Still within the "honeymoon" period granted to a new president and yet, methinks the honeymoon is quite sour, with someone unable to perform!! Oh yes, we get a stupid looking smirk on the face, but those smirks tend to hide a blunder of his that he tries to hide so let's take stock.
Jobs. He crowed and cawed that he would bring and save jobs and has taken credit for the statistics under Obama and for decisions made by companies within the past two years that are coming to fruition now. Even of the 800 jobs in his Carrier deal, there is still a move to Mexico and over 600 of these jobs will go bye-bye. So,,,, where is the retraining these workers need? Where is the looking forward to seeing real needs and addressing them? Why is there no talk of reality, as these jobs will never return as there is too much automation for that to happen but reality has no place in this administration.
EPA. The environment. You see, no matter what economic strata of a person, he needs to breathe, to walk, to drink and eat. Best of all is that it is all done in a good and clean and safe environment. Laws were made for that end purpose, regulations to save the waterways, to save the open lands of the country, to save wetlands, to save cities on the coast, to cut chemicals from food and water and clean the sky but.....Trump and crew have rescinded or are trying to rescind these regs and here comes the filth. As for the jobs? What jobs? The jobs lost in the dirty and unhealthy coal mines or the mountain blow ups would be replaced by jobs built by the cleanup regulations and needs so.. total bust and the people who need jobs cannot seem to see that nor understand the necessity of clean air and water.
Honesty. Think that word has never crossed the mind of these people. They tell a lie as quickly as drawing a breath and think nothing of it. Fake media. Now Obama is conspiring against him. I wonder if Obama and Clinton are doing this together! The man is obsessed. Nuts!!
Loyalty. Closely related to the previous category. For weeks now it has been bruited about how this current administration has been playing footsie with our enemies the Russians and the two of them, Putin and Trump, having a love fest together. Deny it they did and yet, the truth will out. Sean Spicer appears to be the one who arranged calls to media people from sources within the government, outside spokesmen and even intelligence figures. Congressmen are being recruited to back up the White House. This is unbelievable. And as for Russia, well, “They think he is unstable, that he can be manipulated, that he is authoritarian and a person without a team."Nice, huh? Treason in my book. And that includes the president.
Priorities and promises.
Democratic values. There are none. Period. Think of the terminology he uses, he and his crew. "enemy of the people" America First. It appears that the priorities of this regime are to take down the poor, the needy, the sick and the "other". A GOP plan will cause millions to lose their healthcare and the word "access" is a copout. I have access to buy a Lamborghini but the access is a joke as I cannot afford it and the same will be of his proposed healthcare insurance. But think of the money saved as we have fewer ailing people to worry about and take care of. Wow! Such good thinking! We won't even have to feed them so it is okay to cut the food stamps program. Guess a few missed meals are good for the weight. Perhaps we need to remind Trump of that. His priorities are to enrich himself and his fellow Fat Cats and to hell with everyone else. Even the so called vaunted Ivanka who has come out with her child care program has set one up that benefits the rich again. Yes, poor, poor couples making under $500,000 will benefit much more than the middle income people who are struggling with the child care costs. Wow, so impressed - not. Apple and tree and Donald Jr, is right there in the tweet department as well. What a family. His priorities are to enforce his rules, his views and nothing else. The rest is all lies. Cruel and brutal lies.
Freedoms of the Constitution. As far as I and many others can see, there appears to be a movement on to cancel them ASAP. Freedom of speech? Why change the libel laws to shut them down, use that threat power. Sounds like someone I know right here in the Village. Freedom of assembly? Yes, it is noisy and yes it can be disruptive, the purpose actually intended to disrupt the illegal and immoral activities that are taking place. In addition, how and when did the press ever become "enemies of the people"? What a fascistic phrase. McCain warned that throughout history the first thing dictators do is shut down the free press. Hmmm... The Rag.Well, that is what Trump is trying to do here. He bans, BANS, news groups and papers and media that he feels do not obey him and actually have the temerity to criticize him. How dare they? And who uses such terminology? The fascists of course, the blooming and budding dictators. And Lindbergh anyone? He too used America First. And so today we have the news that the Washington DC police overreacted during the Inauguration protests, used pepper spray illegally and carelessly,, violated the rights of the protesters and their own departmental guidelines and once again, I warn of the growing overuse of police power. We are growing into a police state.
Here is President George W. Bush's opinion on freedom of the media. "I consider the media to be indispensable to democracy. We needed the media to hold people like me to account," Bush told TODAY in an exclusive interview. "Power can be very addictive and it can be corrosive, and it's important for the media to call to account people who abuse their power."
So, in taking stock, what has this man done, what have his appointees done other than to increase the possibility of rack and ruin, of more stress for the middle and lower classes, more pain for their backs and more glory for the Fat Cats, the very swamp critters he vowed to get rid of yet then just poured them into his administration. Nada.
Immigration. Cannot forget that and here is the brutal truth of it all. If we stand by and watch people being brutalized, ripped from the bosoms of their families, children stranded alone, innocents tormented and even dignitaries from abroad held in detention because of an overzealous agent, if we stand by and simply say tsk, tsk or nothing at all - we are complicit, as guilty as those border agents, as those law enforcement agents who stand by to grab people and exercise their own power. WE are as guilty of committing those crimes as any of them are. We will have succeeded in empowering Trump to truly set up his new world order, his new fascistic Amerika.
As far as security, just think of all those blossoming enemies we are creating with these actions. Do you think a stranded and bereft child will not grow up and listen to words of hatred against this country? Why not? Why should they be friendly to a country which destroyed all they knew and loved. And if one thinks that the hatred is only from these phantom beings who are 'infesting" our country, well, once again there were more bomb threats to Jewish community centers. A speaker spoke of the pandemic of anti Semitism, its threat to Jews all over the world and again, if one thinks that hatred has barriers, think again.
Taking stock. There is only garbage and news of terrible doings. Time for this man to go. Now. And perhaps the jail term for treason would be a good place to start. Perhaps even mental help would be there for him during incarceration. It's a thought. Whatever one thinks, something must be done. Perhaps the rest of the media will gather around and intensify the campaign for truth of the NY Times. But whatever the path, we must halt him in his tracks or forever lose our United States. For sure, they are already targeting voter rights, beginning in Texas. Soon who knows, elections as in Russia or North Korea? Anything is possible under this man.
Tuesday, February 28, 2017
Monday, February 27, 2017
HOW WHEN WHY
Not sleeping, I just doodled around with some games this AM and the mind began to roam. How, when and why do we find ourselves both as a country and as individuals at this point in history? Why would we have allowed an incompetent individual on such a level, a failure at life, depending upon OPM and his father's money to support his gilt encrusted lifestyle to have reached the pinnacle of our country, the office which should be held as an example to the country and the rest of the world.
We allowed it because we became cynical, overly blasé and so, so sophisticated that we were just too important, too focused on our own lives to the exclusion of others, and so we allowed a joke of a man, a man who was crude in manners, a boor, who delighted in embarrassing people in public to allow his own overblown ego to subsume others as we all turned away from reality.
Still, up to this point in time, our political figures were something of Renaissance people, with interests that extended into other areas with an expertise in something constructive and contributory to society. Yes, they all had egos, for without one they would not have been able to absorb that which was thrown at them, yet still, under it all there was an understanding of public service. There is nothing of that here at all, only a man who is consumed by himself, so self absorbed that as a citizen he would demand attention from the media, calling them as John Miller or John Barron, putting on a fake voice and "leaking" gossip about Donald Trump, himself, and then sit back and demand that this leaking stop. Huh! Sounds familiar, does it not.
Pitiful - and tragic, now that he sits in the Oval Office. So this very limited man, limited in talent, in skill, in awareness of the other, this man who is a low life and low level individual who delights in demeaning women and any person who does not fall in line with his overblown ego and plans for himself now, basically, has the existential level of the world in his pathetic small hands!
He will demand more money for Defense even as his pick for Secretary of the Navy declines the appointment and he struggles to retain some intelligent people for related aspects. He will coldly and callously cut social safety net programs in order to pay for this. To hell with the hungry, the poor, those needing assistance. To hell with food programs, charitable enterprises, cultural entities for what does one need other than low brow reality shows that emphasize the worst in us.
Trump is delusional as well as a liar and a poor judge of character. More of his staffers have failed to pass the standards for working in the White House and more should, particularly those who cannot and will not divest themselves of their connections to Wall Street, to bankers, to industrialists, to Goldman Sachs - to all the things which he railed about in his campaign and has now welcomed into his home with open arms - except that WE are paying the rent and upkeep on that home!!
"I can say that after four weeks, it's been a lot of fun," he said. "We've accomplished almost everything we set out to accomplish. The borders are stricter. ... There are some big problems in the world, you know that very well. But we're very happy with the way things are working," Trump said.
"We've made a lot of promises over the last two years and many of those promises already are kept. So we're very honored by that."
The man is delusional. Big time! The mess of which he often speaks is one of his own making for he inherited an economy that was working, that was reducing unemployment and had it at a low 4.8%. There were no immediate world crises that had to be taken care NOW, just some chronic ones which were being looked at. Was Obama the best? No, definitely not, but there was a sense and sensibility to his administration that there is not within this one. And most important of all we KNEW who we were - we were Americans in America and we had values, principles, which come what might, would not be violated.
And yet, along came Trump and here we are. A man who hates the free press and Peter Zenger is rolling over in his grave. A man who cannot take criticism yet invites it with his every deed and every time he opens his mouth. A man who does not understand our system of government and interferes with all and reacts with anger when others do not play nicely with him. He will try to coerce the judiciary branch and insult those who do not follow his dictates. He will interfere with the FBI and he will treat with the enemy and for that alone he needs to be gone, a traitor to the very country he is supposed to serve, yet he sees all this as an opportunity to increase his personal wealth. And now we are at the point where we actually have the press being banned from various agendas of his WH and so the NY Times has a campaign based on the fact that “The truth is under attack. The truth is worth defending.” Yes, it is and we must never forget that. Never.
And yet the truth is constantly under attack by this man and his henchmen. "Many Iowans worry Trump might cut support for wind-energy and ethanol programs; that his trade policies could hurt farms that export their crops; that mass deportations would empty the state’s factories and meat-packing plants; and that a repeal of the Affordable Care Act would yank health insurance away from thousands. While the hyper-simplicity of Trump’s campaign promises helped him win over voters, they are no match for the hyper-complexity of Iowa’s economy and values."
This is exactly what I have been saying all along. There is a lack of long term thought as to consequences of actions. And yet here we are and now there is open talk of resistance? Of hatred. Of a split so deep within our society that we must fear for its survival. We have a man with fascistic tendencies, a mental disorder and "advisers" who push him along this path, this path which allows for hatred to flourish, this path which allowed for another Jewish cemetery, this one in Philadelphia to have a massive vandalism attack on headstones.
These peculiar traits of his are not unique to him, only in the degree and extent of them, but we have such a man right here in the Village, a man who sees the administration of that Village as an opportunity to enhance his own particular view of power, a man who demeans others, who regularly throws people under the bus, a man who is incompetent and has led us down not the garden path, but the path to financial ruin, a man who ignores all laws and legalities if it serves him to do so and a man who continuously plugs his own agenda to the detriment of all others.
Now he is still pushing that Atlantic Broadband and why? What is he getting for it? And why would we want a company with no record, certainly not one of positive performance over a company, Comcast, who is the big elephant in this world in this area and who has steadily improved over the past years. Why would we throw them out only to worry over whether a company will actually have its wiring in place and will actually be ready to push the button. There are many a slip and years between plans and actuality. And why does David Israel think he had the right to even instigate this negotiation since UCO is not entitled to discuss Internet in bulk for the Village - only cable. Period. And how does he dare sign a contract for a half a million dollars when the delegates were never even apprised of this. The arrogance is breathtaking.
There are many reasons why these two people, these two individuals, must be gone from their offices. A person whom I respect even after a short time of knowing her, said to me that there are now three groups of people in the country. There are the Trump lovers, the Trump haters and those who are afraid to speak. That last category took my breath away. There are those who are afraid to speak here in the Village as well and how sad that is for us all and how frightening that is for us as a society, large or small.
As a consequence, in today's world we turn to other Renaissance people, those who are stars and legends in their own world yet who have not turned their backs on others. Thus we have cinematic stars speaking up and producers and sports figures and authors and columnists. Perfect people? No, but evidently thinking people. John Legend, that brilliant song writer, actor and producer, who plays Douglass in Underground on WGN - watch it when it comes on this week - the same Douglass that Trump thinks is still alive - duh! - that Legend actually put into words why I despise these people. Besides the fact that they are liars, a class of people which turn my stomach, they are political animals of the worst degree, revolting in the extreme, and as for the rest of us, too many of us are living in bubbles of our own making thinking that if we do not see it or think about it, it will go away. "Wrong, wrong." As the man says.
And finally, the definitive answer as to why I dislike and have only contempt for him? Read and weep, for we have allowed this to be so.
"I don't think that Trump has read a book in his adult life, or that he knows anything about American history, black history, or any history. I don't think he knows what's in the Constitution. I don't think he knows anything about Civil War history or just about any kind of history. We can't expect him to know much of anything."
Read that again and ask again how and when and why we have allowed this situation to be. So join the group Indivisible and resist. March in the Village or elsewhere on April 1 at 10, leaving from the Clubhouse. Speak up. Shout out. Demand and demand, from Trump and from David Israel. Let us try to remedy what we can - Now - before it is beyond all rescue. Fascism is none too pretty no matter what name it hides behind. Is that what you truly wish and do you think you will not be affected? Think again. How When Why. Answer that.
We allowed it because we became cynical, overly blasé and so, so sophisticated that we were just too important, too focused on our own lives to the exclusion of others, and so we allowed a joke of a man, a man who was crude in manners, a boor, who delighted in embarrassing people in public to allow his own overblown ego to subsume others as we all turned away from reality.
Still, up to this point in time, our political figures were something of Renaissance people, with interests that extended into other areas with an expertise in something constructive and contributory to society. Yes, they all had egos, for without one they would not have been able to absorb that which was thrown at them, yet still, under it all there was an understanding of public service. There is nothing of that here at all, only a man who is consumed by himself, so self absorbed that as a citizen he would demand attention from the media, calling them as John Miller or John Barron, putting on a fake voice and "leaking" gossip about Donald Trump, himself, and then sit back and demand that this leaking stop. Huh! Sounds familiar, does it not.
Pitiful - and tragic, now that he sits in the Oval Office. So this very limited man, limited in talent, in skill, in awareness of the other, this man who is a low life and low level individual who delights in demeaning women and any person who does not fall in line with his overblown ego and plans for himself now, basically, has the existential level of the world in his pathetic small hands!
He will demand more money for Defense even as his pick for Secretary of the Navy declines the appointment and he struggles to retain some intelligent people for related aspects. He will coldly and callously cut social safety net programs in order to pay for this. To hell with the hungry, the poor, those needing assistance. To hell with food programs, charitable enterprises, cultural entities for what does one need other than low brow reality shows that emphasize the worst in us.
Trump is delusional as well as a liar and a poor judge of character. More of his staffers have failed to pass the standards for working in the White House and more should, particularly those who cannot and will not divest themselves of their connections to Wall Street, to bankers, to industrialists, to Goldman Sachs - to all the things which he railed about in his campaign and has now welcomed into his home with open arms - except that WE are paying the rent and upkeep on that home!!
"I can say that after four weeks, it's been a lot of fun," he said. "We've accomplished almost everything we set out to accomplish. The borders are stricter. ... There are some big problems in the world, you know that very well. But we're very happy with the way things are working," Trump said.
"We've made a lot of promises over the last two years and many of those promises already are kept. So we're very honored by that."
The man is delusional. Big time! The mess of which he often speaks is one of his own making for he inherited an economy that was working, that was reducing unemployment and had it at a low 4.8%. There were no immediate world crises that had to be taken care NOW, just some chronic ones which were being looked at. Was Obama the best? No, definitely not, but there was a sense and sensibility to his administration that there is not within this one. And most important of all we KNEW who we were - we were Americans in America and we had values, principles, which come what might, would not be violated.
