HONESTLY!

          If ever a word has lost its meaning, its place in life, then this word in all its forms certainly can take first place. I believe that for too many people all around this country and the world, there is a distinct and distasteful opposition to the concept of honor,  of being honest and honesty itself. In fact, it appears to be that those who do engage with those terms are deemed simpletons, for why be honest when being dishonest seems to get you somewhere faster?
     Even the concept of honor among thieves, which is one of the silliest things I have ever heard, seems to have lost its effectiveness. I believe the adage of rats leaving the sinking ship is more apt today as we see the tenpins of Trump's alleged misdeeds, to put it mildly, going down as they try to save their own necks or minimize the punishments awaiting them.
     What is more, is that I have never seen, at least in my lifetime, the nastiness of the comments made by those leaving said sinking ship of state. Retired General McChrystal called Trump dishonest and immoral. An anonymous op-ed in the NYT wrote about a group of people trying to basically, rescue the President and the country, from himself and his oh so bad decisions! He has been called undisciplined (to put it mildly!), illiterate, uncontrolled and willing to do and having done illegal actions. Whew! And this is supposed to be the guide for all of America, what should be an admired figure of public life?
     And honestly, what the hell were the judges thinking when they decided that this Demented One's tweets are not governmental pronouncements and therefore documents that would either prove or disprove these tweet contents do not have to be released. With a man in the throes of dementia running his administration through his tweets, how could the judge say that?There is certainly something wrong with this ship of state indeed.
     And the effects or consequences of dishonesty continue apace. And it affects people on both sides of the aisle. People often base their votes on the words of the candidate, even if taken with a grain or a bushel of salt. But what does one do when the liar is totally avoiding the truth on a simple question of BDS - do you support it or not. Ilhan Omar replied very carefully to questions about Israel, had Jewish support and donations, and yet right after election, she openly comes out as a supporter of the BDS movement, an anti Israel, anti Jewish and anti Semitic action. Where is the honor in this woman? Nowhere to be seen, and worse, she confirms an opinion that Moslems are liars, never telling the truth and are inherently anti Israel and anti Semitic. Is this where we want to go? Is this what we wish to fill the seats of government? Honesty is demanded of both sides, honor being or  should be being the operative word here. Ilhan Omar should apologize or be immediately sidelined in the Democratic Party. Honor and honesty demand it. Honestly!
     Finally, for today, a glimpse of what dishonesty causes. We have a government in shutdown mode and a Demented One standing there with his infantile stage of development, or regression rather, threatening to keep his toys at home, trying to blame all on his opponents rather than accepting his own words of acceptance as he himself spoke them. A liar and a cheat and a most ill mannered man, but worse is the harm he is causing so many in the country. And far worse are the lies he has told and the facts as they are coming out. The economy is shuddering. Housing prices are going soft again. GM is laying off 14,000 workers, this in a nation where the President has promised jobs for all. Uh huh. And the greed this man has caused, the hatred this man has allowed to come out in the open....well, think about that.
     For the piece de resistance, look at the inner rot that has come to the surface. Now we have videos of big people pushing around little people. But these little people are not short people, but children, children who were ripped from parents, who do not understand the language, who are sick, tired, frightened, cold, hungry and shipped from pillar to post - and most of that done at night so as to avoid protests! The concepts of Night and Fog - Nacht und Nebel - from Nazi time comes right to the surface as well.
     How did we allow such people to be employed by agencies of the government or subcontracted agencies? When the Attorney General himself, Sessions, at the time, orders the separation and full speed ahead in this action, then we truly need to do a self examination, a thorough cleansing of our souls and hearts, if we can still find them. I am sickened by this behavior, sickened into the very depths of my soul.
     So where do we go from here, friends? Where do we go? How to decide? How to clean up the joint or allow it to fall down right around our ears? To be honest, to have honor, why, honestly, is that not the way to go and if difficult, well, nothing good comes easy, does it? And the harder we work at it, the easier it will become as there will be less trash to remove, fewer muddied situations to clean, and less  hate to separate us from one another. 
     Honestly, is there any other way we should go? Answer that honestly, with thought, with care, with humanity, with truth such as it is and not the twisted versions we have created. Honestly. Honor. Honest. So necessary and so scarce in the American government today and among too many of its people. Let us make a resolution tonite to thoroughly change that situation and do it honestly and with honor.
     

     

WATERSHIP DOWN

     Ever feel as if you are living inside a land filled with talking bunnies, enmeshed in uncomfortable situations? Well, that is the novel, but we are not bunnies, are we? We cannot rely on some author somewhere, somehow, at some time, coming up with the cure, the panacea, for all that is troubling us. Nope. But we can. We can if we put our heads together on the issues and realize once again that we are ONE country, one America, and we need to regain that identification rather than keep the political demarcations that have now come to define and separate us.
     First and foremost is the step we must take, to acknowledge where we have gone wrong. The constant echoing of political interference from foreign countries in our elections, the heart of our democracy, should send shivers down the spine. WE are what we wish to be, or at least should be, and not what the techies and malevolent planners of Russia or North Korea or China wish us to be. We are not to be recreated in their images nor in the images of dictators throughout the world. In fact, it is anathema to the mind to think that we could lose our democratic institutions, our rights, our very lives, if we do not wake up.
     It just about boggled my mind to hear the farewell addresses of Senators. Time after time they each addressed the need for unity, for repairing of the Senatorial environment, to fix what is wrong within our government. Yet for most of these people, particularly Republicans, what hypocrisy! So Flake mouthed off again, but when push came to shove he voted right down along the Party lines. He pulled himself out of the business by retiring, yet still blew the freedom he had to vote his conscience and instead voted his Party.
     Now, these same people are whining about Trump! Where the hell were they these past three years? How did they even allow such a person to get on the ticket, him and the dead eyes mama's boy, Pence? Why did they not speak out against his misdeeds, his ignorance, plead or beg for forgiveness for doing this to us and the world ? Why did they not admit his actual evil, that which pervaded his every word and deed? Why did they all suddenly become little chattering chickens with no moral backbone, no hint of any courage? Did he have something on all of them?
     Well, now the Democrats have the House, but in the long term of it - so what? The Senate will be free to keep stuffing the judiciary with unqualified dyed in the wool deep conservative judges who will ruin our country for decades to come. The House will have nothing to say about it.
      The House can come up with even brilliant legislation, try to rewrite the discarded protective laws, try to reinstall humanity in our immigration system, remind people that anyone who comes to our borders and requests asylum MUST be granted a hearing and not be told they are criminals or even worse, harboring those dangerous terrorists in training - the little kids!! 
     So the House will be progressive but where will the bills go when it hits the Senate with the Republican majority and even should there be a miracle and both Houses agree, ha! That demented and cold soul will veto every single one of these bills until he gets his way.
     Meanwhile, McConnell tries to play cutesy as he hides out in his home state and the Demented One now says that he is waiting for someone to come back to DC and make an agreement to restart the government. Bull…..! And then to make things even more frightening for the federal employees, most working joes just like the rest of us, are running out of money and he heaps insult on injury as he freezes their pay. So who benefitted from his "keeping the promise" to change the tax system? All his fatcats, all the crooked, the corrupt, the greedy that he brought into the smelliest swamp ever! At present he is just like his BFF Putin, he who rewards his loyal followers and then throws others under the bus if they threaten his control of the money streams of Russia.
     This government, this administration, stinks to the heavens. It pervades the very air of the country, and notice how almost none of the standard comedians talk political jokes as the situation is so edgy. They all say up front that they are not talking politics. That is awful, a shutdown of our freedom of speech as everyone has become afraid to speak up and out. It remains for the newsmen and the pundits, the late nite show hosts, to speak out. And in the meanwhile, we govern or are governed by an illiterate person who takes his guidelines from Fox News.
     Watership down? United States down? Think about it, folks. Where will we be in two years. This demented thing masquerading as a thinking and caring person plans to run again and I wonder if we will finally demand a full health examination and evaluation. Probably not if we continue on this path. Will we even survive as a true democracy if this man remains in office for the next two years? Can we survive if the two Houses of Congress are at odds with each other, as strongly and definitively as the sides of the Civil War.
     And what will take the place of the vacuum in our country and the world? China? Russia? North Korea? A union of dictators from around the world? An invasion by the countries of South and Central America, plagued by economic shutdown and starving people amid rampant violence? Oh, the scenarios are many are they not, but none are inviting. So let us get back on track beginning now, right now. Demand, demand, demand that your DC representatives do the right thing and return to being American citizens once more. Have the courage of so many in the world who are fighting the extremist and hate filled trends. Make your children and grandchildren proud of you as we rebuild the country. If not...………...

