FRIGGIN' MORON!!!

    Dang! I hope it is not catching, this evergrowing display of idiocy that we have every day from the Demented Toddler. Unfortunately, though, I fear that it is, for how else to explain the reality of otherwise intelligent people accepting the behavior - or lack thereof - and the obvious display of lack of education or brains or whatever makes this person tick. I do not even believe that he can beat a clock for is he correct at least two times a day? Most emphatically not!!
     Does he have a learning disability? Is there something to be ashamd of if he does? Again, nothing to be ashamed of as there are many great people throughout history who have had learning disabilities, the wiring of the brain just that bit different , necessitating a different approach, but I fear this man has no brain, not functioning anyway, and the rest of the rats just follow him along as he merrily tootles his way, and ours, to a miserable future in a questionably surviving world.
     The first rule of a writing class? Proofread!! Proofread again and use another set of eyes. Well, this man obviously does not take either step, and as a consequence, we are deluged with nonsensical and nasty texts and tweets and oral bits at the Rose Garden and no one proofs them before they are up. Well, removing them afterwards for correction is too little too late.
     So what was the most recent breaking point? Well, let's see. Hmmm, aha! Treating humans, children, as rats to be exterminated, gotten rid of any which way, all the better to starve them out or let them sicken unto death. There, for that will teach their annoying parents who dare to bring their children to America for a better and safer life, just as ours did!! Not enough for you? Okay, let's just add in those damn mass raids he intends to perpetrate, thus allowing the nastiest traits of ICE people to surface, perhaps giving us an early start to the employment of properly attituded guards at the detention camps and worse! It never stops unless halted in  its tracks - forcefully, if necessary.
     Uh, what else? Oh, for sure. How about the man's perverted love affairs with all the wrong folks. Good Lord, if any of us would have dated the equivalents, declared our love for them as he has done, well, upside and downside the head and grounding for life!! But nothing stops this man as he jokes around with the destruction of our basic framework, Russian interference in our 2016 election, giving us an illegitimate and dumbest electee ever!! Dear Lord, but for the first time in my life I agree with Jimmy Carter, about this and that is scary - but less so than what we now have in office and attempting to remain there and who knows by what means.
     Here is yet another. Putin spouts how bad western liberalism is for the world and how populism is so much better and is taking over the joint. So the moron agrees, but with one tiny little tad of an error. The fool then rants and raves against the liberalism of the west coast of the United States, California in particular. What an ass!!! If it were not so dangerous and so pathetic, it is good for a laugh or two.
     Up for more? Okay. Here goes. How about the fact that his scientists know for a fact that there is no climate crisis, no environmental apocolypse awaiting us, is, in fact, already upon us. With half our country under drought condition and the other drowning and rotting, with food production highly endangered, with Europe burning up with crazy high temperatures, this man continues to rally for coal, for fewer safety regulations - guess, more people die due to that, why then there will be more food for the fat cats who have the money to survive!!!
     And of course, let us not forget the birtherism, that nasty and false theory of where opponents of the Demented Toddler were born. So Obama was born in Kenya, we are told, and Kamala Harris is not a black American. And poor Junior is confused as he never heard of a person being half Indian (from Asia, that is ), so thus she is not a black American because she is Indian and her dad is a black man from Jamaica. Do not worry if you cannot follow the logic of this theory for there is no logic there at all, only hate, racism, the same old false and coordinated "influencing" that poisoned our last presidential election. Sen. Harris had the correct answer. She is who she is and she is okay with that, and as she has stated previously - she is an American!!! As are we all. Anyway, Junior rescinded the text, but if that one and his idiot brother are not two chips off that damaged original piece of wood, I'll eat my hat! And yet, around the world they go on official business and of course, on their own Trump business, but then again, what harm does a little corruption do in the long run, right?!
     The idiot report could go on ad infinitum ad nauseum but I think I would prefer to go eat some breakfast. Much better thing to do and think about. But seriously, folks, how do we continue to allow this man to plan the future of our country? How do we allow him to appoint all those know nothings, those corrupt individuals, those lobbyists going through the revolving doors that he swore he would end, ruining the three branches of our government for a long, long time and giving us a return to the past with his military/industrial complex that Eisenhower warned us about so long ago.
     Sweet Lord!! Think I will go read about the Women's USA Soccer Team where they are doing great, never mind the blasts of heat they have to survive. Go Rapinoe! Go Morgan! Go Team!! At least there is one thing we can be proud of and root for.

PERVERSE

     So the big event over the past two nights was the debate - part one and part two. Analysts on both sides of the political divide chimed in with their opinions but as far as I am concerned, it did not go deep enough nor sharp enough at the primary topic. Yes, there was a bit more infighting last night, to a degree that Kamala Harris reminded the 'boys' that America was not interested in a food fight, but in putting the food on the table. And that seemed to be the stress of the night - the economy. The economy was deemed beneficial only for the nabobs of Wall Street and "not working for the working people". Love that line!
     Personally, I was proud of the women who sttod up for themseslves and did not allow the men to overtalk them. I believe that either Harris and/or Gillibrand could stand up to the rantings and interruptions of the Demented Toddler and put him in his place.
      There should have been putting him in his place to a larger degree, but perversely, at times the Democrats debating forgot that the enemy was Trump and not each other. Less backbiting, more realism as to who should remain and whom needs to go, and tighten up for the electorate, and we could have a winner. America is tired of the perverse behavior of its President and wants change.
     The American people are tired of having the cowardly and backwards immoral people of the Republican party force their opinion on others. The majority of Americans are for choice even as 30 states rush headlong with a pronounced viciousness to wrest women's rights away from women. It has gotten to the point of perversity as a pregnant woman shot in the stomach during a fight was arrested! Yes, arrested for endangering the fetus, for bringing it to the fight! The shooter - let go! So now what - the pregnant woman should stay in the home wrapped in cotton for an entire pregnancy or else face charges of endangering the fetus and being imprisoned? And all are ignoring the corollary that goes along with this attitude and it was seen clearly in Britain as they wanted to FORCE a developmentally disabled woman to have an abortion, despite her rights, despite the pleas of the grandmother who would be there for the baby, but nope, the countries are reverting to the racial and genetic prejudices of the Nazi era and here is perversity in all its ugliness.
     Perverse behavior was seen in the entire nation as an accusation of rape, along with women who heard about it at the time of its occurence, was ignored, so what? We are so used to the perverse and perverted sexual mores and behavior of Trump that we ignore it all? Perverse!
     Perverse was the behavior of Trump at the G-20 conference, though not unexpected. Of course he claimed victory in a debate in which he did not partake, but then again, it is all about him, right? He then proceeded to ream out our allies, hitting Japan over its head, threatening and demeaning Germany, and going after India for their tariffs, as evidently only the USA can impose them. Perverse thinking and dangerous behavior.
     Lest you think we are all alone there,do not worry, for BFF Putin is right there, sharing such a cute joke as Trump mugs about the issue of interference in American elections, and joking around, with a silly tone and face, with a smirk and a wagging finger, tells Putin "Don't meddle in the election, please". What the hell!!! So when will the entire electorate wake up for they are seemingly just as blind as those of Germany who thought that Hitler would be okay, would raise the economy, provide jobs and he sure did - over the bodies of the world, over a broken humanity. And now? Well, BFF Putin is telling us all that liberalism is dead and populism is the flavor of the day, of the world. He joined with Trump in their lies over the 'criminality' of the migrants. I know, those kids are truly dangerous!!! And how perverse their parents are, risking life and limb of themselves and their children in their desperateness to flee from untenable lives to a better place and a possibility of a better future for them and their families. Such peveseness. Why they should not follow the example of Trump who has perverted his own children until they are weaker imitations of their nasty as all hell father. Feh!!
     So here is the question for us all, for the future of our future and that of the world.  Will America wake up? Will they overcome that perverse okaying of the awful gerrymandering of the Republicans and heck, no surprise there from this tampered with Supreme Court, but will they overcome and come to their senses? Will we recognize the ugliness of this Demented Toddler and his minions, those cheating and corrupted individuals? Will we return to the other side of perversity and become America again?
     Whatja' think? And no, it will not just take a declaration of love as per Williamson at the debate, but it is not a bad place to start, with love of humanity, love of a right and proper religiousity, one that does not spearhead the masses of hate and prejudice, of violence towards others, and a deep and abiding knowledge, a deep and abiding feeling that this present day America is not us. Never! We need to turn away from perverseness and turn towards the good , the firm, the sane, the hopeful, the weloming of the Statue of Liberty, and towards humanity . Perversity does not ultimately work , and we must stand firm in our battle against it. That is the only way clear out of this morass of the Demented Toddler.