And yet, along came Trump and here we are. A man who hates the free press and Peter Zenger is rolling over in his grave. A man who cannot take criticism yet invites it with his every deed and every time he opens his mouth. A man who does not understand our system of government and interferes with all and reacts with anger when others do not play nicely with him. He will try to coerce the judiciary branch and insult those who do not follow his dictates. He will interfere with the FBI and he will treat with the enemy and for that alone he needs to be gone, a traitor to the very country he is supposed to serve, yet he sees all this as an opportunity to increase his personal wealth. And now we are at the point where we actually have the press being banned from various agendas of his WH and so the NY Times has a campaign based on the fact that “The truth is under attack. The truth is worth defending.” Yes, it is and we must never forget that. Never.
And yet the truth is constantly under attack by this man and his henchmen. "Many Iowans worry Trump might cut support for wind-energy and ethanol programs; that his trade policies could hurt farms that export their crops; that mass deportations would empty the state’s factories and meat-packing plants; and that a repeal of the Affordable Care Act would yank health insurance away from thousands. While the hyper-simplicity of Trump’s campaign promises helped him win over voters, they are no match for the hyper-complexity of Iowa’s economy and values."
This is exactly what I have been saying all along. There is a lack of long term thought as to consequences of actions. And yet here we are and now there is open talk of resistance? Of hatred. Of a split so deep within our society that we must fear for its survival. We have a man with fascistic tendencies, a mental disorder and "advisers" who push him along this path, this path which allows for hatred to flourish, this path which allowed for another Jewish cemetery, this one in Philadelphia to have a massive vandalism attack on headstones.
These peculiar traits of his are not unique to him, only in the degree and extent of them, but we have such a man right here in the Village, a man who sees the administration of that Village as an opportunity to enhance his own particular view of power, a man who demeans others, who regularly throws people under the bus, a man who is incompetent and has led us down not the garden path, but the path to financial ruin, a man who ignores all laws and legalities if it serves him to do so and a man who continuously plugs his own agenda to the detriment of all others.
Now he is still pushing that Atlantic Broadband and why? What is he getting for it? And why would we want a company with no record, certainly not one of positive performance over a company, Comcast, who is the big elephant in this world in this area and who has steadily improved over the past years. Why would we throw them out only to worry over whether a company will actually have its wiring in place and will actually be ready to push the button. There are many a slip and years between plans and actuality. And why does David Israel think he had the right to even instigate this negotiation since UCO is not entitled to discuss Internet in bulk for the Village - only cable. Period. And how does he dare sign a contract for a half a million dollars when the delegates were never even apprised of this. The arrogance is breathtaking.
There are many reasons why these two people, these two individuals, must be gone from their offices. A person whom I respect even after a short time of knowing her, said to me that there are now three groups of people in the country. There are the Trump lovers, the Trump haters and those who are afraid to speak. That last category took my breath away. There are those who are afraid to speak here in the Village as well and how sad that is for us all and how frightening that is for us as a society, large or small.
As a consequence, in today's world we turn to other Renaissance people, those who are stars and legends in their own world yet who have not turned their backs on others. Thus we have cinematic stars speaking up and producers and sports figures and authors and columnists. Perfect people? No, but evidently thinking people. John Legend, that brilliant song writer, actor and producer, who plays Douglass in Underground on WGN - watch it when it comes on this week - the same Douglass that Trump thinks is still alive - duh! - that Legend actually put into words why I despise these people. Besides the fact that they are liars, a class of people which turn my stomach, they are political animals of the worst degree, revolting in the extreme, and as for the rest of us, too many of us are living in bubbles of our own making thinking that if we do not see it or think about it, it will go away. "Wrong, wrong." As the man says.
And finally, the definitive answer as to why I dislike and have only contempt for him? Read and weep, for we have allowed this to be so.
"I don't think that Trump has read a book in his adult life, or that he knows anything about American history, black history, or any history. I don't think he knows what's in the Constitution. I don't think he knows anything about Civil War history or just about any kind of history. We can't expect him to know much of anything."
Read that again and ask again how and when and why we have allowed this situation to be. So join the group Indivisible and resist. March in the Village or elsewhere on April 1 at 10, leaving from the Clubhouse. Speak up. Shout out. Demand and demand, from Trump and from David Israel. Let us try to remedy what we can - Now - before it is beyond all rescue. Fascism is none too pretty no matter what name it hides behind. Is that what you truly wish and do you think you will not be affected? Think again. How When Why. Answer that.
Sunday, February 26, 2017
WELCOME TO POLICE STATE AMERIKAN STYLE
Over the months I have railed against the coming of the future as imagined by Trump and its coming to life but yesterday's events shocked me to a point where I have never been before. So what happened? Well, we experienced the first true day of living in Amerika, living in a police state where people are asked for papers and the echoes and images of Nazis stopping people and demanding, "Papieren? Papieren?" just ripped through my mind. My heart. My soul. The future.
Five hours from San Francisco to NY and millions of miles from our founding values. Agents came on to the plane to ask for papers, to check each passenger. Hey, our new government at work, checking for that dangerous criminal, you know, the one who shoplifted twenty years ago and never mind the productive years in between.
I shudder with fear when I read of the joy, of the "uplifted morale" of ICE and Border Patrol officers who will no longer be 'forced' to concentrate on dangerous criminals, violent criminals, but will now be allowed to stand outside immigration lawyers' offices, outside schools, outside labor stations, and just sweep up all these dangerous people. And hey, don't forget the boon of school dismissal time when so many families are there. Why thousands could be gathered in one small area of a city and what, what was that? You cannot hear me because there is a soul piercing shriek. Not to worry, just the three year old kid's mother has been grabbed from him and he wants his mommy. He will learn. Oh, yes, he will learn.
"It can't happen here." So we are constantly reminded and yet now we are told that the agents are so happy, no more rules, no more borderlines in arresting people and you tell me you do not see not only how it can happen here but IS happening here? And think of the consequences. Never mind the moral consequences. Never mind the cost to humanity. Never mind the pain and terror and fear and harm we cause to people, to children, to families. Be tough and practical and think of the economy.
So senators from the flyover states are worried where their constituents will sell their farm products and farmers over the entire country, from California to Florida to Michigan and anywhere there are crops of fruit and vegetables -who is going to pick the crop? Who will help get it to market? And no, there are no 'Americans" who will do this job. Get their hands dirty? Never!!
Why is it that among the sentences I spoke to my daughter last night as she waited to board a plane to Israel were to warn her to have her documents in order and easily available when she returns. I could not believe that those words were said and meant. Here. In America. In JFK. And the image of the four presidents on Mt. McKinley with tears pouring down their faces flitted through the mind's eye. While their faces were of stone, guess their inner souls remained true to America.
Where are we going and where will we end? Before 1967, yes, that 1967, the one in our lifetime, interracial marriage was forbidden in many areas of the country. In fact, go watch a movie Loving and see it in action or go see Showboat and the tragedy of "miscegenation". And then walk around a mall and look at all the "criminals" who walk with their kids freely, without fear and now? What? Will that man with the olive skin be pulled aside as he walks with the light haired toddler? And what if he is an immigrant? Oh, DCFS will take care of the kid, stick it in the system and maybe after a few weeks they will find the mother. Or not. What the hey, at least Amerika is safe for another second. Oh, what if the man was a citizen, naturalized or native born? Oh, the bully agents were just doing their job, following orders!!!!
Let's get in a tad closer to these brave and intrepid law enforcers. Oh, look who they "captured"!! Ali's son from his second wife. Ooohhh, they have Arabic sounding names. And gasp! They have confessed to being Moslems when they were pulled aside, Surely that rated a barrage of repetitive questions as to where they got their names and all about their religion and never mind that the son was born in Philadelphia and as American as their own children!!! But never mind, keeping Amerika safe for the bigots and that guy, the one from Saudi Arabia, the older kid, the one with a funny bulky looking body profile, well, never mind, he is from Saudi Arabia and Trump has a hotel there so all is good with the world. The situation is dangerous and unfair and yet there it is, the new reality of Amerika.
So let us take a look at what we now have and what we might have had were we so determined to close our gates in the past and present and future. So.....the Erie Canal has disappeared. So does the railroad, you know, the one the Chinese and Irish built? Uh oh, there go the food crops so abundant in the markets of the country - sorry, no labor, no farmers either. And the steel mills? Forget that - Carnegie is banned, that immigrant! Yikes, what about all those Nobel prizes won by so many Jews, immigrants or children of immigrants? Well, there they go and hey, forget the Salk and Sabin vaccines. The doctors in many rural areas are fading out and damn, there goes my doctor right here in West Palm and there goes another. There goes the tech who took an x-ray and the one who put the cast on my leg. There go the research fellows in our labs and companies and OMG, just look at the wild and uncontrolled garden areas of the cities and suburbs! Those bodegas which are so convenient in the big cities, well, screw that. They are gone too. And so are the Korean run markets as well. Oh, and you know, the motels roadside when one is taking a long road trip, well, there they go as the Pakistani and Indian families who own them who work hard to keep them - well, tough on them, huh!!
"I do not believe the press is an enemy to the American people," but this man's leader says otherwise. We have immigrants hiding in the dark, empty desks in classrooms, empty offices of doctors whose patients are afraid to venture out lest they run into those oh so happy agents. We have hatred running rampant through our society as the chief hater, Bannon, enjoys his new found place in the so called mainstream and propagates his hate filled philosophy all over the country and here they come, right out of the woodwork! New words invade the language - fake news, alternative facts, alt -right, the enemy press, the enemy little guys - but never the Fat Cats - and the truth is ignored, run right over. The Big Lie is back in style. And as for Trump, he is skipping the White House Correspondents' Dinner this year as his fragile ego evidently cannot take the roasting he will get. Other presidents did it, but this man and his malignant narcissism are just too fragile. Tsk. Tsk. It will not save him anyway so he had better get his tweeting finger ready for that night and the next day!
I am tired of the attempts to justify the bad and mad rules of this new police state. Not every immigrant prior to today was "legal" so enough with that attempt. The Chinese women who were smuggled in against the law, the Japanese workers in Hawaii, the Irish, the Jews, the Italians, whomever and one and all - some were legal and some not. Would it be better to return to the days when we turned away a ship full of Jewish refugees fleeing definite death in Germany? Too many scientists have tried to show via the "science" of eugenics why they were right in their murderous ways. Science has been perverted before and will be again and it is up to us to ensure that it gets thrown back on the garbage heap of history before it truly endangers us all, body and soul.
Casey Affleck said in his speech as he accepted an award for Manchester, “The policies of this administration are abhorrent and they will not last. You don’t have to clap out of obligation – They’re really un-American,” he told the audience. “It’s a time to struggle for the future and the soul of our nation. I know this feels preachy and boring… but I’m just lending my voice to the chorus here…You are struggling – you’re doing it so well and speaking up.” And I ask, why is it that so many of the acting and theatrical community have found the courage to speak up? Where is the rest of the world? Where is the moral courage that seems to have totally fled from Republicans? Where is the soul of so many? Where and how did they grow to be so cruel, all in the name of power, power, power.
Amerika. Police state. A new country that is unrecognizable, A country that would have had my Bubby crying for she was so proud of becoming an American citizen, a member by law and by right, of a free society, where she did not have to worry for her life or her home because she was Jewish or had an accent.
Amerika. Police state. The lady with the torch held high is shedding tears, turning rusty, even as the principles she represents grow rusty as well. The statues of the American heroes in the Capitol shake even as the ground under their feet trembles with the devolution of their country and in that big and beautiful and meaningful pavilion, there is a big man who sits on a big chair, who has tears running down his face, crying over what has happened to his country, the one that went through hell in a way and now - it is poised on that point again. His tears keep rolling and my heart and soul keep trembling. Please, not here. Not here.
Five hours from San Francisco to NY and millions of miles from our founding values. Agents came on to the plane to ask for papers, to check each passenger. Hey, our new government at work, checking for that dangerous criminal, you know, the one who shoplifted twenty years ago and never mind the productive years in between.
I shudder with fear when I read of the joy, of the "uplifted morale" of ICE and Border Patrol officers who will no longer be 'forced' to concentrate on dangerous criminals, violent criminals, but will now be allowed to stand outside immigration lawyers' offices, outside schools, outside labor stations, and just sweep up all these dangerous people. And hey, don't forget the boon of school dismissal time when so many families are there. Why thousands could be gathered in one small area of a city and what, what was that? You cannot hear me because there is a soul piercing shriek. Not to worry, just the three year old kid's mother has been grabbed from him and he wants his mommy. He will learn. Oh, yes, he will learn.
"It can't happen here." So we are constantly reminded and yet now we are told that the agents are so happy, no more rules, no more borderlines in arresting people and you tell me you do not see not only how it can happen here but IS happening here? And think of the consequences. Never mind the moral consequences. Never mind the cost to humanity. Never mind the pain and terror and fear and harm we cause to people, to children, to families. Be tough and practical and think of the economy.
So senators from the flyover states are worried where their constituents will sell their farm products and farmers over the entire country, from California to Florida to Michigan and anywhere there are crops of fruit and vegetables -who is going to pick the crop? Who will help get it to market? And no, there are no 'Americans" who will do this job. Get their hands dirty? Never!!
Why is it that among the sentences I spoke to my daughter last night as she waited to board a plane to Israel were to warn her to have her documents in order and easily available when she returns. I could not believe that those words were said and meant. Here. In America. In JFK. And the image of the four presidents on Mt. McKinley with tears pouring down their faces flitted through the mind's eye. While their faces were of stone, guess their inner souls remained true to America.
Where are we going and where will we end? Before 1967, yes, that 1967, the one in our lifetime, interracial marriage was forbidden in many areas of the country. In fact, go watch a movie Loving and see it in action or go see Showboat and the tragedy of "miscegenation". And then walk around a mall and look at all the "criminals" who walk with their kids freely, without fear and now? What? Will that man with the olive skin be pulled aside as he walks with the light haired toddler? And what if he is an immigrant? Oh, DCFS will take care of the kid, stick it in the system and maybe after a few weeks they will find the mother. Or not. What the hey, at least Amerika is safe for another second. Oh, what if the man was a citizen, naturalized or native born? Oh, the bully agents were just doing their job, following orders!!!!
Let's get in a tad closer to these brave and intrepid law enforcers. Oh, look who they "captured"!! Ali's son from his second wife. Ooohhh, they have Arabic sounding names. And gasp! They have confessed to being Moslems when they were pulled aside, Surely that rated a barrage of repetitive questions as to where they got their names and all about their religion and never mind that the son was born in Philadelphia and as American as their own children!!! But never mind, keeping Amerika safe for the bigots and that guy, the one from Saudi Arabia, the older kid, the one with a funny bulky looking body profile, well, never mind, he is from Saudi Arabia and Trump has a hotel there so all is good with the world. The situation is dangerous and unfair and yet there it is, the new reality of Amerika.
So let us take a look at what we now have and what we might have had were we so determined to close our gates in the past and present and future. So.....the Erie Canal has disappeared. So does the railroad, you know, the one the Chinese and Irish built? Uh oh, there go the food crops so abundant in the markets of the country - sorry, no labor, no farmers either. And the steel mills? Forget that - Carnegie is banned, that immigrant! Yikes, what about all those Nobel prizes won by so many Jews, immigrants or children of immigrants? Well, there they go and hey, forget the Salk and Sabin vaccines. The doctors in many rural areas are fading out and damn, there goes my doctor right here in West Palm and there goes another. There goes the tech who took an x-ray and the one who put the cast on my leg. There go the research fellows in our labs and companies and OMG, just look at the wild and uncontrolled garden areas of the cities and suburbs! Those bodegas which are so convenient in the big cities, well, screw that. They are gone too. And so are the Korean run markets as well. Oh, and you know, the motels roadside when one is taking a long road trip, well, there they go as the Pakistani and Indian families who own them who work hard to keep them - well, tough on them, huh!!