REGRESSION

     Where has all the humanity gone? Where have ideals gone? What has happened to the lessons we were taught as kids - don't lie, fess up to misdeeds, tell the truth, be kind, be helpful, think of others who need help and help them. Where have all these lessons gone?
     These days it seems that while the people of this country remember most of them, the government has decided to purposely ignore them. Trump and his minions have set poor examples for the kids of America to follow. They are told to behave, to forgo tantrums, even as they see their President do the opposite. This is bad, folks, for kids are always on the alert for parental and adult hypocrisy and when found, they rebel. The hippie movement that moved beyond into violence and the dropping out from society came about in good part because of the younger generation's perception of the lies of the adults- and here we are again.
     Interestingly enough, what we have now is the unity of the younger generation, those caught up in the violence of mass shootings and attempts to do so and the older generation, we who rebelled before in our youth and who have come to see that nope, the time to rest is not yet here. The sandwich generation seems to hold back, perhaps immersed in the struggle of life. But for how long can one remain in a self inflicted state of blindness?
     Immigrants cause trouble. They are criminals. They bring in drugs. They want to overwhelm the country and join up with MS-13. And the lies just keep a-comin'. So, a few truths. Most of the illegal immigrants have been living here for more than a decade, playing their part in the economy. They have mostly come with legal visas and then overstayed. The actual numbers of those illegally crossing the border has dropped. The caravans are not invasions, but self created safety protection, safer in a group than alone. The rules for asking for asylum have been changed midstream, much to the detriment of the applicants and much to the joy of the haters. So now, the new technique to avoid killing those mature terrorists of 7 and 8. Just mass release huge groups of migrants, no shelter available, no medical care available, no food, no water, no directions, just go! And the anticipation is that there will be trouble and oh dear lord, but they will look at us and say I told you so. Really? Perfect setup and so against our laws and our principles.
     There was a huge report, in fact a whole section, of the NYT, detailing the catastrophe we have unleashed with the rollback of regulatory and environmental legislation. We already know, too, that the shredding of the social safety net has brought about much harm, with people right here in America going hungry and that includes children!
    And worst of all is that we have an insane man as President, though I never can accept him as such what with the messing around of the campaign. This demented man never thinks, only pouts and reacts and takes his guidance from Fox News. Well, what now, when Fox criticized his ridiculous trip to Iraq and the pronouncement that we have won the war against ISIS. Tell that to the people still dying from them! And now he has joined the rest of the presidents who prematurely announced a defeat of the enemy.
     He has outed the very faces of Navy Seals, the moron, a major taboo and very dangerous action. He has deserted yet another of our allies, the Kurds, and left them open to slaughter from and by Turkey led by that model of propriety, Erdogan! He has thrown Israel under the bus at the northern border. He has alienated almost the entire free world other than the dictators growing in power across the globe. And the Russians, why they just love him as he does their bidding, and now we have Putin, the BFF, boasting about a super sonic speed missile. Oh yeah, great tidings.
     The economy throws fits everyday. The tax cut has proven to be disastrous for us as the corporations benefitted and are now able to buy back their stock, all the better to cut out the annoying voice of stockholders demanding transparency. The money that was supposed to come flooding back from offshore accounts never came and nor did the raises or bonuses or more hiring and people were actually laid off and plants and companies closed. Here and there were exceptions, but not enough and the national debt increased by 1.9 trillion dollars!!!!! Great job!
     So the grammatically challenged man who thinks to govern by tweets and TV, who cares naught for sense and intelligence, who perverted the goals and aims of the Justice Department, who is an incipient dictator, now faces the possibility of impeachment, a demand that grows from the nation as we speak, and possibly even jailtime right alongside his scurvy crew already there or on the way.
     So regression indeed is what we have undergone and the only light we have to shine on it is the free press, the free media, the voices of the people. We have the courage of the protesters and yes, there are some not so good people even among them, but the overwhelming power of voices is coming from good and  caring people who cannot tolerate the abuses and indignities of this administration.
     So let us resolve to go forward this New Year. To make progress rather than to allow for more regression. We need to return to the power of good thinking, of understanding that there are differences among people and they have to be addressed. There are LGBTQ people whose needs cannot be ignored or legislated away. There are hatemongers out there who need to be confronted, and the voices of ALL must join together and not fall prey to internal prejudices. Women must be treated as equals in society and not as playthings for men. And we must resurrect our social safety net, restore environmental and labor legislation and mend the rips in the fabric of long term alliances. We need, in short, to become what we were, what we stood for, and not for this fake 'great' hoax that Trump and his minions are trying to impose on us.
     Regression? NO, most definitely NO! Progress and a return to sanity - oh yes! We must. It is as simple as that. And as difficult as that.

SO WHAT'S NEW?

     Nothing. That is the answer. We are still in a shutdown, the President continues to hallucinate communications from federal workers who rabidly support him for the wall and happily work without pay. Uh huh. Like a child, he thinks he pulled one over on everyone with his 'surprise" trip to a war zone but it was actually telegraphed in so many ways. He can't even pull that off!
      And speaking about his trip- let's take a look at it. He knew damn well he was going, long planned, so what was this whining that he was "all alone" and he was waiting so impatiently for Melania to join him? What a crock! And what about the trip, Bonespur? Please note that the vast majority of pics are showing him surrounded by our young men and women so he is never alone and never or hardly ever seen outside, only inside buildings, and anyone with nefarious plans would have had to go through a humongous crowd. Old Bonespur made sure that he would remain safe from any physical harm and never mind the danger to his buffers! He whines that "you should have seen what we went through in the darkened plane." Really? Truly, is he going to whine about being in the luxurious Air Force One? Maybe he should go in commercial coach flight next time!
     In the end year assessments, Trump comes out as a real piece of work. We hear no more talk of 'becoming presidential' or of growing expertise or more mature behavior. We have the over 7,000 lies and growing that he has told with brazen indifference to the idea of truth and transparency. He is a President who would be dictator, the essential ruler of a country whose demands are rubberstamped by a captive Congress and Judiciary. Worst of all is the division he has caused in this country and actually, even into the world at large. He has legitimized hatred and excess as American policy, domestic and foreign and shows no regret from the harm he has caused others even as he continues to defy science and its information re climate change and environmental problems that have arisen and will continue to accelerate.
     With all his garbage behavior, with his lies, with his insanity, with his tantrums and infantile behavior, what sticks most in my craw is his war on children and the helpless. He denigrates all who do not look like him or do not have his money, funds that he received ALL his life from his father who snatched him from the brink of ruin many a time, contrary to his lies.
     He continues to shame women and crow about past behavior with them. He spits on the American basic principle of welcoming immigrants. He calls them all sorts of names and accuses them of so many crimes including terrorism. Isn't it great that we have so recently brought about the death of two 'terrorists, seven and eight, so breathe freely, America! And we continue to lock up teen migrants between 13 to 17 in highly guarded tent cities, overgrown and crowded and there are over 2,000 alone in the tent city in the desert.
     What the hell is new this year? Nothing! His backers seem to end up in jail or court, the latest being the hatemonger with the "deportation bus" who is now in jail for insurance fraud. Perhaps we need to ship him out of the country!!
     Our only hope is that Congress, the new House, can and will do what they must and very carefully. We can only hope and pray that the Republicans come back to their senses,find a moral spine and the remnants of courage that remain somewhere buried inside. We can work hard to push back the threatening growth of clouds of prejudice and hatred that are growing apace. 
    In fact, there is more of the old than the new in this upcoming year. We have made amazing progress as a nation before, and we must return to that proud heritage. We must come back to our senses. That would be a great new New Year! And by the way, for the Grinch out there who tweeted crap at Meghan McCain for her wishing her father a Merry Christmas wherever he is, go to hell, you idiot. There are so many of us who miss our parents and talk to them or send messages from the heart, many unvoiced, but there all the same so grow up, Grinch! Actually, we all need to grow up this coming year, do we not?
     