MAYBE, JUST MAYBE....

     The debate. Maybe, maybe, we received a bit of a fresh breeze, giving hope that the Democratic Party knows what needs to be done and what needs to be avoided. There was no real snarking backbiting of each other as they played like adults. Ahem - as contrasted to another, who was described as making foreign policy dressed in his bathrobe at 5 AM. Gee, who could that be! 
     Perhaps more details are needed to back up or fill out some answers, but the time was very limited. Some of the candidates were called upon more than others, such as Warren, but that was kind of inevitable even as all contributed to what looks like a developing converging set of planks for a platform, with a key point being that the economy, so often bragged about by Trump, is an economy that has served the wealthy and not the rest of the people. I wholeheartedly agree with that!
     Klobuchar got in another good line when she reminded people that there were three women up there who fought hard for women's rights. I think she did pretty well, as did DeBlasio, surprisingly enough, but I doubt there is much future in his run, though perhaps his voice could be heard and influence to a degree.
     What I took away from here is that there is a certain amount of disagreement amongst the candidates, but there is also a significant convergence, a major difference from that which is espoused by Trump, he who sat there in his plane going off to "save the world", the same world which he has endangered. He had the utter heartlessness to tweet BORING after seeing the picture of the father and toddler, drowned, after trying to reach American soil after having been delayed for months due to Trump's policies. Yes, Trump bears great responsibility for the deaths of immigrants and the mistreatment, reaching to a perilous degree to a definition of torture, particularly as the targets of these policies are children. Children!!
     I pray, hope and pray, plead and pray, that we get rid of that Demented Toddler who has endangered us all, who has attempted to discard the structure of our country, who talks of remaining in office past term and this man would just about do anything to remain there despite reality and facts. He is that demented and if one cannot believe me, just look at his difficulty to string together a coherent sentence, let alone a paragraph, and the immense difficulty he has in choosing words, limiting himself to a small bank of words which he repeats over and over again. 
     So maybe, just maybe, we can pull it off, get rid of this guy after his one disastrous term in office, his corruption of the judiciary, his corruption of the executive branch with all his fat cat selfish appointees, and his unmanning of the legislative branch, particularly the Republicans. We so desperately need this to happen and we need to fight against all attempts to strike down the voting rights of so many, a blatant attempt to limit the votes for the Democrats, just as blatant as the census citizenship question, the gerrymandering, and the open return of acceptable hatred and prejudice. There are about 8 children a day being killed by guns, yet this problem remains unaddressed. We are losing the war on climate change, but new plans to ruin pristine waters are in the pipeline and worse - it is given to a foreign country! What happened to making America great and buy American? Guess it is not important when it cuts into profits. Never mind the Americans that will be hurt with this plan.
     Watch tonight's debate and then compare. I hope they are the adults they should be, as this group was and concentrate on thoughtful answers and references to Trump as needed, and not snipe at each other and give that Demented Toddler any ammunition and let him shoot himself in his feet, mouth, whatever, as he rants and raves, the only 'talent' he seems to have.
      Maybe, just maybe.....Lordy, but I hope so.

BLUE ALL AROUND

     One day is bad enough, and I thought I had broken its back yesterday afternoon, but last night and this morning it is right back at ya' again. Topping the whole bad karma day is the fact that the blue is all around - personally and in the macro world as well.
 There are times with PD that one feels off, a feeling that brings one down, feels low and despairing, unsure of what the future will bring or even how long  a future one has. It is not a question of self pity, or being so self focused that one forgets that others have problems as well, even worse ones, for it is not a selfish 'mood', but one caused mainly by the disease itself, the mix of it all in body and mind and the only thing left to do is try to willfully overcome it, look past it, and hope for a better time to follow.
     Thought I had it beat by yesterday afternoon when I had a good time at Movement, pounding away, laughing and singing, talking with friends, and yet, here we are again. Blues redux!
     What makes it worse is the fact that like it or not, I cannot turn away from the situation of the country and the world. Sharing grief and troubles does not thin out one's own blues but rather builds upon it, especially when one realizes the helplessness one individual feels in the face of massive disasters and impending future ones.
     Trump accused of rape and the world looks away and finally the GOP, in its standard moral weakness and cowardice, backs Trump, saying it believes him. Believes this so already proven liar and sexual pervert. If he can do it and get away with it then why not every other pervert who now will think again that women are free for the choosing, to be done with as a man wishes. Blue enough yet?
     We have the government - OUR - government, defending itself and its inhumane and as far as I am concerned, criminal behavior in its treatment of children. Yes, the dangerous two year olds who should know better and should have potty trained before their thousand mile trek withtheir parents and the 12 year olds who should have gone to nanny class in anticipation of having to take care of younger children. They should have packed on the weight in anticipation of not getting enough food, water, and done some outward bound types of programs to inure themselves to the harshness of 24/7 bright lights, freezing temperatures with useless aluminum foil pieces of garbage and cold floors. What the hell is the matter with us!!! So are you blue yet, feeling off yet?
     Then we have the news that Mueller will testify on July 17 in open hearings before Congress. Wonder if he will simply repeat his troublesome and indecisive statements for that will only exacerbate the situation. He must come out with defined statements or this situation will never be resolved and Trump will sit there in front of Fox News or Hannity and giggle maniacally as he realizes he has done it again! Dread those tweets!
     But maybe we will be lucky enough and Mueller will gin up some courage and speak the truth, decisively, definitively and we can get on with what needs to be done and don't I wish that someone gets taken away in a real great perp walk!!! Well, at least while I cannot do anything about that, I do know that if the Demented Toddler goes through with his planned Nazi raids on families, Iwill get out there and protest. There is no more time to just ignore and hope it will go away or leave you alone, for again and again, hate never meets its boundaries and the next time - the bells and the pipers could play for you and yours!
     And not to forget our situation with Iran. That damned Toddler has brought us to the edge of the most disastrous war ever, with a definite knowing that nuclear weapons will be involved. Who will use first and who second does not matter, for the world will be in last place, forever. Okay, prep up - food, water, ammo and guns, medicines, and hey, do not forget to watch all those shows, movies and read those books that maybe will teach you and prepare you for the unspeakable. And of course, do not forget to hide under a desk!!
     Sounds all blue, right? So what the hell are we supposed to do. The Democrats are eating each other up. The Republicans have ceded all rights to call themselves honorable and courageous people of morality, the people have thrown up their hands, and the world itself stands there and wonders what to do with this Demented Toddler and his minions who ignore the truths of the world as it smacks them in the face.
     "Blue on blue, heartache on heartache" - remember the song? Bah, humbug!!! I am determined to break the hold of this "off" time on me and try to look away from the world until tonite when the Democrats debate. I hope we find a few winners there. Me, personally, if people would wake up, we need a moderate tending to common sense yet with a heart, a person who knows how to feel and yet be tough enough, a person with experience, a hope for the future  and yes, a woman, and for me, that is Amy Klobuchar. I hope she does well in her debate, be it tonite or tomorrow nite. We need to winnow out those people who got up one day and decided to kill the boredom with a run for Presiednt. This is not the thrid grade class president! Time we get serious or we end up with  - oh, here come those damn off and blue feelings again. Time to listen to some music. Perhaps My Way by Frank Sinatra!
     
     

