Imagine if the title for today's posting was actually the title for a movie. One would imagine it as a member of the increasingly dark movies of the day wherein the sins of humanity, as a whole, or in part, are cleansed through the mechanism of some disaster, short or ongoing. This genre is dark, imagines all sorts of strange things such as not being able to hear or see or talk or can, but better not!
Now imagine our world, the world of today, rife with massive burnoffs of land and oxygen generating forests. The latest? The monthslong bushfire of Australia with the latest being that thousands are trapped on beaches with no land route out to safety, and right near populatd cities as well. Now add the additional layer of oceanic swamping of lands, of island nations, of coastal areas.
Throw in a pandemic or two in which we have no idea as to exactly what it is, how it spreads and how to cure it. Multiply the deaths of the Black Plague in the 1300's of Europe and well, here we are, with an earth on the fringes, the edges, of a crumbling cliff and all we are doing is using it as a tourist site rather than fixing it. So as the world turns becomes as the world burns, in more ways than one.
Back to the movie we are making. We borrow a phrase from Star Trek. "Survival is insufficient" and we realize that survivng as modern day cave people is not the answer. We must remain mankind, a symbol of hope, of progress, of a world where once we flourished, had a Renaissance, a growth and blooming of ideas, of philosophy, of science - but also a new world in which we recognize the need to set a boundary and hold to it. There are just some places humanity cannot go, at least not until we mature a hell of a lot more!
Assume we actually manage to repair the earth, something looking not so likely at this point, as we enter the last decade of what will be a viable earth. By 2030 we are apparently to be in a world vastly changed, with awful conditions, and nowhere to go, no place to turn. Now as we welcome in 2020 perhaps it is time we think of cleansing, but in a different way, in a positive way.
Cue entry: Enter mankind. Enter man, who then intones a soliloquy wherein he wonders how to go forward. He proposes audacious plans, challenging plans, but manages to find reasons to cancel all. The reaason? Lack of trust in man to do the right thing, to put aside the need to "get stuff", to want more and more and more, never mind the damage this greed does. The worst roadblock is the factor of trust.
How do we trust mankind which has brought us to existential horror? Andre Malraux said, "Man is not what he thinks he is; man is what he hides inside." Really. Think about it. How many people throughout history have managed to hide their true selves until it was too late to stop them without great costs? How many people do we know today who wish to hide all about themselves? Think Trump. Think McConnell. Think every single parroting Republican who refuses to be a truth seeker, a true fan of justice.
How are we to go forward when we praise a war criminal, whose brothers in arms call a "psychopath , freaking evil"? How are we to go forward when a daughter of the president, a 'senior' staff member, when asked about 900 children deemed lost, separated from parents with no records to enable reunion with parents, states that that is not hers to worry about, not within her portfolio of concerns!! Really? Would she feel the same if her children were taken away from her, never to see them again? Oh, wait, she now claims membership in the Jewish people, so that is not even a far fetched thought, is it!!
What is the matter with us , so much so that we have retrogressed in the past three years to such a degree that it should frighten one to the nth degree. How could we have made progress on acceptance, on plurality, on inclusiveness, on women's equality, on recognition of the environmental disasters we must reckon with, deal with, about the importance of globality, not nationalism, white supremacy, or the supremacy of any one particular group over others? Why have we allowed slavery to rear its ugly head, coming out of the closet for rather than secretly holding people slaves, they are sent to reeducation camps, a misnomer for prison - and take away their children, watch the tragedy develop, but because the Chinese are a trade partner we are mum about the whole thing.
Tonight, as you watch the fireworks, or the ball drop, or the band breaks out in Olde Lang Syne, think about next year or ten years hence. What is really inside you? Is it what we need to save this earth, to save ourselves, or are we doomed to continue down this dead end, to be, one day, a tourist site for archeological fans, a lesson for others, a more recent example of the meaning of the line from Shelley: "My name is Ozymandias...
Look on my works.... and despair."
A lesson to be learned. A lesson to be internalized. A lesson that is begging to be heard and acted upon. A lesson we had better take to heart or we will despair and the world will be cleansed, but not in a movie - in reality.
Tuesday, December 31, 2019
Monday, December 30, 2019
TIME FOR A FEW BRIEF WORDS
Yes, I 'fess up. I am guilty of writing many words where perhaps a few would do, but there it is. Too old to change that habit, so what does the title mean? It tells us that there are some times a few words that just about carry the day, explain an issue or highlight the problem. Here are a few.
So it comes down to this: if you have a rigged trial there's no exoneration in acquittal." Well, what have we been saying all along. Murkowski came the closest to this issue, at least from the Republican side, but how about all of those Senators read these few words and acknowledge the truth, acknowledge that despite the truth of these words, the fear, their cowardice, their lack of moral fiber are driving them to ignore it and continue down the road to perdition as they sell their souls to Trump.
Out of the mouth of the Devil's right hand man we get this: My advice to Giuliani would be to share what he got from Ukraine with the IC [intelligence community] to make sure it’s not Russia propaganda. I’m very suspicious of what the Russians are up to all over the world.” Well, hello! What have we been saying all along and now the wacked out, ugly faced, screaming Graham warns that the Russians have done something naughty and it is not Ukraine!!! Really?! How nice that he voices what he has been denying all along. Now how about he admit that, put on big boy pants, square his shoulders and admit he was wrong, do the right thing. It is not see no evil, hear no evil, but speak a hell of a lot of evil. It is see it all for what the truth is and do the right thing.
Oh, yes. More to come. Yesterday I wrote against and about the growing poison and horror of anti Semitism in the world, and most shockingly, right here in America. “This is a national phenomenon that we are seeing and it’s frightening and it’s disturbing,” Cuomo said at a news conference Sunday. “If anyone thinks that something poisonous is not going on in this country, then they’re in denial.” As stated before, this hatred, this poison, these awful deeds go on and overtake and erase boundaries. Shootings are extended to schools, to churches, to people walking along a street on a beautiful afternon. The nature of terrorism, and that is what this is, is to grow, to feed upon its hate, to drink the blood it sheds and spread and spread and spread until there is no stopping it, its ugly tentacles all over and reaching all. Certainly not without a monumental struggle that could have been avoided if we would have recognized it as terrorism, as hatred, as wrong, right in the beginning and stomped on it. But we don't, we did not, and here we are. All the words, all the platitudes, do not make up for machetes swinging through the air, slashing and cutting, the whistle of bullets flying through the air, the screams and the fright. These are for a lifetime and it is about damn time that we stop pussyfooting around.
Finally, the shocking news that an icon of America, a hero of the civil rights fight and movement, John Lewis, is ill with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. While I did not always agree with him, the courage he displayed during his lifetime, the courage he displays now as he fights this sentence of death, well, would that we all would have the courage to follow his path of treading the walkways of right, of courage, of honesty, of freedom, of inclusion, of justice, of fierce fighting against terrorism and hatred. These words about him, “the conscience of the U.S. Congress.” are words that we should all aspire to reach in our own lives.
We need to join the fight of life for us all, no matter the difficulty, no matter the demands put upon us. There is no separating society permanently, and be it protest here, or the brave people of Hong Kong, or in countries where corruption is rife and the people have had enough, we need to join the fight and take our guidance from his words.
“I have been in some kind of fight — for freedom, equality, basic human rights — for nearly my entire life,” Lewis said. “I have never faced a fight quite like the one I have now.”
We, too, have never had to fight the evil we are facing in our America. Fight the good fight, no matter what the evil of the opposition is. This is our only hope, the only pathway that remains.
So it comes down to this: if you have a rigged trial there's no exoneration in acquittal." Well, what have we been saying all along. Murkowski came the closest to this issue, at least from the Republican side, but how about all of those Senators read these few words and acknowledge the truth, acknowledge that despite the truth of these words, the fear, their cowardice, their lack of moral fiber are driving them to ignore it and continue down the road to perdition as they sell their souls to Trump.
Out of the mouth of the Devil's right hand man we get this: My advice to Giuliani would be to share what he got from Ukraine with the IC [intelligence community] to make sure it’s not Russia propaganda. I’m very suspicious of what the Russians are up to all over the world.” Well, hello! What have we been saying all along and now the wacked out, ugly faced, screaming Graham warns that the Russians have done something naughty and it is not Ukraine!!! Really?! How nice that he voices what he has been denying all along. Now how about he admit that, put on big boy pants, square his shoulders and admit he was wrong, do the right thing. It is not see no evil, hear no evil, but speak a hell of a lot of evil. It is see it all for what the truth is and do the right thing.
Oh, yes. More to come. Yesterday I wrote against and about the growing poison and horror of anti Semitism in the world, and most shockingly, right here in America. “This is a national phenomenon that we are seeing and it’s frightening and it’s disturbing,” Cuomo said at a news conference Sunday. “If anyone thinks that something poisonous is not going on in this country, then they’re in denial.” As stated before, this hatred, this poison, these awful deeds go on and overtake and erase boundaries. Shootings are extended to schools, to churches, to people walking along a street on a beautiful afternon. The nature of terrorism, and that is what this is, is to grow, to feed upon its hate, to drink the blood it sheds and spread and spread and spread until there is no stopping it, its ugly tentacles all over and reaching all. Certainly not without a monumental struggle that could have been avoided if we would have recognized it as terrorism, as hatred, as wrong, right in the beginning and stomped on it. But we don't, we did not, and here we are. All the words, all the platitudes, do not make up for machetes swinging through the air, slashing and cutting, the whistle of bullets flying through the air, the screams and the fright. These are for a lifetime and it is about damn time that we stop pussyfooting around.
Finally, the shocking news that an icon of America, a hero of the civil rights fight and movement, John Lewis, is ill with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. While I did not always agree with him, the courage he displayed during his lifetime, the courage he displays now as he fights this sentence of death, well, would that we all would have the courage to follow his path of treading the walkways of right, of courage, of honesty, of freedom, of inclusion, of justice, of fierce fighting against terrorism and hatred. These words about him, “the conscience of the U.S. Congress.” are words that we should all aspire to reach in our own lives.
We need to join the fight of life for us all, no matter the difficulty, no matter the demands put upon us. There is no separating society permanently, and be it protest here, or the brave people of Hong Kong, or in countries where corruption is rife and the people have had enough, we need to join the fight and take our guidance from his words.
“I have been in some kind of fight — for freedom, equality, basic human rights — for nearly my entire life,” Lewis said. “I have never faced a fight quite like the one I have now.”
We, too, have never had to fight the evil we are facing in our America. Fight the good fight, no matter what the evil of the opposition is. This is our only hope, the only pathway that remains.
Sunday, December 29, 2019
AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN
Again. Again. Again. When does it ever end? Is there a chance of that ever happening? Or is the likelihood more realistically correct when we know, we just know, that the storm is upon us again. Not to come, but is here already. How many more people have to die because they happened to be born Jewish? How many more people living right here in America, America! will be shot to death because they are Jews? And how many more times will we see people rejoicing in these murders, these hate filled crimes, howling with hate, triumphant in the fact that more Jews are being killed? Hitler's work continued.
This was not what I had planned to write today. I wanted a humor filled piece, but upon opening the computer and reading this, I could not find enough humor at this moment. What I did find was how Queen Elizabeth II described the year in her life that was awful. She said it was annus horribilis. The horrible year and that, my friends, is the descriptive term for the year from October 27, 2018 till now. Bookended by murders. Bookended by more Jews being killed for being Jews, celebrating Jewish holidays, minding their own business and then - no more business at all as they lay dead in synagogues, homes, streets, wherever.
Over the millenia Jews have been chased out of countries where they had lived for centuries, where they had contributed to the growth and well being of the country. Then the insane hatred reared its ugly head and Jews were told they were no longer welcome there, could not live there, but no one raised the idea that they could not live at all. No, it was felt they made better scapegoats and pressure relief valves so some could still live. Even better if they were converted.
Then along came Hiter and his virulent, rabid anti Semitism, a crazed rant against the people who remained a part of a percent of the world's population, yet who had given so much more than that. In fact, read Mark Twain and his essay on Jews or yesterday's article by Bret Stephens re Jews and their contributions. But never mind the sensible thing, just give in to hate, plan for their demise, bring it about in the swiftest manner possible, even weakening a country's war efforts with its crazed war against the Jews. With its murderous"scientific" experiments. With manifest cruelty and barbarity. With eyes aglow with hatred, faces ugly with that same hate.
And now? What do we have now but the same thing all over again. In countries decimated by WWII, where Jews hid for decades after the war for daring to survive, as Jews were chased out of countries again - Poland, Soviet Union where they were imprisoned, even countries where there were practically no Jews, they were villified, hunted, killed, demeaned, abased and threatened.
But here in America, even as Jew hatred, give it its ugly truthful name, rose in the world in global poisoninng, here in America we thought we had overcome it, even the "mild" 50's anti Semitism. But we thought too soon, hoped too much. So here in America we have a President who finds these people just "fine, nice". We have dangerous gatherings of his supporters, Trumpstock, where hate fills the air and we are told that "Nothing less than a Civil War' will cleanse the nation, the Jews, the people of color all killed. When hatred is okayed from the top, it does not trickle down to the bottom, but rather falls in torrents, a waterfall of hate, of murderous intent and brutal actions.
It takes place in countries all over, including ours, where brutality towards the 'other' is valued. It takes place where military personnel are praised for violent actions, guilty of war crimes, yet not receiving any consequences. It is a world where hatred of Jews has taken on a thin disguise of anti Zionism, but listen and you will hear the anti Semitism. Israel has no right to exist in a world with what, 27 or 37 Muslim countries? Where Islamic law rules, where non Moslems are not even second class citizens, or where in other places they are persecuted, where there will not be 'others' working in all places and strata of the economy, government and army - even as in Israel all are welcome to work, go and shop wherever, only to forgo violence and that goes for all.
So. Again and again and again until infinity? Does it ever end? I am closer to the end of my days than not, but what about those who are young, and the babies, the children - are we to see them thrown against walls again, spitted on bayonets, lined up on racks to be thrust into the ovens dead or alive? What has the world come to again and where there are inciting words we need to hear them, but more important are the forceful and practical steps against this venomous hatred.
I do not want to open another site on a computer and read again of more murders, be it in a synagogue, walking in a street, or in a house as was last night, celebrating Chanukah. Ironic, yes. But much more tragic indeed.
Again. Again. Again. Again. Again.
I weep. Does anyone else out there weep?
Does G-d weep along with His angels?
This was not what I had planned to write today. I wanted a humor filled piece, but upon opening the computer and reading this, I could not find enough humor at this moment. What I did find was how Queen Elizabeth II described the year in her life that was awful. She said it was annus horribilis. The horrible year and that, my friends, is the descriptive term for the year from October 27, 2018 till now. Bookended by murders. Bookended by more Jews being killed for being Jews, celebrating Jewish holidays, minding their own business and then - no more business at all as they lay dead in synagogues, homes, streets, wherever.
Over the millenia Jews have been chased out of countries where they had lived for centuries, where they had contributed to the growth and well being of the country. Then the insane hatred reared its ugly head and Jews were told they were no longer welcome there, could not live there, but no one raised the idea that they could not live at all. No, it was felt they made better scapegoats and pressure relief valves so some could still live. Even better if they were converted.