WELL, AREN'T WE PROUD

      Oh, we can brag about so much this year. What? Okay, first that we have survived the worst president ever! On this note, please take notice that much of media now refers to Trump as Mr. Trump and not the title of his position. Humph! I understand that and why, but it does not really solve anything, does it?
     Okay, what else? Aha! We have made progress of a sort, but what progress, you ask? Well, we have gone up in our display of might and strength to the migrant community as we strung concertina wire, all the better to entangle people, put out contracts for walls and slats and bollards, wasted our military on this garbage, and ramped up pressure on the most dangerous of the migrants - the children.
      We have achieved the scarring for life of so many as they will never fully recover from the trauma of forceful separation from  parents and families and then their mistreatment, being placed in  cages, in freezing former big boxes, in being lost or 'misplaced", in being shipped around the country in the middle of the night and finally, the peak of 'powerful' treatment and that will show them, won't it? We just allow their kids to die. Period. And then we make excuses for it. Oh yes, be proud, America, the former land of immigrants. It truly boggles my mind that there is a surge of people seeking information of their ancestors, where they came from, how they got here, and when, but despise the current crop of immigrants, calling them names, denigrating them as the worst of the worst of humanity and condoning force and its consequences. We can take such pride! Oh yes.
     Then, of course, we have a President who thinks he is above the law but while he is deluded and demented, it strains the credibility of so many others who still refuse to admit they were wrong and he is so bad for us, for the country, for the world. The diaper balloon of him was perfect for that is the stage that he remains, convinced that the world revolves around him and that it is okay to lie. But his infantile actions and beliefs are practiced in an adult world and the consequences are grave.
    He is the biggest threat to our country ever. He is an existential threat, pushing our democracy to the brink, convinced that the president has powers above the law and can contravene and contradict all tradition, law and Constitutional rules. He has suborned the judiciary to a growing degree and has two more years to sow and then reap for decades, more chaos, more inhumanity, more regression, and then, of course, we have the economy.
     Oh yes, the economy, that which Trump boasted about time and again even as he took to shredding it, with threats and shouts and tariff wars and now we hear no boasts about other big numbers, but these numbers are the ones taking us down, taking value out of our economy, national and personal. We now are teetering on the brink of a worldwide Great Recession or even worse, and the blowhard just sits there and feels sorry for himself and looks for people to assume the blame.
     His answer to the issue of the funding of the wall? He will take the "shutdown money" and combine it with the funding that he will demand and presumably thinks he will get from the incoming Democratic House, and pay off the contract that he supposedly just awarded! Uh, several problems here. One, he cannot hand out contracts for that is the purview of Congress. There is also no "shutdown money" for too bad the idiot does not realize nor understand that this money will need to be returned to the furloughed and working without pay federal employees. What a moron! And aren't we proud that we elected him?
     But there are truly things that we can be proud of and take hope from. The seven year old just ignored him, was polite on the phone, and then left cookies  for Santa who ate them during the night as he left presents. So The Grinch struck out. 
     We can be proud that here in America we still have children who appreciate their parents and when enabled by their talents and the sacrifices of parents to help that talent, they pay off their parents' debts. We can be proud of the two people who have worked out a plan to pay off medical debt for so many and kudos to them! We can be proud of the protesters who persist in the fight, who have laid plans that stretch all the way to the 2020 campaign, determined to rid ourselves of this Grinch.
     But there is much to work on. When LeBron James can say, "We been getting that Jewish money. Everything is kosher." and then pleaded innocence, ignorance, of the fact that this is blatantly anti Semitic, vicious, and repeated much to the detriment of the Jewish people throughout history, then there is something very wrong here and this very wrong streak of anti Semitism has been growing apace, even unto the massacre a la pogroms and Europe but right here in Pittsburgh, right in my child's neighborhood.
     And worse than that is the growing danger. Jews, their people, their young, their rabbinical and religious leaders, were in the forefront of the marchers during the war for civil rights. They were on the Freedom Riders buses, two young Jewish men were killed along with a young black man, for daring to demand equal rights and yet this history has been wiped out.
    The African American woman who pushed out Jewish women from the committee for the Women's March, who teamed up with anti Semitic poor examples from the Muslim community, well, they have forgotten history. They have forgotten that hatred extends both ways,. They have forgotten much and to go back in time to dredge up the fact that there were some, very few, Jewish slaveholders, well, shall we then add in the act that there were African American slaveholders in the South as well and that the people who raided the villages of Africa and then sold the captives to slaverunners were also African American.
    But today we are to work together, to insure, that this attitude dies out. To put the term "Jewish money" out there in a pejorative manner is to allow the same thing should we say that "Oh, the Negro has rhythm". There are things that we must unlearn and things that we must relearn and learn anew and for the first time. There is no place for hatred here among those fighting discrimination of all types. To engage in this baseless hatred and nastiness is to give a win to the haters and to cause cracks in the unity of the protesters. A major no-no.
     Well, aren't we proud? Yes and no, but the direction for the future is up to us. Let us unite, act as one, with amity and trust and friendship between all, no matter the religion, the color, the ethnicity or whatever. Pipe dream? Maybe, but a good one to aim for.

THE GRINCH IS ALIVE AND WELL

     Apparently, there are people who are not worried about messing around with the joys and holidays of others. Nor are they worried about the impact of their misdeeds and crude remarks on others so they just keep shooting their mouths off.
     Guess who the chief Grinch is? Oh, yeah, got it in one, didn't you? This guy needs to be number one in whatever he does, does he not! Okay, so let us count the ways he fulfills his role or better yet, what he has gifted us for the twelve days of Christmas.
     1. He has appointed a proponent of the Space Battalion to the post of Secretary of Defense, so pay attention, folks, to the skies, for one never knows now what we will be paying for! Alien alert!!
     2. In conjunction with Day One, we now have combat troops collecting Ids, rolling out concertina wars, playing cards in the deserts of the borders instead of going home for the holidays. Medical companies are building aid stations in the southwest instead of preparing for their deployment. And perhaps that is a good thing as ….
     3. We appear, or rather he appears to think that  it is okay to be dropping a group of over 200 migrants at a small bus terminal in El Paso, so small that many had to stand outside in the cold. Did Greyhound know about this? Nope, for why bother telling them as these are only migrants, you know, the thieves and rapists and terrorists that threaten us all, especially the ones disguised as kids!! Thanks to the grinchless police department, four buses were rolled in later to keep them warm and indoor beds were found for them.
     4. The Grinch is oh so cold and lonely so please remember to feel sorry for him - not! He tweeted, amongst the storm of nasty tweets over Sunday and Monday, that he is "all alone. "I am all alone (poor me)…" Dang it, just think about it. The poor man is all alone with his staff in the home of the nation and all because of his own grinchiness and greed and nasty self. No pity here!
And besides, Melania returned from Florida.
    5. The increased threat of war, all out nuclear war, coming out of Russia, you know, the land of the Grinch's BFF - or is that North Korea or Saudi Arabia - whom he made sure to praise as going to clean up Syria because we are leaving! Or perhaps it is Duterte or the leader of Myanmar who truly can show him a thing or two about expelling citizens and inhabitants, can she not?
     6. The economy, whose recovery was well in place off to a great start during the Obama years now has tanked. Totally. We are being warned about not just an American Wall Street bear market, but a global one. And it is the fault of everyone except for the Grinch who actually started the whole thing with his ridiculous tariff wars and other poor and destructive economic policies.
     7.  Ruined Christmas for millions of people as his nasty insistence on his ugly wall - and the ugly meaning and cause and purpose of it - has shutdown the government and  he owns it! He surely does. So for all those federal workers who planned to spend money on gifts or gatherings - sorry, better conserve that money. No telling how long this will be. And for you disappointed kids, well, look to the Grinch in the White House.
     8. By the way, if you planned to go to National Parks, be on your guard. The Rangers and employees will not be there. Happy Holidays!! Just no happy trails, I guess.
     9.  The growth of nastiness even as truths are acknowledged. Even his oh so grateful Russian friends have poked fun at him and his conceits in a satiric video which portrays the various gold and gilded presents he receives from his "best" friends. This one has gotta' hurt him.
     10.  The outpouring of nastiness, of prejudice, of the okay, it is alright to be a neo Nazi or a right wing or left wing extremist and indulge your hates and prejudices. It is okay to shoot up churches and synagogues, malls and schools, particularly if you aim at the right people! This is the gift that keeps on giving, Mr. Grinch, and for that - well, you know the saying - "What goes around, comes around." Or "Payback's a bitch." Feeling the heat and the hate already as you sit there alone, poor you? Get out your shorts, for the heat of the hatred you unleashed is setting the world on fire and the trail leads right back to you.
     11. You have brought all the nuts out of the woodwork, so special! The latest creep is Kevin Spacey whose video "Let Me Be Frank" is truly beyond words as he threatens a comeback and I am sure gave such a warm feeling inside to the numerous men he has allegedly molested. Yuck!!
     12.  You had to do it, right? You had to go and spoil it all for the poor kid at the oh so grownup age of seven. You had to be the Grinch in all your glory. And after all, what could a kid say back to you, you overgrown meanie? Your parting shot to ruin as many Christmases as you can. 
     “Are you still a believer in Santa?” the president could be heard asking the child over the phone. “Because at 7, it’s marginal, right?” Trump then chuckled before concluding the call with the child. “You just go enjoy yourself,” he said into the receiver.
     You are such a Grinch - in every which way. Lucky there are not more days of Christmas for who knows what else you might have "gifted" us?