"I do not believe the press is an enemy to the American people," but this man's leader says otherwise. We have immigrants hiding in the dark, empty desks in classrooms, empty offices of doctors whose patients are afraid to venture out lest they run into those oh so happy agents. We have hatred running rampant through our society as the chief hater, Bannon, enjoys his new found place in the so called mainstream and propagates his hate filled philosophy all over the country and here they come, right out of the woodwork! New words invade the language - fake news, alternative facts, alt -right, the enemy press, the enemy little guys - but never the Fat Cats - and the truth is ignored, run right over. The Big Lie is back in style. And as for Trump, he is skipping the White House Correspondents' Dinner this year as his fragile ego evidently cannot take the roasting he will get. Other presidents did it, but this man and his malignant narcissism are just too fragile. Tsk. Tsk. It will not save him anyway so he had better get his tweeting finger ready for that night and the next day!
I am tired of the attempts to justify the bad and mad rules of this new police state. Not every immigrant prior to today was "legal" so enough with that attempt. The Chinese women who were smuggled in against the law, the Japanese workers in Hawaii, the Irish, the Jews, the Italians, whomever and one and all - some were legal and some not. Would it be better to return to the days when we turned away a ship full of Jewish refugees fleeing definite death in Germany? Too many scientists have tried to show via the "science" of eugenics why they were right in their murderous ways. Science has been perverted before and will be again and it is up to us to ensure that it gets thrown back on the garbage heap of history before it truly endangers us all, body and soul.
Casey Affleck said in his speech as he accepted an award for Manchester, “The policies of this administration are abhorrent and they will not last. You don’t have to clap out of obligation – They’re really un-American,” he told the audience. “It’s a time to struggle for the future and the soul of our nation. I know this feels preachy and boring… but I’m just lending my voice to the chorus here…You are struggling – you’re doing it so well and speaking up.” And I ask, why is it that so many of the acting and theatrical community have found the courage to speak up? Where is the rest of the world? Where is the moral courage that seems to have totally fled from Republicans? Where is the soul of so many? Where and how did they grow to be so cruel, all in the name of power, power, power.
Amerika. Police state. A new country that is unrecognizable, A country that would have had my Bubby crying for she was so proud of becoming an American citizen, a member by law and by right, of a free society, where she did not have to worry for her life or her home because she was Jewish or had an accent.
Amerika. Police state. The lady with the torch held high is shedding tears, turning rusty, even as the principles she represents grow rusty as well. The statues of the American heroes in the Capitol shake even as the ground under their feet trembles with the devolution of their country and in that big and beautiful and meaningful pavilion, there is a big man who sits on a big chair, who has tears running down his face, crying over what has happened to his country, the one that went through hell in a way and now - it is poised on that point again. His tears keep rolling and my heart and soul keep trembling. Please, not here. Not here.
Friday, February 24, 2017
IT IS WHAT IT IS. STATEMENT OR QUESTION?
It is what it is. That is what I hear from those mainly in power or who support the "ins" right now. Trump is here to stay so shut up and sit down and so is David Israel on a more local playing field. Well, no, that is not the way it is going to be. In Trump's case I will not sit still and allow my country to be sold down the river whilst I sit there and do nothing, say nothing; nor will I allow people to say that the status quo of CV right now, with Israel as president, is the way it must be until he is dead.
So, for the more minor, though still important of the items. David Israel must go. This election must turn out more of his old been there done that yesmen and get ready to oust him in next year's election by voting for his opponent. The man and his crew have brought us to almost rack and ruin and continues to want to do so in the foreseeable future.
This assembly also has a question up for vote. Should we continue to negotiate with Atlantic Broadcasting or with Comcast. Well, the answer is obvious - Comcast is by far the better one but this begs the true question. David Israel is not, NOT, entitled to have opened these negotiations on bringing broadband into the Village on a contractual basis. That is not within the purview of UCO nor was it legal for him to use CSI in an expensive half million dollar contract. Yes, they were used before but that contract was toyt, dead, over and he had no authority to just open it and sign on. Not just my opinion, but that of legal minds as well. So this man must go.
For the larger world. If you did not listen to the news yesterday, you missed a frightening day. The convention of conservatives with all capital letters met and the words that came out of the mouths of speakers left me in a shaking fear.
So Pence says we are going to be free of the Obamacare nightmare. Really. When was the last time he was in the hospital or needed medical care. I hope it was recent, truly I do and for all of these people, but Pence and all those in Congress could care less about we, the people, for they have their own care system, a gold care system, so why the hell worry about others. No, our system is not perfect, nothing is, but it allowed for more coverage than ever and I must say on my own account, that it works. Sometimes it takes longer than it should but in the end, I got what I needed and quite frankly, if not, I would be well on my way to the world to come. So think, folks, think.
Bannon, that son of a bitch hater, has the guts to stand up there in all his glory and tell us there is going to be a new world global order and here in the country a "new political order' even as Trump states or tweets, what the hell is the difference with that man anyway, that this immigration removal process is a "military" operation! It most certainly is for even if the military is not quite out there in uniform yet, there is no difference in the style of the midnight raids, of the fear induced in people, the fright of being separated from their kids, of leaving the house and never coming back, of being snatched off the street, of going back to hell for a broken headlight!
OMG, people, OMG, what more do you need to understand that this is an all out war upon us, upon the country, its principles. No more democracy but a new order. No more free speech or assembly but rather no more "disruptive" behavior. We will have public meetings where Democrats were banned and where does that end? Who else will be banned - so go look in the mirror for that answer. It does not stop.
We get "newspeak". Tax plans will be "phenomenal" but really - how will they be paid for? Flex your backs, people, flex those muscles. Suddenly the extreme positive growth predicted by Trump et al has shrunk to a top of 3% and even that is a no go. They are going to throw out the workers of society. Those who worked at 9/11 sites, or who man the food carts, or who run the bodegas, or who bring the medicines to us in hospital, or who take care of us in the ER, or who answer our legal questions, for all these frightening 'criminals' are targets for the hate of Trump and his crew. The numbers of people subjected to this, who are snatched up, banned at the ports and entry gates of the country, the doctoral students and the street sweeper - they are all the same and meanwhile, not seeing the terrorists within them, are we?
And our government, why they have no compunction about asking the FBI to lie for them, to make up a story that there really was no contact by Russians with any of Trump's people, that it is all a lie, a story. Priebus asked for this and this is against the law. The White House is not allowed to use the organs of government to lie for them. They already did in the election with Clinton's emails, a big whoops! and now they are trying again. And so to cover their error, they have Spicer announce that oh, Trump, will love to meet with Evancho's transgender sister but details have to be worked out. Uh huh. Anyone want a bridge or a tunnel and even if they were to meet, would that make Trump roll back his oppressive statements and rules re LGBTQ and anyone else he has targeted? Nope, don't think so.
So what do we do? “My belief is, we have to resist every way and everywhere, every time we can,” when Mr. Trump offends core American values". So Gov. Inslee said and so must we all.Yes, folks, it is an all out war in every way. So stand in the streets, attend meetings and question the Republican officials there. Demand answers. Vote them out. March. All out war. It is that or we lose the country. Simple, yet not. "Do not go gentle into that good night" - refers not only to the physical death of a person, but also to the death of a political entity, a dream which enlightened the world, which showed that a democracy of equality, of rights for all, could work and could police itself. It could be a place where hatred was not valued and those who did hate had to hide in the dark. Now they are out there and quite frankly, as a Jew, I am terrified at what appears to be growing not just in the view from the rear view mirror but also as I look out and see what is in front of us.
So yes, all out war, all the time, everywhere and anywhere. Talk, protest, march, vote, demand and demand. This is what it has come to. It is what it is? Never. Never.
So, for the more minor, though still important of the items. David Israel must go. This election must turn out more of his old been there done that yesmen and get ready to oust him in next year's election by voting for his opponent. The man and his crew have brought us to almost rack and ruin and continues to want to do so in the foreseeable future.
This assembly also has a question up for vote. Should we continue to negotiate with Atlantic Broadcasting or with Comcast. Well, the answer is obvious - Comcast is by far the better one but this begs the true question. David Israel is not, NOT, entitled to have opened these negotiations on bringing broadband into the Village on a contractual basis. That is not within the purview of UCO nor was it legal for him to use CSI in an expensive half million dollar contract. Yes, they were used before but that contract was toyt, dead, over and he had no authority to just open it and sign on. Not just my opinion, but that of legal minds as well. So this man must go.
For the larger world. If you did not listen to the news yesterday, you missed a frightening day. The convention of conservatives with all capital letters met and the words that came out of the mouths of speakers left me in a shaking fear.
So Pence says we are going to be free of the Obamacare nightmare. Really. When was the last time he was in the hospital or needed medical care. I hope it was recent, truly I do and for all of these people, but Pence and all those in Congress could care less about we, the people, for they have their own care system, a gold care system, so why the hell worry about others. No, our system is not perfect, nothing is, but it allowed for more coverage than ever and I must say on my own account, that it works. Sometimes it takes longer than it should but in the end, I got what I needed and quite frankly, if not, I would be well on my way to the world to come. So think, folks, think.
Bannon, that son of a bitch hater, has the guts to stand up there in all his glory and tell us there is going to be a new world global order and here in the country a "new political order' even as Trump states or tweets, what the hell is the difference with that man anyway, that this immigration removal process is a "military" operation! It most certainly is for even if the military is not quite out there in uniform yet, there is no difference in the style of the midnight raids, of the fear induced in people, the fright of being separated from their kids, of leaving the house and never coming back, of being snatched off the street, of going back to hell for a broken headlight!
OMG, people, OMG, what more do you need to understand that this is an all out war upon us, upon the country, its principles. No more democracy but a new order. No more free speech or assembly but rather no more "disruptive" behavior. We will have public meetings where Democrats were banned and where does that end? Who else will be banned - so go look in the mirror for that answer. It does not stop.
We get "newspeak". Tax plans will be "phenomenal" but really - how will they be paid for? Flex your backs, people, flex those muscles. Suddenly the extreme positive growth predicted by Trump et al has shrunk to a top of 3% and even that is a no go. They are going to throw out the workers of society. Those who worked at 9/11 sites, or who man the food carts, or who run the bodegas, or who bring the medicines to us in hospital, or who take care of us in the ER, or who answer our legal questions, for all these frightening 'criminals' are targets for the hate of Trump and his crew. The numbers of people subjected to this, who are snatched up, banned at the ports and entry gates of the country, the doctoral students and the street sweeper - they are all the same and meanwhile, not seeing the terrorists within them, are we?
And our government, why they have no compunction about asking the FBI to lie for them, to make up a story that there really was no contact by Russians with any of Trump's people, that it is all a lie, a story. Priebus asked for this and this is against the law. The White House is not allowed to use the organs of government to lie for them. They already did in the election with Clinton's emails, a big whoops! and now they are trying again. And so to cover their error, they have Spicer announce that oh, Trump, will love to meet with Evancho's transgender sister but details have to be worked out. Uh huh. Anyone want a bridge or a tunnel and even if they were to meet, would that make Trump roll back his oppressive statements and rules re LGBTQ and anyone else he has targeted? Nope, don't think so.
So what do we do? “My belief is, we have to resist every way and everywhere, every time we can,” when Mr. Trump offends core American values". So Gov. Inslee said and so must we all.Yes, folks, it is an all out war in every way. So stand in the streets, attend meetings and question the Republican officials there. Demand answers. Vote them out. March. All out war. It is that or we lose the country. Simple, yet not. "Do not go gentle into that good night" - refers not only to the physical death of a person, but also to the death of a political entity, a dream which enlightened the world, which showed that a democracy of equality, of rights for all, could work and could police itself. It could be a place where hatred was not valued and those who did hate had to hide in the dark. Now they are out there and quite frankly, as a Jew, I am terrified at what appears to be growing not just in the view from the rear view mirror but also as I look out and see what is in front of us.
So yes, all out war, all the time, everywhere and anywhere. Talk, protest, march, vote, demand and demand. This is what it has come to. It is what it is? Never. Never.
Thursday, February 23, 2017
FIRE BURNING ON THE DANCE FLOOR!
Several years ago there was a hit song with this title or line and the suggested thing to do was "call 911". My little granddaughter loved the song and one day decided to do as the song suggested. Suddenly we heard a loud knocking on the front door and there were two police asking who had called and what the problem was. Wow! We had no idea as to why they were there until her father figured it out. We all, including the police, had a good laugh and explained to the child why and when we call 911, the police gave her a hug and life continued.
However, the fire is burning too strongly on our dance floor here in America and now I am not even sure if calling 911 is going to be the answer. Will our police and law enforcement people turn into enforcers of fascist law? Will we grow to be afraid of them and hide in our homes, skulk in corners and alleyways, defy a curfew or have to carry around papers proving who we are and hope they are accepted? The fire is burning hot, hotter every day.
It seems there is no care for human rights here and the Congress and Senate have gone right along with this by the approval of the nominees chosen by Trump. Basically, we have a conglomeration of whores and rent boys who have sold their souls and bodies, incompetents, amateurs, bigots, crooks and liars. They have sold their souls to the very industries they are supposed to regulate and if one needs proof, why just read all the Pruitt emails released and see how this EPA head has sold out and yet, there he is, poised to ruin our waterways and our lands. There is the Treasurer, Mnuchin, ready to stand by his fellow bankers who wish to foreclose and otherwise cheat the consumers. Why not? He did it already. And we can go through each and every appointee. So yes, the flames are growing hotter than ever.
Is there any hope in the latest appointee? Hopefully, for it seems that McMaster may redraw the lines and reorganize the national security team or disaster as it is right now. It will restore the national security council to what it should be and consist of, lessen Kelly's power and hopefully, rein in that bigot, Bannon, but he seems to have special privileges there with his master, Trump. Will be interesting to see. Will bigotry win out and the flames continue? I know what I think will happen.
And see, over there, more flames. The poor kids in school who are not only dealing with the agonies and uncertainties of growing up but also the additional issues of transgender or LGBTQ, are now to be thrown under the bus once again. Their rights to have a decent life, to be able to go pee, for heaven's sake, is now to be removed by Trump and Sessions. Well, at least Sessions is an equal opportunity abuser of rights as he hates other races and religions, etc. Wonder though if there will be medical care for those kids now beaten up for being in the wrong bathroom?
"Fire, fire burning bright." Those are the flames we see over our country. It is the flame of fracking, the flame of blown up mountain tops, the flame of fouled waterways, of cancer clusters from chemicals from manufacturing that are no longer policed. It is the flame of hatred that is growing in the land. The split into two camps is growing ever deeper and strange alliances are being made in the name of doing what is right. Who knows, maybe one day we will be able to say, thanks to Trump for starting this whole process.
But how long? Today, Jackie Evancho who sang at the Inauguration, now wants a chance to have her and her transgender sister meet with Trump. Fat chance on that!! Why is it that people do not listen before and only face the flames afterwards. Why is it that someone could sit in my home yesterday and still make excuses as to why Trump's statement on anti Semitism came so late and was so pathetically weak. You know, I never asked kids in school to say "I'm sorry' to the other kid for a forced apology means nothing. The same here. He was forced by public shouts to finally say something so what does it mean? Nada! Certainly a meaningful act would be to fire Bannon and disavow him and his viewpoints and beliefs. But that will never happen.
The biggest flame, the one that appears to be spreading is that of the flames devouring our country and its founding principles. Yup, there goes the Declaration and there the Constitution. There go the laws passed over more than two hundred years as we attempted over time to right the wrongs, to bring freedom and equality to all. But now we are too busy chasing down that dangerous gardener or that family of fruit pickers who ate several tomatoes straight from the field. OOohhhh, criminals - deport them! And that sneaky guy, the one with the wires and sticks of dynamite -oh he gets by for we are too busy looking at those darn Mexicans and so no fruit or vegetables for the rest of us as they will rot in the fields and no new roofs, no bright young doctor in the neglected rural areas of America, no interns and residents in some of those inner city hospitals. Oh no, for they are all terrorists! Just ask Trump. They are "bad, very bad". What has happened to the welcome that we always gave to immigrants as we realized that they enriched the country and were our parents and grandparents. Yes, some were discriminated against, but always the American dream was there with many helping hands along with the hateful people, but there was that dream, that beautiful dream.