SUFFER THE CHILDREN

     The New Testament speaks of a child leading the way. The Nazis targeted Jewish children as future problems in the path to total genocide of the Jewish people, so they were killed, quite brutally. Parents throughout history have died protecting or attempting to defend their children. And it seems that the theory of getting to the parent via maltreatment of the child is alive and well in the Trump administration.
     It is bad enough to initiate a blanket policy to separate children from parents and other adult guardians and then lose them in the system somewhere, keeping thousands of children for long periods of time in inhumane conditions. But when it seems that the official policy is to treat these children, many very young, cannot even talk and identify themselves, brutalized and traumatized by the machinations of the United States government, the brutality of the ICE and Border Control people, then we have gone beyond the pale.
     To think that the government had to be hauled into court and then argue in favor of their brutality is mind boggling. To insist that these children, kept in freezing cages, under permanent bright lights, without adquate food and water, clothing and adult care, leaving children to take care of children, is beyond words.
     There can be only one explanation for this. Break the child - break the parents. Suffer the children - suffer the parents. Kill the future - and change the present. Brutal. Beyond all acceptable limits. No one is suggesting Hilton Hotel standards - or perhaps we should place them in the Trump Hotels where business has fallen off! - but certainly there are minimum standards, particularly for innocents such as these children. They, for the most part, have no say other than to say yes and walk thousands of miles to the border, to the future, to the land of safety and possibilities, of education, safety, food - hope!
     Where does this brutality originate? It comes from the top. It comes from an administration whose top priority is money, profits, enrichment of self and family and friends. Kinda' like the family and friends discount, huh?! It comes from a President who is now not only accused of sexual harassment and perversion, but also of rape and his denial stems not from the fact that to be accused of rape, an awful deed, is bad enough, but to deny it not on the basis of morality, but that someone is "not my type" and lie that he never met her when there is a clear picture of a lovely chat, well, why then should the rest of official government be any better than the sleaze at the top?
     How do we explain to our own kids why the President and his henchmen are allowed to get away with alleged criminality, with violations of government protocols and security, refuse to cooperate with Congress and attempt to destroy the independence and functioning of the other two branches of government. Truth is, we cannot explain it away at all, yet here he is, here are his minions, all not denying any wrongdoing, but refusing to obey the law, refusing to testify, keeping a dark shroud over their deeds, this government and the entire country.
     The people of this country are hopefully finding their balance once more. The people of Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, who were promised the return of manufacturing jobs - which never happened , the truckers who have fewer loads to transport as tariffs and trade wars cut commerce, the farmers deep into environmental disasters and economic idiocy of the administration, the people who are tired, simply tired, of a madman, the erratic and unthinking, uncaring government, the lack of experience - all combine to lead us to hope that there will be a change come 2020. We sure as hell need that change.
     Enough of legislators running away - literally - from their jobs, allying with militias, unthinkable - with supposed adults, leaders of the country, behaving worse than children, refusing to admit wrongdoing, leaving behind all morality and operating purely on the fuel of selfishness and fear. Fear of losing their seat in office, of losing their pathhway to riches, to a cushy lobbying job, anything, but serving the people.
     Suffer the hldren? No! These parents are going against odds that would shatter msot of us, all to benefit their children and we need to recognize that. Wish to stop the tide? Then stem it at its sources by helping those countries establish a better economy, help the governments become responsive to the people, make a better life for the people there and they will not flood the borders here, if that is the goal. But never, ever, should we just shut the doors to our country as Trump and all haters wish, for new blood, new ideas, new energies, are all part and parcel of what does make America great and not the hatefilled chants of a mob. No more suffer the children. No more break the parents on the backs of the children. No more of this brutality. We should hang our heads in shame that this has been allowed and that there are actually those among us who think it right and proper. Who were the concentration camp guards? Need we look in the mirror?

MOTIVATIONS

    Do not know about you, but often, when reading the news, I wonder at why these people have done what they have. Whatever possessed them to mar an ancient site or bully a stranger or any number of unacceptable deeds. I wonder if they think before acting, or are acting on a dare, or just are naturally unthinking and worse, purposely cruel people.
     Apply that wondering to what makes people tick to the national leaders we now have. The story has just come out about how many of Trump's appointees were red flagged for security and behavioral issues. They were appointed anyway, and then had to resign for continuing this behavior. Hey, the President himself has behavior worthy of red flagging and I am curious as to the truth of that matter and if so, should he be sitting there in that office in the first place!! In fact, he who railed against the 'swamp'  of DC has managed to raise its level to flooding elevation. His motivations? Greed, egomania, megalomania, the chance to do harm to the country? The sky's the limit with this guy.
     However, perhaps if we tried to understand the motivations of people we might understand and be able to ward off the most egregious behavior. Do we really understand why people risk their lives and the lives of their children, their elderly parents they often carry on their backs, as they trudge through deserts, mountains, waterways, through heat and cold, thirst and hunger, always seeking a safer place than the one they left. Again, perhaps if we did understand or at least make an effort to understand, things might be better.
     People want to live. period. They want their families to be safe. They want to live a life of at least sustainability, of a degree of assurance and comfort, food secure, life secure and yet look around at the globe. So many places are not allowing this anymore. Be it environmental refugees or war refugees, domestic violence survivors, victims of roaming gangs and home grown militias, victims and refugees from economic impossibilities and deep and abiding hunger, of those fleeing political persecution and those seeking democracy, we need to understand their motivations.
     Two infants, a toddler and a young woman were found dead, dehydrated, at the border. Does anyone think that she attempted this trip on a lark, got up one morning and thought how wonderful a dangerous thousand mile trek like this would be, especially with babies, ad then set off?! Do the people fleeing the massacres in Syria, caught between Assad's cruel forces and the forces of Jihad who have usurped the opposition forces, do these people run for amusement or from desperation? Their motivvations are clear, and we might as well wonder about the motivations of those heroic White Hat volunteers who remain in the rubble, risking their lives as they seek to help others out of the rubble and fix their wounds.
     On the other hand, why do people kill? why does someone choose to run his car through throngs of people? Why does  a President praise "nice" people on the side of murderers and hateful bigots? Why does someone shoot up a church or synagogue or mosque? Why do we now have to have armed guards at the entryways to 'soft' targets. And why the hell are we at the brink of war, a war that will not limit its destruction to the Middle East, as bad as that is, but will inevitably spread to the rest of the world and the results will be disastrous.
    Why do we still have to battle for the point that all people are equal in their right to have rights!! Why are gains made in assuring these rights, in combating bias, now being endangered? Why are we rescinding the right to choose? Is it that peole want to see women die of drastic infections after desperate back alley abortions? Do they think that the need for abortions will die out? They will not, but the mortality rate will soar. What is the motivation and understanding here?
     Why is the Catholic Church embracing right wingers, rightists straight from the closet of fascism, in Europe and why is the Catholic diocese of Indianapolis threatening high schools if they do not fire a gay member of the faculty who has done nothing but be gay, just as G-d made him. G-d's motivation? Way above my pay grade but can we not all understand that people are people. Period.
     "No individual is defined by their worst moments." So says the lawyer for the Charlottesville killer. Perhaps there is a spark of goodness in all. Hitler loved his dogs, right?! But when evil is perpetrated, then it must be answered. Immediately and forcefully, no matter the form this evil takes. That is why I understand the motivations of the volunteers who stood ready yesterday to aid migrants fleeing from ICE and why they continue to stand ready. That is why I understand and admire those who go out there around the world to bring aid and succor to those in desperate need of it.
     Now maybe somebody will be able to explain to me the motivational thinking behind the weird behavior of Trump, the strange behavior of the public who seemed to have ignored the allegation of rape by Trump, a rape that was told about to a friend right after it happened. What is the motivation behind these screaming people shouting gleeful chants of hate in their dumb red hats even as their medical care is taken away, their food security threatened as their pay stays stagnant even as the fat cats increase theirs, as the crops rot in the fields because there are no pickers and no place to sell them anyway due to those damned tariffs. 
     Motivation: Save the country. Look deep within yourself, evaluate the news, wonder at why Republican legislators run away from fulfilling their duties and ally themselves with local militias!! Here in the USA!! We need to turn our country around. The need is clear. The motivation is clear and there is a clear and present danger. Let us all wake up before it is too late.

