Mr. Trump, call me. Let's talk. Let's do something that has not been tried yet - a simple talk between you and a nobody - me. That is precisely why we should talk. I represent the little people of America, you know, the ones without big bank accounts, the ones who struggled through life from paycheck to paycheck, the ones who have no connection whatsoever to the Wall St. billionaires you are appointing to your cabinet nor the military figures - not one, not two, not three, but four!!
Like you, I am in Act III of life and I love my life. I have a wonderful life partner and together we share life from teen years to now and G-d willing well into the future. I have wonderful kids who are working hard, struggling to pay bills let alone putting aside for retirement. I have beautiful grandchildren and I worry for them and the future world they will be facing. I have great friends and I worry for them as the struggles of the health of the aging begin to impact their lives. But you, Mr. Trump, do not know us, the majority of the citizens of the United States. You do not understand mainstream thinking, at least not according to the actions you have taken and the path you have chosen.
So let's talk and let me make you aware of, understand, why it is that people are so worried, that the majority of the people did NOT vote for you, why there is a great deal of angst and yes, even sadness about your election, sorrow at the fact that we still do not have a woman in office and look who won instead! A person who denigrates women, who speaks of them with a foul mouth - and is that the same mouth that kisses your daughters, the same mouth that is supposed to model itself for your sons? A misogynist, an open one, in the Oval Office. Yes, I am worried and so is the rest of the country.
Let us talk of the concerns we have over the alt-right, a fancy name for degenerates of life, who hate all that is "other" to them. Who speak of the JQ issue - the Jewish Question. Who speak of their being part of the mainstream, G-d help us all. Who do away with the swastika for PR reasons but who picked up validation when a "presidential candidate included his promise to build a wall to keep out Mexican immigrants, whom he called rapists and criminals. The alt-right raised its collective head to listen.".I, and millions of others worry. We certainly do.
Let us talk of the worry that not one of your promises to your supporters has been acted upon in a positive manner. You say what about the jobs you saved? Even that is a lie in number and reasons and cost to the taxpayer and the very temporariness of it. Manufacturing jobs will not come back again for many reasons and it is your responsibility as president to be honest about that and instead of bluster, figure out a new way, a way to retrain workers, to match people and economy and job needs, to pick people for your Cabinet who do not oppose the very things they are supposed to protect and watch over.
I, and many others, worry about the willful lies that you and yours state. Climate change is not Chinese made nor a hoax. It has a great deal to do with human errors that must be fixed if we are to save our planet. So how do you invite all the foxes into the henhouses and keep a straight face?
We need to talk as we watch the Russians have a great deal to do with us and our elections and hacking and even they admit it so exactly who are you trying to kid with your denials. And your friendship with Putin and your Secretary of State to be and his "close" relationship with Putin - are we to all now have to learn Russian as a second language - or even a first? Yes, people worry for no one seems to understand your underpinnings, your morals and principles - if there are any.
I can look back at my life and be proud of what I have done and achieved. It was not a big job nor a fancy job yet it was important, for I worked with kids, with students, in various roles. I tried to mentor, to model, to be a friend and a guide, to encourage, to teach the meaning of The Lord of the Flies and the appreciation of a Shakespearian play as well as the ability to talk and write properly, coherently and intelligently and when I hear from a former student, my educational kids as I call them, I feel good. I have made an effect, a good one, I hope.
What, Mr. Trump, will you feel as you look back? Do you think that your billions, your ties to moneyed people all over the world, will cover all sins, that your misdeeds will be ignored. Help us, the little people, understand. I think that most of us are willing to work with you if we can understand you, if you can grow up and stop these nonsensical sophomoric tweets and speak as an adult. Talk with us, not at us.
I worry because I am a person and worthy of value.
I worry because I am a woman.
I worry because I am a senior citizen.
I worry because I am a Jew.
I worry when there is a call from Cadillac for a neo Nazi, an alt-right character for an ad. Yes, they now deny it - but who did it if not them and why? Frightening.
I worry when the president elect defends a foreign country, Russia, against all common sense and facts and chooses it over our own CIA.
I worry because I come from a working class background for most people do, whether they be a plumber or a cabinet maker or a teacher or a lawyer. We all work.
I worry because I am a mother and grandmother.
I worry because I am an American and I worry for our values and for our future.
Help me and others stop worrying. Help us become more confident in you and your plans. Explain your actions in more than five tweets and 140 letters. Believe it or not, there is a huge segment of your countrymen who do not tweet nor plan to.
So call me, Mr. Trump, call me. Let's talk and help me feel as if I am not the nail of Abraham Maslow and you and your administration are not the hammers that you will use to bang down the nails.
Call me, Mr. Trump, call me. Let us talk.
Esther
Sunday, December 11, 2016
Friday, December 9, 2016
NOTHING TO FEAR BUT FEAR ITSESLF?
Those are famous and heartening words coming out of the world cataclysm of WWII. And then I think of one of my favorite plays, Les Miz. and of the rousing song of hope - and sacrifice - One Day More and of the echoes of history and the epic heroism of those who refuse to be slaves and I wonder, I really do.
What has become of us. We are actually both a laughingstock to the rest of the thinking world and a most frightening phenomenon at the same time. How does one have a leader, an elected leader yet, who is a clown, a liar, a morally bankrupt person, a perpetual adolescent, and an imbecile in the knowledge of tact and honesty and simply watching one's mouth. The old saw of engaging one's mind before engaging the lips and mouth would serve him well. And yet, we see that his "leadership" has led the world and our country into a frightening revival, coming out into the open, of those who hate, who pander to hate, who think hate is a reason for violence and act upon that belief. He has encouraged the rise to power of the same forces in Europe. Dictators sleep comfortably in their beds, no longer afraid that the military and moral right and might of the United States will be raised against them.
There should be dignity in the Office of the President of the United States, a sense of gravitas, but where is such a thing when it is now announced that the President as of Jan. 20 will still be listed as the Executive producer of Celebrity Appearance and get paid for this via MGM. What an undignified state of being for a sitting president and for the country he represents. How inappropriate and how symbolic of all that we will have, a sitting president who refuses to divest, who thinks that the Oval Office is just another, bigger way to enhance his income, his monied holdings and that he is above the law, legal and moral. How uncouth. How morally incorrect. Simply revolting and this is to be whom we show to our children as a role model, as one to emulate?
There is not a one of his campaign promises that he has kept and indeed he has violated many. He promised to "drain the swamp", whatever that was meant to signify and yet one now finds that the level of the swamp water has risen. The net worth of those so far appointed to the Cabinet is over 14.5 billion dollars - wow, such a collection representative of the blue collar workers who were his voters! They have as much connection to them as we do to these Fat Cats. In fact, he has invited the foxes into the henhouses and we are expected to sit there and clap and shout how the Emperor's new clothes are wonderful even as he parades naked in the streets with the hens in his mouth - and he could care less. So we will now have an enemy of environmental changes and rules in order to at least slow down climate change - will instead be in charge of it. We will have enemies and foes of the health needs and interests of women, of their rights to their own bodies as the heads of these departments. Should we now all get ready to lose the vote and regard ourselves as chattel to men? We have fossil fuel industry executives in charge of energy and clean fuels.
Our country, which has long prided itself on the separation of civilian and military, and of having the military subject to civilian control, has taken a big blow to this principle as Trump has appointed general after general, including one whose nickname is Mad Dog, another who sees conspiracies under every bed and the closets too and a running or working principle in this future administration seems to be that it is okay to bring your child to work time, every day, and the more corrupt, the more morally challenged why the better it is.
As for medical issues and promise, nothing doing. Nothing detailed, just bluster and tweets. Oh he will lower drug prices. Really, where are the details. Words mean nothing unless accompanied by action - or underlined by inaction. The millions who achieved medical care under the ACA will now have it ripped away, but oh, not to worry, one will be able to choose freely- except of course if one has a chronic condition, or is poor and has no money to pay these exorbitant fees and there is no longer any government subsidies and shall we go on....
He states that he will get rid of the terrorists, all out war upon them and yet he praises Pakistan to the sky, tells of its "terrific" people, that it is a "fantastic" country. Yes, this is the same Pakistan that harbors terrorists like a dog harbors fleas, the same country which openly hosted Bin laden.
The Department of Labor is going to be headed by a fast food magnate, not exactly the most welcoming of places of employment, a man who says not to increase hourly wages or else these places will close. So much better to keep people in slave wages, Oh yes. Such a friend to labor!
And this man's own party already has great differences with him but this is countered by all those who now suck up to him, afraid to lose business or to be tweeted about and then receive threats to life and limb. If the muckety mucks have a great fear of him, then what should the little people feel? How do we tolerate a man who lies, a man who admires tyrants, a man who has no moral boundaries or guidelines, a man who will use the power of the office to enhance his own income - against the legal and moral law, though he has openly stated that if one takes advantage of legal loopholes, immoral as that might be, then that is smart!! Folks, where do we go from here?
Fear only fear itself? Yes, but there is more to it than that. I know people who already have put in place escape plans. Escape plans!!!! But where in the world will be a safe haven if the world has gone insane? Why and what are we to do when there are already rumors of war with China and allies? Whether this be an exaggeration or not, the mere existence of that thought is frightening - even as he collects rent!!!! from them , a straight out violation of the Emoluments Clause. Well, we can impeach him and seeing him sit in a courtroom will be a common place event as he has to answer to all the suits against him- or settle them as he did with Trump University and the fraud he perpetrated there.
What have we wrought !! What have we done? How do we fix this? How do we gird our loins as the Bible says and stand against all that he represents? Well, we pull up our pants, stand tall, take a deep breath, and shout out loud. We shout for rights. We shout for equality. We shout for justice. And we keep on shouting until the point is made and protective and restorative actions are taken, until the representatives man and woman up and remember their souls, until the spirit and values of America are front and center once more and the rest of the world follows, until the brave resisters of violence and hate, of invasion of their countries finally have hope once more. Big job but there is no alternative. Fear? Yes, I, and many others are afraid, but this is still America and we will still use our rights and the law to return to sanity. There is no other choice.
What has become of us. We are actually both a laughingstock to the rest of the thinking world and a most frightening phenomenon at the same time. How does one have a leader, an elected leader yet, who is a clown, a liar, a morally bankrupt person, a perpetual adolescent, and an imbecile in the knowledge of tact and honesty and simply watching one's mouth. The old saw of engaging one's mind before engaging the lips and mouth would serve him well. And yet, we see that his "leadership" has led the world and our country into a frightening revival, coming out into the open, of those who hate, who pander to hate, who think hate is a reason for violence and act upon that belief. He has encouraged the rise to power of the same forces in Europe. Dictators sleep comfortably in their beds, no longer afraid that the military and moral right and might of the United States will be raised against them.
There should be dignity in the Office of the President of the United States, a sense of gravitas, but where is such a thing when it is now announced that the President as of Jan. 20 will still be listed as the Executive producer of Celebrity Appearance and get paid for this via MGM. What an undignified state of being for a sitting president and for the country he represents. How inappropriate and how symbolic of all that we will have, a sitting president who refuses to divest, who thinks that the Oval Office is just another, bigger way to enhance his income, his monied holdings and that he is above the law, legal and moral. How uncouth. How morally incorrect. Simply revolting and this is to be whom we show to our children as a role model, as one to emulate?
There is not a one of his campaign promises that he has kept and indeed he has violated many. He promised to "drain the swamp", whatever that was meant to signify and yet one now finds that the level of the swamp water has risen. The net worth of those so far appointed to the Cabinet is over 14.5 billion dollars - wow, such a collection representative of the blue collar workers who were his voters! They have as much connection to them as we do to these Fat Cats. In fact, he has invited the foxes into the henhouses and we are expected to sit there and clap and shout how the Emperor's new clothes are wonderful even as he parades naked in the streets with the hens in his mouth - and he could care less. So we will now have an enemy of environmental changes and rules in order to at least slow down climate change - will instead be in charge of it. We will have enemies and foes of the health needs and interests of women, of their rights to their own bodies as the heads of these departments. Should we now all get ready to lose the vote and regard ourselves as chattel to men? We have fossil fuel industry executives in charge of energy and clean fuels.
Our country, which has long prided itself on the separation of civilian and military, and of having the military subject to civilian control, has taken a big blow to this principle as Trump has appointed general after general, including one whose nickname is Mad Dog, another who sees conspiracies under every bed and the closets too and a running or working principle in this future administration seems to be that it is okay to bring your child to work time, every day, and the more corrupt, the more morally challenged why the better it is.
As for medical issues and promise, nothing doing. Nothing detailed, just bluster and tweets. Oh he will lower drug prices. Really, where are the details. Words mean nothing unless accompanied by action - or underlined by inaction. The millions who achieved medical care under the ACA will now have it ripped away, but oh, not to worry, one will be able to choose freely- except of course if one has a chronic condition, or is poor and has no money to pay these exorbitant fees and there is no longer any government subsidies and shall we go on....
He states that he will get rid of the terrorists, all out war upon them and yet he praises Pakistan to the sky, tells of its "terrific" people, that it is a "fantastic" country. Yes, this is the same Pakistan that harbors terrorists like a dog harbors fleas, the same country which openly hosted Bin laden.
The Department of Labor is going to be headed by a fast food magnate, not exactly the most welcoming of places of employment, a man who says not to increase hourly wages or else these places will close. So much better to keep people in slave wages, Oh yes. Such a friend to labor!
