I almost do not know where to start this morning or where to go. That is partly because I do not know whether we in this country know where we are going either and partly because I am just rendered speechless by this weekend's happenings. To put it bluntly, we are exactly where I feared we would go, but not so quickly and I devoutedly wished that it would have been resolved before reaching this crisis point. Frankly, depending on how we solve this issue, we are looking either at the future of a United States or we are looking at its demise. That is it on a pure and simple level.
We have indeed reached a constitutional crisis. Are we going to be governed by the law, by the three branches of government and obedience to the courts and through the courts follow a path to change or are we going to be governed by a demagogue who has made no effort to hide his ultimate plans and goals - the takeover of this government, of this country, well amplified by his manic use of Executive Orders, his infantile tantrums like any self respecting demagogue has and displays, his bullying tactics, his threats, and his all around nastiness. Not the least of it all is the fact that basically he is an ignoramus, so different from the cultured people who have been our presidents and even the worst of them have never reached this pathetic level.
The man does not read and therefore does not understand anything in depth. He has no functioning brains other than what he wants means it all to him and his advisers are his runners who have lost control of him and instead are sycophantically fawning all over him and giving him the wrong clues. Wrong!! Wrong!!
The world is not in the best shape it has been in but it is not a horrible mess. People are still talking to each other, willing to negotiate and yes, people are often talking in shouts and capital letters, especially the moron who keeps tweeting, but there are still ears open and quiet talks going on without the bravado of public faces. But not this guy,., nope, not him.
When the executive branch refuses to abide by the judicial branch there is a constitutional crisis. When the law enforcement officers refuse to obey those judicial rulings, openly refuse, there is a crisis and not only constitutional but moral. These are the same law enforcement personnel who are supposed to keep us safe - or are they, have they, become the personal enforcement goons of the Trump administration. Have they lost the moral principles that should tell them that what they were told to do was wrong, was evil and refuse to do so. Orders that are morally wrong are NOT, emphatically so, not legal, or lawful or moral or enforceable by all civilized law and yet, over this weekend we had not such a little taste of the possible future of our country and we did not like it.
Thank G-d we had thousands of people willing to stand up and protest, we had businesses that stood up for the moral law, watched out for their employees, promised to hire immigrants, went to court and stood in crowds and shouted, spontaneously, with no time to organize and with only moral principles to guide us.
We had businesses who were brave and spoke out - "We created Lyft to be a model for the type of community we want our world to be: diverse, inclusive, and safe.
This weekend, Trump closed the country's borders to refugees, immigrants, and even documented residents from around the world based on their country of origin. Banning people of a particular faith or creed, race or identity, sexuality or ethnicity, from entering the U.S. is antithetical to both Lyft's and our nation's core values. We stand firmly against these actions, and will not be silent on issues that threaten the values of our community. "
We even had the Koch brothers who said -
“We believe it is possible to keep Americans safe without excluding people who wish to come here to contribute and pursue a better life for their families. The travel ban is the wrong approach and will likely be counterproductive,” said Hooks, the co-chairman of the Koch network. "Our country has benefited tremendously from a history of welcoming people from all cultures and backgrounds. This is a hallmark of free and open societies.”
His very supporters in his rush to office. We even finally had some Republicans back off, though too weakly for it to be of strong import. Courage seems to have been lacking over this weekend and in the week prior to this.
A law professor stated that "Obedience to specific court orders is what keeps us from being a banana republic or fascist dictatorship. That's really a big deal."
Another said, "The chaos just doesn't risk a constitutional crisis. Assuming the report is accurate, it creates one.....outright defiance can only be deemed disrespect for the rule of law."
We cannot say that we were unaware of this possibility. I am but one of many voices, most far more worldly and knowledgeable than I, who have shouted this warning from the hilltops, from the mountains tops and from wherever we found the opportunity. But people have forgotten their moral foundations, their moral courage, and have looked out for themselves, Republican politicians are worried about their seats? There will be no seats other than puppet seats if this continues. There will be a police state run by bigots and haters like Bannon and in the White House we will have an insane man who keeps on tweeting in the mistaken feeling that he is worth anything. He is not and there is no time better than now to declare him unfit and unable to discharge properly the responsibilities of his office and to follow up on that and make sure that the replacement figure understands that too and that we will not stand for this any longer. The people will have spoken.
The United States is a democracy and we, the people, have no wish to change that. Sure, we can disagree on issues, but surely, we have reached a point where we can do it better than this way. This hatred, this arrogance have all arisen from this man and his henchmen. We need to turn them aside and reassure the world, reassure ourselves that we will do better, that we do not value hate as a principle of government, that we respect the law and change it via the courts and legal ways.
There is no other path to go to for us. Either we reject this one that we are now on or we are doomed. Doomed. Taste that on your tongue and in your heart. Feel that in your soul. Look at your kids and grandkids and see what you feel when you do. Are you reassured of their life in a democracy or can you think, see, them living in a poor and battered country where to see the truth is to live a lie, where there is no freedom, no hope, no anything but drudgery and lies.
I know where I stand. Where are you?
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