WHO DO WE LOVE?

              "Yet each man kills the thing he loves
                 By each let this be heard.
              Some do it with a bitter look,
                Some with a flattering word,
              The coward does it with a kiss,
                The brave man with a sword!"
      Oscar Wilde, The Ballad of Reading Gaol

    
     We are all now killing the thing we love, or at least profess to love. What is that, you ask? It is our country. How you might ask? By putting it into a situation that is almost without hope, without sense, without decency and without honor. Please explain follows.
     A leader of a country, let alone any other entity, is supposed to be one with dignity, with honor, with peace and confidence within him or her self, with a true understanding of the mission statements and goals of said entity. We are sadly lacking in this right now. Our ostensible leader has no dignity, thinking he is running a true to life reality show. Does he understand or realize that this is truly real, not a television reality show, scripted or otherwise? Does he realize that true and real lives depend upon his behavior and actions?
     No, for what we have is an idiot who believes that one communicates a thought in five or so tweets. There is no depth, no understanding of human values and issues, just a boast without the whole story. And there is always a mocking of someone or something as he tries to pump up his "Nielsen" ratings.
     In the ten days after his election, there were 867 incidents of hatred and bias with 100 of them anti Semitic in nature. These total incidents ranged from vile words to vile deeds and actions, including destruction, vandalism, and violence. The country has begun or rather has continued its split, with families not talking to each other and lifelong friends in violent disagreement.
     Why is that? Oscar Wilde has shown us the ways or methods in which we can destroy that which we love and is it not time to emphasize the positives of our country, of its values? Is it not time to serve notice that we will not stand for this for four years, that change, the same change which this man said he would bring about must be change for the better? He must change. He must dig deep within his shallow soul and find something decent, something right, something human and something unselfish, something which indeed does show that he understands who and what he is not, to our misfortune, but there it is. Does he love this country or not? Does he understand that this is not an entity created to enhance his businesses? Does he understand that to be ethical and not violate the emoluments clause he must divest - totally - and if his children are to be involved with his business then they cannot be the four shadow horsemen of the presidency. In fact, "the business operations" that he maintains that he will now leave is not really enough to satisfy the ethics requirements of divestment. Not at all. And that if he even keeps his word.
     How do we show this guy and his buddies that we want America back again, that we want our values to be cherished and valued, to be enhanced? Well, here is a simple first step. Breitbart has now denounced Kellogs for pulling their advertisement from it for it does not represent the values it wishes to be associated with so Breitbart wants a boycott. Instead, let us go out and buy extra Kellogs cereals. Donate the extras to pantries if you must, but support the company. Support any company which will come out for American values, true values, and not those of a reality TV person and one making a mockery of everything we hold dear.   
     This is serious business and we are not to forget equality for all, marriage rights for all, opportunity for all, fair immigration for we are a nation of immigrants, advancement, rather than retrogression in the area of women's rights, the retention of Medicare and Social Security and the interests of our elderly taken seriously. Talk of death panels!? This guy Price will have us all dead in our beds if he has his way.
     Right now we are seeing the resurgence of Wall Street within the Cabinet and administration of Trump. We are seeing the rise of the Fat Cats, directly opposed to all his campaign promises. What and how we will manage with this man who appears to be a consummate liar and a cold fish is beyond my ken. All I know is that I will continue with my path and hope and pray that we make it through and in 2020 get a better chance at putting ourselves back together again. Just hope our country and democracy manage to last that long and we do not become a subsidiary country subject to the rule of others such as Putin or a stronghold in the land of hatred and prejudice and demagoguery. The world is depending on us to stem the tide of hatred from both the right and the left and we now continue to disappoint them. We must do better. First step - impeach the guy when he crosses that red line. Second step - find ways not to kill that which we love - our country. Find ways in which to keep it alive. A popular vote differential of over 2.3 million votes says a lot. There is a mandate, yes, but it is not Trump's and does not belong to him if we truly let the voice of the American people speak and not the antiquated Electoral College, itself a relic of prejudicial thinking.