And this man's own party already has great differences with him but this is countered by all those who now suck up to him, afraid to lose business or to be tweeted about and then receive threats to life and limb. If the muckety mucks have a great fear of him, then what should the little people feel? How do we tolerate a man who lies, a man who admires tyrants, a man who has no moral boundaries or guidelines, a man who will use the power of the office to enhance his own income - against the legal and moral law, though he has openly stated that if one takes advantage of legal loopholes, immoral as that might be, then that is smart!! Folks, where do we go from here?
Fear only fear itself? Yes, but there is more to it than that. I know people who already have put in place escape plans. Escape plans!!!! But where in the world will be a safe haven if the world has gone insane? Why and what are we to do when there are already rumors of war with China and allies? Whether this be an exaggeration or not, the mere existence of that thought is frightening - even as he collects rent!!!! from them , a straight out violation of the Emoluments Clause. Well, we can impeach him and seeing him sit in a courtroom will be a common place event as he has to answer to all the suits against him- or settle them as he did with Trump University and the fraud he perpetrated there.
What have we wrought !! What have we done? How do we fix this? How do we gird our loins as the Bible says and stand against all that he represents? Well, we pull up our pants, stand tall, take a deep breath, and shout out loud. We shout for rights. We shout for equality. We shout for justice. And we keep on shouting until the point is made and protective and restorative actions are taken, until the representatives man and woman up and remember their souls, until the spirit and values of America are front and center once more and the rest of the world follows, until the brave resisters of violence and hate, of invasion of their countries finally have hope once more. Big job but there is no alternative. Fear? Yes, I, and many others are afraid, but this is still America and we will still use our rights and the law to return to sanity. There is no other choice.
Thursday, December 8, 2016
AN AMERICAN FAIRY TALE
Once upon a time there was a young man who left his country and traveled to another. He became an immigrant, you know, one of those despicable beings who steal jobs from others and commit crimes. He prospered in his new country but tried to return to his original one without much success. His son, also suspect as one descended from an immigrant, only a generation away, also prospered and raised a son of his own.
This son, only two generations away from an immigrant so was he also suspect? Guess one has to evaluate that for oneself. Anyway, this son was not happy. He needed to move up in life, being comfortable or even rich was not satisfactory enough. No, this young man decided that he was actually royalty and needed to be recognized as such.
So he began his royalty campaign in earnest. He used money from Father's Treasury and knew there was more should he need it and sure enough he had to return to the well for more. He learned quickly enough the rule for advancement in the financial world - use OPM - other people's money and always claim that it was lost. Avoid taxes, use every loophole one could find, even if the outcome was not morally correct and always and forever, label one's products with the name in gold so people would accept his royal ascension when the time came.
As the years rolled on, this King to be married several wives and had children, children who were raised to be princes and princesses of the royal line. Two wives were discarded along the way until he felt he had the perfect consort and always his quest was uppermost in his mind. People began to wonder and make excuses for him and his behavior as he began a new career, a new stepping stone toward his royal progress.
Finally, the opportunity. Success was possibly at hand. The country was riven, driven to distraction by its differences, by pressures both inward and from outside. The country and its ideals were under attack and this self made princeling and king wanna be used the same tactics he used in business. He blustered and lied. He refused information and did not expose his inner and most secret documents. He did not pay taxes and praised others who did the same. In fact, he even promised to cut their taxes so their companies would flourish even more and have more money held from the consumers of the nation.
A campaign of hate and abuse began. Truths were exposed and yet this wanna be recovered from all accusations. He molested? So what, was the attitude. He is doing what most men do or dream of or at least that was what we were being told. He was being sued in courts, both civil and criminal but so what was the attitude and so the possibility of the new ruler of the country sitting in a court defending himself was out there - and yet, people overlooked.
And why? Because our wanna be used a technique of the Big Lie and even the small lies. He came up or his supporters who were awful, came up with "false news" dignifying lies by another name - yet that is what it was and is. So his opponent became a pedophile and a murderer, a violator of the nation's concerns and security, an awful person accused of everything that wanna be himself has done, yet was pushed off on her. Missing emails? Sure - look at his businesses. Trustworthy? Look who lost people's money. Cutting taxes? Sure and look who is getting those cuts now - Big Business and Fat Cats.
But the almost King is happy and so are his four princelings who have become included in the government without formal approval, without governmental investigation And why? Because our new almost King does exactly what he wants and rules do not matter.
His promises could not be examined closely for fear of finding the truth and being forced to accept it and when brave souls took off after him and his lies and those of his proposed court, why they were threatened and cursed, receiving numerous death threats from the followers of this almost King. A labor leader who exposed the truth about the Carrier deal received threats that "they were coming for him". And he was not the only one. Women, reporters, anyone who stood against him were in the same boat. Apparently he had many evil elves working for him.
And so the almost king moved on, appointing to his court many generals and soldiers, all the better to what? To institute a coup of the new court over the old democracy? Laws and the Constitution did not matter, for his plans often involved overturning rules. He abandoned our old allies and chose new ones, new idols - Putin, Hitler from the past, Hussein, a deposed and dead awful man and dictator. Torture was approved. Harm was approved and soon enough this man will have satisfied his ambitions and his kingdom will indeed be his. And his princelings and of course his princess remain by his side as do the offspring of his courtiers. Long may his businesses flourish is the motto of the day.
So what is the end to this American Fairy Tale? I do not think we will have a happily ever after ending, not unless much changes. Not unless this lesser popular vote winner hears from the people who insist on their rights, their justice, their respect, their honor and turn away from a rule of fear, of tweets which are almost manic and which cannot be answered in person, a sign of a weak and insecure king. There are no fairy godmothers here to help the populace. They must do it themselves. First step - make your concerns known and examine your vote. If you already see the truth, then join with others who already knew it. March for justice and equality, whoever runs the country. March for goodness and unity, whoever runs the country. That is the only way we will have a traditional fairy tale ending
This son, only two generations away from an immigrant so was he also suspect? Guess one has to evaluate that for oneself. Anyway, this son was not happy. He needed to move up in life, being comfortable or even rich was not satisfactory enough. No, this young man decided that he was actually royalty and needed to be recognized as such.
So he began his royalty campaign in earnest. He used money from Father's Treasury and knew there was more should he need it and sure enough he had to return to the well for more. He learned quickly enough the rule for advancement in the financial world - use OPM - other people's money and always claim that it was lost. Avoid taxes, use every loophole one could find, even if the outcome was not morally correct and always and forever, label one's products with the name in gold so people would accept his royal ascension when the time came.
As the years rolled on, this King to be married several wives and had children, children who were raised to be princes and princesses of the royal line. Two wives were discarded along the way until he felt he had the perfect consort and always his quest was uppermost in his mind. People began to wonder and make excuses for him and his behavior as he began a new career, a new stepping stone toward his royal progress.
Finally, the opportunity. Success was possibly at hand. The country was riven, driven to distraction by its differences, by pressures both inward and from outside. The country and its ideals were under attack and this self made princeling and king wanna be used the same tactics he used in business. He blustered and lied. He refused information and did not expose his inner and most secret documents. He did not pay taxes and praised others who did the same. In fact, he even promised to cut their taxes so their companies would flourish even more and have more money held from the consumers of the nation.
A campaign of hate and abuse began. Truths were exposed and yet this wanna be recovered from all accusations. He molested? So what, was the attitude. He is doing what most men do or dream of or at least that was what we were being told. He was being sued in courts, both civil and criminal but so what was the attitude and so the possibility of the new ruler of the country sitting in a court defending himself was out there - and yet, people overlooked.
And why? Because our wanna be used a technique of the Big Lie and even the small lies. He came up or his supporters who were awful, came up with "false news" dignifying lies by another name - yet that is what it was and is. So his opponent became a pedophile and a murderer, a violator of the nation's concerns and security, an awful person accused of everything that wanna be himself has done, yet was pushed off on her. Missing emails? Sure - look at his businesses. Trustworthy? Look who lost people's money. Cutting taxes? Sure and look who is getting those cuts now - Big Business and Fat Cats.
But the almost King is happy and so are his four princelings who have become included in the government without formal approval, without governmental investigation And why? Because our new almost King does exactly what he wants and rules do not matter.
His promises could not be examined closely for fear of finding the truth and being forced to accept it and when brave souls took off after him and his lies and those of his proposed court, why they were threatened and cursed, receiving numerous death threats from the followers of this almost King. A labor leader who exposed the truth about the Carrier deal received threats that "they were coming for him". And he was not the only one. Women, reporters, anyone who stood against him were in the same boat. Apparently he had many evil elves working for him.
And so the almost king moved on, appointing to his court many generals and soldiers, all the better to what? To institute a coup of the new court over the old democracy? Laws and the Constitution did not matter, for his plans often involved overturning rules. He abandoned our old allies and chose new ones, new idols - Putin, Hitler from the past, Hussein, a deposed and dead awful man and dictator. Torture was approved. Harm was approved and soon enough this man will have satisfied his ambitions and his kingdom will indeed be his. And his princelings and of course his princess remain by his side as do the offspring of his courtiers. Long may his businesses flourish is the motto of the day.
So what is the end to this American Fairy Tale? I do not think we will have a happily ever after ending, not unless much changes. Not unless this lesser popular vote winner hears from the people who insist on their rights, their justice, their respect, their honor and turn away from a rule of fear, of tweets which are almost manic and which cannot be answered in person, a sign of a weak and insecure king. There are no fairy godmothers here to help the populace. They must do it themselves. First step - make your concerns known and examine your vote. If you already see the truth, then join with others who already knew it. March for justice and equality, whoever runs the country. March for goodness and unity, whoever runs the country. That is the only way we will have a traditional fairy tale ending
Wednesday, December 7, 2016
ON JUSTICE AND TRUTH
"Tzedek, tzedek tirdof" Justice, justice shall ye pursue. So it states in the Bible, the Old Testament and it is worthy of note that justice is based on the same root as tzedakah, or charity, giving, helping others. There is much justice to work for, to chase, but it must be done with a sense of mercy and compassion, tempered by it, with it.
Remember the song from South Pacific wherein the Lt. sings how hate and hatred must be taught, that it is not a natural occurring event? True words and yet how much time do we invest, how much energy have we invested into teaching of hate, into its institutionalization and its maintenance? Too much.
Hatred is the opposite of justice. Benjamin Franklin said that "Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are." I agree, yet disagree, for no one is unaffected by hatred and the purveyors of it. It infects and infests the world and the bloodshed that follows is pervasive. Rabbi David Wolpe, a most amazing writer and speaker wrote of his recent trip with the Joint to Vienna, to Hungary. "It is too much — too much beauty, too much betrayal. Too much music, too many death marches. Too much faith, too much waste. Too much art and literature and charm, too much cruelty and hatred and pain."
It is that pain which must be felt by all if we are to ever defeat this scourge of mankind. Justice is what we need but will we get it? Many are excited at the upcoming event after Inauguration, the Women's March on Washington. It is truly a Women's March on the world and all who value justice will join in, be it there or in a hometown march. "In the spirit of democracy and honoring the champions of human rights, dignity, and justice who have come before us, we join in diversity to show our presence in numbers too great to ignore."
Hatred is an easy trap into which one might fall. It refocuses one's anger, one's fears, "with the question of how to move forward in the face of national and international concern and fear." But we must learn how to deal with that, with those debilitating emotions. Full disclosure, we all have negative emotions and I will admit that I do have problems with much of the Moslem way of thinking, not believing that Islam is a religion of peace. There have been too many incidents of horror and slaughter for me to believe this. However, and a big however, I am willing to listen to the voices of those Muslims who will speak of peace, who will deny their murderous brothers, who will speak up. And for sure, I do not and cannot tolerate the thought of yet another group being tagged and numbered, denied their humanity, roped off, segregated, and cut out of society. As a Jew, I remember our history and shudder at how often we have suffered that and the tragic consequences. I shudder at the pink triangles of the gay sector of humanity under Nazi rule and the Romany or gypsies and Jehovah's Witnesses and any "other" groups. Yes, for the evil and the bad, let us indeed catch them, but that goes for any and all who would terrorize society, including American nationalists who back violence and raise threats A crime is a crime, no matter who perpetrates it.
Unfortunately, I believe this hate goes along with those who would deny the truth, who pervert it and go along on their merry way and deeply unfortunate is the fact that our president elect is one born liar. Every day he says or rather tweets something and the next day or even sooner, the truth will out. 1,000 jobs saved? Nope - 800 and at what cost and for how long and for what perversion of presidential behavior? A dignified statement? Nope, an adolescent tweeting, the use of which reminds one of the bullying schoolyard tormentor, of the alpha girl ranting on the awkward girl in the class. During the election period Trump raged at Megyn Kelly "...over the phone, quoting him as saying: “You’re a disgrace! You ought to be ashamed of yourself! You’re a disgrace! I almost unleashed my beautiful Twitter account against you and I still may.” And the campaign against her continues as does other "false news" otherwise known as lies!! A pizza store has been the target of vicious lies as have the neighboring stores and a gunman even went there to shoot the "criminals" - all by Trump supporters, those enflamed with and by hate.
This is not justice and nor is it truth. Nor is it presidential, not in the very least and we must fight against this, push against it and demand that it stop. We must demand that our supposed leader, G-d help us, behave as an adult and stop tweeting , especially lies. He must tell the truth. He supposedly sold his stocks in companies and where is the proof that was supposed to have been released within 45 days? Where did he place the money? Did he buy other stocks? The truth, man, the truth! And this, even if true, and most have our doubts, this does not cut him off from his Trump businesses, not at all. We are not here to enable him to make a profit on his businesses. He lies about the cost of Air Force One and why? Who can fathom him? He ignores the dire warnings of the hospitals and even of his own party members about what would happen should ACA be repealed - millions uncovered, hospitals swamped with charity and non paying patients and unable to afford this or keep their doors open.