AND SO IT GOES

     But where does it go? Anyone ever had an answer to that or a specific destination or direction? Well, I think that we have discovered the answer to that - we are going to hell in a handbasket. No! Stop the press! Change the verb tense. We are not going, but already have gone. And folks, like it or not, we are there because of one thing, and one thing only. All else is subordinate to the major cause and that is the man, or what purports to be a man, sitting not in the Oval Office, but in his hidey hole in the residence, obsessively watching TV, pushing the start of the day off to midday while the country goes to wrack and ruin.
    Yesterday we had the wonderful experience of watching an excellent performance, as usual, at the Broward Center. Hamilton was as good as we have been led to believe. I was a tad leery at first since it spoke in rap manner for much of the play, but it was great. It was a genius who took an obscure and misunderstood or little understood period of time in the formatting of our nation, a period of time which put many students to sleep. Well, now the names of Hamilton and Burr and others  and a basic representation of the issues and the manner in which compromise (gasp) allowed political enemies to work together and even admit when they were wrong, is all out there. (Gasp again).
     What a quaint idea. Don't you think so? Washington warned the nation and its founders that partisanship was not the way to go. He was so right and he must be gnashing his wooden teeth while looking down and seeing what a mess we have allowed the country, the nation, to become.
     Most interesting, of course, was the fact that so many of those fighting for the nation, through revolution and troubled first years were (gasp yet again) immigrants. Say that word in a whisper lest Trump dig their bodies up and deport them from whence they came! And yes, for those of you with the stick up...well.. anyway, who think that immigration rights should have stopped with your family's ancestors entry into the country, had better think again and had better learn to check out the words and statements re this issue from that pursed up sour mouth of the orange man.
     But this is not enough for that creature and his minions, the slavering hyenas of the hate everything party. Nope. Now we are going for denaturalization. Taking away the citizenship of naturalized citizens and never mind who or what is caught in the tsunami of disaster, of shredded families, of destruction of lives built over decades of contributing citizenship, of taxpayers. Nope, never mind that for off they must go! So says the would be king! And so he sends forth his troops to seek out these "enemies", and they crash into courthouses, skulk around the entrances of churches and synagogues, wait for the drop-offs at school, or catch their prey at supermarkets or riding the Greyhound bus. So much so that Greyhound has published a rights protocol for its passengers. What a world!
     Be afraid, people. Be very much afraid, for this does not stop anywhere. Nope, for hatred, anger, injustice, all know no boundaries and the words of the pledge, with "truth and justice for all" are drowning in this sea of lies and injustice. I have much admiration for this country, but cannot take pride in it right now, not the way it is nor the road it is upon nor the direction it is taking. When a tantrum prone individual who is most apparently demented serves as President and we are told that his behavior needs or calls for a "daycare staff alert", well, "There's trouble right here, right here in River City " - by any other name!
     And so it goes? But where and for how long? We now have a total governmental apparatus of biased, ignorant, incompetent, inexperienced, venal, greedy, selfish, corrupted individuals for the most part, led by the worst of the lot, one who is not even in the right state of mind! The lies abound and let me fix one lie right now. Reagan did not call for a wall nor to stop immigration. Here is what he did say: “Rather than talking about putting up a fence, why don’t we work out some recognition of our mutual problems? Make it possible for them to come here legally with a work permit, and they, while they’re working and earning here, they’d pay taxes here. And when they want to go back, they can go back. They can cross. Open borders both ways,” he said in 1980.
     So when a woman is in the throes of being forced to return to a country after decades here, a citizen

of our country, one who said that when she took the oath she knew, she felt that "I became an American. I am an American." No more and by the way, remember - no one is safe out there at this rate. No one.

     So as we all celebrate at this time of the year, Chanukah, Christmas, Kwanza or any other holiday and of course the ringing in of the New Year, let us all pray for a better one, a more secure one, a fairer one, a more united one, where truth and justice indeed reign, where we can point to our public servants with pride, with hope and with trust. Kinda' a pipe dream, I think, but there is always hope, though it does grow dimmer at times, does it not?

     Happy Holidays, folks. Enjoy the family but remember there are other families out there living in desperation. Our folks came here for the same reasons - a better life, a better future for their kids, for asylum from violence and hatred, for economic impossibilities in the old country, to join with others of their families who came before and were able to send for them -hey, like Melania did with her parents (cough, cough). Think she knew somebody who could cut the line for them with a positive result? Today's immigrants are the same as yesterday's, just maybe a tad darker of skin, or poorer, or shorter, or maybe not. The point is , it does not matter and calling all who want in on the best of humanity rotten names such as terrorist or druggie or rapist or whatever twisted minds gin up, does not change the truth, does not change our heritage - a nation of immigrants, built by immigrants, and in need of more immigrants for the future. Amen.

C'MON, GIVE IT UP ALREADY!

