5-5 sell out

Interesting story at Pro-Publica about a Republican drugs for votes scheme whose prosecution was stymied by the present administration.

I saw a picture of Bezos's wife with her Mar a Lago face at the Met Gala and wanted to gag this morning. So synthetic. Nothing that you would ever want to look at tripping, that is for sure.  Could never pass the acid test. And 99% of the women in the Trump-o-sphere look just like this.

Anyway I read somewhere that Zuckerberg was also there in a tux, having traded in his grunge hoody somewhere along the way.

And it got me to thinking about an old hero of mine named Abbie Hoffman. Abbie was a wise old man who never sold out. Kept being Abbie until the day he died. Stayed radical until the end. Went undercover when he was on the lam and did environmental work up near Buffalo.

And he said something once I will never forget, about what happens to once radical people when they get co-opted. 

co-optation—the process where mainstream society absorbs radical ideas and people, defusing their threat.

They start running with the monied set and then forget who they really are inside and somewhat unconsciously adopt the social status symbols of the ruling class. They don't even see it coming. Your kids go to school with the rich, maybe you work at the same job, or you live in the same posh neighborhoods, ultimately you have to become them, full blown Randian materialists who stand for nothing except selfishness (e.g. Bezos and Zuckerberg.) Why swim against the stream?

Could be the coolest, hippest, most righteous and enlightened vegan flower child and then throw a little dough at them and they are adopting all the mannerisms of the caviar and blini set and suddenly you have no idea where the person you once knew or were vanished to? And they don't either. Sucked right in.

I saw it happen once with one of Tony Maguire's organic hippy girlfriends, Sweet girl started running with a diamond merchant and all of a sudden it was about the ferraris and maseratis and she basically became unrecognizable and insufferable. Changed overnight. She probably never even noticed.

Don't get co-opted.

Define who is an asshole early on and don't become that.

And never forget that conformists come in all sorts of shapes and packages too.

We are all wearing a mask.

Yow

Ever look in the mirror?

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Republicans include $1 billion for White House ballroom in funding package.

Get yours yet?

As a person raised in Manhattan I have to reiterate that this gilded guy is so nouveau riche flushing queens I want to barf. Represents everything I ever hated about the borough. Doesn't get any more pukey.