Women are not to be demeaned nor literally manhandled, people of color are not to be demeaned and victimized either, any and all colors, for all blood is red. No group is to be tagged and herded as animals. No torture is to be approved as a standard tool nor waterboarding or even worse as Trump so easily and offhandedly talks about.
If we are to have a good America and behave as Americans should (see yesterday's post) then we must roll up our sleeves and stand firm. The voices for justice, for truth, for the true America will not be silenced. As James Baldwin stated, "Not everything that is faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed until it is faced." We must face these problems and do our best to change them, and might we even dare hope that we can change Trump? I doubt that but we can organize and let him and his cronies know he is being watched. No shortcuts, no scapegoats and our representatives had better watch out as well.
We must look into our souls and call for justice, justice with compassion. We must cancel hate as a political tool or else we are all lost. Ray Bradbury said it best in The Illustrated Man.
"She wanted to get at the hate of them all, to pry at it and work at it until she found a little chink, and then pull out a pebble or a stone or a brick and then a part of the wall, and once started, the whole edifice might roar down and be done away with."
Would that not be beautiful? Why must it be a pipedream? Why can we not all work towards that? Why? Why?
Remember the song from South Pacific wherein the Lt. sings how hate and hatred must be taught, that it is not a natural occurring event? True words and yet how much time do we invest, how much energy have we invested into teaching of hate, into its institutionalization and its maintenance? Too much.
Hatred is the opposite of justice. Benjamin Franklin said that "Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are." I agree, yet disagree, for no one is unaffected by hatred and the purveyors of it. It infects and infests the world and the bloodshed that follows is pervasive. Rabbi David Wolpe, a most amazing writer and speaker wrote of his recent trip with the Joint to Vienna, to Hungary. "It is too much — too much beauty, too much betrayal. Too much music, too many death marches. Too much faith, too much waste. Too much art and literature and charm, too much cruelty and hatred and pain."
It is that pain which must be felt by all if we are to ever defeat this scourge of mankind. Justice is what we need but will we get it? Many are excited at the upcoming event after Inauguration, the Women's March on Washington. It is truly a Women's March on the world and all who value justice will join in, be it there or in a hometown march. "In the spirit of democracy and honoring the champions of human rights, dignity, and justice who have come before us, we join in diversity to show our presence in numbers too great to ignore."
Hatred is an easy trap into which one might fall. It refocuses one's anger, one's fears, "with the question of how to move forward in the face of national and international concern and fear." But we must learn how to deal with that, with those debilitating emotions. Full disclosure, we all have negative emotions and I will admit that I do have problems with much of the Moslem way of thinking, not believing that Islam is a religion of peace. There have been too many incidents of horror and slaughter for me to believe this. However, and a big however, I am willing to listen to the voices of those Muslims who will speak of peace, who will deny their murderous brothers, who will speak up. And for sure, I do not and cannot tolerate the thought of yet another group being tagged and numbered, denied their humanity, roped off, segregated, and cut out of society. As a Jew, I remember our history and shudder at how often we have suffered that and the tragic consequences. I shudder at the pink triangles of the gay sector of humanity under Nazi rule and the Romany or gypsies and Jehovah's Witnesses and any "other" groups. Yes, for the evil and the bad, let us indeed catch them, but that goes for any and all who would terrorize society, including American nationalists who back violence and raise threats A crime is a crime, no matter who perpetrates it.
Unfortunately, I believe this hate goes along with those who would deny the truth, who pervert it and go along on their merry way and deeply unfortunate is the fact that our president elect is one born liar. Every day he says or rather tweets something and the next day or even sooner, the truth will out. 1,000 jobs saved? Nope - 800 and at what cost and for how long and for what perversion of presidential behavior? A dignified statement? Nope, an adolescent tweeting, the use of which reminds one of the bullying schoolyard tormentor, of the alpha girl ranting on the awkward girl in the class. During the election period Trump raged at Megyn Kelly "...over the phone, quoting him as saying: “You’re a disgrace! You ought to be ashamed of yourself! You’re a disgrace! I almost unleashed my beautiful Twitter account against you and I still may.” And the campaign against her continues as does other "false news" otherwise known as lies!! A pizza store has been the target of vicious lies as have the neighboring stores and a gunman even went there to shoot the "criminals" - all by Trump supporters, those enflamed with and by hate.
This is not justice and nor is it truth. Nor is it presidential, not in the very least and we must fight against this, push against it and demand that it stop. We must demand that our supposed leader, G-d help us, behave as an adult and stop tweeting , especially lies. He must tell the truth. He supposedly sold his stocks in companies and where is the proof that was supposed to have been released within 45 days? Where did he place the money? Did he buy other stocks? The truth, man, the truth! And this, even if true, and most have our doubts, this does not cut him off from his Trump businesses, not at all. We are not here to enable him to make a profit on his businesses. He lies about the cost of Air Force One and why? Who can fathom him? He ignores the dire warnings of the hospitals and even of his own party members about what would happen should ACA be repealed - millions uncovered, hospitals swamped with charity and non paying patients and unable to afford this or keep their doors open.
Women are not to be demeaned nor literally manhandled, people of color are not to be demeaned and victimized either, any and all colors, for all blood is red. No group is to be tagged and herded as animals. No torture is to be approved as a standard tool nor waterboarding or even worse as Trump so easily and offhandedly talks about.
If we are to have a good America and behave as Americans should (see yesterday's post) then we must roll up our sleeves and stand firm. The voices for justice, for truth, for the true America will not be silenced. As James Baldwin stated, "Not everything that is faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed until it is faced." We must face these problems and do our best to change them, and might we even dare hope that we can change Trump? I doubt that but we can organize and let him and his cronies know he is being watched. No shortcuts, no scapegoats and our representatives had better watch out as well.
We must look into our souls and call for justice, justice with compassion. We must cancel hate as a political tool or else we are all lost. Ray Bradbury said it best in The Illustrated Man.
"She wanted to get at the hate of them all, to pry at it and work at it until she found a little chink, and then pull out a pebble or a stone or a brick and then a part of the wall, and once started, the whole edifice might roar down and be done away with."
Would that not be beautiful? Why must it be a pipedream? Why can we not all work towards that? Why? Why?
Tuesday, December 6, 2016
ON BEING AMERICAN TODAY
Once upon a time, not so long ago, Americans walked the earth with confidence and joy. They were proud of a country which welcomed in new Americans, who reached out to help others, who basically had decided to look on life with a rosier eye than not. They had read Robert Louis Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and the statement that "All human beings, as we meet them, are co-mingled out of good and evil." Americans used to make the choice of good, not that they were perfect and made lots of mistakes, but basically good was what they wished, what they taught their children, what they showed to the world.
Yes, there were aberrations what with the HUAC and McCarthy, the KKK, hateful periods of time as during the time of President Warren G. Harding, the corruptness and the hatred, the rabid anti Semitism of the time, the prejudice that African Americans faced, and groups of immigrants, including white ones from various countries. But somehow we managed to right ourselves, to come back to the center. But not now. Now it is different, frighteningly so.
Today we have a new organization called the Professor Watchlist, ostensibly there to watch those in the academic world who "advance leftist propaganda in the classroom." This was set up by a conservative youth group called The Turning Point USA. What was that again about the refuge of tyrants is patriotism?
Plato quoted Socrates as saying "As long as I draw breath and am able, I shall not cease to practice philosophy." Meaning? That justice came before and still comes before other concerns and it must always be so if we are to live in a world of justice and peace. But that is no more the motto of the day - not at all.
Today we have an administration to be that is almost laughable if it were not so sad and dangerous. We have bigots. We have people whose children are being brought in and that is not only Trump's kids but also Flynn's and Mercer's Rebekkah and all these kids are chips off the old block and even more extreme in some cases. They have not ben taught to act on morals but on what will make money and especially how to find a way to leave others holding the bag whilst they march off with a profit. Talk of the circuses of ancient and collapsing Rome. We have the Mercers sponsoring a costume party called Villains and Heroes and Trump attends going as himself. (You choose which category he falls into!)
Today being American means watching Kellyanne Conway, Trump's campaign manager, as the proposed head of a new organization that will boost Trump over all and when she was challenged at a meeting with Clinton's communication director, who accused Conway of running a campaign that "emboldened white supremacists and white nationalists" Conway reacted. She said or asked "Do you think I ran a campaign where white supremacists had a platform? You're going to look me in the face and tell me that?" The answer by one who held on to values and stood up for the truth said, "It did. Kellyanne, it did." And so it did.
And what do we do about it? What do we do about a new administration that is being called "Agents of Idiocracy"? What do we do with a president elect who is being greeted with contempt, who has lowered the bar so far down that there is almost no unqualified person anymore. Come ye, all ye sexual predators, and come ye all you liars and cheats and come ye all those who fail repeatedly in business, and come ye all who use hatred and spout hatred for all of you are the new Americans, the new face we will present to the world.
And yet, there are still Americans of old who refuse to lose that "Americaness" that gave the world much, that endowed us with a special heart, a flag that meant something, that we were proud to wave. There are still Americans who will stand up for what is right, for justice, for equality of all, no matter race, creed, color, religion, ethnic origin, orientation, gender, and any other category which now stands liable to be on the receiving end of hatred and even violence. Not everyone is cowed by the man with his finger on his Twitter button, by the man who thinks that everyone is "terrific", "believe me" - bigly so! And that his promise to us that he will make us great again is a slogan filled with lies and deceptions.
We have "bait and switch economics, we have empty promises", we have the same white class that voted for him just waiting there like lambs to the slaughter as their health care stands in danger even as they state that they like having coverage, something they did not have before the ACA. We have recounts being demanded and even now in Florida, a sign that the American people are not happy with this election, that it somehow reeks, especially as Hillary's popular vote now surpasses his by over two and a half million people. Where is the old rule of majority rules? Where do we really allow the voice of the people to speak? And how have we reached this point where Americans do not talk to each other anymore, so deep are the divisions and the tension.
Remember the "olden" days, those days in which we stood up to the Establishment and chanted "The whole world is watching" as we fought a war that was based on a lie of an attack, as we stood up for the right, as we took pride on those who rode the buses to the South and mourned the loss and disappearance of three brave boys, thrown into some unknown swamp. We had courage then, we believed in principles then, we stood for the right, the fair and where it was not we shouted for it, fought for it and put flowers in the rifles of soldiers. So where are those kids today? Would a Keith Ellison ever have been up for DNC chairman then? No, but he should not be today either, the man who has demonstrated anti Semitism of a strong degree over his lifetime But we are not thinking anymore. We just react and grow ever more extreme, forgetting that hatred has no boundaries; it oozes over all, drowns all it comes to and touches.
To be American today? You answer that question? Are we satisfied with the hatred, with the threats, with the coming four years of incompetence and dangerous posturings? Are we going to live past the idiotic insult to China, the country that owns over one trillion dollars of our debt, who lends us money as needed? And if they call it in? Yes, we need to challenge them on human rights, on some policies, but it must be done properly. And will we accept becoming a subject nation in all but name to Putin and his tactics? For surely we are headed there as Trump glows with praise for him. And are we going to see the last years of democracy here in the country, not perfect, but the best we have at the moment? Are we going to allow a demagogue to ruin it all, he and his lackeys and his Imperial Family and court figures?
Stand up for equality. Stand up for justice. Speak up where you see wrongs being done. Speak up for those who are losing their voices. Speak up for being an American. Remember what America is supposed to stand for, once stood for and must do so again.
I love my country, am proud to live here and to be an American. Why can we not all remember that? "The line between good and evil is permeable and almost anyone can be induced to cross it." True, sadly so, so let us work to stand on the side of good for that is what makes us human and that is what gives a hope for the future and that is what is supposed to make us Americans.
Yes, there were aberrations what with the HUAC and McCarthy, the KKK, hateful periods of time as during the time of President Warren G. Harding, the corruptness and the hatred, the rabid anti Semitism of the time, the prejudice that African Americans faced, and groups of immigrants, including white ones from various countries. But somehow we managed to right ourselves, to come back to the center. But not now. Now it is different, frighteningly so.
Today we have a new organization called the Professor Watchlist, ostensibly there to watch those in the academic world who "advance leftist propaganda in the classroom." This was set up by a conservative youth group called The Turning Point USA. What was that again about the refuge of tyrants is patriotism?
Plato quoted Socrates as saying "As long as I draw breath and am able, I shall not cease to practice philosophy." Meaning? That justice came before and still comes before other concerns and it must always be so if we are to live in a world of justice and peace. But that is no more the motto of the day - not at all.
Today we have an administration to be that is almost laughable if it were not so sad and dangerous. We have bigots. We have people whose children are being brought in and that is not only Trump's kids but also Flynn's and Mercer's Rebekkah and all these kids are chips off the old block and even more extreme in some cases. They have not ben taught to act on morals but on what will make money and especially how to find a way to leave others holding the bag whilst they march off with a profit. Talk of the circuses of ancient and collapsing Rome. We have the Mercers sponsoring a costume party called Villains and Heroes and Trump attends going as himself. (You choose which category he falls into!)
Today being American means watching Kellyanne Conway, Trump's campaign manager, as the proposed head of a new organization that will boost Trump over all and when she was challenged at a meeting with Clinton's communication director, who accused Conway of running a campaign that "emboldened white supremacists and white nationalists" Conway reacted. She said or asked "Do you think I ran a campaign where white supremacists had a platform? You're going to look me in the face and tell me that?" The answer by one who held on to values and stood up for the truth said, "It did. Kellyanne, it did." And so it did.
