CRY THE BELOVED COUNTRY

     I have borrowed the title from Alan Paton who wrote the novel that goes with the title all so many years ago. He wrote of a South Africa that was being torn asunder with apartheid and hatred, prejudice and truly foolish decisions. And now it is our turn here in the States to cry for our beloved country.
     Land of the free. Home of the brave. Welcoming shores for the wretched of the world. Religious freedom and separation of church and state. Opportunities for all. Horatio Alger.
     And now? Now, where are we? What are we doing? What have we done? What have we allowed to happen? Quite frankly and simply, we have given away our country. The powers that be have betrayed us all in the name of power and wealth, of greed. They have sold their souls down the river, found their own personal Lola and in their twisted desires and ambitions have sold us all down the river.
     Cry, my country, cry. We have allowed a foreign country, a declared enemy, to gain entry into the very heart of us, free elections, honest elections, the heart of our democracy. We have allowed Russia to tinker and tamper with it all and look at the result. We have a buddy of our enemy and its leader, Putin, our own doofus of the nth degree, a nasty one at that. We are no longer an integral, intact country  for we have allowed our own sovereignty to be damaged.
     Cry, my country, for we have allowed our young to be slaughtered indiscriminately. Why? Again, all for the sake of money. Check how many of our elected representatives on all levels of government have accepted bribe money and yes, for that is what it is, accepted these dirty funds so they can get elected. How many of our spineless representatives truly care about the life damage they have done and continue to do. Very few.
     Oh, they will wring their hands, cry crocodile tears, and send their "thoughts and prayers" but they can take those and shove them you know where!! They mean nothing without action and yet they appear to be paralyzed. The Second Amendment can stand; people can own personal handguns, can engage in target shooting, can own rifles for hunting and competition, but no! They cannot own assault weapons. They must be vetted. They must pass tests, take safety lessons, repeat them at intervals, sign pledges, whatever it takes to keep our young safe. How many more scenes of bloodshed must we witness!!!
     So now our young are speaking for themselves. They are protesting, demanding answers and actions. We, the supposed adults, in this equation had better back them up. It is one thing to have drills for fire, for emergencies but why do all children now have to have active shooter drills. Why does my granddaughter have to learn how to safely exit via windows purposely designed for that. Why are new school buildings now being designed as fortresses instead of places of learning and growth. Why? Because we have lost our way and sacrificed the lives of our kids in the name of what some so selfishly want and in the weakness of others who have allowed this to happen.
     So cry, my country, cry, and cry. We have a President who is incapable of empathy, of understanding the pain of others for he is consumed with his own self So his idea of comforting victims is to take a pose with the first responders, do a two thumbs up with his typical smirk, and crow about it - "the 45th president of the United States." Feh!!!
     Cry, my country, for we have allowed a dangerous man to steer the ship of state. This man has sold us to our enemies and while he crows all day long about 'fake news' he cannot cry away the truth. It comes out. It takes precedence, even if delayed. It grows with more facts and the next step is the indictment of traitor Americans, right up to, I am afraid, yet convinced, right up to the very top. I am truly sorry for those who still hope this is not the case, but it is. All this cannot go on without the conceited head of it all knowing and perhaps even assigning and delegating.
     Cry, my so beloved country, that is so riven with hatred that false postings are put out about Black Panther showings. Cry we must. Cry that we have some souls who are out there, fighting, even a major Republican donor telling the party that his money stays with him unless there is major legislation regarding assault weapons. But where are the rest of us?
     So thank you, Alan Paton, for this oh so sadly relevant title. Cry, my own beloved country that has turned its back on its own essence, on its own citizens, on its future citizens and indeed, on its own future as a democracy. Cry not just for the Dreamers, but for the dream of America itself. Cry, my beloved country.