DOUBLE RAINBOWS

   Rainbows are magnificent. No doubt about it. The most jaded adult will join the chorus of oohs and ahhs, as people look out windows, go out to see it better, just stand and admire it. Once upon a time the good Lord sent a rainbow as a sign to Noah and the rest of mankind that he would not destroy the world with water ever again.
     For thousands of years we have relied on that omen, even as floodwaters inundated our homes, our farms, our cities, even as the drowning of the lands increased. But think about it. Think what is not there and what is implied. Think about the message that rainbow sends us.
     Friday, late in the day, there was a most magnificent double rainbow up in the sky. Doors could be seen opening as people came out of condos to admire its glory. Hands raised, heads tilted upwards, fingers pointing. A divine message that the world is safe? Or rather a divine message of another kind? Remember that the world was almost totally wiped out and it could happen again. This time, maybe not through waters that are sent from above, but rather from the people themselves.
     We are not safe from ourselves. That has been conclusively proven by history, and unfortunately, history has become repetitive as we never seem to learn the lessons of history. Time and time again we make excuses for our troubles. Time and time again we honor the dishonorable, believe the false prophets, repeatedly denying the evidence of our own ears and eyes.
       And the news today? The evidence today? Are we back in that same old destructive pattern that we inevitably find ourselves in or are we finally, slowly, coming to our senses?
      Here is my question for history. Why is it that we allow ourselves to fall prey to the weakest of us, the worst of us? Why is it that we refuse to back down even as the ugly truth is surfacing, coated with the lies, the grievances, the crimes, the hatred, the incompetence, the plain and simple madness replete with infantile behavior and megalomaniacal paranoid tendencies and traits? Why do we allow ourselves to be coaxed into accepting the situation as our rights are abrogated, disappearing by the minute, justice perverted until there is no more justice, and violence ramped up? Why is it that we cannot seem to hear and see the rise in oral violence, the ugliness of the political rhetoric, the increasing imagery of violence, the ramping up of the encouragement to hate all others.
      From Nero and Caligula, to unnamed dictators of ancient times, all the way through the centuries to Mussolini, Hitler, Maduro, Orban, Lenin, Stalin, Putin, Mao, Kim, the hate filled utterings of a political leader in England, and our own home grown rotten potatoes, our own American violent worms, from 'boogaloos', yet another ridiculous name for a violent rabble to White supremacists, a revived KKK, left extremists who also advocate violence, and the monsters masquerading as politicians out to save the day, our day, they tell us. What is wrong with us.
     Time and time again we allow our own homegrown monster, he of the orange hair, the strange conduct, the hate filled words, the mentally and physically deterioration, allow him to continue on in his ugliness, in his monstrous plans. Media denigrated, threatened, suppressed. The judicial system raped, violated, dipped into the ugly mud until it is totally coated, even as those trying to do the right thing are removed, even as the Justice Department turns into the typical dictator ruled joke , a dirty joke, run on and to the whims of that crazed man. 
     Lies proven lies by photos. Words said and denied, even as the encouragement they provide for the violence seekers grows in intensity and frequency. The venomous hatred rolls off the forked tongue of this man and his buddies, denied by the Republican wimps, moral weaklings, of the Senate, and inserting a knife in the heart of America, using the last refuges of tyrants - false patriotism and false religion.
     But there is hope. Some of that pathetic party are finally whispering out loud, not enough, never enough, but there it is. The asinine denials of reality are facing growing ridicule, the emperor is more and more exposed by his own nakedness, more and more of those who voted for him are beating their chests for that action. All that remains now, hopefully, are those who will find the self respect within them to admit their oh so bad and dangerous error, the harm, the existential threat to our country that they have enabled, and vote this man out. OUT! And then, chant his own favorite verse - lock HIM up!
     Show the world that we have not lost our inner souls. That we are America in the fullest sense of the word and meaning. That we will once again, forcefully, participate in renewing regulations for safety, to welcoming new immigrants, the building blocks of our nation, the glue between blocks, the cultures that enrich immigrants and citizens all.
      We are America. We are a salad bowl, each ingredient enriching the flavor of the others. We are leaders of and to the world. We do not allow treasonous presidents to suborn and invite, beg for, foreign interference in our elections, particularly our enemies! We do not attend rallies that push hatred. We will demand the best from our administrations and send home those who refuse to rise to the standards we set and demand, insist upon.
     Is this taking place? Are we seeing signs of new rainbows, new messages, new hopes and possibilities? Perhaps the message is also to us that we need to take care of our own messes. G-d will not destroy us via the water route, a promise, but there are so many other ways and we find ourselves so damnably impressive at finding those ways and pushing it to the end. Nope, the message of the double rainbow? We can all be well and stay safe - through our own deeds and beliefs. We can all save ourselves, save the world, by being good people. Not heroic. Just good and caring, honest people who demand the best from all. Who recognize our purpose on this earth, to enhance it and its residents, not to destroy. 
     It is up to us. Personally, I believe that the Lord Above is a tad tired of us and our constant return to the dark side. We follow our own homegrown Darth Vader and Storm Troopers, rather than a Hans Solo and his Jedi. Let us dig deep down, accept our responsibilities and do what must be done, and not necessarily an easy thing to do. But then again, what of worth is ever easy to accomplish. G-d is out there watching. Smoking His pipe, wondering, along with His Angels what these peculiar creations of His will do next, turning a deaf ear to those Angels and surrounding souls to do something, to save these humans from their own folly yet one more time. But is there one more time in us, on this earth? The answer - catch me on a good day for that.