If you don't like my fire, then don't come around.

  I'm not going to lie. I'm still pretty pissed off about the Mississippi Supreme Court decision yesterday. The more I thought about it, the angrier I got. The more I contemplated the ramifications, the more infuriated I got. Ironic, isn't it, as I could've definitely benefitted from a joint right about then.

 In yesterday's News, I wrote about but to catch everyone up, the state supreme court voted 6-3 in favor of a lawsuit that invalidated Initiative 65, the medical marijuana initiative. Despite passing with an overwhelming 3-4 majority, the judges ruled it invalid because the initiative process requires signatures from all five of Mississippi's U.S. Congressional districts and we ain't had five since 2000. The lawsuit was issued by Mary Hawkins Butler, the mayor of Madison for the past 40 years. Madison is a white-flight suburb of mostly black Jackson.

 Butler's reasoning was that the initiative failed the five-district rule, but it's more likely that the city government of Madison gets a fairly solid chunk of any business' profits that sets up shop in city limits. From what I understand, most of it goes to the mayor's office side rather than the city council's side because the two hate each other. Of the judges, three are voted in and the other six were appointed by Republican governors but the vote was pretty bipartisan. That said, five of the six appointed judges voted against it.

 So, the judges decided that since the state legislature hasn't gotten around to fix the law or the districts, the initiative process was null and void from here on out. This is weird, because we have a Voter ID law that passed via initiative, and no one bucked on that. It will be interesting to see if that becomes an issue, but I'm sure the state government will tell anyone who does to skip rope.

 What makes things really interesting is there was an initiative going around to expand Medicaid coverage in the state and it's pretty popular, at least as popular as medical marijuana. That explains a lot, really. Voting in this state is extremely restrictive. One in nine citizens can't vote because they're ex-cons, and 60 percent of them are black. We can't do mail-in unless you have a "good reason" and a notary's signature. It's incredibly gerrymandered and up until last November, a governor had to win not only the popular vote but also a majority of the state's congressional district. That was an initiative, too.

 And that explains it, really. The state government was fine with initiatives until the folk that live in the state start voting for things that actually make their lives better. Voter ID is fine. It makes voting just a wee bit harder, so that's fine. But getting folks to a point where they can afford healthcare and not burn themselves out on opioids? That's got to be nipped in the bud.

 I said this on Twitter yesterday, but this isn't a bipartisan thing. Nor is a black or white thing or, for that matter a Protestant Christian or non-Protestant Christian thing. This state has a long, long history of wanting a Ruling Class and a Lower Class. It's burned into our cultural psyche. The whole country is like that, but Mississippi is worse. It's distilled down to its purest form. This is basically William Faulkner's whole oeuvre: people who step on folks to get to the top and the damage that causes for everyone.

 Of course, this gives the rest of the country an opportunity to shit on us while they don't actually do anything to help. I don't think people get that. Since the 1890 state constitution, the non-Elite of this state has been up against the wall and told this how it's supposed to be. Outsiders say move when they really can't understand that most people would if they could, but the thumb's down on folks. And not everyone wants to leave the only home they've ever known. Help or piss off.

 But I know they won't. Liberals or leftists, socialists or communists, none of them really, really give a shit about the people of Mississippi. White or black, doesn't matter, we deserve what we get because we can't push the thumb off us. I will say it again, but the most heartening thing I've seen since moving home is watching young people - especially young Black people - who are working to make the state a place to live rather than a place to be from. I just hope they realize there won't be any outside help.

 Ah, well. I was looking forward to buying pot legally on a regular basis come August but I'm not really surprised the state of Mississippi bent over backward to make sure it didn't happen. I just want to get high and get my head out of gear, I'll be okay. I'm not dealing with cancer or constant pain or glaucoma or opioid addiction. 

 It's a bummer but it won't kill me. Okay, before I go, let's get this week's News in. Monday was the Liz Cheney drama along with another way the state of Mississippi is making life harder for its residents. Tuesday was the fallout of the Cheney-GOP fight, which I hope completely destroys the party and every conservative politician.

 Yes, I am pissed off.

Darlin', so it goes. Some things are meant to be.

  The weather took a hard turn from being beautiful and warm all week to an ice storm sitting down on us. It got pretty nasty in Memphis, but down here in Enon Holler, it was just cold and rained all day. One of those gray, foul days that make you want to just stay in bed. And since I had nothing better to do, I did just that.

 So, with that in mind, you'll forgive me if I have nothing of note to share today. Again. Unlike Tuesday, I don't have the excuse that I'm all tired and wrote out from playing with my fiction. Nope, I just spent the day napping, listening to the rain, and reading. As for what I'm reading, well, it's a pleasant little space opera by a guy named Wallace Henry called Dead Shock. It's a two-book series and I just started on the second book, Blood Shock.

 It's a space horror thing with city-ships cut off from the rest of the galaxy and run by a power-mad dictator, body modification whatnots causing genetic terrors, and a crew that doesn't like each other trying no to get destroyed. It sort of reminds me of BioShock but IN SPACE, and that's a compliment. It's got an interesting rhythm, too, and I'm not sure what to think about that yet.