This whole situation is intolerable and unbelievable. When and why did we allow this? Will we have more incidents of yesterday where a man challenged a foreign looking couple on a plane with a question if they had a bomb in their luggage or where they were from? Thankfully, the rest of the plane passengers reported this and cheered as the haters were thrown off the plane. When and how long will it take for all to realize that the hate and the bigotry does not end with one group. Oh, it might be focused on one more than another, but others are always engulfed in those flames. Hatred needs targets and incompetency needs scapegoats and Fat Cats always prosper.
Any firemen out there? Anyone with a water hose, a garden hose, a bucket of water, a fire extinguisher? Hello? Anyone out there? Anyone.....
However, the fire is burning too strongly on our dance floor here in America and now I am not even sure if calling 911 is going to be the answer. Will our police and law enforcement people turn into enforcers of fascist law? Will we grow to be afraid of them and hide in our homes, skulk in corners and alleyways, defy a curfew or have to carry around papers proving who we are and hope they are accepted? The fire is burning hot, hotter every day.
It seems there is no care for human rights here and the Congress and Senate have gone right along with this by the approval of the nominees chosen by Trump. Basically, we have a conglomeration of whores and rent boys who have sold their souls and bodies, incompetents, amateurs, bigots, crooks and liars. They have sold their souls to the very industries they are supposed to regulate and if one needs proof, why just read all the Pruitt emails released and see how this EPA head has sold out and yet, there he is, poised to ruin our waterways and our lands. There is the Treasurer, Mnuchin, ready to stand by his fellow bankers who wish to foreclose and otherwise cheat the consumers. Why not? He did it already. And we can go through each and every appointee. So yes, the flames are growing hotter than ever.
Is there any hope in the latest appointee? Hopefully, for it seems that McMaster may redraw the lines and reorganize the national security team or disaster as it is right now. It will restore the national security council to what it should be and consist of, lessen Kelly's power and hopefully, rein in that bigot, Bannon, but he seems to have special privileges there with his master, Trump. Will be interesting to see. Will bigotry win out and the flames continue? I know what I think will happen.
And see, over there, more flames. The poor kids in school who are not only dealing with the agonies and uncertainties of growing up but also the additional issues of transgender or LGBTQ, are now to be thrown under the bus once again. Their rights to have a decent life, to be able to go pee, for heaven's sake, is now to be removed by Trump and Sessions. Well, at least Sessions is an equal opportunity abuser of rights as he hates other races and religions, etc. Wonder though if there will be medical care for those kids now beaten up for being in the wrong bathroom?
"Fire, fire burning bright." Those are the flames we see over our country. It is the flame of fracking, the flame of blown up mountain tops, the flame of fouled waterways, of cancer clusters from chemicals from manufacturing that are no longer policed. It is the flame of hatred that is growing in the land. The split into two camps is growing ever deeper and strange alliances are being made in the name of doing what is right. Who knows, maybe one day we will be able to say, thanks to Trump for starting this whole process.
But how long? Today, Jackie Evancho who sang at the Inauguration, now wants a chance to have her and her transgender sister meet with Trump. Fat chance on that!! Why is it that people do not listen before and only face the flames afterwards. Why is it that someone could sit in my home yesterday and still make excuses as to why Trump's statement on anti Semitism came so late and was so pathetically weak. You know, I never asked kids in school to say "I'm sorry' to the other kid for a forced apology means nothing. The same here. He was forced by public shouts to finally say something so what does it mean? Nada! Certainly a meaningful act would be to fire Bannon and disavow him and his viewpoints and beliefs. But that will never happen.
The biggest flame, the one that appears to be spreading is that of the flames devouring our country and its founding principles. Yup, there goes the Declaration and there the Constitution. There go the laws passed over more than two hundred years as we attempted over time to right the wrongs, to bring freedom and equality to all. But now we are too busy chasing down that dangerous gardener or that family of fruit pickers who ate several tomatoes straight from the field. OOohhhh, criminals - deport them! And that sneaky guy, the one with the wires and sticks of dynamite -oh he gets by for we are too busy looking at those darn Mexicans and so no fruit or vegetables for the rest of us as they will rot in the fields and no new roofs, no bright young doctor in the neglected rural areas of America, no interns and residents in some of those inner city hospitals. Oh no, for they are all terrorists! Just ask Trump. They are "bad, very bad". What has happened to the welcome that we always gave to immigrants as we realized that they enriched the country and were our parents and grandparents. Yes, some were discriminated against, but always the American dream was there with many helping hands along with the hateful people, but there was that dream, that beautiful dream.
This whole situation is intolerable and unbelievable. When and why did we allow this? Will we have more incidents of yesterday where a man challenged a foreign looking couple on a plane with a question if they had a bomb in their luggage or where they were from? Thankfully, the rest of the plane passengers reported this and cheered as the haters were thrown off the plane. When and how long will it take for all to realize that the hate and the bigotry does not end with one group. Oh, it might be focused on one more than another, but others are always engulfed in those flames. Hatred needs targets and incompetency needs scapegoats and Fat Cats always prosper.
Any firemen out there? Anyone with a water hose, a garden hose, a bucket of water, a fire extinguisher? Hello? Anyone out there? Anyone.....
Wednesday, February 22, 2017
THE DOORKNOBS OF LIFE
Having seen so many doctors recently, I reflected about the different styles encountered, especially the doorknob doctors. Those are the doctors who enter the room in a big hurry and stand there with one hand on the doorknob, ready to turn it and walk out almost immediately, leaving no time for questions or even to think and then ask questions. On the other hand, we have those medical personnel, doctors, nurses, PAs, techs, who will take the time to listen, to respond and to hear, HEAR, the patient. These people are a blessing to us. Thankfully, it has been my privilege and luck, shall we say, to encounter the latter far more than the former and I am ever so grateful for that.
But then I thought of life in general, about doorknobs in general, and what happens when we actually reach out to turn one or shy away from it and what we lose or gain by these actions. Hence, this posting.
Trump turned a doorknob, several of them, many gilt encrusted and gaudy, and is now, shudder, shudder, the President of the United States, though a rather embattled and contested one with a great many suspicions about him, his true thoughts, his capabilities or lack thereof and even a dark cloud over his very election and loyalty to his country. Not good doorknobs to hang onto, are they? He is similar to the adolescent boy who refuses to listen, who thinks that nothing will touch him and he is right anyway so advice, advance thinking, apologies - which would go a long way - all those are big no-nos for this man. His preferred doorknobs are the ones which lead to playing the hurt individual, the misunderstood individual, and yet, there are those out there who continue to make excuses for him. That is called enabling, and just as one who enables a drug afflicted member of a family with bad results, so too is enabling this man, a man twisted and almost tortured in his thinking, an individual who means no good and no benefit to and for most people. Only his fellow Fat Cats will benefit and yet how blind are the eyes of those he is royally screwing!!
Over the past weekend, undeterred by the deep and immediate response to his prior ban, Trump had Kelly sign a new decree "empowering federal authorities to more aggressively detain and deport illegal immigrants inside the United States." This is not my America and hopefully not yours. Emma Lazarus's poem on the Statue of Liberty does not say "give me your tired, your poor, etc." but please limit it to those who came prior to 1890 or who are of Christian religion only, or who come with money or who have no coloration of skin other than "white'. And yet, that is what we now have.
Ever since Trump turned the doorknob and showed acceptance and entry into mainstream America for the alt right, it has become almost fashionable to rant and rave, threaten Jews and their institutions, vandalize cemeteries and if one has a doubt, why just ask Bannon, a chief member of this community, the hate filled one, the one that is racist, sexest, xenophobic. And why 1890? Why Trump's grandfather came before then so he would be safe. Guess he was a "different" kind of immigrant!
So we now have the well founded beginning of a police state here in America and have no doubts about it The decree signed allows for the hiring of thousands more to deport people, to raid buildings and gather them up, to rip apart families, to segregate and isolate, to deputize local law enforcement personnel , to threaten cities which refuse to take part in this reprise of WWII Nazi actions and you can still have a doubt that police state is well on the way? Millions of people being grabbed and mishandled. Millions of people being forced onto planes and trains, busses and bridges, millions of people. What is the matter with us that we allow this!!What? Why? And make no mistake about it, when that doorknob was turned we all entered the room, whether to be subjected to this hatred or to perpetrate it on others. It will be the brave and the bold who will stand up to this, protest and defy it.
So this golf playing secretive man who does his business either in public at a dining room setting or who closes the world off behind the massive and exclusionary gates of his private clubs, this man who condemned Obama for playing golf, this man who speaks well of our enemy and waxes poetic about his best bud, Putin, this man has turned too many doorknobs for me. I could care less if he once sent $10,000 to a bus driver. It is what comes out of his mouth, what his hate engenders that are meaningful to me. It is his attempts to vilify those who protest his actions and policies. It is his follower's intents to accuse those who defy him as bizarre and aberrant even as he still acts in a bizarre and hateful manner, a manic manner, as befits a mentally unstable personality.
So what has this man done? Harm, only harm. He needs to be pushed into doing the right thing and only pressure and cries force him to it and so what does it mean at the end? Nothing, for it has no heart nor sincerity behind it and when a sentence or two actually is put together in a sensible manner - it is not coming from him, but rather from one who is writing for him, for this man, this Trump, cannot seem to put together a grammatically correct paragraph nor follow a train of thought to conclusion. He can grab crotches and demand his right to do so and the people of America accepted that and elected him, though by a minority of voters and so we now have the doorknobs of life being opened into nasty corridors and rooms where we really should not go or be.
So which doorknobs will you pick? Which doorknob will you accept and which not? And that goes for local life as well. Is it not time that we close the door which has the doorknob of the UCO mismanagement under David Israel et al? Is it not time that we opened the doorknob, turned the doorknob that leads into a new and fresh air, a new administration and keep turning that doorknob until the room is opened to clear view and one and all see the harm that this man has done to the Village. Yes, when a door closes a window opens they say, but personally, I prefer to enter the door and not go climbing around but we will do what we must, here and in the country. There is that doorknob! Go, turn it and enter into a new and better sphere of life, one of which we can be proud.
But then I thought of life in general, about doorknobs in general, and what happens when we actually reach out to turn one or shy away from it and what we lose or gain by these actions. Hence, this posting.
Trump turned a doorknob, several of them, many gilt encrusted and gaudy, and is now, shudder, shudder, the President of the United States, though a rather embattled and contested one with a great many suspicions about him, his true thoughts, his capabilities or lack thereof and even a dark cloud over his very election and loyalty to his country. Not good doorknobs to hang onto, are they? He is similar to the adolescent boy who refuses to listen, who thinks that nothing will touch him and he is right anyway so advice, advance thinking, apologies - which would go a long way - all those are big no-nos for this man. His preferred doorknobs are the ones which lead to playing the hurt individual, the misunderstood individual, and yet, there are those out there who continue to make excuses for him. That is called enabling, and just as one who enables a drug afflicted member of a family with bad results, so too is enabling this man, a man twisted and almost tortured in his thinking, an individual who means no good and no benefit to and for most people. Only his fellow Fat Cats will benefit and yet how blind are the eyes of those he is royally screwing!!
Over the past weekend, undeterred by the deep and immediate response to his prior ban, Trump had Kelly sign a new decree "empowering federal authorities to more aggressively detain and deport illegal immigrants inside the United States." This is not my America and hopefully not yours. Emma Lazarus's poem on the Statue of Liberty does not say "give me your tired, your poor, etc." but please limit it to those who came prior to 1890 or who are of Christian religion only, or who come with money or who have no coloration of skin other than "white'. And yet, that is what we now have.
Ever since Trump turned the doorknob and showed acceptance and entry into mainstream America for the alt right, it has become almost fashionable to rant and rave, threaten Jews and their institutions, vandalize cemeteries and if one has a doubt, why just ask Bannon, a chief member of this community, the hate filled one, the one that is racist, sexest, xenophobic. And why 1890? Why Trump's grandfather came before then so he would be safe. Guess he was a "different" kind of immigrant!
So we now have the well founded beginning of a police state here in America and have no doubts about it The decree signed allows for the hiring of thousands more to deport people, to raid buildings and gather them up, to rip apart families, to segregate and isolate, to deputize local law enforcement personnel , to threaten cities which refuse to take part in this reprise of WWII Nazi actions and you can still have a doubt that police state is well on the way? Millions of people being grabbed and mishandled. Millions of people being forced onto planes and trains, busses and bridges, millions of people. What is the matter with us that we allow this!!What? Why? And make no mistake about it, when that doorknob was turned we all entered the room, whether to be subjected to this hatred or to perpetrate it on others. It will be the brave and the bold who will stand up to this, protest and defy it.
So this golf playing secretive man who does his business either in public at a dining room setting or who closes the world off behind the massive and exclusionary gates of his private clubs, this man who condemned Obama for playing golf, this man who speaks well of our enemy and waxes poetic about his best bud, Putin, this man has turned too many doorknobs for me. I could care less if he once sent $10,000 to a bus driver. It is what comes out of his mouth, what his hate engenders that are meaningful to me. It is his attempts to vilify those who protest his actions and policies. It is his follower's intents to accuse those who defy him as bizarre and aberrant even as he still acts in a bizarre and hateful manner, a manic manner, as befits a mentally unstable personality.
So what has this man done? Harm, only harm. He needs to be pushed into doing the right thing and only pressure and cries force him to it and so what does it mean at the end? Nothing, for it has no heart nor sincerity behind it and when a sentence or two actually is put together in a sensible manner - it is not coming from him, but rather from one who is writing for him, for this man, this Trump, cannot seem to put together a grammatically correct paragraph nor follow a train of thought to conclusion. He can grab crotches and demand his right to do so and the people of America accepted that and elected him, though by a minority of voters and so we now have the doorknobs of life being opened into nasty corridors and rooms where we really should not go or be.
So which doorknobs will you pick? Which doorknob will you accept and which not? And that goes for local life as well. Is it not time that we close the door which has the doorknob of the UCO mismanagement under David Israel et al? Is it not time that we opened the doorknob, turned the doorknob that leads into a new and fresh air, a new administration and keep turning that doorknob until the room is opened to clear view and one and all see the harm that this man has done to the Village. Yes, when a door closes a window opens they say, but personally, I prefer to enter the door and not go climbing around but we will do what we must, here and in the country. There is that doorknob! Go, turn it and enter into a new and better sphere of life, one of which we can be proud.
Tuesday, February 21, 2017
HIGHER AND HIGHER
Remember that old song where we would all throw our hands up in the air at the words higher and higher. Fun, hope, optimism, truth. Not quite the same now, is it? Now, what we see is the rising stink of corruption, of ineptitude, of greed, and yes, even treason. For sure we see the lack of morality, the lack of importance of values, of ethics. So where do we go and what do we do?
Well, we can talk of compensating and coping techniques. Looking for quiet time. Ignoring the reality and thinking it will go away. Yelling at the screens or at the papers. Or better yet, we can go active. Join the protesters who have come out now on almost a daily basis in some areas. Join in the NO crowds of yesterday. NO - he is not our president and NO - we will not accept that his status quo is the one we will accept. If necessary, we will harass and protest and shout to the heavens, threaten our elected officials with the only threat they understand- you will not be reelected and we do this until we have made headway. We talk of 2018 yet we must be strong until then and perhaps even impeach the creep before then or get him declared incompetent, mentally ill, whatever will work ! But in 2018 there are only 8 Republican Senate seats open and 25 Democratic ones. We must keep the Democrats unless it is Manuchin! and take the Republican ones. Only then can we make headway even if it to block for two years the ravages the Republicans wish to rain down upon us.
