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The Chris Chandler Show

  • The Muse and Whirled Retort 2024

    The Muse and Whirled Retort November 2024

    The Muse and Whirled Retort

    Hey Everybody,

    It is that time again. This is a special election edition of The Muse and Whirled Retort.

    Announcements and Crass Commercial Messages will follow.

    ******************

    Down is the New Up
    Under the Bush administration
    (George II that is)
    I spent eight years of my life,
    two hundred and fifty days a year
    doing nothing
    but making George W Bush Jokes.
    Frankly, I got sick of it.
    But under Trump,
    and now, during this election cycle,
    I have barely mentioned his name.
    But today, I feel it is important.
    At first
    I did not want to add to the noise out there...
    ~
    (and there is a lot of NOISE out there!)
    Then, I didn't want to go off half cocked...
    Then I wasn't sure which direction to fire
    because bullets ricochet
    in funny directions when you live in a bubble.
    That is floating like the ghosts of Joe Hill,
    Harriet Tubman, Eugene Debbs,
    Mother Jones,
    and Caesar Chavez
    ~
    This got me to thinking...
    If a ghost can walk through walls -
    Why doesn’t he fall through the floor?
    ~
    At that point I realized
    I was on the edge of something really big...
    ~
    I was standing upon a giant precipice.
    And that is probably not a good time
    to put your best foot forward.
    ~
    I mean.
    I’ve always liked the metaphor of hell being beneath us.
    ‘Cause Sometimes...
    Ya gotta go through hell...
    Don’t we know it!
    Aren’t we all goin’ through hell these days?
    But sometimes,
    Ya gotta get down there and wrestle ‘dem demons!
    .
    Hell, Sometimes,
    Ya gotta get down there
    and Jell-O wrestle ‘dem demons.
    but when yer goin’ through hell,
    what ya gotta do is keep going -
    ‘cause the world is round.
    And if you keep goin you’ll come out on the other side,
    wondering
    why everyone is speaking
    with an Australian accent.
    In the Trump Era,
    down is the new up.
    ~
    "Make America Great Again”
    and ”America First”
    are contradictory statements.
    ~
    America will be great again,
    when she sees herself IN the
    world not AS the world.
    ~
    America will be great again
    when she treats her
    neighbors like she would herself.
    ~
    She will be great again
    when she realizes that
    “ America First”
    implies that there is a race
    ... in which one could be or become first in
    - in the first place.
    Not America First...
    Earth First...
    ~
    This Cabinet of Billionaires
    he envisions. Elon Musk, RFK Jr,
    and I want you to mention this to your conservative friends and family,
    because i know you’ve got them...
    ~
    The rich that are in power,
    or want to re-take power
    could really care less about any of this whako
    conservative agenda…
    But as long as there is something
    resembling a government,
    the rich need large numbers of people to
    support them.
    ~
    So they will say or do anything to stay in office.
    They don’t actually care of these social issues.
    They don’t NEED to care.
    They don’t LIVE in society.
    They have their own school systems,
    their own hospitals.
    They have their own police force.
    Soon they will have their own military.
    I am not afraid of other countries getting the bomb.
    I am afraid of Space-X getting the bomb.
    ~
    Oh sure, they will give money to the church to show they
    “care” about social issues.
    .
    But, we all know
    giving money to the church
    doesn't make you a good person.
    Any more than buying tickets to the game
    makes you a third-baseman.
    What the church offers to the rich is people.
    The one thing the 1% does not have
    is people -
    99% of us to be exact.
    ~
    But wait a second...
    ~
    Within the 99% a whole lotta
    working class folks voted for Trump!
    and are planning on voting for him again.
    Poor people.
    MY people!
    .
    .
    What did we do SO wrong  
    to allow your average red neck to  
    believe a billionaire  
    descending from the Heavens  
    on a gold plated escalator  
    in a Manhattan skyscraper  
    has their interests at heart?  
    To make the world GREAT again,
    WE have to burst our own bubbles!
    ~
    We have to go out there and yes,
    befriend a red neck.
    ~
    DO NOT UNFRIEND THEM!
    befriend them.
    ~
    Because regardless of how this election goes,
    we are still a divided nation.
    ~
    But, if each and every one of us goes out and befriends,
    and turns around!
    one Trump Supporter
    we could make America Great again...
    and THAT America
    maybe (just maybe)
    COULD help make the world great again.
    ~
    Walk softly
    and carry a big carrot.
    ~
    Because like I’ve always said,
    ~
    “If you think there is a
    cutting edge
    Than you ain’t on it.”
    ~
    Which is why I don’t think this is that ‘edgy’ of a
    thought...
    ~
    ...if the rich can cross the lines
    between right and wrong
    like ghosts walk through walls
    maybe it is time they
    also fell through the floor.
    ~
    And maybe, just maybe,
    they will all go straight to hell.
    (and I mean that in a good way)
    ~
    Because frankly, that’s the problem...
    The rich have never been through hell.
    They have never known suffering,
    want or need.
    ~
    so maybe,
    if they spent an hour
    experiencing the hell
    that you and I go through on a daily basis,
    they would understand what hell really is
    and we could remind them
    that that the world really is round.
    ~
    And maybe, they would keep going.
    So that,
    we can all come out on the other side.
    ~
    Wondering
    why everybody is speaking
    with an Australian accent.

    ***********

    I am so happy to have been able to do this for 35 plus years now!

    I plan to make it 40.

    If you would like a copy of the book I put out this summer celebrating 35 years on the road

    you can get it right here:

    I would Like to get the new Chris Chandler book!

    Also, I plan to begin a new series - kind of a shortened version of “The Poem of the Week” temttively titled “So, Ya Wanna do a Few Lines?”

    Here is a well for lack of a better word, “The Pilot” that I put out on Halloween.

    It will be a nice little way for me to perform for you remotely and give you a chance to help support the arts.

    Every trickle of income stream helps right now. no, I am not looking for a handout but asking for support in putting out this news letter and driving town to town to wax the manefesto electric. So...

    If you would like to give anything on a regular basis - the cost of a cup of coffee a month really really helps.

    I have a Patreon account.

    You can also donate directly via PayPal and Venmo

    ************

    Paul has returned to Seattle and we are discussing the possibility of a new album! We think we have enough new material - I will keep you updated.