An Ear For An Ear Leaves The Whole World What?

“Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears;

I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.”

—Shakespeare, from Julias Ceasar, spoken by Marc Antony

“A proposition might fall kindly on your ear.”

—Prop Joe, The Wire

But do you condemn Thomas Matthew Crooks? With or without their ears, none of the ruling class hears the cries of the Palestinians. Let us condemn all violence. Let us condemn it again and again. But will we be heard?

Condemning all is not enough. The question you are asked, at the risk of a McCarthyist purge, is do you condemn Hamas? Surely one falls under all. Surely, proclaiming nonviolence, no matter the circumstances, would be enough.

For the powers that be, it is not. You must endorse the genocide against Palestinians led by Joe Biden. You must endorse the fascism of Donald Trump. Condemning all violence is not enough.

Why is it not enough? Because somehow, someway, violence must happen. Violence must happen in a world of scarcity, however artificial, however unjust. So being nonviolent, in general, is itself a cause to be eliminated because you are not doing violence for the right side.

I am glad Donald Trump lived. And not just because of his disingenuous running mate. Is that enough? But if there is a God, why is Donald Trump alive and so many Palestinians dead? Some might say, who think Joe Biden is behind the operation that Biden always misses his target, and it is likely on purpose. When he shoots at Hamas, he kills civilians. When he shoots at Trump, he kills civilians. But such a conspiracy is too easy most likely. The same can be said for the idea that Trump orchestrated the failed assassination in order to play the hero.

The danger we face as Trump descends on us, our mouths gaping like Biden’s, confused, helpless, waiting for a nibble of that holy ear, well, this danger we face is that the fascist is viewed as a divine figure. Israel’s massacre really isn’t about religion at all; it’s about capitalism. But to make sense of the madness, we have to explain it as religion. We have to have some people chosen and others, sinners.

Perhaps there is another answer. I turn to Chuck Mertz, who I controversially dubbed America’s leading intellectual. Unfortunately, in the process, I unfairly slighted Noam Chomsky, whose greatness exceeded an assassination attempt as well. This one was not by a gunman, but by the very fake news Chomsky taught us to unpack, as the media declared him dead, counting out the very man who buried their credibility.

When I called Chuck Mertz the greatest intellectual, he said I was being ironic. Let’s double down, calling Chuck’s bluff. Chuck is not only the greatest intellectual, but he is also the greatest theologian. The premise of Chuck’s radio show This Is Hell! may not be literal, but I’ll give it a fundamentalist reading here. What if we actually are in hell?

Only this could explain the cruelty of this world. The man killed at the Trump rally said about Palestinians that they’d get over it, like the Japanese did. His idea must be that we are the chosen people and that Palestinians are not. But if we live in hell, who is to say that those who die are less than those who live?

Unfortunately, many people often read me ironically when I am not trying to be. I am, like all of us, trying to make sense of the world that keeps on punching and won’t let up. Many look for easy answers. Many say that because the shooter missed Trump, Donald must be divine. Not so fast. Take the ABC News interview of Jameson Myers, on the shot accuracy of Mr. Crooks: “Myers and another student said that Crooks tried to join the high school’s rifle team but was rejected and asked not to return after a “preseason” session. “He didn’t just not make the team, he was asked not to come back because how bad of a shot he was, it was considered like, dangerous,” said Myers.”

So why did God send this shall we say, imperfect man to kill Donald Trump, the grifter who has his heart set on eliminating all his enemies? What kind of a cruel joke is this? Perhaps it all makes a little more sense if we admit that indeed, this is hell, or at least the end days of the human race.

By doing so we do not justify any violence on anyone. No one is chosen. The world we live in, while seemingly scientific in its capitalist contradictions and global heating, is actually all made up by the devil. The devil’s greatest punishment for us is that we can understand our punishment.

Our punishment we understand. But what is our duty? How does one proceed in hell? With uplift, with generosity, with a fire in the belly. Our despair comes from false expectations and failed promises. In hell we are promised nothing. In hell, we are free. In hell, we have nothing to fear and nothing to lose. In hell, apparently, we have radio to learn about our suffering and do with it what we will.