We can join with other thinking people around the world. Mexico, where we threaten to wall them in and have them pay for that privilege? Well, now Mexico is saying okay, two can play the game - we will buy our corn elsewhere and then what and in the meanwhile, our wheat from the Midwest will go where? Not to the Asian countries as we have basically told them to go to hell! So....farmers of America who put up signs touting Trump, so where are you now? Think he will make America great again and oh, you fruit and vegetable farmers, watch your crops rot in the field for lack of workers!! And consumers of America, just watch the prices rise. Oh yes, a greater America indeed! Oh, and let us not forget the cavalier invitation extended to one of Trump's former buddies of Mexico.
"In mid-December, Mr. Pérez received an email from Mr. Trump, which was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, with an attachment showing a photo of a border fence near San Diego. On the photo was a message written in uppercase: “Any interest in building a 2,000 mile wall—30’ high—between U.S.A. and Mexico? Call me.”
“I told him I thought the wall was immoral and it wouldn’t achieve the goals he wanted to achieve,” Mr. Pérez said. “Plus, I have lots of business in Mexico—I’d be finished here.” Uh huh, there is always a pay back, a two way road.
But it never ends. Remember Trump University, the fraud upon which Trump settled for $25 million? Remember the fact that all his buds with the same things and investments are now taking advantage of the new air and scents in that air and especially when the Secretary of Education has her own investments in for profit universities. So these poor students, struggling to make headway in their lives are now out there again, being defrauded and cheated. Oh yes, makin' America great again.
And so we wait for all the other shoes to drop. The hatred and the threats keep rising. Yesterday there were more bomb threats made to Jewish centers and finally Ivanka woke up and called it bad news! Woow!! Such a powerful tweet she sent and Trump's spokesman finally woke up and said hate has no place here. Sorry, this is not hate - this is anti Semitism and all his wonderful alt right nutjobs who supported him are in all their glory and Trump has never, never disavowed them, not even when the poster boy, Yiannopoulos, gave vent to how it was okay to molest 13 year old boys and what the priests did was actually funny in a way, not such a serious thing! BARF!!!
And as for Russia, that wonderful friend of ours, well, they are not doing so great themselves what with their economy tanking and Putin too busy bullying the world to pay attention to his own people. Well, Puty, there have been revolutions in Russia before so...just sayin' .and even here, they contradict Trump who denies against all the facts coming out that he and his had contact with Russian governmental officials and Russia admits it. Yup, a treasonous president!! Only in America!! The America of Trump.
So we need to do nationally what is being done locally right here in CV. Olga has put her original video up on the blogs. Listen to it. Hear the passion. Hear the truth and oh dear, let us just whisper of the fact that David had to eat it when the Committee Chair of the Advisory Committee asked in public for Olga to join them, to become a member and she did and what was more, contributed some great ideas and whoa!!Hold the presses. Even David had to agree with many of them. Is that the sound of pillars of Rome falling? So people, vote properly here in the election and make sure your delegates know their responsibility to do so as well. Vote for a fresh air and not the one with the stink to hang around. Vote for Executive Board members who will also bring in the new, better ideas, hope for our solvent future and a future true to the principles that founded The Village. It can be done with determination and confidence and the knowledge that this is a long term ongoing project and the momentum must be kept alive and working.
So, for national protests and momentum look to these websites for info.https://www.facebook.com/events/1625765097
731554
http://plannedparenthoodeventsc3.ngpvanhost.com/ngpvanforms/8388
Just noodle around for yourself, type in NO45 on google or Twitter and something will come up. Contact the Democratic Club in your area and they will have info as well. But let us all remain strong!
WE must! We have to! The world depends on us! Remember that slogan? I do.
Well, we can talk of compensating and coping techniques. Looking for quiet time. Ignoring the reality and thinking it will go away. Yelling at the screens or at the papers. Or better yet, we can go active. Join the protesters who have come out now on almost a daily basis in some areas. Join in the NO crowds of yesterday. NO - he is not our president and NO - we will not accept that his status quo is the one we will accept. If necessary, we will harass and protest and shout to the heavens, threaten our elected officials with the only threat they understand- you will not be reelected and we do this until we have made headway. We talk of 2018 yet we must be strong until then and perhaps even impeach the creep before then or get him declared incompetent, mentally ill, whatever will work ! But in 2018 there are only 8 Republican Senate seats open and 25 Democratic ones. We must keep the Democrats unless it is Manuchin! and take the Republican ones. Only then can we make headway even if it to block for two years the ravages the Republicans wish to rain down upon us.
We can join with other thinking people around the world. Mexico, where we threaten to wall them in and have them pay for that privilege? Well, now Mexico is saying okay, two can play the game - we will buy our corn elsewhere and then what and in the meanwhile, our wheat from the Midwest will go where? Not to the Asian countries as we have basically told them to go to hell! So....farmers of America who put up signs touting Trump, so where are you now? Think he will make America great again and oh, you fruit and vegetable farmers, watch your crops rot in the field for lack of workers!! And consumers of America, just watch the prices rise. Oh yes, a greater America indeed! Oh, and let us not forget the cavalier invitation extended to one of Trump's former buddies of Mexico.
"In mid-December, Mr. Pérez received an email from Mr. Trump, which was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, with an attachment showing a photo of a border fence near San Diego. On the photo was a message written in uppercase: “Any interest in building a 2,000 mile wall—30’ high—between U.S.A. and Mexico? Call me.”
“I told him I thought the wall was immoral and it wouldn’t achieve the goals he wanted to achieve,” Mr. Pérez said. “Plus, I have lots of business in Mexico—I’d be finished here.” Uh huh, there is always a pay back, a two way road.
But it never ends. Remember Trump University, the fraud upon which Trump settled for $25 million? Remember the fact that all his buds with the same things and investments are now taking advantage of the new air and scents in that air and especially when the Secretary of Education has her own investments in for profit universities. So these poor students, struggling to make headway in their lives are now out there again, being defrauded and cheated. Oh yes, makin' America great again.
And so we wait for all the other shoes to drop. The hatred and the threats keep rising. Yesterday there were more bomb threats made to Jewish centers and finally Ivanka woke up and called it bad news! Woow!! Such a powerful tweet she sent and Trump's spokesman finally woke up and said hate has no place here. Sorry, this is not hate - this is anti Semitism and all his wonderful alt right nutjobs who supported him are in all their glory and Trump has never, never disavowed them, not even when the poster boy, Yiannopoulos, gave vent to how it was okay to molest 13 year old boys and what the priests did was actually funny in a way, not such a serious thing! BARF!!!
And as for Russia, that wonderful friend of ours, well, they are not doing so great themselves what with their economy tanking and Putin too busy bullying the world to pay attention to his own people. Well, Puty, there have been revolutions in Russia before so...just sayin' .and even here, they contradict Trump who denies against all the facts coming out that he and his had contact with Russian governmental officials and Russia admits it. Yup, a treasonous president!! Only in America!! The America of Trump.
So we need to do nationally what is being done locally right here in CV. Olga has put her original video up on the blogs. Listen to it. Hear the passion. Hear the truth and oh dear, let us just whisper of the fact that David had to eat it when the Committee Chair of the Advisory Committee asked in public for Olga to join them, to become a member and she did and what was more, contributed some great ideas and whoa!!Hold the presses. Even David had to agree with many of them. Is that the sound of pillars of Rome falling? So people, vote properly here in the election and make sure your delegates know their responsibility to do so as well. Vote for a fresh air and not the one with the stink to hang around. Vote for Executive Board members who will also bring in the new, better ideas, hope for our solvent future and a future true to the principles that founded The Village. It can be done with determination and confidence and the knowledge that this is a long term ongoing project and the momentum must be kept alive and working.
So, for national protests and momentum look to these websites for info.https://www.facebook.com/events/1625765097
731554
http://plannedparenthoodeventsc3.ngpvanhost.com/ngpvanforms/8388
Just noodle around for yourself, type in NO45 on google or Twitter and something will come up. Contact the Democratic Club in your area and they will have info as well. But let us all remain strong!
WE must! We have to! The world depends on us! Remember that slogan? I do.
Monday, February 20, 2017
AND IN SWEDEN....OH, WAIT, NEXT TOPIC
Last nite I watched a recent taping of Full Frontal with Samantha Bee. She is quite funny and on target with a great delivery but as I laughed, particularly at our pathetic leader, I also realized that we are indeed in great trouble. Never before have I seen a president with such little respect coming his way. Day after day, in fact, hour after hour, there are items coming out about him that lower the bar even more - but the worst thing is that we have grown to accept it, thinking that our protests are enough and will keep him contained. But that is wrong thinking.
This imbecile, this dangerous creep, is planning on releasing another executive order re immigration and here we go again!! Oh, he left out the Syrians in this one but the intent and the actions are the same so off we will hie to the airports, to the streets and to the courts.
It is time that we hie to the courts and to the Congress and demand, DEMAND, that this man be removed from office. Does he think that having his poor wife come out there and read the Lord's Prayer, most inappropriate at a campaign rally, read it in a voice that shook with fear of him should she muff it? What the hell was that. And Donald, kiddo, the Lord has long ago left you. I believe you need to be looking south for your compadre!
In any case, we must demand that Congress, the pathetic individuals of the Cabinet, reach deep down into their mean little souls and heart and for once in their lives do the right thing. Forget the power they think they have to ruin our country. Forget the mean little snickers they laugh behind closed doors. Think about the country. Think about how they would like life in a Russian America? It seems that big industrialists in Russia have a heyday and then they are off to prison and the gulag. Think about that, all you Cabinet wimps and the same goes to you in Congress. Joe Manuchin, you are a traitor to your people, voting with the Republicans on almost every issue so why not openly join them? What do you think you are hiding and McCain, you are indeed a hero, a true hero, so let us gin up that heroism again and speak in plain language, no more hints, no more metaphors, nothing but the plain unvarnished truth.
So.....back to Sweden. But wait, nothing happened there. Darn! Let us take a peek into a weird brain.'Must be those nasty media people that are infecting my brain with alternate facts and fake news but wait! That is what I call their publications so why would I listen to them? Oh, dear, I am getting so confused, the poor man thinks. Maybe I should just go and find some tourists who have paid a lot of money to see me in my native environment, the gilded cage of Mar a Lago or Bedminster and conduct some more government in open session. Ha! Then the world will realize just how special I am.' NOT! Never, Donald, for the opposite is happening and people are asking, thinking aloud, how to get thee gone. G-d bless their think sessions with a practical outcome.
Do you think that we find that pathetic creature you dragged on stage an inspiration, the man who salutes a cardboard cutout of you every morning? That is weird! Truly so! And what, with a bit of investigation what will we find - that the whole thing was staged, or that he belongs to some fringe alt right group, or hey, maybe he came from the back channels from Russia to secretly discuss more about Russia and the Ukraine!! You see, here is where the trouble, the big trouble, the YUGE and Bigly trouble truly reign. You and yours have given comfort to the enemy. That is treason. Period. We cannot have a president who is a traitor. Simply cannot be. That is a given.
So you are not my president, not the president of millions of Americans. You are the cause of leaders of the world and plain old people calling up friends and saying ,"What the **** is the matter with you people?" Beats me. All I see are the people who are aghast at your position, frightened for the future and the others who voted for you, why they are running for the hills, denying their dastardly deed or closing their eyes and holding their noses but even that cannot stop the truth.
And it cannot stop the truth from the Village either. Censoring postings and videos. Insuring that people cannot even DO a video. Denying the truth. Yelling at a delegate assembly when the truth was stated. Deny, deny, deny, as you will, the truth is there and more and more people are seeing it. So cling desperately to your position. Cling to your shrinking coterie of lackeys. But what will you do when the Village is bankrupt, filled with deteriorating roads and infrastructure, filled with populations of renters and under 55, filled with children of people who rent, waiting for the busses to pick them up. By the way, we now have three busses waiting, jammed against the fences on Haverhill every morning. Take an early morning stroll and take in the sights!!!
This is what you have made of the Village and why? Beats me. What the hell are you getting out of this? A place to sit your ass down and play with computers that are not in your home? Are you that desperate? Try going to shows, joining a club, being a volunteer out of the Village, doing something worthwhile. Contemplating one's navel has got to be boring. And hey, here is a good one, try to cooperate with others. Watch a few shows of Sesame Street where they stress cooperation. Never too late for an old dog to learn new tricks and by the way, please put a leash on that Gracie. Gracie, go read my PS for yesterday's stupid posting of yours and remember, you tell me to move, well, maybe I will send a letter to Trump about that dangerous Canadian in our midst, yes, an immigrant, ooh, uh oh, better get thee gone!! Is this the atmosphere you want here in your place of refuge within our wonderful and blessed country?
So Sweden aside, we need to put both these people aside - David Israel and Donald Trump. And soon, as soon as we can. For all our sakes.
This imbecile, this dangerous creep, is planning on releasing another executive order re immigration and here we go again!! Oh, he left out the Syrians in this one but the intent and the actions are the same so off we will hie to the airports, to the streets and to the courts.
It is time that we hie to the courts and to the Congress and demand, DEMAND, that this man be removed from office. Does he think that having his poor wife come out there and read the Lord's Prayer, most inappropriate at a campaign rally, read it in a voice that shook with fear of him should she muff it? What the hell was that. And Donald, kiddo, the Lord has long ago left you. I believe you need to be looking south for your compadre!
In any case, we must demand that Congress, the pathetic individuals of the Cabinet, reach deep down into their mean little souls and heart and for once in their lives do the right thing. Forget the power they think they have to ruin our country. Forget the mean little snickers they laugh behind closed doors. Think about the country. Think about how they would like life in a Russian America? It seems that big industrialists in Russia have a heyday and then they are off to prison and the gulag. Think about that, all you Cabinet wimps and the same goes to you in Congress. Joe Manuchin, you are a traitor to your people, voting with the Republicans on almost every issue so why not openly join them? What do you think you are hiding and McCain, you are indeed a hero, a true hero, so let us gin up that heroism again and speak in plain language, no more hints, no more metaphors, nothing but the plain unvarnished truth.
So.....back to Sweden. But wait, nothing happened there. Darn! Let us take a peek into a weird brain.'Must be those nasty media people that are infecting my brain with alternate facts and fake news but wait! That is what I call their publications so why would I listen to them? Oh, dear, I am getting so confused, the poor man thinks. Maybe I should just go and find some tourists who have paid a lot of money to see me in my native environment, the gilded cage of Mar a Lago or Bedminster and conduct some more government in open session. Ha! Then the world will realize just how special I am.' NOT! Never, Donald, for the opposite is happening and people are asking, thinking aloud, how to get thee gone. G-d bless their think sessions with a practical outcome.
Do you think that we find that pathetic creature you dragged on stage an inspiration, the man who salutes a cardboard cutout of you every morning? That is weird! Truly so! And what, with a bit of investigation what will we find - that the whole thing was staged, or that he belongs to some fringe alt right group, or hey, maybe he came from the back channels from Russia to secretly discuss more about Russia and the Ukraine!! You see, here is where the trouble, the big trouble, the YUGE and Bigly trouble truly reign. You and yours have given comfort to the enemy. That is treason. Period. We cannot have a president who is a traitor. Simply cannot be. That is a given.
So you are not my president, not the president of millions of Americans. You are the cause of leaders of the world and plain old people calling up friends and saying ,"What the **** is the matter with you people?" Beats me. All I see are the people who are aghast at your position, frightened for the future and the others who voted for you, why they are running for the hills, denying their dastardly deed or closing their eyes and holding their noses but even that cannot stop the truth.
And it cannot stop the truth from the Village either. Censoring postings and videos. Insuring that people cannot even DO a video. Denying the truth. Yelling at a delegate assembly when the truth was stated. Deny, deny, deny, as you will, the truth is there and more and more people are seeing it. So cling desperately to your position. Cling to your shrinking coterie of lackeys. But what will you do when the Village is bankrupt, filled with deteriorating roads and infrastructure, filled with populations of renters and under 55, filled with children of people who rent, waiting for the busses to pick them up. By the way, we now have three busses waiting, jammed against the fences on Haverhill every morning. Take an early morning stroll and take in the sights!!!
