BLURRING LINES

     Just read an excellent book, The Vengeance of Mothers, by Jim Fergus, and intend to go find his prior books. The book deals with 1873 America, its attitude and actions towards and with Native Americans, its ridiculous plans that caused tragedy to so many. It touches on the attitude towards women, the liberation of certain women at times when one might think otherwise, and it could be read as an allegory of the times of today in many ways. It raises the question as to whose America, whose nation, whose land, it truly is and the lines are blurry, just as they are today. Or one could read it just as a super story.
     The lines are blurred - or do we really need to draw these lines? It is difficult to find a distinct separation today between two units or topics. Where does fiction end and  fact occur, or are both intertwined beyond distinction. This is where it gets edgy for when we have a man who forever calls into doubt any factoid which criticizes him, then we are in a new age called post truth and I, for one, have a great deal of difficulty of even accepting that term. How can one be post truth. Truth can be explained, actions explained, but truth is truth - unless one wanders into the world of Animal Farm, 1984 and Brave New World. Unless one wanders into the bizzaro world where actions can be explained away in this manner - “Keep hearing about ‘tiny’ amount of money spent on Facebook ads,”  “What about the billions of dollars of Fake News on CNN, ABC, NBC & CBS?” Accuse the other side of doing something and that will explain away your sins, but what if the accusation is not true, yet gains ground as a post truth statement? The whole incident of the "veteran" of Vietnam with a whole  host of medals, weighing in on Trump's side on Fox News, with the kneeling actions - Fox buys all in and guess what - never was a veteran, was not wounded, no decorations - is this post truth or can we simply call it a lie?
    And how are we supposed to raise our kids, the future of all of us, if they see that a lie is not necessarily a lie and the truth is not necessarily that either. The ground we then stand upon becomes very shaky, like a mass of quivering quicksand and who will be there to pull us out?Will the support of yet another liar or tyrant do the trick? When such as Putin tells Americans, scolds them, that Trump is not respected enough, that Americans elected him - he of the country that bought those ads, that messed with the election, do we tout his statement as proof - and proof of what for is he telling the truth or lying thru his miserable teeth?
     In the meanwhile we have the sad truth of the 1200 people funeral for a Sergeant killed in Niger under very blurry circumstances, with the tears of a family and a nation, and Trump makes it all about him, trumpeting the fact that he is now UPSing letters to all servicemen killed as far back as July and August. So what does that count as for to me it is the "I'm sorry" ordered to be said in a school fight or a scandal uncovered. It is the "pardon me" stated by the likes of Weinstein and yes, Trump, who himself is a self acknowledged molester. And then off he goes again, claiming in his self praises that no other President has done as much as he has in nine months and then proceeds to boast of the disasters he has caused - cancelling of laws that protect Americans and the world with the water they drink, the air they breathe, the land they walk upon, with his pandering to Big Business, with his 'triumph' at disrupting healthcare to millions and instead, giving them deathcare.
     So we have former presidents calling for unity, Tom Hanks and others calling for us to read history, use it, understand it for it tells us of our present and future, and we are at the level where Costco has to point out in its reports that the new trade issues and regulations and cancellations are dangerous to their business - and to those of many others. But the man and his toadies do not see that, do not see the intertwining of business across borderlines, does not recognize that lines are so blurred that nationalism, nativism, is a dangerous relic of the past and has no place in our world. Go back to the beginning and read the book I recommended. Read it and weep and laugh and feel pride in the women of the novel.
     I no longer feel pride in our country of the moment and I hope against all hope that we will break out of this mold and find our way back. I hope it can be done in a peaceful manner, but my doubt grows apace daily on that issue.
     Lines of truth. Lines of falsehoods. Lines of danger and lines of war and those of peace. Lines of pride. Lines of historical warnings. Blurring lines. We need to redraw them clearly and use the blurring lines in a positive manner, to draw us and the world together. What is going through my head is the refrain of that oldie but goodie: 
      "We are the world
We are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day, so let's start giving
Oh, there's a choice we're making
We're saving our own lives
It's true we'll make a better day, just you and me."
      Please, let us make the right choice and right now.