Entry 105: Politics Wednesday (River to River) in Much Ado About Nothing

I shared this image last night on Facebook. It is an accurate feeling and the dates are perfect. I didn’t create this. But yes, as a person also born in 1984… THIS

That said, there is an added feeling of doom. When I sit down at my desk first thing in the morning and see 20 unread e-mails. Now, if I had left early yesterday, come late today, or had missed work in any way? SURE. That is logical. But I stayed late last night and I got in early today. That is “20 e-mails received” between the hours of 6 p.m. and 7 a.m. That’s.... crazy. Worse yet, I still have to spend my entire morning preparing for my entire afternoon because I have a proposed 62 Hearings this afternoon… and remember, Wednesdays used to average between 20 and 30. And they say Conservative Politics are “tough on crime”… for Iowa- HA! For one, you will be sentenced to more jail time for having 32 ounces of marijuana then for beating up your spouse in this state. For the other? Iowa is succeeding at passing a law that opens up gun crimes. They do this every year now where they pass a Gun Based Bill to make Gun Ownership, Gun Access, and Gun Use “less restricted.” And then blame “black people from Chicago” for all the gun violence and gun crime! It is truly ridiculous. It is like the honest and actual connections between poverty, oppression, and violence just… don’t make sense to these people! Thus why they were screaming in horror at anything like CRT, DEI, or even Civil Rights legislation since the GOP super takeover of the Statehouse. Here’s a quick math problem. If you have 100 people and 3 of them will be criminally violent no matter what, your population is 3% criminal. If that same 100 people have 10 people who will commit crimes to feed themselves; your population is 3% criminal and 10% poverty-creating-crime. If that same 100 people have 5 people who join together to fight “their oppressors” and commit crimes like territorial violence; your population is 3% criminal, 10% poverty-creating-crime, and 5% fixable-gang crime. If that same 100 people have 7 people experiencing staggering substance abuse from alcohol to meth; your population is 3% criminal, 10% poverty-creating-crime, 5% fixable-gang crime, and 7% substance abuse related crime. If that same 100 people have 4 people experiencing profound mental health crises; your population is 3% criminal, 10% poverty-creating-crime, 5% fixable-gang crime, 7% substance abuse related crime, and 4% mental health related incidents. And suddenly, it looks like you have a population that is 29% criminal!! But strange how the party that says NO GOVERNMENT SERVICES, NO HANDOUTS, NO HELP FROM GOVERNMENT are the “tough on crime” people because they believe in harsher prisons and (checks notes) pardoning violent criminals based on political affiliation.
I know this is “bleeding heart liberal” territory; but I am a passionate American. Which means I value liberty and freedom. But “not being in jail” isn’t the only kind of liberty or freedom that exists and we need to work towards making sure “the maximum number of people are truly free” for our country to really be “Great Again.” That means sensible responses to poverty, thorough and compassionate responses to healthcare (including mental health). That is making sure we’re not adding to the number of starving children (Kim Reynolds!!) That is addressing housing crises with some other approach than “Poor landlords not growing in wealth is the real crisis.” The biggest problem with the IOWA GOP and FEDERAL GOP response is to consider compassion and caring about the voters to be negative attributes. A response of “Take care of the wealthy, they’ll take care of the people who deserve it” is not just idiotic, it is historically and provably bullshit. And now that even the shrinking middle class is looking at massive financial difficulty… AGAIN for the fourth time in 4 presidents… these problems have been and will continue to be exacerbated.

