HOW MANY WAYS? LET ME COUNT THEM.....

     It seems almost a sacrilege to liken the love poems of Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barret Browning to the errata of Trump, but there it is. So let us count the ways in which this man has both disappointed us and frightened us. And perhaps let us take hope in the new urging of experts to the Clinton camp to demand recounts of Michigan - which still has not been called, and Wisconsin and Pennsylvania - due to intimations of hacking and tampering. Rigged did you say? Hmmmm.  And is there a likelihood that our esteemed future leader might have done something or encouraged it? Well, this is the guy who has stated openly that he always was representing Donald Trump, the guy who always looked at things as a deal, to crush the other guy, to go after any and all who did not appreciate him or let him have his way, and the guy who has refused to relinquish his business dealings and in fact, is continuing to manage them even as he violates the Emoluments Clause which forbids the President to benefit from any foreign profits, to keep it short. So - please, a recount, even though it will wreak havoc for a while, but think if we won! A fearful future would disappear into the ether and a president who communicates erratically via Twitter would also vanish from the history books. The same candidate who has tried to deny his German heritage and called himself a Swede! Why deny unless you believe in certain tainted ideas coming out of that, like when people go "Hail, Trump" along with a Nazi salute. Why not embrace a heritage which could also prove to be positive such as Goethe and Beethoven? Why? Because which do you embrace, Mr. Trump, which?
     So, on with the count. Now you say you are not sure if there is not actually climate changes occurring. Well, guess you gave up on the Chinese inventing this in order to get their way! About time and in fact, the Chinese have awful issues with climate change, many of which they have wreaked upon themselves - and we here in the USA had better get with the program and honor our commitments to working with the climate issues and with other countries.
     What about your own foundation, the supposed charity one that seems to have given the charity mostly to you, paying your bills, legal and otherwise. What's with that and the admission of that that just came out from the Foundation and you dare to talk of the Clinton Foundation? At least you realized what a disaster you would wreak upon yourself and your own financial history if you kept on down the wrong path.
     And how about your leaning towards inviting the military wholesale into the civilian government of the country. The military has always been subject to civilian control but what now when the two are mixed to an unhealthy degree. Planning a military ruled kingdom perhaps? Thinking of King Donald I dreams?  For what else could it be when you behave so strangely, call in the press and berate them for not recognizing your sterling points, for being "not fair" to you, for showing you with  double chin for pity's sake!!!
     You have made promises to the lower economic classes to improve their situations yet here you are hanging out with the fat cats. Here you are looking to kill the regulations that would avoid another meltdown at the banks and in the economy as happened in the Great Recession Here you are threatening to pull out of trade agreements and then, Mr. Trump, where and how will the farmers who backed you, go to sell their wheat and crops if they cannot get it overseas to their markets in Asia? Do you ever think it all through, Mr. Trump? And about those tax cuts....
     As for rigged elections, well, what will happen as voting rights are sent back to Jim Crow times except that this time around we will include perhaps other "undesirables" all the better to insure a Trump et al reign. Will you openly invite your pal, Putin, to walk with you then?
     And what about honesty and transparency or do you think that you can continue your business dealings along with the Presidency? What about Aberdeenshire in Scotland and your war there between your golf course and a wind farm and your continued pressuring them about it, using the prestige now of your future office to influence? What about China, who pays you rent and to whom you owe billions? How will you deal with them? Where is the separation and in that area, you must separate your children from at least one or the other - government or business! And by the way, Jared Kushner is not the miracle worker either that you portray him as, as the final guy who will actually make peace in the Middle East because he is an orthodox Jew. Does not work that way!!This poor guy and the pressure you put on him.
     What about your plans to cut funds and emphasis on fighting campus assaults? Is it because you feel sympathy for the "poor" guys accused of this, because you remember your days of groping and assaults on women, on their bodies and on their minds and value? Truth time, Mr. Trump.
   Finally, Mr. Trump, come out in the open, in a full and recorded session, not in a tweet, or in a closed session but openly and strongly state in no uncertain terms that you disavow and refuse any and all support from the nationalistic white movement, from the neo Nazis and that you will have an impartial bi partisan investigation into Bannon and Sessions and other suspect bigots that you have appointed to your future administration. That you will deny anyone who believes that the United States was and is and should be a  white state, designed and meant only for them and if it takes some bloodshed and violence to make it so - so be it. These are the words and thoughts of Spencer, who backs you to the hilt. Deny him,  Mr. Trump, deny him.
     If some of the words and thoughts in this posting appear to be a bit harsh, well, I, and many others, are frightened nigh unto death at the thought of what your administration could mean, where it could lead. It is not a joke, nor a job for an overgrown 12 year old, one who has never grown up, who has never gotten past the stage of "I'll get you back!" Show us that you have grown up, that you have accepted the rules of society, of the country, realized that you are not out for Donald Trump anymore, but out for the country that you will have vowed to serve. Show us that, Mr. Trump, allay the fears, show us that people can reform. Do the right thing, the many right things - be presidential in the best and highest sense of the word and meaning. Please, for all our sakes.

WHAT? ME WORRY?

Remember that saying from Mad Magazine? It was a satirical magazine which skewered the balloons of society of the time and that tradition is now carried on by The Onion, but in any case, the answer to that question is yes - worry. In fact this is indeed the time to worry, particularly if you value justice, democracy, free speech, a safe society and the true dream of America.     I have written of the anti Semitism of the Trump camp, the horrid things that they have spewed from their awful mouths and minds, even to the one which mused that "perhaps Jews are not real people, but false like the Golem.." How often have we heard that statement just before the Jews were slaughtered, and in Nazi Germany they were burned and drowned and tortured and buried alive, worked to death, men ,women and children, even babies.
     Now we have Jeff Sessions, a most bigoted man who could not attain a Federal judgeship due to his statements and now he is going to be the Attorney General of the United States?! If that does not send a shiver down your spine then I know not how you think. Do not think that because Jared Kushner is there in the Trump court that he or you is immune. The Court Jew goes down with every one else.
     Half a century ago, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel wrote, “Let us yield no inch to bigotry, let us make no compromise with callousness.” People, this is as true now as it was then and serves as a wakeup call and think not that you are immune because you are not Jewish or Moslem, or a minority or just plain different because your orientation is other than the norm as is defined by them or any other person who is different and even those in the lead are in danger for there is no loyalty here, certainly not from the leader to the hired help.
     If you noticed the papers held by Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, one of Donald Trump's potential picks for Department of Homeland Security you might have seen that the topics on the papers were  "according to a report from The Topeka Capital-Journal, reveal plans to question "high-risk" immigrants over support for Sharia law and the U.S. Constitution. A bullet point says "Bar the Entry of Potential Terrorists."
The Topeka-Journal also noted that the document calls for an update and reintroduction of the National Security Entry-Exit Registration system, originally implemented after 9/11. It mentioned "extreme vetting questions" for "high-risk aliens" as well." Are you trembling yet? Or are you still thinking you are immune? Think again.
     Vivian Leigh, the actress said that "the best thing to do with the past and the future is to ignore them, otherwise  there's never an enjoyable present". I strongly disagree and so do most historians. The past is part of the present and there is no future if we ignore the past and write off the present.
     Thomas Jefferson said that "I find the harder I work, the luckier I get. " We need to work hard. We need to keep an eye on this future administration or else we will lose all that we value. Quickly and right before our eyes. The man who would be president has met business partners and while supposed to be setting up a new administration has the time to speak to the president of Argentina asking him to fix some deal up for him, using his new position to be as incentive!!!! This is the man going to be our leader? This is the man who is supposed to lead us into the future and he will - but what future and at what cost?
     The popular vote, meaning more of the Americans who voted, voted not for Trump but for Clinton and only because of an antiquated system, one which gives rural areas and states more votes than they should have, more bang for the buck, do we have this Trump in position. Sadly so and I would be the most grateful if I were proven to be wrong but I hardly doubt it. My antennae are up, as an American, as a woman, as a social liberal, as a Jew.
     Someone out there prove to me that all his shenanigans, all his neo Nazi supporters and the alt right creeps, all the bigots who have been named as probable and definite members of his administration, all the ridiculous tweets sent out early in the morning from a man who acts like a big overgrown baby, who does not inspire admiration nor emulation other than by those who need to be directed by such a man and such a philosophy - prove to me that there is more than this to him, that he will grow quickly into his position and why one should think so. He picks fights with anyone who speaks freely from Alec Baldwin to the Hamilton cast, needs to get back, to take revenge, This is sickening. This is shameful.
     This has amazed the world and not in a good way only strengthening the other dictators and demagogues like Duterte and Putin and Erdogan and Assad and on and on. This man who cannot separate his business from that of the country, who needs his children to hold his hand and tell him what to do - against Federal law, this man who is a fraud in his dealings with Trump University, who owes billions to China and other foreign entities - how will he administer this country. This country is NOT, most emphatically not a business. It is a country of people with needs and hopes and dreams. This man must man up, grow up, walk down the righteous path and put aside those with hateful plans and views. This man must abide by the law, even if his businesses must be sacrificed. That is his duty to the people. If only he would do it.
      So yesterday he had a meeting with the media, the various news figures, anchors and executives and read them the riot act. Next is the NY Times which has been following him and criticizing and so now they are in for it. Not very American or constitutional is it? Not speaking very well for our president to be. And The National Holocaust Museum says they are worried after seeing this and everything else that has been going on. They refer to the video which showed

