The Wheels of Justice
That's the grinding sound you hear...
The following is a quote I found from Theodore Parker who was a Unitarian minister and prominent American Transcendentalist born in 1810. He was an abolitionist. In 1853 a collection of “Ten Sermons of Religion” by Parker was published and the third sermon titled “Of Justice and the Conscience” included figurative language about the arc of the moral universe.
Look at the facts of the world. You see a continual and progressive triumph of the right. I do not pretend to understand the moral universe, the arc is a long one, my eye reaches but little ways. I cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by the experience of sight; I can divine it by conscience. But from what I see I am sure it bends towards justice.
Things refuse to be mismanaged long. Jefferson trembled when he thought of slavery and remembered that God is just. Ere long all America will tremble.
Martin Luther King, Jr. echoed this sentiment a century later with this oft-quoted distillation:
The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.
The wheels of justice, the arc of history, sourdough starter and growing asparagus from scratch are all things which require monumental patience. As a people, Americans have never been considered particularly patient.
In the year 2021, 'instant gratification' has lost all of it's meaning. I don't know when 'instant gratification' was first used but I am positive whenever it was initially coined cannot hold a candle to the modern age.
We once went to the video store to pick out a movie. Then we were able to order a dvd - or three! - and have them sent to us by mail. Now we can binge movies all day long without leaving our couches.
We once waited a week to watch our favorite television show.
We once waited until the evening for the national news.
We once picked up a newspaper to read what had happened—the day before!
We once had to make a trip to a travel agent, or call a travel agent on the phone, to plan an international getaway.
This is a game we all could play all day. Except for those who have only known the presidencies of Barack Obama and the man who failed at selling steaks. Everything has been instant for them. Instant, convenient, online.
Let that sink in for the moment.
Some of you had Eisenhower and JFK during your formative years. I had LBJ, Nixon and Carter. Others—Carter, Reagan. Etcetera.
We give these generations various names—Millenials, Gen Y, Gen Z—but think about the political 'nature' of the environments each of these groups grew up in. What era could fuck you up more than the last 12 to 15 years? Everything is accelerating around you while the political landscape during your tender frontal lobe development teeter tottered between euphoria and dystopia.
There you are feeling as if you've reached the promised land of post racial bliss and cultural diversity only to have a fetid sinkhole of intolerance swallow almost every utopian vision and dream.
I was thinking about instant gratification because it is easy to fall prey to being beset by that desire and the chattering classes who are keenly aware of politics—though I would argue the events of January 6th and everything leading up to and away from it concern much more than politics—are anxious and angry and stirred up by the glacial movement of the January 6th Committee and the Department of Justice.
As per usual, I vacillate between feeling anxious about the inevitable disappointment coming our way and being confident a justice of some kind will be served. Possibly even a justice I can get behind and cheer.
Merrick Garland is the Attorney General of the United States. Merrick Garland was the judge Obama wanted to appoint to the Supreme Court but Republicans moved heaven and earth to make certain that didn't happen. Merrick Garland should be the perfect vessel for this task. I've heard him speak. I've heard him being interviewed and—even though he was circumspect in answering questions—he was not befuddled and lost like Robert Mueller was during the bulk of his testimony before Congress.
Merrick Garland is sharp and on his game. I was going to say there is a 'mountain of evidence' growing against the perpetrators of the plot to overthrow the government but there is actually a 'Cascade range of mountains of evidence' building against them. I'd like to think Merrick Garland wants that Cascade range of evidence to become insurmountable.
And so, he is allowing it to ‘mount’.
The chattering classes, however, worry about the timeline. They worry the 'bad guys' are going to run out the clock. They worry we will lose the 2022 mid terms, due to historical precedence, rampant voter suppression laws, gerrymandering and ennui. They worry inmates will take over the asylum and install the man who failed at casinos as the Speaker of the House.
Occasionally, I worry along beside them.
There was a famous experiment decades ago with kids and marshmallows. You might have caught wind of it at one time or the other. A researcher would offer a child one marshmallow but then say the child could have a second one if they'd wait a few minutes while the researcher left the room. As you might guess some kids did not have the patience to wait. Some kids did.
The researchers followed these kids for the next forty years and you might not be surprised to learn that the kids who were capable of delaying gratification fared better in all aspects of their lives. But what might surprise you is that one of them turned out to be—Merrick Garland!
I'm kidding.
But I am hoping that's what is at work here. I'm hoping Merrick Garland has the patience of Job. I'm hoping he's motivated to set a precedent for future would-be insurrectionists. Whether they're representatives, senators, former chiefs of staff or pillow moguls.
I'm hoping he's the Millie of this two-minute video and that the case he brings against the insurrectionists of January 6th is so iron-clad it makes the cladding of Fort Knox look like tissue paper.
Meet Millie. Please note Millie’s marshmallow at the conclusion.
I don’t know if they’re AARs (Alert Ass Readers) or not, but I want to thank Kristin Lavelle and Neil Comeau for mentioning The Satanic Temple and the Hulu documentary—Hail, Satan!—to Dana and I yesterday afternoon during their visit. We watched it immediately and were both humored and informed. I don’t want to give too much away but there’s much more to these Satanists than meets the eye and they might have even risen to your level of consciousness if you keep tabs on sociopolitical events like the Westboro Baptist Church.
Fair Warning! There is nudity.
Also, AAR Dallas Silva suggested a podcast that I found intriguing—You’re Dead to Me. It’s a podcast that covers historical figures and events with a unique perspective. Many of the historical figures and events are obscure (at least to Americans) which makes the witty repartee all the more interesting.
The official BBC description: “The history podcast for people who don't like history... and those who do. Greg Jenner brings together the best names in comedy and history to learn and laugh about the past.”
Excellent!