I have been considering the wonderful article about which I recently posted (Lost In Trumplandia), Steven D’s recent post about trying to get to a Bernie Sanders rally and my own long experience in observing how and why certain competitors…politicians and athletes particularly, but some musicians and other artists as well…at particular times in their lives seem to have an unearthly glow about their persons.
Here is what I have found.
Muslims refer to this “light” (for want of a better word) as baraka; many African-Americans call it “mojo,” and I’ll bet almost all of us have remarked upon it in way way or another during our lives. It is not permanent in most cases…some people seem to simply wear out under its glare…and possession of it (or perhaps better, being possessed by it) in no way promises success, any kind of moral correctness as we humans generally understand the term, happiness or a long and fruitful life. It is almost a sign that whatever really runs things in our little corner of the vasty universe has a particular use for these people, a use that they…or we…can often no more see than can an ant see the use of a steamroller. (For more on this “understanding” idea, see the Islamic teaching story about Khidr and Moses. There are many versions online. Here is one of them. Deep stuff. Read with care.)
But…baraka is real. Bet on it.
Examples?
Sure.
Mahatma Gandhi had it.
So did Hitler. And Churchill as well. Pretty much lifelong for all of them.
RFK, MLK Jr. and Malcolm X had it.
Muhammad Ali Had it. Mike Tyson had it and lost it. Michael Jordan had it. Steph Curry has it. LeBron James had it, but maybe it’s gone now. Bob Dylan had and never really lost it. Same with Clint Eastwood, no matter how you feel about his politics. So it goes. Golda Meir had it and so did Billie Holiday. Baraka seems to be pretty much an equal opportunity employer.
But this is a political blog, and the three big stories right now are Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton.
Read on for more.
Trump has had that unearthly light around him from the get-go of this primary season. This is how Patricia Lockwood referred to it in her wonderful recent article LOST IN TRUMPLANDIA.
Trump presents a surface with no handle, a wall without a door. He is the opposite of nuclear physics but has the same effect: When you set out to think about his implications, your mind runs up against the problem of scope.
Trump is like the black bar surrounded by worshipping simians in the movie “2001: A Space Odyssey.”
From Somewhere Else.
But…surpise, surprise…I am seeing the same sort of light coming to bear on Sanders as well. At the beginning? No. He was more like a slightly frumpy-looking, argumentative older gentleman trying to make a point
But now?
More and more light around him.
Can you see it?
I can.
Meanwhile, the third note in this triad is Hillary Clinton. She has never had it. Her husband faked it pretty well and the (ironically named) Barack Obama faked it better than anybody I have ever seen. Hee still can, when the situation calls for it. (That’s right…”Barack” refers to baraka. His father was originally named “Baraka Obama.” As Casey Stengel used to say, “You could look it up.”
Soi there it is. None of it guarantees a so-called “win” for any of them, but this is the first time in my memory that three likely presidential candidates have had to deal with this phenomenon.
May you be born(e) into interesting times.
Later…
S.