THE SCALES OF LIFE

     To check into any form of media these days it appears that one must engage in a year end evaluation, for if not, well, one is letting the team down. The question behind that thought is of what use is an evaluation if it begins and ends with incorrect premises? Let's see what the scales of life say about us and our world?
     What are we evaluating? What do we hope to gain by it? Will we indeed truly look deeply into ourselves and face the truth? And even if we do so, what will we then do with that truth?
     Each Party here in America is shouting at each other determined to point out its faults, its liabilities, but there is a difference between them. Though I am not happy with the Democratic party and its silence, its lack of outright and  severe condemnation of Tlaib and Omar for their disgusting statements re Israel and Jews in general, at least they did pass a resolution for a two state settlement, though to be honest I think we will have the coming of the Messiah before that happens! There is a recognition of the fact that Israel is really our own solo ally there in the Middle East, the only democraccy, a country which has made errors, but a country that is still young and always trying, its songs replete with longing for peace, not war, not killing. A country where its Arab citizens, and yes, citizens, are in every walk of life, from Knesset to hospitals and pharmacies, to stores and businesses, to building beautiful new palatial homes and shopping without fear or concern as they walk the streets of the cities and the malls.
     Could the Democrats do more in this area? For sure, but then again, let us look to the other Party. Where is the Republican party when a vicious hater, a creep who espouses all the ugly canards of hate, is the man who delineates the policies of this administration towards immigration and its insane push for the wall, running rampant over people's private properties, stealing money from the military to build it, and letting, no, actually can we call it encouraging, children to die whilst in their cages. Read that sentence again and think. Hard.
     What about the issues of honor, of trust, of loyalty, of sanity, of decency, of humanity, every decent impulse of the human race? Fading fast under a Republican regime and its shameful collapse under the gaze and the nasty tweets of a demented old man near to bursting from his fast food diet topped with his severe overload of hatred and narcissism. 
     We have turned on our allies. We have embraced hateful dictators from around the world, absorbing their faults and habits, forgotten our history and turned into the worrisome laughingstock of the world. How shameful it is to realize that at a NATO meeting the heads of our allies have a conversation wherein they discuss the nature of Trump! Wow! We have left allies hanging. We have placed the Ukraine in a perilous situation. We have left the brave protesters of Hong Kong alone, with truly apathetic behavior from Trump. We have not condemned so much that is wrong in the world, from the hypocrisy of Saudi Arabia, which only just had yet another citizen shoot up our Naval Base - shades of 9/11.
     Our citizens are being imprisoned in countries all over the world as these countries try to gain a stepup or a lack of condemnation from the USA. We have lost our way, neglecting all and sundry and have gained naught from it or by it save aggravation and a worsening situation all over the globe. What have we done and what are we still doing?
     We have allowed our very way of life to be challenged, with our democracy in danger, and not from without, but from within. We have a President who is the apparent chief cheerleader in that process and his wimpy valueless Party members toddle along right behind him. We demean honorable governmental employees who have been horrified at what has been going on and who finally haveg ginned up the courage to speak out. We have a White House that obstructs justice, that demeans and weakens Congress, emasculating it, violently, viciously, and the moronic Republicans colluded in that effort, killing off their own role in our government as they allow it to be dismantled and the country run by a series of Orders from the would be monarch. 
    Worst of all, we have corrupted the whole system of justice here, injecting so much partisanship in the Federal system of judges, appointing biased, incompetent, unqualified, condemned by the ABA appointees, that we have ruined the country for decades, at a minimum, and it is not so clear whether or not we will actually ever be able to recover from that.
     So go ahead, citizen of America. Wonder how you reached the point of hateful and destructive attitudes toward immigrants, forgotten the little old couple who came here from somewhere else, or the struggle of your parents who came here to fulfill a dream. How and why have you reached the point of validating hate and destruction, of indifference to the shattering of the basis of the country? How and why have we allowed the violent prejudices towards others to recur, smashing and slashing all the progress we had made? How have we allowed Jews to be uneasy in their own country, shot in their own synagogues, beaten in the streets and why have we decided that brown and black skin is inferior and never you mind when they too are shot or demeaned?
    Yes, by all means, evaluate the year as both individual and as part of America, as a member of the human race, a citizen of the world, an inhabitant of a planet under danger of destruction. Go ahead and evaluate and wonder why you are not one of those who are trying to counteract these poisonous streams injected into our body politic? Time to evaluate. Time to change. Time to truly mean it when we wish each other a happy holiday season and a good new year. Do we actually mean it? Can we change ourselves and make it happen? Can we become good people, a good nation once more?
     Hop onto those scales and see where and how you measure up. Tough thing to do, but it must be done.