."..Richard Spencer, leader of the National Policy Institute, shouting, "Hail Trump, hail our people, hail victory!" as some gave Nazi salutes."

The swamp gets murkier and the hopes of it getting drained are rapidly drowning.
     What? Me worry? Oh yeah!!

WHERE TO START - MRS. WILSON? ETHICS? PRINCIPLES? NAZI SALUTES?

     One might say it is as if the blog writer has a plethora of riches, so much to write about, yet is it truly so? Yesterday I wrote about the top down theory of behavior and what we have with Trump and indeed, what might be said we have here in the Village and UCO, though thank the Lord above we seem to have avoided some of the truly crazies, but there David Israel sits at the top - not good. But anyway, every day brings about more horrific news out of the Trump camp, frightening news and I wonder in fear exactly what we have done in this election wherein the LOSER of the popular vote now rules the roost and what a turkey this guy is, a dangerous one at that.
     Mrs. Wilson? When Woodrow Wilson was badgered by the Congress as he tried to get us to join the League of Nations, he had a stroke, understandably so. What happened next was not so understandable. His wife took over his job, refusing entry to the president for then his inability to be president would have been exposed and she ran the government. So hence - Mrs. Wilson and hence the deja vu situation today. While there is no stroke, there is a lack of ability, an unfitness to be president and instead we have an inner council of forbidden by law children of the president elect  who are in reality running the joint. There sit Eric, Donald Jr. Ivanka, and Jared - in on top secret conferences and meetings, in at the business meetings that continue - another ethics and legal violation and the rest of the "advisers"? Wish they were not there but they are and it is time we looked at them and spoke the truth. Denying what is so does not make it so.
 Here is another pretty little story. Trump was in major danger of facing an impeachment if he did not settle the Trump University suit so after all his tantrums shouting that he would never settle - guess what? He did and for a huge sum, something he swore would never happen. Now he is in danger of the next ethics violation - his children and the government and himself and the government and his businesses. One cannot sit on both chairs at the same time so either the business or the presidency. I know what I and many people prefer, but he must choose his path and one path involves major legal issues.
     He must also make up his mind and stop his dithering and his lies. Christie and Giuliani went under the bus. Now is Christie in emergency care? The lobbyists were out and yet here they are again, en masse, in his administration. Draining the swamp? Seems to me that the swamp is getting even murkier by the day. And the supporters. That is the scariest ever. Here is a little tidbit.
     "But now his tone changed as he began to tell the audience of more than 200 people, mostly young men, what they had been waiting to hear. He railed against Jews and, with a smile, quoted Nazi propaganda in the original German. America, he said, belonged to white people, whom he called the “children of the sun,” a race of conquerors and creators who had been marginalized but now, in the era of President-elect Donald J. Trump, were “awakening to their own identity.”
     This is how the alt right on Saturday, in DC, celebrated their present inclusion in the "Moral Majority", and rejoicing that their leader, Bannon, is right there with Trump. And the two sons of Trump keep tweeting and retweeting memes of anti Semitism and the rest of the world - why sleep is so nice!!
     Trump must choose. Is he truly the president of all Americans, no matter their color or ethnicity or how long they and their families have been in America, or is he the president of the white nationalists, racists to their very core, and a friend to no one and  to no principle other than to their hatred? This hatred is growing within the country, having gotten worse after the election as a result of certain people thinking that they now rule the roost. Especially with a president who wishes to establish his realm and reign with raising his family members, his children, to the level of inheritors, princes and princesses of the realm.
     I believe what we have now is a growing blindness and deafness. People who voted for Trump, or who did  not vote at all and lost Hillary the electoral votes, are now beginning to see what they have wrought, are beginning to see that they cannot not see and hear what is there but oh yes, they can try, so they look away from all that is happening, at all the hate that is growing, at the scary voices that are being raised, at the ethical violations of the president to be - they do not wish to hear or see this, so they say it does not affect them and on they go with their lives but one cannot outrun such disaster, not at all and history has shown that to be true.
     Benjamin Franklin said, "Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are." The Pastor in Nazi Germany said it as well when he stated the fact that if one ignored it all, when they finally came for him there was nobody left to protest. Hatred grows. It incites more hatred and uncertainty. It leads to dictatorships and death. It certainly leads to the undoing of democracy.
    We must look to the present and the possible futures we have in front of us. Demand that the new president to be live up to the principles and ethics demanded of him by history, by our Constitution, by decency, and by law. No one is above the law and no one can incite such hatred that is now growing in our high schools and middle schools and full blown in our universities. While we have those who protest the wrong that is growing, we also have those who parrot the racism heard in their homes, displayed by our so called leaders and then why not, they say, we can do the same and they do.
     There are all sorts of protests and marches going on and being planned for the future. There is the Women's March in Washington on Saturday Jan. 21 to point out to all that we are watching, all the people, all the Americans who want to see justice prevail, to see Medicaid and Medicare and Social Security  left alone, to see ethics being employed and followed in our government, to make sure that our pols do the right thing, to stand up for women's rights, for LGBTQ people, for children, for respect for all. And we here in the Village will also have a march on that day at the Clubhouse, gathering at 9:30 in Room C and stepping off at 10. We will push your chair, help you walk, or invite you to wait for us until we return to Room C. All are welcome - men and women - all denominations and political leanings for there is no demarcation or human and  civil rights between Republican or Democrat, only between people who care and those who do not. Which are you? More flyers and information will be forthcoming after Thanksgiving.
     Trump had a fit after Alec Baldwin satirized him on SNL, not the first president or public figure to have this done, part and parcel of the democracy with free speech that we live in. Trump had a cow and wants his "equal time", tweeting so - but not so after an election. Alec Baldwin tweeted him back - your job is now to be president and ours to speak. Truer words never have been spoken. Would that they become true.

