DOES THAT "STAR SPANGLED BANNER YET WAVE"?

    Irony indeed. Today is Flag Day, a day when we honor the meaning and the history of our flag, that star spangled banner and yet today is a day when we can question whether it still waves over America, whether it still means what it has meant to millions over the two and a half centuries that it has indeed waved from one side of the world to the other.
     In fact, the question truly is, whether America is still what it always meant as a concept, as a representative of all that is good in humanity, of the higher aims of humanity, of the willingness to know it is not perfect and to go after that which made it imperfect. Today, at this nadir of American history, the answer is sadly no. We have sunk to a point where truly, the flag means nothing, its history is mocked, its depths shallower by the day, and Betsy Ross must be turning over in her grave. I wonder what those Iwo Jima heroes would think now of the flag they raised on that brutal island. We have honor flights but what do they really mean in the context of what is going on in Washington today?
     Today we read of a mayor who removed the portraits of Trump and Pence from town hall because he stated that "respect is earned, not demanded" and it raises questions about the man in the Oval Office who demands loyalty and respect and for what? Quite frankly, at this point he has my sincere disrespect for he has dishonored his position, his office, this country - my country.
     Just what is going on today? We have a Senate hearing where the questions fell once again according to Party. Republicans tried to whitewash the Little Mouse testifying, allowing him to give long winded answers that responded to nothing that was asked. He was consistently allowed to plead an invisible executive privilege because Trump 'might' one day wish to invoke it, hence his refusal to answer questions directly. He "cannot recall " - the most obvious hideaway response of all those who have done something criminal or illegal or immoral. He contradicted himself time and again and when Kamala Harris pressed him, he was rescued by McCain and Burr  who then allowed him to wander the world in his answer, but no answer was actually forthcoming.
     So we have a President who has to be defended even though he is seriously incompetent and deranged. The image of the man with a sickly grin on his face as he went round the table soliciting compliments from his officers was truly nauseating, They were "blessed" to serve him, a privilege to serve him - but they serve US, the People, not this man who emulated every single dictator and tyrant of the world who always solicited praise about himself. One could superimpose the face of Hitler over Trump's and the meaning is clear - disgusting and dangerous. This man, this awful man, who now has over 200 lawmakers suing him for violations of the Emoluments Clause, who changes his mind more than a woman going thru her closet trying to find the right clothes to wear, this man who now says that the bill that he encouraged, the bill to repeal and change the healthcare in this country, this man now tells these people who listened to him that the bill is "mean"? Truly!! Who made it so, who brought this about?
     So today we have a story how the rich are buying land to survive the apocalypse - uh huh, guess there really is a climate issue. Guess there really is much to be afraid of with Russia and terrorists and once again the rich survive. Told ya that we are all scheduled to die!! Saves money for the important stuff - like the thousands upon thousands of dollars that Melania's clothing costs! Wow, so much in common with the base that elected her husband, right?!
     In a book I just finished, Testimony, one of Turow's characters states ever so truly that " After meeting people regarded as "legends" that what is called charisma, this outsize attractive power, was often rooted in madness. We experience these people as extraordinary because deep psychic distractions prevented them from observing the same boundaries the rest of us had learned to adhere to...... (yet)There are no rules, no order, no civilization if everyone is simply out for himself."
     Can anyone find a better statement that is so descriptive of Trump and where we are today in the country, what this man represents and where he is going with his philosophy that business rules the day, particularly his!! As Commodore Vanderbilt once stated, "What do I care for the law? Haint I got the power?"
     Actually WE have the power if only we will choose to exercise it. We can throw the pols in DC out of office. WE can stop weasels like Brian Mast from doing any more harm. WE can throw Trump out of office, force him to resign for if he does not go and take his corruptness and  lack of care for others, there will be an implosion within this country the likes of which we have never seen and that bodes no good for us. The downfall of Rome will be nothing compared to the downfall of the best shot that humankind had - the United States of America. So let that flag still continue to wave. Make your displeasure, your disgust, your anger be clear as water. Get this man and his phonies gone. Truly drain the swamp and long "may that star spangled banner yet wave". Look at that flag today and ponder. Please. Please.