And what do we do about it? What do we do about a new administration that is being called "Agents of Idiocracy"? What do we do with a president elect who is being greeted with contempt, who has lowered the bar so far down that there is almost no unqualified person anymore. Come ye, all ye sexual predators, and come ye all you liars and cheats and come ye all those who fail repeatedly in business, and come ye all who use hatred and spout hatred for all of you are the new Americans, the new face we will present to the world.
And yet, there are still Americans of old who refuse to lose that "Americaness" that gave the world much, that endowed us with a special heart, a flag that meant something, that we were proud to wave. There are still Americans who will stand up for what is right, for justice, for equality of all, no matter race, creed, color, religion, ethnic origin, orientation, gender, and any other category which now stands liable to be on the receiving end of hatred and even violence. Not everyone is cowed by the man with his finger on his Twitter button, by the man who thinks that everyone is "terrific", "believe me" - bigly so! And that his promise to us that he will make us great again is a slogan filled with lies and deceptions.
We have "bait and switch economics, we have empty promises", we have the same white class that voted for him just waiting there like lambs to the slaughter as their health care stands in danger even as they state that they like having coverage, something they did not have before the ACA. We have recounts being demanded and even now in Florida, a sign that the American people are not happy with this election, that it somehow reeks, especially as Hillary's popular vote now surpasses his by over two and a half million people. Where is the old rule of majority rules? Where do we really allow the voice of the people to speak? And how have we reached this point where Americans do not talk to each other anymore, so deep are the divisions and the tension.
Remember the "olden" days, those days in which we stood up to the Establishment and chanted "The whole world is watching" as we fought a war that was based on a lie of an attack, as we stood up for the right, as we took pride on those who rode the buses to the South and mourned the loss and disappearance of three brave boys, thrown into some unknown swamp. We had courage then, we believed in principles then, we stood for the right, the fair and where it was not we shouted for it, fought for it and put flowers in the rifles of soldiers. So where are those kids today? Would a Keith Ellison ever have been up for DNC chairman then? No, but he should not be today either, the man who has demonstrated anti Semitism of a strong degree over his lifetime But we are not thinking anymore. We just react and grow ever more extreme, forgetting that hatred has no boundaries; it oozes over all, drowns all it comes to and touches.
To be American today? You answer that question? Are we satisfied with the hatred, with the threats, with the coming four years of incompetence and dangerous posturings? Are we going to live past the idiotic insult to China, the country that owns over one trillion dollars of our debt, who lends us money as needed? And if they call it in? Yes, we need to challenge them on human rights, on some policies, but it must be done properly. And will we accept becoming a subject nation in all but name to Putin and his tactics? For surely we are headed there as Trump glows with praise for him. And are we going to see the last years of democracy here in the country, not perfect, but the best we have at the moment? Are we going to allow a demagogue to ruin it all, he and his lackeys and his Imperial Family and court figures?
Stand up for equality. Stand up for justice. Speak up where you see wrongs being done. Speak up for those who are losing their voices. Speak up for being an American. Remember what America is supposed to stand for, once stood for and must do so again.
I love my country, am proud to live here and to be an American. Why can we not all remember that? "The line between good and evil is permeable and almost anyone can be induced to cross it." True, sadly so, so let us work to stand on the side of good for that is what makes us human and that is what gives a hope for the future and that is what is supposed to make us Americans.
Monday, December 5, 2016
AND THE TRUTH SHALL SET YE FREE - IF YE RECOGNIZE THE TRUTH!!!
It is one thing to pound away at one's own beliefs, writing of them, speaking of them, even if one is a lone voice or one of a few, but it is even more frightening to find one a voice among many, telling of the same thoughts, the same fears, the same worries. Now the question is - will the people out there recognize the harsh truth and actually do something about it or will we not, turning blind eyes and deaf ears and closed mouths to the whole issue and then our beloved country will simply not be there after four years - or earlier.
Evan McMullin ran for President, more as a gesture of worry, of opposition, of a wake up call to America than in any serious thought of winning - he was available as a choice in one state, but his votes said something that we should listen to and he wrote an Op Ed piece this morning which will disturb my sleep for a long time - and should do the same to yours. And we begin with Trump's total ignorance of the Constitution and his refusal to learn.
When he was reminded that Article I assigns all Federal lawmaking to the Congress he cut in and spoke of Article XII - which does not exist! And not interested in learning at all, here is a paragraph to share with you - "He had questioned judicial independence, threatened the freedom of the press, called for violating Muslims’ equal protection under the law, promised the use of torture and attacked Americans based on their gender, race and religion. He had also undermined critical democratic norms including peaceful debate and transitions of power, commitment to truth, freedom from foreign interference and abstention from the use of executive power for political retribution. " The shivers are running down my back and I am wondering where in the hell on earth we can even run for sanctuary what with a most erratic demagogue in charge, one who relishes the thought of being the first dictator in America, voted into office and never out!!
His buddy, his much admired Putin even now sees that sometimes when one gets what one wished for it is not so good. Now he says..."And if he’s a smart person, that means that he will totally and quite quickly understand the different level of his responsibility. We presume that he will act based on this position.” Uh huh! The old saws are there for a reason and have lasted so long because there is truth in them.
He has threatened companies with punishments that he has no legal power or authority to do and yet instead of roars from groups connected to business, from companies we hear........correct - NADA and why? Because ".... groups stood nearly silent on Sunday, potentially worried about drawing the wrath of the president-elect."
There is a reason why he is bringing on so many former military officers, including interviewing yet another candidate for Secretary of State, a retired admiral. Dictators need the military to stay in power and can you just see Trump dressed up in a fancy military uniform full of gold braid and colored medals as he huffs and puffs along - and shuts down the democracy once known as the United States of America.
Trump is a man who threatens retribution, who threatens to jail people who disagree with him and act on those beliefs. He threatens to punish all, to revoke citizenship. He frightens people into sitting still, keeping mouths shut and I wonder - how does the rest of the nation not hear the echoes of Hitler, of demagoguery, does not hear the knell of the bell, tolling for us all. Throughout history most of the biggest dictators were people erratic in their behavior and thoughts and deeds. Be it Ivan the Terrible or any of the Tsars, Hitler or Mussolini or any of the dictators of the twentieth and twenty first centuries, turning hatred upon certain groups in society, be their names be Jews or Christians or a differing Muslim sect or Tutsis or another clan or tribe or even a rival terrorist organization - dictators cannot deal with opposition and will shut it down with the harshest of orders and illegal laws and then where will we be - living in a society that obeys these immoral laws because it IS the law? It has happened and can happen again. The Trump family is moving wholesale into the White House and into the lawmaking section of our country. Woe upon us if we do not heed the facts, follow the trends and not act accordingly. Impeachment is always there but there will be those who love Trump and his philosophy, the alt right, the crazy haters, the nasty dudes, the frightened who need a strong hand to feel safe. There is never an end to those who hang on and around hoping to gain something for themselves.
Here is a long piece from McMullin. " But the deeper objective is to weaken the democratic institutions that limit their power. Eroding confidence in voting, elections and representative bodies gives them a freer hand to wield more power.
Peal after peal of the bells. Law after law collapsing, erratic judgements and a neglect of America's role in the world, frightened world leaders, even those who backed him. Would that I am wrong. Would that all the other voices who are speaking up are wrong. If only - but remember the old adage of if wishes were horses.....We had all better get on these damn horses and ride and ride and ride. It is up to us to preserve our democracy. We must make it clear to Trump that we will not allow him to ruin it all. Press your legislators and representatives. Speak up. Write letters.
And come March with Us on January 21, 2017 at 10 AM. Show the world that there are still people who value our rights, our history. Walk for these rights. Walk for justice. Walk for those who cannot. Walk for history. But walk.
Read and think about the following lines and understand why I and many others are frightened.
"The world will be hard
And the wrong will be great.
The age of the Beard
Of the Sword - shields will shiver -
The age of the Storm and the Wolf are to .
come.
Before the World falls,
Man shall have no more reverence for man.
"Voluspa" Henry Morley translator
Evan McMullin ran for President, more as a gesture of worry, of opposition, of a wake up call to America than in any serious thought of winning - he was available as a choice in one state, but his votes said something that we should listen to and he wrote an Op Ed piece this morning which will disturb my sleep for a long time - and should do the same to yours. And we begin with Trump's total ignorance of the Constitution and his refusal to learn.
When he was reminded that Article I assigns all Federal lawmaking to the Congress he cut in and spoke of Article XII - which does not exist! And not interested in learning at all, here is a paragraph to share with you - "He had questioned judicial independence, threatened the freedom of the press, called for violating Muslims’ equal protection under the law, promised the use of torture and attacked Americans based on their gender, race and religion. He had also undermined critical democratic norms including peaceful debate and transitions of power, commitment to truth, freedom from foreign interference and abstention from the use of executive power for political retribution. " The shivers are running down my back and I am wondering where in the hell on earth we can even run for sanctuary what with a most erratic demagogue in charge, one who relishes the thought of being the first dictator in America, voted into office and never out!!
His buddy, his much admired Putin even now sees that sometimes when one gets what one wished for it is not so good. Now he says..."And if he’s a smart person, that means that he will totally and quite quickly understand the different level of his responsibility. We presume that he will act based on this position.” Uh huh! The old saws are there for a reason and have lasted so long because there is truth in them.
He has threatened companies with punishments that he has no legal power or authority to do and yet instead of roars from groups connected to business, from companies we hear........correct - NADA and why? Because ".... groups stood nearly silent on Sunday, potentially worried about drawing the wrath of the president-elect."
There is a reason why he is bringing on so many former military officers, including interviewing yet another candidate for Secretary of State, a retired admiral. Dictators need the military to stay in power and can you just see Trump dressed up in a fancy military uniform full of gold braid and colored medals as he huffs and puffs along - and shuts down the democracy once known as the United States of America.
Trump is a man who threatens retribution, who threatens to jail people who disagree with him and act on those beliefs. He threatens to punish all, to revoke citizenship. He frightens people into sitting still, keeping mouths shut and I wonder - how does the rest of the nation not hear the echoes of Hitler, of demagoguery, does not hear the knell of the bell, tolling for us all. Throughout history most of the biggest dictators were people erratic in their behavior and thoughts and deeds. Be it Ivan the Terrible or any of the Tsars, Hitler or Mussolini or any of the dictators of the twentieth and twenty first centuries, turning hatred upon certain groups in society, be their names be Jews or Christians or a differing Muslim sect or Tutsis or another clan or tribe or even a rival terrorist organization - dictators cannot deal with opposition and will shut it down with the harshest of orders and illegal laws and then where will we be - living in a society that obeys these immoral laws because it IS the law? It has happened and can happen again. The Trump family is moving wholesale into the White House and into the lawmaking section of our country. Woe upon us if we do not heed the facts, follow the trends and not act accordingly. Impeachment is always there but there will be those who love Trump and his philosophy, the alt right, the crazy haters, the nasty dudes, the frightened who need a strong hand to feel safe. There is never an end to those who hang on and around hoping to gain something for themselves.
Here is a long piece from McMullin. " But the deeper objective is to weaken the democratic institutions that limit their power. Eroding confidence in voting, elections and representative bodies gives them a freer hand to wield more power.
As a C.I.A. officer, I saw firsthand authoritarians’ use of these tactics around the world. Their profound appetite for absolute power drives their intolerance for any restraint — whether by people, organizations, the law, cultural norms, principles or even the expectation of consistency. For a despot, all of these checks on power must be ignored, undermined or destroyed so that he is all that matters.
Mr. Trump has said that he prefers to be unpredictable because it maximizes his power...... Mr. Trump’s inconsistencies and provocative proposals are a strategy; they are intended to elevate his importance above all else — and to place him beyond democratic norms, beyond even the Constitution."
Peal after peal of the bells. Law after law collapsing, erratic judgements and a neglect of America's role in the world, frightened world leaders, even those who backed him. Would that I am wrong. Would that all the other voices who are speaking up are wrong. If only - but remember the old adage of if wishes were horses.....We had all better get on these damn horses and ride and ride and ride. It is up to us to preserve our democracy. We must make it clear to Trump that we will not allow him to ruin it all. Press your legislators and representatives. Speak up. Write letters.
And come March with Us on January 21, 2017 at 10 AM. Show the world that there are still people who value our rights, our history. Walk for these rights. Walk for justice. Walk for those who cannot. Walk for history. But walk.
Read and think about the following lines and understand why I and many others are frightened.
"The world will be hard
And the wrong will be great.
The age of the Beard
Of the Sword - shields will shiver -
The age of the Storm and the Wolf are to .
come.
Before the World falls,
Man shall have no more reverence for man.
"Voluspa" Henry Morley translator
Sunday, December 4, 2016
WILL WE SEE THE TRUTH? WILL WE HEAR IT?
The truth is often not an easy thing to swallow. In fact, we often find the truth to be uncomfortable so we hide from it, willfully blinding our eyes, from those who did not "see" the nakedness of the emperor to those who would and will not see the harm we have engendered with the election of Trump. This man who promised all, despite all indications that he was telling a lie, many lies, this man who came off as a fool in the debates, this man who thinks America needs to be run as a reality show or indeed, as an adjunct to his business holdings, this man who cannot string together a sensible and mature statement and relies on writers and strict reading of text or to tweets, this man who loves to use the words "fantastic" or "terrific" - when referring to our enemies - this man will be the leader of this country and Heaven help us over the next four years.
