THAT STINKY SMELL

     Smell it? That stinky smell, the nasty, musty smell of a growing swamp? The one that threatens us all? Smell it? And then ask oneself why the growth in the odor, why the growth of the swamp?
  There is a nasty miasma of the air in our country. We appear to be exactly other than what we scream and shout we are. We glorify the uniformed services even as we see great big holes in their ethics. Catching those holes and dealing with them does not mean that one is denigrating all uniformed services, but one must face the truth. 
     There are policemen who overstep their bounds. No one said it was an easy job, a light responsibility, but if one takes it on then it must be with respect and attention to all the details. And the same goes with our armed forces. 
     We find that there are huge holes in the ethics of our servicemen. Perhaps it is the training. Perhaps it is the screening. Perhaps it is the initial evaluation. Perhaps it is that we are involved in wars in places where we should not be and these people are being recirculated in an impossible situation. Perhaps it is the lack of proper care for these warriors upon return from war. And perhaps it is the fact that there is a very loose ethic in some of our armed forces.
     The latest has hit the Navy harshly. From their destroyers involved in terrible accidents that need not have been to the burgeoning scandal of 'Fat Leonard", wherein hundreds of Navy officers, including over 60 admirals, are involved in bribe taking from a contractor, being supplied with wild parties, liquor, etc. If there is such rot from the top, then what can we expect from the lower grades?
     And the rot does come from the top. There is not even an attempt to hide it; rather there is an even perverse sense of satisfaction and a job well done when the administrators of our government appointed by Trump, immerse themselves in money making schemes, in influence peddling, in all sorts of manners all of which screw the people. From Ross, the Commerce Secretary, to DeVos, to Trump and everything in between, that stinky smell is growing.
     Growing ever stronger is the odor wafting over from the country of the ruble. Nine people already in Trump's circle are tainted. When one goes over the campaign, one can see the blatant influence of Russia, the patent shrieks on the blackboard as Trump consistently praised Putin and had a love fest with him, from the cash behind Milner's purchase of Facebook stock, to meetings and lies, lies, lies. What have we allowed to happen? Why have we sold our heritage and not even for a bowl of lentil soup? For what? So Trump and other nabobs, robber barons in a throwback to the time of robber barons here, so they can add to their already obscene wealth?
     As for the 'base", even they are retreating, recognizing the inherent wrongness of Trump. His mouth. His tweeting. His temper. His stupidity and negligence. His numbers are the lowest in seventy years!! And yet, here we are almost on war footing with North Korea, another country with a head who has no self control, who is spoiled and has never grown up. 
     And even as there is yet another horrific mass shooting, this time in a church, a place of prayer, of community, Trump says this is "not a problem of guns. It is a mental problem." Yes, his!!! Yes, there is some indication that a man with a rifle, brought to church for some reason, shot at the shooter and he left the church. That was a rifle - not an assault gun. I have no problem with the Second Amendment which allows for the right to own a gun, but that is a handgun or a hunting rifle. There is no reason to allow for assault weapons. NONE! And the bodies of men, women, and children give proof of that. How many more times are we going to gasp and cry? How many more times will we hear the questions raised by a weeping friend or relative, by a mother who holds her little child? How many more times will we hear the cries to the heavens of why, why?
     And the stink is overwhelming as one approaches Trump territories, as we now hear that he who shouts and rants about hiring Americans, he who shouts and raves about immigrants taking jobs, he who raves wildly that we are not giving Americans a chance - he has now gotten permits for 70!!!! foreign workers for his Mar a Lago hotel. Stinky, stinky.
     And we should expect the situation to be even worse than it is already as the reek of sexual molestation, of mass disrespect of women, of young boys, not just in Hollywood, but in so many other industries and fields, as all this is uncovered and why not, if we elected a sexual predator as president!! We stink! We in this country who did not prosecute and imprison, who did not impeach and convict. What does it take to finally do something? Will it have to be a signed contract with the Kremlin in order for us to recognize his traitorous deeds? Will it take  a young lady coming forward and claiming not only molestation but even rape? Or a large group of women? What does it take for us to finally stand up and howl NO MORE!!
     My nose is clogged with the reek of this nasty ever growing swamp, this morass of amoral and immoral individuals and their nasty acts, their oppression of the people of our country. I mourn the reek of a country deteriorating in its own juices of greed and indifference. Raise your nose to the air and see what you smell. It is disgusting and I am ashamed for us as we present all this to the younger generation.