THE ICE CREAM TRUCK

     The other day I was driving home, stuck at a long light. Suddenly my eye was caught by a truck, one of those that take away dead cars, good only for scrap. Dragging along behind it was an ice cream truck. I began to wonder, to think, to imagine, the dreams that this truck had fulfilled. How many times did we or our kids and grandkids run swiftly, screaming about the ice cream truck and desperately needing money for it.
     Why was ice cream from the truck so much better than the ice cream in the freezer? Why did it signify so much in the lives of kids and in adults who had that itty bit of a kid left in them?
     My opinion? It was the dream it represented. It was the perfect image of enjoyment, of achieving a goal, of convincing one's parents - or oneself - that this would just hit the spot, be the cherry on top of the day's events. And so it was, and so it will always be, as long as there are ice cream trucks, as long as there are kids of all ages. But today, that poor ice cream truck had finished its role as a dream maker and a dream fulfiller.
     And I wondered, as I drove along, how many other dreams had been killed within us, within our hearts? How many dreams had we given up on and how had we fallen to such a level that we did not understand dreams any longer? Sad state of affairs. 
    I think our dreams are in jeopardy today because we are all angry, so angry. We wonder what could be taking us so long to fulfill the dreams of all, at least the realistic ones and even the ones that take a flying leap of faith? Why has there been a growth of grumpy people who refuse to dream any longer and who refuse to allow others to dream as well? When did we lose the ability, the desire, the understanding, the passion, to crawl into the skin of another and make an effort to understand, to feel the driving passions such as we forgot so long ago? When did we forget that we all need to simulate a walk in the shoes of others if we are to retain our humanity.
     It is when we become so ossified, that we treat others as objects, there to serve our purpose and to hell with them in any other way. It is when men think that women are there to serve them, have no rights. It is then that we turn on others trying to achieve at least a little of what we have, or certainly to facilitate the dream for their children or even just to survive!
     We mutter and say to each other that they should have stayed in their own country. I agree, for what a better world it would be if we were all able to remain in our homelands, build lives there for us and the future, live our dreams. As a character so wisely said in a book I just finished reading, "A homeland was a place of the heart, a place of memory and belonging. To lose it, to leave, to watch it dissolve into agony, to be coerced into exile - it was a severing of self."
     So yes, I wish all the refugees running for their lives, afraid of death by torture, of seeing their children kidnapped or killed in front of their eyes, all those fleeing starvation due to war and destruction or climate change that rich people refuse to accept, thinking their money will protect them and to hell with all others, of fleeing gang warfare and domestic violence, of running for their lives, for their dreams - they too wish they could remain in their homelands,but this is not meant to be.
     And now for the skin and mind and heart and souls and shoes of others. Go read a new book that writes of the ugliness of eugenics , of nasty prejudice, and the efforts made - successfully in much of he legislation - to keep out the untermensch - the Jews and Italians, the rifraff of eastern Europe. I cry when I think of how many people would have escaped the maw of the crematoria, the medical experiments of a mad Mengele and followers. I shudder when I think of those runing from the violence of Mafia ruled Sicily. I cringe when I think of even the Irish, fleeing famine, who were deemed good for naught other than digging huge ditches, of serving needs as servants and we had better not get started on Asians!! 
     These people were all forced to leave their homelands, to leave all behind - goods, family, traditions, roots - and start all over for the sake of dreams. Yes, dreams, and every single one of us got here to this country of dreams because some ancestor of ours had a dream, a need, a desperation, to leave a homeland and build a new life. Even slaves, indentured sevants, brought here against their will, had the possibility of dreaming, of trying to attain those dreams, and even die trying.
     Today's "migrants" are all refugees. The term migrant has become an epithet in the mouths of many, degrading those 'migrants' as less than human, as filthy and crime ridden, and here for nefarious purposes. No, they are not and they are no different than the wealthy of the world who buy up property here so they, too, could have a refuge, a place of dreams, a place of safety when their country, their homeland dissolves.
    So here is an image that might put it into perspective. Think of the illegal immigrants coming off the Mayflower and the ships that followed, invading the lands all up and down the east coast of this 'new' land, actually, not so new and belonging to others. These illegals needed space for freedom of religon, for rights as people, for dreams for their chdren, simply to survive in a world that made it impossible in the homeland. So on they came and the onlaught grew.
     Think of the illegal immigrants who indeed had selfish thoughts and motives when they moved into the land belonging to the country of Mexico, a sovereign state. These 'Texans' wanted land to expand, to set up a new and better life, and so on they came,illegally, unwanted, and never mind the land they stole from under the people already living there.
      Yes, we, the people of this country, were all or are descended from immigrants - migrants! We too had dirty, exhausted people in our own background who came to this country because they were being hounded to death or stifled in their dreams, were refusing to see their children starve, were tired of living under cruel despots, had lives destroyed by war and needed a new homeland. Our country was enriched by all this and we have so forgotten this. Are we all to appy the new ruligs and feelings to US? Think about it.
     We used to be taught that America was a melting pot, where all kept traditions, but also lent them to others, and we became a new breed upon this earth - Americans, unlike anyone else. We breathed free air, were allowed to dream, were allowed to dare to move up in society, were inspired to wish and hope for more for their kids, to see them become educated.
      "America, America, G-d shed His Grace on thee". We sing that song. We sing G-d Bless America, and we dare to think that G-d is on our side and perhaps He is, I hope He is, but G-d has not yet walked away from us, despite all that we have done to His creations. Would that we remember this. Would that we try on the skins and hearts and shoes of others and then bless the G-d that allowed a country such as this to exist, this great experiment which should be the mainstay of the right and proper of the world, but which has lost its way. Let us make sure that the dreams do not die, do not get dragged off to an ignominious death such as was awaiting that poor ice cream truck.

CHEWING FINGERNAILS

     Whenever we are afraid, worried, torn by indecision, overwhelmed by events, we tend to bring our hands to our mouths and then we bite. We mouth the fingers, bite the nails, chew those cuticles. Why? Who the hell knows, but the fact is - it happens. So now I am wondering if we and our fingers will survive the latest onslaught of can you believe it behavior from that dramatically insane and paranoid Demented Toddler.
     People used to tease and poke fun at George W. for his somewhat awkward sentence structure and tendency to repeat words, but the Demented Toddler has it all over him. In a phone interview with Hannity, the shill of the administration, the Demented One actually spoke in his own inimitable word salad fashion about being the victim of journalists and media personnel who gathered in dark rooms to discuss what word(s) to use to describe him. Huh! Do you think this is what they have time for, when in their otherwise busy lives they have to cover the war with Iran that this man is pushing us into, the cracking economy , going down due to tariffs which have already cost the taxpayer $22 billion dollars out of their pockets, the worsening air and water, the revolving door of appointees, the corruption of appointees, the incompetence of newly shoved through judges, and the horrible, awful and shameful behavior of our government with migrants they seize, the demonish manner in which they deal with the children.
     So chew those damned fingers. Watch your fingers bleed and simply look at it and think how our country is bleeding. We have a demonstrably insane and paranoid megalomaniac in office at a most critical time for the country, a toddler in man's clothing, who hates and despises all who are not his own blood or married to them, and a blusterer in chief who threatens like all bullies but when called on it, from the corner he has been backed into due to his own moronic and dangerous behavior and mouth, he then collapses, the wind out of the sails, the fake toughness gone and so back to where he feels safe - arrest and abuse those with no power to protect themselves.
     Read this and weep.  The Trump administration is arguing in court that it is allowed and acceptable and even desired that migrant children do not need basic sanitary items such as soap or toothbrush in order to be considered being held in sanitary conditions. Nor do they need a warm place to sleep so a stone cold floor with possibly a foil blanket is just fine. And to finesse the whole situation, just keep the bright lights on all night, all the better to simulate prison conditions, my dears.
     Weep for us, for our country, but most of all weep for these poor kids and their parents, weep for the humanity that has gone missing these days. Weep for the realization that we are returning to the past and while we are not yet holding slave laborers nor building chimneys, we are abusing in a most awful manner and how far away is more egregious behavior? Not far in my humble and frightened and horrified thinking.
     We are violating written and codified laws that expressly forbid arresting people as they show up for court matters. Yet, ICE ignores that as well, as they go after the parents, leaving behind the children who await parents in homes, at schools, at activities, as spouses await their partners only to have them disappear into the "nacht und nebel' of the Trump administration's ICE. More frightening than that, tell me how are there so many people who are willing to do this, to see children huddled in fear on a stone concrete floor, freezing, frightened, calling for mommy or daddy, or even being unable to verbalize due to fright or too young an age, not speaking yet. Think of the farcial system of justice when we are told that a two year old who cannot speak is asked if he wants a lawyer! Huh! The kid wants his mommy! Think of the harshness of the government that separated an 8 year old from his father who was then deported and now, finally, in order to return this poor child to his family, the governemnt assesses in its own inimitable wisdom that the kid is old enough to figure out how to get there and pay for it as well. Lovely!! Like telling a victim to pay his robber - but wait, did that not happen already in history, when Jews were constantlyfined by rulers, when the Nazis forced the Jews of Germany to pay the costs of Krystalnacht when they were the victims!!!!!
     Are your fingers bloody yet? Better your fingers than the entire nation. In fact, as far as I am concerned, the only way to stop this new bloody habit is to get rid of this man, out of office, perhaps in a nice cushy insane asylum, or maybe a taste of his own medicine, sleeping on a cold concrete floor, lights on brightly, 24/7, and okay, a foil blanket, kid size, but no other sanitary utensils. Ahh, such an image!
     Why have we reached this point? Because we thought it was funny, the dementia, the word salad, the blustering, the self praise, the constant return to past issues that were never really there anyway, the most ridiculous lies and the lies on top of that. We thought it was funny when he paraded in with his advisers from his family and now we even have that spoiled chip, Junior, trotting the world, acting as an official representative of the President!! But it is not funny. Ask Kashoggi, ask the victims of his awful policies, ask the immigrants who only want what we and our ancestors did and do, ask any decent human being, that is if you can find one as most of us are in hiding and mourning for our once bright and shining Camelot.
     Chew, baby, chew and then maybe think, baby, think and perhaps we can then organize ourselves and truly figure out the best way to short circuit his current term in office through whatever legal means available, or work all that much harder to organize political opposition and a victory in the elections. Time to be America and Americans once more. Time to grow up and drop that ugly habit. I wonder, though, I really do....