     Everyone knows the term and substance of "diminishing returns". It is then that the actions that led to that point must be evaluated, changed, revised or permanently deleted. It is simple and obvious, making sense, but what is happening today, this year, last year and for the following two years denies that reality.
     Here is an interesting statement I came across yesterday. "...(he) comes across as a petty, manipulative, breathtakingly narcissistic pathological liar, and paranoid to the point of being mentally unbalanced." This same person is also said to have had fervid but unfounded ideas about conspiracies and enemies. Who? Sounds like someone we all know and do not love, right? But it is Prinny, the Regent for his gone mad father, George III. His advisers were the ones who kept some sort of balance. Sound familiar?There are mad rulers and always have been but there are ways and means to deal with them, although it appears to be an almost currently impossible task for us here in the USA.
     Behaviorally, in a physical sense, our madman ruler exhibits all signs of a person gone mad, descending into the deeper levels of dementia. His weird faces, his constant use of threats, verbal, on Twitter, and with ridiculous and ugly posturing with arms gathered tightly to his chest as he clamps his mouth tightly shut or opens it in an ugly moue. He glues himself to the TV for guidance in his policies, often phrasing them moments after hearing them on one of his favorite shows, using the same language and wording.
     He changes his mind even more often and quicker than a three year old overcome by the choices in a candy shop. But this man is not three, is he? This man is supposed to be a leader, a champion of the free world, and yet Putin, dictator of our foe, praises him for his foreign policies and Russian columnists are praising Trump's policies as they are so good for them!! Seriously?!!!
     A man regarded as one without an ethical framework or guidelines. A man seen as inducing and living and creating chaos, much to the detriment of us and the world in general. Secret court hearings as a foreign company refuses to answer a subpoena. The stink of corruption, of yes, even high crimes, his deference towards and affinity for dictators, his insistence that he has almost complete powers to do whatever the hell he wants and never mind the laws of our government, the balance of powers set up by the Constitution and over two hundred years of nationhood, a megalomaniac hallucination, an infantile focus on grandstanding ideas, fireworks over Mt. Rushmore, or cavalcades rushing down closed streets, or a ridiculous and expensive military parade - what the hell!!!!!!!
     And as for those who say he is good for the economy, well, take a look at your balances and at the predictions, and our entry into a bear market. Where will we be in two years? Selling apples on the street? Hoboes on the trains? More American families going hungry, children starving, all because we have a demented and dangerous person in the Oval Office, a sociopath with no feelings or understanding of others and only an oversized ego to work with?
     And as for those of you misguided people who think he is "good" for Israel - well, no he ain't!! Never has been and never will be and it is the demands of the second or the minute as he views the world from distorted lenses and  a distorted mind that determine his statements and policies that affect Israel. Suddenly pulling out our troops from Syria, leaving the northern border of Israel in grave danger, and the terrorist Hezbollah right in line to get continuous resupplies of arms and ammunition from their patrons - Iran and Russia - well if you think that is good for Israel then dearies, you are not good for Israel! You join him in throwing Israel under the bus!
    C'mon! Time to give it up. You supported the wrong horse. That wrong horse is in office and destroying us. He is a liar. A cheat. And as for the adage that a person is know by the company he keeps, well.....he is "surrounded by people who have lied to authorities, cheated on their taxes, skirted campaign finance laws, and secretly worked for foreign interests." People have been found guilty, imprisoned and/or fined, proven to be incompetent, greedy and plain old thieves. And his foreign policies are a disaster.
     So give it up. We will take you back into sane society as soon as you come to your senses. We won't even say "told ya' so" for the results have been too horrific, too tragic to take any joy in the return to sanity. We all have too much work to do if we are to restore order, proper order, in the world, in our country and on our planet.
        Okay - one I told ya' so - can't help it!. Sorry.

CHICKENS, MULES, FOXES AND ELEPHANTS

      It seems we are developing a huge menagerie of sorts right here in our nation's capital. Led by an alleged sociopath whose tortured attempts to smile reveal his lack of empathy or sympathy or understanding of the emotions of normal people, we are running the gamut of animal games.
     Every day we play the game of chicken as the large elephant in the room stomps around, insisting on his way or threatening to take his marbles and go home. Never mind the harm that this step would bring upon constituents, for power is the name of the game and the ultimate aim. 
     The mules in the room, the asses and the mules who follow this elephant, go along with all the stomping and stamping of this elephant due to the fright he induces in them, needlessly so. They are sterile mules, finding it impossible to create anything on and of their own, only following the demented elephant at the head of the circus train.
     But we are not done here with our zoo. In this zoo we have foxes and hens and don't those foxes love to get into the henhouse and they sure do. And then they play games of chicken with all the occupants of the coop, and if one chicken or another seems to be overcoming the foxes, why GULP!, there he goes, right down the gullets of the foxes and much to the amusement of the elephants and mules.
     And so our own version of Animal Farm has turned rotten, just as it did in the novel by Orwell.
We have allowed the loudest and the most stubborn and incompetent animals of the farm to take over. We increase the scope of the 'game' by playing chicken with the rest of the world, with the very planet itself, as we allow it to go to rack and ruin. Never mind the consequences is the motto. Susan Collins, whose vote enabled the alleged sexual pervert Kavanaugh to attain a seat on the Supreme Court says she does what she thinks is right and never mind the consequences. Well, maybe she needs a new definition of what is right and the importance of consequences. But this will never happen on this Farm or with the conglomeration of these particular animals.
     Yet another Secretary bites the dust, finding it even too much for him Another aide is asked to leave. No one but other demented extremists want these constantly opening job positions, and in the meanwhile, the country and the world spin in ever tightening circles in the eddy of incompetence, corruption, ineptness, and sheer nastiness.
      Perhaps it is time to get rid of these particular animals. Vote them out, encircle them and diminish their power, obtain information which should rightly have been obtainable before, open it to the public and for heaven's sake, let the crumbs fall where they may and prosecute each and every violator of the law. No one is above the law. Indicted criminals should not be allowed to run. Perverts should not be allowed to run. Madmen should be screened out and a must of an open and impartial examination of the mental and physical health of an incoming President or even the candidates should be mandatory.
     It is said that we reap what we sow. We have sown many seeds and reaped crops of troubles, of woes, of dissension and possibly even war, open and nuclear, should Putin and Trump go at each other, threaten more, as their alleged unholy alliance during the campaign goes sour. We need new farmers, a new Farmer Grey - remember the cartoon - and we need it now, but we must make sure that the replacement farmer understands the responsibilities of the office, its demands and the ultimate consumer of all the policies of these farm animals-us, the citizens, the residents of this country. And the world.
And in the meanwhile, till this happens, if it happens, may the good Lord watch over us with benign eyes and a caring heart.

ECHO ECHO ECHO....DO YOU HEAR IT?

     Are you having feelings of deja vu? Are these feelings coming more often? Are you sure you have heard those words, seen that behavior before? Are you worried? Yes? No? If yes, join the rest of us and if not, perhaps you need to read some more, listen to the news some more, peruse some history books a bit more. The echoes of the past are growing louder and louder, drowning out the hope for the future.
     Humanity has been warned before. Time and again we have been told that if we do not study history we will be doomed to repeat it, with all its blood and gore. But somehow these words have fallen on mostly deaf ears and that is obvious in a quick scan of the world today.
     Hatred is growing  apace, one of the most successful crops of the year. Freedom, political, religious, whatever, is fading away as we speak, as the gains of the fall of the Soviet Union, the Spring in Eastern Europe, all fade into a cold and harsh Fall and we are left wondering what the Winter will bring.
     Corbyn, a hate filled anti Semitic nasty person calls May a "stupid woman". Perhaps mild seeming, but in England, a bastion of the polite and the understatement? Uh uh. Things are coming unglued there quickly and the forces on the rise are not friendly. France is burning and the cobblestones are on flight again. Hungary, Poland, Russia, Philippines, and so many more, are reverting to extreme right wing memes and tropes, leaving the gains behind. 
     And here, in our homeland, well, we have a lunatic for a president. We have moral cowards as members of Congress, people now beginning to realize that no, Trump is not the man they have made him out to be, and no, he will not keep his promises - thank the Lord on that! - and he reneges whenever it suits him.  He is not "smocking" hot!
     Just as he huddles in a sulking heap in his living quarters, he wishes to turn our country into a replica of that. Shut down the borders and bring in no new ideas, no fresh blood. Cut off contact with other countries. Go it alone, no matter how harmful it is. Trash the economy, so badly, that we are now looking at another Great Recession, and I, for one, believe we are in it already. Just check your brokerage and retirement accounts and their balances.
     And yet, there are branches and sprigs of hope out there. Two little girls were excited beyond words when they met their hero, Michelle Obama. These are hopefully two little people who will grow up into big people  who will change the world for the better. We have those determined people who will fight tooth and nail to right the country, the world and they are out there still, not lessening after the election but actively planning the next campaign and the years in between. There are people who will fight the rise of the movement to deny voting rights to so many and how shameful is that, that we have to do this all over again!!
     Have we learned nothing from history? Have we not learned that we need to be strong and wise, decent and compassionate, open to the world, yet closed to hatred and treason, greed and corruption. It just seems that every time we make or take a step forward, we slide back two, at least in today's world and we are hanging over a bottomless abyss of hatred, greed, stupidity and existential threat as the world devolves around us, literally, in physical disarray, the result of us  and the rest of the world, mistreating our environment.
    Listen to the echoes of the past. Hear them, before we become a truly dying and hopeless planet, left for future planetary explorers who will wonder what happened. Wonder if they will pick out the reign of Trump as the last straw? Ya' think!
     Hear the words of Maya Angelou and think about them in the context of current history.
        "History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again."

