NUMBERS

      Lately there have been many numbers thrown about, many contradicting other numbers released about the same thing. The only way I can figure it out is that the pollsters have a target audience, the go to people for them to question and they choose carefully. For example, the Marist poll states that Hispanic approval of Trump went up 19% to 50% approval. Huh! Wonder where they have stashed these Hispanic people for almost every one I speak to does not, most emphatically does not, like nor approve of Trump. Seriously, why would people of Latino background approve of one who speaks of them in derogatory and accusatory terms, and now chants a new one - "Build the Wall Crime Will Fall" for evidently the wall will keep all those murdering raping drug running brown people out of America. Especially those shifty eyed babies and toddlers.Never mind the thousands who are applying for asylum, for relief from violence, for safety for their kids, for a chance at a new life and hope for the future of their kids. And most important, do not pay attention to the truthtellers behind the curtain, reminding one and all that most illegal drugs come in through legal ports of entry, in legal shipments of other goods, and that a native born citizen is more likely to commit a crime than these "awful" people!! But why pay attention to facts and real numbers when they foul up one's story.
     When nasty men get involved in comparing whose is bigger, the people trying to hide their eyes from this are the ones who get stuck with the results, like it or not. So small hands, big hands, small brains, whatever - the level of politics today has sunk to depths beyond all belief. Anything goes, and when and if caught, just lie and keep lying and things will get better, especially if you find other things to lie about.
     The statement that follows is telling, very telling, especially when one puts the proper interpretation on it.  "....how we can solve this in a way that the president gets what he needs, but the American people fundamentally get the government that they deserve," What Trump needs is a swift kick in the ass as he is shown the door, and the government that the people deserve? Well, think about that. Do they deserve one that cares for them, that treats citizens and residents as equal before the law, who respect human rights, who place a huge stress on sanity and decency or do they deserve what they now have as they allowed this situation to unfold into this disaster?
    All around Trump lie and lie again and lie about their lies. As one person put it:  “In Trump world, everybody lies. Everybody doesn’t tell the truth. At the end of the day, they are all lying."   So where do we go from here? Many answers, but we must choose and do so quickly before even more incompetents remain or are placed in judgeships, or elected to office, or plan more extreme activities. What we need is reason, sanity, logic, decency and bipartisanship. Extreme statements about groups of people or demanding an end to an Immigration office are not the answer. We obviously need an office for immigration, but before that we need a sensible and fair immigration policy! What we need to do is cut the extreme and ridiculous and antagonistic statements coming from both sides, inject some cement into the spines of the wimpy and nasty Republicans, remind them of the origin of their party and for heaven's sake - hell too - get rid of that man. Why have we not turned the best legal minds we have to figuring out the best legal way to rid ourselves of him, of removing the tumor on the soul of America?
    I see a country turning into a dictatorial one, with people being stopped on buses and asked for papers. How many of you carry around proof of who you are and your citizenship? How many of you can figure out what to do when your truths are deemed lies and you are taken away and never mind your family or kids or needs - out you go, come along, hands behind your back. Click!! As for me - I carry little or nothing. Certainly not my birth certificate or my parent's birth certificate, marriage license, passport or whatever. Papieren bitte? NO!! Not here!!
     And what makes for even more nastiness and disappointment is when I read a treatise from a President of an organization, one who has overstayed in office, who has played games with the rules in order to remain in that office, who writes in an article just about equating those who oppose some of his ideas or plans with the "enemy" for just as we had to understand the psychology of the people of the enemy, so we have to understand the makeup of the opposition to him!! Really? How about the right to have and express one's ideas? How about the fact that yes, such a man can be wrong!! Unthinkable, huh!!! NO!!
     One can oppose a ruling class or a ruler or an elected officer without being deemed a traitor. One can exercise one's rights as an American without being called or compared to the enemy. One can even agree with some of what the man proposes but is not required to approve of it all. Such is the right, or at least was always the right here in America and yes, even here in Century Village. It is frightening to me when the strategies and plans and tactics of the outside world are brought into play in our little version of a great place to live.
     It is also interesting to note that when nominations were closed at a delegate assembly, there were fewer than the number required to fill all seats in the Executive Board. Suddenly, quietly, we find out that almost double the number supposedly were nominated or threw their hats in the ring after the assembly. Ooh, stinky, stinky, folks.
     Please, could we all just try to hear each other, to watch our souls as we sell them - or not - to the highest bidder or the most frightening person? Could we all just try to do the right thing? Could we try to remember back to the not so distant time that we were identified as Americans and not as Republican or Democrat? Could we all remember that we can twist numbers any which way we wish them to go, but we need to untwist our hearts and minds and souls and seeds of courage and greatness. And soon!