Does my ass look big in this election?

"Why are you so up-in-arms?" an old college buddy asked me. She went on to challenge what FangedWilds.org -- the non-profit I founded -- has to do with politics. My brain went through a spasm of calculations: "This friend isn't the progressive activist she was back in our school days... in fact, she just ridiculed her son as being a 'BernieBro' who was naive to support Sanders. She just said something favorable about Clinton but she may even be Republican now...."

What do you say someone who sees no connection between elections and extinction?

Democrats harm the environment as much as GOP

I sputtered something to the effect that this "Fanged Wilds" whimsy of mine is designed to make us more aware of predators so we tap into our own fierce wildness and take action to save nature. "Climate change; government in bed with Big Oil; stuff like that."

My friend snorted.

Courage isn't always dramatic. Sometimes it's just being honest with someone smug, at the risk of losing her affection.

Yeah, YOU, beotch! Disturb your comfort enough to learn, say, how politicians and their shills are calling for Julian Assange to be assassinated. They're calling him a terrorist Russian spy; Assange is  the guy who published -- via Wikileaks #DNCleak -- proof that establishment Democrats took our donations fraudulently and, with the complicity of rigged media, cheated anyone who values democracy or just didn't vote Clinton.

Some of us are still reeling over the fact that the champion of the environment Bernie Sanders endorsed fracking-queen Clinton despite such brazen election fraud. For us Berners, it was like watching our dad get crucified, climb off the cross and join the Roman army. We can only speculate what threats forced Bernie to abandon justice after so many decades of his fearless integrity as a public servant. Powerful bullies' attacks on Wikileaks' Assange -- who's one of the few honest journalists left in the world -- gives us a hint of the viciousness of those political predators.

Yes, predators.

See how it all fits together? We're standing up to tycoons who control the White House, FBI and DOJ, who may even call for our assassination. See why we need lions, grizzly bears & killer whales to adjust our mindset?

But standing up to my old college girlfriend was just as scary. I'm not a lesbian (not that there's anything wrong with that) however I do treasure the love of my gal pals. I'm crushed when they cherish lies more than they value our friendship. If you care about me, at the very least please respect the sacrifices I make for the sake of democracy.

No, I'm not talking about the canvassing, blogging and banking I do: I'm talking about the most YUGE sacrifice I made... of my figure. Fretting, debating and grieving has destroyed my exercise and food control. This year's elections have made my ass fat. If you've ever been in a situation like this, you may understand that I crave women buddies to reassure me that everything is all right; beauty is internal; health is spiritual, yadda yadda...

Nonetheless, ladies, I'm compelled to shove this in your face... because courage.

Election Fraud made me a Bernie Bro for #JillNotHill. If you don't like it, bite my copious butt

V.C. Bestor endorses the People and all other species. She's Director of FangedWilds.org
Twitter: @VCBestor
FWWP on Facebook

The Herd become the Hunters

I went to a retreat to teach a workshop on "Predators and our own Fierceness." Imagine yourself there with us sitting beside a mountain stream: you've indulged in hot tubs and much more bean salad than you'd ever eat at home. High above our group tower majestic fir trees punctuated by a raven's rude version of "Huh?"

We humans introduce ourselves around the circle. Then we break into pairs to play predator/prey. We're not allowed to hunt or use each other as food at this particular healing retreat center. But each person takes turns acting ferocious while their partner cowers. Someone has brought his little nephew Calvin, so a diminutive Tyrannosaurus Rex is represented in the melee.

The 1%

Afterwards we discuss: what are predators? Have you seen any in the wild? One guy Russ had been on a safari where a lion stared at him as if to attack; the tourist averted his eyes and hunkered down in the open-sided Jeep, returning home to read that a lion in the same part of Africa had indeed just dragged a woman out of a safari-tour Jeep and killed her. "They don't like when you stare," Russ concluded.

At the end of the workshop, I posited that many politicians are predators consuming us. They take our tax money to make themselves more powerful, often killing us in the process (via Iraq, pollution, for-profit medicine, etc.) One way to look at the current election is that the herd has woken up and is STARING at the predators. Our immense herd stretching across America is stamping our hooves, conveying, "We can trample you bloodthirsty pack. You may kill some of us. But you're causing mass extinction, ruining the climate, poisoning our home and picking us off anyway." The predators are pretending we don't exist. Right now we're all weighing the odds of surviving what could be a bloodbath.

At the mountain retreat, someone volunteers to play the predator while the rest of us hold hands to form a herd. The little boy Calvin drops hands -- breaking ranks -- and puts his fingers by his head to represent horns. He storms the predator alone while the rest of us realize horns are a GREAT idea.

In this 2016 Primary, a single journalist Julian Assange has revealed crimes like racketeering that the ill-named Democratic Party perpetrated to cheat voters. We'd already seen that Voters' Registrations were altered to prevent votes for Bernie Sanders from being counted. Even beyond such voter suppression, Exit Polls prove America's elections are rigged... with OUR MONEY.

Will you be sheep? 

-- V.C. Bestor is Director of FangedWilds.org

@VCBestor (but promise you won't give Twitter your ad dollars!)