FROM THE TOP

     The title can refer to two thoughts. one thought or theme is that moods and ethics and ideas often trickle down from the top. If the boss is good, so will be the staff and if the other way, then the same thing. It can also mean to begin anew, all over again, press reset.
     I like both these themes for to me, they are connected. As a teacher, when the principal was a scowling meanie, then the school had a lousy atmosphere, not pleasant, and when the principal was a human and humane being then so were the staff and the student body, practicing what they saw modeled for them. It is the same for a doctor's office or a business office or anywhere one can think.
     Think of what we have now. We have a president to be who cannot stand any criticism. Well, tough! This is what comes one's way when in the public eye. If one cannot deal with it then please, resign and go back to wherever you like to hide. But there are freedoms and rights which are ours by virtue of being Americans and indeed, being human beings. Grow up. Learn ethics. Practice them.
     So Dixon called out Pence on the sins of the administration to be, of the fears that the whole country has re some awful things that are being said and some awful people who are being appointed. Hopefully Congress will grow some so as to remember that they represent the American people - ALL the people - and they can strike down any appointee who will harm these very same people. And make no bones about it - we all stand together or we fall together. No dictatorial society remains in power forever and any attempt to change our American society into one will not go over well I daresay. There are already so many acts of protest and anger and despair and shock.
     So Dixon spoke politely and Pence, to his credit, listened. Dixon is far from the only one who is speaking out and the theme is worldwide. In Israel, a message was sent to a bigot.  "May you have a week of love, pride and full of acceptance of the other."  And here a message was also sent, a plea to serve all the people, all the diverse people who are Americans. Trump, as usual, goes to his Twitter and says it is not right, not fair. Really? This is life and conversation, as was stated, is allowed. Pence was booed, but again, that is a right we have and if one finds that we are lacking in some polite societal talk, well - look around - from the top - and see what we have. Not lookin' pretty, is it.
     We have all sorts of nasty noises being made all over the country. We have a president to be who cannot and will not leave his businesses behind and get on with the new business he is in - the head of a country. Instead, knowing that he is truly incapable, he has a thirtyish couple running the country via the administration meetings and conferences. Not acceptable!!! These same two people have their own business affairs and there is no daylight between the administration of the United States and the administration of these businesses. In fact, a cheesy deal was the marketing of a $10,000 bracelet that Ivanka wore to all who would buy it given where its model was first worn. Tacky to say the least and certainly no separation. Then we have the two of them attending a meeting with the Japanese head, Abe, and we have Trump himself meeting with Indian business people with whom he has a hotel deal going forth.
     Well, maybe this is good news for he can be impeached for ethics violation and perhaps we can then start anew - from the top - and have a better future for us all. And in the meanwhile, there must continue to be loud voices heard from all of us, speaking out against these violations of trust, these violations of what a president should be and how one should act. We need a good "from the top", especially in these trying times. The whole world is watching - remember that one, people, for our from the top is sending bad messages to the world and the right wingers are coming out of the woodwork , the extreme right wingers and that bodes not good for the rest of us.
     I do not care for whom one voted. What we have to do is look at the facts now, the realities of life, at the statements that are being made, the hate filled actions, the Neo Nazis rising to the top of the scum pond, and if you are decent then you know that this must be fought. Women must be respected. Rights must be retained and even improved - here and in the rest of the world. If we neglect this then what happens, what comes around, rests squarely on our shoulders - at least the shoulders of those who did nothing, who said nothing, who let it all collapse on top of us.
     From the top? Yes, definitely. We must demand that the new top behave as an adult, not a sour and hulking boy of twelve, bullying those weaker or smaller than he in the schoolyard and then whining when one comes along who fights back. We must have a from the top reset, especially if the top here continues to violate ethics and standards of decency. And by the way, if you wish to read some fascinating facts about his behavior, read Megyn Kelly's new book and then have sympathy for Melania for it appears that Trump is continuing his "romeo" days, as he tried to woo Kelly- for relationship? For kinder words in her reporting? For whatever - but it stinks! To the high heavens indeed.
     From the top. Choose people. We can force our new president to be to also start anew, reform his behavior and give us the leader that we and the world needs.
     Ach! The world stinks right now so off we go to the Mouse House to see a grandson in from California. Time to imbibe of the sweet and happy atmosphere of Disney.

WHO MARCH? WHY MARCH?

     On Saturday, January 21, 2017, the day after the inauguration, there will be a Million Woman March, a march composed of not only women, but men who support the ideals and hopes and dreams, the demands and the warnings of this march. All who wish to make their wishes and yes, demands, known, are welcome but what are these wishes and hopes and dreams. I can only state them as I see them, through my eyes and heart and mind.
      Most decent people are disgusted with the nastiness and the filth of this campaign. The hatred, the threats, the viciousness - it all has to end, STOP!! But it was not only the campaign for there is much more. How many more Bill Cosbys are there going to be? How many more Roger Ailes? How many more young men who follow their example and think it okay to date rape, to attack unconscious and/or drugged women, to rate women on physical attributes and then assign them roles in sexual fantasies? How much more?
     How much more can we take of the human trafficking that is an ever growing industry? How much more of the abuse of children, of immigrants held as slaves in the homes of masters? How much more legalization or acceptance of hatred, of violence? How much more can we take of pictures of starving and bloodied children, victims of the war of their adults, or victims who are strapped to bombs and sent out to die, to children who are taken, threatened, brainwashed into becoming child soldiers? How much more to child brides? How much more?
      How much more time is needed for people to accept that the half of the world's population that is female have rights that are equal to those of men? How many more years will our voices be stifled, ignored, discounted? It seems that it takes a turbulent time to bring this issue to the forefront. During the Vietnam era women were in the front rows of marches, chaining themselves to fences to block the way, in the buses of Freedom Riders but the gains and the equality vanished into the ether over the years and the hard fought for gains and rights faded into the past.
     Well, these times have brought the whole issue out again. The female candidate was abused, not physically, but emotionally, mentally and the lies of the Internet simply flourished. This hatred of one woman led to other hatreds to come out. Michael Flynn, the new national security adviser, wrote this in a tweet - "This is a new low," he said, retweeting a message that read: "Not anymore, Jews. Not anymore." It was okay to state that one supported Israel yet tweet about the hatred of Jews, of their "internationalism", about their so called conspiracies. The vicious anti Semitism of the past came roiling out of its filthy hiding places and I ask how can one support Israel and be so openly anti Semitic? Is it that the only good Jew is a dead Jew according to these statements and contradictions? Well, not again.
     Well, we are serving notice on the world, on Trump and his administration, on any politician who thinks that he has a right to be anachronistic in one's thoughts and actions. We will follow the ACLU and the NY Times, and all other thinking people who realize that the time has come again for us to rise up, RISE UP, and make demands and give warnings. We will not accept a registry of Moslems living in this country. That thought is abhorrent. That leads to other registrations and Jews have been there before. No more of that. Yes, to the destruction of Islamic terrorism but yes also to the destruction of terrorism and threats from the alt right and extreme right. In fact all terrorism needs to be a thing of the past and we women will raise our voices in that fight.
     We will raise our voices for equal pay for equal work. We will raise our voices for the right to enter any and all professions. We will raise our voices against sexual demands in order to get a job or be promoted or keep that job. We will raise our voices for our daughters and yes, for our sons as well, for demeaning practices demean those who are the targets and those who are the instigators. We will raise our voices for the right of women to obtain contraception and family planning advice. We will raise our voices for the right of women to choose, a most bone crushing soul destroying decision, but one that is their right and not that of the old white men in Washington or state capitals.
We will raise our voices for peace and friendship, for cooperation and for warning -WE ARE WATCHING AND WILL ACT.
     It is not for us to tolerate a world where our youngsters are now playing a game called The Trump Challenge wherein the words "Trump is Coming" are shouted and all scream and run away from the perceived thereat. This is wrong, so wrong for our kids to think of their president as such and yet there it is. So we, the adults, the women of the world have to work doubly hard to forestall and prevent such things, make sure that this campaign is not a repetitive one for if so, then just follow the thought.
     You might not agree with all that is written here but for sure you must agree to at least some, so on Jan. 21, 2017 come to the Clubhouse here at the Village and march for your beliefs, for your daughters and granddaughters, for the rights of LGBTQ people to live their lives in peace, to be accepted and welcomed as equal partners in our society and world. Let us force the cleanup of politics now and in the future. Let us raise our voices in hope.
     Come, join us on Saturday, January 21, 2017 and send a message to the powers that be that no more!! NO More will we tolerate what has gone on, no matter who is the cause and the instigator. Raise our voices. Rise Up! All are welcome. We will meet in Room C and then at 10 AM will march around the Clubhouse, past the pools and around the other side and back to Room C where hopefully we will have a speaker or two from amongst us. Those who cannot walk that distance, please wait for us in Room C and make your voice count as well. Join us. Hear our voices. Raise them loud and proud. There will be flyers soon at the Clubhouse and by the associations. It has been

okayed so there is nothing illicit about this at all. Come, join us, WE ARE WOMEN - HEAR US ROAR!!! 

