"OWN DAMNED CHOICE"

  Yes, and there you have it. Another pearl of wisdom from one of the star examples of a waste of breath GOP Senator from a star example of a backwards gun loving state - Texas. The man who ran away from his constituents and their troubles in a massive heat wave, now has spewed forth such a piece of sterling advice and commentary re smoking. If one wished to smoke, it is their "own damned choice". Wow! People have the right to make decisions regarding their health even if that decision harms themselves. Their choice. 

Their right. Yup, there it is. but again, there it is not. Evidently, choosing to smoke and harm oneself, no doubt about that. One's right. One's choice. However, when it comes to women and control over their own bodies, making choices some do not like, well, of course, cancel that choice. STAT! Then stretch the point - take away the human rights of any who do not march to the beat of the same drum as oneself. LGBTQ+ ? Forget about it. The golden age for you is evidently over. 

Choice seems to be then somewhat picky, hopping and skipping around with no logic, no acceptance of the humanity of all, of the principle of a true self right to choose. Just lovely. Let us not forget to thank all our so damnably wrong GOP members of legislatures, offices of governor and any other political position which has a possibility to control others. To impose viewpoints on others. To aid the growth of a fascistic regime. Yup. Right here in River City. Oops, that was the Music Man, a make- believe musical of saccharine sweetness. This, unfortunately, is real, right here on MainStreet, USA, be that Main Street in village, town, or city.

Choice is the right of all. It is too bad that some wish to remove that right and crush people into molds that require great remodeling, often quite painful, wreaking havoc upon society. More and more thinking heads are coming around to the understanding - finally - of the common grounds that past history and past fascist societies have with current day America and political thinking. Try to set aside the false garbage being spewed on social media, even as the train carrying sanity is catching up to their most mistracked, in the way of right, backwards train.

We have weathered rough times over the past two decades. We are continuing to do so at present and seemingly well into the future. No full relief in sight. The only hope is that we accept and practice the right to choose, the right to think for oneself, the right to understand that one's rights do not negate the rights of others. Until we learn and internalize, again, and again, that censorship does not work. That those who advocate the burning of books will inevitably be a proponent of burning humans. 

Been there, done that, haven't we? Time to learn a lesson. Time to perform a self-check on ourselves and honestly understand what we have done, where we have gone wrong, and how we can correct the mess of our own making, implicit and complicit as we all have been. It will require great strength and honesty. It will require huge measures of correction and inner courage.

At times making changes in the fabric and patterns of our lives is hurtful. We shy away from them, being only human in our quest to avoid that pain, the inevitable uproar that comes along with it. But it is not beyond our possibility to do just this and create room for the right, the proper, the sensitive, the humanity to breech the barriers we have set up. In the life of everyone decisions that are hurtful or harmful often have to be made. These are Hobbesian choices, so difficult, and yet they must be made. The correct choice - the one that is moral, the one that will benefit, the one that is right. And we know that.

How often are medical options hurtful to the one receiving them. No parent wishes to have to make choices between a rock and a hard place, no room to maneuver, no room to escape those choices that must be made. So, for the sake of a future, chemicals are injected. The recipient is terribly afflicted by the side effects, and one has to wonder why is there is no other way? Radiation, the very thing we are warned about, lectured about in case of nuclear war, and yet, we choose to inflict it upon a young boy in the hopes of giving that boy back the golden future once so taken for granted.

The choices and necessities of side effects in improving society must be made and faced, for surely, there will be a period of unease, and possibly worse. However, look around and ask yourself - is it any different now? Are we at peace with each other, with ourselves? When was the last time you had a political discussion conducted with respect and civility? Have we left a good world behind for our descendants? Can we improve upon that besieged world? Are we strong enough, honest enough, moral enough, to see our way clearly, to, as one Democrat put it, warning that one GOP dude " came within 2 seconds of getting his butt whipped," 

We all need to work together to create that better future, to indeed whip the butts of all who refuse to cooperate and understand necessities. Together, we can 

HEAL THE WORLD.

HEAL YITZY!

Yitzchak Elimelech ben Chana Sarah

May he be granted refuah shelaymah bimheyrah beyameinu. 

May he be granted a timely and complete healing.

May Hashem hear all our voices raised in prayer. 

Amen. Amen