THE END OF THE BEGINNING? THE BEGINNING OF THE END?

  Truthfully, despite Winston Churchill being able to draw a distinction between those two phrases, it has eluded me. In my opinion, there is a beginning, a middle and an end and while at times it is difficult to see where those phases kicked in, Monday morning quarterbacking will always manage, or, in this case, historians of the future. For us, the people living through these times the beginning is way over, and we are solidly in the midst of things veering, I fear, to the end - or its beginning, or whatever time phase one prefers. The crux of the matter is, that we are in a losing, threatening phase in this country and in the world at large.

Look around. Read the papers and magazines. In hard copy or online. Listen to the words of supposed leaders, the positions they aspire to. Shake your head as much as you want. Laugh at the idiocies of these people. Wonder how the hell they are still at large. Anything you want, but do not underestimate the danger we are in. Deny all you want, but the truth is ever more apparent. Even the hardest heads of the Trumpian universe have got to realize this, come back to reality, and quickly. Lest all be lost, all attempts to right the situation, to correct the imbalances will be a case of too little, too late and now we all have to suck it up. Some in very precarious situations. What have we done?

We have not looked past our noses to the entire face. We cheer when DeSantis pulls his crazy legislature along with him in a Bizzaro world session and passes legislation that will catch all when they are not looking. Yay, you say when he has his absolutely dangerous and moronic Don't Say Gay Bill. Or denies medical help to those children in the transgender path, to the point of criminalizing parents who simply wish to see their child happy and healthy. Denies the right to women to control their own bodies, forcing a woman to carry an unwanted fetus to term, even ones of violence or threatening to the health of the woman. On and on we go. 

So, why isn't that Gay bill great? Simply because it is ridiculous. It refers to the early childhood grades and quite frankly, most of these kids do not raise the issue, other than the few who already are uncomfortable in their bodies or with societal norms. Very rare. The 'sex' education of these grades is one of 'bad touch, good touch' and what to do about it. What if there is a child with two mommies or daddies? Do we make that child ashamed? Great pedagogical practice there, isn't it!!! 

No medical care for transgendered children. Of course, for we should let them just stew, fall prey to disease, to illnesses of all kinds, make them feel terrible in their quest to be comfortable in their own skin Take away their masks for that is medical help too! And, sorry to tell you folks out there who think these bills are just marvelous, think again. Think again and again and understand, read between the lines. Make these practices illegal. No abortion. No control of a parent over child for their medical benefit. Legislating what can and cannot be said - and by extension - taught, in schools, leading right up to the fascistic censorship of classics, old and new, lest some benighted parent somewhere not like it. Once a freedom, a right, is denied, that denial path has a life of its own, bad for all. So, think again before you cheer - what you definitely have not thought through.

Denial of rights extends way deep and wide into the political sphere. Manifest, open, biased, hateful, liberty denying, laws are being passed by GOP dominated State Legislatures, against the will of their constituents, to make voting hard, almost impossible for some to vote. The ill. The elderly. The poor. The hard workers who cannot get off. The immigrant who does not understand English so well. Those who live in widespread areas, making it difficult to get to a polling place. Cut the hours. Cut early voting. Anything and everything are fair game. Think you now that you are immune to having your right to vote threatened, taken away? Do not be naive, foolishly so. Your right to a fair, honest, free vote goes right down that ugly autocratic tube. 

Where are we now again? End of beginning of what? The middle? Does it make a difference? Yes, but we must act now, accept the reality we have allowed, enabled, or worse, encouraged. We have monsters, traitors, absolute fascists within the highest offices of the land. They have colluded with the insurrectionists who wished to overthrow the government, install an illegal one, a continuation of the horror of the previous four years. Years that encouraged and enabled Putin to invade Ukraine, attack children, infrastructure and civilians because he knew we were weakened, and had a large number of traitors to this country in office. 

And that, my friends, linked the former president to this treason as he encouraged his duped followers to "be there, it will be wild" and engaged in planning, in calls, in texts, to move it along, the more violent the better. If some opposition people were hanged or injured, well, so much the better. These cabals of traitors encouraged rage and violence. They instigated and raised attacks on police, beating them with shields, with heavy sticks, spearing them, crushing them via doors and simple body weight accumulation. They raised victory fists to these criminals. They supported them and yet, they remain in place and/or continue to run for further office. Even the children of Trump encouraged this, particularly Junior and Eric, continued to push a program of violence, of falsehoods so egregious to the point of shredding this country to bits.

When a Governor states seriously that there will be Cold War with a neighboring state should a certain person get elected. When Ukraine is left alone, bereft of the weaponry they need, of the gaping absence of NATO nations to stand up to Putin rather than shivering lest he bully them more, when the UN forgets its Mandate against crimes against humanity, war  crimes, and does not act, does not send in troops, when a tiny nation like Slovakia, itself in danger finally sends Ukraine the weaponry it needs to shoot down the planes, the artillery stations, when this is happening, understand that there is something very wrong with all of us.

As the people of Ukraine are unfortunately and painfully learning, there is no refuge in a war of this kind. There is no running away from it. Be it east to west or south to north - all are caught in the trap unless there are scissors and tools to cut open that net and defeat its wielders. We all are in this fight, the entire world having to make a decision - what is important and what is not. 

How do we go about our lives, tsk tsking the awful pictures, hearing the wails of parents seeing their children be blown up, shredded, burnt, shot, butchered, and then walk away, of little or no importance? Sure, gas is now a bit more, but we have always been luckier with the price than the rest of the world. Are we going to stand by until the entire nation is cut down, when autocracy wins, and another 1.5 million children are murdered? Was it not enough during the Holocaust? Are we that uncaring? A gallon of gas vs. the life of a child.

The end? The beginning? The end of the beginning? The beginning of the end? The fall of the American Empire to join that of the Romans, the Greeks, the Persians, the Caliphate, Charlemagne, and anyone else you can think of. Use it or lose it. Defend it or it is gone. Understand the responsibilities or they will be removed from your access.

A gallon of gas vs all of the rest.

Your decision? Perhaps this suggestion from a terrific Senator from Hawai'i, Brian Schatz, will aid you in making that decision.

“We have to scream from the rooftops, because this is a battle for the free world now.”