KING DONALD I, ET AL

     It appears to be that despite all the various requests and pleadings to the American people to work together that it will not be possible, not now, in any case. Hillary pleads at the Children's Defense Fund to  “believe in our country, fight for our values and never give up.” This despite the emotional moments where she acknowledged that at times this past week she has felt like curling up and never moving out of the house again. And yet she encourages us to keep up the struggle and never forget the children, a concern she has had since the beginning of her professional career as a lawyer.
      Speaker after speaker, public figures, one after the other speak up at the horrors going on in the new Daily Horror Show. Trump exercises his assumed royal powers in his attempt to become King Donald I what with the royal appointees kept unsure - are they in or are they out - and for sure - just check with the heir apparent, Jared Kushner, he who will be cleared in to participate in top secret briefings with no nepotism evidently since he is a son in law and not a blood relative. Humph!!
     And yet His Royal Majesty, The Orange Man, keeps repeating and tweeting that his transition is going just fine. Uh huh. Wonder what not fine would mean? And for the piece de resistance, we have his appointment of Bannon as his adviser, as his political ally, as a key figure in his new government. This is the same guy about whom much is written.
"Jonathan Greenblatt, chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League, said via Twitter on Sunday night that the ADL opposes Bannon’s appointment to a senior White House role because “he & his alt-right are so hostile to core American values.”
Endorsing Greenblatt’s message, NAACP president Cornell William Brooks tweeted overnight: “Racism has been routinized; anti-Semitism normalized; xenophobia deexceptionalized; & misogyny mainstreamed.”
     And in addition we have other wonderful words about the situation."His victory has been celebrated by European far-right groups, including Marine Le Pen of France’s National Front party, who wrote that Trump’s election set the American people “free.” Geert Wilders, a Dutch anti-Islam campaigner, called the Trump victory a “revolution” to be repeated in his own homeland."
     Even Greg Popovich,the head coach for the Spurs has gotten into the fray with this comment. "Well, I think [Bannon’s appointment] is very troublesome to many of us. As I said, it would be great if [Trump] made some statements to all of the groups he disparaged, to bring us all together, and to allay fears, because there are a lot of fearful people, and for good reason. But rather than doing that, he inflamed it even more with that appointment. It’s kind of ironic.
“I wonder sometimes if [Trump] made all those statements, he certainly whipped up the fear mongering and emotion in that base, but it’s going to be ironic because now a lot of the things he told them he’s going to do he’s already started to walk back a little bit. It’s sort of like, did he use them all to get elected, and thus winning again? He’s pretty good at that. You can’t believe anything that comes out of his mouth. It changes day to day, depending on the situation and what he needs at the moment.”
     And finally we have 169 Congressmen signing a petition or letter to Trump re Bannon - “Mr. Bannon’s appointment sends the wrong message to people who have engaged in those types of activities, indicating that they will not only be tolerated, but endorsed by your Administration,” the letter reads, referring to recent attacks targeting religious and ethnic minorities. “Millions of Americans have expressed fear and concern about how they will be treated by the Trump Administration, and your appointment of Mr. Bannon only exacerbates and validates their concerns.”
     And this is not the end. We have the same lobbyists against whom he railed now being appointed to his administration and oh yes, the ban on lobbyists? Not a problem. Just resign and then all is forgiven so exactly whom is The Donald fooling? Himself? Perhaps, but I believe he is a person with nefarious motives and I do not trust the fate of our democracy to his hands. We have the Mexican government gearing up to protect Mexican immigrants, legal and not, from the harms aimed at them by King Donald and his henchmen. What? Are we gearing up for a new Mexican - American War? Why is this man aggravating the world and acting as if there will be no consequences. Thinking of the cheap gas prices? Well, OPEC has now come up with a plan to cut production so watch those prices skyrocket. So much for working with allies!
     Our allies simply cannot trust us anymore so I wonder what will happen if G-d forbid WE need to call upon them - so will they answer? Why would they when they hear the daily rant out his mouth about how we need to pull out of agreements and entanglements, need to go it alone and on and on. So will we stand alone? Yes and no for NO country in the world can stand alone any more. The global connections are too powerful. Our farmers need to export their wheat and we need to import our fruit as we continue to chew up our agricultural lands for more and more houses and unnecessary business parks. That butterfly on the other side of the world grows ever more powerful wings and the storm it starts on the other side of the world is far more powerful and impactive than we had ever predicted or expected. Like it or not - "we are the world" and isolationism does not work. Been there done that. 
    And things locally are not much better. Here we are gearing up for a new election in the Village and we have the same old garbage again - the attempts of the local Tweed gang CV version as David Israel appoints his lackeys to the committee so as to insure the continuation of his harmful regime and the man just does not learn or never learned how to be a decent human. Yesterday our paths crossed entering and leaving the Clubhouse. I behaved as taught to me from childhood that I should always do the right thing, so I nodded to him and said "Good Morning". I got a troll face in response and a muttered brief comment which was unclear due to the mutterings, so I asked, "What?" and he snipped out, "It's a long word." So what, is he intimating  -that I would not understand long words? Dear David, do not go there for I can and have run rings around you in verbal sparring and have proven you so wrong and called you out on your misdeeds. Of course I have even complimented you on the rare positive deeds but tsk, tsk. In any case, I responded in a sympathetic tone that "David, you really need help, serious help. Mental help" and went on my way.
     This is a leader? This is our leader? I cannot figure out who is worse - Donald or David? But I guess Donald for the larger impact and David for the great impact on our daily lives. Not a nickel difference between them. So David, follow your apparent political idol and say that word clearly aloud, post it on your blog and let the world know what comes out of your mouth as you talk to women, emulating The Orange Man. But what can one expect from one who refuses to debate, who believes in backroom policy making, who believes his position is the way to serve his own desires, who has led us into potential bankruptcy or huge increases in the near future - and by the way, the truth. What is the total of UCO and WPRF increases for next year. Enough with the obfuscation of blathering words and excuses. The facts, dear, the facts. The numbers please.
     What a mess we are in  nationally, internationally and very locally. And the world  asks what the Americans have done to themselves, what possessed them and I agree adding on that we can ask that same question of the delegates here. Much work remains ahead of us. We will need to make our voices heard.

SO WHY KEEP ON?

