America. The symbol of progressive thinking, of political openness, of democracy. An example to the world, a country whose treasured monument held up a lamp to guide the way in for new immigrants seeking a better world.
Like Camelot, this dream of such a country, or a country that was trying to live up to this dream, this image, is in danger of fading into the past and emerging as yet another lying 'republic' or 'democratic' republic. Once nations begin inserting such words into their titles then one knows the end has come.
I, nor many other people, brighter and more attuned to it all than I, are cringing at what we have become, how far down the road we have gone, almost to the point of no return. We are no longer easing down that road, but tumbling in haste, in viciousness, in nastiness, in greed, headlong into another country where principles are those of hatred and dictatorship, where journalists will be hounded, prosecuted and persecuted, where the voice of truth will be stomped upon, its voice box savagely cut.
The NY Times has a program called the Truth wherein they speak of the power of truth, its voice. Well, when a President of the country speaks of the press as the 'enemy of the people", echoing one of the worst mass murderers, Stalin, then we are in trouble, our democracy is in trouble. If not for the press, from the trial of Peter Zenger till now, the needs of the people, the progress of our country would have been forestalled or indeed never have happened. The truth indeed.
How can we have a logical and working government, democracy, when the truth shifts from day to day. It 'evolves' as the facts are painted as never having happened, never been said, and substituted 'facts' are inserted. What do we do when we are now being warned in strident and hoarse, concerned voices that our democracy is going down the tubes, losing its power, allowing the rest of the world to drop its reforms and shift back to repressive, hateful and hurtful governments.
Why do we stand around and allow tragedies to take place now on a daily basis. We are deporting people who have lived here for years, brought here as children, grew up in our system, speak our language, were educated, are in positions which aid our society, productive jobs, are, for all intents and purposes Americans but our bigoted and hateful 'leader' shouts they must go, out, out, he shouts. When agreements are made he turns on that dime of his and changes the facts all over again. So yesterday we had the awful sight of a man of 39, grasping desperately his American born wife, his American born children, and after 30 years in this country, a tax paying member of society, a father, a husband, is being deported. To a country which he has not seen since he was 10.
When and why have we allowed this awful and disgraceful motif to return to our country, When we have pushed it down, stomped on it, educated against it, enacted laws against it- why is it suddenly the trope of the day? Why have all the roaches crawled out of the woodwork and taken over the kitchen of our nation?
Despair is in the air. A black president and now a racist one. A man who sits there with a tired who cares look on his face when prison reform is discussed. Why? Because he could care less about this, his mind being on his bottom line, on the fact that 64 organizations, trade groups, foreign countries and Republican groups have made dinners at his Trump hotel in DC. His bottom line is looking good there! Never mind the fact that he should have divested. Never mind the fact that he is suffering from dementia of one cause or another, that he is erratic to the nth degree, that he is attacking the underpinnings of our nation, going at it with a heavy hand and a huge ax.
As democracy is attacked, despair grows. Yes, there are some people brave enough to speak out. There are people willing to stand and protest, but let us be honest, As this man and his cohorts change the rules, as they attack our judiciary and its independence, as they attack free press, as they mix religion with government - the despair grows and grows and grows.
So what do we do? Well, we yell, we protest, we challenge, we sue, we refuse to obey these hatful and hate filled laws. We refuse to allow our Constitution to be ripped out from under us. And who is WE? It is we the people, not just the ever weakening voices of the well known, but also and in fact, mainly, it should be the voices of us, of we, the people. We the people. We who must admit that we are all smeared, tarred with this disgrace for either voting for this terrible person, or not voting, or still even following him as he wallows in a dark pool of slime. We the people must fight against him and his plans, the plans of the lowest dregs of our society and no, their money does not raise them to a higher plane. In fact, it often weighs them down.
WE THE PEOPLE
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