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Within's Within: Scenes from the Psychedelic Revolution with DJ Soulard
Show #917
US East Coast Time: Saturday 23 May 2026 - 11am-2pm
Repeats: Sunday 24 May 2026 - 8pm-11pm
Repeats: Saturday 30 May 2026 - 8pm-11pm
Other time zones: www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html
Within's Within Radio Archives: www.scriptorpress.com/withinswithin.html
Tune in SpiritPlants Radio Online: www.spiritplantsradio.com
  
* * * On this week's show * * *
* Featured New Rock Album: The Avett Brothers & Mike Patton, *AVTT/PTTN* (2025) . . . What an amazing pairing of rowdy wildness & Americana traditionalism! This album is the best kind of collaboration in that it sounds not quite like it could have been made by this collection . . . it is a delight!

* Featured Classic Rock Album: Rain Parade, *Emergency Third Rail Power Trip* (1983) . . . one of the core Paisley Underground bands rocking Los Angeles in the early 1980s, uncaring the sheen about them, the dark days all around . . . They carry on like it's still . . . right about . . . 1966 or so . . . & do it so nicely! . . .

* Storybook Time*: *Center of the Cycle: An Autobiography of Inner Space* by Dr. John C. Lilly . . .

* Readings from *Bags End News* & *Labyrinthine* . . . & & this week's featured artist is Billy Joel, & more live & studio songs from his brilliant 1976 *Turnstiles* era . . . lovely Greening time of year . . . hope for a world bigger than the low, common ragings of low, common men . . .
Webcasting to the globe & beyond from Ye Olde New England!

Turn on . . . tune in! SpiritPlants Radio is on the air 24/7! And now for 22 years!

SpiritPlants Radio's website can be found at: www.spiritplantsradio.com. On this site is the current weekday & weekend schedule & links to listen live, as well as links to the station's archives, blog, forum, chat, playlists, & song history.

SpiritPlants Radio is part of SpiritPlants Forums community: https://spiritplants.org. All are welcomed to join this community that features discussion of sacred plants and other entheogens.

During the weekdays you are invited to enter the (M)ystery-(F)low, because you never know . . . what's down below . . .

This weekend on SpiritPlants Radio features 3 DJs, including Commander Q, Soulard, & Veronica! This weekend (May 23-24, 2026)'s scheduled programming includes:

Featured SpiritPlants Radio DJs:
*** Within's Within: Scenes from the Psychedelic Revolution with DJ Soulard #917 | Show information: https://www.scriptorpress.com/withinswithin.html
*** Electronica with DJ Veronica #365 | Show information: https://www.spiritplantsradio.com/shows.html#DJVeronica
*** 36x with Commander Q #179 | Show information: https://www.spiritplantsradio.com/shows.html#DJCommanderQ

Featured Programs:
*** Long Live Rock!: Led Zeppelin - 27.May.1969 - Boston, Massachusetts | Show information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Led_zeppelin
*** Psychedelic Lectures: Jeff VanderMeer - "Shriek: An Afterword" (2006) | Show information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_VanderMeer
*** Jazz Cafe: Medeski Martin and Wood - "It's a Jungle in Here" (1993) | Show information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medeski_Martin_%26_Wood
*** Comedy Hour: "Beavis & Butt-Head's New Super Marathon!"  | Show information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beavis_and_Butt-Head
*** News Hour: "World Week in Review" | Show information: https://scriptorpress.com/world_week_in_review.pdf
*** Olde Tyme Radio: "The Jack Benny Program" | Show information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Benny_Program
*** Storybook Time: "Jellicle Literary Guild Highlights | Show information: https://scriptorpress.com/jellicleguildarchives.html

This weekend's programming continues the 2026 SpiritPlants Radio weekend schedule of new shows and featured programs. Your feedback (spiritplantsradios@gmail.com) will be greatly appreciated in helping to improve our station!

And check out Dose One: A SpiritPlants Radio Psychedelic Sampler (http://soundcloud.com/spiri/spiritplantsradio_dose_one)!

We are always looking for new DJs to join our station (email us at spiritplantsradio@gmail.com).