Then along came Hiter and his virulent, rabid anti Semitism, a crazed rant against the people who remained a part of a percent of the world's population, yet who had given so much more than that. In fact, read Mark Twain and his essay on Jews or yesterday's article by Bret Stephens re Jews and their contributions. But never mind the sensible thing, just give in to hate, plan for their demise, bring it about in the swiftest manner possible, even weakening a country's war efforts with its crazed war against the Jews. With its murderous"scientific" experiments. With manifest cruelty and barbarity. With eyes aglow with hatred, faces ugly with that same hate.
And now? What do we have now but the same thing all over again. In countries decimated by WWII, where Jews hid for decades after the war for daring to survive, as Jews were chased out of countries again - Poland, Soviet Union where they were imprisoned, even countries where there were practically no Jews, they were villified, hunted, killed, demeaned, abased and threatened.
But here in America, even as Jew hatred, give it its ugly truthful name, rose in the world in global poisoninng, here in America we thought we had overcome it, even the "mild" 50's anti Semitism. But we thought too soon, hoped too much. So here in America we have a President who finds these people just "fine, nice". We have dangerous gatherings of his supporters, Trumpstock, where hate fills the air and we are told that "Nothing less than a Civil War' will cleanse the nation, the Jews, the people of color all killed. When hatred is okayed from the top, it does not trickle down to the bottom, but rather falls in torrents, a waterfall of hate, of murderous intent and brutal actions.
It takes place in countries all over, including ours, where brutality towards the 'other' is valued. It takes place where military personnel are praised for violent actions, guilty of war crimes, yet not receiving any consequences. It is a world where hatred of Jews has taken on a thin disguise of anti Zionism, but listen and you will hear the anti Semitism. Israel has no right to exist in a world with what, 27 or 37 Muslim countries? Where Islamic law rules, where non Moslems are not even second class citizens, or where in other places they are persecuted, where there will not be 'others' working in all places and strata of the economy, government and army - even as in Israel all are welcome to work, go and shop wherever, only to forgo violence and that goes for all.
So. Again and again and again until infinity? Does it ever end? I am closer to the end of my days than not, but what about those who are young, and the babies, the children - are we to see them thrown against walls again, spitted on bayonets, lined up on racks to be thrust into the ovens dead or alive? What has the world come to again and where there are inciting words we need to hear them, but more important are the forceful and practical steps against this venomous hatred.
I do not want to open another site on a computer and read again of more murders, be it in a synagogue, walking in a street, or in a house as was last night, celebrating Chanukah. Ironic, yes. But much more tragic indeed.
Again. Again. Again. Again. Again.
I weep. Does anyone else out there weep?
Does G-d weep along with His angels?
Friday, December 27, 2019
UBC
There is a store in Scottsboro, Alabama which I really wish to get to. It is the Unclaimed Baggage Center, the home for all those unclaimed left behind items - on luggage carousels, in baggage compartments, in seat pockets, at checkpoints, on trains and buses, in waiting areas.
These are items that people take on vacation or business trips, good stuff, and then they are gone, awaiting a new life after 90 days of not being claimed by an owner. Sad, yet exciting.
The treasures that might be uncovered. The stories of the items left behind and why, all in one's imagination. The plain and simple overwhelming size of the store - wow! The items look backwards and forwards into the lives of Americans as trends, popularity of items, costs etc. draw pictures of the lives we lead - and sometimes leave behind!
One day I will get there. I look forward to that day, not so much for purchases, as I really am not looking for anything, but just to see it, experience it, people watch as the shoppers throng the store. It is a treasure trove for all that.
And then I wonder. Hey, got a great idea. What if we had a UBC for politicians and supposed leaders who also need to be left behind? They could be evaluated for usage, donated out or recycled, and if kept, then clean them out, flush their minds of the filth they supported in their lives. Give them moral backbones so they might regain the values they lost and understand the responsibilities they shirked in not speaking for the people, but rather for a personality, a deranged one at that.
We could have a section for the haters, those who espouse violence and hate inspired attacks on all sorts of groups. The State Senator who wants to ready a Christian government where opposing males are killed off, or the National Guardsmen who support white wing extremism, or those who simply wish to get back at whomever and whatever has ticked them off. We could recycle those who espouse violence against Jews and the State of Israel, denying its right to exist, its very existential being.
Wow! This could get real fun. But in this age of going to extremes we also must remember to value the humanity in all, even those who have buried it deep down. But just think of that. A place where we could refresh the tired, restore statesmen to their original roles, raise the ethics of the country as a whole, provide hope for all. All while making sure that the 'reeducators' do not partycrash the program and turn it into a prison center!!!
Ah, such a dream, such a way to bring truth and reality back into our national life. A return to public servants at their best, not best at ripping off the country, not selling their souls to the industries they pimped for before appointment to office. A place where possible candidates would have to go for a complete checkup, body and soul, mind as well, and all done by nonpartisan doctors and technicians. And of course, we would have an anonymous tax forms section, where all would be open and transparent, not hidden, the sins and graces of all being exposed, their honesty evaluated.
Pipe dreams aside, folks, something must be done about the rising corruption and incompetence of our governments. Something must be done about the rising hatred that is becoming ever more PC - politically correct. And something must be done, perhaps sending these overgrown children to class again, to learn how to talk and behave with respect for others, for fair play in word and deed. It would be so nice if we could begin the new decade with realizations that a UPC - an unclaimed politician center - would help, at least in theory, a new decade where nastiness and schoolyard behavior would be taboo, earning suspension and possibly expulsion, where we have a chance to grab that slim ribbon of possibility to fix the world before we crash straight into environmental apocalypse.
No, I am not recommending camps such as the Chinese have for the Uighar or even immigration camps and detention centers that we have so wrongly set up. It is to be a last ditch effort to reeducate our people to the joys and the responsibilities, the tasks that must be done, undertaken, if we are to remain a true demcoracy.
The best way to start is to write your reps in DC, warn them of the danger of a sham trial in the Senate, of Senators too weak in moral fiber to vote for what they know is right, for nothing less will prove their ability to serve the people. Time to remind these 'children' that America is not up there to be divided as a chocolate bar, arguing over who has the 'bigger half". It is not a division of loot obtained via machinations. It is America. America. The land of the free, the home of the brave - brave enough to do the right things, uncomfortable as it might be. I wonder ......
These are items that people take on vacation or business trips, good stuff, and then they are gone, awaiting a new life after 90 days of not being claimed by an owner. Sad, yet exciting.
The treasures that might be uncovered. The stories of the items left behind and why, all in one's imagination. The plain and simple overwhelming size of the store - wow! The items look backwards and forwards into the lives of Americans as trends, popularity of items, costs etc. draw pictures of the lives we lead - and sometimes leave behind!
One day I will get there. I look forward to that day, not so much for purchases, as I really am not looking for anything, but just to see it, experience it, people watch as the shoppers throng the store. It is a treasure trove for all that.
And then I wonder. Hey, got a great idea. What if we had a UBC for politicians and supposed leaders who also need to be left behind? They could be evaluated for usage, donated out or recycled, and if kept, then clean them out, flush their minds of the filth they supported in their lives. Give them moral backbones so they might regain the values they lost and understand the responsibilities they shirked in not speaking for the people, but rather for a personality, a deranged one at that.
We could have a section for the haters, those who espouse violence and hate inspired attacks on all sorts of groups. The State Senator who wants to ready a Christian government where opposing males are killed off, or the National Guardsmen who support white wing extremism, or those who simply wish to get back at whomever and whatever has ticked them off. We could recycle those who espouse violence against Jews and the State of Israel, denying its right to exist, its very existential being.
Wow! This could get real fun. But in this age of going to extremes we also must remember to value the humanity in all, even those who have buried it deep down. But just think of that. A place where we could refresh the tired, restore statesmen to their original roles, raise the ethics of the country as a whole, provide hope for all. All while making sure that the 'reeducators' do not partycrash the program and turn it into a prison center!!!
Ah, such a dream, such a way to bring truth and reality back into our national life. A return to public servants at their best, not best at ripping off the country, not selling their souls to the industries they pimped for before appointment to office. A place where possible candidates would have to go for a complete checkup, body and soul, mind as well, and all done by nonpartisan doctors and technicians. And of course, we would have an anonymous tax forms section, where all would be open and transparent, not hidden, the sins and graces of all being exposed, their honesty evaluated.
Pipe dreams aside, folks, something must be done about the rising corruption and incompetence of our governments. Something must be done about the rising hatred that is becoming ever more PC - politically correct. And something must be done, perhaps sending these overgrown children to class again, to learn how to talk and behave with respect for others, for fair play in word and deed. It would be so nice if we could begin the new decade with realizations that a UPC - an unclaimed politician center - would help, at least in theory, a new decade where nastiness and schoolyard behavior would be taboo, earning suspension and possibly expulsion, where we have a chance to grab that slim ribbon of possibility to fix the world before we crash straight into environmental apocalypse.
No, I am not recommending camps such as the Chinese have for the Uighar or even immigration camps and detention centers that we have so wrongly set up. It is to be a last ditch effort to reeducate our people to the joys and the responsibilities, the tasks that must be done, undertaken, if we are to remain a true demcoracy.
The best way to start is to write your reps in DC, warn them of the danger of a sham trial in the Senate, of Senators too weak in moral fiber to vote for what they know is right, for nothing less will prove their ability to serve the people. Time to remind these 'children' that America is not up there to be divided as a chocolate bar, arguing over who has the 'bigger half". It is not a division of loot obtained via machinations. It is America. America. The land of the free, the home of the brave - brave enough to do the right things, uncomfortable as it might be. I wonder ......
Thursday, December 26, 2019
14 YEARS, POP, 14 YEARS
14 years since that Chanukah when you left us. I can remember that first night of Chanukah when we lit the candle, sang the berachot (blessings) and then Maoz Tzur. Your eyes were closed as you had not opened them for a while, but you sat there and listened, carefully. The best moment came when you slowly lifted your hand and waved it gently to the tune of the berachot and the song. Always and forever you loved the rituals, the holidays, the songs that went with them.
You passed that love of Judaism, its responsibilities that it lays upon its adherents, to do good, to give charity in the best and quietest way possible, to seek justice, to be honest with everyone under G-d's skies, for we are all the creatures of Him.
But most of all, Pop, was how I valued and loved the conversations we had, in person and on the phone. You listened, I listened, and your advice, your slightly wicked glee when you told me how you had made your point in conversation with others, I just loved it all. Your love of learning, your attending classes until you could not any longer, well, I, too, love to learn, to review the older material and learn the new.
But you left us, Pop. You left us. You left us with only your memories. You left us to help a broken woman left behind, who only wished to join you, who cried why you had left her alone. Shiva ran from 6 in the morning till 11 at nite, so crowded was it, so demanding the people who wished to share their piece of you with us.The phone calls from those who belatedly learned of your demise were both heartbreaking and inspiring. But still, you left us, all of us, bereft by the loss.
Until today, 14 years later, I still have moments when I go to that phone to call you, seeking advice, to hear your thoughts about something - but then I stop, my hand in mid air, knowing that you are not there at the other end of that phone. It is still hard for me,for all of us, to accept that you are not there anymore. When they just tore down our house, we all studied the pictures that Roni took, still seeing the signs on your file cabinets and closets, imagined you sitting there in your office, at your desk, with either Mommy sitting there with you, or a client getting help, advice, or no client, but a friend who simply wished to talk with you. But you left us, Pop, you left us, and now the last physical tie to you in this world, the last place you lived, the place where you died, was now gone,and we all mourned, not just for the house and our memories, but for you, and for Mommy, for our immeasurable losses.
But did you really leave us, Pop? Are you truly gone? I think not, for all of us, the entire extended family, one or another, is always going to the cemetery, saying a prayer, leaving a note about an important event, asking advice, or simply to just stand there and think about what was.
And so help me, G-d, I talk with you. I talk with you and Mommy every Friday night when I light the candles. I remember the hush that descended on the house at that moment and I treasure that. I feel close to you at that moment. I see you in my dreams at time, just when I need you. And you are there right in front of me, right there in the kids, the children, the grandchildren, the great grandildren and even the double greats. I love to hear the kids speak of their memories about you. Even the next generation all have their memories of you and still love you and try to carry on with the example you set, with the values you embodied.
So yes, Pop, you left us. We still miss you, cannot fill that hole you left in our hearts, in our lives. But we carry on and with us go the memories, the love, the hope for the future, the pride of Judaism, accceptance of its responsibilities, and the knowledge that while you are not there, you still are in many ways. I still puff up with pride when someone says, "She is truly her father's daughter."
Still and all, though, Pop, you left us in that important physical sense and even now, 14 years later, the hurt, the ache, the love, the missing, is still there, not diminished a bit. So here sits the old lady that I am now, missing you like the little girl I once was, the little girl who never wanted to disappoint her father. The little girl who just knew that a hug from her daddy would fix it all. I still feel that way, Pop. But you left us, Pop, you left us.
You passed that love of Judaism, its responsibilities that it lays upon its adherents, to do good, to give charity in the best and quietest way possible, to seek justice, to be honest with everyone under G-d's skies, for we are all the creatures of Him.
But most of all, Pop, was how I valued and loved the conversations we had, in person and on the phone. You listened, I listened, and your advice, your slightly wicked glee when you told me how you had made your point in conversation with others, I just loved it all. Your love of learning, your attending classes until you could not any longer, well, I, too, love to learn, to review the older material and learn the new.
But you left us, Pop. You left us. You left us with only your memories. You left us to help a broken woman left behind, who only wished to join you, who cried why you had left her alone. Shiva ran from 6 in the morning till 11 at nite, so crowded was it, so demanding the people who wished to share their piece of you with us.The phone calls from those who belatedly learned of your demise were both heartbreaking and inspiring. But still, you left us, all of us, bereft by the loss.
Until today, 14 years later, I still have moments when I go to that phone to call you, seeking advice, to hear your thoughts about something - but then I stop, my hand in mid air, knowing that you are not there at the other end of that phone. It is still hard for me,for all of us, to accept that you are not there anymore. When they just tore down our house, we all studied the pictures that Roni took, still seeing the signs on your file cabinets and closets, imagined you sitting there in your office, at your desk, with either Mommy sitting there with you, or a client getting help, advice, or no client, but a friend who simply wished to talk with you. But you left us, Pop, you left us, and now the last physical tie to you in this world, the last place you lived, the place where you died, was now gone,and we all mourned, not just for the house and our memories, but for you, and for Mommy, for our immeasurable losses.
But did you really leave us, Pop? Are you truly gone? I think not, for all of us, the entire extended family, one or another, is always going to the cemetery, saying a prayer, leaving a note about an important event, asking advice, or simply to just stand there and think about what was.
And so help me, G-d, I talk with you. I talk with you and Mommy every Friday night when I light the candles. I remember the hush that descended on the house at that moment and I treasure that. I feel close to you at that moment. I see you in my dreams at time, just when I need you. And you are there right in front of me, right there in the kids, the children, the grandchildren, the great grandildren and even the double greats. I love to hear the kids speak of their memories about you. Even the next generation all have their memories of you and still love you and try to carry on with the example you set, with the values you embodied.
So yes, Pop, you left us. We still miss you, cannot fill that hole you left in our hearts, in our lives. But we carry on and with us go the memories, the love, the hope for the future, the pride of Judaism, accceptance of its responsibilities, and the knowledge that while you are not there, you still are in many ways. I still puff up with pride when someone says, "She is truly her father's daughter."
Still and all, though, Pop, you left us in that important physical sense and even now, 14 years later, the hurt, the ache, the love, the missing, is still there, not diminished a bit. So here sits the old lady that I am now, missing you like the little girl I once was, the little girl who never wanted to disappoint her father. The little girl who just knew that a hug from her daddy would fix it all. I still feel that way, Pop. But you left us, Pop, you left us.
