The Governor of California as God
Dedicated to Edna St. Vincent Millay who spoke to the Governor of Massachusetts on behalf of Sacco and Vanzetti… in vain. And then — creating a miracle — to a little boy.
by The Ox (Richard Martin Oxman)

“A thousand screams the heavens smote;
And every scream tore through my throat.
No hurt I did not feel, no death
That was not mine; mine each last breath
That, crying, met an answering cry
From the compassion that was I.” – written by Millay when she was a teenager

Let’s have some fun while we move toward revolutionizing life in California… with our eyes on changing the world, saving the world. [I could just as easily have used the texts of other religions... so please forgive.]

No reason we can’t use Genesis as our point of departure:

“Genesis 1 consists of eight acts of creation within a six day framework. In each of the first three days there is an act of division: Day one divides the darkness from light; day two, the waters from the skies; and day three, the sea from the land. In each of the next three days these divisions are populated: day four populates what was created on day one, and heavenly bodies are placed in the darkness and light; day five populates what was created on day two, and fish and birds are placed in the seas and skies; finally, day six populates what was created on day three, and animals and man are place on the land. This six-day structure is symmetrically bracketed: On day zero primeval chaos reigns, and on day seven there is cosmic order.”

Okay… in chronological order:

Day 1: The Governor reminds everyone that he/she* was elected on a ZERO budget, with no dependence on mainstream media outlets. The Governor — eschewing the obligatory first press statement along traditional lines (making a point subliminally about the untrustworthiness of mainstream media) — immediately inaugurates “The Guv’s Hour” (on her/his own outlet)… announcing intentions to a) place a moratorium on the death penalty and b) make full use of her/his powers vis-a-vis The Prison Industrial Complex as per http://oxtogrind.org/archive/311 and http://oxtogrind.org/archive/364.

*We will have two working figurehead candidates (Guv and Lt. Guv) serving with ten other citizens, making decisions together. All will be unaffiliated, non-politicians. None will be careerists. A watershed in history as per http://dissidentvoice.org/2009/07/taking-over-post-arnold-california/.

Day 2: The Guv’s Hour introduces the radical Lieutenant Governor (Angela Davis? Mike Davis? Michael Parenti? Peter McClaren? Isabella Kenfield? Jennifer Loewenstein ?; I’m not sure who will be able to relocate to California in time, but we really have people from all corners of the nation to choose from….)… who, in turn, introduces one of the twelve citizens serving as “Governor of California” on an equal basis with the official/legal Governor and Lt. Governor. That “adviser” will be Wallace J. Nichols (http://www.wallacejnichols.org/wallacejnichols/About_J..html)… who will speak on behalf of all of the creatures of the sea… and more. He, in turn, will introduce Jennifer Loewenstein… who will outline what the Governor is going to do on behalf of the Palestinians*… in terms of encouraging boycott, sanctions and divestment… as per the powers invested in him (respecting the Regents, for instance, as per http://oxtogrind.org/archive/311). This will all be EXPLAINED for public self-education — THE “WHY” OF IT ALL — by Peter McClaren, sitting in his office at the Paulo Freire Institute and/or by Henry Giroux during office hours at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. And/or by Bill Blum in tandem with Bouthaina Shaaban. [It all promises to be quite refreshing... like watching an intriguing non-formulaic movie with fresh foreign faces on the screen.]

*Perhaps we should have Devinder Sharma explaining U.S. complicity in India’s farm suicides instead… first. Or have Immanuel Ness explain how the U.S. still interferes with elections abroad as per http://www.zmag.org/znet/viewArticle/22533 or how TOSCA managed to circumvent electoral fraud in the state. Decisions, decisions. God help us! [Pause.] One of the bottom line points to TOSCA is that so much is intermingled and hidden, and that fact makes a sound bite approach for addressing issues… impractical.

Day 3. The Guv’s Hour features David Bacon (http://dbacon.igc.org/) will show his beautiful photographs of (some of) those who suffer the most, whilst outlining what California is going to do about its immigration and labor dilemmas… and the 80% of its population that has gotten too used to accepting only 7% of the state’s financial wealth. With or without the cooperation of gangster politicians who walk the halls of Sacramento. He, in turn, will introduce Jerry Fresia, who — talking from Lake Como in Italy http://www.wetcanvas.com/Articles2/52353/663/ — will delineate the state’s new policy respecting The Arts. In closing, he will explain how many California citizens will be able to travel overseas for cultural enrichment… without resorting to environmentally damaging air travel.