Peace,
Raymond
Station Manager

No show May 16 - next show May 23!

Turn on . . . tune in! SpiritPlants Radio is on the air 24/7! 

Welcome to Encore Weekends on SpiritPlants Radio! (May 16-17, 2026). Featured are the 4 new DJ'd shows that were on SPR in March & April 2026. These shows & their DJs include:

SpiritPlants Radio is part of the SpiritPlants Forums community: https://spiritplants.org. All are welcomed to join this community that features discussion of sacred plants and other entheogens.

*** Within's Within: Scenes from the Psychedelic Revolution with DJ Soulard | Show information: http://www.scriptorpress.com/withinswithin.html
*** Electronica By DJ Veronica | Show information: http://www.spiritplantsradio.com/shows.html#DJVeronica
*** 36x with Commander Q | Show information: http://www.spiritplantsradio.com/shows.html#DJCommanderQ
*** AlcheMinistry Labs with DJ Orpheus Labs | Show information: https://www.spiritplantsradio.com/shows.html#DJOrpheusStain

SpiritPlants Radio's website can be found at http://www.spiritplantsradio.com. On this site is the current weekend schedule & links to listen live, as well as links to the station's archives, blog, forum, chat, playlists, & song history. During the weekdays you are invited to enter the (M)ystery-(F)low . . .

Your feedback (spiritplantsradio@gmail.com) will be greatly appreciated in helping to improve our station! And check out Dose One: A SpiritPlants Radio Psychedelic Sampler (http://soundcloud.com/spiri/spiritplantsradio_dose_one)!

We are always looking for new DJs to join our station (email us at spiritplantsradio@gmail.com). 

Peace,
Raymond
Station Manager

[Within's Within: Scenes from the Psychedelic Revolution]

Within's Within: Scenes from the Psychedelic Revolution
with DJ Soulard
Show #916
US East Coast Time: Saturday 09 May 2026 - 11am-2pm
Repeats: Sunday 10 May 2026 - 8pm-11pm
Repeats: Saturday 16 May 2026 - 8pm-11pm
Other time zones: www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html

Within's Within Radio Archives: www.scriptorpress.com/withinswithin.html
Tune in SpiritPlants Radio Online: www.spiritplantsradio.com
 
* * * On this week's show * * *
 
* Featured New Rock Album: The Black Keys, *Peaches!* (2026) . . . This great Ohio duo gets down & dirty again, covering all sorts of blues classics . . . putting the rocking funky fun back into their music!

* Featured Classic Rock Album: Spin Doctors, *Pocket Full of Kryptonite* (1991) . . . This NYC jam band came out of nowhere with this great LP, full of radio hits, but cutting way deeper end to end . . . never quite hits these heights again, but this one album does it all  . . .

* Storybook Time*: *Center of the Cycle: An Autobiography of Inner Space* by Dr. John C. Lilly . . .

* Readings from *Bags End News* & *Labyrinthine* . . . & this week's featured artists are one more group of great songs that were on *Billboard Magazine*'s Hot 100 of 2013 . . . rainy spring weather, Greening all around . . . hope abounds, no matter the fools in charge

Webcasting to the globe & beyond from Ye Olde New England!

Turn on . . . tune in! SpiritPlants Radio is on the air 24/7! And now for 22 years!

SpiritPlants Radio's website can be found at: www.spiritplantsradio.com. On this site is the current weekday & weekend schedule & links to listen live, as well as links to the station's archives, blog, forum, chat, playlists, & song history.

SpiritPlants Radio is part of SpiritPlants Forums community: https://spiritplants.org. All are welcomed to join this community that features discussion of sacred plants and other entheogens.

During the weekdays you are invited to enter the (M)ystery-(F)low, because you never know . . . what's down below . . .