Wednesday, December 25, 2019
CRANKY OLD MEN
It is true. Obama just shored up the idea that if women ruled the world there would be fewer or no wars. What a picture that makes. A world where no one is killed because of race, religion, color, creed, orientation, or just plain annoying someone. Refugee centers and camps, crises at the border, all would be basically eliminated because instead of spending money on war toys, countries could spend the funds on improving life for their citizens. They could combat the gangs and violence, improve economic futures, raise the level of education and maintain a minimum standard of food security, warmth, shelter, and safety.
Sound like paradise? Well, life precludes most of that, but certainly if a woman ruled a country and knew there were other women at the other end of phones or Skypes or FaceTimes or whatever, there would be more talking, more planning, more hopeful projects rather than time and money spent on aggression and aggressive maneuvers. Why? Because women have learned over the ages that talk and reasoning, prioritzing, are the routes to use, not force, not violence, not threats,but rather reaching out, finding the commmon denominator. It is knowing that all people wish to feel equal to others in their rights, in their needs but know that fighting and violence are not the way to go.
Imagine the funds spent where they will do the greatest goods. No more dying because one cannot afford medicine. No more opioid crises as people will not suffer the pain or the hopelessness. Diseases cured or advances made with new available funding. College and trade education according to interests and skills and an appreciation of all honest and sincere labor. Recognition of the value of every small cog in our machinery of life and behave accordingly. Stamp out the remaining enslavement of people, be it for labor or sex. And yes, keep a nation strong, but there will be less temptation to strike out violently as life improves. No scapegoats needed.
Women know that there is no time to waste, no value achieved, no profit gained on moments and hours spent on tweeting nonsense that reeks of hatred and violence. No woman wants to hear how her child beat up someone in the schoolyard, teach their children to use words rather than fists, but to not be afraid of defending others in need. Why? Is it nature or nurture? Are they more attuned to the nuances of nature and people than men?
Nature is funny and does not always provide us with answers, but certainly we can do better than a crotchety old man like McConnell, or a nutty and dangerous man who has tweeted more than 8200 negative and nasty tweets, inane and misspelled, from his inauguration through early December and lordy, but how he has tweeted lately!
Surely we do not need to hear and tolerate the absolute dementia and deterioration of a Giuliani, and what has happened to a hero of 9/11?! So sad. We do not need crazies like Graham or Republicans who design "Christian" government with plans to kill all males who oppose them. And just what the hell is with Dershowitz!! Women do not have the time nor the intense hatred to spend energies on these things. There are far more important things to do and no time to waste. Hence women are far better time managers than men.
Women know there is a place for everyone in this world and if one cannot find one's niche, there will be help forthcoming . If one cannot fit in and takes the low road, then there will be appropriate imprisonment, but a humane one, with no profit taking companies running the joints!! Reform along with the consequences. Education along with the food and training.
Are women perfect? No, and there are some losers among them. Auk, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her determination to find democracy in Malaysia, has turned 180 degrees and allows the massacres of Rohingya. Golda Meir, on the other hand, spoke of the power of love over hate. She held off at one of the lowest moments ever in 1973 when it appeared that Israel was going under, with masses of armies from several Arab countries surprise attacking them on the holiest day of the year. She held off on the extreme last measure and instead there was a war to be won and peace or truces to be made. A man such as Trump would have pressed that damn button. Blustery and cranky all the while.
No, rather than cranky and crotchety old men ruling the joint we need the generosity and jolliness of Santa of the white beard, the philanthropists who donate to good causes for no return for them, the men who know what it means to truly be patriotic and for others to feel the same way about their countries. We need people who can both talk and listen and right now, we are in short supply indeed.
On the other hand, there is hope as more and more women join the ranks of leaders of the country and while there are those who encourage hate and violence such as Omar and Tlaib, there are far more who do not. Far more who know that talking and encouragement, a better world for all, will bring about the best world we can make. It will take much hard work, many hours of discouragement, but there it is. Nothing good comes easy, so please, in this upcoming new year and decade let us make pledges that we will keep and try to rid our government of these negative, corrupted, incompetent and selfish officials. Let us face reality and attack climate change, environmental disaster, hatred, violence, oppression and all that is wrong with us and the world. It can be done but will it? Not with these cranky old guys!!
Sound like paradise? Well, life precludes most of that, but certainly if a woman ruled a country and knew there were other women at the other end of phones or Skypes or FaceTimes or whatever, there would be more talking, more planning, more hopeful projects rather than time and money spent on aggression and aggressive maneuvers. Why? Because women have learned over the ages that talk and reasoning, prioritzing, are the routes to use, not force, not violence, not threats,but rather reaching out, finding the commmon denominator. It is knowing that all people wish to feel equal to others in their rights, in their needs but know that fighting and violence are not the way to go.
Imagine the funds spent where they will do the greatest goods. No more dying because one cannot afford medicine. No more opioid crises as people will not suffer the pain or the hopelessness. Diseases cured or advances made with new available funding. College and trade education according to interests and skills and an appreciation of all honest and sincere labor. Recognition of the value of every small cog in our machinery of life and behave accordingly. Stamp out the remaining enslavement of people, be it for labor or sex. And yes, keep a nation strong, but there will be less temptation to strike out violently as life improves. No scapegoats needed.
Women know that there is no time to waste, no value achieved, no profit gained on moments and hours spent on tweeting nonsense that reeks of hatred and violence. No woman wants to hear how her child beat up someone in the schoolyard, teach their children to use words rather than fists, but to not be afraid of defending others in need. Why? Is it nature or nurture? Are they more attuned to the nuances of nature and people than men?
Nature is funny and does not always provide us with answers, but certainly we can do better than a crotchety old man like McConnell, or a nutty and dangerous man who has tweeted more than 8200 negative and nasty tweets, inane and misspelled, from his inauguration through early December and lordy, but how he has tweeted lately!
Surely we do not need to hear and tolerate the absolute dementia and deterioration of a Giuliani, and what has happened to a hero of 9/11?! So sad. We do not need crazies like Graham or Republicans who design "Christian" government with plans to kill all males who oppose them. And just what the hell is with Dershowitz!! Women do not have the time nor the intense hatred to spend energies on these things. There are far more important things to do and no time to waste. Hence women are far better time managers than men.
Women know there is a place for everyone in this world and if one cannot find one's niche, there will be help forthcoming . If one cannot fit in and takes the low road, then there will be appropriate imprisonment, but a humane one, with no profit taking companies running the joints!! Reform along with the consequences. Education along with the food and training.
Are women perfect? No, and there are some losers among them. Auk, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her determination to find democracy in Malaysia, has turned 180 degrees and allows the massacres of Rohingya. Golda Meir, on the other hand, spoke of the power of love over hate. She held off at one of the lowest moments ever in 1973 when it appeared that Israel was going under, with masses of armies from several Arab countries surprise attacking them on the holiest day of the year. She held off on the extreme last measure and instead there was a war to be won and peace or truces to be made. A man such as Trump would have pressed that damn button. Blustery and cranky all the while.
No, rather than cranky and crotchety old men ruling the joint we need the generosity and jolliness of Santa of the white beard, the philanthropists who donate to good causes for no return for them, the men who know what it means to truly be patriotic and for others to feel the same way about their countries. We need people who can both talk and listen and right now, we are in short supply indeed.
On the other hand, there is hope as more and more women join the ranks of leaders of the country and while there are those who encourage hate and violence such as Omar and Tlaib, there are far more who do not. Far more who know that talking and encouragement, a better world for all, will bring about the best world we can make. It will take much hard work, many hours of discouragement, but there it is. Nothing good comes easy, so please, in this upcoming new year and decade let us make pledges that we will keep and try to rid our government of these negative, corrupted, incompetent and selfish officials. Let us face reality and attack climate change, environmental disaster, hatred, violence, oppression and all that is wrong with us and the world. It can be done but will it? Not with these cranky old guys!!
Tuesday, December 24, 2019
CATCH ME IF YOU CAN
Many times that seems to be the motivational theme of the actions of people. Sometimes it is fun to challenge oneself, see if something is posssible, can be done without detection. Then the confession of the doer of the deed adds laughter, surprise and even awe to the situation. It is one thing, though, when it is a kid's challenge, or even an adult's surprise, but when it is a challenge in a persistent pattern of behavior, mostly tilted towards the criminal side, then uh oh!
This is what we seem to have in our Deranged One's world. It is always catch me if you can. Hide. Obfuscate. Stonewall. Lie again. Twist the facts. Deny the facts. Refuse to obey the law. Create your own laws. The worst thing about it is how he has managed to turn a respected political party into a bunch of pathetic, yet dangerous, stooges, running alongside and behind him as they meekly and cowardly play along in his catch me if you can dangerous and harmful games.
There is something so wrong going on when the man persists in hiding. What is he hiding? The facts are what he is hiding. The truth is what he is hiding. Or should I say trying to hide, for once again, the truth will out. Always and forever. But the truth is so foreign to the world today that it is questionable if people will recognize and act on it.
Freedom of information is now a factor in life here in these United States of America. Using that, Trump et al were forced to release an email which tied Trump even closer to the stoppage of aid to Ukraine. 90 minutes after his "perfect" phone call, the aid was stopped, an order given to hold it off. This email was released through the efforts not of the House, but of an organization after the truth. They forced the release of this email. What else is there, waitng for the light of day?
Thus the rising chorus of questions: what is Trump et al hiding? How deep is the collusion between Trump and members of Senate? How many laws have been broken? How much damage to the security of our country has taken place? How much more is planned? What is the end result of all this to be?
Despite efforts by the now deeply compromised Justice Department which now serves as a drooling tool of Trump's, to try to maintain that the testimony of McGahn is no longer needed, the House committee maintains that as more facts come out, more testimony is needed, more documents need to be released.
Folks, we cannot all become Gabbards. We cannot stand there with a foot on either side of the issue, refusing to come down on one side or the other. Despite wimping out on the impeachment vote, she now states that "Trump is not fit to serve". Well,hello there, Tulsi. So why did you not vote to impeach? One cannnot waffle any longer. The time has come to commit. The time has come to stop this runaway corrupt government and right all the wrongs.
There are so many wrongs. Some of the most egregious are the ones taking place in immigration related areas. A new investigation is being opened into all this, asking questions, opening up the filth to the light of day, hopefully, to address the wrongs, the crimes, the violations of civil rights, the cruel conditions of the immigrants.
We must ask ourselves how this all happened and our role in it. We must take on responsibility instead of pleading stress or ennui with the situation. We must not say that it does not concern us, for it most certainly does. We are all each other, like it or not. One violation of humanity is a crime that reflects on all of us. No one expects perfection, but we certainly should not accept this tainted, corrupt administration and what it has inflicted upon our country, in both philosophy of life and existential life, the realities of life.
No, catch me if you can may be an okay title for a movie, but not for a philosophy of life, especially one tainted and stained by all that is bad, all that is inimical to a good and responsible life, a life which strives to reach that elusive goal of perfection and makes better people of all of us.
We have caught Trump in his high crimes, how he has become a clear and present danger to the country. Let us act bravely and truly on those findings and let us clear out the rest of the ugliness, from the over 600 pardons of Bevin, of murderers, of general creeps, rapists,etc, from Departments that are corrupt and violate their true mandates, from the stench of all that is emanating from the ever growing and nourished swamp of Trumpian DC.
Catch me if you can? Wrong. We have caught you and now let us act upon that!!
This is what we seem to have in our Deranged One's world. It is always catch me if you can. Hide. Obfuscate. Stonewall. Lie again. Twist the facts. Deny the facts. Refuse to obey the law. Create your own laws. The worst thing about it is how he has managed to turn a respected political party into a bunch of pathetic, yet dangerous, stooges, running alongside and behind him as they meekly and cowardly play along in his catch me if you can dangerous and harmful games.
There is something so wrong going on when the man persists in hiding. What is he hiding? The facts are what he is hiding. The truth is what he is hiding. Or should I say trying to hide, for once again, the truth will out. Always and forever. But the truth is so foreign to the world today that it is questionable if people will recognize and act on it.
Freedom of information is now a factor in life here in these United States of America. Using that, Trump et al were forced to release an email which tied Trump even closer to the stoppage of aid to Ukraine. 90 minutes after his "perfect" phone call, the aid was stopped, an order given to hold it off. This email was released through the efforts not of the House, but of an organization after the truth. They forced the release of this email. What else is there, waitng for the light of day?
Thus the rising chorus of questions: what is Trump et al hiding? How deep is the collusion between Trump and members of Senate? How many laws have been broken? How much damage to the security of our country has taken place? How much more is planned? What is the end result of all this to be?
Despite efforts by the now deeply compromised Justice Department which now serves as a drooling tool of Trump's, to try to maintain that the testimony of McGahn is no longer needed, the House committee maintains that as more facts come out, more testimony is needed, more documents need to be released.
Folks, we cannot all become Gabbards. We cannot stand there with a foot on either side of the issue, refusing to come down on one side or the other. Despite wimping out on the impeachment vote, she now states that "Trump is not fit to serve". Well,hello there, Tulsi. So why did you not vote to impeach? One cannnot waffle any longer. The time has come to commit. The time has come to stop this runaway corrupt government and right all the wrongs.
There are so many wrongs. Some of the most egregious are the ones taking place in immigration related areas. A new investigation is being opened into all this, asking questions, opening up the filth to the light of day, hopefully, to address the wrongs, the crimes, the violations of civil rights, the cruel conditions of the immigrants.
We must ask ourselves how this all happened and our role in it. We must take on responsibility instead of pleading stress or ennui with the situation. We must not say that it does not concern us, for it most certainly does. We are all each other, like it or not. One violation of humanity is a crime that reflects on all of us. No one expects perfection, but we certainly should not accept this tainted, corrupt administration and what it has inflicted upon our country, in both philosophy of life and existential life, the realities of life.
No, catch me if you can may be an okay title for a movie, but not for a philosophy of life, especially one tainted and stained by all that is bad, all that is inimical to a good and responsible life, a life which strives to reach that elusive goal of perfection and makes better people of all of us.
We have caught Trump in his high crimes, how he has become a clear and present danger to the country. Let us act bravely and truly on those findings and let us clear out the rest of the ugliness, from the over 600 pardons of Bevin, of murderers, of general creeps, rapists,etc, from Departments that are corrupt and violate their true mandates, from the stench of all that is emanating from the ever growing and nourished swamp of Trumpian DC.
Catch me if you can? Wrong. We have caught you and now let us act upon that!!
Monday, December 23, 2019
"I NEVER UNDERSTOOD WIND."
Really? Is that the sum total of all the things that Trump does not understand? In yet another of his rambling, half mad - and I am being generous in that depiction - speeches, the Deranged One ranted and raved about windmills, 'confessing' that he never understood wind. And mind you, that is even though he has "studied it better than anybody." He then continued with an insane rambling speech typical of his worst moments, the ones where he displays his ever increasing derangement and descent into dementia.
However, while we read and laugh at him and his idiocies, we need to also remember that he is that "clear and present danger" to us all. As the world's standard climate collapses around us, as floods and drought ravage the land, as huge storms terrify people, as the disasters so bad that they are supposedly once in a millenium actually seem to occur now every year, as the ice sheets melt and coasts of countries all around the world are disappearing under sea water, this man ignores it all as he showcases his ignorance!