 The impeachment goes on and the latest quirk is the revelation that Senators Mike Lee, Ted Cruz, and Lindsay Graham meeting with the Trump defense staff and discussing strategy. I'm not going to get deep into it because I think it at least needs the evening to marinate.  For what it's worth, I don't see it being made too big a deal of, mainly because those three especially are certifiable Trump toadies. And this is from a party that is completely beholden to Trumpism for at least one more election cycle.

 It doesn't do any good to say "what if a Democrat did this" because we all know better. Or we should, anyway. Anyone too shocked and dismayed by this behavior, especially from these three dickbags, has no one to blame but themselves. I really wish people would get over the idea that Trump has some dirt on Graham and just accept he's always been a complete party stooge and a rat bastard of one, at that.

 On another note, Mississippi SB 2765 failed to pass. I didn't explain this properly in yesterday's News, but it was put forth in case the mayor of Madison's goofy lawsuit against Initiative 65 succeeds. It would allow for medical marijuana in the state but set up some crazy restrictive hurdles for potential growers.

 I really don't think the state legislature, particularly the Republicans, really thought the initiative would pass and they certainly didn't think it'd pass so overwhelmingly. They wouldn't have let Initiative 65 even come up for a vote if they did, but it's got to be a part of the state constitution now. This has traditionally been a state that got off on making things unpleasant as possible for the hoi polloi while putting as much money as possible in the fat cats' pockets.

 I guess that's plenty for tonight. I really don't have anything else that's worth discussing. It's cold and wet still, and one can only get away with lazing around all day one day in a row.

Mr. Ledbetter, can you tell me again, what's a Mississippi Flush and how's it beat this hand?

 I really couldn't tell you why, but since I've moved back home I have gotten more... into? interested? engaged? enraged? Whatever it is, I'm more of it concerning the political situation in Mississippi. Maybe it's because I know, deep down, that I'll probably never leave for good again. Or maybe things have gotten just this bad in the past 20 years since I left.

 I've been actively engaged in politics basically since my college days in Florida. All through my time in Georgia and New Orleans, I've kept my head in even when it was considered a character flaw by many in my social circle. That being said, I'm not going to lie, it was mostly national politics. I dealt with local stuff when it affected me, particularly in Athens, but my eye was always turned to at least the U.S. Congress or, failing that, socio-political concerns that were greater than one state. The Confederate flag on state flags or at state capitols, for example, has driven me up the wall for years.

 I've always kept an eye on Mississippi. It's my home, much as I may not like that (or as much as my brother hates it). The bulk of the state or, for that matter, Itawamba County, I really didn't give a good goddamn. Now, my home is here in Peaceful Valley, this hill I live on. Then, though, it was just where I grew up. I stayed away and intended to stay away until I was put in the ground, and only then because I already have a grave site. Mississippi's where I'm from, I'd tell people, it's not where I am.

 Well, now it's where I am and unless something drastic happens, it's where I'll stay. I don't like that, but that's how it is. Anyone with half a lick of history knows Mississippi has a dark, nasty history, one that we're still trying to come to grips with. Like William Faulkner wrote in Requiem For A Nun, "The past is never dead. It's not even past." Our history of slavery, Jim Crow, Medgar Evans, near-total political domination by the Klan for decades, and even the overall anti-labor history of treating poor white trash as nothing more than a bulwark for the rich and powerful.

 But now, it seems it's gotten that much more real. The ICE raids on the chicken plants that were used to rid the company of workers who'd made hay about sketchy practices by management. The medical marijuana initiative that's on the 2020 ballot. The ongoing horror of prisoners living and dying while in state penitentiaries and their deadly conditions. And now, the Nissan plant down in Canton is doubling the workers' load in the midst of CORVID-19 while giving the executives leave to "self quarantine". Why? Because we have a labor history that is actively hostile to any concept of a union.

 For the first time in a long time, state and local politics feel real and urgent in a way they haven't. Along with that, my general disgust with both parties and even soi-disant "leftists" and "socialists" as well as my long-dormant interest and sympathy for anarchistic political theory. I've said it elsewhere, one of the most attractive aspects of anarchism, to me, is the suggestion that you can use the tools of the system to change the system and you can do it in smaller, personal ways. Right here, right now, in Mississippi 2020, that just sings, man.

 I'll be 45 next month. I'm single with no kids and no real strong ties. I find myself at times cut adrift from my own head. I don't understand it nor do I want it, but I won't deny part of me envies my brother and his wife or my cousin and his family. I wouldn't trade my freedom for the world, but a man does need something to latch himself to, something to make the universe worth the effort.

 I'd might as well try to make this state a little better than I left it.

Monday, January 27, 2020

 We're going to keep this short and to the point. I rattled on longer than I meant to last night, and I think it took more out of me than I'd planned. It's an exhausting life, I tell you what.

Monday, January 20, 2020

 Really not up for, well... anything today. We are in the grip of some Serious Dumb, friends and neighbors, and despite the bright, shining sun, I am not optimistic about our chances for smartening up anytime soon. Regardless, Work is Work, we'll knock this out quick and go back into hiding.

Friday, January 17, 2020

 I've been putting this off, I admit. Not in the mood, really, sort of generally indolent. Still, a man has to do what a man has to do, and I am wired & inspired.