This weekend on SpiritPlants Radio features 3 DJs, including Commander Q, Soulard, & Veronica! This weekend (May 9-10, 2026)'s scheduled programming includes:

Featured SpiritPlants Radio DJs:
*** Within's Within: Scenes from the Psychedelic Revolution with DJ Soulard #916 | Show information: https://www.scriptorpress.com/withinswithin.html
*** Electronica with DJ Veronica #364 | Show information: https://www.spiritplantsradio.com/shows.html#DJVeronica
*** 36x with Commander Q #178 | Show information: https://www.spiritplantsradio.com/shows.html#DJCommanderQ

Featured Programs:
*** Long Live Rock!: The Byrds - 22.02.1969 | 24.01.1970 - Boston, Massachusetts | Show information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Byrds
*** Psychedelic Lectures: Jeff VanderMeer - "Shriek: An Afterword" (2006) | Show information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_VanderMeer
*** Jazz Cafe: Medeski Martin and Wood - "Notes from the Underground" (1992) | Show information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medeski_Martin_%26_Wood
*** Comedy Hour: "Beavis & Butt-Head's New Super Marathon!"  | Show information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beavis_and_Butt-Head
*** News Hour: "World Week in Review" | Show information: https://scriptorpress.com/world_week_in_review.pdf
*** Sound Collage Radio: "DJ Soulard - Tape Collage #3 - Harry Chapin - A Real Life - May-June 1987 (est.)"  | Show information: http://www.spiritplantsradio.com/djsoulardtapecollages.pdf
*** Storybook Time: "Jellicle Literary Guild Highlights | Show information: https://scriptorpress.com/jellicleguildarchives.html

This weekend's programming continues the 2026 SpiritPlants Radio weekend schedule of new shows and featured programs. Your feedback (spiritplantsradios@gmail.com) will be greatly appreciated in helping to improve our station!

And check out Dose One: A SpiritPlants Radio Psychedelic Sampler (http://soundcloud.com/spiri/spiritplantsradio_dose_one)!

We are always looking for new DJs to join our station (email us at spiritplantsradio@gmail.com).

Peace,
Raymond
Station Manager

Within's Within: Scenes from the Psychedelic Revolution
with DJ Soulard
Show #915
US East Coast Time: Saturday 02 May 2026 - 11am-2pm
Repeats: Sunday 03 May 2026 - 8pm-11pm
Repeats: Saturday 09 May 2026 - 8pm-11pm
Other time zones: www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html

Within's Within Radio Archives: www.scriptorpress.com/withinswithin.html
Tune in SpiritPlants Radio Online: www.spiritplantsradio.com
 
* * * On this week's show * * *
 
* Featured New Rock Album: Jeff Tweedy, *Twilight Override* [Part 3] (2025) . . . There's a sweet raggedness to this epic album . . . the wonderful feeling of following a brilliant singer-songwriter who just can't stop being inspired by his world, can't stop writing great songs about it . . .

* Featured Classic Rock Album: Bruce Springsteen, *Darkness on the Edge of Town* (1978) . . . Early album by the Boss . . . rough-cut, desperate . . . rocking fast, rocking slow . . . I hadn't visited it since many years ago, loved this record in my youth . . . it's the kind of good that remains always . . .

* Storybook Time*: *Center of the Cycle: An Autobiography of Inner Space* by Dr. John C. Lilly . . .

* Readings from *Bags End News* & *Labyrinthine* . . . & this week's featured artists are even still some more of those whose songs were on Billboard Magazine's Hot 100 of 2013 . . . Back to the microphone, back to business . . . spring wilding beautifully as it does . . . November reckoning coming closer day by day for the Lunatick Faux King, that's for sure . . .

Webcasting to the globe & beyond from Ye Olde New England!

Turn on . . . tune in! SpiritPlants Radio is on the air 24/7! And now for 22 years!

SpiritPlants Radio's website can be found at www.spiritplantsradio.com. On this site is the current weekday & weekend schedule & links to listen live, as well as links to the station's archives, blog, forum, chat, playlists, & song history.

SpiritPlants Radio is part of SpiritPlants Forums community: https://spiritplants.org. All are welcomed to join this community that features discussion of sacred plants and other entheogens.

During the weekdays you are invited to enter the (M)ystery-(F)low, because you never know . . . what's down below . . .