WHERE TO BEGIN? WHERE TO END?

     At times I am flabbergasted by events and by statements from people. It seems that every time lately, I unfortunately receive confirmation of thoughts of mine and I so wish this were not true. Every time I think that Trump et al have hit bottom, they just go on to even worse.
     Remember back to when you were a kid and were jealous of the time your best buddy spent with others, but then hopefully you outgrew it? Well, it seems the Demented Toddler remains mired in the muck of his infantile emotions and guess who he is jealous of? He wants there to be a new Three Musketeers - Trump, Kim, and Xi and he is oh so hurt when the two others speak and play so nicely together, leaving him out in the cold. So sad..... so dangerous.
     Or then we have the schoolyard taunts of "Oh, yeah? Well mine is bigger, better, stronger than yours"? Well, Demented Toddler over there in DC has a tad more dangerous weapons at his fingertips - literally - and listen to this statement from the Defense Department and then go hide somewhere, or cry and then join the fight to get our country back from the depths of hell it now finds itself.The Pentagon believes using nuclear weapons could “create conditions for decisive results and the restoration of strategic stability”, according to a new nuclear doctrine adopted by the US joint chiefs of staff last week.  Do not know about you, but it scares the living daylights out of me. Add to the devilish mixture the eyes of newt that is Iran and dig that hideaway deeper!What is one to do when it seems the whole world has gone nuts and is not displaying any idea or feeling or understanding of what the hell they are doing and causing.
     Perhaps then it is best that we now begin to openly acknowledge that oh yes, there is life out there. There has now been a closed door meeting with Senators about these unknown UFOs and I must confess, I do have a deep down wish tht one of them would fly to DC, sneak in with a skinny ray, and beam someone up to wherever the hell they live! Ah, wishful thinking, but then again, what would they think of earthlings then if this were to be an example of the human race? I shudder at the thought. But seriously, what really is out there? I think there is definitely something - but what and friendly or not? Perhaps a free weekend at the Washington Trump Hotel might soften them up and they will play nice with us. Maybe. Could be. (LOL)
     And now the Toddler has moved on, tired of his threats meaning and doing nothing with Maduro, the only dictator he did not take to, so this issue is over with and I guess the people of Venezuela had just better get used to living in chaos, no medicines, no food, no order in the chaos and no hope. Oh well, c'est la vie according to the Demented Toddler.
    We also must not forget the increasing turn to violence and overt fascism in the drive to imitate Hitler and all others who hate 'others'. To add pepper to the mixture, to add more tears to the immigrants now being chased from pillar to post, the target of ICE now appears to be families. That'll teach them! How dare they try to save their kids from slaughter, from being impressed like sailors of old into gangs, into a drugged life? How dare they hope to go together and build a life together, working, educating, building businesses, building America? Such an untenable wish. So thinks the Demented Toddler and his minions in ICE and guess they have found enough hard hearted and cruel people to fill the roles of enforcers, blind and cold to the tears, the screams, the children's fears, the hopelessness they bring.
     By the way, should you happen to be wearing rose colored glasses, hoping that things will 'work out', let me bust those lenses for you. A judge has stated that oh yeah, there is a lot of political motivation and shenanigans with the census question re citizenship and not nice ones either. Why, phsaw, how could we actually believe that the Republicans had nefarious motives? How could we possibly think they wished to deprive so many of their rights? Silly us! Silly me!
     And just to make sure that future issues of budget and personnel remain weighted for Trump, he now wants to close the Office of Personnel Management, the agency that investigates possible Federal appointees and workers and if Congress will not obey - OBEY! - his demands, why then he is simply going to fire 150 workers. So there! That will teach them! Nothing like a spot of good old fashioned blackmail and could care less attitude about others and this administration is so good at that!
     This administration is covered with black goo, all the better to hide its criminal and amoral behavior. The Republican Party has roiled the grave of Lincoln, tossed Eisenhower's fears of the industrial/military complex right back at him as it regrows quite healthily.  Denial of voting rights, freedom of the press, including demonization of the media, are just doing so well and aren't you so proud of yourself and the paths we have allowed that Demented Toddler to forge for us - right into the depths of hell.
     So in closing, after seeing forecasts and statements and fears of mine coming true or well on their way to doing so, read this passage from a book and then think hard and tell me - are we not already there in great part and well on the way to completing it. I am scared from the top of my head to my tippy toes and so you should be too, no matter where you live or whom you support or even your country, for this garbage, this dangerous attitude, these horrific plans will affect one and all as the evil winds of it blow through the atmosphere and poison the very air we breathe. We are here or well on the way of getting there.
     " ...human rights record been rated one of the world's worst: a repressive ruling elite maintained the forms of due process without a corresponding legitimacy. An unjust judicial system was deeply politicized, the organs of the state rife with corruption, the forces of law and order militarized. The state's enemies were reformists, intellectuals, students, teachers, lawyers, journalists, union leaders, women's rights groups, artists, filmmakers and musicians. The prison system was designed to stamp out any impetus for change."
      So if we were to draw a line from start to finish in this description, how far along would we be and will we be under the thumb of the Demented Toddler who is plumping for an extended term and then Ruler for Life!! Think. Hard. Long. Deep. Honestly. 
     

IT'S THE LIES!

     I despise liars. They are cowards. And yes, tell someone they look good in their favorite outfit even if you disagree. That is a harmless and kind lie, a white lie, but the lies that we have been beaten over the head with, those lies - they are beyond all boundaries of any possible acceptance. No, I am not a Pollyanna who thinks that politicians do not lie. But these lies, these egregious and nasty lies, these dangerous lies - gotta' go, man, gotta' go!!
     Here is a question I address to the evangelical crowds, any religious crowd who pride themselves on their morals, on their sexual boundaries, on the values they place on truth and justice, on following the Biblical injunction of welcoming the stranger into their mdist. Where the hell have you been and why are you where you are now?
     In any job with a clause allowing for firing due to moral turpitude, this man would have lost his job many, many moons ago! In fact, he never should have gotten the job in the first place. How did you ever get over your so called beliefs after this man confessed to shameful behaviors, hush money bribes, his serial cheating on wives, and his disgusting language when referring to women? How?
     How did you get past the lies and no, do not say that he has not lied or that he is just a showman so he is allowed to lie. We are in the midst of an environmental crisis, air pollution growing again, water purity endangered, filthy industries encouraged once more instead of looking for better ways, regulations cut that would have insured the safety and well being of our country and its citizens and even the world. We are on the brink of war with more countries than can be named. China, Iran, cyberwar with Russia - after the so called president accepted their help and sees nothing wrong in it. We have a president who insults his own citizens and intelligence agencies, proclaims love for dictators, encourages statements and atmospheres of hatred and racial bias, and is threatening the recovery begun under Obama with his insane tariff wars. Remember, too, that wages have not kept pace, indeed, have even declined in areas so exactly whose recovery is this? And about it all - he lies. How do you tolerate this?
     The hypocrisy of the Republican Party is unbelievable. Rubio suddenly backs Trump at his Orlando show when he supposedly opposes him in important areas? Feh!!!!! The Republican party has lost all credibility with so many people for this moral failure, the same moral failure that religious people have fallen into as they disregard their strong points in order to vote for the man who encourages hatred and nastiness ansd lies and lies and lies.
     The Orlando Sentinel yesterday came out with an amazing editorial wherein they said they will endorse anyone - ANYONE - who runs against Trump for we have had enough. The existential threat this man poses is not to be ignored. Their statement that truly makes the point? Here: "Enough of the chaos, the division, the schoolyard insults, the self aggrandizement, the corruption, and especially the lies. So many lies - from white lies to whoppers - told out of ignorance, of laziness, recklessness, expediency, or opportunity,".
     He encourages chants against the media, challenging freedom and independence of the press, curses them out as enemies of the people - and at least CNN had the decency and the courage to tune him out when he started with them. The more we tune him out, the better! And here is a chilling figure. There are estimated - by them- to be 11 million illegal immigrants here and they intend to chase them down like rats and throw them away over the border, never mind the productive lives these many people have lived, helping our economy, sending their brightest to college and after they enter into professions such as doctors, scientists, researchers, economic personnel, businesspeople, and on and on. Want another 11 million people figure? Here ya' go! There were 11 milion people slaughtered in the concentration camps of Nazi Germany. Eeerie parallelism. And the head of ICE is already making excuses why it is right that people do this, chase people, throw them out and away! Fascism!!! Nothing else but and just you wait, all of you who do not protest this shameful and sinful, yes, sinful, behavior and actions.
     One more thought to chew over and see if you can shift over from the positions you have taken till now.
     Revelation 21:8    "All liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone."
   