This is what you have made of the Village and why? Beats me. What the hell are you getting out of this? A place to sit your ass down and play with computers that are not in your home? Are you that desperate? Try going to shows, joining a club, being a volunteer out of the Village, doing something worthwhile. Contemplating one's navel has got to be boring. And hey, here is a good one, try to cooperate with others. Watch a few shows of Sesame Street where they stress cooperation. Never too late for an old dog to learn new tricks and by the way, please put a leash on that Gracie. Gracie, go read my PS for yesterday's stupid posting of yours and remember, you tell me to move, well, maybe I will send a letter to Trump about that dangerous Canadian in our midst, yes, an immigrant, ooh, uh oh, better get thee gone!! Is this the atmosphere you want here in your place of refuge within our wonderful and blessed country?
So Sweden aside, we need to put both these people aside - David Israel and Donald Trump. And soon, as soon as we can. For all our sakes.
Sunday, February 19, 2017
AND THE STINK IS GROWING HIGHER AND HIGHER!
It has been my privilege to meet a goodly number of people over this past week, in hospital, at home, and to a one there is a disapproval - to put it mildly - of Trump and a growing fear of fighting in the streets, of civil war, of a country that as Lincoln warned us - as a divided house cannot long remain as one country. There is indeed a palpable fear of what this man is doing and has planned for this country and I am very much afraid that we are quickly reaching a breaking point, a point of no return and then, and then....I hate to phrase it, for it then becomes a real fear.
We have a man who looks terrible - take a look at that supposed rally at Melbourne, Fl. - take a look at an unguarded moment and the man looks terrible, tired, defeated and wondering what the hell he is doing there! That is indeed a question we are all asking and the supposed 9,0000 people there do not make a mote in the eye of the tens of thousands who have protested every week, every day since his assumption of the Presidency. This weekend alone is "Not My President Day" and there are rallies all over the country, big cities, small towns, all for the purpose of declaring that this insane men is not our rightful president, not by election, a tainted election, not by values, not by anything. And just because they trotted out Melania to recite a prayer does not mean a thing. I believe this woman has as much regard for him as do most of us - NOT!
According to Trump, he is running a well oiled machinery of a government. Uh huh, like Nixon was not a crook nor a liar! We are warned by him in his very words, that he has plans to become a dictator, to upend the democracy of the United States. Be warned, we are told by Priebus. Take his statements about the press seriously. Well, I certainly do and even McCain tells us that destroying the free press is the first step that dictators do yet even he wooses out as he refuses to state it in the very words needed - this is Trump's plan. Is there nobody left within this government that has a spine? Is there nobody within this government that remembers the statement of Lincoln wherein he stated that the Congresses of the country belong to the people, not to the representatives and there is a time when they will retake them if necessary. Is that time coming closer? You tell me.
So this man who is incompetent at running a government turns to other areas and tries to keep a campaign going where the alt right, the anti Semites, the haters, the killers of society will stand and cheer. But they will find themselves running up against a nation of people who will push back, from the little old lady to Shia LaBeouf who reminds a hater who pushed him with anti Semitic remarks that he too is a Jew, of Jewish descent and this hatred has got to stop. Does Trump think he will shut up everyone and everything, from Streep to me? From the columnists of the Times to the weekly papers of small towns?
What frightens me the most, what stinks the most, are the promises and the threats made on a daily basis - we will replace Obamacare, even as there are thousands upon thousands of Congressmen being pushed to the wall this weekend with questions and fear. He has been banned from enforcing his dictatorial and hate filled travel ban but there he comes again, for hatred never stops unless forcefully put to an end. New bans signed by Kelly. A draft of a proposal seen to mobilize National Guardsmen to enforce this ban. National Guard!!! If you are not scared to your very marrow then I do not know what to say to you. NO, it was not signed because the draft was leaked and the uproar great but so will be the uproar if they try to hire thousands more of law enforcers, yes, the very same people who rounded up the Japanese here in America, who beat up the marchers in Selma, who fought with them at Stonewall, the very same police in France who rounded up the Jews with great enthusiasm and the same for all the Nazi friendly native police in the Ukraine, in Lithuania, and elsewhere. They cannot get in, but if they are on a plane, okay, but we will see to it that they do not get on a plane and it goes on. The stink reeks to the heavens and the fear this induces, well, there are no words.
Now the man insists that he has a great guy for his vacant Flynn position, even as the cry for investigation grows louder and louder, even as Republicans were running around yesterday to meetings with and about the FBI, about the part the Russians played in the election and again - this election is null and void in my book - and no one want a part of this man unless that person also is a flawed hater, a bigot, a liar, a thief, an incompetent, with nothing good to say about them.
We have a man who looks terrible - take a look at that supposed rally at Melbourne, Fl. - take a look at an unguarded moment and the man looks terrible, tired, defeated and wondering what the hell he is doing there! That is indeed a question we are all asking and the supposed 9,0000 people there do not make a mote in the eye of the tens of thousands who have protested every week, every day since his assumption of the Presidency. This weekend alone is "Not My President Day" and there are rallies all over the country, big cities, small towns, all for the purpose of declaring that this insane men is not our rightful president, not by election, a tainted election, not by values, not by anything. And just because they trotted out Melania to recite a prayer does not mean a thing. I believe this woman has as much regard for him as do most of us - NOT!
According to Trump, he is running a well oiled machinery of a government. Uh huh, like Nixon was not a crook nor a liar! We are warned by him in his very words, that he has plans to become a dictator, to upend the democracy of the United States. Be warned, we are told by Priebus. Take his statements about the press seriously. Well, I certainly do and even McCain tells us that destroying the free press is the first step that dictators do yet even he wooses out as he refuses to state it in the very words needed - this is Trump's plan. Is there nobody left within this government that has a spine? Is there nobody within this government that remembers the statement of Lincoln wherein he stated that the Congresses of the country belong to the people, not to the representatives and there is a time when they will retake them if necessary. Is that time coming closer? You tell me.
So this man who is incompetent at running a government turns to other areas and tries to keep a campaign going where the alt right, the anti Semites, the haters, the killers of society will stand and cheer. But they will find themselves running up against a nation of people who will push back, from the little old lady to Shia LaBeouf who reminds a hater who pushed him with anti Semitic remarks that he too is a Jew, of Jewish descent and this hatred has got to stop. Does Trump think he will shut up everyone and everything, from Streep to me? From the columnists of the Times to the weekly papers of small towns?
What frightens me the most, what stinks the most, are the promises and the threats made on a daily basis - we will replace Obamacare, even as there are thousands upon thousands of Congressmen being pushed to the wall this weekend with questions and fear. He has been banned from enforcing his dictatorial and hate filled travel ban but there he comes again, for hatred never stops unless forcefully put to an end. New bans signed by Kelly. A draft of a proposal seen to mobilize National Guardsmen to enforce this ban. National Guard!!! If you are not scared to your very marrow then I do not know what to say to you. NO, it was not signed because the draft was leaked and the uproar great but so will be the uproar if they try to hire thousands more of law enforcers, yes, the very same people who rounded up the Japanese here in America, who beat up the marchers in Selma, who fought with them at Stonewall, the very same police in France who rounded up the Jews with great enthusiasm and the same for all the Nazi friendly native police in the Ukraine, in Lithuania, and elsewhere. They cannot get in, but if they are on a plane, okay, but we will see to it that they do not get on a plane and it goes on. The stink reeks to the heavens and the fear this induces, well, there are no words.
Now the man insists that he has a great guy for his vacant Flynn position, even as the cry for investigation grows louder and louder, even as Republicans were running around yesterday to meetings with and about the FBI, about the part the Russians played in the election and again - this election is null and void in my book - and no one want a part of this man unless that person also is a flawed hater, a bigot, a liar, a thief, an incompetent, with nothing good to say about them.
So Silver from the NBA states it all. "We do a tremendous amount of business on a global basis, and if you think about what the NBA stands for, it’s, in essence, the very best all coming together, the very best in the world all coming together to perform at the highest level." And that, my friends is what the USA is supposed to mean and do as well. So if we do, we will not have talk of secession in California and then other states. Seems unreal, extreme, right, but then again - look who is president. In fact, in yesterday's obits in the Times, there was an In Memorium which stated in a PS - "And you will NEVER believe who is president!"
And here we are.
But do not think that this stink of dictators and hate and lies and cheating and corruption end with the federal government. Nope for we have a good example of that here, in good old CV. We have an incompetent government that has survived on fear and nastiness. We have had presidents who have taken bribes and been forced out yet the nastiest one so far is the one we have at present, David Israel. He believes that there are no rules that apply to him and even should an opponent gain office, he refuses to incorporate them into its machinery and bans them from committees. Talk of hateful? Talk of gray areas? Talk of areas where the stink of questionable actions reek? Talk of where is the money going and where has it gone? Talk of bad contracts and bullying? Talk of nasty campaign tactics? Well, folks, go no further, for it is right here within the soul of David Israel and his cohorts. Bob Marshall cannot keep things straight within his damaged mind and is up for office again only to keep someone who will speak up from gaining the position. Bob Marshall is incompetent at this point of carrying out any responsibilities other than saying "I second the Motion" as directed to by David. Shame on you, David and shame on you, Molly for allowing this travesty to take place.
So here we are with an election in two weeks or so and there is no truth allowed out there. Yet, the Atlantic Broadband is all just about done thanks to the perseverance of those who have the welfare of the village at heart and there will be more improvement and proper allocation of funds and definitions of repair and improvements once this guy is gone. Or outvoted. So do not vote for those he recommends for they are no good, other than one or two who are getting tarred with the same brush, but no matter, for David tars all who do not follow him lockstep with the same tar brush!! Find out their names and vote for them. Bullet vote for five or seven so they will definitely get in. Vote for those who have taken the abuse, who have been accused of a conspiracy where there is none. Vote for the Village, and not for David Israel and crew. That is our only hope.
So the stink gets higher and higher, here in the country and here in the Village. It is incumbent upon us to eliminate that stink. NOW!!
PS to Gracie. perhaps you have never been able to distinguish between capability and incapability as you are somewhat lacking in that area as well, but suffice it to say that Bob's growing deficit was easily visible and noticed for years, including and especially during his last term in office so what could we expect now. Last time he spoke he wandered off into why he was fired from a job and where he went and it all had nothing to do with being VP. In this small video presentation he also introduced "alternative facts" a la Trump. C'mon! Have a little pity and let the man alone and do not expose him to more ridicule.
Friday, February 17, 2017
IF IT AIN'T BROKE....BUT IT IS!
You know the saying - "If it ain't broke don't fix it" but the sad truth is that it is "broke" and very much so. Take our health care system. First of all, I must say that I am ever so grateful for Medicare and for the health coverage we were able to access all our working lives through our jobs but.....the system is undergoing major throes of agony and it must be addressed, not by cancelling everything out, but by examination and fixing, piece by piece. Obamacare allowed many people otherwise without health care to have it and that obviously perturbed some nasty people, but too bad, we still have a care here for poorer residents who cannot afford coverage for various reasons.
The hospitals seem to work out okay, except if you are in there and find that before you are in, they are already pushing you out and never mind that one cannot walk or needs equipment to live life on a very basic level. So some very good people tried to work the system but never mind, I am here and thank the Lord above I am able to pay for some extra help so I can do the basic building blocks of life!!
But what am I to do for the next four months - I dunno, perhaps someone knows. I am also very confused. Medicare in NY provides four hours a day for help when required for life skills or actions but in Florida I am told that nope, no deal. What the hell!!! I know the USPS thinks Florida is a foreign country for mail delivery but does Medicare also think that?
I will manage. Gerry and I will manage and we have some very good friends, so we will manage, but the system is broke!!But Trump's tear it all down approach will not work either, unless one looks at it as a system that will save money for so many people will die that the budget will drop. Good planning, Donald! Or is that fake news too?
And what about the rest of the systems here in the country? Well, we have a government, actually several governmental entities, who are going broke as the Trump family has decided to solve its business issues of travel on the backs of the American public. Eric going on a business trip? Never you mind, Secret Service will be there. Ivanka going somewhere, well there go the bills again for the public. Trump decides to visit all his properties that he has refused to turn over - why, never you mind, Bedminster, NJ, West Palm Beach, Fl - we will just take the money from the budget lines for other items, that's all. The system is broke!!!
And the major broken issue is the government itself. Let us start small, right here in CV. So there is to be an election. David Israel is running scared. He thought he had the Executive Board sewn up tight but found out otherwise, so suddenly there were going to be blog postings - on HIS blog. So.....Olga Wolkenstein gets cut off in her posting with one sentence allowed. Bob Marshall gets his prepared speech and rambles on about surviving the hurricanes of 2004- 2005. Well, guess what? So did we all. The hurricanes were bad but not life threatening here and for a change, the system worked slowly and needed to be tweaked for the future but people survived. Sorry, Bob, off in la-la land again - and not with the singing and dancing of the movie either!!Also, Bob and David, the puppetmaster, how could Bob have been president of UCO in 2005 if he just moved here according to his statements - president the first year he moved here? Simply put, the man is beyond help and beyond helping us at this point. I am sorry for his health needs but that is not to become a broken part of UCO and we pay the bill for that!!
I was called for an appointment on Wednesday the 15th. Well, I had major surgery that day so Gerry asked if we could come in earlier or perhaps even later and was told NO! WE HAVE NO TIME!! Really? Such a friendly group! And what the hell was David doing there at the tapings. Was it to pat them on the head as they toed the party line- good girl, good boy or was it to intimidate and cut and censor? Methinks it was the latter so once again - the system is broke.
Let us jump to another president - Trump and lordy, lordy, how I hate to put those two words together. This man rants and raves for almost an hour and a half about fake news and Russia and attacks reporters for basically doing their jobs and will he really plan to shut down all media as they speak out against him? Well, actually, I believe that is where he is headed and if one needs proof, then follow the major series of raids on immigrants with people being caught up, not for crimes and sometimes not even for being illegal! Nope, wrong time wrong place and off they go. The mere fact that there are people willing to do this, to follow these orders, gives me the creeps, YUGELY and BIGLY so!!
Trump is an imbecile! There is no other word for it - well, actually, I lie, there are - nincompoop, mentally deranged, incompetent, paranoid, megalomaniac, narcissistic and we could go on, but the day is short and my leg needs to be elevated!
So, folks, the system is majorly broke! It needs fixin" So what is to be done? First of all, take this guy to court and get him gone. He is totally incapable of carrying out his presidential duties and if the man who would follow, Pence, does the same what with his crazy ideas, then just clean houses and follow the line until there is a normal person at the helm. Get rid of this ridiculous electoral system. Install one man , one woman, one vote and hey, what a great idea for the Village!! Hmm. Have I not heard that it was tabled as per orders of David Israel. Well, told ya so!! The system is broke.
For the sake of all who have gone before us and kept this country running and true to its principles, for the sake of all those who saw where we went wrong and fixed it. For the sake of those to follow us and who deserve to live in a country of values and principles and not jackbooted raiders - let us fix this broken system. Today!! If we do not, I am afraid there will be fighting in the streets - not a lovely picture, but others are thinking the same thing. Fix the problem, you representatives of the people!! Fix the problem you cowardly Republicans who have sold your souls and who are intent only on forging ahead with more broken and breaking rules. Fix the problem!! Fix it!! NOW!!
The hospitals seem to work out okay, except if you are in there and find that before you are in, they are already pushing you out and never mind that one cannot walk or needs equipment to live life on a very basic level. So some very good people tried to work the system but never mind, I am here and thank the Lord above I am able to pay for some extra help so I can do the basic building blocks of life!!
But what am I to do for the next four months - I dunno, perhaps someone knows. I am also very confused. Medicare in NY provides four hours a day for help when required for life skills or actions but in Florida I am told that nope, no deal. What the hell!!! I know the USPS thinks Florida is a foreign country for mail delivery but does Medicare also think that?
I will manage. Gerry and I will manage and we have some very good friends, so we will manage, but the system is broke!!But Trump's tear it all down approach will not work either, unless one looks at it as a system that will save money for so many people will die that the budget will drop. Good planning, Donald! Or is that fake news too?
