SAME OLD SAME OLD IN A DIFFERENT WRAPPER

    Yes, the man actually stuck to the script without going off in rants and that has impressed some. How low we have come to set the bar for this man, for with other presidents we looked for inspiration and here - some discipline! Wow!! Sad!
     But examine what the man said and there it is - the same old same old we have been hearing since the campaign. In fact, this was a campaign speech, all bombast and populism, nationalist to the core and still without details and sorry, folks, the devil is in the details. Nothing happens without them. And that is exactly one of the main problems we have with this man and his posse. No details, just bombast and hatred.
     Yes, finally! Yesterday, one of his spokesmen put forth the idea that the Democrats were behind these hoax calls re bombing of Jewish Centers and schools. And last night the man actually mentioned the waves of anti Semitic calls and threats, cemetery vandalism that have been occurring. Images of cribs full of infants being pushed out away from the Centers, images of elderly folks rushed wet from the pool out into the cold. Lines of children being escorted out of their schools. And the question I ask, actually questions, are the following: What and why did this take so long for a public statement and when does this stop or end. Analysts see this as escalation and an attack on the core of American Judaism as the Centers serve all groups and thoughts within the American Jewish community. And I ask myself and others, again, where does this end. My shoulders are up around my ears wondering when the hoaxes will stop, when will people stop paying attention and then what? Think about it.
     Yet the rest of the speech was full of thinly veiled hate tirades. Voiced in a calmer voice and more moderated language than usual, it was still there. Deals with Canada but none with Mexico. What does our southern neighbor get? A wall, with cheers from the gathered Republican spineless folks. Why? Because north is whiter and south is browner? Are we going to weigh  our policies by color of skin?
     And do not think it stops outside our country, you know, outside the 'lawless chaos' that appears so evident only to him and those who wear his spectacles. It festers within as well. No mention of the Saudi Arabia tie to terrorism - ahem, 9/11, funds disbursed to mosques of the extreme sects, but ahem again, business of the Trumps carry importance here so fugedaboutitt! Nope, here we have the immigration raid concentrating on the brown people, ya' know, the Mexicans, the Central Americans for don't forget, they are dangerous, evidently full of violent criminals, or so we are led to believe. No one group should be characterized en masse and yes, they have criminals within this group but guess what? So do we, the native and naturalized citizens, so maybe we might think of emptying the country and handpick those we let back in. Carried to the extreme is where one sees the fallacy of faulty thinking.
     A beautiful and touching moment for the widow of Owens but seriously, will this cover over Trump's culpability in okaying the mission when it was faulty to some degree. The buck stops at Trump's desk and no matter how he now tries to push it off on his generals, it ultimately was HIS decision and let him man up already and take the blame he earned in this case. And in the chaos he has caused at the airports and all over the world.
     America is still beautiful and the volunteers are gearing up to come to the rescue once again as we are now expecting a new ban, a new set of illegal and immoral immigration and travel rules, as early as today. So much for calling and acting on that call for unity - a unity that will work ONLY if it is all Trump's way and do not be fooled by that man of last night. Nothing changed other than a calmer temperament on delivery.
     Help for the hungry? How, exactly, when the programs are being shut down. Enjoy our beautiful country? How, when the protections for our waterways and our lands have been negated and overturned? How when the air will be polluted and climate change accelerated. Smog does kill. "Access" to health coverage? Is that a sick joke? Even the Republicans admit that there is a real problem here and their constituents are rising up over this issue but was there a spine last nite? Nope. Not a one.
     Jobs will return? Is he kidding? These manufacturing jobs have gone for good. Sure, we still need welders and machine tool operators, etc., but assembly line jobs? Nope, automation has entered the fray long time passing and we must retrain our workers and train the upcoming generation for the new jobs or else they will be left out of a new world, like it or not. Reality is that -  reality - and wishful or rueful thinking does not change it at all.
     "Border Adjustment'? Uh huh. That means taxes on incoming goods but is there a mention that much of these incoming goods are destined for American manufacturers who need this for their finished products so of course, by all means , raise the costs of products so that the consumer will end up paying more, buying less, manufacturers paring the worker rolls and the vicious cycle goes on.
     Bombast does not carry the day. Nitty gritty does. Smirks do not mean anything other than to induce nausea in the stomach of those watching. He quotes Lincoln? How dare he compare? And let him not forget another Lincoln statement - " so that government of the people, by the people and for the people shall not perish on this earth." It is not meant only for his billionaire Cabinet!! We can exchange quotes all day log but the bottom line remains the same. This is not the party of Lincoln. This is, despite the pathetic sop thrown out there for civil rights, a party of people looking to take away civil rights from people, smash the free press, break the back of opposition, disallow the voting rights of so many, many people. Civil rights? It should burn their tongues so false is this claim that they will take us along this road. Liar, liar!
     There is more, so much more, but when will he and others realize that he is all hot air, no details, just appeals to the nasty side of people, the side that calls upon their anger, their confusion while living in a different world, a world which changes almost daily. And while on the topic of terrorism, radical Islamic terrorism, I agree it is there big time, but ahem again, take a look at the most recent acts of terrorism within our country and there it is - radical white crazy right wing terrorism, Goose and gander and I am personally just as frightened at the crazy dude with the white pointy hood or the oh so smooth delivery of words of hate as I am of the awful and deluded suicide bomber.
     This speech did not do anything to eliminate that hatred that this administration has stirred up. There were no strong denials and refutations of the support of these animals, these savages if one wishes to use his term. Savagery is evident on both sides and both sides need denunciation and renunciation. Both!!
     Where are we going now, American society and the world in general? Not a clue. Nary a one. Only the fear that it ain't good and we must be ever  alert for the crazy dude with the orange hair and his crazy and hate filled populist people who shut out all those who are "other" than they. A few words do not change much. Let us await action, action of the right kind. Then we will see but as far as I, and many others are concerned, same old same old in a different wrapper. The stink is still there when the wrapper is opened. Shame on us that we have allowed the stink to grow so much.
     And while we are on the topic of voting rights, Friday is election day here in the Village. Time to change the sheets, air out the linen. Time for new people, time for people with spines Time for people who will demand that we follow the rules of our Village, that the rights that still remain in the country also are valid here. Time to change, time to rearrange, as the Brady Bunch kids would sing. Vote for the people who will do this. Get in some people with backbone, who know how to question, who know how to demand and get answers. Friday's other vote connected with broadband is an example of why we need fresh and newer minds. This began as another attempt of David Israel to impose his wishes and projects upon the Village, cost and usefulness be damned. This issue needs to be tabled, what with two years left on the contract. And certainly, he had no right to even begin these negotiations, to sign on with CSI, to cut out the Village and delegates and  narrow the choice to two, or actually one, if he had his way, a path that would have taken us to a repeat of the previous debacle on DSL. This man is actually lawless if one thinks about it.
    So.... vote to table and if hell or high water comes, vote to continue with the known quantity, Comcast, and not the unknown, untested, not tried or true one. I, for one, am not inclined to go with this unknown. There are so many other unknowns in this world that why must we involved with another unnecessary one.
     Exercise your right to vote and associations, demand DEMAND that your delegates vote for whom the owners want, not for their own personal wishes. Representation, ya' knw.