     Several people have asked me why I keep on with the postings re Trump and his Trumpers and the awful situation we are in and will be facing for not just four years but for more years than that as we try to undo the damage he will have done  and has already started upon. Well, there are many reasons, but first of all is the right to do so, the right guaranteed to me by the Constitution of our country, the same Constitution that the Trump administration to be wants to negate in many ways.
     Trump is a major whiner. Kinda' reminds me of David Israel who also cannot abide criticism and who also wanted to shut down all media that was opposed to him and mostly succeeded if it were not for the Herculean efforts of Ed Grossman, Neil Moore and a whole crew of writers, of deliverers and of business establishments who resisted the threats of David Israel and who consistently to this day ask for their copies of The Messenger. So the opposition continues and we see the results in events within UCO and the Village.
     But just as that is not yet enough what with the attempts to foist upon us a broadband that most do not want, with the attempts to always run interference for WPRF and the Levys and force us to pay what are really expenses for capital improvement and not simply "fix" jobs, it is also not enough for  us to say that we can do nothing for the next four years to oppose and block Trump in his pathetic attempts to run a government in conjunction with our laws, our Constitution and as a democracy. For make no mistakes about it, I have been saying and many others are now saying that they worry for the state of our country and the state of its democracy under the reign of Trump. And again, make no mistake about it, this man has megalomaniac issues and sees himself as a king, as a ruler, as a demagogue in the footsteps of his fellow demagogues that he so admires. From the gold and gilt and marble corridors of his apartment in NY to the mess of his transition government, he is remarkably similar to despots such as Henry VIII if we are to go back in history who simply got rid of anyone and everyone who disagreed with him. Putin anyone?
     Tom Hanks at his own tribute took the time to speak of the mood of the country and  said,
“That journey never ceases, it never stops. Sometimes, to quote a Bruce Springsteen song, it’s one step forward two steps back, but we still aggregately move forward. We who are a week into wondering what the hell just happened will continue to move forward. We have to choose to do so, but we will move forward because if we do not move forward. What is to be said of us? …
‘We will take everything that has been handed to us as Americans and we will turn our nation and we will turn the future and we will turn all the work that we have in before us into some grand thing of beauty.” Hanks said this to a standing ovation."
     So we have to have hope and we will and we will continue to work hard to limit the damage of his reign. It already is a mess what with people resigning or being fired, what with his son in law Jared Kushner reorganizing and firing people - evidently our president in the shadows, what with our closest allies not being able to get thru to our presumptive president elect. The entire world is facing a crisis and this man just keeps on tweeting and boasting of gaining more followers, like a teen ager who boasts of the same thing. This is a man who has never grown up, a big baby who throws tantrums, who takes as his closest advisers fellow babies and tantrum throwers, including the most disappointing man ever, Rudy Giuliani, a man I used to admire tremendously, but not now.
     This is a man and followers who solicit and accept the approval of the rankest nationalistic and nativist movements , whose anti Semitism is abhorrent and I cannot understand that Jared Kushner thinks that he will be immune to their hatred. The court Jew is never safe, never.
     We have open rebellion, civil resistance at this point but who knows the future. The younger generation rants and protests and refuses to accept the presidency of Trump and will fight tooth and nail to prevent not its existence, but its proposed programs and poisonings of the social network of our country. We have police chiefs refusing to do the dirty work of rounding up immigrants. They do not wish to be the collaborating police forces emulating those of the French and the Ukrainian and others during WWII. We have cities who say they will be sanctuary cities and will not allow this proposed abomination to take place within their municipal borders. And of course here in the Village we have the PBSO who has categorically stated that they are not David Israel's "posse and enforcement agent." And we have the outrage hopefully growing that will cut off at the knees the awful and dangerous racist and misogynistic statements of his Trumpers. I refuse to write what was said yesterday re Michelle Obama but suffice it to say it was disgusting and revealing much of the filth to be found in many Trumpers.
     We have the open threats and promises of revenge; we see what he has done to Megyn Kelly in his attempts to buy her off and then shut her down when she refused to be bought, when other media personnel also refused to be bought. Money does  not always buy the souls of people.
     And of course we have the hopeful but I believe vain possibility that the electoral college will vote for Clinton rather than Trump, but that is a long shot by far. What we need to do is get rid of it for the future so that the majority of the people get their wish. Also remarkably similar to what we have here in the Village where if we had a one vote per resident owner we would have a very different election result each and every time, a more open one and one more reflective of what we truly want and have here in the Village.
     I can and will go on for as long as I am able. Civil resistance, peaceful protest, marches, letters to legislators, electing future pols who have the guts and the honor and the rectitude to do what is right, who stand by their convictions and not wimp out so as to get a job and some power.
     For the feelings of America and its press and its thinkers, read the current issue of the New York Magazine. Here is a quote from just one writer.
"Trump's election has sent a statement to Americans and the world about the country's identity. It has been received viscerally, by bullies abusing minorities as well as by fearful allies overseas.....Women, religious minorities, immigrants and prospective immigrants, transgender people, young Africans with iphones, the beat down opposition in places like Russia and China, and the people who bully all the preceding groups and more - the whole planet, really- need reminding that the (other) version of America has prevailed before and will prevail again."
     And we must not forget his proposed damage to the environment, a program which Obama has worked hard to improve in an attempt to stave off disaster. "Trump’s election to the presidency of the most powerful nation on Earth is a serious blow to our hopes of preserving a livable climate for our children." So says Jeff Masters, a known weather expert. Read his further words on his Weather Underground site, read and worry.
      People, we cannot ever stop. Ever. Never mind our future, but mind the future of our kids and grandchildren and great grandchildren. Never allow the apocalyptic movies of a possible future turn into reality. The Mad Max world of desertification of the world, of the fighting and killing for food and water, the world of a future overrun by the oceans, the tribal mentality that will rule the world - this is not what we want, but what we will get if we do not speak up. I only pray that those people who voted for Trump and have a brain see the error of their ways and come round to the right way of thinking and join in the fight.
     And now it is my sad duty to pass on a notice that I just received. CV has lost a good man.

"We have been informed of the passing of Capt. Al. who "Greeted" thousands of our residents & guests

at the main club house for many years.  I had the pleasure of interviewing  him a few years back, when I was  associated with the Reporter, we did a brief bio and he provided me with a family recipe that was  served in their Palm Beach restaurant, many years ago...

His warm smile & friendly approach will be missed by many. 

Funeral arrangements are pending; once they are known, we will inform you.

RIP Capt. Al

Bettie Lee Bleckman

 May he rest in peace.

AND THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE

The following is an article written by a young woman, an activist, and originally appeared elsewhere. I believe it expresses much of what many of us are feeling, be one a Jew or Muslim or immigrant, or woman, or decent man or whatever. The appointment of Bannon, an anti Semite, a holder of the flag of the alt right, a member of the extreme nationalistic and nativist movement that supported Trump, this man is bad, simply bad and this is whom our president to be chooses.

     There is no mandate for this hate. Hillary still leads 48% to 47% in the popular vote and just look at these kids, these great kids, these college and now high school kids who are rejecting Trump's hatred of others, his sneaky attempts to get his children!!!! clearance for top secret information and run his business empire. There are rules against nepotism yet Trump once again thinks he is beyond and above the rules. I cannot stress strongly enough how dangerous this man is, this Trump and his Trumpers. And the children shall lead the way. What is in store for today? More high schoolers protesting and marching, taking their teachers along with them? More media articles exposing the hate and racism and xenophobia and brutality even of Trump? Where will it end? I do not believe that there has ever been such protests against a president elect so perhaps we had better make sure we listen. Read what follows and tell me- does she not say it all? Strong, but does it not have the ring of truth, of the anger that is out there and is not going away?

The following is an open and unedited letter to Jared Kushner, son-in-law of President-elect Donald Trump, from actress, producer, and political activist Noa Tishby. It originally appeared on jewishinsider.com.

Dear Jared, or Kapara, as we say in Israel —

You don’t know me, and I doubt that we will ever meet. However, I have a few words for you. I am an Israeli and a Jew, like you, so let me first start by thanking you for bringing into our folds the stunning Ivanka. We need more smart and lovely women like her. Well done Jared and Yael!