No, Mr, President, you do not understand more than wind. You have encouraged the growth of anti American values and deeds by calling them American and praising them. You have lackeys so attached to you that they cede their powers in fear of you, even as they sue in court in attempts to shut down free speech - and ask Nunes about that one!!
You pervert the very meaning and flavor of the season. Chanukah and Christmas. Two joyous holidays serving as reminders of brave people fighting for religious freedom - without being forced into another religion. It is brave people lighting that "one candle" to begin the lighting of many and the illumination of the world. It is a holiday which supports "joy to the world" and peace on earth. Even though these values were not always observed in the celebration, this is the underlying basis of both. Sure, people get a bit greedy but also a lot generous as they give unto others, feeding the hungry, lighting the way for those in need, gifting those who truly need gifts for life.
And yet this man and his evil cohorts try to bluff and threaten the world into nuclear submission, into weird science, into oppression and deprivation of rights and worse, calling it patriotism, loyalty to one's nation and 'people', a true religious calling. In the meanwhile, the people of America, the refugees attempting to find a dream of hard work and freedom, education, a future for their kids, the brave protesters of the world who stand up to their bloody and ravenous leaders, all these people are denigrated by Trump.
The hatred in the world has overflowed once more. The blood of 'others', whomever they might be in which ever country one picks, spills over the street curbs, turns the rivers red, changes the environment as they are burned out of homes, as they are chased with murderous intent, and they are dying, dying in horrible ways, and once again, my people are being hunted, shot at, killed, with attempts to kill the young so as to cut off the future of Jewry. Once again the cruel beliefs of Hitler and his psychotic anti- Semitism are rising and Trump is right there inthe forefront - telling Jews to their faces that they "are bad people' but will vote for him despite a mutual dislike because otherwise they will lose their money!!!
No, that is a truly old canard that has ripped apart Jews from the beginning of time. Even as Trump follows the old and bloody pathways of life, blaming people for one's own lackings and sins, the pressure upon us as we try to remain good people all around the world, as people of all religions try to urge their people to stop all this bloodshed, as secular Indians protest the horrific ever rising campaign against Moslems by Hindus, as men gang rape little girls or any woman they so desire - well, joy to the world, my friends!!
Can you feel that joy? Can you see the flickering light of that proverbial one candle? Can you see the signs of peace - somewhere, I hope.
Anywhere? It is time for all of us to admit what we never understood and still do not. It is time for us to put away false studies, perverted and invented "facts', to join hands with each other in a search for justice, love,and peace. Gotta admit, for a while the message of the hippies was real and we should have taken it and run with it so that times such as these would have been averted!
No, Mr, President, you did not get the mandate of the people in the election, The popular vote by 3 million went to Clinton!! And that was without the interference of Russia who fought for YOU!! You are not wanted by the majority and still are not. Your lies and threats have beaten down some, but others are rising, lighting the candles one by one, seeking that peace and joy that the world needs, seeing the truth in the obfuscations of yours. We are tired of counting your lies. Tired of trying to accommodate your threats. Tired of your trade wars. Tired of ever increasing bits and pieces of truth about your treason to your country emerging. Tired of the hate you espouse and encourage. Tired of your attempts to change the world order and most important, tired of your efforts to subvert the entire gestalt of America!
Time to pack up your bags and go home and take with you all the greedy, power hungry, incompetent liars who are rending the fabric of our lives into shreds. Take your family members. Take the crooks. Let us truly drain the swamp. Stop hiding the truth for it will out. In the meanwhile, your 'legacy" is certainly tainted for all eternity should the globe survive. No machinations of yours, no crooked sham trial with cowardly, morally deprived Republicans will change those facts.
No, you never understood wind. And you never understood or understand anything else - anything that is decent, loving, speaks of peace, of lights, of joy, of a life worth living as we share it with others. No, please take yourself in your bloated body and go far away. What a Christmas/Chanukah present for the world. For the universe at large!!
For all else, a happy Chanukah and a joyous Christmas.
However, while we read and laugh at him and his idiocies, we need to also remember that he is that "clear and present danger" to us all. As the world's standard climate collapses around us, as floods and drought ravage the land, as huge storms terrify people, as the disasters so bad that they are supposedly once in a millenium actually seem to occur now every year, as the ice sheets melt and coasts of countries all around the world are disappearing under sea water, this man ignores it all as he showcases his ignorance!
No, Mr, President, you do not understand more than wind. You have encouraged the growth of anti American values and deeds by calling them American and praising them. You have lackeys so attached to you that they cede their powers in fear of you, even as they sue in court in attempts to shut down free speech - and ask Nunes about that one!!
You pervert the very meaning and flavor of the season. Chanukah and Christmas. Two joyous holidays serving as reminders of brave people fighting for religious freedom - without being forced into another religion. It is brave people lighting that "one candle" to begin the lighting of many and the illumination of the world. It is a holiday which supports "joy to the world" and peace on earth. Even though these values were not always observed in the celebration, this is the underlying basis of both. Sure, people get a bit greedy but also a lot generous as they give unto others, feeding the hungry, lighting the way for those in need, gifting those who truly need gifts for life.
And yet this man and his evil cohorts try to bluff and threaten the world into nuclear submission, into weird science, into oppression and deprivation of rights and worse, calling it patriotism, loyalty to one's nation and 'people', a true religious calling. In the meanwhile, the people of America, the refugees attempting to find a dream of hard work and freedom, education, a future for their kids, the brave protesters of the world who stand up to their bloody and ravenous leaders, all these people are denigrated by Trump.
The hatred in the world has overflowed once more. The blood of 'others', whomever they might be in which ever country one picks, spills over the street curbs, turns the rivers red, changes the environment as they are burned out of homes, as they are chased with murderous intent, and they are dying, dying in horrible ways, and once again, my people are being hunted, shot at, killed, with attempts to kill the young so as to cut off the future of Jewry. Once again the cruel beliefs of Hitler and his psychotic anti- Semitism are rising and Trump is right there inthe forefront - telling Jews to their faces that they "are bad people' but will vote for him despite a mutual dislike because otherwise they will lose their money!!!
No, that is a truly old canard that has ripped apart Jews from the beginning of time. Even as Trump follows the old and bloody pathways of life, blaming people for one's own lackings and sins, the pressure upon us as we try to remain good people all around the world, as people of all religions try to urge their people to stop all this bloodshed, as secular Indians protest the horrific ever rising campaign against Moslems by Hindus, as men gang rape little girls or any woman they so desire - well, joy to the world, my friends!!
Can you feel that joy? Can you see the flickering light of that proverbial one candle? Can you see the signs of peace - somewhere, I hope.
Anywhere? It is time for all of us to admit what we never understood and still do not. It is time for us to put away false studies, perverted and invented "facts', to join hands with each other in a search for justice, love,and peace. Gotta admit, for a while the message of the hippies was real and we should have taken it and run with it so that times such as these would have been averted!
No, Mr, President, you did not get the mandate of the people in the election, The popular vote by 3 million went to Clinton!! And that was without the interference of Russia who fought for YOU!! You are not wanted by the majority and still are not. Your lies and threats have beaten down some, but others are rising, lighting the candles one by one, seeking that peace and joy that the world needs, seeing the truth in the obfuscations of yours. We are tired of counting your lies. Tired of trying to accommodate your threats. Tired of your trade wars. Tired of ever increasing bits and pieces of truth about your treason to your country emerging. Tired of the hate you espouse and encourage. Tired of your attempts to change the world order and most important, tired of your efforts to subvert the entire gestalt of America!
Time to pack up your bags and go home and take with you all the greedy, power hungry, incompetent liars who are rending the fabric of our lives into shreds. Take your family members. Take the crooks. Let us truly drain the swamp. Stop hiding the truth for it will out. In the meanwhile, your 'legacy" is certainly tainted for all eternity should the globe survive. No machinations of yours, no crooked sham trial with cowardly, morally deprived Republicans will change those facts.
No, you never understood wind. And you never understood or understand anything else - anything that is decent, loving, speaks of peace, of lights, of joy, of a life worth living as we share it with others. No, please take yourself in your bloated body and go far away. What a Christmas/Chanukah present for the world. For the universe at large!!
For all else, a happy Chanukah and a joyous Christmas.
Sunday, December 22, 2019
ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY SEVEN - 187
In police lingo 187 is the number for homicide. It is a call that one never wishes to get or hear, yet today it is a different kind of homicide, one that will be ongoing for decades to come, and there is nothing that can be done about it. That is, unless there is some manner of removing incompetence from assigned positions.
187. One hundred and eighty seven. Trump is engaging in homicide as we speak. That is the number of federal circuit judges that he has appointed in his three years of office. So many have been rated as unacceptable by the American Bar Association - incompetent, lack of knowledge, lack of experience, heaps of bias and prejudice, - and being a Trump supporter being the main qualification. On top of that we have the two appointees to the Supreme Court, one being a pervert, exposed and then allowed through.
Trump is murdering American justice, the entire judicial system. These judges will be with us for decades - yes, decades - and the woes they will call down upon us and the twisted and backwards decisions they render will rain down upon us, destroying the dreams of the Founding Fathers, of justice, impartial and fair.
More than the idiocies of his tweets. More than the nastiness of his behavior. More than his ignorance of basic grammar, of basic decency, of kindness and care for others. More than his destruction of our alliances. More than the horror of seeing him consorting with the enemy. Far more than all of that, for justice will be perverted, the basic tenets of our country will be turned on their heads. 187 redux - time and time again.
Just as Hurricane Harvey refused to move away from Houston, as Hurrican Dorian razed the Bahamas for a full day, so too does Hurricane Trump threaten to remain over our heads for many a year, destroying much of what we stand for, what we hope for, what we strive for. The climate change that he ignores will mesh smoothly with the climate change of American justice and will totally destroy us all, certainly leaving no remnant of a fair America, a place where children are not caged, a place where children do not go to bed hungry nor their parents eat one meal a day in order to feed the kids. No America where prejudice will not rule. No America any longer, for there will be states that will pull out from the Union and here we go again.
No jumping the shark here, folks. In all my years I have never seen or read or heard so much fear and despair, existential in origin and conclusion and this man and his lackeys, McConnell especially, are the root cause of it all. The root cause of the evil suffusing our nation and yes,evil is what it is. Call it like it is. The truth, something alien to Trump and a Trumpian world.
Vicious haters with a twisted agenda to fulfill are not afraid now to pull out their guns, their cars, whatever weapon they can think of, and go and kill people. And why not, for their own President seems to have approved violent hatred carried through to its ugly end. People are now free to spout hatred, preach hatred, violence, at campuses all over the country, to go after Jews once more, with swastikas and threats smeared all over, with synagogues and holy scrolls and books being ripped up. The chill of Nazi behavior now runs once again through our communities - all over the world. It is not a good feeling and again, I remind you, hatred has no end, no boundaries and when one victim group is gone then the next one up is it.
We have to recognize now that we have made great inroads upon our nation. The Republican Party is shedding any Senators, Congressmen, people at any political level, who dare to disagree with Trump, who refuse to bow down before him. It is a party run on fear and threats. And it is a Party which will make a mockery of the entire impeachment process and idea, that no person is above the law, not even the President. No one.
They are subverting the entire justice system, the idea of a non biased jury who will judge upon the facts and not collude with the accused, walk lockstep with him, and announce brazenly that this is so, the decision already made. One cannot allow top officials of our government accuse all others of exactly what they themselves are doing wrong, the sins they are committing and the wounds they are inflicting upon us and the ship of state.
There is a whole lot going on here, far more than partisan fighting. Hatred and dislike of the man is not the reason. Many people disliked Carter, yet he was never impeached for he never committed a crime that posed him as a clear and present danger to the country. He never displayed loyalty only to himself above the country. Even Nixon did not consort with our enemies or invite foreign interference at our basic core. Nope, Trump is THE worst we have ever had and his damages upon us will last for years to come.
I wonder if the country will ever come together again, heal its wounds, bind them up, as Lincoln urged. I wonder - and am not hopeful. Now does one, do all, understand the connection of 187, the number of police for homicide, and the number of federal judges he has appointed, all the better to kill our justice system. A clear and present danger? Oh, yes. Cannot stress it enough - nor downplay the poison he has injected into our nation, its people, its very foundations.
187. One hundred and eighty seven. Trump is engaging in homicide as we speak. That is the number of federal circuit judges that he has appointed in his three years of office. So many have been rated as unacceptable by the American Bar Association - incompetent, lack of knowledge, lack of experience, heaps of bias and prejudice, - and being a Trump supporter being the main qualification. On top of that we have the two appointees to the Supreme Court, one being a pervert, exposed and then allowed through.
Trump is murdering American justice, the entire judicial system. These judges will be with us for decades - yes, decades - and the woes they will call down upon us and the twisted and backwards decisions they render will rain down upon us, destroying the dreams of the Founding Fathers, of justice, impartial and fair.
More than the idiocies of his tweets. More than the nastiness of his behavior. More than his ignorance of basic grammar, of basic decency, of kindness and care for others. More than his destruction of our alliances. More than the horror of seeing him consorting with the enemy. Far more than all of that, for justice will be perverted, the basic tenets of our country will be turned on their heads. 187 redux - time and time again.
Just as Hurricane Harvey refused to move away from Houston, as Hurrican Dorian razed the Bahamas for a full day, so too does Hurricane Trump threaten to remain over our heads for many a year, destroying much of what we stand for, what we hope for, what we strive for. The climate change that he ignores will mesh smoothly with the climate change of American justice and will totally destroy us all, certainly leaving no remnant of a fair America, a place where children are not caged, a place where children do not go to bed hungry nor their parents eat one meal a day in order to feed the kids. No America where prejudice will not rule. No America any longer, for there will be states that will pull out from the Union and here we go again.
No jumping the shark here, folks. In all my years I have never seen or read or heard so much fear and despair, existential in origin and conclusion and this man and his lackeys, McConnell especially, are the root cause of it all. The root cause of the evil suffusing our nation and yes,evil is what it is. Call it like it is. The truth, something alien to Trump and a Trumpian world.
Vicious haters with a twisted agenda to fulfill are not afraid now to pull out their guns, their cars, whatever weapon they can think of, and go and kill people. And why not, for their own President seems to have approved violent hatred carried through to its ugly end. People are now free to spout hatred, preach hatred, violence, at campuses all over the country, to go after Jews once more, with swastikas and threats smeared all over, with synagogues and holy scrolls and books being ripped up. The chill of Nazi behavior now runs once again through our communities - all over the world. It is not a good feeling and again, I remind you, hatred has no end, no boundaries and when one victim group is gone then the next one up is it.
We have to recognize now that we have made great inroads upon our nation. The Republican Party is shedding any Senators, Congressmen, people at any political level, who dare to disagree with Trump, who refuse to bow down before him. It is a party run on fear and threats. And it is a Party which will make a mockery of the entire impeachment process and idea, that no person is above the law, not even the President. No one.
They are subverting the entire justice system, the idea of a non biased jury who will judge upon the facts and not collude with the accused, walk lockstep with him, and announce brazenly that this is so, the decision already made. One cannot allow top officials of our government accuse all others of exactly what they themselves are doing wrong, the sins they are committing and the wounds they are inflicting upon us and the ship of state.
There is a whole lot going on here, far more than partisan fighting. Hatred and dislike of the man is not the reason. Many people disliked Carter, yet he was never impeached for he never committed a crime that posed him as a clear and present danger to the country. He never displayed loyalty only to himself above the country. Even Nixon did not consort with our enemies or invite foreign interference at our basic core. Nope, Trump is THE worst we have ever had and his damages upon us will last for years to come.