NO NO NO A THOUSAND TIMES NO!!!!!

     No!!! No!!! It cannot be. More, it cannot be allowed. Not here in America. Not here or anywhere in the year 2019. Have we not yet learned anything at all from history? Are we perpetually doomed to fall to the lowest common denominator of mankind, the urge, the demand, to single out some group and go after them like the fox in a British hunt? What is the matter with us?
   

President Trump said in a tweet Monday night that U.S. immigration agents are planning to make mass arrests starting “next week,” an apparent reference to a plan in preparation for months that aims to round up thousands of migrant parents and children in a blitz operation across major U.S. cities.

“Next week ICE will begin the process of removing the millions of illegal aliens who have illicitly found their way into the United States,” Trump wrote, referring to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. “They will be removed as fast as they come in.”

     As soon as I saw that story, the "millions of aliens', the mass immigration raids, I immediately flashed over to the supposed foreigners, Polish Jews in Germany, or non French Jews in Paris and elsewhere in France, to Rohingya, to Tutsi and the sad fact of the matter is that we can continue to list more and more, for apparently we have learned nothing! Nothing!! 
     If this madman, this hater of humanity and his just as guilty aides and personnel who agree to do this, to rip families out of homes, to separate families, to inevitably make grievious errors as to whom is 'illegal' or not, if this evil man goes through with it, then it is incumbent upon every single decent human being to stand in protest, to raise the roof, to lock arms, to demand that this stop! Now!! Even before it is planned for the start of it next week.
     The hate that emanates from this man is contagious and invasive. Teens are empowered, they think, to spew hatred on the various websites and media posting sites. Two years later they regret it but the damage is done for nothing disappears and youthful indiscretions remain to haunt their lives forever. But this man, nothing seems to bother him, finding 'nice' people in the ranks of the haters, instigating a hatred of the 'other' that has been the downfall of mankind, for unless we realize we are all in this together, we are doomed to fall separately.
     And what happens when all these migrants and immigrants are rounded up like cattle, shoved into trucks, boxcars, marched off to places of incarceration, left hungry, cold, children neglected and dying, important jobs in the economy left unfilled, crops going unpicked, roofing jobs left undone, small businesses crippled for lack of patrons? What happens? You see, all are interlinked and even if one cannot see clearly that this is a crisis of humanity, then look at it with cold hard eyes of economic consequences, add to that the tariffs which arise from the same dark and stinking well of hatred, and realize where we will be and just exactly what we are doing.
     Finally, when all are rounded up will that be the end? NO, never, for hatred eats up all in its path. There always will need to be a group suitable for scapegoating and so who will be next? Take your choice? Take two. The more the merrier?!
    We, the people of this country, have allowed this to happen. We have stood by and let this man perpetrate one bizarre act after another and begin to dismember our framework as a democracy. We have allowed prejudice to become okay, even cheered. We have allowed this man to corrupt the government so much that it works as his personal corps of servants rather than serving the people. The Republican party has lost its soul and the Democratic Party dithers the days away. We have become enured to nastiness, to outrage, to idiocy, to lies to such a degree that one thing surpasses the next and we yawn and go on as if nothing has changed.
     Well, it has changed, drastically and I wait and wait for people to wake up. Those who say he is "the best thing for Israel' well, wake up. Israel is not invited to the Bahrain conference so what, another attempt to impose a "deal" on Israel, to usurp its rights as a country just like any other country? The answer - yes, for Trump et al could care less about Israel other than how it best serves his needs, his wishes, his desires. As for the rest - go to hell is his motto.
     This man who says openly that he "runs the country", that he believes all want him to add two more years onto his term in office and then serve another term and then - Ruler for Life, this man is that existential threat to us as a country, a clear pathway to disaster upon the face of this world.
     People, he lies, he swears, he lies some more, makes up stories, is sending pictures through to support his determination to wage a horrible war on Iran with nuclear shadows growing larger and more ominous by the hour and who can believe his pictures, the "proof" of a liar and his abetters?
     Time to protest in force. Jokes by late nite TV hosts are not enough. He truly is not a lauging matter,  as ignorant, moronic, nasty, dangerous, threatening, insane are more likely adjectives. We must demand that this plan for next week be aborted and remember - who is next? 
     Do not think that we will be only sending the black and brown people away for understand that among those multitudes will be 'white' people as well from so many different countries. There are no hard and fast rules in situations like this, only the promise of danger, of death, of growth of an active hatred, and a fright that should permeate your very being. Dear Lord, we need help.

THE CHOICES YOU MAKE

     .....shape the rest of your life. So goes the song from A Bronx Tale, a modern day version of Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story. It was fun, enjoyable, heartwrenching and choices were clear, even simplistic, so that anyone could understand. but that was not the point nor crux of the matter. That was the fact that we need to realize that the choices we do make , in fact, do shape the rest of our lives, one way or another. There are consequences to our deeds, to our decisions.
     In the upside-down world of today we tend to forget that simple maxim. We think that anything we say or do can be unsaid, erased as a crazy tweet can be erased and it 'never' existed. However, it is actually the opposite and today what one does, what one says, is there. Period. One bad side to this is that kids today can do the same stupid and thoughtless things kids have been doing since the adolescence of the first teen, but once, they could be lost in the fog of time while today, forget that, as the world of the clouds contain and remember it all. Sad news for the kids and sad news for others as well.
     We have a terrible twos toddler in the White House today and all the parents and babysitters for this toddler seem to be unable to control him, to tame him. They allow this spoiled infant the room and the words to do as he wishes and as he reminds them constantly, he "runs the country". They bow before him and forget that the decisions they make, the choices they take will haunt them forever.
     In the face of the most egregiously evil and dangerous behavior, these Senators, these Representatives, these National Committee members, refuse to speak out and up in public. Condemning one in private counts for naught. The only one who has the courage to fully out and outright condemn that toddler is Justin Amash and for his troubles, he has become the target of a "smash Amash" campaign, cheered on by guess who!! The very same moron who calls Prince William the Prince of Whales!!!! Sorry, Prince William is not Aquaman and only belongs to Wales and not the sea!
     Seriously though, the toddler is an inveterate liar and trashes and crashes and crushes all in his way. His interview with Stephanopolous was telling in the extreme, as he outright okayed treason as he said he would allow and accept aid and info from foreign sources, a major no-no very clearly stated as such. Did the Republicans rise up and condemn this traitor? Nope. Still seeking what to fill their pants with and still unsuccessful. Their bank accounts of courage, honesty, and morality were emptied and never refilled.
     We have the choices of the toddler who makes  a ridiculous claim that the market would be 10,000 points higher if he were allowed free reign. He tries to hide the results of polls that are so unfavorable to him, but the choice to have the polls in the first place, make that impossible. The corruption rife within the administration with all there either enriching themselves or their friends, including Ivanka, you know, that dedicated daughter who made $4 million dollars from  the Trump Washington Hotel but oh no, no violation of ethics here! No violation of ethics when the Hatch Act is violated. Nope. 
     No violation when the man openly claims that he has a right, a RIGHT!!! to extend his term for two more years and then serve another term and by then he would indulge his favorite wish, to become the dictator of the USA, the Ruler for Life, as his favorite tyrants of the world have become in their own countries.
     His constant lies have brought us to the point where no one of consequence believes or trust him, including foreign leaders and his wolf howling over Iran is just that or is it? But who the hell knows and who knows what to believe. The man lies through his teeth, the same teeth that are chewing down his fast food as fast as he can shove it in, and his bloat of body and soul continue. Unfortunately, these bloats are affecting the country negatively and we, too, must make a choice, many choices, some very difficult choices.
     There are so many problems that need choices. The cost of medicine and I know that first hand, even under Medicare. I half seriously always joke with my spouse that we cannot afford me! No joke, though. The state of our infrastructure. The dismal state of our educational system and DeVos is a huge part of the problem at this point. The tariff and trade war this man has instigated and the feelings he has dangerously ruffled all over the world. The immigration issues and now I see that we have a new group moving over here, from Central Africa, chased by violence and political chaos and danger in their homelands. What about helping to stabilize their world - and ours - no go with the Toddler. The lack of trust between us and our allies, or who used to be our allies. The lack of any American values and traditions in the White House any longer.
     All these issues and more, need choices, difficult choices and we are nowhere close to making them as the Liar and the Outlaw of the White House chews through the defenses of the Constitution, of American values and ethics, of our striving to move always to a better place.
     Like it or not, people, Trump and his minions are existential threats to our country, to the world, our very physical existence as the environment runs quickly to the point of no return. The choices? Impeach? Bring him up on charges? Article 25 him? Let him run out his term and vote him and his out, a temporary aberration of the America people and their creaky Electoral College system? Prepare to use force to get him to leave the White House for any of the above reasons? 
     Where are we going and what are we doing? These choices are frightening, the consequences frightening but we must gin up the courage to do them, to take the steps we must. What are we not doing? What choices are we avoiding? Tough questions and even tougher answers. Tough environment but we need to fix it and reshape the rest of our lives in a positive and American manner.
    Here is a quote from Georgia O'Keefe that might help.
     "I've been absolutely terrified every moment of my life - and I've never let it keep me from doing a single thing I wanted to do."  Read again and again and again and take heart. We can do this. We must do this.