People muse aloud, "Well, how much harm can he do in that time? After all, we do have laws and the Constitution." Well, why not ask the starving people of Venezuela, once a most prosperous country and now one with empty shelves in the markets and how about Brazil, once a thriving and huge emerging market and now? The answer is right there and so is the comparison. One in power, ones in power, can do much to harm the very fabric of our lives.
Last nite, at a very enjoyable show, people sang along and applauded the classic song "We Coming to America" or as often worded now "They Coming to America". Really? It is a wonder that this song is not yet banned for uh oh, here come those immigrants, swarming our pristine shores, you know the shores of a white, Christian, Anglo Saxon country with evidently no criminals for that exists only in the immigrant groups!! How quickly people shouting slogans of hate and violence forget that once upon a time they too and/or their families were immigrants and they too faced prejudice and nastiness. Italians were all members of the Mafia. Jews controlled the global economy - even as they struggled to make a living from the pushcarts of the Lower East Side and Brownsville. Irish were dirty, not fit for anything other than a spade or a mop. Ugh, all those foreign speaking people - send them back or keep them in their place. Do you really think that prejudice and hatred of immigrants is new? And yet - we are a nation of immigrants, a nation that welcomed newcomers with a statue standing on high to do exactly that. So why applaud a song and then go vote for one who makes it a farce?
We have a "chosen" few who will now rule the roost provided they get thru the confirmation process but what a bunch they are. We will have more military personnel running civilian departments including the Defense Department than ever before. We will have people who stand for all that Trump promised to get rid of and yet here they are, all the "creatures of the swamp" that he was supposedly draining. He promised that , right?! And yet here comes the hedge fund manager, the Wall Street guys who raided companies, the "legal eagles" who had pasts of prejudice and hatred. Here they all come and don't forget the biggest violator of it all - the president elect himself who states openly that he cannot be charged with conflict of interests - it is the law he says, ignoring the Emoluments Clause which contradicts that statement- and we already know how he takes advantage of "the law" by his avoidance of taxes. His evident non recognition of the difference between legal and moral is frightening as well. Remember the judges of Nazi Germany who also enforced the law. And of course, best of all, we are or should be the eternally grateful recipients of the biggest Trump gift to us - the four shadow presidents who will advise him, sit in on diplomatic meetings, hear secret information - and also run his companies. Yes, his children. Wow!!!!
And let us not forget the ACA or Obamacare, as it is better known. Yes, it is not perfect though 20 million more people are the beneficiaries of insured care now than they were before. Remember when the Republicans ranted of death panels? Uh huh - so where are they. In fact, should the Republicans have their way there will be plenty of deaths and much misery in life. Yes, some premiums have gone up - as they used to do anyway and we all know that, but where does that fault lie? In the greedy insurance companies. In the greedy drug companies who charge usurious prices, sinful prices for their drugs. In the cowards who do not rein them in because don't forget the contributions these entities make to these politicians. Wow, that swamp gets bigger and bigger.
Honesty seems to be a tad lacking here, is it not? A president to be who does not pay his share of taxes, who misuses money given for charity to pay his own bills, who does not release his own taxes or medical records and I still say the man is manic depressive in his behavior - but who knows as all is secret, as he goes around starting forest fires in the political world, who feeds lies to the people who sop it up - there can NOT be a separation of the country from the economy of the world. We are too intertwined and to do anything to undo that will cost us greatly. Remember, our own American businesses use foreign products to make their American made products. As does Europe use American products or China who imports much from us and in fact who owns us with all their Treasury Bonds they have bought.
Willful blindness is not a good idea. Demand that this future administration live up to the Constitution in the best way possible. Demand the preservation of rights - of women, of the LGBTQ segment of society, of workers and unions, of right, the right way, the moral way to do things. Keep Planned Parenthood and the health care it provides. Keep Roe v. Wade. Make sure we have fair immigration. Keep Medicare and Social Security. Keep the social programs of the safety net for our citizens. Fully fund public schools and do away with the poorly functioning charter schools who choose their students carefully. Keep religion out of the Oval office. Oppose hatred and violence, threats of torture, unfair business practices, wrongful and harmful laws and behaviorisms. Make America great again? We are great and I plead not to make it a Third World country for that is where we are headed. I hope to G-d I am wrong, but I have a "bigly" feeling that the worst is yet to come.
Will we see the truth? Will we recognize it when it keeps slapping us in the face? Or will we willfully and purposely close our eyes and minds and wake up too late? The choice is ours and we already have started down the wrong path. Demand of your representatives that they do the right thing, that they vote the right, the morally right, way. Write them. Call them. Be active. And keep an eye out for those less fortunate than you - though I think more and more will be falling into that unfortunate group. Obama added 16 million jobs and has left Trump a grown and growing economy. How long will Trump take to ruin it? And for how long will people continue to buy into the Big Lie and the myriad small lies that he puts forth.
Never before have I had such contempt, such dislike, such a lack of respect for a president to be and never before have I been so worried and depressed about the whole thing and the dangers ahead of us.
Come walk with us on January 21, 2017. Make your voices heard - everyone, non partisan, men and women welcome. Bring your signs and flags, walk for justice and fair play, for unity and peace. Meet at the Clubhouse in Room C and step off with us as we walk the perimeter, walk with us as much as you can and show the world that yes, seniors still have a voice and will raise it to the heavens in order to be heard and to see that the right thing is done.
We are woman - Hear Us Roar! Come roar with us.
People muse aloud, "Well, how much harm can he do in that time? After all, we do have laws and the Constitution." Well, why not ask the starving people of Venezuela, once a most prosperous country and now one with empty shelves in the markets and how about Brazil, once a thriving and huge emerging market and now? The answer is right there and so is the comparison. One in power, ones in power, can do much to harm the very fabric of our lives.
Last nite, at a very enjoyable show, people sang along and applauded the classic song "We Coming to America" or as often worded now "They Coming to America". Really? It is a wonder that this song is not yet banned for uh oh, here come those immigrants, swarming our pristine shores, you know the shores of a white, Christian, Anglo Saxon country with evidently no criminals for that exists only in the immigrant groups!! How quickly people shouting slogans of hate and violence forget that once upon a time they too and/or their families were immigrants and they too faced prejudice and nastiness. Italians were all members of the Mafia. Jews controlled the global economy - even as they struggled to make a living from the pushcarts of the Lower East Side and Brownsville. Irish were dirty, not fit for anything other than a spade or a mop. Ugh, all those foreign speaking people - send them back or keep them in their place. Do you really think that prejudice and hatred of immigrants is new? And yet - we are a nation of immigrants, a nation that welcomed newcomers with a statue standing on high to do exactly that. So why applaud a song and then go vote for one who makes it a farce?
We have a "chosen" few who will now rule the roost provided they get thru the confirmation process but what a bunch they are. We will have more military personnel running civilian departments including the Defense Department than ever before. We will have people who stand for all that Trump promised to get rid of and yet here they are, all the "creatures of the swamp" that he was supposedly draining. He promised that , right?! And yet here comes the hedge fund manager, the Wall Street guys who raided companies, the "legal eagles" who had pasts of prejudice and hatred. Here they all come and don't forget the biggest violator of it all - the president elect himself who states openly that he cannot be charged with conflict of interests - it is the law he says, ignoring the Emoluments Clause which contradicts that statement- and we already know how he takes advantage of "the law" by his avoidance of taxes. His evident non recognition of the difference between legal and moral is frightening as well. Remember the judges of Nazi Germany who also enforced the law. And of course, best of all, we are or should be the eternally grateful recipients of the biggest Trump gift to us - the four shadow presidents who will advise him, sit in on diplomatic meetings, hear secret information - and also run his companies. Yes, his children. Wow!!!!
And let us not forget the ACA or Obamacare, as it is better known. Yes, it is not perfect though 20 million more people are the beneficiaries of insured care now than they were before. Remember when the Republicans ranted of death panels? Uh huh - so where are they. In fact, should the Republicans have their way there will be plenty of deaths and much misery in life. Yes, some premiums have gone up - as they used to do anyway and we all know that, but where does that fault lie? In the greedy insurance companies. In the greedy drug companies who charge usurious prices, sinful prices for their drugs. In the cowards who do not rein them in because don't forget the contributions these entities make to these politicians. Wow, that swamp gets bigger and bigger.
Honesty seems to be a tad lacking here, is it not? A president to be who does not pay his share of taxes, who misuses money given for charity to pay his own bills, who does not release his own taxes or medical records and I still say the man is manic depressive in his behavior - but who knows as all is secret, as he goes around starting forest fires in the political world, who feeds lies to the people who sop it up - there can NOT be a separation of the country from the economy of the world. We are too intertwined and to do anything to undo that will cost us greatly. Remember, our own American businesses use foreign products to make their American made products. As does Europe use American products or China who imports much from us and in fact who owns us with all their Treasury Bonds they have bought.
Willful blindness is not a good idea. Demand that this future administration live up to the Constitution in the best way possible. Demand the preservation of rights - of women, of the LGBTQ segment of society, of workers and unions, of right, the right way, the moral way to do things. Keep Planned Parenthood and the health care it provides. Keep Roe v. Wade. Make sure we have fair immigration. Keep Medicare and Social Security. Keep the social programs of the safety net for our citizens. Fully fund public schools and do away with the poorly functioning charter schools who choose their students carefully. Keep religion out of the Oval office. Oppose hatred and violence, threats of torture, unfair business practices, wrongful and harmful laws and behaviorisms. Make America great again? We are great and I plead not to make it a Third World country for that is where we are headed. I hope to G-d I am wrong, but I have a "bigly" feeling that the worst is yet to come.
Will we see the truth? Will we recognize it when it keeps slapping us in the face? Or will we willfully and purposely close our eyes and minds and wake up too late? The choice is ours and we already have started down the wrong path. Demand of your representatives that they do the right thing, that they vote the right, the morally right, way. Write them. Call them. Be active. And keep an eye out for those less fortunate than you - though I think more and more will be falling into that unfortunate group. Obama added 16 million jobs and has left Trump a grown and growing economy. How long will Trump take to ruin it? And for how long will people continue to buy into the Big Lie and the myriad small lies that he puts forth.
Never before have I had such contempt, such dislike, such a lack of respect for a president to be and never before have I been so worried and depressed about the whole thing and the dangers ahead of us.
Come walk with us on January 21, 2017. Make your voices heard - everyone, non partisan, men and women welcome. Bring your signs and flags, walk for justice and fair play, for unity and peace. Meet at the Clubhouse in Room C and step off with us as we walk the perimeter, walk with us as much as you can and show the world that yes, seniors still have a voice and will raise it to the heavens in order to be heard and to see that the right thing is done.
We are woman - Hear Us Roar! Come roar with us.
Friday, December 2, 2016
THE SOUL OF AMERICA
I had an idea for a blog posting and then stopped to read several articles and changed my mind. Far more important was the question of our souls and the direction they are taking. Just what for and why have we sold our souls? Have we settled for a bowl of lentils that is momentarily satisfying and shot down our whole future? Think about it.
For the fleeting pleasure of yelling at a woman who dared to challenge, who dared to rise to the top, who was not perfect, men voted for Trump, ignoring his criminal deeds and lack of knowledge, of civilization. For the pleasure of what - standing by men perhaps, for allowing jealousy to take its course - women voted for Trump and against Hilary. So misogyny won and a woman was shown her place! So "Never again will a candidate’s immoral, criminal behavior toward women automatically be out of bounds."
For the sake of yelling for change, change, and the sick focus of supposed populism, we now have change indeed, right? We have the same lobbyists whom Trump pilloried included in the government. We have a bunch of Fat Cats appointed as Cabinet members, people who have no empathy for those in lower economic classes having never been there and I cannot find any serious charitable undertakings of these people - just like Trump whose charitable foundation ended up paying his bills!! "Never again will a candidate be expected to be financially transparent. Trump refused to release his tax returns, and no one seems to care, or even question that, anymore." His financial empire will still be held in his hands, reaping profits from other governments, reaping profits from those who will wish to curry favor and even reaping profits from our own government as they rent from him. Business as the business of America? You bet, especially if it is the business of Trump.
Hatred of women, of their bodies, no matter how he professes he loves it, sexual predator as president, foul mouthed as we have never had before- and that is whom the people selected? Oh yes, we must remember that they really did not as the majority of them voted for Clinton. Never again will a candidate’s immoral, criminal behavior toward women automatically be out of bounds
And the hate, oh dear Lord the hate! He takes on the universal world of hatred for his support. It did not matter whether one was a neo Nazi or a plain American alt right hater. Why he even took one as an official in his administration. And as for the rest of "others"? Well, he is an equal opportunity hater, campaigning against Latinos, African Americans, immigrants - conveniently disremembering that his grandfather was one!!
"Never again will widespread neo-Nazi support be considered un-American. Trump used neo-Nazis, which media sources refer to euphemistically as the “alt-right,” to help fuel his campaign, and the neo-Nazis used Trump to gain legitimacy.
Never again will singling out a religious or ethnic group be disqualifying. Trump ran on an anti-Mexican, anti-Muslim platform. But racism, like love, knows no boundaries. In the future, a candidate just as easily can direct that hate toward other groups."
And the lies he told, the lies he is still telling, the false face he presents. Pakistan is evil but wait - now they are fantastic people. So is the demagogue from Kazakhstan! As for Britain, well if she comes to visit she should drop a line. The lies he tells of others are actually the fault lines of his own soul. "Never again will a demagogue believe Americans won’t buy a Big Lie. Trump told one whopper after another and got elected. He told another this week — that there were “millions” of fraudulent votes. What won’t voters swallow?"