IT IS JUST WRONG

     It is common knowledge that if one does wrong, if one errs, there are consequences. Sometimes, one can evade those consequences, but most times the lies, the evasions, the misdeeds are uncovered, exposed to the harsh glare of daylight, so to speak, and the scales are balanced. But in today's dirty world of politics it seems that anything goes and when one is caught with pants down, the go to technique is to deny, to lie and to lie again and add accusations about the accusers.
     This is not new, but what is new is the extent to which this is happening and the arrogant attitude of the wrongdoers. And the worst thing about it is that at least some of the current rank of miscreants have gotten themselves into positions which have put them beyond the power of the law. Or so they believe. So, a series of 'serious' complaints against Kavanaugh concerning his lying under oath is dismissed because in the meanwhile he has been confirmed to the Supreme Court! That was another travesty of this administration and the spineless and the morally corrupt Republicans in the Senate, but understand this. We now have an alleged second sexual pervert on the Court bench - for life - and the crime of lying under oath goes unpunished as the liar is rewarded with a seat on the highest court of the land. And this is who will judge the ultimate right and wrong of the laws of the country? Who will set a tone for decades? Seems just a tad unbalanced, you think, that a liar should pass judgement on others, and who can rely on his honesty in these situations?
     But the biggest miscreant is the orange man sitting at the head of government in the Oval Office, or more likely, in his living room watching Fox News and thus formulating his domestic and foreign policies! His Trump Foundation, and what a farce that was, a bank for his personal and political needs even as he claimed it as a charity, must be dissolved under supervision, so much are the trustees - the man and his children - Ivanka, Eric and Junior - distrusted by the court!! And the case will continue as the New York AG continues to use the power of the law for the purpose it was created - to punish the criminals and keep society safe, with truth at the fore.
     The President and his lawyers are falling ever deeper into the quicksand of their own doing and misdeeds. Their lies have been rising to the top even as scum rises. The indignation of the farce of their denials is sickening and yet the mountain of proof continues to grow. And yet - there is something very wrong here. The President and his ever so incompetent lawyers are maintaining the last leg of their defense. The President is above the law by virtue of his office. 
     So here is the crux of the just wrong of this piece. Since when is anyone in this country above the law? We have tried to settle that attitude for a long, long time and have made great progress with more needed, yet here we are. Again. It is encouragement to criminals to seek ever higher office so as to increase their teflon powers against the accusations of the law. 
     King George III and his parliament thought they, too, were above the law when they imposed certain taxes and rules on the American colonists. After a long period of unease and war, they were taught different and America rose with that as part of her basis of foundation. No one is above the law. Not the wealthy. Not the powerful. Not the politicos. So why are we back here again after having made a long and hard slog to get where we are now? It is just wrong! So wrong.
     Let us show all that we here in the United States recognize right from wrong and know when and how and where to apply the power of the law and no one is exempt. No one. There are procedures in place to be followed, procedures that cover all contingencies. Let us apply them as they need to be applied, as the Lady of Justice wishes to keep her scales balanced. Otherwise, well - go read the title again.

THE FACT OF THE MATTER IS.....

     The fact of the matter is that this has been the most dangerous year for America ever. Yes, war years were awful for soldiers, for civilians, but this year was an existential threat to the very lifeblood, the very corporeal body of America. It threatens to destroy the democracy known as the United States of America, particularly as the "United" part has been dragged through the mud of lies and corruption, greed and selfishness, and split the country into tribal confrontations.
     It seems that now we are no longer Americans first and foremost. Nope, for now we are Republicans or Progressives or Democrats or any other political designation and the first step is to deny the humanity and the possibilities of truth being found in another tribe. There is no longer discussion, but rather threats. There is no longer bilateralism, but partisanship, a vicious one at that, too. We have forgotten how to be people first and foremost and have almost become gladiators in a vicious and life of the country threat.
     We find out that there is a program "Quiet Skies" which watched innocent travelers, and kept dossiers on them. Stasi, anyone? KGB, anyone? A return to the thinking of the mid 20th century where dossiers were kept on so many? Observe, sure, but records and files on plain old Americans who happen to be taking a flight to their grandchildren and happen to go to the bathroom twice? What were they doing in there? Think about it! Had we no better ideas how to keep our skies and our people safe?
     But the biggest threat to us is the President. Asked about their fears for America, CEOs, 134 of them, stated that the first worry was Trump himself. He has impacted, negatively, on business, intruded upon justice and business, wrought great damage with his dangerous tariff wars. These are people that Trump would like to believe are part of his base - but danger lurks ahead for you, Donald. You are losing them. 
     Over 6,000 lies and counting. The biggest turnover in the shortest amount of time in the administration. Insults flying out of control. And here is one - I have been warning about the possibility of civil war, Trump, the dangerous fool, has just about called upon his supporters to 'revolt' should he lose in 2020, and yesterday, an ordinary person, in a random and casual conversation stated to me that she hates the news, hates the violence and the anger and feels that if nothing is done and the situation escalates, there will be civil war. She said it, not me. Frightening.
     We find that the Russians have been sleeping in the same bedroom, if not the same bed, with Trump and his minions, continuing even into the administration as they targeted Mueller and tried to pull Trump's nuts out of the fire. Since when have we ceded our country to the Russians? Is the Trump Moscow Hotel so important to us, to the Republican Party, that they would all become Manchurian candidates? What the hell!
     We are mistreating immigrants or migrants, forcing them into dangerous situations and then blaming them for it. We are ripping holes in the social safety net of our citizens. We have lost sight of the basis of our country, to be a place of hope, of welcome, an amalgam of people and cultures.
     We ignore the growing power of China and its influence on countries of the world, even as we began a tariff war of truly dangerous outcomes and possibilities. We have an illiterate president who cannot write nor spell, not even a "smocking"  thing and bored is not board! He sulks, watching TV and comes out with announcements word for word from Fox News! His own attorneys sell him out trying to save their own skins as they get caught up in the whirlpool of his lies and yes, even alleged treason. And Giuliani is an idiot, along with his client. Not a crime, he says. But if it is, not such a bad one. And if it is a bad one, it is one that can be settled by a fine. And besides, the President appears to be above the law. Hmmm. Lots of rank odors here, friends, a stink that will disgrace us down through history.
     The fact of the matter is that we are at a crossroads of history. Will we remain the United States of America, or will we devolve into four or five countries out of one or will we remain as one but under a dictator whose family thinks it belongs to them. What will we do? How will we act? How will we counteract this danger? Do we even care? Do we?

FOLLOWING THE LEADER......THE LEADER?

