"Don't be told what you want,
&Don't be told what you need:
There's no future,
No future,
No future
for you..."
<"God Save The Queen,"
The Sex Pistols>
<All images: The Reckoner>
I suspect that these flyers went up on this gas meter box on 16th Street during the debate about the Trump administration's enforced separation policy. As you can see...it's not a big hit in our nation's capital, evidently. The irony of evangelicals blindly supporting a man dogged by accusations of rampant serial infidelity, including the funneling of hush money payments to a pron star, needs no further elaboration.
Not sure what this flyer refers to, but I imagine it's tied in with the overt expression of racism that's suddenly become au courant again in the Trump era. Or, as Chris Matthews stated a few years back on MSNBC: "They act as if their base is wearing sheets!" Chris, old bean, you don't know the half of it.
I saw this particular sticker all over 16th Street, although this happens to be a different gas or electric meter. Considering the mess that the current crowd has made out of that ill-starred Washington, D.C. swamp -- which barely looks drained, nor even slightly disturbed -- it's not hard to miss the message, is it? Which brings me to...
...this particular photo. I saw this graffiti all over the neighborhood, too. One of the hottest local issues during my week-long stay in D.C. was Initiative 77, which proposed to change who's responsible for paying tipped workers the full minimum wage. (For a more in-depth explanation, see the link below.)
Although restaurant associations predictably went all in against Initiative 77, to the tune of $175,000 -- as Bob Dylan once said, "Money don't talk, it swears" -- several locals told me that waitstaff in high-end restaurants also pushed back, apparently because they feared that any form of equity for those on the bottom would mean taking a pay cut.
Despite a low voter turnout, Initiative 77 passed decisively, by a 55-45% margin among those who did turn up. However...since D.C. is subject to Congressional oversight, the Republican majority is already moving to squash it, along with the City Council, whose members consider it a job killer. You don't want those lobbyists and political operatives eating elsewhere, right?
Suffice to say, this is a complex issue, with no easy solution. However, when voters get the idea that their will is irrelevant, it's not hard to see why these messages are popping up. It's a trend that, by and large, continues to erode faith in democracy. If Trump gets his wish to become a dictator, this is one of many signposts that we'll look back on as a warning signal that nobody heeded. End of sermon.
"Russia-gate, Murder-gate/My families depend on it/I NEED YOUR HELP NOW!" reads this rather dramatic appeal. Not having the background, I've no idea what kind of help the author is seeking...but he's helpfully posted where you can find him, so those who live in the Columbia Heights can ask him, if they feel so inclined. As for me...I settled for snapping the picture.
Here's several causes popularized at once, on a street sign along Park Road NW (which I may have inadvertently referenced before as Park Avenue, or Street -- apologies for the error). "I'd love to get several of those 'Trump Is An Ass' stickers," Squawker said. I should think they're not too hard to find, and whoever's making them is probably doing a roaring trade on them.
After all this gloom, I thought I'd leave you something inspiring -- this banner at the place I stayed in Columbia Heights, St. Stephen of the Incarnation Episcopal Church, on Newton Avenue NW. For three nights after hours, when everybody had gone home for the day, and I was the only person in the building, I struggled to get a decent shot of this banner. Finally, I did. It's a hell of a more appealing alternative than the world of Trumpism, isn't it?--The Reckoner
Links To Go (Hurry, Before Your Employer
Stiffs You Again On Your Tips):
https://wamu.org/story/18/06/07/guide-d-c-s-initiative-77-minimum-wage-proposal-pitting-restaurant-workers/#.W19ho_lKiM8
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