So what will be the future? What have we wrought? Trouble sure enough but I fear much worse and so do many other people. That is why I believe this election has been so divisive. It is the splitting of a nation, those who see the truth and those who choose not to or deny the facts even as they reveal themselves to all. It would be too hurtful to their souls to admit as much and so they willingly, with ever more difficulty, mask their eyes and their minds and their hearts and make up excuses. What have we done?
"In so many ways, Trump has set the bar so low that he has paved the way for the next person," and that person will be even worse, perhaps even more tied in with the haters of the world, with no connection to democracy, with a heart of hate and evil lies and we will have paved the way for it, to it. The man who screams "America First" in a rant, is not the man to lead us nor for the world either. They are already aghast at his statements and behavior. America First? Right down the toilet!
I must thank Rob Eshman for his points that I have borrowed. Sadly, he makes very good sense.
The Trump manifesto is riven with faults. It talks of jobs that will never come back and not because of a foreign country but because there is automation, and the jobs will be different and we must prepare the people for them by education and not by false tax cuts and breaks for manufacturers who are already sitting on billions of dollars. But that is what we get, what we now have and who knows what will be four years from now.
What will be after Trump? You answer that and answer honestly.
who may have fewer scruples, less restraint and more nefarious intentions.
For the fleeting pleasure of yelling at a woman who dared to challenge, who dared to rise to the top, who was not perfect, men voted for Trump, ignoring his criminal deeds and lack of knowledge, of civilization. For the pleasure of what - standing by men perhaps, for allowing jealousy to take its course - women voted for Trump and against Hilary. So misogyny won and a woman was shown her place! So "Never again will a candidate’s immoral, criminal behavior toward women automatically be out of bounds."
For the sake of yelling for change, change, and the sick focus of supposed populism, we now have change indeed, right? We have the same lobbyists whom Trump pilloried included in the government. We have a bunch of Fat Cats appointed as Cabinet members, people who have no empathy for those in lower economic classes having never been there and I cannot find any serious charitable undertakings of these people - just like Trump whose charitable foundation ended up paying his bills!! "Never again will a candidate be expected to be financially transparent. Trump refused to release his tax returns, and no one seems to care, or even question that, anymore." His financial empire will still be held in his hands, reaping profits from other governments, reaping profits from those who will wish to curry favor and even reaping profits from our own government as they rent from him. Business as the business of America? You bet, especially if it is the business of Trump.
Hatred of women, of their bodies, no matter how he professes he loves it, sexual predator as president, foul mouthed as we have never had before- and that is whom the people selected? Oh yes, we must remember that they really did not as the majority of them voted for Clinton. Never again will a candidate’s immoral, criminal behavior toward women automatically be out of bounds
And the hate, oh dear Lord the hate! He takes on the universal world of hatred for his support. It did not matter whether one was a neo Nazi or a plain American alt right hater. Why he even took one as an official in his administration. And as for the rest of "others"? Well, he is an equal opportunity hater, campaigning against Latinos, African Americans, immigrants - conveniently disremembering that his grandfather was one!!
"Never again will widespread neo-Nazi support be considered un-American. Trump used neo-Nazis, which media sources refer to euphemistically as the “alt-right,” to help fuel his campaign, and the neo-Nazis used Trump to gain legitimacy.
Never again will singling out a religious or ethnic group be disqualifying. Trump ran on an anti-Mexican, anti-Muslim platform. But racism, like love, knows no boundaries. In the future, a candidate just as easily can direct that hate toward other groups."
And the lies he told, the lies he is still telling, the false face he presents. Pakistan is evil but wait - now they are fantastic people. So is the demagogue from Kazakhstan! As for Britain, well if she comes to visit she should drop a line. The lies he tells of others are actually the fault lines of his own soul. "Never again will a demagogue believe Americans won’t buy a Big Lie. Trump told one whopper after another and got elected. He told another this week — that there were “millions” of fraudulent votes. What won’t voters swallow?"
So what will be the future? What have we wrought? Trouble sure enough but I fear much worse and so do many other people. That is why I believe this election has been so divisive. It is the splitting of a nation, those who see the truth and those who choose not to or deny the facts even as they reveal themselves to all. It would be too hurtful to their souls to admit as much and so they willingly, with ever more difficulty, mask their eyes and their minds and their hearts and make up excuses. What have we done?
"In so many ways, Trump has set the bar so low that he has paved the way for the next person," and that person will be even worse, perhaps even more tied in with the haters of the world, with no connection to democracy, with a heart of hate and evil lies and we will have paved the way for it, to it. The man who screams "America First" in a rant, is not the man to lead us nor for the world either. They are already aghast at his statements and behavior. America First? Right down the toilet!
I must thank Rob Eshman for his points that I have borrowed. Sadly, he makes very good sense.
The Trump manifesto is riven with faults. It talks of jobs that will never come back and not because of a foreign country but because there is automation, and the jobs will be different and we must prepare the people for them by education and not by false tax cuts and breaks for manufacturers who are already sitting on billions of dollars. But that is what we get, what we now have and who knows what will be four years from now.
What will be after Trump? You answer that and answer honestly.
who may have fewer scruples, less restraint and more nefarious intentions.
Thursday, December 1, 2016
WHO DO WE LOVE?
"Yet each man kills the thing he loves
By each let this be heard.
Some do it with a bitter look,
Some with a flattering word,
The coward does it with a kiss,
The brave man with a sword!"
Oscar Wilde, The Ballad of Reading Gaol
We are all now killing the thing we love, or at least profess to love. What is that, you ask? It is our country. How you might ask? By putting it into a situation that is almost without hope, without sense, without decency and without honor. Please explain follows.
A leader of a country, let alone any other entity, is supposed to be one with dignity, with honor, with peace and confidence within him or her self, with a true understanding of the mission statements and goals of said entity. We are sadly lacking in this right now. Our ostensible leader has no dignity, thinking he is running a true to life reality show. Does he understand or realize that this is truly real, not a television reality show, scripted or otherwise? Does he realize that true and real lives depend upon his behavior and actions?
No, for what we have is an idiot who believes that one communicates a thought in five or so tweets. There is no depth, no understanding of human values and issues, just a boast without the whole story. And there is always a mocking of someone or something as he tries to pump up his "Nielsen" ratings.
In the ten days after his election, there were 867 incidents of hatred and bias with 100 of them anti Semitic in nature. These total incidents ranged from vile words to vile deeds and actions, including destruction, vandalism, and violence. The country has begun or rather has continued its split, with families not talking to each other and lifelong friends in violent disagreement.
Why is that? Oscar Wilde has shown us the ways or methods in which we can destroy that which we love and is it not time to emphasize the positives of our country, of its values? Is it not time to serve notice that we will not stand for this for four years, that change, the same change which this man said he would bring about must be change for the better? He must change. He must dig deep within his shallow soul and find something decent, something right, something human and something unselfish, something which indeed does show that he understands who and what he is not, to our misfortune, but there it is. Does he love this country or not? Does he understand that this is not an entity created to enhance his businesses? Does he understand that to be ethical and not violate the emoluments clause he must divest - totally - and if his children are to be involved with his business then they cannot be the four shadow horsemen of the presidency. In fact, "the business operations" that he maintains that he will now leave is not really enough to satisfy the ethics requirements of divestment. Not at all. And that if he even keeps his word.
How do we show this guy and his buddies that we want America back again, that we want our values to be cherished and valued, to be enhanced? Well, here is a simple first step. Breitbart has now denounced Kellogs for pulling their advertisement from it for it does not represent the values it wishes to be associated with so Breitbart wants a boycott. Instead, let us go out and buy extra Kellogs cereals. Donate the extras to pantries if you must, but support the company. Support any company which will come out for American values, true values, and not those of a reality TV person and one making a mockery of everything we hold dear.
This is serious business and we are not to forget equality for all, marriage rights for all, opportunity for all, fair immigration for we are a nation of immigrants, advancement, rather than retrogression in the area of women's rights, the retention of Medicare and Social Security and the interests of our elderly taken seriously. Talk of death panels!? This guy Price will have us all dead in our beds if he has his way.
Right now we are seeing the resurgence of Wall Street within the Cabinet and administration of Trump. We are seeing the rise of the Fat Cats, directly opposed to all his campaign promises. What and how we will manage with this man who appears to be a consummate liar and a cold fish is beyond my ken. All I know is that I will continue with my path and hope and pray that we make it through and in 2020 get a better chance at putting ourselves back together again. Just hope our country and democracy manage to last that long and we do not become a subsidiary country subject to the rule of others such as Putin or a stronghold in the land of hatred and prejudice and demagoguery. The world is depending on us to stem the tide of hatred from both the right and the left and we now continue to disappoint them. We must do better. First step - impeach the guy when he crosses that red line. Second step - find ways not to kill that which we love - our country. Find ways in which to keep it alive. A popular vote differential of over 2.3 million votes says a lot. There is a mandate, yes, but it is not Trump's and does not belong to him if we truly let the voice of the American people speak and not the antiquated Electoral College, itself a relic of prejudicial thinking.
By each let this be heard.
Some do it with a bitter look,
Some with a flattering word,
The coward does it with a kiss,
The brave man with a sword!"
Oscar Wilde, The Ballad of Reading Gaol
We are all now killing the thing we love, or at least profess to love. What is that, you ask? It is our country. How you might ask? By putting it into a situation that is almost without hope, without sense, without decency and without honor. Please explain follows.
A leader of a country, let alone any other entity, is supposed to be one with dignity, with honor, with peace and confidence within him or her self, with a true understanding of the mission statements and goals of said entity. We are sadly lacking in this right now. Our ostensible leader has no dignity, thinking he is running a true to life reality show. Does he understand or realize that this is truly real, not a television reality show, scripted or otherwise? Does he realize that true and real lives depend upon his behavior and actions?
No, for what we have is an idiot who believes that one communicates a thought in five or so tweets. There is no depth, no understanding of human values and issues, just a boast without the whole story. And there is always a mocking of someone or something as he tries to pump up his "Nielsen" ratings.
In the ten days after his election, there were 867 incidents of hatred and bias with 100 of them anti Semitic in nature. These total incidents ranged from vile words to vile deeds and actions, including destruction, vandalism, and violence. The country has begun or rather has continued its split, with families not talking to each other and lifelong friends in violent disagreement.
Why is that? Oscar Wilde has shown us the ways or methods in which we can destroy that which we love and is it not time to emphasize the positives of our country, of its values? Is it not time to serve notice that we will not stand for this for four years, that change, the same change which this man said he would bring about must be change for the better? He must change. He must dig deep within his shallow soul and find something decent, something right, something human and something unselfish, something which indeed does show that he understands who and what he is not, to our misfortune, but there it is. Does he love this country or not? Does he understand that this is not an entity created to enhance his businesses? Does he understand that to be ethical and not violate the emoluments clause he must divest - totally - and if his children are to be involved with his business then they cannot be the four shadow horsemen of the presidency. In fact, "the business operations" that he maintains that he will now leave is not really enough to satisfy the ethics requirements of divestment. Not at all. And that if he even keeps his word.
How do we show this guy and his buddies that we want America back again, that we want our values to be cherished and valued, to be enhanced? Well, here is a simple first step. Breitbart has now denounced Kellogs for pulling their advertisement from it for it does not represent the values it wishes to be associated with so Breitbart wants a boycott. Instead, let us go out and buy extra Kellogs cereals. Donate the extras to pantries if you must, but support the company. Support any company which will come out for American values, true values, and not those of a reality TV person and one making a mockery of everything we hold dear.
This is serious business and we are not to forget equality for all, marriage rights for all, opportunity for all, fair immigration for we are a nation of immigrants, advancement, rather than retrogression in the area of women's rights, the retention of Medicare and Social Security and the interests of our elderly taken seriously. Talk of death panels!? This guy Price will have us all dead in our beds if he has his way.
Right now we are seeing the resurgence of Wall Street within the Cabinet and administration of Trump. We are seeing the rise of the Fat Cats, directly opposed to all his campaign promises. What and how we will manage with this man who appears to be a consummate liar and a cold fish is beyond my ken. All I know is that I will continue with my path and hope and pray that we make it through and in 2020 get a better chance at putting ourselves back together again. Just hope our country and democracy manage to last that long and we do not become a subsidiary country subject to the rule of others such as Putin or a stronghold in the land of hatred and prejudice and demagoguery. The world is depending on us to stem the tide of hatred from both the right and the left and we now continue to disappoint them. We must do better. First step - impeach the guy when he crosses that red line. Second step - find ways not to kill that which we love - our country. Find ways in which to keep it alive. A popular vote differential of over 2.3 million votes says a lot. There is a mandate, yes, but it is not Trump's and does not belong to him if we truly let the voice of the American people speak and not the antiquated Electoral College, itself a relic of prejudicial thinking.
Wednesday, November 30, 2016
THE ROAD AHEAD
We all like to look ahead and see what is coming our way. At times we look in the rear view mirror and wonder how the hell we reached this point and then we think of and realize what we did wrong. It takes some people longer than others at times, but unfortunately, when the bad times are here - they are here - and no amount of willful blindness will serve one right.
So what is ahead for us in the country and the world? I am not a political maven, only one who reads and thinks and formulates thoughts. There are experts that are paid to tell us their thoughts - take them or not. That is our free choice, but I wonder, very hard, whether this free choice will be here in the future. We have all seemed to come to a conclusion that if we do not like something, or wish it gone, then we make it so.