This weekend on SpiritPlants Radio features 4 DJs, including Orpheus Stain, Commander Q, Soulard, & Veronica! This weekend (May 2-3, 2026)'s scheduled programming includes:

Featured SpiritPlants Radio DJs:
*** Within's Within: Scenes from the Psychedelic Revolution with DJ Soulard #915 | Show information: https://www.scriptorpress.com/withinswithin.html
*** Electronica with DJ Veronica #363 | Show information: https://www.spiritplantsradio.com/shows.html#DJVeronica
*** 36x with Commander Q #177 | Show information: https://www.spiritplantsradio.com/shows.html#DJCommanderQ
*** AlcheMinistry Labs with DJ Orpheus Labs #89 | Show information: https://www.spiritplantsradio.com/shows.html#DJOrpheusStain

Featured Programs:
*** Long Live Rock!: Neil Young & Crazy Horse - 01.March.1970 - Boston, Massachusetts | Show information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Young_%26_Crazy_Horse
*** Psychedelic Lectures: Jeff VanderMeer - "Shriek: An Afterword" (2006) | Show information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_VanderMeer
*** Jazz Cafe: Musica Elettronica Viva - Selected Works | Show information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musica_Elettronica_Viva
*** Comedy Hour: "Beavis & Butt-Head's New Super Marathon!"  | Show information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beavis_and_Butt-Head
*** News Hour: "World Week in Review" | Show information: https://scriptorpress.com/world_week_in_review.pdf
*** Storybook Time: "Jellicle Literary Guild Highlights | Show information: https://scriptorpress.com/jellicleguildarchives.html

This weekend's programming continues the 2026 SpiritPlants Radio weekend schedule of new shows and featured programs. Your feedback (spiritplantsradios@gmail.com) will be greatly appreciated in helping to improve our station!

And check out Dose One: A SpiritPlants Radio Psychedelic Sampler (http://soundcloud.com/spiri/spiritplantsradio_dose_one)!

We are always looking for new DJs to join our station (email us at spiritplantsradio@gmail.com).

Peace,
Raymond
Station Manager

The Cenacle | 130 | April 2026 | 31st Anniversary Issue!
https://scriptorpress.com/cenacle/130
(Size = 10.6 MB)
 
Hello everyone,

Here comes the just-released Cenacle | 130 | April 2026. It's the 31st Anniversary Issue! Very exciting to be arriving to this point, & to celebrate this milestone with such a great issue of contributors!

This issue features new poetry by Madelaine Taylah, Tamara Miles, Martina Reisz Newberry, Colin James, Judih Weinstein Haggai, & myself. Plus a re-visit of a poem by the late, beloved Cenacle contributor Tom Sheehan.

Also new fiction by Timothy Vilgiate, Algernon Beagle, & myself. And classic fiction from Edgar Allan Poe.

And new prose pieces by Lou Gámez, Nathan D. Horowitz, Jimmy Heffernan, & myself.

There is also new graphic artwork by AbandonView, Epi Rogan, Louis Staeble, Tamara Miles, Madelaine Taylah, & Kassandra Soulard.

Contents of this new issue include:

From Soulard's Notebooks
[Excerpt]

Tuesday, November 3, 2026 is when this nightmare can truly begin to end. Simple as that. Vote every last Republican on the ballot out of office. None can justify running affiliated with this party. None deserve a pass.

* * * * * *

Feedback on Cenacle 129
[Excerpt]

Lou Gámez truly made my brain go boing with his short fiction "British Museum Acquisition Number EA363914," a beautifully plotted, carefully realized, eruditely entertaining short story about a centuries-spanning love. The image of Hager kissing the backs of Zahrah's knees is wonderful, as is the image of him rubbing her withered or gnarled feet. That's love.
(Nathan D. Horowitz)

* * * * * *

From the ElectroLounge Forums:
Cross-Interview with Epi Rogan
[Excerpt]

I think so many of my photos are of liminal spaces, and from the point of view of an outsider looking in. Growing up, my family didn't go to church. We lived in a small conservative community where all my friends and peers did go to church, and I think I was quietly obsessed with all the esoteric things involved with religion because I didn't have a grounding in it. It was all these strange rituals, and artwork, and mad outfits worn by clergy. Anyways, I'm still obsessed with all that stuff.
(Epi Rogan)

* * * * * *

Poetry by Tom Sheehan
[Excerpt]

When he found me,
pawed, frayed, diminished,
he said he'd never leave me again.