Now let’s talk tachles. Step one in the Twelve-Step Program is acknowledging you have a problem and that your life has become unmanageable. In other words, acknowledge reality.
So here is reality: being a male chauvinist pig is a great thing. It’s awesome and it gets you elected President. Are you one too, Jared? Are you a pig? Because many people are saying (which thanks to your father-in-law is now a perfectly reasonable argument to use in any conversation or debate) that you are the puppeteer behind the puppet.
Hillary Clinton was voted for by fewer men — as a proportion of the electorate — than any other candidate in the history of the United States. As Israeli parliament member Merav Michaeli said, a huge majority of white men voted for Trump not despite the fact that he harassed and assaulted women, but because of that. They want to take back that privilege that we women took away from them in recent years. In the privacy of the voting booth, some men want to be able to act like your father-in-law too. To be that “powerful”, that aggressive, and self-entitled. A Neanderthal, clubbing his woman and dragging her inside his cave.
By the pussy.
As a Jew, I am particularly curious about you, Jared Kushner. In addition to using sexism and misogyny, did you notice the anti-Semitism you and your father-in-law allowed to rise back up? Do you know that because of the trolls your campaign encouraged to crawl out of their holes, me and thousand of other Jews added ((()))) to our Twitter handle to proudly declare our Judaism? Did you see this? I doubt that you did not. And when you saw it, and ignored it, did you at least realize how cynically and heartlessly you’re both using hate just to get in power?
You know your father-in-law is a liberal from NYC, Jared. Ivanka and you probably also know just how many abortions he forced some of his past women to have. (I am basing this assumption on no facts or prior knowledge what so ever by the way: again, something your father-in-law made perfectly normal and acceptable to do). You know as well as the majority of this country that he simply said whatever he needed to say in order to win, because like an addict, he just loves winning so much.
And as a result, you allowed the country to be torn apart. Yes, you Jared.
You have betrayed every single one of Judaism’s core beliefs. Love thy neighbor, charity, Tikun Olam making the world a better place.
Jews were at the forefront of every human rights movement around the world from Dr. King to Gandhi. We Jews, we know all about hate and discrimination, and we have been fighting against it for generations. You, Jared, helped get into power the most racist, sexist, bullying, childish, and misogynistic man we have ever seen. (Again, hyperbole is now fully accepted. Fantastic!) And if he doesn’t believe all these things he said, that’s even worse — considering how you both rode these words straight into the white house.
But you see, Jared, the Republic is stronger than any one man. So okay, I accept the results for now. However, let me be clear: I, and millions of other Republicans, Democrats, Independent, Christians, Jews, Muslims and any other variation, men and women and the 473 electorates of young adults ages 18-25 who voted for Hillary, we are watching you both. We will hold you accountable. We saw that you appointed Myron Ebell, a climate change skeptic, to lead your EPA transition team. We see the all-white all-men team you are assembling to take over. And we are not happy about that.
We know how much your father-in-law hates little details and prefers to delegate. He has no patience for small print — which is why I am turning to you, Jared. You seem to be the responsible, reasonable adult in that crew. So it is up to you. You are going to be the one making sure your father-in-law delegates to people who actually follow what the American people want, not just a bunch of white lobbyists. It is your responsibility, Jared, to make sure your father-in-law doesn’t take this country backward environmentally and socially or to a new-millennium Twitter version of McCarthyism. I don’t trust him, but I am counting on you to be in his ear and say and do the right thing.
Or you will both hear from us. In every way democracy allows, we will make your life unpleasant. Beware.
And to your father-in-law, I say: Mr. Trump, are you humbled yet? You are about to learn for the first time in your life the meaning of “Being of service”. You see, Mr. Trump: you work for me now. You work for me

And more words: Bernie Sanders - “I am very worried that a President Trump may take us back to where we were before, and we in the progressive community are not going to allow that to happen. We have travelled too far to descend back into racism and sexism.”
Lady Gaga in a powerful essay: "Here we were, in 2016, and the fact that the sort of language that was being used to talk about women was everywhere -- on TV, in politics -- was eye-opening," she writes. "I felt depressed and hurt by it because that's what that kind of language does. Then I watched our incredible first lady, Michelle Obama, talk in New Hampshire about how hurt she felt seeing it too. She talked about how women are often afraid to say anything because we're worried that we will appear weak -- that we'll be told we're being over-the-top, dramatic, emotional. But we're not. We're fighting for our lives."

WHERE TO START- AND WHERE TO FINISH?

     Sorry for late posting, but could not help it.
     Anyway, where to start? Where and how to list all that troubles not just me, but so many people here in the USA and all around the world. You see, unlike the benighted view of Trump and Trumpers, the country is not and cannot be an isolated entity. That time is long gone in the fogs of history, way, way back. We cannot fence off the world, not literally and not figuratively. We cannot put a dome over the whole country to protect it from the fumes and poisonous air that will come from using polluting coal, burning wood in poorer countries, no regulations on industry anymore - not with Trump- and everything else that will go wrong. Remember, we share the atmosphere with the world. Saharan desert dust comes over to our country, nuclear fallout does the same thing and so do wars and tragedies and everything else one can think of.
     We cannot - and now it is a fence - wall off the entire border, not unless we turn into a despotic state and trust me, that is a worrisome thought to many. We cannot throw 2-3 million people into prison cells - where the hell would we even put them?! Never mind that it would be wrong. We cannot forget our roots and the knowledge that first generation immigrants, legal or not, work hard and push their kids to greater heights and then they contribute great things to the country. Hey, you know once there was a guy from Germany who came here as an immigrant and guess who his grandson is - although I must say that I am not so sure of his contributions and am worried about the harm he can and has and will cause to our country and its population and ditto for the world.
     We now will have a suspect and ultra conservative government in place and that despite the fact that the popular vote went to Hillary by far so this mandate that they think they have - it does not exist!!! So much for the Electoral College, an anachronism from the beginning of our country when it was felt that old, propertied white men would save the great unwashed masses from themselves and name the president for them. Too old, too silly, too inappropriate, too wrong for these times. Time for a change.
     We now have a president who cannot talk. He simply cannot. Nor does he know of what he is supposed to be talking about. Lesley Stahl asked him about Roe v. Wade and his response: "Well, they'll perhaps have to go- they'll have to go to another state." Okay, so besides deciding that men know best for women and they will lose what little is left of Roe v. Wade and lose control over their own bodies - kinda like him who obviously has no control over his baser instincts - and will have to return to back alley butchers. He does not even understand that if it is overturned by his backwards leaning Supreme Court, there will be NO other state to go to!!! Dummy!!
     He refuses still to reveal his tax statements, again claiming audits but the IRS says no problem and besides it seems he has been audited for two decades already! Great role model between that and his sexual misdeeds, his contempt for women, for gays, for all LGBTQ people, for races other than himself and shall we go on. He has picked a chief strategist straight from Breitbart, a sick ultra conservative entity that encourages racism and hatred and division with its every word and this from a president who says he wants to work together? Lies and more lies, from the campaign and before and now. There is simply no trust for this man. This Orange Man.
     At present we are the laughing stock of the world, leaving a confused look on the faces of the peoples of the world, from the little to the leader. How do we fix this?
     Well, first of all, Donald Trump has to learn that he is not above the law. He has to rein in his deeds to comply and yes, that means if he has to face a trial for his fraud with Trump University, then so be it. He is busy? Well, so are the rest of us and quite frankly it looks to me as if he is ceding most things to his children or Bannon or Pence. They know that he is a pitfall waiting to happen if he is allowed to roam and talk loose.
     He has to learn that there is great suspicion re his own business dealings and that of the country. His children are going to be his "advisers", you should excuse me, and yet, they will also run his business empire so exactly where and how are the inevitable conflicts going to be managed. He is the first president to not turn his estate over to a blind trust. Figures!!
     People, Hillary won the popular vote by close to a million and possibly more. He has no mandate for his oppressive plans. He has no mandate period and when his supporters see the lack of follow through and  the harm he actually causes them and how he reneges on his promise because it is impossible to turn back the clock - just wait. Fraud, lack of positive steps, a hateful man surrounded by other hateful men - impeachment anyone?
     On January 21, 2017 there will be a Million Woman March in Washingon, D.C. Anyone and everyone is welcome, men and women, anyone who supports human rights, anyone who stands against the shameful lack of standards in our new G-d help us president. Localities will also have their own. Anyone interested in having one here in the Village? Just send a comment thru via the blog or thru Gary's blog.
     Remember the old days when we all worked together to change the world? Well, without the drugs and without the turning away from society, let us remember  We Shall Overcome - hopefully in a soon to come someday.

