THE UGLINESS OF IT ALL

    It is all just so ugly. People who should have a sense of dignity, understand the importance of responsibility incurred through their positions in government, are the very same people who shame us, the people of America, in the world's eyes.
     It was ugly, watching the faces that looked almost demented as they waved arms around and shouted and made faces during the Committee hearings. There was no attempt on the part of Republicans to get to the truth, to listen to the proof, only the same, yes, frenzied, attempts to back up Trump no matter how egregious his misconduct was and still is. There is no real denial that he never did anything wrong anymore, for now it is the attempt to cover it all up, to deny  perusal of documents that would prove the malfeasance of him and his administration.
     This ugliness, like it or not, has seeped into the American consciousness and behavior. It is now apparently okay, even fun, to openly show and declare hatred, to join with mobs, to meld with the chanters of hate, to devote endless hours of verbal abuse to and about people who are simply just a tad different. How? Not because they do not need the same things as do all humans, but because somehow their religion or their skin color or their ethnicity and racial mix or gender orientation or place of origin, somehow these have become the important things in life to the chanters of hate. Put on a red hat, blog away with nasty and snarky comments about others,and feel safe in the cocoon of the mob. The ugliness their faces pose before the public, before the world, before all that has come before in American attempts to fix our errors in these areas, is frightening to the extreme.
     And the ugliness grows. Active duty troops have been sent to our border to erect barbed wire barricades - against the purview of these troops. Now they are actually being used to watch, guard, the migrants a scant few feet away, standing on a platform overhead, just as guards do in prisons. Next what? Will we have troops of the American armed forces running through the streets of the cities and towns, the factories and farms, the colleges and the elementary schools, invading homes, and the prize of success - frightened men, women, and children who are doing the same thing all of us or our previous generation or two ago did!! So where does it stop? Do we "send them back' - a statement of hate and prejudice through the ages? Do we step back in time to when Americans brutalized Chinese immigrants, demeaning them as non people, or when slavery was legal, or when Jews and dogs were equated here - yes, here, in America - and both were noted on signs stating that No Jews or dogs allowed. Just as in Nazi Germany. Irish and Italian were looked upon with contempt as well. No one is immune.
     The ugliness, to reinstate death penalties, the ugliness of public speech by the President and that fatuous smirk on his face and don't you just want to reach out and wipe it off his face! The ugliness of it all.
    And the shocking is not far behind. Russia tampered with all, yes, ALL, fifty states in the 2016 elections. The Trump administration openly welcomed the aid of the government of Russia and citizens. There has been nothing done since then to insure a clean and free electon in  2020. My mind begins to raise what ifs. What if and G-d willing that will happen, what if Trump loses the election and he then trumpets his ridiculous accusations and stands by his statements of not leaving office? What if he refuses to vacate the White  House? What do we have then? Civil War? Is this his planning - to win and if not, take over. He has made clear his idea and liking of the idea to Rule for Life as do all his BFFs around the world.
    Was that what the military maneuvering in DC the other day was all about? Shudder, folks, shudder deep and long, for ugliness has a way of becoming reality in these here United States of America these days. The ugliness of the government and its supporters or the base of Trumpian thought has sent its poison deep into the American soul, into the psyche of the nation.
     As we nourish this poison, this weed that is killing all else in its environs, we abuse children in detention camps, arrest citizens who actually carry around all their documents and then accuse them of lying about them, so incorrectly and unjustly, lock them up and plan to throw away the key!! That is until public attention was drawn to the situation. But what about all the rest of the offenses against innocent citizens due to their crime of looking Hispanic and living near the borders!! Are they to be limited in their travel freedom? Are we all to have to start carrying our "papers" around with us, able to be stopped and braced and if not to the satisfaction of the bully stopping us, then get thrown into a camp? Is this the future, the ugly future? You say no, but then how to explain the constant movement in mood and action towards this end?
     So let us just ignore all the consequences. Never mind the red line and last chances being crossed and ignored as the climate and environment worsen dramatically. Never mind the fact that we are sealing off the social safety nets of a civilized and advanced society, taking care of the most needy in so many ways. Never mind the growing food and water insecurity of so many Americans and all around the world as well as we focus on the wrong things and forget about, ignore, what should be done, the moral values that should guide us being ignored, violated.
     Ugliness of the heart and the soul come out in the ugliness of the words and then the ugliness of the deeds and then, and then, and then.......
     
    And by the way, the ugly person who keeps sending me nasty notes, what a waste of time. Please look in the mirror and address the one there as to hate and stupidity and nastiness and ugliness. Perhaps you can still redeem your own soul.