* * * * * *

Notes from New England:
Dream Raps, Volume Fifteen
by Raymond Soulard, Jr.
[Excerpt]

I've always thought that bus stations are good places to see what's going by in this world. All sorts of
reasons people are on the bus, taking the bus, waiting for the bus. One elderly lady with grey hair done up in a pretty pink scarf, multi-colored layers of clothes, sits next to a strange ragged figure before leaving abruptly. Wait: Was that me, in some other way, some other time?

* * * * * *

On Suspicion [Prose]
by Lou Gámez
[Excerpt]

I shut the door thoughtfully, resumed playing my music, walked slowly back to the soapy dishes in the kitchen awaiting their rinse, and tried to puzzle this out. What was going on? Today was an unexceptional Wednesday—though come to think of it, I did mow the front lawn this afternoon. Not my usual practice. The weekend was just too fine to waste with yard-work. No need to encourage my neighbors to have their dogs piss and shit on my grass more than they already do.

* * * * * *

Poetry by Judih Weinstein Haggai
[Excerpt]

listen world
clean up your room already
enough is enough

* * * * * *

Poetry by Martina Newberry
[Excerpt]

As full day seeps from morning, it grows so bright and hot
that I am happy that my eyes are small—
that my ears fan the still air—
that there is shade and cool water.

* * * * * *

Rivers of the Mind (A Novel)
by Timothy Vilgiate
[Excerpt]

I tried to keep my smile steady. Grace looked like she wanted to strangle me. Dusty looked like he wanted to dissect me. Phillip looked—hopeful. God help him.

* * * * * *

Many Musics, Twelfth Series
by Raymond Soulard, Jr.
[Excerpt]

Tonight we do what's often done when lost
loved ones reunite. We tell our long travels
from shared then to recovering now.
Build our path new with words, with gestures,
blood-bricks laid thence to hereon. The salt & spice
of memories to excite the senses to presence.

* * * * * *

Notes on Hinduism (Part i)
by Jimmy Heffernan
[Excerpt]

The lesser gods and goddesses that are actively worshipped are meant to make it easier for people to approach and incorporate Brahman in their daily lives. Usually a person will pray to a god that has special meaning for them, for whatever reason. Hindus believe that these lesser gods and goddesses have been sent to Earth to help individuals find and relate to Brahman in their lives, and to purify their karma and prepare their souls for their next incarnation. Some key gods that are actively and widely prayed to are: Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, Saraswati, Parvati, Hanuman, Krishna, Rama, and
Ganesha.

* * * * * *

Poetry by Madeleine Taylah
[Excerpt]

There are the clouds, and then there are my hands.
Somehow, they feel further away.
I hold my palms out to catch the cascading leaves
that rain from the autumnal canopies above.
Some fall gently. Others are ripped away in
mini tornados of dust and dirt.

* * * * * *

Poetry by Tamara Miles
[Excerpt]

Your breasts are veiled, they demand
contemplation. Men who lie beneath
them have their faith tested. Mayahana,
Tathagata, they nourish all beings.

* * * * * *

Bags End Book #23: Why Is There Something Instead of Nothing, Part 1 (Fiction)
by Algernon Beagle
[Excerpt]

Your old editor & reporter friend & pal Algernon Beagle is not what you might say to be a deep or very philosophical guy. I mean, I know lots of smart guys like Sheila Bunny & Princess Chrisakah of Imagianna, Crissy 4or fun, & even mah own newspaper's loyal riter-downer Lori Bunny, who probably knows about a lot more about these things than I do.

* * * * * *

Poetry by Colin James
[Excerpt]

Collecting our allocations of mushrooms,
fungi turning blue correspondingly.
Familiarity saviors lassoed.