CONFUSED AND TROUBLED

     These are confused times. The last time I remember such anger at the government or the government to be was in the late 60's when basically the young rose up, woke up much of an older generation and changed the world. Is that what is happening today? Once again, is it the young lad or lassie who cries out the truth, that the Emperor is naked?
     Generally when there is an election both sides accept the result and work from there. This election seemingly is different. Thousands are marching disavowing him and his politics, his viewpoint and in fact, his hypocritical deeds. This man who supposedly cried out against lobbyists is now appointing them in droves to his new government. He is appointing so many foxes into the hen coops that he will undo all that has been done on the environment, health care and any and all else.
     He, that convinced people to vote for him because he would be "good" for Israel are now hearing his plan to broker a "deal" in the Palestinian - Israeli matter. It would be the best ever or so he says. I wonder if it would be a bigly event!
     The  leaders of the world are looking askance at the American president to be, reminding him of shared values, with concern from their citizens as to what happened to America. When did it blow its gasket and lose its mind? Kerry is trying to race a deadline to cement in place an agreement that would help avoid even more climate change while The Orange Man and his minions deny that this even exists. Willful blindness to the truth does not erase it and not even if it is for the benefit of his cronies, all the fat cats that he ranted against during the campaign.
     He who fooled all those blue collar people, he who gained support of the Christian evangelical movement - he is the same cheater who is denying them now, leaving them to face health crises on their own for the government program will not be there nor will other "net" programs and by the way, this man is the furthest thing from Christian that I have ever seen. Any one ever see him go to church or ask forgiveness for his sins? Nope, thought not.
     But actually I care not for the religion for it has no place in the Oval Office, yet here it is dragged in with people forcing their own thoughts on others, to the point of bigotry and hatred.  No contraception, no abortion rights for women to choose and decide for themselves, bias against LGBTQ and will we return to the dark days of Stonewall? Racial hatred and do not ever think that one is immune to this for hatred grows and spreads and eventually all are involved.
     Never did I think that I would ever think such thoughts again, but here I am rooting for those kids out there. Here I am thinking of a columnist who said that we have to resist - quietly and firmly. Perhaps we need to make more noise though for this borrower who owes millions to the Bank of China, who has commercial entanglements with so many countries, including our enemies, this man who admires demagogues - this man must be changed and even his cronies realize this as he stumbles again in an interview with Lesley Stahl, unable to complete a full sentence or carry a thought thru a paragraph. He thinks Twitter is a game just for him to gather more followers and he thinks that it is a great idea to get all his kids into government positions. What is next? A special kids department for Barron? Or perhaps we will see an heir designated to follow him and watch all our rights go down the tube.
     When I first heard Andra Day sing I was electrified and when I heard her voice and the words of her song Rise Up I was even more impressed. Check it out, but here are some of those words.
     "We gonna walk it out
And move mountains...
And I'll rise up
I'll rise like the day
I'll rise up
I'll rise unafraid
I'll rise up
And I'll do it a thousand times again.....
All we need, all we need is hope
And for that we have each other.......
I'll rise up
In spite of the ache.......
We'll rise up."
Finally, in the words of David Brooks, "Maybe America isn't special, it's just another republic that had its day, but is in the process of devolving into a corrupt nation ruled by strongmen.
     But I'm not ready to accept that this is inevitable - because accepting would become a self-fulfilling prophecy. The road back to what America should be is going to be longer and harder than any of us expected and we might not make it. But we have to try."
     We have to try. So rise up, you and me and all the thinking people of America, the popular majority which Hillary had achieved, the people who looked to the future with hope and unity.
     We will rise up within the law but loudly, strongly BIGLY!!!
     I WILL RISE UP.
     WE WILL RISE UP.
MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!!!

HEIGHTS AND DEPTHS

     We are at a major crossroads, one which will determine the fate and state of the world, its peoples, for years to come and notice I do not write millennia for I truly do not believe that long term survival is in the picture unless we choose properly. There are too many stories coming out of the increased attacks on minorities, on Moslems, anti Semitic incidents, the screaming rage of white Christians and deluded people who think that the clock can be turned back, those who ignore history.
     But in doing so these people turn a blind eye to the history of our country and its growing place in the world. At its founding, this country was an experiment, set in place by brave people, not perfect, by far, but willing to take a chance on new ideas, even as they carried some of the old with them. But over the years it improved and proved to be a place for the persecuted of Europe, of the world, as immigrants from before the founding till now came to America as a place of hope and a place with a future.
     From the beginning it was meant to be a place of refuge and a place of growth as the immigrants brought in new ideas, new ways of thinking. From Oglethorpe of Georgia to Lord Baltimore. From Roger Williams to Anne Hutchinson, from The Dutch trading company to George Washington to Mark Twain - this country was open to the world even as people railed against the newcomers. But they built this country, dug the canals, laid the trestles of the railroads, opened stores and businesses, endowed scholarships and museums and schools and yes, there were some criminals amongst them just as there is and always will be in the population at large.
     Now we have a president elect who cries out that the demonstrations are "unfair" - really, another tantrum from the Orange Man! Protest is a right of this country, like it or not and his railing against it send chills up and down my spine and into my heart. And yet we have the brave souls of even more cities yesterday who protested against the hatred that flows out of Trump and his supporters, the growing attacks they have staged. We have groups of younger kids chanting "build the wall" - carrying on the hate that is found within their homes.
     We have forgotten who we are, separated ourselves into groups, widened the divide and too many of us do not realize what we have done. We are quickly sinking into the depths rather than striving for the heights. Trump and Ryan crow how they are going to fix health and immigration issues. I ask, are they going to take care of those who will not be with coverage or will the very voters for Trump now have to learn how to take care of their elderly and sick without coverage, making do, scrimping and yes, watching their loved ones and friends die from lack of affordable care. So yes, costs were rising but does anyone out there remember a year when your insurance policies did not rise? I do not. Trust me, the insurance companies were not suffering. They cried wolf once too often to believe them and their cries of poverty.
     And then again, we have the pleasure of looking forward to the inmates running the asylum. We have Christie the alleged crook and blockader of roads in tantrums; we have Giuliani who has severe PTSD; we have Sarah Palin who I wonder does she still see Russia from her backyard; we have Donald Trump, Jr. who wishes to be Secretary of the Interior and we have the president himself who has business dealings with Chinese entities, with Arab entities, who owes money all over the place, who drives his companies into bankruptcy and does not pay taxes - and wow, what a crew!
     Trump is skirting too close to violating the law. He wants to just shoot up the families of terrorists and other criminals. Yup, it was that 6 month old that was the driving force right?! He wants to use extra tough torture so may we dust off all the Inquisition tools from the museums and bring in new hirees from North Korea, Putin and other Soviet operatives, Chinese experts, or perhaps even go back into the past and find some South American remnants from the old dictators and demagogues. Perhaps some Pinochet people still are around. Wouldn't that be handy!
     People, I am not making this up. This comes straight from his mouth and the mouths of supporters of Trump. They crow they have a mandate. Well, they have another mandate, that of the larger popular vote, that which states that they will not stand by and allow America to lose its specialness, its uniqueness, its beauty and its love. So they protest and cry and show fear. Women of a certain age wonder if we are going back to the time when abortion was a totally back alley deal and people died, cruelly, in pain, when contraception was unknown or illegal. We wonder, all of us, at the ridiculous statements that climate change is nonexistent so who then is melting the glaciers and who then is raising the temperature of the globe and who then is raising the waters of the oceans and drowning island nations and who then wants to burn coal to add to the mess, and who just lies and lies and lies!! Wishing does not make it so. We need to roll up our sleeves, work hard and struggle and strive to remake our country into what it was - but not in  a hateful way. Not in a destructive way.
     Yesterday was the anniversary of Krystallnacht on November 10, 1938 when in Germany, Austria, and the Sudetenland, the mobs ran amok with governmental organization, prodding and  approval. Hundred and thousands, 30,000, were arrested and sent to Dachau and Sachsenhausen, People were killed and maimed, buildings and businesses destroyed and over 1000 synagogues burned, many of them hundreds of years old. Hate. Hatred. It does awful things and no one is immune to it and to its horrific consequences. And yet, there are always alternatives to this hate, even within ourselves. We can always strive to reach new heights as we wait and struggle and survive and try to rebuild the world as it should be. Here is a story from the heights. May we all learn from it and turn away from the depths to which our country and its citizens have fallen. May we all keep in mind that there were walls built in that time and they did not bode well at all. And remember that today is Veterans Day and keep in mind why they fought and what we need to keep.
    