My Administrative assistant is a married LGBTQ person from California. This means we typically get along fine. Especially in an office like this, it is important to have an assistant that understands WHY I’m not just throwing everyone in prison (which, I can’t put people in prison in this position anyway) but sometimes the juxtaposition of “What We Think is Right” and what Iowa Law permits absolutely breaks her brain. She was in my office this morning freaking out because the school wants us to prosecute two homeless drug addicts who have not been getting their kids to school. My Admin Assistant is climbing the walls because (1) if the school knows about the homelessness and drugs, why isn’t the school helping more? (2) if these parents are homeless drug addicts, why isn’t DHS involved in these kids lives? And… this is where I… AGAIN have to have an entire conversation about how Iowa DHS has been officially “cut loose” regarding ANY AND ALL SCHOOL MATTERS outside of actual, provable abuse. The school is not required to send a person to whichever street corner the parents are on each morning to pick up the student and bring them to class. We barely have the resources to run the bussing programs we have now. And if the child isn’t in school, then even if the School calls DHS to voice a Neglect Concern; DHS shrugs it off saying, “Unless you can show me a photo or video of the kid proving abuse/neglect; I can’t move on ANY truancy-based calls. NONE.” So, yeah… it is more of “Iowa’s Super Majority GOP trying to cut funding or end Government Programs” to ruin the day. BUT it isn’t entirely the State’s cruelty at play here. Parents can rescind their legal rights. If your drug problem and homelessness is causing negative outcomes for your children, you can rescind your parental rights and The System will take the kids. At least try to make sure they get fed, have shelter, and attend school. So… while I will never not be furious about the DHS issues; I’m not exactly crying about prosecuting parents in this case. And all of the preceding is another one of those “and this is why I lose friends who think school is indoctrination, punishment, and mis-treating children.” I have had a number of people tell me that criminalizing truancy in ANY way is morally bankrupt. And frankly? I think a blanket statement like that is objectively absurd. I 100% think the way Iowa does it is bullshit. Upon that we can agree. But a program involving DHS that can verify if it is a Kid Problem or Parent Problem? That, then, has consequences for the kid or the parent if it gets out of control? THAT would be intelligent, necessary, and worthwhile. Putting parents in jail because their kids aren’t going to school? As a blanket response? Seems stupid as hell. But the opposite of a bad idea isn’t automatically a good idea. PUNISH ALL PARENTS WHOSE CHILDREN MISS SCHOOL is stupid and NEVER PUNISH PARENTS WHOSE CHILDREN MISS SCHOOL is also stupid. But that’s also why we’re in the shit we’re in now. Nuanced, refined, intelligent government doesn’t pass The Bumper Sticker Test. And “My 8 Point Plan to Reform Education” hits people like a boring lecture when instead you can crow about your plan to illegally “Terminate the Department of Education by Executive Order!” We are living in the age where it is abysmal, it is tragic, and it is embarrassing but “Harris’ plan to roll out a Budgetary and Economic Plan that covers all demographics of American Labor” isn’t as catching as “TRUMP the Bitch!”

The rest of the work afternoon was not too terrible but was still relentless. So much to do, as ever, as always. But tomorrow would otherwise have been something of a break… but since I am absent on Friday, I’ll need to do Friday and Thursday on Thursday so.... always moving. Tragically, of course, I have my 9 Cases w/Sovereign Citizen scheduled for Monday, so when I get in on Sunday, I may have to come to the office anyway.

But Shakespeare Rehearsals start on Tuesday which will be good. The proposed schedule is funny, though. I appreciate strongly making sure that rehearsals are scheduled for efficiency. If you have 8 characters in one scene, 2 characters in another, and 7 characters in a third.... you rehearse 1, 3, 2 so you can release actors as the scenes require fewer actors. But I SO MUCH MISS the First Table Read! We don’t seem to be doing that anymore and that’s tragic to the point of dismal. I know it is because the Director doesn’t want any actor feeling overly self-conscious about the language and pronunciations and all that and I can respect that. But hearing it together, learning to put voices and faces to characters.... there’s value in that! But our first rehearsal is scheduled thusly:
Act 2, Scene 3
Leonato, Claudio, and Don Pedro stage a conversation for Benedick to overhear. They talk about Beatrice’s desperate love for Benedick, about their fears that her suffering will destroy her, and about how Benedick would mock Beatrice if he knew of her love. Benedick decides that he must love Beatrice in return.
Act 5, Scene 2
Benedick tells Beatrice that he has challenged Claudio. They are summoned to Leonato’s house with the news that Hero’s innocence has been proved.
Act 1, Scene 2
Leonato is given a garbled account of the conversation between Don Pedro and Claudio, and is led to believe that Don Pedro wishes to marry Hero.
Act 1, Scene 1
The army of Don Pedro of Aragon arrives in Messina and is welcomed by Leonato, Messina’s governor. Benedick of Padua, a soldier in Don Pedro’s army, proclaims his enmity to love and engages in a skirmish of wits with Leonato’s niece, Beatrice. Count Claudio, the hero of Don Pedro’s just-ended war, falls in love with Leonato’s daughter Hero and confesses his love to Don Pedro, who decides to woo Hero for Claudio.
Act 2, Scene 1
Don Pedro and his soldiers, disguised in masks, dance with the ladies of Leonato’s household. While Don Pedro woos Hero, Beatrice mocks Benedick. After the dance, Don John distresses Claudio by telling him that Don Pedro has won Hero’s love. When Claudio learns that Hero has been won in his name, he wants to marry her immediately. Leonato insists that at least a week is needed to prepare for the wedding. Don Pedro proposes that the intervening time be used to trick Benedick and Beatrice into falling in love.

So… it really is a rather… jumping around first rehearsal!

What’s terrifying and awful? I’ve changed my diet entirely. Probably still not drinking enough water. And I can already feel another Gout attack looming. My big toe and its neighbor, on the same foot as always, are starting to get angry. I don’t know what the hell is going on!