* * * * * *

Dietmar & the Flies Dancing [Travel Journal]
by Nathan D. Horowitz
[Excerpt]

And maybe time is shaped like a tree. Since I don't know what really happened, I can only ask questions. Where is my heart going to live? What kinds of instruments do the Swiss use to make holes in cheese? Can white people be shamans? Can black people be investment bankers? How much longer will this deteriorating hut last? Is there another word for synonym? My God, what's that smell? Is my notebook paper content with its Scythian tattoo of words, blue like smurfs?

* * * * * *

The Fall of the House of Usher
by Edgar Allan Poe (Classic Fiction)
[Excerpt]

During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country; and at length found myself, as the shades of the evening drew on, within view of the melancholy House of Usher.

* * * * * *

Labyrinthine [A New Fixtion]
by Raymond Soulard, Jr.
[Excerpt]

You will one day lie inert in a box, like the ones a hundred, a thousand years ago. Inert, boxed, buried, as new days come & go, & you are forgotten, become a listing in history books. Just another mortal, failed human being who could have raised the world up, holy & high, but did not. Soon you will be gone too.

* * * * * *

Respond with your feedback here — or by email at editor@scriptorpress.com

Peace, 
Raymond

[* * * * * *]

Hello everyone,

Today is my birthday, but I decided that I wanted to gift all of you a present. I'm developing an anthology of poems by the wonderful Polish poet, Wisława Szymborska, & read the poem below last night. Decided the synchronicity of this poem & my birthday too lovely to pass up. I hope you enjoy, & have a wonderful day!

Peace,
Raymond

* * * * * *

Birthday
by Wisława Szymborska

So much world all at once – how it rustles and bustles!
Moraines and morays and morasses and mussels,
The flame, the flamingo, the flounder, the feather –
How to line them all up, how to put them together?
All the tickets and crickets and creepers and creeks!
The beeches and leeches alone could take weeks.
Chinchillas, gorillas, and sarsaparillas –
Thanks do much, but all this excess of kindness could kill us.
Where's the jar for this burgeoning burdock, brooks' babble,
Rooks' squabble, snakes' quiggle, abundance, and trouble?
How to plug up the gold mines and pin down the fox,
How to cope with the linx, bobolinks, strptococs!
Tale dioxide: a lightweight, but mighty in deeds:
What about octopodes, what about centipedes?
I could look into prices, but don't have the nerve:
These are products I just can't afford, don't deserve.
Isn't sunset a little too much for two eyes
That, who knows, may not open to see the sun rise?
I am just passing through, it's a five-minute stop.
I won't catch what is distant: what's too close, I'll mix up.
While trying to plumb what the void's inner sense is,
I'm bound to pass by all these poppies and pansies.
What a loss when you think how much effort was spent
perfecting this petal, this pistil, this scent
for the one-time appearance, which is all they're allowed,
so aloofly precise and so fragilely proud.

(translated from Polish by Stanislaw Baranczak 
and Clare Cavanagh)

* * * * * *

No show Apr 11, Apr 18, & Apr 25 - next show May 2 :)

Turn on . . . tune in! SpiritPlants Radio is on the air 24/7! 

Welcome to Encore Weekends on SpiritPlants Radio! (April 11-12, April 18-19, & April 25-26, 2026). Featured are the 4 new DJ'd shows that were on SPR in March & April 2026. These shows & their DJs include:

*** Within's Within: Scenes from the Psychedelic Revolution with DJ Soulard | Show information: http://www.scriptorpress.com/withinswithin.html
*** Electronica By DJ Veronica | Show information: http://www.spiritplantsradio.com/shows.html#DJVeronica
*** 36x with Commander Q | Show information: http://www.spiritplantsradio.com/shows.html#DJCommanderQ
*** AlcheMinistry Labs with DJ Orpheus Labs | Show information: https://www.spiritplantsradio.com/shows.html#DJOrpheusStain

SpiritPlants Radio's website can be found at http://www.spiritplantsradio.com. On this site is the current weekend schedule & links to listen live, as well as links to the station's archives, blog, forum, chat, playlists, & song history. During the weekdays you are invited to enter the (M)ystery-(F)low . . .

Your feedback (spiritplantsradio@gmail.com) will be greatly appreciated in helping to improve our station! And check out Dose One: A SpiritPlants Radio Psychedelic Sampler (http://soundcloud.com/spiri/spiritplantsradio_dose_one)!