And what about the rest of the systems here in the country? Well, we have a government, actually several governmental entities, who are going broke as the Trump family has decided to solve its business issues of travel on the backs of the American public. Eric going on a business trip? Never you mind, Secret Service will be there. Ivanka going somewhere, well there go the bills again for the public. Trump decides to visit all his properties that he has refused to turn over - why, never you mind, Bedminster, NJ, West Palm Beach, Fl - we will just take the money from the budget lines for other items, that's all. The system is broke!!!
And the major broken issue is the government itself. Let us start small, right here in CV. So there is to be an election. David Israel is running scared. He thought he had the Executive Board sewn up tight but found out otherwise, so suddenly there were going to be blog postings - on HIS blog. So.....Olga Wolkenstein gets cut off in her posting with one sentence allowed. Bob Marshall gets his prepared speech and rambles on about surviving the hurricanes of 2004- 2005. Well, guess what? So did we all. The hurricanes were bad but not life threatening here and for a change, the system worked slowly and needed to be tweaked for the future but people survived. Sorry, Bob, off in la-la land again - and not with the singing and dancing of the movie either!!Also, Bob and David, the puppetmaster, how could Bob have been president of UCO in 2005 if he just moved here according to his statements - president the first year he moved here? Simply put, the man is beyond help and beyond helping us at this point. I am sorry for his health needs but that is not to become a broken part of UCO and we pay the bill for that!!
I was called for an appointment on Wednesday the 15th. Well, I had major surgery that day so Gerry asked if we could come in earlier or perhaps even later and was told NO! WE HAVE NO TIME!! Really? Such a friendly group! And what the hell was David doing there at the tapings. Was it to pat them on the head as they toed the party line- good girl, good boy or was it to intimidate and cut and censor? Methinks it was the latter so once again - the system is broke.
Let us jump to another president - Trump and lordy, lordy, how I hate to put those two words together. This man rants and raves for almost an hour and a half about fake news and Russia and attacks reporters for basically doing their jobs and will he really plan to shut down all media as they speak out against him? Well, actually, I believe that is where he is headed and if one needs proof, then follow the major series of raids on immigrants with people being caught up, not for crimes and sometimes not even for being illegal! Nope, wrong time wrong place and off they go. The mere fact that there are people willing to do this, to follow these orders, gives me the creeps, YUGELY and BIGLY so!!
Trump is an imbecile! There is no other word for it - well, actually, I lie, there are - nincompoop, mentally deranged, incompetent, paranoid, megalomaniac, narcissistic and we could go on, but the day is short and my leg needs to be elevated!
So, folks, the system is majorly broke! It needs fixin" So what is to be done? First of all, take this guy to court and get him gone. He is totally incapable of carrying out his presidential duties and if the man who would follow, Pence, does the same what with his crazy ideas, then just clean houses and follow the line until there is a normal person at the helm. Get rid of this ridiculous electoral system. Install one man , one woman, one vote and hey, what a great idea for the Village!! Hmm. Have I not heard that it was tabled as per orders of David Israel. Well, told ya so!! The system is broke.
For the sake of all who have gone before us and kept this country running and true to its principles, for the sake of all those who saw where we went wrong and fixed it. For the sake of those to follow us and who deserve to live in a country of values and principles and not jackbooted raiders - let us fix this broken system. Today!! If we do not, I am afraid there will be fighting in the streets - not a lovely picture, but others are thinking the same thing. Fix the problem, you representatives of the people!! Fix the problem you cowardly Republicans who have sold your souls and who are intent only on forging ahead with more broken and breaking rules. Fix the problem!! Fix it!! NOW!!
Thursday, February 16, 2017
THE FINAL DAY - ART OR LIFE OR BOTH
Finally got around to reading the book I have waited for. First came One Second After, the story of America and the world and one small area of America which starved and froze and fought and became a cohesive unit but always watchful and alert and always losing members of the community as there was a lack of food and medicine. what happened? There was an EMP - an electromagnetic pulse which shuts down basically all things run by chips - cars and computers and machines and clocks and smartphones and on and on. No electric. No water other than what one can carry - maybe. No rules. Cannibals. Armed groups. One minute there was life and the next......
a world of the 21st century knocked back to the 1700's or worse with no skills for it.
Why did this happen? Because the world was riven by fights, particularly amongst the smaller nations and the dangerous rift between India and Pakistan finally exploded with atomic bombs and the world followed with China and Russia delivering their little gifts to their erstwhile enemy the USA and China moving in to most of the continent.
The next book, One Year After, showed the progress and the losses, the hopes and dreams, the rebuilt and rediscovered lives, the changes that came about and still the despair at the losses and what would be. Most of all one admired the resilience of the survivors but it never became a feel good story as characters were died or killed, refugees turned away for survival's sake and a lack of food, shelter and the ability to take care of anyone else other than themselves and even that was limited. The reader wonders how did all this happen? How did we let this take place? Is this life and a prophecy or art and a warning - or a combination of both?
I am now finished with the third and final book, The Final Day, and it is a tad discouraging to see that the fighting never stops and there are always those out there who need to maintain power and control, no matter the circumstances. Thus instead of powerful and positive moves, there are frightening wars amongst the survivors and the worst thing - well, find out for yourselves. It is both frightening and uplifting. you decide and the take a minute or five minutes to think and realize how close we are to such a world, even as they moved the clock even closer to apocalyptic midnight. And we all bear responsibility for this and for allowing those who want this, who think they will prosper in a world such as this to push us this way. Read the books. Think. Imagine and compare.
a world of the 21st century knocked back to the 1700's or worse with no skills for it.
Why did this happen? Because the world was riven by fights, particularly amongst the smaller nations and the dangerous rift between India and Pakistan finally exploded with atomic bombs and the world followed with China and Russia delivering their little gifts to their erstwhile enemy the USA and China moving in to most of the continent.
The next book, One Year After, showed the progress and the losses, the hopes and dreams, the rebuilt and rediscovered lives, the changes that came about and still the despair at the losses and what would be. Most of all one admired the resilience of the survivors but it never became a feel good story as characters were died or killed, refugees turned away for survival's sake and a lack of food, shelter and the ability to take care of anyone else other than themselves and even that was limited. The reader wonders how did all this happen? How did we let this take place? Is this life and a prophecy or art and a warning - or a combination of both?
I am now finished with the third and final book, The Final Day, and it is a tad discouraging to see that the fighting never stops and there are always those out there who need to maintain power and control, no matter the circumstances. Thus instead of powerful and positive moves, there are frightening wars amongst the survivors and the worst thing - well, find out for yourselves. It is both frightening and uplifting. you decide and the take a minute or five minutes to think and realize how close we are to such a world, even as they moved the clock even closer to apocalyptic midnight. And we all bear responsibility for this and for allowing those who want this, who think they will prosper in a world such as this to push us this way. Read the books. Think. Imagine and compare.
Wednesday, February 15, 2017
THE PAST, THE PRESENT, THE FUTURE
Sounds like Dickens. But not really, for that was a parable and this is the awful, frightening downright scary truth. What we have done in the past, especially the recent past has led to a troublesome present and a hazy picture of the future. What can we do to change this? A lot of hard work and attention and demands and involvement.
I recently watched the movie 11.22.63 which deals with the possibility of preventing the assassination of JFK and what it would have meant in the history of the world, how things would have changed. It raised interesting questions, for in fact, the world as we know it would not be and possibly neither would many on this earth. To change history is not a simple nor easy thing to do even were it indeed possible but think how we could have done some simple things to have improved our present.
We could have been more vigilant, more caring, more concerned, less selfish, less loud and shouting and more listening, more empathetic and more sharing of those shoes to walk in!!
David Brooks, the NY Times columnist, wrote a piece on resistance to Trump and his administration. What to do? How to save the present and the future. There is the possibility of authoritarianism, something of which many have spoken. It would be, he says, a "repressive kleptocracy" wherein there is a tense and harsh atmosphere, kind of like Hungary and Poland now with eroding democratic rights, threats to opponents, shutting of the media and corruption galore with contracts going to bribe givers and relatives and other special people. To combat that, Brooks says we would need active resistance, not enough to "bandage the victims under the wheels of injustice, but jam a spoke into the wheel itself." We would need strong nonviolent protests, marches, demonstrations, disruptions of meetings and strong talk. Sounds familiar in many ways, does it not?
On the other hand we could have a type of stagnation and corruption. We would have a Tweedian type of muddy waters in which nasty politics thrives, tweets and more tweets, scandals and lies and nothing good happens. In that case, we would need to temporarily cede the national government and work in the local ands state areas or arenas and then take over at the right time.
But what if what we have is a toxic mix of incompetence, ever ongoing, and anarchy as the chaos and the fighting nd the leaking and the ethically challenged and the selfish and the Fat Cats run the joint, much to our detriment. What will be then, Brooks feels is a Civil Service that will take over. Knowing its responsibilities, it will try to govern properly with respect to the law and ignore those who wish to subvert that very law.
Building and rebuilding, rebinding the nation and its citizens, rebuilding Congress with honest and true people, cutting out the crooked and the morally weak, rebuilding a Civil Service and appreciating them for what they represent and the yeoman's burden they carry. Connecting the people of the country, reminding them we are all Americans and if one group suffers more than another, we must correct that and rebalance, fairly, equitably, with participation of all. That is America.
Personally, I feel we have a threat with a mix of all. I fully believe and fear that we will have an authoritarian government or at least an attempt at one, though Brooks feels that they are too incompetent to truly maintain it. But in the meantime there will be an erosion of democracy, - already happening - of trust, of principles, of joy. We will need the efforts of all and the realization of those who voted this in that they indeed messed up and must work double time to fix their creation.
Just read the news about Trump, his campaign workers and aides and the constant and close connection that they and it had with Russians within the government over there. This has indeed gone beyond the pale and must be addresses. What is even worse is that the very entity that was supposed to protect us from this treason like activity is the very same entity that kept it quiet and focused instead on bogus Clinton issues and screwed up the race. I say again, this election should be declared null and void and these people need to be barred from all and any further work with the government or any entity connected with it. It is bad enough when Trump rides roughshod over the Standing Rock pipeline matter but this is the very heart and soul of a country, its guarantee that people in its government will protect the citizens and not sell them out. Trump has got to go!! His people too!!
Charles Blow warned us to be afraid and in his way so has Brooks and Kristof and Friedman and many others, including the few Republican statesmen who see the truth and are not intimidated and will speak it. Are we brave enough to brave the mouth of this man, this nasty, crooked and incompetent man, this man who has been called and diagnosed as mentally ill and incompetent, unable to discharge the responsibilities of his office? I certainly hope we are. The other choice is not looking too appetizing, is it? Mirrors, folks, mirrors.
I recently watched the movie 11.22.63 which deals with the possibility of preventing the assassination of JFK and what it would have meant in the history of the world, how things would have changed. It raised interesting questions, for in fact, the world as we know it would not be and possibly neither would many on this earth. To change history is not a simple nor easy thing to do even were it indeed possible but think how we could have done some simple things to have improved our present.
We could have been more vigilant, more caring, more concerned, less selfish, less loud and shouting and more listening, more empathetic and more sharing of those shoes to walk in!!
David Brooks, the NY Times columnist, wrote a piece on resistance to Trump and his administration. What to do? How to save the present and the future. There is the possibility of authoritarianism, something of which many have spoken. It would be, he says, a "repressive kleptocracy" wherein there is a tense and harsh atmosphere, kind of like Hungary and Poland now with eroding democratic rights, threats to opponents, shutting of the media and corruption galore with contracts going to bribe givers and relatives and other special people. To combat that, Brooks says we would need active resistance, not enough to "bandage the victims under the wheels of injustice, but jam a spoke into the wheel itself." We would need strong nonviolent protests, marches, demonstrations, disruptions of meetings and strong talk. Sounds familiar in many ways, does it not?
On the other hand we could have a type of stagnation and corruption. We would have a Tweedian type of muddy waters in which nasty politics thrives, tweets and more tweets, scandals and lies and nothing good happens. In that case, we would need to temporarily cede the national government and work in the local ands state areas or arenas and then take over at the right time.
But what if what we have is a toxic mix of incompetence, ever ongoing, and anarchy as the chaos and the fighting nd the leaking and the ethically challenged and the selfish and the Fat Cats run the joint, much to our detriment. What will be then, Brooks feels is a Civil Service that will take over. Knowing its responsibilities, it will try to govern properly with respect to the law and ignore those who wish to subvert that very law.
Building and rebuilding, rebinding the nation and its citizens, rebuilding Congress with honest and true people, cutting out the crooked and the morally weak, rebuilding a Civil Service and appreciating them for what they represent and the yeoman's burden they carry. Connecting the people of the country, reminding them we are all Americans and if one group suffers more than another, we must correct that and rebalance, fairly, equitably, with participation of all. That is America.
Personally, I feel we have a threat with a mix of all. I fully believe and fear that we will have an authoritarian government or at least an attempt at one, though Brooks feels that they are too incompetent to truly maintain it. But in the meantime there will be an erosion of democracy, - already happening - of trust, of principles, of joy. We will need the efforts of all and the realization of those who voted this in that they indeed messed up and must work double time to fix their creation.
Just read the news about Trump, his campaign workers and aides and the constant and close connection that they and it had with Russians within the government over there. This has indeed gone beyond the pale and must be addresses. What is even worse is that the very entity that was supposed to protect us from this treason like activity is the very same entity that kept it quiet and focused instead on bogus Clinton issues and screwed up the race. I say again, this election should be declared null and void and these people need to be barred from all and any further work with the government or any entity connected with it. It is bad enough when Trump rides roughshod over the Standing Rock pipeline matter but this is the very heart and soul of a country, its guarantee that people in its government will protect the citizens and not sell them out. Trump has got to go!! His people too!!
Charles Blow warned us to be afraid and in his way so has Brooks and Kristof and Friedman and many others, including the few Republican statesmen who see the truth and are not intimidated and will speak it. Are we brave enough to brave the mouth of this man, this nasty, crooked and incompetent man, this man who has been called and diagnosed as mentally ill and incompetent, unable to discharge the responsibilities of his office? I certainly hope we are. The other choice is not looking too appetizing, is it? Mirrors, folks, mirrors.
Tuesday, February 14, 2017
CARELESS IS AS CARELESS DOES
I would like to hear the excuses now of the rabid Trumpers who castigated Hillary for carelessness. Now look what Trump has done. He handled, or tried to, the Korean missile launching in an open air dining room at Mar a Lago with 100 people, including plain old guests, looking on. He did it thru cellphones - yup, plain old cellphones which can be used like "portable television satellite trucks" when they are compromised. He has left out keys for secure and secret information right out there on the desk in his office when others are present. He has aides who discuss whatever they want with whomever they want. His leaks are worse than a three hundred year old shack!
Here is what Paul Ryan said of Hillary - The consequences for the safety of our nation are grave. Clinton’s actions may have allowed our enemies to access intelligence vital to our national security. The FBI found that hostile actors could very well have gained access to classified information sent and received by Clinton, her staff and their contacts.
Well, hello!! Tit for tat my Republican friends and time to realize and admit that your Trump is a major problem and danger even to our country. Just substitute his name for Clinton and see what you have. Grow spines all of you and stop selling your souls down the river. I can just hear the giggling of the Devil as he says to his minions, "We gotta make room for so many souls. Those Republicans have gone wholesale!Let's get to it."
What the Republicans also seem to have is a lot of 'should have thought about that before' moments. Each and every one of their nominees and now confirmed appointees has an oops moment or two or three, etc. in their lives. Along with a turncoat Joe Manchin of West Virginia the Senate has confirmed every wrong choice, voting not by soul, not by heart, not by what is right but by their Party line. Bad news for the people of the country and very careless in the long run as we can see by the resignation of Michael Flynn and all the fuss it caused and the questionable ties between Trump and the Russians still hang around, waiting to be investigated. What is more, is that some of those reports have now been confirmed and more are awaiting so who knows what will be found to be true. And all of the ranting cries about "fake news" will not do the trick. What is worse is that there seemingly is no learning curve here as one of the replacement possibilities is Petraeus , the very same man who could not keep his pillow talk under control! Uh huh!