WAR

    The question is posed: "War! What is it good for?" An answer is quickly forthcoming: "Absolutely nothing!" Yet over the millenia, ever since that first caveman picked up a club and hit his neighbor over the head in a war to win the best mate, or the best hunting ground, war has been an integral part of mankind's life on this earth. Yet again, the next year or the next generation would pick up a better club and/or come with a gang and repeat the process. What was gained? Beats me and beats the history of mankind.
     Back to Bibical times, the Bible tells us there are two kinds of wars: that which must be fought, to defend oneself, to right a true wrong, and the other type, the selfish one, that which goes to gaining power or control. There are rules as to who can go to war, who can be placed in positions of danger, and how to treat captives, way before the Geneva Convention!!
     Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, "Wars are poor chisels for carving out peaceful tomorrows." Think of the wars in which we have been involved since the end of WWII, a war which had to be fought against the inhumanity of Nazi Germany, fought to protect mankind. Yet almost every war after that was entered into through lack of talk, because of power plays, due to lies and trickery, and because of a lack of knowing what else to do in order to get a point across. What has been gained? Are we done with the Taliban in Afghanistan? Are we done with al Quaeda? Have we finished with the Islamic Caliphate? Have we done away with white supremacy and nativism all over the world? The answer is singular and applies to all - NO!
     It seems that the wars we should be fighting - the war on poverty, the war against hatred and prejudice, the war to gain equality for all, the war to recognize the humanity of all kinds and sorts of people, the war to fix our shattered environment - these are the wars we should be fighting. Instead, we are back to fighting things that should have been long done away with.
     We all thought we had come a long way on the road of recognizing the humanity of all. LGBTQ were accepted, allowed to marry, adopt children, fight in defense of their countries but once again we are back to the Middle Ages - no, not so far back even, right back to the 70's and 80's. Why? Why have we waged this backward war - again! 
     We are waging war on the mere thought of equality for genders, attacking the whole concept of equal pay, equal rights, and not just here, but all over the world. Once again we are attacking the right of women to control their own body, to make their own decision and not have someone else, men especially, tell them what they can and cannot do! We are hearing protests about federal funds paying for abortions but then again, do we hear the protests about Viagra and other sex drugs for men being paid for by federal funds? Nope. We are hearing once again, the Nazi theme of 'kinder, kirch, kuche - children, the kitchen and church - as the proper roles and places for women.
     Once again, thanks to the physical coward, Trump, and his crazy warlike behavior and actions, the world once again is at the brink and this time, I fear it will not end as do and did other wars, for we have madmen running the countries, madmen who seemingly have no  limits, no sense and no caring for mankind at all. So Trump starts a tariff war that is threatening the whole world and then grows indignant when other countries then place tariffs on us, as just did India. His hatred and nativism, his backing of white supremacists, his allowing the scum of the earth to surface and feel safe once again, and his constant belligerent mouth and actions are going to bring us to the point of mass salughter. War, once initiated, is not so easy to limit or stop. This time we have madmen with access to nuclear war via nuclear missiles and so what, do we now dig out the backyard bomb shelters and stock water and MREs in public shelters and to what avail? Against nuclear war? Perhaps we should once again engage in that idiocy of nuclear war drills where as kids we were told to hide under our desks!! What malarkey!!
    If we feel that we must engage in war, then let us wage the right war, on that which separates us, that which we forget, that which makes us time and time again revert to force and the culture of power. Why can we not rather encourage the power of culture, of civilization, and put down those Neanderthal clubs, put down the hate literature, put away the assault weapons, open up hearts and minds to what is right and proper for the future of mankind. Sure as shootin' it sure will not be assured via violent war. 
    War? What is it good for? Only to reinforce the ugly, the bad, the violent, to leave seeds for future dissonance and violence.We need to think of other ways and soon before it is too late.
     

WELL, THERE YA' GO!!

     Is there an end to this seemingly eternal nonsense of the worst type? Is there no end to the gall, the chutzpah, or the plain lack of any morals whatsoever? I am beginning to doubt this as I sit and read the overnight news and an analysis or two. It is almost with a saddened sigh that I mumble to myself, "Well, there ya' go again."
     How many more egregious violations of the rules - of the law - do we need to finally make the figuratively blind and deaf understand what they are missing, what dangerous edge they are on. The other day the protective covering of one of those glass tourist ledges cracked as people were standing on it. Well, that protective covering over our democracy has long ago cracked and the very basis or foundation it was supposed to be protecting is in dire danger - as are the people of this country standing on it!
     I hate lies. I hate people telling lies. I think it debases both liar and the one to whom the lie was told. It is an inference from the liar that the others are too stupid to recognize a lie right in front of them. It shreds the bonds of trust, the same bonds that we are supposed to have as we run this country. We have, by now, reached the point in this country, that we cannot believe a single word the President or his minions utter.
     Kellyanne Conway, a liar of first class dimension, a violator of the Hatch Act which forbids administration people from political activity, lies through her bloody teeth, blood stained with the lifeblood of our country. Sarah Huckabee Sanders is called a hero by the chief liar, Trump, as she leaves office and then, believe it or not, says she is not ruling out running for office. Terrific! Just what we need. Another frigging liar in office.
      And then we have the lies that are really existential threats. It is one thing when Trump states that farmers and ranchers were crying like babies - they were not crying nor laughing, just clapping - when he signed a ruinous water bill. The proof was in the pudding of the pictures of the moment, but on he lies! But the latest "proof" offered to show that Iran is removing a mine from a ship's hull, blurry and difficult pictures to interpret, well, remember the proof of the attack in the Tonkin Gulf that really blasted us into full war in Vietnam? The lie that it proved to be. Well, history does repeat and I, for one, do not believe a word this administration says nor the proof it purports it has. They lie through their teeth when pictures prove them wrong, so why do I believe anything they say or show? And the consequences are horrific as they seem to push us every day in every way further along on a warpath, a terrifying prospect when one thinks of the weapons and the madmen running both countries.
     When and where do we finally call a halt to this? When and where do we say - there ya' go again and finally there is a nod of understanding among the formerly deaf and blind who now see and understand the peril that Trump has led us into. When? Why not now? I truly fear lest the point of awakening be far too late, past the point of no return, and we, America as it was, as it should be, as it was struggling to be, is and will be no more.
     So a major business indicator has now tanked. Tariffs and threats rule the day. The market is wildly variable, untrustworthy. New laws are passed which again, target the poor guy, the middle class guy who manged to save a bit to pass on to his/her kids. Candidates seem more interested in screaming and gaining attention than in defining themselves, the country and where we need to go. We hear remarks of age, of gender, of orientation, on broad categorizations, but we hear very little of the words trust, trustworthy, honest, sane, transparent, capability, loyalty and patriotism of the true kind, and  very few details of plans and platforms.
     Megan Rapinoe, star of the Women's Ntional Soccer Team that will hopefully kick ass, stands at proper attention in silence, when the National Anthem is sung. She does not kneel. She does not showboat. But she also does not sing the words. "The anthem is 'a somber moment' for a 'peaceful protest' of inequality and injustice throughout the United States." Think about that. Think again and again. The United States that we knew growing up, that we saw progress, the country that we know needs to further improve - that country is no more. It is turning into a country that is turning in its democratic principles for a sad return of cowardice, moral weakness, stupidity and cupidity, of derogatory treatment of all 'others' and that includes women as well , and I, for one agree with Rapinoe and I, who loves this country, I, too, have stopped singing the anthem for this is no longer the country in which I took such pride, no longer the country which welcomed my grandparents and great grandparents, no longer the country that provided refuge for those who needed it, hope for those drained of it, a future for those lacking it. Where is that country? Well, there ya' go - it is passing us on the wrong side of the street. Wave goodbye,quick, before it is too late. Perhaps we can signal it and get it back on the right side and then, then I will open wide and sing out with pride.
      Finally, go women!! Soccer team rules! 

ARE BARBRA AND DONNA CORRECT?

