Once upon a time we all divided the world into black and white, meaning a deed, or law or thought, was either one way or the other - good or bad. As we grew up, we realized that there are actually many hues and shades between and we needed to distinguish between them carefully. Certainly a mother stealing food for her starving kids or a blanket to keep them warm is not the same guilty as a person robbing a store, and threatening people. There are differences. There are, what is called, exigent circumstances, which insure that the hues inbetween are taken into account.
But what does one do, or what does society do, when these hues all run into each other, bleaching out the differences, even as the criminals twist and turn and use every curve of the road as an excuse for their behavior. What does one do, how do we keep ourselves balanced, when the boundaries of right and wrong are so variable and shifting that the ground underneath feels like quaking quicksand? Something cannot be denied, then acknowledged, then determined to be not really quite so bad and hence not a crime - at least in the eyes of the criminals and their supporters.
These turnarounds happen so quickly that it makes one's head spin. Outrageous denials are shouted from the rooftops and further camoflauge is provided by further misbehavior until it all runs together and what was unacceptable two years ago becomes daily trash to be ignored and disposed of.
To abuse one's power, the power conferred by a nation on its leader, is wrong, hands down. To solicit foreign interference particularly to do harm to one's political or imagined opponents is wrong. To defy the courts, to call down the wrath of the gods upon them for deciding on issues that are displeasing to Trump et al is wrong. To deny facts, to create the oxymoronic expression of 'fake news' is wrong. To call the media the "enemy of the people' is not only wrong but downright frightening. To impose rule upon a country by dictat rather than by consensus is wrong. To break down the checks and balances system of our government is wrong. To imagine oneself as a "Great Leader" and muse about remaining in office beyond terms, by talking of becoming a 'leader for life', is so wrong that it should hit all in the head every time this is mentioned. Lest you think this could never be, that Trump would not vacate office, well, look at the Kentucky gubernatorial election and watch Bevin and buddies bloviate as to whether they will vacate and maybe even try to negate the vote results and have the Republican legisature make the decision as to who exactly is governor. Your skin should be crawling at this thought. We should be wearing sackcloth and ashes as we mourn the demise of the wonderful experiment known as America if this were to be allowed. And it is so wrong to defy Congress, to defy investigations lawfully allowed and carried out as per the rules, to issue a categorical blanket order to ignore and defy Congress and subpoenas. Obstruction of justice the size of the Hover Dam!!
So terms are tossed about and outraged Republican after Republican refuses to acknowledge aloud that Trump is a criminal. They wimp out on votes, forgetting the shades and hues. They deny, then admit, then deny the criminality of it and deny its criminal importance. This cannot continue if we are to continue.
Even before diagnosed with several nasty things, my belief was that if I could not be, I would not be. Period. The same thing is with our country. If we cannot be who we are supposed to be, a country in search, always, of a better way, a fairer way, a more socially conscious way, then we cannot be who we are and thus will not be - no longer the Untied States of America. No longer the land of the Lady in the Harbor. No longer the goldeneh medinah or the Golden Mountain. No longer the hope of the oppressed peoples of the world. No longer the country that takes care of its neediest and weakest citizens.
Who will we be? I shudder at the thought for if the worst came to be, then it will be decided not in the courts of law, but in the courts of the street, for this would be nothing less than a civil war, a war of identity, of great bloodshed. I have long maintained that Trump is a clear and present danger to our country. Evidently the author, Anonymous, agrees. Read the book, A Warning, when it is published in a week and a half and then weep, cry, as Alan Paton said about his country, Cry, the Beloved Country.
How did we ever get here? How do we get out of here and safely, keeping our identity straight? Wish I knew the details. All I do know is that this must be brought to a halt and we must claim or reclaim who we are - and who we are supposed to be. Look to the highest common denominator rather than to the lowest. Distinguish between the hues and I believe that there are many clear distinctions here, either black or white, very little gray in his and his buddies behavior and deeds. Decision lines are very clear,
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