     Perhaps it is in the water we drink or the air we breathe, but there is something that is apparently causing adults to act more and more like children as time goes by. Cruel children, too.We should have all learned the art of being "nice" to others even as inside we were muttering to ourselves. Hypocritical? Perhaps, but at least it led to an ability to have calm conversations with compromises and conclusions reached and shared. But not anymore.
     Today we are all seemingly in a battle for control of the schoolyard. Who will get the basketball court and who will have to stand by and watch? But governing a nation, interacting with the world, is not a game, nor a time passing activity. It demands mental and moral strength. It demands an intellectual capacity for things other than cheating and lying and defrauding others. It demands a sanity that precludes megalomaniac and paranoidal behavior. It demands a leader with morals, one who can be a role model for the positive and the good. And hopefully, the leader should be inspiring.
     Well......we sure as hell do not have that leader in place today. Not only does that leader, the presumed President of the country fail in all regards as a leader, but he has somehow managed through various means to subvert the remainder of the Republican Party and they are playing following the leader with both enthusiasm and fear, hoping and planning to retain their power even as the country devolves into one huge mess.
     He lies. His aides and appointees lie. He threatens to sue - to SUE - the networks, in particular NBC and the show SNL for one sided and negative portrayals of him and his crew and their actions. What a fool! What an idiot. Obviously, he slept through the lessons on the Constitution or was simply too dumb to internalize and understand them, and/or he simply wishes to become the first dictator for life of this country, once a proud democracy and role model.
     The pundits make much of his increasing isolation and his feelings of abandonment and even his growing concern at the hill of legal problems rolling his way. Tough! Prices have to be paid and if one cannot stand the time, do not do the crime, the old adage we all heard growing up.
He has demeaned his own FBI and Justice Department which is such a prime example of the two strains of government we now have, pulling and tugging on the rope in between, the rope that consists of the USA. Who will win? Dear Lord, I hope it is us and not the illegitimately elected man serving himself as president.
     We are now at the point where if one is deemed a 'criminal', be it true or not, or one falls into a class deemed untermenschen,  then one has no rights as a human being. Yes, if one is allegedly guilty of check fraud, put that one on trial and see what happens in court, but no, their children are not freebies as spoils of victory, and whatever happened to the "protect and serve' motto of our law enforcement officers?
     So what do we do when a Senator like Collins votes for an alleged sexual pervert for Supreme Court and then plays coy with 2020 and Trump?What do we do when people are searching for ways to improve themselves and are fouled up in a mess the government made and refuses to clean up dealing with for profit 'schools' that were not worth a dime? Is it left alone because no supporter of Trump wants to remind the public that he cheated millions out of people with his proven false Trump University, pardon the expression! What do we do when women turn in droves from the rump of the Republican Party, now actually the Trump Party? Will these men ever learn a lesson? Or will we be doomed to increasing and more active expressions and actions of deep bias?
     The most inspiring statement I found today comes from a beautiful woman who is Miss Spain in the Miss Universe contest and at last there is a reason for this idiocy. Read her words as she spoke out about her purpose for being in the contest, she, a transgender woman and when will we stop using that term and just accept people as they are? Read. Think. Admire.
     "My hope is for tomorrow to be able to live in a world of equality for everyone, simply for us all to understand that we are human and we must make all our lives easier together," she said. "If I can give that to the world, I don't need to win Miss Universe, I only need to be here." 
 "I'm here to eradicate the intolerance and to raise Equality for everyone, even if I will not win the title" Equality for all - what a concept!

SHUT WHAT DOWN?

     Big headlines re the shutdown of the government. Looks as if it might actually happen and then what? Seriously, what are the consequences and are they serious enough to cause a huge amount of agita as in early January with the Dems ruling the House, maybe we can get somewhere. Maybe, maybe not, but in my mind, the question is what government have we had till now for these past two years? 
     It has been one of corruption, of one appointee after another quitting or being pushed out due to clouds of corruption hanging over them, the most recent being Zinke, who should have gotten on his horses a long time ago and ridden out of town. But there is more corruption remaining as even as we make huge recalls of produce, the government has allowed the easing or total cancellation of rules protecting the waterways that irrigate these fields, that we drink, the air that we breathe, the land that we walk upon. Our planet is either flooding or burning or drying up and yet Trump and his selfish crew see nothing other than their wallets and bottom lines. The hell with the people of the country seems to be their mantra.
     We have been wrapped up in investigations lo these past two years and the outcome so far is the knowledge that we have as president an alleged criminal worthy of being indicted with felonies, an incompetent individual who appears to be illiterate and what, afflicted with ADHD and not taking his meds, who, when crossed, sulks in his living room like a teenager in his bedroom. And meanwhile the world is spinning out of control and ain't nobody getting of this particular mad, mad world.
     What is the worst is the rot that seems to permeate the government, the hypocrisy, the lack of compassion and dare I say it - the complicity in the harmful treatment or lack of treatment to those needing it, particularly children. Yes, folks, it can happen here, we can see people hunted down like rabid dogs, thrown into inhumane situations, and why - because we are doing this already!!! And yes, there appears to be no shortage of people willing to be the ones to rip children from parents, to be cruel and nasty to them and to their parents, to allow an attitude of, as Tucker Carlson, a proponent of the Trump administration, to say that "the immigration crisis" in America makes the country " poorer and dirtier and more divided."
     But wait, for here comes a proponent of immigration but uh oh, sorry, folks, only for the Irish, as Ryan, a descendant of Irish fleeing the potato famine of the 1850's in Ireland, wishes to leave them thousands of special visas as his parting gift before he leaves. Guess the poorer and dirtier only comes from others, Make no mistake about it, I could care less whether it be Hondurans or Irish or Scots or British or Somalian - as long as they are here to contribute, to become Americans, to raise their children with American values of freedom and humanity, of justice and optimism for improving a situation, for a realistic focus on issues facing the country and the world.
     And do not forget Melania, the newly blonde First Lady who now more closely resembles Ivanka, and frankly she looked better with her former hair! But seriously, she sends her spokeswoman out to complain about the media's treatment of her? Truly? What has she done for her adopted country? Uh, no, has not worked with her supposed architectural degree to enhance the country, has made 4 inch heels fashionable , maybe good for the shoe industry and  podiatrists, has her ungrammatical program Be Best, which has done nothing best in particular and oh, yes, wants children to avoid bullying, particularly cyberbullying and to be good people. Yup, and for that she can present the epitome of that - uh, nix that. Well, he is still useful as the epitome of what one should not be!
     So what are we shutting down? An attempt to make the immigration crisis worse? To blow it up even more than it already is - when it should not even be a crisis at all? To cut the funding of governmental programs? Which ones? The social programs have already been cut. The environmental programs have already been cut. We have had shutdowns before and survived and Trump says let it be on him so fine! Give him what he wants and do not fall for blackmail into doing the wrong thing, the immoral thing, that which will have disastrous consequences long down the line and that which will go a long way in disappearing America, to shutting that down.
     Folks, we are a crucial point in our history. Will we go the way of the rest of the world at present, the way of selfishness, of dictatorship, of imprisonment, of oppression of groups of people, or will we bite the bullet and stand up to bullies, be they orange people or not? The choice is ours. The responsibility is ours. The consequences are on us.

POTPOURRI

     We have all used a version of potpourri sometime or another, a mix of various dried and pleasant smelling aromatic items. But what happens when the potpourri turns renegade in its assigned job and the odor turns from pleasant to reeking and destructive, harmful even to breathe.
     That toxic mix is what we have going on today in our administration and in fact, all over the world. It is frightening when one reads that in Hungary, in addition to forcefully muzzling the press and destroying the judiciary, there is now a law that the people call the "slave law" as it orders employees, workers, to work more than 400 overtime hours a year. Where does it go from here? Who the hell knows, but be afraid, my friends, be very afraid.
     The rush to the right or to the extreme left, leaving almost no middle and nowhere to turn nor find reasonable minds willing to talk and come to a compromise, to serve the people rather than themselves, is here in our own country. When there is talk of a war or revolt - by the President- and retiring  Senators talk of the danger to and in the Senate, as in the words of McCaskill,

“The United States Senate is no longer the world’s greatest deliberative body and everybody needs to quit saying it until we recover from this period of polarization and the fear of the political consequences of tough votes,”...We have too many embarrassing uncles in the United States Senate.” - watch out!!

     There is a rotten reek coming from the potpourri of our government and next year will not truly be a cure. While the House will be better, the Senate will still be controlled by Republicans, with most being of the spineless type or the rabid conservative type and they will continue to strive to destroy our judiciary and stymie any process which will attempt to heal our country. And in the meanwhile, we kill children, be it through our aid to Saudi Arabia to fight in Yemen where children are starving and dying by the hundreds or even thousands, or right here in our own country as we continue to mistreat migrants and now a 7 year old little girl has died due to lack of care and hyper dehydration, after hours in the care or custody rather, of the Border Patrol. What the hell are we doing? Why have we allowed this potpourri to be placed in a dish rather than fresh and clean smelling potpourri? Why have we allowed this rot to permeate our very soul as a nation?