          A wonderful duet for the song Enough is Enough was sung by these two talented women. They had enough of dealing with a miserable man and isn't that coincidental as we, too, have had enough from a miserable man. Theirs had no name but ours does - Donald Trump.
     I wonder where the line will be finally drawn. I wonder when the Republicans will stop their blind adoration or commitment to their ostensible leader and recognize his true nakedness, his true malevolent personality and behavior. I wonder when or even if they will find the courage, the moral strength to deny him and his lies,his ugliness of speech and mouth, his nasty behavior, indeed his bizarre behavior and state out loud that the man is a danger to himself and to the United States and needs to be committed.
     Time and time again he has gotten away with 'murder' in the figurative sense, though if one wishes to stretch the point a tad, the deaths of those migrant kids are upon him for he instigated the inhumane attitudes and polices of the Border people that led to these deaths and who the hell knows if there is a larger number being hidden.
     His mouth and his conduct have become more and more bizarre, way out of the norm and yet what would have brought down other governmental figures is just glossed over by members of his Party and on the man goes. His interview with Anderson Cooper just about blew me away. Here the man shouts at anyone who will listen and in fact, to anyone who won't, that he is innocent of collusion and now we can understand why he might say that. If a foreign power were to come to his aid with 'info' on an opponent, he not only would take it, and use it, but sees nothing wrong in it, allowing foreign interference in our most sacred rite, but also sees no reason to go to the FBI with it. Huh!! So of course there was no collusion as he took the contacts and the info from the Russians in the previous campaign.
     At that moment, he should have been arrested and charged with treason and/or collusion and definitely insanity! Again, if that man were to be given a true test of mental stability and sanity, given a PET scan of the brain, conclusive proof would be right there that under Article 25 he is unable to carry out the duties and responsibilities of his office. Period!! And I just love when he accuses Biden and others of being weak and sick, of hiding health issues as he obviously deflects his issues onto others.
     The latest touch in the filth and corruption of this administration, of blatant exposure of racial hatred, of fascistic tendencies is the horrific Census question of citizenship. It is tied up in knots with gerrymandering and keeping the Republican party in control in states and in the Senate, destroying the Voting Rights Act as they illegally and falsely take away voting rights of many, especially minorities, and with a deep and nasty motivation kept secret for as long as possible but as I have always said - the truth will out - and the putridness of it all, the nastiness of it all, is pouring out.
     Enough is Enough!! So they sang and so too should we sing. The hatred and divisiveness he has brought to our country, the danger he has caused and is continuing to cause to the existential state of the world in the very near future, his moral perversions, the constant lies, so many that the White House Correspondents Association is taking official steps to fight back to the lies they are told and the lies they are forced to bring to the public. Never before have we reached this point. Never! Certainly rings the bells of danger, does it not?
     I, and many others, are tired of this, angry, depressed, agitated for the future. We are wondering constantly how so many are so blind and deaf to the rumbles of fascism coming out of Washington, to the stench of corruption and moral turpitude emanating from this administration.
     Enough is Enough! Enough!!!

POTPOURRI

     Take a look around you and value what you see. I think that sometimes we forget the little, allowing it to become lost in the whirlwind of life today and doubly forget that the 'litle' is actually the big stuff of life.
     We just came off a week marking the graduation of a grandchild, a visit to a daughter, meeting and greeting old and new friends, and the simple happy moment of being able to take a short walk on a beautiful day, holding hands and enjoying the beautiful flowers and plantings. Top it off with calls from the other kids and grandkids and one has a perfect week. Oh, and must not forget the birthday cake finished with whipped cream and the yummy trifle made as a gift for a birthday. Sometimes one can feel that the cup indeed doth runneth over - with good stuff.
     But unfortunately, the other side of life has the ability to butt in, to smear the good and try to diminish it. We are at a serious place on the scale of losing liberties that Americans have taken for granted and thus do not understand the danger signs, believing they are safe for all eternity. They are not! It is then that the potpourri begins to emit a nasty odor as the materials begin to rot.
     During the early reign of Hitler the Reichstag basically voted itself out of life, becoming a rubberstamp for the dictats of Hitler and aided and abetted the downslide of Germany into the worst murderers in the history of mankind. Whether one believes it or not, or wants to believe it or not, our Senate at this point has done the same thing and the House was going straight there until the Democratic Party won it back, though they are stymied by the inaction of the Senators. 
    As a 'reward' for this, we have gotten prime time entertainment 24/7/365 from the President. In the midst of deeply emotional and significant moments, he finds the times and the interest to denigrate his opponents, getting into feuds with them, carrying on over Twitter, and just disgracing himself and our country. We have one part of government taking off after another, or ignoring the misdeeds of the other and its Secretary of the moment. We have incestuous relations between the executive branch and the legislative branch, with corruption right there in the open. Elaine Chao, the corrupt Secretary of Transportation, hears the whine of her husband, the pathetic tool of Trump in the Senate, as he says he needs more projects in Kentucky, and appoints a special liasion to Kentucky to work with them on grants, but oh, there was nothing nefarious here. No, just ask them!!
     We have allowed the fresh aromas of new potpourri to mix withthe stench of the rotting one that needs to be thrown out and do not even understand how deeply we have bought into the corruption of the reeking potpourri. The Southern Baptists, perhaps ashamed at the image they have gotten as they did nothing to change the sexual abuse going on in their churches, now vote to expel churches that have not tackled this problem. But wait!!! The stench grows. How can they then support the biggest and most famous pervert in the history of our Presidency? How can they then support a man who is the epitome of moral perversion in as many areas as one can think of. And thus, the potpourri degenerates into a reeking and stagnant mess.
    So perhaps we need to wake up and not smell the coffee, but smell the rotting potpourri and understand that the rot will overwhelm the aromas, and all that we treasure, all the little and the big joys of life will go under, buried under the rotting leaves and flowers. Think about that the next time you refill your potpourri bowl. Next time you trash the rotting and reeking bowl, think about how it is so necessary that we trash the rotting leaves of governmental potpourri and vote them out, trash their 'privileges'. Refill the bowl with the aromas of liberty, of justice, of fair play, of environmental concern, of humanity, of hope rather than despair.

MITLAIFER

     No, I did not lose my mind nor create a word. This is a German word which essentially describes someone who really is a zombie within society. This person goes through life not caring about anything or anyone else other than himself and perhaps his family, and not sure about that.
     So why write about this now? Because this term was used to describe those of the German society, the Austrian society, in fact any society during Nazi times who simply went through life in a fog, not supporting the Nazis actively, but going through life simply not caring, not expressing any resistance to its horrors, its evils. Their silence allowed the Nazi regime to gain the upper hand. Their silence allowed their children to buy into the flags, the music, the uniforms, and the Power!! Think how if one million Germans had stood up against the growth of Hitler what the results might have been. 
     So why now? Because, my friends, like it or not, wishing to deny it or not, we are living in a society that is comparable to that of interregnum Germany, between the two wars. We have allowed and are continuing to allow the Demented One, the Evil One, to gather more reins of power in his hot little hands just as Hitler was allowed. Society wrote off the unimaginable deeds and statements often enough so that each bit of craziness just became part of it, and nothing became beyond the pale.
     Now think of today. How many things have we allowed to happen that would have brought down any other presidency? Why do we allow this? Is it that he has charisma? I do not think so. Is it because it is the way to save our democracy? Certainly not, for there are deep and dirty strains of an imperialistic government here. Is it because charity and caring are the words of the day? NO!!! We are destroying the lives, sometimes literally, of people who are simply different . Thinking immigrants? Well, think more, for we have begun to renege on the rights of other 'different' kinds. LGBTQ rights as people, women, as people of equality with men in all spheres, and the list grows daily. 
     This man and his crooked aides inspire hatred within people such as I have not seen before. He also somehow manages to hoodwink otherwise intelligent people to follow him despite the fact that they acknowledge his peccadillos. But they simply do not care, have never cared  and the majority seem to have become mitlaifers. Some have voted before, but are worn out now or simply say to leave them alone. What is more frightening is how many of the younger first time voters are opting out, tired of the whole stinking mess the older generations have created or allowed to grow.
     We need to pay more attention not so much to that dangerous and evil man, but to gaining an inroad into the mitlaifers of our society, to open their eyes to what is happening and their role in that, their responsibilities.
     On the way to catch a plane so I will close today's posting here, but with a recommendation for a book that will open your eyes, cause you to shiver and shake with a realization that history can and does repeat itself unless we are alert to prevent it, the bad stuff. It is not a book of horrors, of fantasy, but a story, based on a true story, of what happens to society if not enough care. The book is Resistance Women. Run to the bookstore, to Amazon, to the library and read it. Now. Or we will not have a tomorrow.