We are always looking for new DJs to join our station (email us at spiritplantsradio@gmail.com). 

Peace,
Raymond
Station Manager

What Comes From the Failure to Confront Insanity
Trump's religious zealotry advocating war crimes is the inevitable result

by Jennifer Rubin
Published Apr 8, 2025 at The Contrarian
https://www.contrariannews.org/p/what-comes-from-the-failure-to-confront?triedRedirect=true   
 
Donald Trump's Tuesday morning apocalyptic threat, amounting to a vow to commit genocide, bore the whiff of both insanity and desperation. As Amnesty International put it: "The US President's threat of extermination and irreparable destruction brazenly shreds core rules of international humanitarian law, with potentially catastrophic consequences for over 90 million people." (Emphasis added.) Trump's belated construction of some muddled tale of a diplomatic breakthrough should in no way diminish the illegality of his genocidal threats, the political horror it represented, or the frightful intrusion of religious zealotry into our politics.
   
It is no small matter that Trump has adopted the rhetoric of religious apocalypse — something one might associate with a fundamentalist Islamic state — which once was the lone domain of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who claims the war has been conducted on behalf of Jesus. With no hint of self-awareness, Hegseth recently declared, "We're fighting religious fanatics who seek a nuclear capability in order for some religious Armageddon. But from my perspective, I mean, obviously I'm a man of faith who encourages our troops to lean into their faith, rely on God."

While Hegseth has been written off as a crank and imbecile (albeit one who once tainted our uniformed military ranks), this brand of religious fervor becomes deadly serious when uttered by the commander-in-chief, who possesses access to nuclear weapons. And since Easter, when he delivered the holy message of: "Time is running out — 48 hours before all Hell will reign down on them. Glory be to GOD!", Trump has continually resorted to violent religious rhetoric to justify mass murder, mimicking the tone of theologically deranged terrorists.

On Tuesday, Pope Leo wrote: "Today as we all know there was this threat against all the people of Iran. This is truly unacceptable." Archbishop Paul S. Coakley echoed: "The threat of destroying a whole civilization and the intentional targeting of civilian infrastructure cannot be morally justified." Both condemned Trump's religious justification for monstrous threats. While they must protect the sanctity of the Church, we must rescue our secular government.

How, then, did we reach the mortifying intersection of White Christian Nationalism (which rejects separation of church and state, casting the United States as a Christian nation), Trump's personal pathological narcissism, and fascist warmongering (which repudiates democracy and rule of law at home and international law around the globe)? Multiple failures of our civil society and political system played a part.

This is what comes from a cadre of white, Christian evangelical leaders who have adopted nationalism rather than faith as their touchstone. MAGA leaders in collars and robes have treated Trump as a messiah figure, scorned the separation of church and state, and adopted the defense of Western civilization as a mantra and justification for cruel and exclusionary policies.

As PBS reported, Trump's base includes white, Christian evangelists who "have been influenced by their own version of Armageddon and the end of the world...Some evangelicals espouse prophecies in which warfare involving Israel is key to bringing about the return of Jesus." A cadre of Christian Zionists cheered the onset of war, which they see as an opportunity to advance their theology, fulfilling their prophetic vision of a triumphant Israel, a prelude to Armageddon. They can believe what they want; they should not be allowed to capture government and wield its power for their fringe sectarian purposes.

Too many political leaders (both secular and followers of other faiths) allowed themselves to be cowed when MAGA cultists whined that they were victims of anti-religious bias. Power-hungry political leaders masquerading as religious adherents received far too much leeway to intrude into government policy, procedures, and personnel. It is long past the time to take this part of the MAGA movement head-on as antithetical to the Constitution and American pluralism.

This is what comes from legacy media ignoring Trump's obvious mental and physical decline. They have studiously refused to recognize his mental unwellness, preferring to label it part of his "personality." Without any factual basis or medical foundation, Jake Tapper declared on C-SPAN, "I think some of the questions about President Trump's behavior have more to do with personality than with cognitive decline."