     Meanwhile, chew on this one, coming from Trump's ghostwriter. "He doesn't feel the ordinary human emotions most of us do," he said. "For example, he's free of shame because he has no conscience, nor any self-awareness. So while his behavior certainly suggests he feels increasing fear and isolation, he would be the last one to know it." 

     The stench is almost overwhelming and we must plug our noses and continue into the fray. We must beat back these attempts by unfeeling  and uncaring individuals who have concern only for their wallets and their power. Chris Christie for Chief of Staff indeed!! How much longer do we keep retreading past failures and liars and cheats and infants of the soul? How long? How long?

     Mueller has more to reveal. The House will demand tax returns and issue subpoenas galore and we will be overcome with a darkness that will be difficult indeed to find a way through. But we must. We must hitch up minds and souls and efforts to doing this and to at least make the very strongest attempt to get our country back on track, improve the election system, improve investigations and standards for appointments and runs for office, install a competent and non partisan judiciary, remember that a nation is judged, as one writer said, by how it treats its children and we are doing  a nasty job at that, are we not?

     Potpourri. Choose your fragrances and keep them fresh. Keep them clean. It takes a huge and continuous effort but what is the alternative?

     

FEEL THE QUAKES?

     A sizeable portion of the Midwest and the South were hit with a low grade earthquake and today we are hearing warnings that the "Big One" could happen, overdue, in fact. Right along the Mississippi River, in essence possibly splitting the country into a physical two pieces. Nature and nurture again.
     We, the country of this possible earthquake , have already undergone major earthquakes in our non physical being. Our very ethos is wracked and torn, hit by ever growing tremors and threats to our basic foundations.
     A small roundup of today's headlines. DeVos and her Department of Education are undergoing major drops in morale. Orrin Hatch says the Senate is in crisis - well, duh - go look in a mirror to check one of the instigators. Senator Inhofe pushed for huge increases in military spending and then it comes out that several days before this push he bought huge amounts of stock in the business of military connection. Then when caught with his rear hanging out, he sold them.
     Cohen gets three years and claims that the darkness of Trump is to blame for his behavior and crimes. The federal prosecutors of NY claim a felony by Trump and tell the judge so. They are not allowed to do so unless there is hard evidence and they plan to do something about it. Yay!!!! But that is one heck of a punch! It certainly is more than a "smocking" gun - a la Trump!!
     The publisher of the National Enquirer has struck a deal and admitted much about his buddy of old, Trump, and cannot wait to hear where that takes us. The perils for Trump grow apace and this man keeps changing his tune to meet the next step into darkness for him. He did not do whatever it is he is accused of and even if he did it is not so bad and even if it is bad it is a small misdeed and even if it is a big misdeed he is above the law as President! The crap just keeps on coming out of his mouth. And as for me - cannot wait till I can join a chanting mob as he is led off in  a perp walk, handcuffed, shouting about his great numbers at anything, as the mob yells, "Lock him up! Lock them all up!"
     And in the meantime we must make sure we do not lose all that is good in America. Today we read that he is taking firm steps to deport the Vietnam War refugees!! What the f*&% is the matter with him and his hate filled minions. They are seriously beginning to look like the flying monkeys of the Wicked Witch!! So what, I guess there are terrorists and druggies and murderers and rapists and disease ridden refugees amongst them? The biggest alleged sexual pervert and harasser is actually our own you know who so hey, deport him! Today, if possible! If only!
     His crazy ultimatums. His insane behavior at the filmed interview with Schumer and Pelosi. His recorded moments of lies, of stupidity, of ignorance and illiteracy. of incompetence and nastiness. His diagnosis of mental deterioration awaiting a PET scan. Enough folks, enough! Have we not felt enough quakes and he topped them all with putting it out there that should he be impeached - which I do not think possible what with those spineless and ballless corrupted Republicans voting on it in the Senate, - but should it happen, why then there will be an armed revolt in the country! Yup, there he is, putting that idea, that future plan into motion in the hearts and minds of his lowest base supporters and then what? Civil War? Dictatorship? Military rule? What, for heaven's sake? Enough already. Let us shut down those quakes before they hit. The physical quakes will be bad enough so let us eliminate the quakes to the heart and soul of our country's moral being and principles before we lose it all.

CHILDREN, CHILDREN

     It is annoying when adults act like children, throwing temper tantrums, playing games of chicken, yelling past each other, and just not hearing or seeing the truth of the situation. What makes the issue hard to resolve, to fix, to get some adult interaction, is when one side totally detests and despises the other side - and rightfully so. But there must be a care not to fall to the level of the infant in the debate.
     Prime example? The confrontation between Trump and Pelosi and Schumer. The distaste that Schumer had for even being in that room was evident in his body language. He did not want to be anywhere near the other guy in the room. He answered Trump's callouts of lies, waving his index cards around - to no avail - for a lie is a lie, be it oral only or written.
     Pelosi spoke up and out but with a quieter voice, trying - why, I do not know - to get through to the infant with his ugly pouting faces and moues. She reminded him that 
“What the president is representing in terms of his cards over there are not factual. We have to have an evidence-based conversation about what does work and what money has been spent and how effective it is.”
     In other words, she tried logic, a useless effort to a man shouting how he would shutdown the government, "own" it, cause disaster to many people, including thousands of his base. Once she was back in home territory she let loose a bit with
this -

"the wall was “like a manhood thing for him.

“As if manhood could ever be associated with him,”

     If this were the only thing wrong, perhaps it could be worked out, but how to deal with a supposed grownup who persists in lying, taking the lie back and saying it was not such a big deal and then shouting out at everyone, accusing them of misdeeds. Never taking responsibility for anything and trying to cover it all up.
     And worse than that is the corruption that is stinking up the very air in the capital. His two little dollies, Ivanka and Jared, are standing ready, willing and able, to benefit hugely from a real estate tax break that they mightily pushed for and never having divested of their real estate holdings, well....you fill in the blanks, but remember to put in all those zeros. And watch out for his friends!!
     The hotel rooms are filled with lobbyists who boast of contacts with Trump and his administration - even shrinking the way it is! - and the filth of the swamp is threatening to swamp the country! We would have to go way back to even try to find a matching administration with this degree of corruption, incompetence, bribery, veniality, greed, nepotism, cronyism, and just add in your choices here.
     The rest of the world sees this, hears this, boos us when a representative speaks at a conference in pure nonsensical manner, denying reality. We are being more and more isolated within and from the world. We ignore the issues at hand - decent and proper immigration policy, an economy that ain't as good as the man shouts and for proof of that,  just go to your stock account and take notice of the thousands you have lost! We are encouraging employees who leave their sense of right, of humanity, at home as they yank infants, tase people for no reason or with too much power, and all the good we have achieved over the past centuries is lost in the miasma of Trump's lack of morality and goodness, for the garbage does slide downhill! For sure!
     The big elephant in the room, or rather the herd of elephants in the room, must be addressed, be they pink or any other color. Why have we elected this man? Why have we allowed an antiquated and unnecessary electoral system to install a man who LOST the popular vote and that problem continues with the most recent elections. When did ALL the politicians regress in age and refuse to work with each other, preferring to argue and fight like rutting stags in the forest? How are we allowing a Senate full of spineless, immoral Republicans who have shed their morality in a quest to keep their power, to install judges deemed INCOMPETENT by the Bar Association, their only qualifying trait being that they are heedless, rabid conservatives and will follow that playbook to the ends of the earth! 
     The world seems to be on the brink of another war, and not necessarily only a Cold One. We are playing with very dangerous building blocks and weapons here. We have allowed the rise of nationalism once again, even into countries of the west. We are allowing by omission or commission, the violent display and acts of prejudice, with anti Semitism on the rise from the left and the right. Jews always seem to make good targets.
     And yet, there is some hope, a bit. We can bind together and work for a better country, a softer and kinder country, without giving up any of our strength. In fact, it would increase it as we once again stood as an example to the world for good, rather than for dangerous idiocy!
     Children, children! Behave!! No recess, no snacks, no screen time, no toys until you behave. Grow up, for the whole world is watching and waiting.