This new government gets worse by the day, by the hour, by the tweet. There is paranoia, competition rather than teamwork, there are leaks and fear, and this has just about been the worst rollout of a new governmental administration that can be recalled and there appears to be no end in sight. So much for the concerns of the people of the country, of the need to know that there is a stable hand at the helm of the ship of state.
So what does this man do besides compromising national security by exposing secrets in public and what does this ostensible leader do in spare time? Why he puts his grown daughter in his seat at a meeting with Trudeau - literally in his seat. He just about destroys the visitors he has as we can see him yank, yes YANK the hands of his state visitors. Abe of Japan even makes an ow! face, Gorsuch is yanked off his feet practically and as for the others, just follow the handshake yank. This man is so crass and so unpolished and so harmful and hurtful towards his country that it is beyond belief. And yet, there he is. Oy!
This upheaval is both standard and harmful. The carelessness is hurtful to us all. It is even inducing the sense of dear Lord, what is next. One example of the carelessness is the misspellings that abound within their communications and yet another is the attribution of a quotation to Lincoln when he never said it. Yup, cannot even get that right! Trump took it off the RNC site and then the RNC deleted it. Can you imagine the redos necessary to run this joint!! Help!!
“The incompetence, the sloppiness and the leaking is unprecedented.” So speaks one expert and so much for what we have as a government.
Careless is as careless does - yes and sloppiness is never acceptable as such a level. And yet, there it is again. Yesterday, Paul Krugman warned us all with his closing statement -"Be afraid. Be very afraid." You see, it is one thing to laugh at these idiots, at the fun and the ridicule that is headed their way, but it is another to shudder and think that this is only going to get worse and worst of all is the fact that who knows, we not only have ethically challenged and incompetents at the head but perhaps we also have a president who is allegedly a traitor - either that or a dupe. Neither choice is appetizing so yes, be afraid, very much so. Yikes! Head for the hills!
Here is what Paul Ryan said of Hillary - The consequences for the safety of our nation are grave. Clinton’s actions may have allowed our enemies to access intelligence vital to our national security. The FBI found that hostile actors could very well have gained access to classified information sent and received by Clinton, her staff and their contacts.
Well, hello!! Tit for tat my Republican friends and time to realize and admit that your Trump is a major problem and danger even to our country. Just substitute his name for Clinton and see what you have. Grow spines all of you and stop selling your souls down the river. I can just hear the giggling of the Devil as he says to his minions, "We gotta make room for so many souls. Those Republicans have gone wholesale!Let's get to it."
What the Republicans also seem to have is a lot of 'should have thought about that before' moments. Each and every one of their nominees and now confirmed appointees has an oops moment or two or three, etc. in their lives. Along with a turncoat Joe Manchin of West Virginia the Senate has confirmed every wrong choice, voting not by soul, not by heart, not by what is right but by their Party line. Bad news for the people of the country and very careless in the long run as we can see by the resignation of Michael Flynn and all the fuss it caused and the questionable ties between Trump and the Russians still hang around, waiting to be investigated. What is more, is that some of those reports have now been confirmed and more are awaiting so who knows what will be found to be true. And all of the ranting cries about "fake news" will not do the trick. What is worse is that there seemingly is no learning curve here as one of the replacement possibilities is Petraeus , the very same man who could not keep his pillow talk under control! Uh huh!
This new government gets worse by the day, by the hour, by the tweet. There is paranoia, competition rather than teamwork, there are leaks and fear, and this has just about been the worst rollout of a new governmental administration that can be recalled and there appears to be no end in sight. So much for the concerns of the people of the country, of the need to know that there is a stable hand at the helm of the ship of state.
So what does this man do besides compromising national security by exposing secrets in public and what does this ostensible leader do in spare time? Why he puts his grown daughter in his seat at a meeting with Trudeau - literally in his seat. He just about destroys the visitors he has as we can see him yank, yes YANK the hands of his state visitors. Abe of Japan even makes an ow! face, Gorsuch is yanked off his feet practically and as for the others, just follow the handshake yank. This man is so crass and so unpolished and so harmful and hurtful towards his country that it is beyond belief. And yet, there he is. Oy!
This upheaval is both standard and harmful. The carelessness is hurtful to us all. It is even inducing the sense of dear Lord, what is next. One example of the carelessness is the misspellings that abound within their communications and yet another is the attribution of a quotation to Lincoln when he never said it. Yup, cannot even get that right! Trump took it off the RNC site and then the RNC deleted it. Can you imagine the redos necessary to run this joint!! Help!!
“The incompetence, the sloppiness and the leaking is unprecedented.” So speaks one expert and so much for what we have as a government.
Careless is as careless does - yes and sloppiness is never acceptable as such a level. And yet, there it is again. Yesterday, Paul Krugman warned us all with his closing statement -"Be afraid. Be very afraid." You see, it is one thing to laugh at these idiots, at the fun and the ridicule that is headed their way, but it is another to shudder and think that this is only going to get worse and worst of all is the fact that who knows, we not only have ethically challenged and incompetents at the head but perhaps we also have a president who is allegedly a traitor - either that or a dupe. Neither choice is appetizing so yes, be afraid, very much so. Yikes! Head for the hills!
Monday, February 13, 2017
GROPING IN THE DARK
There is an air of confusion enveloping us, not only this country, but the world as well. Two bit third world countries are feeling neglected and betrayed and are blowing off steam and hot air, leaving the world a heaving mass of uncertainty. Traditional powers are confused as well, not sure of this crazy dude in the Oval Office and exactly what he means, if he means anything at all.
But, I believe, worse than that, is the confusion, the malaise, the melancholy, that is gripping the population, the people, of the world. Over this past weekend I have attended three wonderful performances by differing types of performers yet one thing was obvious throughout. They, too, are concerned. Statements of "especially in times like these" or "we certainly need these feelings today" or the very selection of songs - all pointed to confusion and even a fear that permeates it all.
Even the representative from the health service who came to my home spoke of confusion and 'how did we get here'. People are asking "what will happen to us, to the country?"
What is even perhaps more significant or perhaps it is worse - who knows, in this crazy topsy - turvy world of ours where the inmates are actually running the joint - is the fact that even Trump's backers are turning away or expressing doubt. "He should shut his mouth or what is with the wall or the immigration crisis . All we want and why we voted for him are jobs." Well, sad to say, those jobs are not coming back and the sooner they realize it, the sooner retraining takes place, the better off they will be.
But the saddest of all is watching the desperateness of those with a modicum of intelligence who backed this man and are just as horrified by his doings and behaviorisms but who are falling back on "well, what is so bad?" or "so and so did this or that." The point is that it does not matter what so and so did in the past. It is what this man and his posse are doing now - either nothing good or direct harm is what they are doing. It is time to open the eyes and see what they have wrought, indeed, what we all have wrought by neglecting to face facts and see what is truly going on.
In a time of crises this Trump has time for watching a show that is taking the forefront of sarcastic commentary on his actions, He tweets away. He and his are under attack he feels and he cannot stand that. His reaction, to threaten to make it illegal to do such things. Perhaps the playing of the Nazi anthem in Hawaii was an omen from Above, warning us of what awaited us if we do not wake up and smell the coffee. In a time of multiple crises this man takes the time to rant about a man Mark Cuban whom I had never heard of, to stress that he is not qualified to run for president!!! Well, look in the mirror, honey, look in the mirror. And most unbelievingly of all, this Trump, this off balance mentally and emotionally challenged farce of a being is planning on running for office in 2020 and already, three weeks into his reign, planning that campaign! Will we even be here in 2020 should this guy remain in office, G-d forbid a thousand times!!
So we grope for a way out. And in the path we discover that this man and his Education Secretary cannot spell and obviously never heard of proofing things. His official poster misspells too as to. His Education Department under the incompetent and dangerously lacking stewardship of DeVos, misspelled W.E.B. Dubois's name in an official tweet. Help!! Help!! Where are the adults in the room? Where are people with working brains? Help!! Help!!
And so stores continue to drop Trump products and I wonder, since he took this job to provide more jobs for his buddies and family and to make money, if his products have a turndown, will he quit? Oh, say yes, say yes, please!
And in the meanwhile, we need to turn to the young amongst us to lead the way? A coed CYO basketball team in New Jersey had the ethical chops to forfeit the season when they were told they would have to throw off the two girls amongst the boys. They voted after the parents made sure they understood the consequences of the vote. They stood firm and their parents cried in pride. As well they should! And the adults everywhere else, as our teens and middle schoolers take to the streets in protest - where the hell are you? And where will you be when the ****hits the proverbial fan in a big time such as we have not seen? Where will you all be?
Sad to say, most adults will be nowhere but in hiding, either ashamed of their part in this mess or in fear of this man and his crew, but hope, hope, that there will be enough people to stand up, follow the leaders in this and get this man gone - the sooner the better and let him take all his crooked, ethically challenged, morally challenged, incompetent people with them. Let us all hope we still have it within us to stand up to proposed tyranny and injustice. That we still know what the true America stands for and we battle for it, yes, even battle if needs be so.
And that must filter down to the local spheres as well. Here in the Village we have had a tyranny imposed on us by omission and commission. We have turned away in apathy, asking "Well, what can we do? We need to wait till he is dead?" Well, I think not. We need to turn his world upside down as well, deny him his yes men on the Board, demand of him answers and demand and demand and demand and make life extremely uncomfortable for him and his. We need to elect people into office who will ask the right questions, but not only that. We need people who will insist on honesty, on honor, on transparency, on truth, truth, truth, on efficiency, on putting the residents first, on putting aside petty differences and getting together for the sake of our homes - at least letting us have a place of safety within the churning world out there. We need to see past his evil and cynical tactic of labelling his opponents, denigrating them with a name he feels says it all. So behind the times is he that he fails to realize that there is a huge percentage of this Village that cannot stand him and his practices, but the system is so heavily slanted towards him and his tactics especially as he rips thru by laws and legalities as if they were nothing - Trump, anyone? - that it is difficult to get a word in edgewise as media of all types are blocked.
Malcontents. Messenger Club. Enough already, David. Grow up and face your opponents as you should if only you had the equipment to do so. I, and many others, do not belong to any group, other than the Democratic Club which I recently joined and to the March for Women and to the rolls of decent people, and where do you belong? You speak of your NSA work, you speak of your patriotism G-d help us all, so where is it now? Are you with Flynn and other treasonous people or with the good people and that includes the people of the Village. Do you stand by the rules and principles of the Constitution, like freedom of speech and press or do you wish to keep violating them, trampling them into the dust?
The time has come for all of us to chose sides - here and outside the Village as well. The time has come for all of us to grope thru the dark and into the light. Where will all of you be in this choice? Will we all face the truth or will we wimp out? That mirror is awaiting. Go look.
But, I believe, worse than that, is the confusion, the malaise, the melancholy, that is gripping the population, the people, of the world. Over this past weekend I have attended three wonderful performances by differing types of performers yet one thing was obvious throughout. They, too, are concerned. Statements of "especially in times like these" or "we certainly need these feelings today" or the very selection of songs - all pointed to confusion and even a fear that permeates it all.
Even the representative from the health service who came to my home spoke of confusion and 'how did we get here'. People are asking "what will happen to us, to the country?"
What is even perhaps more significant or perhaps it is worse - who knows, in this crazy topsy - turvy world of ours where the inmates are actually running the joint - is the fact that even Trump's backers are turning away or expressing doubt. "He should shut his mouth or what is with the wall or the immigration crisis . All we want and why we voted for him are jobs." Well, sad to say, those jobs are not coming back and the sooner they realize it, the sooner retraining takes place, the better off they will be.
But the saddest of all is watching the desperateness of those with a modicum of intelligence who backed this man and are just as horrified by his doings and behaviorisms but who are falling back on "well, what is so bad?" or "so and so did this or that." The point is that it does not matter what so and so did in the past. It is what this man and his posse are doing now - either nothing good or direct harm is what they are doing. It is time to open the eyes and see what they have wrought, indeed, what we all have wrought by neglecting to face facts and see what is truly going on.
In a time of crises this Trump has time for watching a show that is taking the forefront of sarcastic commentary on his actions, He tweets away. He and his are under attack he feels and he cannot stand that. His reaction, to threaten to make it illegal to do such things. Perhaps the playing of the Nazi anthem in Hawaii was an omen from Above, warning us of what awaited us if we do not wake up and smell the coffee. In a time of multiple crises this man takes the time to rant about a man Mark Cuban whom I had never heard of, to stress that he is not qualified to run for president!!! Well, look in the mirror, honey, look in the mirror. And most unbelievingly of all, this Trump, this off balance mentally and emotionally challenged farce of a being is planning on running for office in 2020 and already, three weeks into his reign, planning that campaign! Will we even be here in 2020 should this guy remain in office, G-d forbid a thousand times!!
So we grope for a way out. And in the path we discover that this man and his Education Secretary cannot spell and obviously never heard of proofing things. His official poster misspells too as to. His Education Department under the incompetent and dangerously lacking stewardship of DeVos, misspelled W.E.B. Dubois's name in an official tweet. Help!! Help!! Where are the adults in the room? Where are people with working brains? Help!! Help!!
And so stores continue to drop Trump products and I wonder, since he took this job to provide more jobs for his buddies and family and to make money, if his products have a turndown, will he quit? Oh, say yes, say yes, please!
And in the meanwhile, we need to turn to the young amongst us to lead the way? A coed CYO basketball team in New Jersey had the ethical chops to forfeit the season when they were told they would have to throw off the two girls amongst the boys. They voted after the parents made sure they understood the consequences of the vote. They stood firm and their parents cried in pride. As well they should! And the adults everywhere else, as our teens and middle schoolers take to the streets in protest - where the hell are you? And where will you be when the ****hits the proverbial fan in a big time such as we have not seen? Where will you all be?
Sad to say, most adults will be nowhere but in hiding, either ashamed of their part in this mess or in fear of this man and his crew, but hope, hope, that there will be enough people to stand up, follow the leaders in this and get this man gone - the sooner the better and let him take all his crooked, ethically challenged, morally challenged, incompetent people with them. Let us all hope we still have it within us to stand up to proposed tyranny and injustice. That we still know what the true America stands for and we battle for it, yes, even battle if needs be so.
And that must filter down to the local spheres as well. Here in the Village we have had a tyranny imposed on us by omission and commission. We have turned away in apathy, asking "Well, what can we do? We need to wait till he is dead?" Well, I think not. We need to turn his world upside down as well, deny him his yes men on the Board, demand of him answers and demand and demand and demand and make life extremely uncomfortable for him and his. We need to elect people into office who will ask the right questions, but not only that. We need people who will insist on honesty, on honor, on transparency, on truth, truth, truth, on efficiency, on putting the residents first, on putting aside petty differences and getting together for the sake of our homes - at least letting us have a place of safety within the churning world out there. We need to see past his evil and cynical tactic of labelling his opponents, denigrating them with a name he feels says it all. So behind the times is he that he fails to realize that there is a huge percentage of this Village that cannot stand him and his practices, but the system is so heavily slanted towards him and his tactics especially as he rips thru by laws and legalities as if they were nothing - Trump, anyone? - that it is difficult to get a word in edgewise as media of all types are blocked.
Malcontents. Messenger Club. Enough already, David. Grow up and face your opponents as you should if only you had the equipment to do so. I, and many others, do not belong to any group, other than the Democratic Club which I recently joined and to the March for Women and to the rolls of decent people, and where do you belong? You speak of your NSA work, you speak of your patriotism G-d help us all, so where is it now? Are you with Flynn and other treasonous people or with the good people and that includes the people of the Village. Do you stand by the rules and principles of the Constitution, like freedom of speech and press or do you wish to keep violating them, trampling them into the dust?
The time has come for all of us to chose sides - here and outside the Village as well. The time has come for all of us to grope thru the dark and into the light. Where will all of you be in this choice? Will we all face the truth or will we wimp out? That mirror is awaiting. Go look.
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