I wonder if the country will ever come together again, heal its wounds, bind them up, as Lincoln urged. I wonder - and am not hopeful. Now does one, do all, understand the connection of 187, the number of police for homicide, and the number of federal judges he has appointed, all the better to kill our justice system. A clear and present danger? Oh, yes. Cannot stress it enough - nor downplay the poison he has injected into our nation, its people, its very foundations.
Friday, December 20, 2019
I JUST DO NOT KNOW
Wow, but that title says it in so many ways. I just do not know anymore what has happened to our country. I just do not know nor understand any more what makes politicians tick. I do not know when we can mark it off on a calendar, looking back, when Republican Senators gave up loyalty to the country for loyalty to a madman. I do not know when exactly it was that we descended to the lower depths of Hell.
I do believe that the first open step was the nomination and acceptance of Trump as the Republican candidate for the highest office of the land. This was a basically ignorant man, of crude and rude behavior, a misogynist of the first class, a man known to defraud and cheat banks, workers, tax collectors and anyone and anything else that got in his way. A man who pleaded bone spurs as an excuse to avoid serving his country, bribing a doctor for an excuse note, suddenly became the spokesman for patriotism!! And the people bought it, from a man who respects and is loyal only to and for himself?
The Big Lie came next, a la the politics of Communism and Fascism - the savior of a country, our country, was there, in that ugly bloated person, the man with the ragged mind. The man whose deepest complication was the proper combing of his hair so as to appear as if he has any - look during a wind on his head and see the truth. A lie, a false front, like the rest of his behavior.
That technique continued with his obsession over size of crowds, of shouting that he actually won the popular vote because either fake voters voted or there was a miscount, or a foreign country helped Clinton. What a crock! We now know that the foreign influence and invasion was prompted by him and his cohorts of evil, and it never stopped.
Politico has counted his lies and they amount to close to eleven thousand lies!! What a record to be ashamed of - and yet he is not. He persists in telling major lies and yet, there he is, still able to pick up enough people for a rally. I just do not know. I just do not understand.
The danger and the lies and yes, the clear and present danger he has proven himself to be, along with his henchmen, including his Senate members, including those nasty screaming faces of the House, whose very faces could induce nightmares in a child - and even an adult. Graham, you got an ugly madman face when you rant. Look in the mirror and see the insanity and its contagiousness and brother, have you caught it!
I do not understand at all how people of culture could support him. I do not understand how he can rant and rave and support white supremacists, curse Jews to their faces, yet have people still support him. When I see a sign that reads Black Americans for Trump I feel as if I am in a dangerous and self deluding La-La Land. Ditto with Hispanics from all areas of America - North, South and Central. How could anyone support a man who has locked up your family members, denigrated all Hispanics as lesser than others, as criminals, who has caged children, allowed children to die, along with the massive mistreatment of immigrants trying to be free and hopeful, the same as all of us. I just do not know nor understand it all, this mess of ours that keeps getting worse and worse.
There is hope out there. There are a growing number of people who have finally seen that the Emperor is naked, other than the coating of his filthy behavior, his massive disapppointments. But even as Putin praises him, McConnell supports him as he turns the justice system, the three branched government of ours upside down and inside out as he colludes with the accused, is managing the trial to be in lockstep with the accused - and admits it, and acknowledges that he is not an impartial juror. Neither are the rest of the Republicans, none of whom have any tiny little speck within them, a remnant of any loyalty, responsibilitiy, or honor and loyalty to the country and its people, its very existence and continuation as the democracy we are today and should always be. I neither know nor understand why this is happening, allowed to happen, why the Senators are not deemed unacceptable, ordered to remove themselves from the jury.
Pelosi is trying to get as fair a trial as possible. She refuses to allow them to shout that there are no witnesses nor documents, when there are, and have been in the House hearings, even as other witnesses and documents are held back, illegally, by the White House and that madman within. They shout no witnesses are available to them in the Senate hearing, yet refuse to call them. One ccannot have it both ways and there be no consequences. It just cannot be and on such a huge scale. The mind boggles at the thought.
What I do know, what I do understand is that we, the people, must stand up for what is right. We must accept that we made a huge error in allowing the outdated electoral college to defy a popular vote and allow an accused fraudster to become president. What I do understand is that the trial in the Senate will be a farce and our only way of righting these wrongs, of regaining our international respect and role as a leader, to regain sanity in our policies, to save the planet - is to get rid of this man in 2020, along with the corrupt and weasely Senators and House members who have no self respect, who have sold - or just given - their souls to the Devil incarnate.
What I do know is that we cannot continue on this path and remain America, the land of the Lady of the Harbor, the land of refuge, the leader of democracy and the rights of the people, the land, the country, which makes errors, but then tries to correct them. What I do not know nor understand is exactly how the country became so downtrodden in its morale, so allowing of new spewing forth of violent hatreds and actions, so apathetic or numb to the existential danger we are in.
This is not who we are. This is not who we need to be. Wake up, America, become the land of the free, the land of the people, the land of beauty, from sea to shining sea.
I do believe that the first open step was the nomination and acceptance of Trump as the Republican candidate for the highest office of the land. This was a basically ignorant man, of crude and rude behavior, a misogynist of the first class, a man known to defraud and cheat banks, workers, tax collectors and anyone and anything else that got in his way. A man who pleaded bone spurs as an excuse to avoid serving his country, bribing a doctor for an excuse note, suddenly became the spokesman for patriotism!! And the people bought it, from a man who respects and is loyal only to and for himself?
The Big Lie came next, a la the politics of Communism and Fascism - the savior of a country, our country, was there, in that ugly bloated person, the man with the ragged mind. The man whose deepest complication was the proper combing of his hair so as to appear as if he has any - look during a wind on his head and see the truth. A lie, a false front, like the rest of his behavior.
That technique continued with his obsession over size of crowds, of shouting that he actually won the popular vote because either fake voters voted or there was a miscount, or a foreign country helped Clinton. What a crock! We now know that the foreign influence and invasion was prompted by him and his cohorts of evil, and it never stopped.
Politico has counted his lies and they amount to close to eleven thousand lies!! What a record to be ashamed of - and yet he is not. He persists in telling major lies and yet, there he is, still able to pick up enough people for a rally. I just do not know. I just do not understand.
The danger and the lies and yes, the clear and present danger he has proven himself to be, along with his henchmen, including his Senate members, including those nasty screaming faces of the House, whose very faces could induce nightmares in a child - and even an adult. Graham, you got an ugly madman face when you rant. Look in the mirror and see the insanity and its contagiousness and brother, have you caught it!
I do not understand at all how people of culture could support him. I do not understand how he can rant and rave and support white supremacists, curse Jews to their faces, yet have people still support him. When I see a sign that reads Black Americans for Trump I feel as if I am in a dangerous and self deluding La-La Land. Ditto with Hispanics from all areas of America - North, South and Central. How could anyone support a man who has locked up your family members, denigrated all Hispanics as lesser than others, as criminals, who has caged children, allowed children to die, along with the massive mistreatment of immigrants trying to be free and hopeful, the same as all of us. I just do not know nor understand it all, this mess of ours that keeps getting worse and worse.
There is hope out there. There are a growing number of people who have finally seen that the Emperor is naked, other than the coating of his filthy behavior, his massive disapppointments. But even as Putin praises him, McConnell supports him as he turns the justice system, the three branched government of ours upside down and inside out as he colludes with the accused, is managing the trial to be in lockstep with the accused - and admits it, and acknowledges that he is not an impartial juror. Neither are the rest of the Republicans, none of whom have any tiny little speck within them, a remnant of any loyalty, responsibilitiy, or honor and loyalty to the country and its people, its very existence and continuation as the democracy we are today and should always be. I neither know nor understand why this is happening, allowed to happen, why the Senators are not deemed unacceptable, ordered to remove themselves from the jury.
Pelosi is trying to get as fair a trial as possible. She refuses to allow them to shout that there are no witnesses nor documents, when there are, and have been in the House hearings, even as other witnesses and documents are held back, illegally, by the White House and that madman within. They shout no witnesses are available to them in the Senate hearing, yet refuse to call them. One ccannot have it both ways and there be no consequences. It just cannot be and on such a huge scale. The mind boggles at the thought.
What I do know, what I do understand is that we, the people, must stand up for what is right. We must accept that we made a huge error in allowing the outdated electoral college to defy a popular vote and allow an accused fraudster to become president. What I do understand is that the trial in the Senate will be a farce and our only way of righting these wrongs, of regaining our international respect and role as a leader, to regain sanity in our policies, to save the planet - is to get rid of this man in 2020, along with the corrupt and weasely Senators and House members who have no self respect, who have sold - or just given - their souls to the Devil incarnate.
What I do know is that we cannot continue on this path and remain America, the land of the Lady of the Harbor, the land of refuge, the leader of democracy and the rights of the people, the land, the country, which makes errors, but then tries to correct them. What I do not know nor understand is exactly how the country became so downtrodden in its morale, so allowing of new spewing forth of violent hatreds and actions, so apathetic or numb to the existential danger we are in.
This is not who we are. This is not who we need to be. Wake up, America, become the land of the free, the land of the people, the land of beauty, from sea to shining sea.
Thursday, December 19, 2019
THE GOLEM, THE TRUTH, AND US
The Golem was a creature made of clay, blessed with arcane prayers, created to protect the Jews who were undergoing a particualrly hard time in the area of present day Prague. He is now said to be deactivated for centuries, lying on the floor of an attic room in the Old Synagogue, waiting till he is needed again.The final last step was to insert a small scroll which contained the Hebrew word - EMET - Truth, and conversely, to remove the Aleph, the first letter, thus leaving MET - Dead or Death, thus rendering him inert. His clay, the very body of his, was inert, truth had left and death was what remained.
So, aside from the fact that now might be a good time to create an army of Golems, parcel them out across the globe, have them fulfill their original command - defend Jews where they are being murdered, think of what the whole story means. The message is clear. Without truth, we are nothing. We are dead as human beings, as creatures of God and await our death in an increasingly harsh, indifferent and dangerous world. Just like the world we now have.
It appears that every country has now picked its own version of the truth and left behind the trashed and empty body of a universal truth, a truth which would help humanity find and follow the true road to greatness, to a quality life for all, to an earth fruitful and prospering in a world where people pay attention to their surroundings and environment. That time, that truth, is missing, disappearing as we speak.
Every country has set out its own set of lies, national lies, ethnic lies, lies regarding our responsibility to our fellow people. Instead, we have created truths that are not! We appear to give our nations a new background story, one which shuts out the truth, and our reward for this unethical behavior? Simple. A disintegration of the nations of the world, a growing divide even here in America, where we have descended to a tribal mentality, to a division along Party lines wherein we have forgotten that we are all Americans. Period. End of story.
Anyone watching the circus of the impeachment proceedings had to see the damage of the lack of truth. Facts laid out. Facts verified. Facts denied. Truth denied and held back as people's mouths were figuratively duct taped in order to try to block the facts of the truth. It did not work, but then the lies began again. No witnesses, they shouted. No documents, they shouted. Of course none, because the WH stonewalled and now they are shouting that there are no witnesses and no documents. That is akin to the man who killed both parents asking the court for mercy because he is an orphan!! It is twisted logic, unhelpful and actually very damaging to truth and to a life blessed with truth and related values. We have tosssed it away.
It has been said by those who know, that at least 35 Republicans would vote for impeachment and conviction if, a big if, voting were by secret ballot but the truth is too difficult for them to face out in the open and their fear? loyalty? misplaced loyalty? displaced loyalty to their country? all combine to shut them down, to turn away from the truth. And the consequences are clear.
Just as the truth was removed, desecrated by removing the letter which made it truth, which turned death into life as we added truth, the Golem awakening to protect those who needed his protection, we have done the same here. Where once we had a life, a good life, an American life, we do not. Where once we were the protectors of liberty and human rights in the world, we are no longer. We have allowed the claws of death to invade, to defeat, to allow discord and rot into the global and national worlds. Worse yet, we have allowed it to invade our smaller groupings, family and friends, as we do not talk politics any longer due to the fiery anger of it all.
All this is why? Because we have willingly, willfully, or been deluded into believing the outrageous lies of a madman and his henchmen. We have had our supposed leaders turn tail, run in fear of a madman. We have lost the value of truth, which in turn caused a further loss of other moral values. We are deep down the road to perdition and it is not fun, is it? We are afraid to admit we were wrong, embarrassed to admit it, and so we continue, throwing away our lives as we further deepen our abandonment of the truth.
We have no Golem today, do we? In fact, we do have one, but it is one created without the Aleph, the letter which changes death to life. Where is this Golem? Look to DC. Look to Russia. Look to China and Hong Kong. Look wherever, because wherever, all over, is where Golems are to be found. The good one, the one enlivenend and nourished by truth? Gone.
Would that the situation were different, other than the reality we now have. Hey, maybe someone, some holy Rabbi, or a consortium of holy figures from the religions of the world, will pray, awaken the Golem, stuffed with the word truth in the languages of the world. Would that not be nice?
Until that day, let us reinsert the value of truth in our own minds, bodies and souls and definitely in our actions. Let us act with courage and right on our side and defeat those who value truth not, who would - and will - destroy us if we do not react, or actually, beome more proactive and stop them in their tracks. We can, if we wish. We can, if we unite. We can, if we understand the importance of this issue, our roles and responsibilities in defeating it. We need to all become Golems, fighting with truth in our mouths, hearts and souls, determining our actions and our success.
So, aside from the fact that now might be a good time to create an army of Golems, parcel them out across the globe, have them fulfill their original command - defend Jews where they are being murdered, think of what the whole story means. The message is clear. Without truth, we are nothing. We are dead as human beings, as creatures of God and await our death in an increasingly harsh, indifferent and dangerous world. Just like the world we now have.
It appears that every country has now picked its own version of the truth and left behind the trashed and empty body of a universal truth, a truth which would help humanity find and follow the true road to greatness, to a quality life for all, to an earth fruitful and prospering in a world where people pay attention to their surroundings and environment. That time, that truth, is missing, disappearing as we speak.
Every country has set out its own set of lies, national lies, ethnic lies, lies regarding our responsibility to our fellow people. Instead, we have created truths that are not! We appear to give our nations a new background story, one which shuts out the truth, and our reward for this unethical behavior? Simple. A disintegration of the nations of the world, a growing divide even here in America, where we have descended to a tribal mentality, to a division along Party lines wherein we have forgotten that we are all Americans. Period. End of story.
Anyone watching the circus of the impeachment proceedings had to see the damage of the lack of truth. Facts laid out. Facts verified. Facts denied. Truth denied and held back as people's mouths were figuratively duct taped in order to try to block the facts of the truth. It did not work, but then the lies began again. No witnesses, they shouted. No documents, they shouted. Of course none, because the WH stonewalled and now they are shouting that there are no witnesses and no documents. That is akin to the man who killed both parents asking the court for mercy because he is an orphan!! It is twisted logic, unhelpful and actually very damaging to truth and to a life blessed with truth and related values. We have tosssed it away.
It has been said by those who know, that at least 35 Republicans would vote for impeachment and conviction if, a big if, voting were by secret ballot but the truth is too difficult for them to face out in the open and their fear? loyalty? misplaced loyalty? displaced loyalty to their country? all combine to shut them down, to turn away from the truth. And the consequences are clear.
