THE OTHER SIDE

     Well, that is the name of the blog, is it not? So every once in a while Gerry and I like to sample how the other what - 25%, 10% , whatever that percentage is - how they live in a little experience.
     So flying to Chicago and back, what with all the fees one pays just for the privilege of getting in the airplane! we decided to go first class as there was not a very large difference in cost. So we did not get into the scrum of people hurrying to get on as we knew we would have plenty of overhead space. We also knew that as soon as we got on we would be offered a nice cold drink - in heavy glasses too!
     We heard the warnings of too much baggage and the pleas to check them at the gate. We heard the various groups called and the ever increasing restrictions as the numbers rose until the last group just got a seat and nothing else - no carryon other than a personal item. Before takeoff, there was a bit of a disagreement at the back, I think over seats, and a woman was escorted off the plane. And me? I drank my ice cold Sprite Zero and wondered why we had not done this more often!
     It is a different world in the world of the wealthy. One gets big smiles, polite attendants who cater to your every wish, big and comfortable soft and cushioned seats, space for one's feet so your knees are not knocking at your nose - and I am short, too! And oh, yes - one's luggage is marked priority so it comes out at the beginning of the endless parade of baggage circling on the carousel and never having one's appear. Oh, yeah, that's the life
     But, today is back to reality, sitting here before my computer and reading over the news, the further catastrophes, the perils of not Pauline, but of Donald, and the long term damage that man is doing to us. Long term damage - to our system of democracy, trust in government and the ultimate end being justice for all, concern for citizens, the ever increasing better life we provide for those who need help, to working with our allies, and trying to make the world a better place.
     Trump has perverted the Office of the President by his actions and his words. His mouth is a danger to us all and he threatens the very basis of our country, claiming more and more power for the executive branch of the government even as he increasingly perverts and suppresses the other two branches. This is not what the Founding Fathers anticipated or wanted. They warned against the person who would attain the office via cheating - ahem!!
     So many jobs and positions in the public sector have clauses of moral turpitude. Tell me how this man does not violate the morals every day of his life! There is serious fear that he has done such severe damage to our justice system. There is chaos as he screams and rants and kicks the floor and waves his arms in the air, threatening one and all, and gaining fear control over so many, people who should know better.
     People who should know better act as if they do not. Why? Is it that they are too embarrassed to admit how wrong they were? How could it be that they can claim they still trust him when the truth is out there now for all to see? Or is it that they are so frightened of him and his insane doings that they feel it is better to go along, the reason why autocrats succeed. And all the while the tension and the anger grows, with neither side having the patience to deal with the other. That is how deep the divide has grown.
     Perhaps we have another path to hope, for the Manhattan DA is looking to confer charges on the Trump organization and that include Trump himself. Yes!!!!!!!! Believe it or not, it is not so easy to weasel out of state charges and one cannot be pardoned by federal authority! Oh, yeah!!!
     Seriously, we must do something for this man and his cohorts, his die hard supporters, the people he has cowering due to fear of him and his threats, those who turn a blind eye and a back to the harm he is doing and his total nastiness - wake up folks, see the light, repent and do something to make your life valuable again.
     There are legal ways to do this but I am so afraid that the time for their usage is running out, the window is closing. What comes after that is frightening beyond all words. Please, let us do what we must in a timely manner. Let us be wise, bite the bullet and be bold and brave and honest in our dealings, in what we MUST do.