DEAR OLD FRIEND

 This posting is addressed to old friends, new friends, acquaintances, and even 'enemies' who either disagree with my opinions or resent the freedom with which I express them, or simply for any and all who do me the honor of reading my postings. These blogs or opinion pieces are mine and reflect on no one else. They are mine to write because, at least as of yet, we have the freedom to write freely, to disagree, to state why, to annoy those who are opposed and to satisfy those who agree with or are sympatico with them.

We are not free, however, to write words encouraging, instigating violence. While I am desperately afraid about the growth of White Power and indeed, the hate emanating from the extreme left, I am not free to advocate violence against them. However, when they imbibe of an empowering and intoxicating tactic of hate words, of hate violence, well, then they cross the line and are or should be subject to laws of consequence. Yes, the fire and crowded theater event is tired and trite today, but the analogy continues to work. Loudly shouting fire and even lighting one by their behavior and rhetoric, it has finally been acknowledged openly, via court, that those who participated in or planned or did anything at all to  force, violently, via insurrection and planned mayhem and violence, to the point of a successful rollback of the 2020 election, is and always will be guilty of sedition, conspiracy to overthrow the legal government of this nation, elected freely, and need to be thought of as traitors. Our own modern day Benedict Arnolds, homegrown Quislings. J6 was attempted rebellion. Period.

So yes, I will write loud and strong re these inherent dangers to our nation, and to me personally, as a woman, as a Jew, as an American, as a humanist who believes, difficult as it is right now, that yes, there are those who are good at heart, those, inspired by the writing of Anne Frank, who will "light a small fire in a dark room". 

I wish the fire I would light have the power to awaken the darkened souls of so many who refuse to see the truth, who make up stories and excuses for behavior which they would not tolerate from their own children. Who follow those who would extinguish the lights already lit. Cancel all humanistic advances, return to days of old with gun toting justice and evil canards which refused to die. Too many of the world live this way already or are resisting the imposition of it upon their nation. Resisting those who would smother the fires of humanity and would banish all goodness, all shared similarities from the face of this earth. 

That is called fascism, whatever name is thrown at it as a coverup. The behavior and strategy is the same. Shout loud and violently, point out defects in the present structure, promise better lives, appeal to the baser elements within us all, within society, use technology to enhance the lies, use AI to create false, oh so realistic images and videos, swear lies to the heavens, convince all that G-d is on your side, that only your religion, a perverted twisted Christian nationalism, should be the religion of the land and part and parcel of the educational system of the country. 

Now begin the process. Gain power via the system. Grow that power. Enact laws that restrict the rights of all, demean women, create old outlier criminalized segments of society, repeat  Stonewall behavior and events. Censor books, all forms of media. Criminalize protests. Pass laws via emasculated legislatures cancelling constitutional rights. Then, move on from the required registration of all writers, ban them, their books, articles, all such 'nefarious' words of protest and humanity, and then move on. Gather those who would delight in the roles and positions of power over others, delight in rolling in the mud of a perverted fallen humanity, become the new concentration camp guards, the new SS, the new Gestapo. Then, advance from burning books to burning people. 

Ban books. Burn books. 

 The rest is history.

Unfortunately, all that I have been so worried about, eating away at my feeling at home, welcomed in America, is coming true, emerging from the obfuscating darkness, growing that darkness of soul and body. Unfortunately, most of the perpetrators and instigators and growers of this awfulness, come from the once upon a time GOP. Oh, they use the name but the contents are definitely not the same. All moderates have flown the coop, voluntarily or forced out. The present GOP vie to outdo others in vitriolic, false, violent language. The apparent leaders are paradigms of insanity and megalomania, of repressors of a free society, be it a demented Trump or a very dangerous DeSantis. Greene, Boebert,  Jordan,  Josh Hawley, Matt Gaetz, Scalise, a criminal arrogant partisan Supreme Court, the list is almost endless. How - why - are they part of the structure of this nation when in normal times they would be receiving aid for mental disease or imprisoned, and we would find and follow true leaders. No, the Democratic Party is not immune to narcissistic haters. Witness Bowman, Tlaib, Omar, Presley, but they are so much fewer in number and are still considered outliers in the Party rather than the very heart and soul of it, contrary to the situation within the GOP.

Do I automatically hate all GOP or Republican advocates. NO, of course not. Do I know that some people like them - Yes. The real question is why? Why have they not followed the threads of their proposals. Why have they not seen the similarities of the present to a dangerous past. Why. Why. Why.

The weather warns us that there are dangerous storms rolling through the nation. As in Nature so goes the World of Man. We had better be aware and prepared to live through those storms.  Only by working together, to understand the danger, and the power of the united to combat that shared peril can we rescue ourselves. It is not the time to take a step back.  The danger is eminently clear, poised on the brink of a horrified realty. 

In the meanwhile, please continue the beautiful unity of praying for, pulling for Yitzy. There has been good news from the doctors re progress fighting that tumor. He even went cherry picking one off day. So, please,  all who pray for him - Jew, Christian, Moslem, Hindu, atheist or agnostic, Christian or Pagan - I could care less. Only the good wishes count. Only the unity counts. As it should be.

Old friend, I hope we are still friends.

Only when, only if, we unite and acknowledge the truth of the matter, that it is up to us to defend our country, to keep it out of the hands of those who would destroy it, only then can we anticipate a victory. 

Only if we do it together- all Americans. All defenders of democracy, and equality, in human rights, of justice. 

Together. Then.

 Look what we have done. Together. Always.

 The drum beat of together.

Together. Together. Together.

Only together.

Together.

Together - Together we can achieve it all. 

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.