Just as the truth was removed, desecrated by removing the letter which made it truth, which turned death into life as we added truth, the Golem awakening to protect those who needed his protection, we have done the same here. Where once we had a life, a good life, an American life, we do not. Where once we were the protectors of liberty and human rights in the world, we are no longer. We have allowed the claws of death to invade, to defeat, to allow discord and rot into the global and national worlds. Worse yet, we have allowed it to invade our smaller groupings, family and friends, as we do not talk politics any longer due to the fiery anger of it all.
All this is why? Because we have willingly, willfully, or been deluded into believing the outrageous lies of a madman and his henchmen. We have had our supposed leaders turn tail, run in fear of a madman. We have lost the value of truth, which in turn caused a further loss of other moral values. We are deep down the road to perdition and it is not fun, is it? We are afraid to admit we were wrong, embarrassed to admit it, and so we continue, throwing away our lives as we further deepen our abandonment of the truth.
We have no Golem today, do we? In fact, we do have one, but it is one created without the Aleph, the letter which changes death to life. Where is this Golem? Look to DC. Look to Russia. Look to China and Hong Kong. Look wherever, because wherever, all over, is where Golems are to be found. The good one, the one enlivenend and nourished by truth? Gone.
Would that the situation were different, other than the reality we now have. Hey, maybe someone, some holy Rabbi, or a consortium of holy figures from the religions of the world, will pray, awaken the Golem, stuffed with the word truth in the languages of the world. Would that not be nice?
Until that day, let us reinsert the value of truth in our own minds, bodies and souls and definitely in our actions. Let us act with courage and right on our side and defeat those who value truth not, who would - and will - destroy us if we do not react, or actually, beome more proactive and stop them in their tracks. We can, if we wish. We can, if we unite. We can, if we understand the importance of this issue, our roles and responsibilities in defeating it. We need to all become Golems, fighting with truth in our mouths, hearts and souls, determining our actions and our success.
Wednesday, December 18, 2019
LIVID X2 TO INFINITY!
How much worse can it get? It seems to me that the entire world is both imploding and exploding at the same time and there is nothing that can be done to stop it. We, the people, have allowed this. We, the people, have even encouraged it while others are now numbed to the whole crisis, thinking, hoping, that wishing it away or ignoring it will make it disappear before it causes any changes to our oh so merry lives. How wrong they are. How dangerously wrong they are.
Yesterday, a man who sits illegitimately in the Oval Office, had a true meltdown and even then the cowed and cowardly Republicans defended the man. He ranted and raved, strung together all his insane tweets, threw in his imbecilic punctuation, or rather lack of proper form, all in a six page rant on WH letterhead, allowing it to be introduced as evidence at his mockery of a trial, spouted dangerous things and yet, there he is, smiling in the warmth of his Party's approval and defend him unto death posture.
Kudos to Pelosi for basically ignoring it, yet there it is. What people seem to have also ignored is his statement during the news conference as he met with the Guatemalan President. He stated, when asked about the letter, that "they do these things better in Guatemala, handle it better". Really? Know how it is handled there? With imprisonment, repression, oppression, torture and death. Is that what is in store for us here in America?Are all the protesters of last nite, all of us commentators and bloggers to keep watch for the men in black masks carrying more black sacks? Have we truly gone down this road, and continue down this road, to the end and see democracy become a dim memory, America a dim memory?
No, lividity does not even begin to cover this. Yet, how many of us out there are maintaining that it has nothing to do with us or stating that we are tired of this, will await the outcome? Are we so willing to concede defeat, to give up on the true wonderfulness of America, its concepts and ideals? Have we become so lost? How are people still saying that well, maybe, depending upon who is the Democratic nominee, perhaps they might still have to vote for Trump! Really! A flea, a tree stump, a gnat, anyone is better than Trump. Perhaps we will disagree with some policies as is normal, but the alternative is an almost definite dissolution of our country. Hell, I am not even sure that should he lose the election - oh, please, Dear Lord, - will he even vacate the building, claiming all sorts of insane crimes and misdeeds and then what? A civil war? A twisted presidium? The choices get worse and worse. NO! This man is a clear and present danger to our country. Period. He needs to go.
Among all this strife and aggravation and existential threats, we Jews have another horror upon us. As I read yesterday, perhaps we need to change the slogan into a warning for all: Never Again becomes Again and Again. Around the world, since time began, anti Semitism, the murdering of Jews, the sacking of Jewish villages, the killing of men, women, children, old and young, in the most vile and violent manners possible - well, it is almost expected, though one did hope that it might have been gone. Yet, there it is again, all over the place, in signs,in rising political parties, in attacks on Jews.
But we thought, here, in America, well, we thought most anti semitism had gone the way of all dead and dangerous ideas. Yes, it was underground to an extent, and definitely lined the hearts and minds of some nasty people, but as a whole, America was to be safe grounds, a refuge for us as we built the nation along with other citizens. But now? Oh no! Not what we hoped. Once again we are being murdered, in places of business, in stalled attacks on our schools, in our synagogues, on the streets, when people even jump out of cars to attack a passing Jewish person. We are cursed on buses, trains, our homes, religious and otherwise, are graffitied with cruel language and hate art, cursed as we walk, going about our business.
But then we step it up a bit, unwillingly too. A young lady on a train was denied a seat, cursed out and at, had to listen as the woman cheered on the actions and slayings in Jersey City and promised more of the kind and then attacked the woman, tearing at her face. But she chose the wrong woman who stood up for herself and wears the wounds on her face with pride. She stood up for her people, for her religion, for what she is, and proudly so. In the video of the attack, at the end, she states that we all must react, defend, do not stand there and take it. I so agree,
Tonite we are going to a conference on global anti Semitism, what it means and how to combat it. It is not the first on this topic in recent days, nor the last, for the Jewish community is alarmed, rightfully so. And here we go again. And again. And again.
No, lividity x2 to infinity does not begin to describe the details and depths of the anger I feel. They are tied together, for Trump is a deep in the soul anti Semite, cursing them to their faces and thinks false temporary gestures can mitigate what he stands for, what he encourages others to do. No, these two problems are tied together and the hatred of the 'other", whomever that might be at any given moment, is a growing danger for us all. Hatred has no border and no edges, no limits to its devastating effects on all.
Livid x2 to infinity and beyond and that is not enough! We must stop this and now! In all its forms, its instigators, its perpetrators and perpetualists. The danger is now. The time is now. Recognize it, accept the truth, and act upon it. Let us use our legal nd civil rights while we still have them.
Yesterday, a man who sits illegitimately in the Oval Office, had a true meltdown and even then the cowed and cowardly Republicans defended the man. He ranted and raved, strung together all his insane tweets, threw in his imbecilic punctuation, or rather lack of proper form, all in a six page rant on WH letterhead, allowing it to be introduced as evidence at his mockery of a trial, spouted dangerous things and yet, there he is, smiling in the warmth of his Party's approval and defend him unto death posture.
Kudos to Pelosi for basically ignoring it, yet there it is. What people seem to have also ignored is his statement during the news conference as he met with the Guatemalan President. He stated, when asked about the letter, that "they do these things better in Guatemala, handle it better". Really? Know how it is handled there? With imprisonment, repression, oppression, torture and death. Is that what is in store for us here in America?Are all the protesters of last nite, all of us commentators and bloggers to keep watch for the men in black masks carrying more black sacks? Have we truly gone down this road, and continue down this road, to the end and see democracy become a dim memory, America a dim memory?
No, lividity does not even begin to cover this. Yet, how many of us out there are maintaining that it has nothing to do with us or stating that we are tired of this, will await the outcome? Are we so willing to concede defeat, to give up on the true wonderfulness of America, its concepts and ideals? Have we become so lost? How are people still saying that well, maybe, depending upon who is the Democratic nominee, perhaps they might still have to vote for Trump! Really! A flea, a tree stump, a gnat, anyone is better than Trump. Perhaps we will disagree with some policies as is normal, but the alternative is an almost definite dissolution of our country. Hell, I am not even sure that should he lose the election - oh, please, Dear Lord, - will he even vacate the building, claiming all sorts of insane crimes and misdeeds and then what? A civil war? A twisted presidium? The choices get worse and worse. NO! This man is a clear and present danger to our country. Period. He needs to go.
Among all this strife and aggravation and existential threats, we Jews have another horror upon us. As I read yesterday, perhaps we need to change the slogan into a warning for all: Never Again becomes Again and Again. Around the world, since time began, anti Semitism, the murdering of Jews, the sacking of Jewish villages, the killing of men, women, children, old and young, in the most vile and violent manners possible - well, it is almost expected, though one did hope that it might have been gone. Yet, there it is again, all over the place, in signs,in rising political parties, in attacks on Jews.
But we thought, here, in America, well, we thought most anti semitism had gone the way of all dead and dangerous ideas. Yes, it was underground to an extent, and definitely lined the hearts and minds of some nasty people, but as a whole, America was to be safe grounds, a refuge for us as we built the nation along with other citizens. But now? Oh no! Not what we hoped. Once again we are being murdered, in places of business, in stalled attacks on our schools, in our synagogues, on the streets, when people even jump out of cars to attack a passing Jewish person. We are cursed on buses, trains, our homes, religious and otherwise, are graffitied with cruel language and hate art, cursed as we walk, going about our business.
But then we step it up a bit, unwillingly too. A young lady on a train was denied a seat, cursed out and at, had to listen as the woman cheered on the actions and slayings in Jersey City and promised more of the kind and then attacked the woman, tearing at her face. But she chose the wrong woman who stood up for herself and wears the wounds on her face with pride. She stood up for her people, for her religion, for what she is, and proudly so. In the video of the attack, at the end, she states that we all must react, defend, do not stand there and take it. I so agree,
Tonite we are going to a conference on global anti Semitism, what it means and how to combat it. It is not the first on this topic in recent days, nor the last, for the Jewish community is alarmed, rightfully so. And here we go again. And again. And again.
No, lividity x2 to infinity does not begin to describe the details and depths of the anger I feel. They are tied together, for Trump is a deep in the soul anti Semite, cursing them to their faces and thinks false temporary gestures can mitigate what he stands for, what he encourages others to do. No, these two problems are tied together and the hatred of the 'other", whomever that might be at any given moment, is a growing danger for us all. Hatred has no border and no edges, no limits to its devastating effects on all.
Livid x2 to infinity and beyond and that is not enough! We must stop this and now! In all its forms, its instigators, its perpetrators and perpetualists. The danger is now. The time is now. Recognize it, accept the truth, and act upon it. Let us use our legal nd civil rights while we still have them.
Tuesday, December 17, 2019
"NOT THERE FOR ETHICS"
And McCain rolls over in his grave. His daughter states on her TV show that she is not there to argue the ethics of the situation but rather the politics of it. Aha!! Is this an open admission that the ethics of the whole impeachment mess, or farce, actually, are totally distinct and separate from the politics of it? Oh, yes, she is correct, but to hear that admission is like music to the ears.
Quite frankly, ethics are noticeable here due to their obvious absence on the Republican side. Susan Collins, who masqueraded as a sensible Republican, shattered that image when she supported the sexual pervert Kavanaugh and now she is ranting about the impeachment of Trump, the worst President ever, worse than Carter and that is WOW!
Giuliani wants to appoint another ambassador to the Ukraine, but do it in such a way as to ease his "investigations" into the Bidens, a dead horse if ever I saw one. But this is their way. Beat that dead horse, whip it till the dead become alive, for truth is abnegated here and lies, falshoods, become the New Truth in the Trumpian world of 2019-20. They want a long trial, no, a short one, no, a long one, defense witnesses but none for the Democrats adn you know what, we really are extending this crisis by calling the side by their political names.
This should be a decision of conscience but what to do when so many people appear to have tossed these consciences on the trash heap? Why is it so clear to so many about the guilt, the corruption, the destruction that he causes, he and his abettors, his co-conspirators, as we edge ever closer to oligarchic rule. Why can people stand there, look at the truth, and then excuse it for various reasons, or even deny it all. According to so many lieing and/or deluded folks, there is a huge 'Deep State' conspiracy and it amazes me how so much cooperation could be found for this presumed plot and its members. Professions that are known to argue have apparently gotten together in this mammoth 'witch hunt'!!!! Seriously! How can this even be allowed to be uttered without huge gales of laughter greeting it? And yet, here it is and people spout that garbage all over the media and wherever their hot air takes them. Feh!!!!!(Disgusting!!)
At least there are some Republicans who have seen the light as they put up billboards asking the obvious question that remains to be answered. What is Trump hiding? That is the crux of the matter. What is in those financial papers? We already have evidence disclosed of financial fraud, of trangresssions of laws on all levels of government, on theft from a charity to the tune of $2 million dollars. What else do those stifled and duct taped witnesses have to add to this mess? What words of clarification can they add? Why is Trump defying the law, Congress, and refusing to answer subpoenas and will the Senate subpoena these witnesses and documents? Seriously? Never!! For that would put the kibbosh on their lies and rants of his innocence of misdeeds, for he is such a good fella! Just misunderstood.
Frankly, there is no misunderstnading him or his cohorts. They all are chasing the road to power, even as they cede power to the man who wishes to undo our years as a democracy and establish his own dynasty with his three oldest children being groomed for roles as royalty in this regime, named so or not. Sound ridiculous? But go back over all that has happened. See a bubbleheaded socialite suddenly become an "astute" stateswoman. See how a definitely not a writer tries to offload her book as original thinking when it is really a compilation of the words of others. Watch as her business folds, how she and her husband have become the senior advisers in the White House, as they chuck their formerly liberal leanings down the chute, all the better to curry favor with papa and gain leverage over all else. See how their very dumb, negative, crude, brothers have joined the clown parade with their spouting of hate and nonsense, full of lies, and goads to violence.
See how the American people have allowed this to happen, overiding those who object. See how we will become sad faced clowns as we mock the process by which we can hold the President responsible for high crimes and misdemeanors, for betraying his country, our country, via his actions and statements. Probably, we should assess his mental health and put him away some place where he cannot perpetrate his treachery any longer, but we will not do that, will we? Nope, we will watch the TV and computer screens and then say we knew it all along; he would be acquitted, even declared innocent by those Republican Senators who will so eagerly have ceded their powers to him.
Lord, Lord, what a mess we have created. How can we possibly undo this if we can ever get him out of office? How do we dismiss the incompetent and biased judges he appointed and the Senate Republicans approved, even as the Bar Association condemned them? What do we do? What can we do? What will we do? Your guess is as good as mine and in the meanwhile, I am consumedwith that grief and despair I wrote of yeterday. We need Bonnie Tyler to sing once again in full voice how we need a hero! Perhaps this time wishing can make it so.
Quite frankly, ethics are noticeable here due to their obvious absence on the Republican side. Susan Collins, who masqueraded as a sensible Republican, shattered that image when she supported the sexual pervert Kavanaugh and now she is ranting about the impeachment of Trump, the worst President ever, worse than Carter and that is WOW!
Giuliani wants to appoint another ambassador to the Ukraine, but do it in such a way as to ease his "investigations" into the Bidens, a dead horse if ever I saw one. But this is their way. Beat that dead horse, whip it till the dead become alive, for truth is abnegated here and lies, falshoods, become the New Truth in the Trumpian world of 2019-20. They want a long trial, no, a short one, no, a long one, defense witnesses but none for the Democrats adn you know what, we really are extending this crisis by calling the side by their political names.
