Well, we have descended well and truly down into schoolyard tactics and behavior. Our President (not mine) has hunkered down in some room somewhere in the White House and is refusing to come out in public. He has a series of favorite appointees coming and giving him private briefings, even intelligence briefings and remember when he said he was so smart he did not these daily briefings? Huh! So much for smart. And I am sure along with these private briefings come heaping tablespoons of more praise along the lines of his cabinet meeting.
There have been no presidential meetings or conferences or speeches for quite some time - not that he ever has anything worthwhile to say - but still, he should be talking to the people of his charge - the American public. But he is afraid for he cannot speak well, has nothing intelligent to say and every time he opens his mouth something worth lampooning emerges. Again, yet he is the president and this is part of his duties. the burden of office, so to speak.
Instead, what we have is an administration, the one that truly is not there, that functions on the teasing motif of I've got a secret, so Spicer does not hold briefings, not even his replacement holds them, Spicer gave up hiding in the bushes for briefings and in the rare off camera one he does hold, the answers are "I do not know" or "I'll get back to you" or "the President will talk about that soon" and of course, soon never comes.
What the President is doing or not doing is thus held in secret. Evidently no one in the country other than his sycophants are allowed any insight or factual knowledge about what is happening and this I've got a secret attitude has evidently proven contagious. Watch the Republican Senators hold their plans and their bill on healthcare in secret, holding no hearings, letting in only a small number of fellow GOP members, a very few and even they get little to no information and as for Democrats, well they can whistle Dixie for all McConnell cares. And the plan is to throw this at the Senate, no hearings and very little to no discussion and call for a vote, a hasty vote prior to July 4 recess. Perhaps they should take that as a sign and remember that July 4 marks a bid for independence from tyrants and take that warning to heart.
This holding close to the chest is something tyrants and dictators, petty or not, use as a technique of power. We have our own David Israel along with his trusty 'Eddie" who hold all in secret, plot contracts and their signing, throw it at the DA for a five minute perusal, of tiny print yet, and then push through a vote. Even a one vote majority is fine with him although he certainly loves big numbers in the announcement that now 100 signatures are needed for a petition and he even blocks E signatures, he of the love of the Internet and all that is found in the vast world of the clouds. Hypocrisy? For sure. Fear of what should and might be? For double sure. He of the secret huddles and life in the backroom? For double sure. He of the lover of secret and double dealings, the signing of contracts in secret, the lack of open and honest and translucent government - oh yes, oh yes, oh yes. But then again, Trump is such a good role model! Not!!
Tell me if you have heard this before. "A small group of failed voices who think they know everything, and understand everyone, want to tell everybody else how to live and what to do and how to think."
Yes, I know it is ungrammatical, but then again, he is always butchering the English language and yes, this is Trump at a religious right wing college commencement and brother, close your eyes and one can hear the whining voice of David Israel with the same nonsense. Cowards all, afraid of open competition, afraid of opposition, afraid of free thinkers, afraid of life, afraid of the truth. In both case, these are not the leaders we want nor need. Ossof lost in Georgia and one of the reasons being bruited about is the fact that he was too civil, took the high road even when battling all the low road people, civil protest rather than civil unrest. I am not so sure I welcome that unrest as a first line but I surely am deathly afraid that that is exactly what is waiting for us down the road and not too far down the road. The wise leaders we need are nowhere in sight.
The House Republicans turn down the sanctions bill for Russia and Iran and whoo!, the stink of that! The pettiness of that. The wholesale ignoring of what this country must be, must say, must continue to show if people are to believe us. Instead, we are turned into wimps of no courage and no honesty, turncoats to the United States of America. Even Jill Stein is now being caught in the nest of Russian interference with the election. Just how deep does this go and what happens when people are proven to be traitors, knowingly or not. What do we do then? Has anyone thought of that or is it still the I've got a secret mode and we will not know till the very end. What will be with our country, our democracy, our history, our values, our people?
The author of "Americanah", Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, spoke at the commencement at Williams College and hear and read the difference between what he said and what Trump said.
"....I know how easily injustice becomes normal. I know how quickly, in the face of sustained mediocrity, we collectively lower our standards so that unacceptable things suddenly become not so bad. (Does that sound familiar as it describes our time - my comment).
And it continues. "This is not a perfect country. It is, in fact, not as hallowed as American nationalists like to think. But it was built on an idea that is humane, beautiful, and very much worth perfecting. ....You cannot be complacent, you cannot afford to become complacent because democracy is always fragile."
Read and hear those words. Trouble is acoming, soon enough. Be prepared.
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