An example? Burning or desecrating the flag is an abominable act, despicable and yet, and yet - it is allowed by law, by the Constitution as part of free speech guaranteed to us by the First Amendment. There are words that are spoken under this amendment that might be considered hurtful or hateful to some, yet if they do not cross a red line, then they are allowed. Such is the beauty and the pitfall of our country, such is what makes the world go round and such is what made our country grow as people traded thoughts and ideas and progress was made, sometimes too slowly, but still, it was achieved.
Today we are in another world. We have a president elect who cannot string together enough words for a complete sentence unless it is written for him and he says exactly what is given him. He repeats words in his inane and at time grossly mistaken tweets. He is like an adolescent sitting there in the early hours tweeting away, denying truth and always trying to show how the world is against him and how he is always right. Well, he is not, but we are stuck with him unless we can get him impeached for his violations of ethics. And there will be many.
Why? Well, for the first time we have elected a president whose first concern is not the country nor its citizens nor the state of the world nor the conditions of humanity nor our edging closer and closer to the point of no return on climate and environmental change - no, not on that, but instead on how he is going to run the country based on how it will benefit HIS business holdings and it has already started, mucho!! This man who is supposed to be a role model for the citizens, encourages others to follow his crooked path, dodging laws, changing laws, making of his family a royal family, and sending shivers down the backs of many like me who are worried what will we look like after four years and will we still be a democracy.
What is ahead? Well, we have the supposed deal with Carrier, which will keep - or so we are told - about 1,000 jobs here but the rest go off to Mexico. And how was this deal arranged? In a manner that will cost us, the taxpayers mucho dinero for there is a deal with corporate taxes and costs to companies that move offshore and less taxes on money that these corporations are holding offshore rather than spending here in the country. Not so sure this is the deal we need or want. Or can afford.
More? Okay, there is a woman in Tennessee in prison for a YEAR and for the crime of what? Trying to get an abortion and since Tennessee makes it almost impossible, she tried a coat hanger one on herself with tragic results and for that she is arrested and held in jail till trial, a year already in delays. There is a woman in Indiana who was sentenced to 20 years for her abortion but the sentence was vacated on appeal. There will be more and more of this especially as Mike Pence is now VP elect and he is a rabid anti choice person. Tragedies await.
The media has been hard pressed and threatened and yes, one does not always agree with the papers or other media outlets, but that is their right, to say and print what they want and hope for and think and even print contradicting articles in the same paper. I despise the Times for their Israel coverage and their bias, but rooted for them the whole way in this campaign. That is what makes - or has made - the world and the country go round - at least until now. What will be with this dude? I shudder.
As for the rest of the world? Well, look at France. Look at Austria now with the right wing on the rise and bad news ahead. Look at England with its anti Semitic chantings by students and by Labor party members. Look at the aggression of Russia and Putin, the daring moves he has done and why not? He has his buddy Trump coming up soon enough so why worry, just forge ahead and take back all the former SSRs that were lost in the breakup of the Soviet Union. Russian is Russian.
Look at China now running to burn more coal as the pressure of the US is off them so WE are the ones who will suffer. We all share the same atmosphere and what goes around comes around, literally. Will we finally descend into the apocalyptic world we see in movies and novels, where people wear masks and breathing apparatus and the few elite live a different world and life while the rest suffer? You answer that.
The world is running out of clean and available water. We are eating up our agricultural lands by the tens of thousands of acres. We are burning our oxygen giving trees. We are once again, ignoring the needs of people for the needs or desires of the few. Fat cat time is here once again and if you doubt that, just look at he prices of drugs, today insulin being a topic and look at the new head of Health and Human Services, one who does not believe in Medicare, who wants vouchers, is determined to get there and as for those of us with multiple chronic issues - well, screw you, for no insurance will take you, you are too costly, and doctors will not accept the paltry payments that Medicare will pay out so wave goodbye.
And even the small and petty supposed leaders of our time follow suit, feeling a free rein given that our newly elected president does the same. Look right here in the Village where we are being pressured to take on a new contract and deal with Atlantic whilst they have produced almost nothing in their visceral life, only words and promises and most of those cannot be taken to the bank! And what do you think Comcast will do for the last three years of their contract - run to service us, to solve our problems? Why would they as we have thrown them away after years of service, and now much improved service.
We have a UCO which wastes money by the fistfuls. David Israel says he belongs to a watchdog committee that calls out governmental waste so hello, look in your own mirror. Thousands for murals, for extravagant plantings and many have to be redone and redone - just look at the Clubhouse where we now have a bricked up area with a tree in the middle rather than the flowers and plantings that were there before and before and before. Why can we not think ahead some time. Look at the waste of literally millions of dollars on the ----poor roadway job, at the money thrown away or repairing and paying for new items and then calling it a non capital expenditure so we have to eat it rather than Levy and WPRF.
So to appear watchful and concerned, we try to make up for waste by nickel and diming amenities of the Village like a 2-3 thousand expense for karaoke, an activity enjoyed by many and had to be voted back in.
We have a UCO who shuts down media outlets and allows them to deteriorate in quality and then when they are just so bad and cannot be hidden anymore, gets someone to come back, promises the world, so perhaps people will forget the damage done. But we must always remember that David Israel has a good pitching arm, managing to throw many people directly under the bus so be warned.
Can this be fixed? I hope so, both nationally, internationally and right here in the Village. We can start by joining in a March echoing that of Washington post inauguration and all over the country. We are serving notice that we will all be watching, that the mandate is not for oppression nor for misogyny nor for hatred or division, nor xenophobia, or threats to the very fabric of our country, no matter what political party one belongs to. Join us here on Jan. 21, 2017, meet at the Clubhouse room C and step off for a circumnavigation of said Clubhouse at 10 AM and send a message to the world - we are here and we care.
There is much work to be done - and if not us, then who? and if not now, then when? This and more, was said by a wise Rabbi in ancient times - and is just as relevant today as it was then. So roll up the sleeves and let us get started. We are not done yet. Not by a long shot.
So what is ahead for us in the country and the world? I am not a political maven, only one who reads and thinks and formulates thoughts. There are experts that are paid to tell us their thoughts - take them or not. That is our free choice, but I wonder, very hard, whether this free choice will be here in the future. We have all seemed to come to a conclusion that if we do not like something, or wish it gone, then we make it so.
An example? Burning or desecrating the flag is an abominable act, despicable and yet, and yet - it is allowed by law, by the Constitution as part of free speech guaranteed to us by the First Amendment. There are words that are spoken under this amendment that might be considered hurtful or hateful to some, yet if they do not cross a red line, then they are allowed. Such is the beauty and the pitfall of our country, such is what makes the world go round and such is what made our country grow as people traded thoughts and ideas and progress was made, sometimes too slowly, but still, it was achieved.
Today we are in another world. We have a president elect who cannot string together enough words for a complete sentence unless it is written for him and he says exactly what is given him. He repeats words in his inane and at time grossly mistaken tweets. He is like an adolescent sitting there in the early hours tweeting away, denying truth and always trying to show how the world is against him and how he is always right. Well, he is not, but we are stuck with him unless we can get him impeached for his violations of ethics. And there will be many.
Why? Well, for the first time we have elected a president whose first concern is not the country nor its citizens nor the state of the world nor the conditions of humanity nor our edging closer and closer to the point of no return on climate and environmental change - no, not on that, but instead on how he is going to run the country based on how it will benefit HIS business holdings and it has already started, mucho!! This man who is supposed to be a role model for the citizens, encourages others to follow his crooked path, dodging laws, changing laws, making of his family a royal family, and sending shivers down the backs of many like me who are worried what will we look like after four years and will we still be a democracy.
What is ahead? Well, we have the supposed deal with Carrier, which will keep - or so we are told - about 1,000 jobs here but the rest go off to Mexico. And how was this deal arranged? In a manner that will cost us, the taxpayers mucho dinero for there is a deal with corporate taxes and costs to companies that move offshore and less taxes on money that these corporations are holding offshore rather than spending here in the country. Not so sure this is the deal we need or want. Or can afford.
More? Okay, there is a woman in Tennessee in prison for a YEAR and for the crime of what? Trying to get an abortion and since Tennessee makes it almost impossible, she tried a coat hanger one on herself with tragic results and for that she is arrested and held in jail till trial, a year already in delays. There is a woman in Indiana who was sentenced to 20 years for her abortion but the sentence was vacated on appeal. There will be more and more of this especially as Mike Pence is now VP elect and he is a rabid anti choice person. Tragedies await.
The media has been hard pressed and threatened and yes, one does not always agree with the papers or other media outlets, but that is their right, to say and print what they want and hope for and think and even print contradicting articles in the same paper. I despise the Times for their Israel coverage and their bias, but rooted for them the whole way in this campaign. That is what makes - or has made - the world and the country go round - at least until now. What will be with this dude? I shudder.
As for the rest of the world? Well, look at France. Look at Austria now with the right wing on the rise and bad news ahead. Look at England with its anti Semitic chantings by students and by Labor party members. Look at the aggression of Russia and Putin, the daring moves he has done and why not? He has his buddy Trump coming up soon enough so why worry, just forge ahead and take back all the former SSRs that were lost in the breakup of the Soviet Union. Russian is Russian.
Look at China now running to burn more coal as the pressure of the US is off them so WE are the ones who will suffer. We all share the same atmosphere and what goes around comes around, literally. Will we finally descend into the apocalyptic world we see in movies and novels, where people wear masks and breathing apparatus and the few elite live a different world and life while the rest suffer? You answer that.
The world is running out of clean and available water. We are eating up our agricultural lands by the tens of thousands of acres. We are burning our oxygen giving trees. We are once again, ignoring the needs of people for the needs or desires of the few. Fat cat time is here once again and if you doubt that, just look at he prices of drugs, today insulin being a topic and look at the new head of Health and Human Services, one who does not believe in Medicare, who wants vouchers, is determined to get there and as for those of us with multiple chronic issues - well, screw you, for no insurance will take you, you are too costly, and doctors will not accept the paltry payments that Medicare will pay out so wave goodbye.
And even the small and petty supposed leaders of our time follow suit, feeling a free rein given that our newly elected president does the same. Look right here in the Village where we are being pressured to take on a new contract and deal with Atlantic whilst they have produced almost nothing in their visceral life, only words and promises and most of those cannot be taken to the bank! And what do you think Comcast will do for the last three years of their contract - run to service us, to solve our problems? Why would they as we have thrown them away after years of service, and now much improved service.
We have a UCO which wastes money by the fistfuls. David Israel says he belongs to a watchdog committee that calls out governmental waste so hello, look in your own mirror. Thousands for murals, for extravagant plantings and many have to be redone and redone - just look at the Clubhouse where we now have a bricked up area with a tree in the middle rather than the flowers and plantings that were there before and before and before. Why can we not think ahead some time. Look at the waste of literally millions of dollars on the ----poor roadway job, at the money thrown away or repairing and paying for new items and then calling it a non capital expenditure so we have to eat it rather than Levy and WPRF.
So to appear watchful and concerned, we try to make up for waste by nickel and diming amenities of the Village like a 2-3 thousand expense for karaoke, an activity enjoyed by many and had to be voted back in.
We have a UCO who shuts down media outlets and allows them to deteriorate in quality and then when they are just so bad and cannot be hidden anymore, gets someone to come back, promises the world, so perhaps people will forget the damage done. But we must always remember that David Israel has a good pitching arm, managing to throw many people directly under the bus so be warned.
Can this be fixed? I hope so, both nationally, internationally and right here in the Village. We can start by joining in a March echoing that of Washington post inauguration and all over the country. We are serving notice that we will all be watching, that the mandate is not for oppression nor for misogyny nor for hatred or division, nor xenophobia, or threats to the very fabric of our country, no matter what political party one belongs to. Join us here on Jan. 21, 2017, meet at the Clubhouse room C and step off for a circumnavigation of said Clubhouse at 10 AM and send a message to the world - we are here and we care.
There is much work to be done - and if not us, then who? and if not now, then when? This and more, was said by a wise Rabbi in ancient times - and is just as relevant today as it was then. So roll up the sleeves and let us get started. We are not done yet. Not by a long shot.
Monday, November 28, 2016
YES!!!!
There is nothing like an emphatic YES!! and a fist pump to indicate the joy of something, the triumph of something and that is what I use to describe this Thanksgiving week. We were all together, even the one in Israel as he Facetimed in and California arrived in a surprise visit at 6 AM. The noise level was probably violating some decibel rule, but what a good noise it was and how good it felt to see all the cousins interacting, laughing, hugging and the parents reverting to childhood, what with old routines and jokes, the retelling of escapades and Gerry and I - we just absorbed. And of course grabbed all the hugs and kisses we could get.
Over the week it did not end. The reconnection was terrific on all levels. One kid could not keep out of the tree, climbing high and making me nervous. Very different from watching a child do that. Grandchildren worry you more. The little one was as bright as the sun, chattering away, vacuuming input as quickly as he shared his output of information with all, willing or not! And my two big boys? I am so proud of them as they have retained their sweetness and kindness of youth and are right thinking as well! Yay Hillary!!
As for the gaggle of girls,14 to 16, all five of them? Delicious. With one I reviewed history of the world and we tied it to themes that have lasted forever. With another we discussed Lord of the Flies and I had to pull memories from 27 years ago, the last time I taught it. We discussed Ralph and Jack and Piggy and the Beast and the inner meaning of it all. With another, I had to dig out prehistoric memories of The Crucible, last studied in high school! Yet another seems to have been blessed with a technical skill with video making and such that leaves me confused! to say the least! And what joy to talk of one's skill in writing and how to transfer it to the real world as a career. My joy runneth over. But - never go shopping with five teenage girls. Instant insanity, never mind the cost! And never mind that it was difficult to gather one's thoughts with two little boys chattering in one's ears at 5 or 6 AM as I tried to write. I loved it, to tell the truth.
