [his wife’s] visa.”

But this ignores that Section 2© appears to operate by design to delay the issuance of visas to foreign nationals. Section 2©â€™s “short pause” on entry effectively halts the issuance of visas for ninety days—as the Government acknowledges, it “would be pointless to issue a visa to an alien who the consular officer already knows is barred from entering the country.” .... The Government also cites 8 U.S.C. § 1201(g), which provides in relevant part that “[n]o visa or other documentation shall be issued to an alien if it appears to the consular officer . . . that such alien is ineligible to receive a visa or other documentation under section 1182 of this title.” See also U.S. Dep’t of State, 9 Foreign Affairs Manual 302.14–3(B) (2016). A ninety-day pause on issuing visas would seem to necessarily inject at least some delay into any pending application’s timeline. And in fact, the Government suggests that pending visa applications might not be delayed, but denied. .... A denial on such grounds would mean that once the entry suspension period concludes, an alien would have to restart from the beginning the lengthy visa application process. What is more, Section 2© is designed to “reduce investigative burdens on relevant agencies” to facilitate worldwide review of the current procedures for “screening and vetting of foreign nationals.” Logically, dedicating time and resources to a global review process will further slow the adjudication of pending applications.


This ruling is brutal.

Comment by Raine on 05/25/2017 19:49:38
Quote by Scoopster:
From the ruling doc (snipped a lil bit):
The Government does not contest that, in some circumstances, the prolonged separation of family members can constitute an injury-in-fact ;.... instead argues that Doe #1’s claimed injury is speculative and non-imminent, .... such that it is not “legally and judicially cognizable.” According to the Government, Doe #1 has failed to show that his threatened injury—prolonged separation from his wife—is imminent. It asserts that Doe #1 has offered no reason to believe that Section 2©â€™s “short pause” on entry “will delay the issuance of [his wife’s] visa.”

But this ignores that Section 2© appears to operate by design to delay the issuance of visas to foreign nationals. Section 2©â€™s “short pause” on entry effectively halts the issuance of visas for ninety days—as the Government acknowledges, it “would be pointless to issue a visa to an alien who the consular officer already knows is barred from entering the country.” .... The Government also cites 8 U.S.C. § 1201(g), which provides in relevant part that “[n]o visa or other documentation shall be issued to an alien if it appears to the consular officer . . . that such alien is ineligible to receive a visa or other documentation under section 1182 of this title.” See also U.S. Dep’t of State, 9 Foreign Affairs Manual 302.14–3(B) (2016). A ninety-day pause on issuing visas would seem to necessarily inject at least some delay into any pending application’s timeline. And in fact, the Government suggests that pending visa applications might not be delayed, but denied. .... A denial on such grounds would mean that once the entry suspension period concludes, an alien would have to restart from the beginning the lengthy visa application process. What is more, Section 2© is designed to “reduce investigative burdens on relevant agencies” to facilitate worldwide review of the current procedures for “screening and vetting of foreign nationals.” Logically, dedicating time and resources to a global review process will further slow the adjudication of pending applications.


This ruling is brutal.
When will trump call for the 4th Circuit to be dissolved?


I keep hearing on WTOP that the vote was not unanimous (this is from judicial experts) but overall they found his travel ban skeptical -- so while not unanimous it seems that everyone gave it a super side eye.

dolt45 may very well take this to the Supreme court.

Comment by Raine on 05/25/2017 19:51:09
Quote by Raine:
Quote by Raine:






I Am learning that the guy he shoved was Prime Minister Dusko Markovic of Montenegro.

The Montenegro that joined NATO after Putin threatened them NOT TO JOIN.

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