This should be a decision of conscience but what to do when so many people appear to have tossed these consciences on the trash heap? Why is it so clear to so many about the guilt, the corruption, the destruction that he causes, he and his abettors, his co-conspirators, as we edge ever closer to oligarchic rule. Why can people stand there, look at the truth, and then excuse it for various reasons, or even deny it all. According to so many lieing and/or deluded folks, there is a huge 'Deep State' conspiracy and it amazes me how so much cooperation could be found for this presumed plot and its members. Professions that are known to argue have apparently gotten together in this mammoth 'witch hunt'!!!! Seriously! How can this even be allowed to be uttered without huge gales of laughter greeting it? And yet, here it is and people spout that garbage all over the media and wherever their hot air takes them. Feh!!!!!(Disgusting!!)
At least there are some Republicans who have seen the light as they put up billboards asking the obvious question that remains to be answered. What is Trump hiding? That is the crux of the matter. What is in those financial papers? We already have evidence disclosed of financial fraud, of trangresssions of laws on all levels of government, on theft from a charity to the tune of $2 million dollars. What else do those stifled and duct taped witnesses have to add to this mess? What words of clarification can they add? Why is Trump defying the law, Congress, and refusing to answer subpoenas and will the Senate subpoena these witnesses and documents? Seriously? Never!! For that would put the kibbosh on their lies and rants of his innocence of misdeeds, for he is such a good fella! Just misunderstood.
Frankly, there is no misunderstnading him or his cohorts. They all are chasing the road to power, even as they cede power to the man who wishes to undo our years as a democracy and establish his own dynasty with his three oldest children being groomed for roles as royalty in this regime, named so or not. Sound ridiculous? But go back over all that has happened. See a bubbleheaded socialite suddenly become an "astute" stateswoman. See how a definitely not a writer tries to offload her book as original thinking when it is really a compilation of the words of others. Watch as her business folds, how she and her husband have become the senior advisers in the White House, as they chuck their formerly liberal leanings down the chute, all the better to curry favor with papa and gain leverage over all else. See how their very dumb, negative, crude, brothers have joined the clown parade with their spouting of hate and nonsense, full of lies, and goads to violence.
See how the American people have allowed this to happen, overiding those who object. See how we will become sad faced clowns as we mock the process by which we can hold the President responsible for high crimes and misdemeanors, for betraying his country, our country, via his actions and statements. Probably, we should assess his mental health and put him away some place where he cannot perpetrate his treachery any longer, but we will not do that, will we? Nope, we will watch the TV and computer screens and then say we knew it all along; he would be acquitted, even declared innocent by those Republican Senators who will so eagerly have ceded their powers to him.
Lord, Lord, what a mess we have created. How can we possibly undo this if we can ever get him out of office? How do we dismiss the incompetent and biased judges he appointed and the Senate Republicans approved, even as the Bar Association condemned them? What do we do? What can we do? What will we do? Your guess is as good as mine and in the meanwhile, I am consumedwith that grief and despair I wrote of yeterday. We need Bonnie Tyler to sing once again in full voice how we need a hero! Perhaps this time wishing can make it so.
Monday, December 16, 2019
GRIEF, NUNES, THE SMIRK - OH, BOY!!
I first came across the phrase "democracy grief" yesterday in an essay written by Michelle Goldberg. Wow, but did that term smack straight between the eyes. It described, encapsulated, all that I, and so many others, have been feeling. It is a despair that seemingly has no definitive end for at best, the foreseeable future. And that, my friends, leads us to grief and despair.
Why? Simple. Those emotions arise from the worry that democracy in its distinctive American style will be gone and will never return. The moral cowardice, the collusion of the Senate Republicans with their Master from Below, and the possiblity, horrifying as it is, that Trump could actually be reelected in 2020, well, here comes the despotic, oligarchic and corrupt government such as we have never had, not even during the time of Harding or Nixon.
We will have foreign intervention and participation within our government and national policies and who knows what else? Will there be mass disenfranchisement? Will there be mass roundups of opposition? Will there be a wholesale change in life for Americans and not in a good way either. As the world turns to s#&t, as the climate and the earth itself turns its revenge upon the desecraters of its integrity, who will live and who will simply survive - or not?
Think I am over the top, jumped the shark? Well, think again. When I predicted the possibility of a civil war, .....soon there were many commentators who said the same. When I wrote of other accusations and possibilities others said never, and yet, here we are with a Party serving the head of it, turning its back on all that is right, and deserting the nation and loyalty to it. At this point I do not believe there is a single Republican in the Senate who has the moral uprightness and integrity to vote for impeachment. Not a one!!! And to add to that disgrace, there are some Democrats who also stand with them for the sake of their seats. Of what use will these seats be when they become as useless, as powerless, as meaningless as the Diet of Russia?!
Right along that same crack in the tundra of the country, we have Nunes who is now exposed as up to his miserable neck in corruption and yet, he is one of the Senate jurors. Pots and kettles here, folks, and the outcome - democracy grief. Democracy despair. The man is running, I believe, at last count, six lawsuits and here is a simple question with no obvious answer. From whence and how does this man finance these lawsuits, who is he paying and how? There are no visible funds for this so.....You answer that question and I bet you will find some arch conservatives and some foreign infiltrators working side by side to increase the havoc and anomie that this nation is falling into deeper and deeper. The well of havoc seems to be based on a bottomless abyss and we are falling, my friends, falling deeply downwards with no rope or climbing possibilites visible. And yet there he remains, in the Senate, adding his two cents to the mess.
He, McConnell, are all "taking their cue" from the White House, from that man with that smirk that I would love to smack off his snarky face. Whoa, but I can remember my parents telling me at times of disagreement, shall we say, to "get that smirk off my face or it will be removed for me". And I believe I followed right along when driven to the edge by defiant teens. Removed it I did and so did my kids, but this toddler, he is so full of hubris, of his own self importance, of his own greatness in his remnant of a working brain, that he hears nothing that makes sense, only the nastiness roiling within him and the desperate need to spew it forth on anyone and anything that opposes his tantrums and demands.
So yes, there is the title and its explanation. But I believe we can add one more word - desperation. That is what so many are feeling now as the election and its aftermath remains unknown. Will he go down in the defeat he so deserves? Will he vacate the White House willingly, obeythe laws and rules of a nation he has just about destroyed? What will happen if he does not?
Oh, you point out the possibility of conviction on the impeachment charges? Ha!! Not with these Senators. There is no more justice, no more courage, no more moral values thee at at all. So we will listen to the truth, but will the truth be enough? "Why waste time discovering the truth when you can so easily create it?"
So speaks a character in a novel and so speak the many liars and turncoats of the Trump administration. We are in deep trouble as a nation, deeply ensconced in grief, despair, danger and loss of meaningful hope for the future. Now read the title again and understand.
Why? Simple. Those emotions arise from the worry that democracy in its distinctive American style will be gone and will never return. The moral cowardice, the collusion of the Senate Republicans with their Master from Below, and the possiblity, horrifying as it is, that Trump could actually be reelected in 2020, well, here comes the despotic, oligarchic and corrupt government such as we have never had, not even during the time of Harding or Nixon.
We will have foreign intervention and participation within our government and national policies and who knows what else? Will there be mass disenfranchisement? Will there be mass roundups of opposition? Will there be a wholesale change in life for Americans and not in a good way either. As the world turns to s#&t, as the climate and the earth itself turns its revenge upon the desecraters of its integrity, who will live and who will simply survive - or not?
Think I am over the top, jumped the shark? Well, think again. When I predicted the possibility of a civil war, .....soon there were many commentators who said the same. When I wrote of other accusations and possibilities others said never, and yet, here we are with a Party serving the head of it, turning its back on all that is right, and deserting the nation and loyalty to it. At this point I do not believe there is a single Republican in the Senate who has the moral uprightness and integrity to vote for impeachment. Not a one!!! And to add to that disgrace, there are some Democrats who also stand with them for the sake of their seats. Of what use will these seats be when they become as useless, as powerless, as meaningless as the Diet of Russia?!
Right along that same crack in the tundra of the country, we have Nunes who is now exposed as up to his miserable neck in corruption and yet, he is one of the Senate jurors. Pots and kettles here, folks, and the outcome - democracy grief. Democracy despair. The man is running, I believe, at last count, six lawsuits and here is a simple question with no obvious answer. From whence and how does this man finance these lawsuits, who is he paying and how? There are no visible funds for this so.....You answer that question and I bet you will find some arch conservatives and some foreign infiltrators working side by side to increase the havoc and anomie that this nation is falling into deeper and deeper. The well of havoc seems to be based on a bottomless abyss and we are falling, my friends, falling deeply downwards with no rope or climbing possibilites visible. And yet there he remains, in the Senate, adding his two cents to the mess.
He, McConnell, are all "taking their cue" from the White House, from that man with that smirk that I would love to smack off his snarky face. Whoa, but I can remember my parents telling me at times of disagreement, shall we say, to "get that smirk off my face or it will be removed for me". And I believe I followed right along when driven to the edge by defiant teens. Removed it I did and so did my kids, but this toddler, he is so full of hubris, of his own self importance, of his own greatness in his remnant of a working brain, that he hears nothing that makes sense, only the nastiness roiling within him and the desperate need to spew it forth on anyone and anything that opposes his tantrums and demands.
So yes, there is the title and its explanation. But I believe we can add one more word - desperation. That is what so many are feeling now as the election and its aftermath remains unknown. Will he go down in the defeat he so deserves? Will he vacate the White House willingly, obeythe laws and rules of a nation he has just about destroyed? What will happen if he does not?
Oh, you point out the possibility of conviction on the impeachment charges? Ha!! Not with these Senators. There is no more justice, no more courage, no more moral values thee at at all. So we will listen to the truth, but will the truth be enough? "Why waste time discovering the truth when you can so easily create it?"
So speaks a character in a novel and so speak the many liars and turncoats of the Trump administration. We are in deep trouble as a nation, deeply ensconced in grief, despair, danger and loss of meaningful hope for the future. Now read the title again and understand.
Sunday, December 15, 2019
FORWARD, BACKWARD AND REVERSE
"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard
This is not a new idea; it has been expressed in many variations - those who do not understand or study the past are doomed to repeat it, or one cannot know where to go unless one knows where he has been before and many more. Unfortunately it appears to me and to many others that we have forgotten that advice and barged on into a future that becomes more ghastly by the day, sometimes by the hour - or by the tweet!
We, the people, has lost its meaning. We, the people, have forgotten our past, our struggles, our sense of independence and loyalty. We, the people, have twisted our patriotism into a perverted and vile personality cult. We, the people, have lost our roots, gone astray, and blow this way and that with every word this deranged man tweets or shouts or whines. We, the people, have let our representatives run wildly and dangerously astray and we stand to lose this country of ours because we forgot the past, forgot the words of Washington who warned of foreign interference, forgot the words of Lincoln - "of the people, by the people, for the people".
We have forgotten the words and their meaning that we supposedly chant with earnest intonation, but today, today it is all a deep and ugly farce. "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands..." The truth? Every single one of the Republicans in the House and the Senate have spit on those words with their every word, excuse, and vote that purportedly is non partisan and judges fairly upon evidence and not personal fear, maintenance of seat in said institutions, or the grasping for power, for whatever one might gain through fealty to a nasty dude.
There is something so nasty about the situation now in DC that its rank odor permeates the country. Yes, these people have looked backwards, but their views have centered upon old dictatorships, the fear engendered by these dictators, the years of power held by them and their sycophants, those who stood by and allowed tragedies right in front of their faces. They have ignored the past of ours, the past which showed us moving forward in so many areas, sometimes falling backwards, but always reversing and going forward, learning from our past mistakes and moving, living, in a forward manner.
Today, this is missing. We are looking backwards and living backwards. How else can one explain a farce of a Sentate trial where the jury colludes with the accused, with McConnell admitting that he is in lockstep with the White House and will move only in tandem with it and that deranged infant.
What do we do with a statement by another Republicasn Senator, Graham, who openly states, following upon prior madness and hypocrisy that he has endorsed, "This thing will come to the Senate, and it will die quickly, and I will do everyting I can to make it die quickly......I am trying to give a pretty clear signal I have made up my mind. I'm not tryingto pretend to be a fair juror here."
Read those lines again and again. What the hell are we doing? Each and every one of these people would be removed from the jury panel in a normal situation. What are we doing by allowing this farce to continue, this devastating rejection, in front of the whole world, a rejection of our independence, our past, our future, the future of the globe. What do freedom fighters, activists, democracy supporters, struggling small countries as they are trashed by larger giants of oppressive and aggressive nations have to do to find the truth and encouragement once more from The United States of America? Where has that nation gone? Where have our public servants left their morals, their courage, their oath to support and defend this nation and its Constitution? Where?
There are some honest asnd courageous people who are putting the nation first. They are defying those who warn them they will lose their seats. Lucy McBath, with a narrowly won seat, says she voted her conscience, "And I do so with a heavy heart and a grieving soul. Thisis not why I came to Washington; I came to Washington because I love my country."
Max Rose, another one from a conservative district, says, "Party and politics will never come before the country I bled to protect - and would unquestionably do so again,: Compare that to Captain Bonespur!
And finally, we havethe words of Susie Lee: "I took an oath to defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. This is a solemn decision. I end with this: Democracies live and die by the integrity of our elections."
These are people who have looked to the past and understood its lessons and import for our futures. We can make of it what we will. Send the message to all - fair and impartial, open minds, recognition and acceptance of truth, of defending and being true to our nation, to our people, to the world, to our future.There is only that and nothing else that is more important than that right now to this nation. Do not squander the lessons of the past, the sacrifices of the past, on a dangerous and trashed future. Please. Hear the multitude of voices calling out to you from the past and hear the fading voices of desperate people in the future who will not have The United States of America as it was, as it is needed to be.
This is not a new idea; it has been expressed in many variations - those who do not understand or study the past are doomed to repeat it, or one cannot know where to go unless one knows where he has been before and many more. Unfortunately it appears to me and to many others that we have forgotten that advice and barged on into a future that becomes more ghastly by the day, sometimes by the hour - or by the tweet!
We, the people, has lost its meaning. We, the people, have forgotten our past, our struggles, our sense of independence and loyalty. We, the people, have twisted our patriotism into a perverted and vile personality cult. We, the people, have lost our roots, gone astray, and blow this way and that with every word this deranged man tweets or shouts or whines. We, the people, have let our representatives run wildly and dangerously astray and we stand to lose this country of ours because we forgot the past, forgot the words of Washington who warned of foreign interference, forgot the words of Lincoln - "of the people, by the people, for the people".
We have forgotten the words and their meaning that we supposedly chant with earnest intonation, but today, today it is all a deep and ugly farce. "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands..." The truth? Every single one of the Republicans in the House and the Senate have spit on those words with their every word, excuse, and vote that purportedly is non partisan and judges fairly upon evidence and not personal fear, maintenance of seat in said institutions, or the grasping for power, for whatever one might gain through fealty to a nasty dude.
There is something so nasty about the situation now in DC that its rank odor permeates the country. Yes, these people have looked backwards, but their views have centered upon old dictatorships, the fear engendered by these dictators, the years of power held by them and their sycophants, those who stood by and allowed tragedies right in front of their faces. They have ignored the past of ours, the past which showed us moving forward in so many areas, sometimes falling backwards, but always reversing and going forward, learning from our past mistakes and moving, living, in a forward manner.
