BACK AGAIN?

     These are dangerous times, locally and internationally and they all are tied together in  one theme: only one opinion counts and that is the one that matters. All else is to be quashed. Yes, sadly enough that seems to be the developing theme of the Republican convention and that seems to be the continuing theme right here in the Village.
     Ever since I ran for office against David Israel not so much for the reason of wanting the office, but for the purpose of standing up against him, to show others that there was nothing to be afraid of, David Israel has tried to impose ever more stringent dampers and blocks against all opposition talk or actions He has gone so far as to employ the use of a governmental organ and has shut down the once and former newspaper here and turned it into The Rag. He has blocked free speech and assembly within our own Village - no Clubhouse, no pools and has eliminated the traditional debates during campaign. And lately he has gone even further in his demented attempts to control all and everything that touches the Village and has reached out to non Village property in an attempt to stifle free speech there as well. He has allegedly threatened outside arenas with who knows what in order to get them to close their doors and rooms to the opposition.
     And even as he proceeds on this paranoid and un-American path, he has grievously ignored the troubles of the Village and left us with a disgusting waterway system, an irrigation system that is beyond repair, and do not forget the proposal to have a street sweeper here twice a year to clean up the sand and pebble piles from the eroding and devolving roadways, without a real attorney, with no true paper for the Village other than the increasingly popular CV Messenger, blocked the UCO roles and positions to all but a favored few and a couple of tokens and has continued to demonstrate his nastiness towards people. Just yesterday, while sitting at a meeting, it seems that after he heard that someone was in the hospital, he could find nothing to say to a seatmate other than nasty comments about that person. Just lovely!
     So American Constitution aside here, let us look at the national stage. We have a presumptive nominee for a national party running for President of the United States and what does he push as a theme? America First!!!! Again?? Are we exhuming the ghost of Charles Lindbergh, a notorious fan and devotee of Hitler and a vicious anti Semite. One can find statement after statement of his relating how the Jews are taking over, enmeshed themselves in various media formats, and ad infinitum ad nauseum. And now Trump reintroduces this again?
     Here is a presumptive nominee who has a huge segment of his party delegates who do not want to vote for him. We have a man who wanted Don King, a man who stomped someone to death, be a main and featured speaker at the Convention. We have a man who lies and lies again, be it about his finances as he tries to apply for huge funding or to his statistics that he might bandy about. Noise and shouting does not a candidate make nor a savior for our country and certainly not one who is of world caliber particularly during these perilous times.
     We have unions of countries, pacts, that are falling apart, countries all over the world that are fighting - literally fighting - with other members of the same country - a continent that is exploding with violence and another that is following in those footsteps, and a world which is rife with terrorist attacks, the latest being a crazy teen running amok in a train in Germany and hacking at people with an axe and hanging in his room - an ISIS flag.
     We, the people of the world, must make a choice. Who are the people who are going to be our leaders and whom will we spurn? When people are oppressed, the coup in Turkey is an example of what happens and the reprisals rained by Erdogan upon the Turkish people are horrific, so much so that even the US had to warn him about excess "zeal" in this matter.
     North Korea is shooting off missiles again, Saudi Arabia is now trying to unreap what they have sowed and struggling with that task, fanatical religious figures are dragging others into their deep dark holes and that goes for all religions, but in particular just look what is happening with Islamic terrorists and extremists and right here in America we are shooting at our own first responders and then expecting them to run in front of us into danger. Something very wrong in that equation. Police are now patrolling in pairs so coverage is now more limited and it is getting ever more difficult to separate the true incidents of racism from the claimed incidents.
     This is the center of the country and the world caving in. This is the House divided against itself locally and globally. This is all that we have been warned about and against by wise statesman throughout history and this is what we have wreaked upon the world by ignoring that advice. Where is the bold person, man or woman, who will stand up and tell the world's evil doers where to get off? Where are the people who will not use political expediency to cover their own moral weakness and cowardice? I think the time has come when we must demand that and the first place to begin is to look deep within our own souls, stop the ranting and listen to the voice of the soul, of the heart and hear the truth and heed it. It is a difficult task but we must try for the alternative is not really a good one.