FEATHERS AND TENTACLES

     No, this is neither a new alien creature in the movies nor a newly discovered species of dinosaurs. It is the comparison made between hope and hate.
 Emily Dickinson wrote that "hope is the thing with feathers."
     Think abut that. The softness of the feathers, the silky feel of them, the beauty of them. Now think of the opposite, of a harsh and cruel material, a material that does not caress one's face or soul, but rather abrades all that it touches, ruins all that is good and hopeful. That harsh material, that cruel material, is hate.
     Frank Bruni, in the NYTimes, wrote that hate has tentacles. They grab one, burrow into the skin, into the very soul of the victim of these tentacles, of the ugliness of hate, of the awful monster that hate is.
      Both emotions can be found anywhere. Both have an effect on their recipients, but what a difference. Hope allows one to breathe, to whisper to others that there is yet something good in the future,that things will get better, that people will find their courage and humanity once more.
     Hate, on the other hand, stinks of cruelty, of despair and hopelessness, of a lack of any kind of possibility that there is a good future ahead, that things can get better, for hate only makes things worse, exacerbates bad situations into worse ones.
     Neither of these emotions, or rather, states of being, has any limit, neither spiritual, emotionally or physically. They can be found within anyone and anyplace. The one must be sought after and the other must be extirpated, roots and all, for if not, it poisons its environment. And it spreads, with almost no opposition as fear begins to eat into people, fear of being targeted by that hate, fear for themselves, and in the end, fall victim to that hate by either being hated or becoming the hater. Neither is a good situation for us, for humanity.
     There is something seriously wrong with our country today. It seems that we have lost, or spurned the feathers of hope, turned away the kindness that we need, the haven that people need and have turned to the ugly state of hate. We have published screeds of hatred, encouraged hatred, and the outcomes are ugly, people slaughtered at innocent pursuits of life by haters, people who gain access to assault weapons and huge magazines and who are encouraged by the spewers of hate. Unfortunately, these spewers of hate are the supposed leders of this country. How is a country to be good, to be hopeful, to provide hope for those in desperate need of it, if the rotteness drips and drips in an ever increasing flow from the top.
     At the Pan Am Games, two athletes at present have shown their anguish with the present state of their country. They have openly professed their love for this country, but also the sadness of all that is wrong with it, getting worse by the day, all that we are ignoring as old ugliness, old hates crawl back out of the muck and mire in which they thrive and hide. They were honored to represent their country, love their country, but no longer feel they can be silent. As we should all feel. "Racism, Gun Control, mistreatment of immigrants, and a president who spreads hate." These athletes have used their excellence as their platform to plead for their country, to plead for the feathers of hope and to put aside the tentacles of hate, to rip these tentacles out, now!
     The tentacles of hate extend further and further out from Trump and his minions. Even as the entire world recognizes the straight line from the tweets and the words of Trump to the violence and increasing divisiveness of this country, Scalise refuses to admit it and denies it. Booker says that "this is a very dnagerous president we now have" and he is correct and even as all the candidates differ to one degree or policy or another, they all agree on that one point. 
     "He who fights with monsters should be careful lest he therby become a monster. And if thou gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will also gaze into thee."  Friedrich Nietzsche
     We here in this country have a choice. We can go after the haters, the owners of tentacles, of sharp claws, of nasty words, and we can give as good as we get. But the chances of succumbing to tentacles of hate are there and we must avoid them. We must fight with the knowledge that right is on our side, that hope is that which mankind cannot live without and it will triumph in the end. Let the others turn into monsters of the abyss while we aid their demisse and proffer hope towards the world. Let our words have the touch of the feather and not the claws of the tentacles. Be strong, yet be aware that we are winning over people. Hope and hate. There is a darkness in the soul of man, yes, but man also has the choice to choose that darkness or to go for the light. Our choice; Your choice.
     Let us join in with the rest of the brave souls who protest for freedom. Hong Kong, Russia, Poland, Hungary, and right here in the USA. Williamson has called for a moral uprising and Trump is denying he is a racist, does not want to be called that. Where are the feathers of hope and where are the tentacles of hate and darkness? Look, see and think - then decide.