Joyful Noise

There can't be many songs from the pop/rock canon as purely joyful as the Beatles' "Twist and Shout."  That's the soundtrack to what also may be the most joyful moment in movies (though in HD you can hear some marching band horns were added.) Shot on the streets of Chicago by John Hughes, in Ferris Bueler's Day Off (1986.)  En-joy.

Your Daily Lear: Lewis Carroll

Today's guest author is Lewis Carroll, from his "Melodies," part of Useful and Instructive Poetry (which, as you might have guessed, is a joke.)

There was once a young man of Oporta,
Who daily got shorter and shorter,
  The reason he said
  Was the hod on his head,
Which was filled with the heaviest mortar.

His sister, named Lucy O'Finner,
Grew constantly thinner and thinner;
  The reason was plain,
  She slept out in the rain,
And was never allowed any dinner.

Lights in the Darkness (with Update)

Amanda and Cameron at the impeachment rally in San Jose on Tuesday. 

New York City

San Francisco

Virginia

Des Moines, Iowa

San Jose CA

Sherman Oaks Galleria, southern CA

Photos from Impeachment demonstrations across the US on Tuesday, captured from San Jose Mercury News online.  Follow the link for all copyrights.

The House of Representatives appears to have more than enough committed votes to impeach Homemade Hitler.  On Tuesday, several Democrats speaking in Congressional session pointed out that the crimes described in the first article of impeachment are ongoing, and that they continue to be a threat to the integrity of the 2020 election.

Also ongoing are other instances of abuse of power, which threaten American democracy with the actions of dictatorship.  What the impeachment hearings have revealed most of all is the willing complicity of other members of the administration, the Republican leaders of the Senate, and the entire Republican party.

The Democrats in Congress had the constitutional responsibility to investigate and impeach.  Millions of Americans added their voices upholding the Constitution and the rule of law by supporting these efforts, including the thousands who marched on Tuesday.

All of this is preliminary to the decisive 2020 elections.  But all of it is necessary. A constitutional democracy requires responsible citizens and officeholders.  In the end, calculations of political consequences are secondary. They cannot be predicted anyway.

Update Wednesday December 17, 2019

The U.S. House of Representatives impeached President Donald Trump, on two articles charging him with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, both high crimes against the Constitution of the United States.

In a new development, it is now uncertain when the House will send the articles to the Senate for trial.  In an unprecedented insult to the Constitution and his own oath of office, Senate leader McConnell has announced that he will follow White House direction, and that he in no sense will play an impartial role, with no question as to the outcome of the trial.  Democrats have been denied the right to call witnesses.  Since a fair trial is therefore impossible, the House may deny the Senate the opportunity--or at least the fairly immediate opportunity--to in effect declare Trump acquitted.

Poetry Monday: The Breathing

The Breathing

An absolute
patience.
Trees stand
up to their knees in
fog.  The fog
slowly flows uphill.
         White
cobwebs, the grass
leaning where deer
have looked for apples.
The woods
from brook to where
the top of the hill looks
over the fog, send up
not one bird.
So absolute, it is
no other than
happiness itself, a breathing
too quiet to hear.

Denise Levertov