Read by Rachel Maddow

A searing, vital investigation of the Republican Party’s dangerous campaign to rewrite history in real time, from the Emmy Award-winning Rachel Maddow Show producer and bestselling author of The Impostors.

“There is nobody…who has more influence on the way I think about politics than Steve Benen.” —Rachel Maddow 

For as long as historical records have existed, authoritarian regimes have tried to rewrite history to suit their purposes, using their dictatorial powers to create myths, spread propaganda, justify decisions, erase opponents, and even dispose of crimes.

Today, as America’s Republican Party becomes increasingly radicalized, it’s not surprising to see the GOP read from a similarly despotic script. Indeed, the party is taking dangerous, aggressive steps to rewrite history—and not just from generations past. Unable to put a positive spin on Trump-era scandals and fiascos, GOP voices and their allies have grown determined to rewrite the stories of the last few years—from the 2020 election results and the horror of January 6th to their own legislative record—treating the recent past as an enemy to be overpowered, crushed, and conquered. The consequences for our future, in turn, are dramatic.

Extraordinarily timely and undeniably important, Steve Benen’s new book tells the staggering chronicle of the Republican party’s unsettling attempts at historical revisionism. It reveals not only how dependent they have grown on the tactic, but also how dangerous the consequences are if we allow the party to continue. The stakes, Benen argues, couldn’t be higher: the future of democracy hinges on both our accurate understanding of events and the end of alternative narratives that challenge reality.

MINISTRY OF TRUTH By Steve Benen

Vocals: Jaydeep Vaidya, Backing Vocals: Namrata Mahabal, Keyboard: Devendra Bhome, Tabla: Ketan Pawar. 

Lyrics: these are songs of realisation, written by the great mahasiddha (mystic)Saraha. Some of the verses have the rhythmic meter of Dohas. Hindi Translation is by the great scholar Pandit Rahul Sanskrityayan. 

Saraha, was known as the first Sahajiya and one of the 84 Mahasiddhas. His spontaneous songs of realisation are called Dohas and Vajra Geetis. He is also often referred to as The Great Brahmin. Saraha was originally known as Rāhula or Rāhulbhadra. Born in eastern India, into a Brahmin family, He studied at the Buddhist monastic university Nalanda. Saraha is known for being a wandering yogi and avadhuta (Tib: nyönpa) engaging in behaviours that overturned the social norms of caste, social class, and the oppressive normative gender roles and hierarchies of the time. Two of Saraha’s important teachers and consorts were women who were technically lower than him from the stand point of caste, class. and gender. Yet, each of these nameless women met Saraha as an equal on the path of spiritual practice and each of them had realization that led Saraha further in his own spiritual development

ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF VERSES BY SARAHA:

Saraha: 
Namo Manjushri, Homage to Him, who has conquered Mara and his Powers

Just as when the wind blows,
and still water is turned into moving waves,
So the appearing Saraha is just one, 
Yet the king creates diverse aspects.

The ignorant press their eyes
and see one lamp as two. 
Like this, in (Mind’s nature) where seer and seen are not two,
Alas! The mind appears as two things.

Though many lamps are lit throughout the house,
Those with no eyes to see remain in darkness. 
Like this, though spontaneous wisdom is all-pervasive and nearby,
for the ignorant it is far, far away.

Though diverse, rivers are one in the ocean.
Though myriad, lies are overcome by a single truth.
Though darkness is manifold,
The rising of a single sun clears it away.

By entering into emptiness but devoid of compassion, 
One will not find the supreme path. 
By meditating upon compassion alone, 
One will not attain liberation, but remain in samsara. 
The one capable of apprehending the unity of the two, 
will not remain in samsara nor abide in (personal) nirvana.

That with which one is born, is same as that with which one dies.
It is with that, one attains supreme bliss. 

Saraha says,” what do i do?” 
The world of brutes do not understand this.

Mind is one, Mind is the seed from which Samsara & Nirvana bloom. 
Take care of the mind, and Like a Wish-Fulfilling Jewel it will produce the fruit of all desires.

Tied down, one runs in the ten directions, Free, one remains immovable. 
Friend! look at the camel; this paradox appears evident to me.
 * Camel is a conventional metaphor for the mind.

In engaging with the world, one does not get entangled in it.
take the lotus without touching murky water. 
So, the Yogi who takes refuge in the root, 
he is not bound by the world, even while enjoying it.

I dont differentiate ‘One’ or ‘Two’ or make a big deal of ‘Duality’. 
I paint with one colour, the three worlds in entirety.

Songs Of Saraha

Piano-driven riff - formerly 'Glide Path'

InnerSpace

Hyper Drive

www.soundcloud.com/jonathan.shearman

High Sierra

EMPTY LIVES
JJ got a piece and he's learnin' how to use it 
If he can't findrelease then some day real soon he's gonna loose it B
ut nobody sees him turnin' 
or knows that in side he's burnin' 
looking for a chance to go out in side a fiery blaze 

Jodie has one chance and she knows she has to take it 
She's the on ly one who jj knows will never fake it

'Who do you think you're fooling?  Why would I walk on by? I can see what you're doing But I just don't know why

You don't want to have to climb your mountain  
want to sail away  to some other shore 
Are you gonna find somebody there who loves you more? 
you don't want to think a bout the future if there ain't no light to see 
but I'm gonna show you there's a light when you're with me.

Music and lyrics © Jonathan Shearman
Vocals and production by https://www.airgigs.com/user/AustinDeadman

Arrangement and instrumentation by Jonathan Shearman

Jonathan Shearman's Album

Empty Lives

Ulysses 
I don’t know why
like Ulysses you left me
to go conquering yourself
so far away from me
But now that this distance is 
enormous
You reach me through the  air
through the wires and you tell me 
You love me so much more again.

I feel like a shipwreck
with all this love 
You’re sending me
And my bed is big and cold 
with all this love 
You’re sending me
It is too late
It is too late

And like Penelope
Of my life I am weaving
All the hurt and all the goodness
done to me I am living in the moment
I am living in the moment
Of my greatest mythology
I am living in the moment
Of my greatest mythology

I feel like a shipwreck
with all this love 
You’re sending me
And my bed is big and cold 
with all this love 
You’re sending me
It is too late
It is too late

It’s not worth a thing
This love you’re giving me
Doesn’t make me happy
It’s too late for you and me x2

MM

- Ulysses

I didn't know I could ever feel like this
And there's a fire that's deep inside
You keep me wondering if you are real about this
Is it just another game for you to try? 

I know you thought that we might by chance that night
That we just caught one another's eyes
But there is much more to this than circumstance
There are stories that are written in the skies

Chorus 

I know there is higher destiny
Than you can see
And that there is a reason why
Some things are made to be

No I don't hear imaginary voices
I don't make any fortune cookie choices
But you can't hear the single word inside your heart
So we are falling apart.

It really isn't such a mystery
When you have seen
That there must be a reason why some things are made to be

So don't remain alone in your confusion
You know inside your heart it's no delusion
No matter how it's been for us there is another way
When you hear what the single word inside is trying to say

Lyrics, music and instrumentation Jonathan Shearman

Vocal production and performance Austin Deadman.

Wayfarer, Imaginary Voices

Imaginary Voices

Songwriter, keyboardist, composer~arranger. I'm into 60's sounds, soundtrack, jazz~fusion, and Latin. Non-commercial. Kudos to Austin Deadman for vocals on Imaginary Voices and Empty Lives.