Today is final goodbye day as the last crew leaves to begin a long drive back. As usual we remain for one more day to help straighten up, clean up, and ship out the lost and left behind belongings. Tomorrow it is home again for us, right into a crazy schedule and I cannot wait for Saturday, my day of rest. Sometimes it is good that time flies.
So until sometime tomorrow all of Trump's stupidities and exaggerations will wait and all the doings of the Village will wait. All the fear of the renewed violent anti Semitism will wait as will the hatred that appears to be growing amongst the peoples of the world. All the bad can be set aside for yet one more day. And I can dream of the next family reunion and wish that if only the world would understand the joy of love and togetherness and put aside the nonsense and the truly unimportant, what a better world we would have. Simplistic, I know, but one can dream, correct?
Over the week it did not end. The reconnection was terrific on all levels. One kid could not keep out of the tree, climbing high and making me nervous. Very different from watching a child do that. Grandchildren worry you more. The little one was as bright as the sun, chattering away, vacuuming input as quickly as he shared his output of information with all, willing or not! And my two big boys? I am so proud of them as they have retained their sweetness and kindness of youth and are right thinking as well! Yay Hillary!!
As for the gaggle of girls,14 to 16, all five of them? Delicious. With one I reviewed history of the world and we tied it to themes that have lasted forever. With another we discussed Lord of the Flies and I had to pull memories from 27 years ago, the last time I taught it. We discussed Ralph and Jack and Piggy and the Beast and the inner meaning of it all. With another, I had to dig out prehistoric memories of The Crucible, last studied in high school! Yet another seems to have been blessed with a technical skill with video making and such that leaves me confused! to say the least! And what joy to talk of one's skill in writing and how to transfer it to the real world as a career. My joy runneth over. But - never go shopping with five teenage girls. Instant insanity, never mind the cost! And never mind that it was difficult to gather one's thoughts with two little boys chattering in one's ears at 5 or 6 AM as I tried to write. I loved it, to tell the truth.
Today is final goodbye day as the last crew leaves to begin a long drive back. As usual we remain for one more day to help straighten up, clean up, and ship out the lost and left behind belongings. Tomorrow it is home again for us, right into a crazy schedule and I cannot wait for Saturday, my day of rest. Sometimes it is good that time flies.
So until sometime tomorrow all of Trump's stupidities and exaggerations will wait and all the doings of the Village will wait. All the fear of the renewed violent anti Semitism will wait as will the hatred that appears to be growing amongst the peoples of the world. All the bad can be set aside for yet one more day. And I can dream of the next family reunion and wish that if only the world would understand the joy of love and togetherness and put aside the nonsense and the truly unimportant, what a better world we would have. Simplistic, I know, but one can dream, correct?
Sunday, November 27, 2016
DOPPELGANGER VIEWPOINT? READ AND THINK
This was an essay in the Saturday NY Times by Charles Blow, a columnist, and could have flowed from my own pen. He states it far better than I could and covers all the worries and all the truths. The papers are full of the concerns we should all have, be it from his huge business dealings that will screw us all over in the end to his lack of decency and values and on and on, but just go and read and think and wonder - what the hell did we do?
"Donald Trump schlepped across town on Tuesday to meet with the publisher of The New York Times and some editors, columnists and reporters at the paper.
He seemed to indicate that he wouldn’t seek to prosecute Hillary Clinton. But he should never have said that he was going to do that in the first place.
He seemed to indicate that he wouldn’t encourage the military to use torture. But he should never have said that he would do that in the first place.
He said that he would have an “open mind” on climate change. But that should always have been his position.
You don’t get a pat on the back for ratcheting down from rabid after exploiting that very radicalism to your advantage. Unrepentant opportunism belies a staggering lack of character and caring that can’t simply be vanquished from memory. You did real harm to this country and many of its citizens, and I will never — never — forget that.
After a campaign of bashing The Times relentlessly, in the face of the actual journalists, he tempered his whining with flattery.
At one point he said:
“I just appreciate the meeting and I have great respect for The New York Times. Tremendous respect. It’s very special. Always has been very special.”
He ended the meeting by saying:
“I will say, The Times is, it’s a great, great American jewel. A world jewel. And I hope we can all get along well.”
I will say proudly and happily that I was not present at this meeting. The very idea of sitting across the table from a demagogue who preyed on racial, ethnic and religious hostilities and treating him with decorum and social grace fills me with disgust, to the point of overflowing. Let me tell you here where I stand on your “I hope we can all get along” plea: Never.
I don’t believe you care much at all about this country or your party or the American people. I believe that the only thing you care about is self-aggrandizement and self-enrichment. Your strongest allegiance is to your own cupidity.
I also believe that much of your campaign was an act of psychological projection, as we are now learning that many of the things you slammed Clinton for are things of which you may actually be guilty.
You slammed Clinton for destroying emails, then Newsweek reported last month that your companies “destroyed emails in defiance of court orders.” You slammed Clinton and the Clinton Foundation for paid speeches and conflicts of interest, then it turned out that, as BuzzFeed reported, the Trump Foundation received a $150,000 donation in exchange for your giving a 2015 speech made by video to a conference in Ukraine. You slammed Clinton about conflicts of interest while she was secretary of state, and now your possible conflicts of interest are popping up like mushrooms in a marsh.
You are a fraud and a charlatan. Yes, you will be president, but you will not get any breaks just because one branch of your forked tongue is s
I’m not trying to convince anyone of anything, but rather to speak up for truth and honor and inclusion. This isn’t just about you, but also about the moral compass of those who see you for who and what you are, and know the darkness you herald is only held at bay by the lights of truth.
It’s not that I don’t believe that people can change and grow. They can. But real growth comes from the accepting of responsibility and repenting of culpability. Expedient reversal isn’t growth; it’s gross.
I am not easily duped by dopes.
I have not only an ethical and professional duty to call out how obscene your very existence is at the top of American government;
So let me say this on Thanksgiving: I’m thankful to have this platform because as long as there are ink and pixels, you will be the focus of my withering gaze.
I’m thankful that I have the endurance and can assume a posture that will never allow what you represent to ever be seen as everyday and ordinary.
No, Mr. Trump, we will not all just get along. For as long as a threat to the state is the head of state, all citizens of good faith and national fidelity — and certainly this columnist — have an absolute obligation to meet you and your agenda with resistance at every turn.
I know this in my bones, and for that I am thankful."
Friday, November 25, 2016
LAST RODEO? OR NOT
So why keep this up. After all there are other and closer topics to discuss, a la the proposed huge increase in fees from UCO and WPRF, the questions that remain about the whole cable issue, the fogginess when stated that EPIX is better than HBO - maybe, do not have the channel now but do know there are programs I watch on HBO along with much of America and will we have that as well. Also, how do you get more if you wish more than the first 99 channels? What is that cost? How do we know that this company which has only five areas is good for us and has anyone checked with the people of that service area and by anyone I mean other than the biased people of the committee and by the way, when was a contract with CSI ever approved with that huge amount of fees being charged? There are remaining issues re the prohibitive costs of replacing the road, the irrigation system and how it got to this point and the false economy of not charging as we went along and so now we have a huge increase. We must discuss the increasingly incompetent and sullen leadership, if we an call it that, of David Israel. Oh, and David, we spoke to the Area Commander at PBSO and he swears up and down that they took the report of the REAL incident of shooting very seriously and by the way not finding shells or rifles left around for the convenience of PBSO to find is not unexpected. But anyway, you keep up your miserable ways as you only bother yourself as we know you already.But that is for another day.
Today we keep on with Operation Watch Trump. So we find out that the man who states he has no conflicts with his businesses and his business of being President, this same man has shares in the pipeline that is being handled so disgracefully and has shares in the oil company that is involved as well. Conflict of interest anyone?
And anyone care about what he is going to do with the anti sexual assault cases and education and prevention efforts on campus and anywhere else? Well, no surprise as this is the man who thinks his groping and his foul language should be considered a gift to those upon whom he inflicts it but what about the poor victims on campus? Are we now going to go fully back to supporting the poor guy who was so tempted and never mind the poor girl who suffered the attack. Never mind the transgenders and LGBT who are also attacked. Are we headed back to the days of Matthew Shepherd?
This man has to be watched. He needs to be held to standards and by the way, would it not be wonderful if we really have a recount and he loses!!!!!! In any case, we are all watching - him and the other pols of Washington and indeed, the whole country. They must be true to ALL their constituents and remember - Hillary won the popular vote by far. There is no Trump mandate and there is certainly no mandate for the changes he proposes, including the ones which will hurt the blue collar class he supposedly backs and vowed to protect. We must protect ourselves for the next four years, force our supposed leaders to walk the straight and narrow and remind Trump that we did not elect his four children in as co-presidents!! It behooves him to remember that. it behooves US to remember our civic responsibilities as well. Last rodeo? Not by far!!
Thursday, November 24, 2016
LAST CHANCE TO MAKE HILLARY
CLINTON OUR NEXT PRESIDENT
On December
21, 2016, the Electoral College will vote to ratify the election. They will choose
Donald Trump or do an about-face and cast their vote for Hillary Clinton.
Although it has never been done before, it is constitutionally legal. If they decide to go rogue and choose Hillary
Clinton their only penalty would be to pay a small fine - a puny price to pay
to keep the United States of American from falling into the hands of a person unfit
to lead our country.
CHANGE. ORG has stated a petition to make
the Electoral College members cast their vote for Hillary Clinton. I urge all Clinton supporters to sign the
petition; see instructions below. Let’s keep
America from falling into the abyss of hell – bring back our sanity – destroy
the empty promises Trump made to get elected.
Sign the
petition – it’s our only chance.
Instructions to make Hillary Clinton out next President:
Google the
following: MAKE HILLARY PRESIDENT, then scroll down to: ELECTORAL COLLEGE MAKE
HILLARY CLINTON PRESIDENT and sign the petition.
THANKSGIVING DAY
My plan for today was to wish all a Happy Thanksgiving and to be careful if driving anywhere, to remember to avoid confrontation both on the roads and at the table. But life intervenes and I simply cannot ignore some things that took place or that were revealed.
So we now have a president to be who is what, too busy to get his daily intelligence briefings. Is it because he lacks the intelligence to understand the contents or is it that he simply does not care at all or better yet, will call upon his princelings and princess to be to go and mediate and talk, just as Junior did with the Syrians and the Russians. So I ask all of you, especially those of you who voted for this farce of a leader - did you also vote in his family as part and parcel of the ruling dynamic in America? Woe upon us all.
Sean Hannity has taken to Twitter, the new fount of all that is Trump and called for a ban on basically all media outlets other than Fox News. And here we go with the censorship threats and the ridiculous use of Twitter as a quasi official outlet for this administration.
Mitt Romney is opposed as a potential Secretary of State by Huckabee and Gingrich- a paragon of virtue - because he made some hones t statements that actually are true. He challenged Trump on his character, his honor and his honesty and how right he was. This Trump is a man without honor, substituting greed instead and concentrated on his main business of his businesses, thwarting and ignoring all ethics and laws regarding this an leaving the running of the country with its foreign entanglements to his children.
Well, I for one want no part of this and hate to be the Cassandra crying out with warnings or the prophets of the Bible who warned the people what was coming, and being neither Cassandra nor a prophet, but only one worried person - I worry for the state of our country and the state of the world under this man. I worry for us as individuals as we have lost the art of conversation and cannot talk to each other over this divide and this man has done nothing to ease that but instead has exacerbated the whole issue.
So enjoy this Day, enjoy the family and ban politics as a topic of the table or the living room and just think and wonder how we got here. And let us resolve to do better and watch this guy like millions of hawks, waiting and watching and jumping at the opportunity to impeach. Let us make sure that the American Dream remains true and we have it to be thankful for next year too.
So we now have a president to be who is what, too busy to get his daily intelligence briefings. Is it because he lacks the intelligence to understand the contents or is it that he simply does not care at all or better yet, will call upon his princelings and princess to be to go and mediate and talk, just as Junior did with the Syrians and the Russians. So I ask all of you, especially those of you who voted for this farce of a leader - did you also vote in his family as part and parcel of the ruling dynamic in America? Woe upon us all.
Sean Hannity has taken to Twitter, the new fount of all that is Trump and called for a ban on basically all media outlets other than Fox News. And here we go with the censorship threats and the ridiculous use of Twitter as a quasi official outlet for this administration.
Mitt Romney is opposed as a potential Secretary of State by Huckabee and Gingrich- a paragon of virtue - because he made some hones t statements that actually are true. He challenged Trump on his character, his honor and his honesty and how right he was. This Trump is a man without honor, substituting greed instead and concentrated on his main business of his businesses, thwarting and ignoring all ethics and laws regarding this an leaving the running of the country with its foreign entanglements to his children.
Well, I for one want no part of this and hate to be the Cassandra crying out with warnings or the prophets of the Bible who warned the people what was coming, and being neither Cassandra nor a prophet, but only one worried person - I worry for the state of our country and the state of the world under this man. I worry for us as individuals as we have lost the art of conversation and cannot talk to each other over this divide and this man has done nothing to ease that but instead has exacerbated the whole issue.
So enjoy this Day, enjoy the family and ban politics as a topic of the table or the living room and just think and wonder how we got here. And let us resolve to do better and watch this guy like millions of hawks, waiting and watching and jumping at the opportunity to impeach. Let us make sure that the American Dream remains true and we have it to be thankful for next year too.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)