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.