She is crying, that lovely lady in the harbor. She has been disrespected, maligned, her whole purpose turned inside out and in so doing, the country has been shamed in front of the world. Given to us by France, many expenses paid by money raised from our common folks, a standard bearer of the ethos and heart of this country for way over a century, etched upon the hearts of not only Americans but also on the hearts of the millions looking for refuge, for haven, for hope, for a future.
What have we done? In essence, we have turned our back on all those who need to come here and all those who came here before, poor, but willing to struggle and build new lives here, to raise an American family. We have said NO to much of our past, and certainly shut the door on our future, for no new blood means a stagnation and eventually, perhaps much sooner than that, an authoritarian government imposed upon us as situations grow critical. No new workers. No new ideas. No diversity. No inspiration for the creative arts. Not enough food and water. Just a deadly dull and gray world. No America any more.
The would be dictator, who spoke once again of his going on for another term, and by the way, just doing it! No election, just an assumption of four more years and then another and then another and then..... When this man goes off script, does not stick to the speech written for him by his accomplices, then the truth comes out and hits hard at our very foundations.
When Cuccinelli speaks openly that the poem of Emma Lazarus, herself a descendant of immigrants, the one welcoming all, "the wretched, the poor" to our shores, to our country, to a future as Americans, this very poem actually refers only to white Europeans, he says, and only those who come with money. Wonder what that means for rich murderers like the Prince who delights in ripping apart people, or former dictators thrown out by another one? Does that mean if they come with money it is okay? What about drug lords, for they literally have money to burn. Will that overcome the fact that they are not white Europeans? Or perhaps they can trace their ancestry back to a Spanish grandee, a French explorer, or some European figure that would qualify them. But the hate, the prejudice the so very unAmerican attitude and behavior will remain.
When the chief attorney of the nation, Barr, who actually seems to be Trump's personal lawyer rather than the lawyer of the nation, states that social justice reformers need to be stopped, that the primary rule in law enforcement is now that the police must be obeyed. Period. Only after that, can they complain. So okay!!!! Hurrah for the fascist. Hurrah for the supremacists. Hurrah for the haters of democracy, who masquerade as Americans, but in fact, are totally the opposite. Welcome to the land of the dictator, of suppression, of oppression of women, of LGBTQ, of any kind of demonstrators, of lovers of democracy, of lovers of our country!! Goodbye to all that and welcome to the draconian world of Trump, where hatred and madness reign and justice is no longer.
Truth will actually be lies. Supposed identity cards will be needed to vote, but if one cannot get one due to the fact that there are purposely none nearby, and the hours they are open are not conducive to allowing poor people to get them, then really - there is no democracy, there is no America.
And meanwhile our Lady of the Harbor, our first welcome to thousands upon thousands, stands there with bedimmed torch and tears running down her copper green face. What have we done? What have we allowed? Racism openly rife in the nation. A demented racist at the head of it all. Eager accomplices and power seekers who seek to maintain their world, get richer and step on all who oppose. A nation where the innocent are jailed and the brutality of others is rewarded.
These issues are not abstract, for each one has consequences and even when the rules are right, prejudice and ignorance can still rear its ugly head. And the stories are personal.
Why does this rich only policy so eat at me? When my grandfather finally managed to save enough money to bring my great grandmother over here, from her dangerous supposed civilized country of Austria, she came, old, and going blind. My Zaidy signed many papers swearing he would support her, live with them, his wife, my Bubby, being her daughter and she would never be a charge on the public. He was there to affirm that. But even so, the immigration officer did not like the idea of a little old Jewish lady with a funny accent entering into the country. Nope, her progressive blindness made that impossible he said and he could not believe my Zaidy, a man who never lied. And so this little old Jewish lady who would never harm a soul, who had made the perilous and hard journey over, eager to reunite with her daughter, well, back she went, and last seen being thrown into a cattle car on its way to Belzec, an extermination camp. And hence, my name, after her.
I hope that official rots in Hell for the remainder of eternity. I hope the image of my great grandmother haunted him to the very moment of his death.
And in the meanwhile, the tears continue.
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