"The following story was told by Rabbi Israel Spira, the Rebbe of Bluzhov, who had witnessed it firsthand in the Janowska Concentration Camp:
Each morning at dawn, the Germans would lead us out of the camp for a day of hard labor that ended only at nightfall. Each pair of workers was given a huge saw and expected to cut their quota of logs. Because of the horrendous conditions in the camp and starvation rations on which we supposed to subsist, most of us could barely stand on our feet. But we sawed away, knowing that our lives depended upon it; anyone collapsing on the job or failing to meet their daily quota was killed on the spot, G-d forbid.
One day, as I pulled and pushed the heavy saw with my partner, I was approached by a young woman from our work detail. The pallor of her face showed her to be in an extremely weak physical state. “Rebbe,” she whispered to me, “do you have a knife?”
I immediately understood her intention and felt the great responsibility that rests upon me. “My daughter,” I begged, concentrating all the love and conviction in my heart in the effort to dissuade her from her intended deed. “Do not take your own life. I know that your life is now a living hell, from which death seems a blessed release. But we must never lose hope. With G-d’s help, we will survive this ordeal and see better days.”
But the woman seemed oblivious to my words. “A knife,” she repeated. “I must have a knife. Now. Before it is too late.”
At that moment, one of the German guards noticed our whispered conversation and approached us. “What did she say to you?” he demanded of me.
We both froze. Conversing during work was a grave transgression. Many a camp inmate had been shot on the spot for far lesser crimes.
The woman was first to recover. “I asked him for a knife,” she said. To my horror, she then addressed her request to the guard: “Give me a knife!”
The German, too, guessed her intention, and a devilish smile flickered on his lips. Doubtless he had seen the bodies of those who, out of desperation, threw themselves during the night at the electrified fence that surrounded the camp; but this would be a new, novel sight for him. Still smiling, he reached into his pocket and handed her a small knife.
Taking the knife, she hurried back to her work station and bent to a small bundle of rags that she had placed on a log. Quickly unraveling the bundle, she took out a tiny infant. Before our astonished eyes, she swiftly and skillfully circumcised the week-old boy.
“Blessed are You, G-d our G-d, King of the Universe,” she recited in a clear voice, “Who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to enter him into the covenant of Abraham our Father.”
Cradling the child in her arms, she soothed his cries. Then, she addressed the heavens: “Master of the Universe! Eight days ago you gave me a child. I know that neither I nor he will long survive in this accursed place. But now, when you take him back, you will receive him as a complete Jew.”
“Your knife,” she said, handing the holy object back to the German. “Thank you.”

Choose the right path. Our future depends on it.

WHAT HONEYMOON??

     Well, a tad too late one might say. The election is over and look at the results. Not even one day of a honeymoon despite the fact that both Obama and Clinton asked people to have an open mind on Trump. Yet they cannot agree to this. Yesterday in cities all across the country one might think deja vu, 1968 and its lead up and its follow through all over again. People just feel they cannot and will not tolerate the reign of Trump and his ignorant and dangerous cronies and yet, and yet - what will be? Are we to truly split into warring groups? And yet again, how do we avoid that? How can we overlook the threats to our American way of life that came through so clearly. Even Trump supporters, misguided and deluded as they were , are having second thoughts but you know, what's done cannot be undone.
     New York. Chicago. Los Angeles. Oakland. Seattle. Philadelphia. Portland, Oregon. Berkeley. Phoenix. Richmond, Ca. El Cerrito. People marched and protested and disavowed Trump as their president and the police - well here we go again with chemical irritants thrown at the protesters and the temperatures of all sides rising. What are we going to have now in the United States?
     Women all over the country are making appointments at doctors as the fear of no more funded Planned Parenthood and no contraceptives, the backwards movement of the regime in power, the viewpoint that puts women back hundreds of years - and just note the dress that Melania wore yesterday. She might have pleased her husband and the filthy minds of those he hangs with, but an off the shoulder bared shoulder slinky dress is not how one represents the office of the wife of the President. There is an image to present and keep up. Lord help us. People are expecting the country to regress and badly too.
     The announcement that comes out of the Trump mouthpieces and office are not boding well for the country. Loads of cuts for the wealthy and for business - so what did you get, you foolish blue collar workers - NOTHING, nothing but trouble as your medical coverage will be gone, your taxes will increase, your safety regulations will be trampled in the dirt, the national debt will soar beyond all levels as we get no in come for the government and Trump launches a supposed huge spending money program. So where does that money come from - off our backs!!
     And look at the people being mentioned for his Cabinet and appointments. Well, we have Christie all over the place. Wonder if he will block the highways in those cities and states who disagree with him? Wonder if he will prosecute the case against himself if appointed as Attorney General. The crooks are running the joint. Lovely thought. And then of course we now have Giuliani who appears to be suffering from PTSD from 9/11, understandable, but seriously, he sees a terrorist under every bed! Kinda like the old Red Scare of the 50's. Not good. Michael Flynn. John Bolton. Newt Gingrich!!! Oil and other energy executives. What? Are we to strip mine again, cut off mountain tops to get at the dirty coal and heave our climate change into the fast lane? Where are the people who should be able to express other viewpoints, the sign of a strong and wise leader. Guess we have the wrong leader - in Washington and here in good ole CV but that is for another day.
     The leaders of the world are very uncertain. Where are the once upon a time shared values between us all? Are the USA and Russia now to form an alliance? Hey, all of you who said oh, he would be better for Israel, well, a fine mess we will now have. This is a man who is going to cut down on foreign "entanglements" so where do you think the Middle East will be? Swarming with the war cries in stronger howls than today and a Russia that wants to extend its influence and power there. And remember history - Russia and the Jews? Uh uh, never very good for the Jews - Never!!
     And just look at all the hypocrites now sucking up to The Donald, that famous Orange Man. Liars, Cowards. Who will protect the people? Who? It seems we have left that one again to the kids but this time we are not the kids and in fact, we have allowed this to happen for lack of thought, for lack of follow through. So there is no honeymoon, there is no peace and there certainly will not be any of the dignity that Hillary Clinton displayed in her short but poignant speech. If you did not get teary eyed as she spoke, if you did not grow weary and worried at what could have been, if you realized that yes, we made history in this election, but not the election of the first woman president of the country - and long overdue - but made history electing into office the most unqualified, erratic, and dangerous for the country president ever. He will be worse than Grant, worse than Harding. No one will know where they stand and no one is sure that our rights a la the Constitution will remain in place. I can just see the man declaring military rule under an Executive Order and sending in the troops to hunt down the opposition, to throw our young into camps - a la all the banana republics, a la Russia now and in the past and well into the future.
     Honeymoon? We need a divorce. A quickie one at that. But how to go about doing that I have not the faintest idea. So four years of this and wonder if we will survive as the America we know or if we will flame out, become another Greece and Rome and other ancient empires that collapsed under their own weight and mistakes? I wonder...well, no, I do not for I fear what will be unless we do something - but what? How? Where do we turn? Ideas, anyone? Help, anyone? Pressure on the politicians? Pressure on Trump but who knows if hears anything outside his own voice? Well, we have to start somewhere and the kids have pointed the way with courage and resolution. Let them not shame us. Let us do our part.
     "Lord, what fools these mortals be."
Please note that I have just read an article about the most serious cases of the 75 remaining open ones against Trump. These cases could provide cause for impeachment! Yes - a way to go to get rid of him via the law and reveal his true character to those blinded by whatever during the voting period.
    
"But the most problematic for President-elect Trump will likely be the real-estate course racketeering and fraud cases – because of the seriousness of the allegations made. In any one of the cases, an official ruling by a court that Trump or his company were financially liable for fraud could provide Congress with grounds to consider impeachment proceedings. There’s a hearing Thursday in the California case to hash out motions that will set the tone for the trial, which is set for Nov. 28.
“If the fraud and racketeering allegations against President-elect Trump are true, he is legally impeachable for high crimes or misdemeanorsut the most problematic for President-elect Trump will likely be the real-estate course racketeering and fraud cases – because of the seriousness of the allegations made. In any one of the cases, an official ruling by a court that Trump or his company were financially liable for fraud could provide Congress with grounds to consider impeachment proceedings. There’s a hearing Thursday in the California case to hash out motions that will set the tone for the trial, which is set for Nov. 28.