Today, this is missing. We are looking backwards and living backwards. How else can one explain a farce of a Sentate trial where the jury colludes with the accused, with McConnell admitting that he is in lockstep with the White House and will move only in tandem with it and that deranged infant.
What do we do with a statement by another Republicasn Senator, Graham, who openly states, following upon prior madness and hypocrisy that he has endorsed, "This thing will come to the Senate, and it will die quickly, and I will do everyting I can to make it die quickly......I am trying to give a pretty clear signal I have made up my mind. I'm not tryingto pretend to be a fair juror here."
Read those lines again and again. What the hell are we doing? Each and every one of these people would be removed from the jury panel in a normal situation. What are we doing by allowing this farce to continue, this devastating rejection, in front of the whole world, a rejection of our independence, our past, our future, the future of the globe. What do freedom fighters, activists, democracy supporters, struggling small countries as they are trashed by larger giants of oppressive and aggressive nations have to do to find the truth and encouragement once more from The United States of America? Where has that nation gone? Where have our public servants left their morals, their courage, their oath to support and defend this nation and its Constitution? Where?
There are some honest asnd courageous people who are putting the nation first. They are defying those who warn them they will lose their seats. Lucy McBath, with a narrowly won seat, says she voted her conscience, "And I do so with a heavy heart and a grieving soul. Thisis not why I came to Washington; I came to Washington because I love my country."
Max Rose, another one from a conservative district, says, "Party and politics will never come before the country I bled to protect - and would unquestionably do so again,: Compare that to Captain Bonespur!
And finally, we havethe words of Susie Lee: "I took an oath to defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. This is a solemn decision. I end with this: Democracies live and die by the integrity of our elections."
These are people who have looked to the past and understood its lessons and import for our futures. We can make of it what we will. Send the message to all - fair and impartial, open minds, recognition and acceptance of truth, of defending and being true to our nation, to our people, to the world, to our future.There is only that and nothing else that is more important than that right now to this nation. Do not squander the lessons of the past, the sacrifices of the past, on a dangerous and trashed future. Please. Hear the multitude of voices calling out to you from the past and hear the fading voices of desperate people in the future who will not have The United States of America as it was, as it is needed to be.
Friday, December 13, 2019
SITTING ON SUITCASES
I have heard this phrase several times in recent days and it is one of the most frightening phrases ever. What does it mean and why is it so disheartening, to put it mildly? Basically, it means that one is so unsure of one's place in the world, where one lives, where one has made a home, that one has suitcases packed, mentally and in reality, ready to go, perhaps in a hopeless and desperate search for sanctuary, often to no avail.
Most recently it has been used with reference to the Jews of Britain. Contributing greatly to a country that once threw them out and burned them as heretics, British Jews have felt safe, secure in their home and country. Lately there has been a steep rise in anti Semitism there, so bad, so deep within the fabric of the country, that the Chief Rabbi felt he had to break tradition and speak of the vote, to condemn Corbyn and his vicious unapologetic hatred of Jews, of Israel, of anyone who actually defied that feeling of his. Not that Johnson is much better, but at times one has to pick the lesser of two evils.
But British Jews are now sitting on their suitcases, unsure, rocky in their home country, in their very homes and businesses. As are the rest of European Jews. They too are sitting on their suitcases as the violence and the level of anti Semitism rises in a steep line. French Jews can now give advice to their fellow Jews as they have been living like that for a long, long time.
Go back through history and you will find that same suitcase life among Jews, never sure, never safe, never decided about acceptance. But the question now is different. Where does one go when the entire world appears to have no place for you and your family? Where does one go when families must breakup in order to find security? How does one soothe the surviving Holocaust victims as they see the world once again, one more time, turn to this vicious hatred? Will sitting on suitcases be enough?
Yes, I know, there are so many desperate refugees today that why should we feel that Jews have a greater hold on the suitcase life? Perhaps it is because ,for example that even as the Rohingya are banned in Malaysia, they are not in other countries and there are Moslem dominated countries that can have room for them. The same for other immigrants, for at least refugee camps and materials and food are provided for them, even as sad as the situation is. But if the viciousness of anti Semitism is raised and rising all over, even here in the USA where three times in one year Jews have been targeted for death, been slaughtered in synagogues, been attacked on the street, in their businesses, then where do we go? It appears that all the inns of the world have been and will continue to be shuttered to them.
Then comes this executive order from one of the most vocal and vicious anti Semites ever - Trump. Basically, he gives credence to the fact that Jews are a race, a nationality and says this will help oppose discrimination against them. But will it? First of all, an Executive Order is not an etched in stone law and can be done with boom! Second, what does it mean to be designated as a race? Does that give Hitler's vicious theory justification, that the Jews are a race and if so, it is then okay to blame them for the ills of the world? If being a Jew is a race, then how do we account for the so many different faces of a gathered world Jewry to be seen in Israel, with black, Asian, mixed, Arabic, Hispanic and plain old faces all belonging to the Jewish "race"?
And yet, Jews are one, all over the world, which was why last night there was a round of applause when it was announced at a gathering that Corbyn was defeated. That is why most Jews will support Israel, the ancient homeland, the country which will never throw them out.
So where do Jews stand now? Well, they are not standing. They are sitting on their suitcases, all over, in trepidation as to the future and their role and place in it. The old adage that a smart Jew had his passport in order, while the wise one carried it in his pocket, appears to have grown more relevance of late, and yes, mine is in order.
If anyone can explain these things to me, I would be ever so grateful, though I sincerely doubt that anyone can. Hatred is illogical. It is destrucitve. It destroys the values once held to be of definite need for a good life, for a moral life, and trashes all the progress humankind has made. It elevates the lowest elements of society and it matters not whether this element be of high or low economic status. Hatred infects without care for class.
One thing all should know. First, that Jews will not stand by, meekly, or in possible hope of possible survival if unjust laws are obeyed. Been there, done that, and no more. Second, we at least have a place to go, even if that place will also be attacked, but at least we will be together. Third, there will be a run on suitcases, as all those who do not follow in the hateful and destructive path set by those awful beings will find that suitcase and that passport necessary for them as well.
Are Jews a race? Are we a religion? Are we a nationality? Does it really matter in the bottom line? I do not think so, for we are what we are, and those who do not like that, or us, or are jealous of our achievements and gifts to mankind - and see Mark Twian for that - will say and do whatever they want. Perhaps it is time that we think of buying suitcases for them, telling them there is no place for them here, in a country which appreciates the contributions of Jewish people through the millenia, tell them to pack it up and get the hell out of town.
I truly do not know the answers. All I do know is that I am frightened for the next generations, should this globe of ours make it through all the abuse we have done to it. What will happen to them? Will we look back in three years, in five years, and wonder why we did not see the truth and use those suitcases or fight back? Only the good Lord knows and right now He ain't talking to his wayward children of the earth, is he? More likely the Devil, don't ya' think!
Most recently it has been used with reference to the Jews of Britain. Contributing greatly to a country that once threw them out and burned them as heretics, British Jews have felt safe, secure in their home and country. Lately there has been a steep rise in anti Semitism there, so bad, so deep within the fabric of the country, that the Chief Rabbi felt he had to break tradition and speak of the vote, to condemn Corbyn and his vicious unapologetic hatred of Jews, of Israel, of anyone who actually defied that feeling of his. Not that Johnson is much better, but at times one has to pick the lesser of two evils.
But British Jews are now sitting on their suitcases, unsure, rocky in their home country, in their very homes and businesses. As are the rest of European Jews. They too are sitting on their suitcases as the violence and the level of anti Semitism rises in a steep line. French Jews can now give advice to their fellow Jews as they have been living like that for a long, long time.
Go back through history and you will find that same suitcase life among Jews, never sure, never safe, never decided about acceptance. But the question now is different. Where does one go when the entire world appears to have no place for you and your family? Where does one go when families must breakup in order to find security? How does one soothe the surviving Holocaust victims as they see the world once again, one more time, turn to this vicious hatred? Will sitting on suitcases be enough?
Yes, I know, there are so many desperate refugees today that why should we feel that Jews have a greater hold on the suitcase life? Perhaps it is because ,for example that even as the Rohingya are banned in Malaysia, they are not in other countries and there are Moslem dominated countries that can have room for them. The same for other immigrants, for at least refugee camps and materials and food are provided for them, even as sad as the situation is. But if the viciousness of anti Semitism is raised and rising all over, even here in the USA where three times in one year Jews have been targeted for death, been slaughtered in synagogues, been attacked on the street, in their businesses, then where do we go? It appears that all the inns of the world have been and will continue to be shuttered to them.
Then comes this executive order from one of the most vocal and vicious anti Semites ever - Trump. Basically, he gives credence to the fact that Jews are a race, a nationality and says this will help oppose discrimination against them. But will it? First of all, an Executive Order is not an etched in stone law and can be done with boom! Second, what does it mean to be designated as a race? Does that give Hitler's vicious theory justification, that the Jews are a race and if so, it is then okay to blame them for the ills of the world? If being a Jew is a race, then how do we account for the so many different faces of a gathered world Jewry to be seen in Israel, with black, Asian, mixed, Arabic, Hispanic and plain old faces all belonging to the Jewish "race"?
And yet, Jews are one, all over the world, which was why last night there was a round of applause when it was announced at a gathering that Corbyn was defeated. That is why most Jews will support Israel, the ancient homeland, the country which will never throw them out.
So where do Jews stand now? Well, they are not standing. They are sitting on their suitcases, all over, in trepidation as to the future and their role and place in it. The old adage that a smart Jew had his passport in order, while the wise one carried it in his pocket, appears to have grown more relevance of late, and yes, mine is in order.
If anyone can explain these things to me, I would be ever so grateful, though I sincerely doubt that anyone can. Hatred is illogical. It is destrucitve. It destroys the values once held to be of definite need for a good life, for a moral life, and trashes all the progress humankind has made. It elevates the lowest elements of society and it matters not whether this element be of high or low economic status. Hatred infects without care for class.
One thing all should know. First, that Jews will not stand by, meekly, or in possible hope of possible survival if unjust laws are obeyed. Been there, done that, and no more. Second, we at least have a place to go, even if that place will also be attacked, but at least we will be together. Third, there will be a run on suitcases, as all those who do not follow in the hateful and destructive path set by those awful beings will find that suitcase and that passport necessary for them as well.
Are Jews a race? Are we a religion? Are we a nationality? Does it really matter in the bottom line? I do not think so, for we are what we are, and those who do not like that, or us, or are jealous of our achievements and gifts to mankind - and see Mark Twian for that - will say and do whatever they want. Perhaps it is time that we think of buying suitcases for them, telling them there is no place for them here, in a country which appreciates the contributions of Jewish people through the millenia, tell them to pack it up and get the hell out of town.
I truly do not know the answers. All I do know is that I am frightened for the next generations, should this globe of ours make it through all the abuse we have done to it. What will happen to them? Will we look back in three years, in five years, and wonder why we did not see the truth and use those suitcases or fight back? Only the good Lord knows and right now He ain't talking to his wayward children of the earth, is he? More likely the Devil, don't ya' think!
Thursday, December 12, 2019
AMERICA, AMERICA - HOW I WEEP FOR THEE
Oh, we still sing, the anthem, G-d Bless America, the song America and in these songs we are supposed to feel pride and patriotism, a love of a country, but today, these emotions are stilled, the full throatedness of the songs dimmed. We are besieged and beset by existential problems and a President who goes around "presidenting" - playing a game of pretense? Of mockery? Of incompetence? This is the behavior we need?
Our bank account of true leaders, of politicians who are loyal to the country over all else, is seriously overdrawn. It seems that true leaders have become a commodity of true rarity and we, the people, we, America, are suffering for it.
"Increasingly, by design or not, there appears to be a movement to undermine Americans' faith in our government and its policies and institutions,"
Those are the words of Paul Volcker, a man of greatness and insight, a man whose autobiography will be published soon, a book written with no ulterior motive other than to save the country he loved and served so well. The country he feared for. The man is dead now, his mind stilled, but his words linger on. These words are meant not only for us, but for any country which forgets its purpose - to serve its people. To keep them safe. To keep the world safe. To pursue a growing international approach if we are even to survive on this planet.
The plans on the Republicans' side? Show movies, give out candy, demand and terrorize, all the better to insure a trial in the Senate which will be farcial in the extreme. A trial in which the jury has already colluded with the accused and decided to vote to acquit and never you mind the truth. Truth is irrelevant these days, it seems. Very sad and oh, so dangerous.
The very man who spouts filthy and vicious canards re the Jewish people, then stands there triumphant thinking he has truly done a great job, used carrots and sticks, to force them to vote for him. I vomit at that thought and at the fact that he continues to delude otherwise rational people, people who seem to have lost their way when it comes to morals and behavior, to true thought, to intelligence, to caring for others, for sheer decency! And for truth. The simple and whole truth. Truth has been turned on its head and Newspeak is in full bloom, spreading its poisonous seeds all over the country.
How are we to approach this problem? Can it even be overcome now, with its insidious roots being laid down so strongly in so many areas. The very people that suffer from his policies, are the very people who cheer him on. Them and the fatcats who have received so much from Trump what with the deregulation, the tax breaks, the corruption in DC.
Nihilistic forces are dismantling policies to protect our air, water, and climate. And they seek to discredit the pillars of our democracy: voting rights and fair elections, the rule of law, the free press, the separation of powers, the belief in science, and the concept of truth itself."
America, America, G-d shed His grace on thee, but for now, America, America, I truly, deeply, weep for thee.
Our bank account of true leaders, of politicians who are loyal to the country over all else, is seriously overdrawn. It seems that true leaders have become a commodity of true rarity and we, the people, we, America, are suffering for it.
"Increasingly, by design or not, there appears to be a movement to undermine Americans' faith in our government and its policies and institutions,"
Those are the words of Paul Volcker, a man of greatness and insight, a man whose autobiography will be published soon, a book written with no ulterior motive other than to save the country he loved and served so well. The country he feared for. The man is dead now, his mind stilled, but his words linger on. These words are meant not only for us, but for any country which forgets its purpose - to serve its people. To keep them safe. To keep the world safe. To pursue a growing international approach if we are even to survive on this planet.
The plans on the Republicans' side? Show movies, give out candy, demand and terrorize, all the better to insure a trial in the Senate which will be farcial in the extreme. A trial in which the jury has already colluded with the accused and decided to vote to acquit and never you mind the truth. Truth is irrelevant these days, it seems. Very sad and oh, so dangerous.
The very man who spouts filthy and vicious canards re the Jewish people, then stands there triumphant thinking he has truly done a great job, used carrots and sticks, to force them to vote for him. I vomit at that thought and at the fact that he continues to delude otherwise rational people, people who seem to have lost their way when it comes to morals and behavior, to true thought, to intelligence, to caring for others, for sheer decency! And for truth. The simple and whole truth. Truth has been turned on its head and Newspeak is in full bloom, spreading its poisonous seeds all over the country.
How are we to approach this problem? Can it even be overcome now, with its insidious roots being laid down so strongly in so many areas. The very people that suffer from his policies, are the very people who cheer him on. Them and the fatcats who have received so much from Trump what with the deregulation, the tax breaks, the corruption in DC.
Nihilistic forces are dismantling policies to protect our air, water, and climate. And they seek to discredit the pillars of our democracy: voting rights and fair elections, the rule of law, the free press, the separation of powers, the belief in science, and the concept of truth itself."
America, America, G-d shed His grace on thee, but for now, America, America, I truly, deeply, weep for thee.
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