NEGAN LIVES!!!!

     Now some of you might be asking, "Who is Negan and why should I care?" Negan is a bad man who found that sinking to the lowest level during the aftermath of a pandemic which was a growth industry of zombie production, was a step up for him. He fooled himself into thinking that he actually was providing a home and sustenance for his community, and never mind his awful excesses. He horribly murdered Glenn, Maggie's husband, and was killed in  the final issues of the comic book series - but was he?
       See, The Walking Dead is not about zombies, though it was a lure early on. What it truly is, is a choice put forth before people in a dangerous and changed, unrecognizable world. Will we become zombies, eating others in both figurative and literal interpretations, fall for petty tyrants giving them life and death control over us, or will we rise to meet the new responsibilities and yes, the new chances to build a better society? Well, so far we have mostly failed abominably, with some exceptions.
     On the show, Negan lives and actually served his former enemies quite well, showing repentance and new thinking. But is it real? Is it yet another devious plot by Negan to gain control and take over? And now, in the sudden appearance of a new issue, a one off, Negan lives. He lives for a good reason. A fan wrote a heartfelt letter to Kirkman, the creator of the comics, and pleaded for Negan's life. Basing it on the importance of this series to the psyche of the nation and the world, it was pleaded that Negan represented the chance of repentance and redemption. Maggie might have held off on shooting him, despite all her justifiable anger. Actually, it was left hanging, no actual bullet scene.
     Now he lives once more. Maggie did not kill him, saving herself and him and leaving open a chance to redeem himself, for all of us to redeem ourselves, particularly in this tense, fragmented society of ours. We have lost much already within our country. We have a president who most probably cannot truly read, let alone absorb and understand the meaning of all that is written or told to him. He bases his world views on a damaged life, a missing core of values and morals, and on misrepresentations by FOX, a bigoted and twisted media outlet  which apparently has a friendly competition going on between themselves and Trump as to who is actually the best liar in town!! Actually, hardly a whit of difference between them.
      A leader this man is not. A chance for redemption? Bah, humbug! No need for it. He apparently cannot understand that he has done so much that is manifestly evil, treasonous, harmful, hence why repent, why feel a need for redemption? Just as likely is the possibility that he could care less about his awful decisions and the harm they cause, for his narcissism is beyond the pale.
     At the present moment he seems to have focused on bringing back open and violent racial hatred and divisiveness within the country. He encourages it throughout the world by backing governments who exhibit the same attitudes and worse. At least we do not have mass killings and ethnic cleansings here - yet. Far off? Nearby? Do not be at ease in the twisted Trumpian world. Do not presume to predict the future with this most unpredictable cruel man.
     Tens of thousands have died in this country due to his criminally negligent approach to the pandemic. Even as late as yesterday he stated that the virus will "just disappear" and we will have a vaccine very soon, so it does not really matter. Truly! Really! These are the words of a man either incapable of a coherent thought or a criminally negligent person with no business being in the WH and shame on all those who enabled this ongoing horror show.
     Very troubling is the apparent trend of some incompetents, some dictatorial personalities, to follow his example and become ever more dictatorial and negligent of the rights of others, overrule laws or just ignore them altogether and we have such a situation here.
     To volunteer to work for UCO, to serve the Village is a fine thing. But it also is a fine thing to recognize when the time to step down has come, receive a thank you, volunteer in another position, and allow the Village to continue on in a positive manner. Yet we have someone at present who has grown increasingly out of touch with reality, with the truth of the situation here at CV, an ongoing scenario of growing needs and necessities that are not being addressed. The head of UCO appears to have become overwhelmed by it all as new problems and questions arise in our troubled world and the wrong decisions of past years now come back to haunt us all.
     Water problems. Infrastructure problems. Roads disintegrating under us as a manifestly poor decision made years ago rears its ugly head. Secret decisions and plans held in secret meetings or no meetings at all as the virus is blamed for the lack of transparency in UCO. Toddler temper tantrums as an opponent of long time standing is elected to office, with good ideas and purpose, and the president of UCO decides to beanball him, refusing information, refusing proper job situations, and gives in only after much browbeating and legal letters, and still does not appear at a meeting that was held, chaired by the "foe" - so babyish, so infantile, so dangerous to our Village.
     Why is it that the delegate meetings have now been postponed for months? There is an auditorium available with proper distancing for delegates only. But no meeting. There are ample opportunities for Zoom meetings. But nothing there as well. This, from the man who masquerades as a techie maven, even as that knowledge has grown outdated. Important issues are being neglected, such as a new contract with Berenson and Levy. A year and a half away and nothing!!! Only words that it is being handled. 
     Really? A committee with a chair, but are there members? Are they knowledgeable or simply retreads from other committees? How are they chosen? Do they represent a cross section of the population of the Village or once again, the retreads? And who is running the show here on a daily basis? Seemingly it is only the officers, apparently the majority in every meeting that does happen, as rare as that occurrence has been. The same retreads, mostly those who apparently have internalized their roles in UCO, to serve the same purpose at all times - as lackeys. While there are exceptions - not enough! Not good enough! Not nearly good enough at all. Not by far.
     Perhaps we need to initiate a recall or at least demand that delegate meetings be opened once more, online or in actual physical gatherings with masks and distancing. It can be done and must be done. The quality of our lives here is at stake. We are not meant to provide a playhouse for the egos of some, to the detriment of all else. We need to pick up the slack and get back on course.
    The outside world of a Trump ruined country and the smaller world of ours, a sadly neglected CV with excellent possibilities, a wonderful place to live, just needing some redemption, some fresh thinking, new blood, and transparency. Truth would not hurt either.
     I, we, would all love to have that warm feeling of being well, of being safe. We do. But we must remember that we must be active n our pursuit of it and in keeping it that way.