Manners, Respect, and Religion

 I am in a new chapter in my life, and it is difficult.  I have had difficult patches before, and I guess I got cocky.  Over the years I solved most of my problems, and the solution was to change yourself.  Luckily there is enough depth to the aesthetic of music, and I was able to discard what became problematic and adopt new interests.   Some say jazz died at the bottom of a whiskey bottle, so why did I chose jazz music as a core component of my identity?  The reason is the definition of an art form.  Jazz isn't the only pure and original American art form, but it is at the top of the list for many reasons.  Jazz would not and does not exist without slavery.  That is an extreme concept, and some may disagree.  Most probably would disagree.  The common man is not equipped with the tools necessary to produce art.  Art exists on a higher plain of existence.  It requires more complex understanding, wisdom, and intellectual and creative processing.  Necessarily it deals with the more complex human issues.  Like all things, art gets pared down and often is a shell of itself made for commercial gain.  Some jazz music is shallow, but usually its purveyors genuinely are concerned with quality and strive to improve.  This improvement is a direct ratio to the depth of understanding you have.  The art cannot be better without this depth.  That is the way art works.  You can copy complex systems, but music as an aural phenomenon may be the most vulnerable to counterfeit.  You can try to copy it, but starkly is clear the shortcomings.  Again this is because of the depth.  In jazz music there are many components that combine together to form the stew.  None of them are meager, tepid, or insincere.  Every nut and bolt of jazz is a steadfast root that sustains the test of time.  Over time they mature, grow, and develop into beautiful meaningful art.  There is no other way.  The Trump Presidency represents the worst of shallow counterfeit.  Its model is the antithesis of human integrity, Christianity, and honesty.  In fact it is evil.  This evil dealt a severe blow to human existence and in cunning, deceptive, manipulative myriad ways which continue to degrade, diminish, and undermine human life.  In my lifetime for some reason I always have believed that elected officials were honest and sincerely wanted to serve the public interest.  Trump changed that, and he did it what may have been the greatest deception in American history.  Because America is a young nation, it stands to reason we would be subject to the same ills as other older nations.  Corruption in politics is on the time line, and although Richard Nixon spied on his adversaries, nothing will compare to the damage Donald Trump has inflicted on what was the world's most admired free nation.  Corruption in politics and thus governance is Trump.  It was implemented cunningly with a great deal of previous preparation, forethought, and premeditation.  They knew exactly what they were doing, and Donald Trump had been preparing his entire life for this opportunity in the American Presidency.  Exorcising his stooges from American consciousness will be a lengthy process, one that has begun with his own indictments.  His pawns are falling over and we now can begin to see the depth of his own jazz.  It is evil, but evil manifests itself and masquerades as good.  Bad jazz or counterfeit jazz does the same thing, but it is brutally honest when it fails.  It is because of something Trump's organization never would concede.  It is feeling.  You cannot patent a feeling.  You cannot counterfeit a feeling.  Feeling is supplied by God for the express reason of human integrity.  It is called instinct.  An abstract, complex, emotional process that we fully don't control ourselves is responsible for smelling out bullshit.  In a nutshell it is the God inside us.  Those that refuse this truth and operate without it for personal gain eventually will fail.  America has dealt with grievous challenges before, but the Trump Presidency is the most potent and dangerous of all.  It is because he is masquerading as something else.