In clinging to journalistic ground rules inappropriate to this president, the media have habituated the public to utterly abnormal conduct. Margaret Sullivan, former public editor for the New York Times, reaffirmed the problem: "The press, because of its own conventions and time-honored practices, normalizes him, and thus fails to get across the extreme nature of this president's behavior. Ten years of sane washing have had their effect. He remains in power, reelected, undeterred." And, ultimately, issuing threats to commit genocide.

This is what comes from the bastardization of outlets like the Washington Post and CBS News. They have been turned into cheering sections for Trump, avoiding unflinching scrutiny and running interference (e.g., zapping a 60 Minutes investigation of CECOT) for his authoritarian, cruel, and unhinged conduct. They and other legacy outlets continue to yuck it up with Trump at self-serving celebrations of themselves.

This is what comes from an entire political party abdicating its constitutional functions — from oversight to power of the purse to the power to declare war. After years of pretending not to hear Trump's rants or excusing them as "Trump being Trump," cowardly Republicans paved the way for Trump to plunge us into war and issue threats of genocide. Republican senators voting to confirm entirely unfit Cabinet secretaries and then refusing to remove them when they violated the law (Signalgate) and broke international law (extrajudicial killings) have played a critical role in democratic destruction. They must be replaced en masse for failure to do their jobs.

This is what comes from the highest ranks of the military agreeing to conduct murder on the high seas. In violation of U.S. and international law, they broke new ground in the Caribbean Sea, even making excuses for killing shipwreck survivors. Trump no doubt concluded that he had cowed military brass to such a degree that they would comply with any order, even one that amounted to genocide.

This is what comes from a Supreme Court that has treated Trump as a king. Absolving him of criminal liability and indulging ever-expanding executive power while scolding lower court judges who have attempted to rein him in have helped create a monster, one who now threatens them and the rest of our constitutional system.

It is not hard to see how we got to where we are. The temptation now will be to rationalize this brush with disaster, even for Republicans to cheer Trump's "negotiating prowess" or "restraint." That would be a grotesque error. Dodging one calamity but ignoring the underlying pathology and serial failures that brought us to this point will ensure we have other such incidents.

We must not forget that Trump's threats in and of themselves are war crimes, grounds for impeachment, and a flashing siren that all the enablers, rationalizers, and opportunists who have refused to blow the whistle on a deranged president need to snap out of it. Trump is a threat not "only" to democracy, but to our national security and survival, and the peace and stability of the planet.

It is time to constrain and ultimately remove him before we destroy an entire civilization — our own.

What a great tale! Thanks, Joe!:)

[Within's Within: Scenes from the Psychedelic Revolution]

Within's Within: Scenes from the Psychedelic Revolution
with DJ Soulard
Show #914
US East Coast Time: Saturday 04 April 2026 - 11am-2pm
Repeats: Sunday 05 April 2026 - 8pm-11pm
Repeats: Saturday 11 April 2026 - 8pm-11pm
Other time zones: www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html

Within's Within Radio Archives: www.scriptorpress.com/withinswithin.html
Tune in SpiritPlants Radio Online: www.spiritplantsradio.com
 
* * * On this week's show * * *
 
* Featured New Rock Album: Jeff Tweedy, *Twilight Override* [Part 2] (2025) . . . Tweedy dives deeper into his obsessions, his fears, what makes him joyful . . . he traces a musical voyage inside, but also far beyond himself . . . brilliant music that pursues endlessly to understand . . .

* Featured Classic Rock Album: John Cougar Mellencamp, *Uh-huh* (1983) . . . still bearing partially his stage name, but busting looser with every new record, this LP is a show-stopper . . . angry, funny, wild, lyrically awesome . . . ass-shaking good fun . . .

* Storybook Time*: *Center of the Cycle: An Autobiography of Inner Space* by Dr. John C. Lilly . . .

* Readings from *Bags End News* & *Labyrinthine* . . . & this week's featured artists are still some more of those whose songs were on Billboard Magazine's Hot 100 of 2013 . . . NO KINGS! NO KINGS! NO KINGS! NO KINGS! NO KINGS! NO KINGS!

Webcasting to the globe & beyond from Ye Olde New England!