Properly Subversive/Sherman R. Frederick
Life ain’t fair. We know this from a number of things.
Joe Biden, who can’t find his way off stage and habitually mixes up Ukraine with Iran as he reads major speeches on a teleprompter, is the leader of the free world. How in a just world did that happen? His nemesis Donald Trump, meanwhile, has risen to become a free speech icon, when at heart he’s best suited to host a game show.
But, the most current evidence of how life deals out stupid, unfair decisions is John Kerry’s position as America’s face on climate change.
This green dilettante talks of personal sacrifice to save the planet, but zips about the globe in the luxury of a private jet. There is visual proof of this hypocrisy and, yet, he lies about it like a 7th-grader caught throwing an eraser at the chalkboard. You can find the spectacle on C-SPAN, if you wish, or read further.
In a congressional hearing he defended himself for flying private by saying: “I don’t own a private jet. I personally have never owned a private jet”
Pressed further, he then shuffles his feet and admits that, well … ahem … yes … he himself doesn’t own a private jet, but his wife does. Only a lifetime of D.C. privilege leads a man to attempt that kind of truth shading and expect it to earn him a pass.
It is dishonest.
It disqualifies him from a seat at the table of climate change.
And it gets worse.
When he steps off the private jet, his message is this: “Agriculture contributes about 33% of all the emissions of the world. And we can’t get to net zero—we don’t get this job done—unless agriculture is front and center as part of the solution.”
“You just can’t continue to both warm the planet, while also expecting to feed it. It doesn’t work. So we have to reduce emissions from the food system.”
That’s hard to swallow when many countries – think China – struggle to feed its own people. Implement the dystopian choice of starving people now to save the planet later? When Kerry can’t kick the private jet lifestyle?
Wrong guy for the job.
It ain’t gonna happen.
AGAIN, ALREADY?
Once again, I am amused by the coverage of Marin in the outside world. Get a load of this headline that popped up last week:
“Marin County Rocked by Racist Flyers.”
Well, yes, we did get peppered with hate messages. It’s not the first time. It won’t be the last. To say that we were “rocked” by it isn’t really fair or accurate.
We don’t like it, of course. We report it in hopes justice somehow comes to the neo-Nazis hate spreaders.
But “rocked” by it? That’s giving the Nazi lovers way too much credit.
BINFORD ROAD
This comes in from County Commissioner Eric Lucan as an update on the homeless encampment on Binford Road:
“Installed physical barriers in the vacant spaces on Binford, limiting the capacity of total vehicles. As individuals are housed or move on, additional barriers are installed to further reduce and limit the number of vehicles. As numbers decrease, we will begin additional efforts to limit parking near the water.”
This is going in the right direction, although the good Commissioner provides no hard numbers on this action. Contract, contract and contract. Never expand. Don’t let something like this spring up again.
WHAT I’M WATCHING
I’ve seen “Oppenheimer” and liked it. I saw “Sound of Freedom” and found it clunky at best. Heck of a story, but as a piece of cinema art, well, not so good. “Barbie” is next on the list. Yes, I’m going to see Barbie. Don’t judge me!
On TV, I finished the second season of “Bear.” Highly recommend.
THINGS TO KNOW
– According to data from the California Department of Justice, reports of shoplifting crimes in 2022 hit their highest numbers since 2013 in Alameda, San Mateo and San Francisco counties. Make of it what you will.
– Good news on the wildfire front: This is the slowest start to the fire season in California in 25 years, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. Knock on wood.
– The Sacramento Bee reported last week that Gov. Gavin Newsom is taking steps for a potential presidential run. Of course he is. Democrats can’t go to battle in 2024 with Joe Biden leading the charge, can they?
ONE MORE THING
– I can’t afford an ancestry DNA kit. So I posted online that I won the lottery.
– Six year olds laugh on average 300 times a day. Adults laugh only 15-100 times a day. Be six again.
– My toxic trait is telling people to take care of themselves while I’m running on three hours sleep, enough caffeine to kill a horse and an Oreo.
Thanks for reading. Until next time, avoid soreheads, laugh a little and always question authority. Don’t forget that you can read the best newspaper in Marin online at NovatoAdvance-ca.newsmemory.com.
(“Properly Subversive” is a commentary written by Sherman R. Frederick for Marinscope Community Newspapers, the “mother ship” of the Novato Advance, San Rafael News-Pointer, Mill Valley Herald, Ross Valley Reporter, Twin City Times and the Sausalito Marin Scope. Mr. Frederick is an award-winning journalist and co-founder of Battle Born Media, a news organization dedicated to the preservation of community newspapers. You can reach him by email at shermfrederick@gmail.com.)
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