Day 4. The Lieutenant Guv’s Half-Hour will introduce Howard Zinn and Noam Chomsky… who will help the public to self-educate about U.S. History — IN A DELIGHTFUL WAY! — pushing for institutional changes that are possible in the last fifteen minutes of the 30′ segment. Dr. Danny Weil might even fit in a word or two about what we’re going to do about “education” in the state http://www.counterpunch.org/weil08242009.html. Yes, we intend to move expeditiously.

Day 5. Provoking statewide SHOCK, this day will be declared California’s DAY OF REST… during which no official blah blah takes place, putting — hopefully — all vain efforts at social reform and visions of radical transformation into spirtual (and just plain goofing off) perspective. It might be called Abbie Hoffman Day (Free concerts, where?). It might allow my son, Marcel (www.marcelsgeo.blogspot.com), or some other child and/or teenager (like Kyle Thiermann of www.claimyourchange.org) to speak their minds whilst carrying on in some playground… or on the beach… or in Cloudland. “Cloudland” is the realm of poetic imagination, by the way. Its loss — our undervaluing of it — is directly connected to our abominable momentum at present.

Day 6. This day will be declared ELECTROMAGNETIC POLLUTION DAY. Or GENDER DAY. Or CLOSE THE VAST MAJORITY OF OUR MILITARY BASES DAY. Or UP WITH ORGANICS AND/OR VEGANISM AND DOWN WITH INDUSTRIAL AGRICULTURE DAY. Or REDUCING TOXICITY IN OUR GROUNDWATER DAY. Or REPARATIONS DAY-IN-THE-SUN. Or ENCOURAGING HUMANITY AMONG SWAT TEAMS DAY. Maybe Keith Harmon Jones http://www.allthingspass.com/ will want to offer a short bit of instructive blah blah on our unnecessary complicity in Congo-based genocide. Put the fat mouth on Barrick Gold. Actually call Obama, Bush, Clinton & Co. murderers. [Pause.] Or maybe we’ll direct people to the new affordable, top-notch health clinics… which our volunteer medical professionals provide… to the tune of Amy Winehouse doing Paolo Nutini http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturecritics/neilmccormick/539353 0/Paolo-Nutini-Sunny-Side-Up-CD-review.html (or something better) and the humor of Mitch Hedberg http://www.mitchhedberg.net/. Or maybe Derrick Jensen will help us with our WASTE PROBLEM as per www.derrickjensen.org. Or maybe The Guv can really stir up nationwide trouble by explaining — step-by-step — the very best way to pressure the old powers that be respecting the release of Leonard Peltier and other political prisoners. OR perhaps sane firefighters will recommend ways in which we can permanently cut down on the frequency and intensity of wildfires.

Day 7. On the Seventh Day, YOU will be invited to do your thing on The Guv’s Hour. ALL DAY LONG. ALL NIGHT LONG. And the twelve citizens who will be serving together as Governor of California will go on a hunger strike, and be available for direct call-in contact (along with a hundred volunteers, experts in various fields)… so that your fellow citizens — from anywhere in the country, the world — can connect with “the powers that be” (Ah, new ones!)… without having to deal with generic forms of communication. Being able to talk to a person. Taking a step away from our horrid atomization.

What can I say in closing? So help me God? Godammit? Something cute and literary, neatly tying up this article? No, what ends this article notwithstanding.

[Pause.]

No, this is all quite serious. And considering the upcoming guaranteed failure of Copenhagen, if nothing else (and there is MUCH else to consider, as God is my witness), I urge each and every reader to contact me immediately at tosca.2010 [atatat ATat at]yahoo.com. To join hands with those at http://oxtogrind.org/archive/336 in solidarity. For http://oxtogrind.org/archive/364. To allow http://dissidentvoice.org/2009/07/taking-over-post-arnold-california/ to become a reality show. In the name of countless citizens and groups, including those mentioned at http://oxtogrind.org/archive/331 …who will be willing to follow the easy steps delineated at http://oxtogrind.org/archive/315.

I will advise you respecting what you can consider doing ASAP. And/or you can consider rearranging the days above… forging the days beyond, as your smithy soul dictates.

The world stands out on either side
No wider than the heart is wide;
Above the world is stretched the sky,— 205
No higher than the soul is high.
The heart can push the sea and land
Farther away on either hand;
The soul can split the sky in two,
And let the face of God shine through. 210
But East and West will pinch the heart
That can not keep them pushed apart;
And he whose soul is flat—the sky
Will cave in on him by and by.

See The Ox (Richard) at http://oxtogrind.org/archive/378 for starters. Edna St. Vincent Millay recited those words from her Renascence to him when he was a child. He is still a child. And, so, he knows — instinctively — to look out for children… even for those not yet born.

HOW would this be accomplished? “Why, my child, that would be… The Miracle of Creation,” as Edna once said. Yes, in collaboration, in solidarity, giving birth.