What Would Your Grandmother Say?

In many instances, the best lessons are passed down from generation to generation. That is especially true when talking about interacting with others. What would your grandmother say? I have invoked this question in meetings where we were trying to decide how to modify or improve our product. It is surprising how many grown men would, after the shock wore off, say the same thing.

Right now congress is wrestling with a major tax reform bill and they are rushing to get it done before the end of the year, without Democrat support, and in spite of the possibility of causing great harm to a majority of the citizens for which they work.  What would your grandmother say? Mine would say, “If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right.”

There is probably not a person in the country who does not think the deficit should be reduced and step number one is to stop spending more than we take in. Right there is a point on which we can all agree. Right now, we are working with a skewed system. It is not balanced, and it appears that fairness is not even on the table.

This tax bill that has been designed to reward the largest donors to the republican party is enormously unpopular with the majority of the population. It has been rushed. It has not been adequately vetted and there are a large number of economists with impeccable reputations that say it will inflate the deficit and hurt the economy.

It is the desperate measure, thrown down by a desperate legislature that has completely lost the ability to work across the aisle. They no longer even pretend to try. They think they can’t accomplish anything unless they hold all the cards and they can accept no evidence that does not support their pre-conceived idea.

This bill should have been built by a committee of equal numbers of Democrats and republicans. It should have included input from economists, historians, and experts from a large range of business and financial institutions. It should take enough time to evaluate the information available and it should have as its aim, what is best for the country. The country is comprised of all of us, not some of us, not a few of us, not just the wealthy.

This bill needs to be tabled and begun again with a different end-goal. Kill it now before it destroys our economy, our healthcare system and the very democracy on which we depend.

Thank You Alabama

I want to say a big “Thank You” to Alabama for showing up at the polls last night. This is a huge victory for us, and by “us” I mean many different things. Politically speaking, I believe we need more than one strong party and I really think we would function better as a nation with three strong, hard-working, reliable parties committed to the good of the country. We are diverse. We have different perspectives. We need input from and action for us all. For that reason, it has distressed me to watch the decline of the Republican Party and the weakening of the Democratic Party.

It has stressed the very fabric of our nation and tried our democracy as nothing before has. This was painfully obvious when our president insisted on stating his position on the election in Alabama. “We can’t have another liberal Democrat in the Senate,” he stated. At this time, Republicans still have a majority in the Senate, the House, a Republican President and they are quickly populating the courts with conservative judges.

This blocks the checks and balances that have made this government work for us in the past. And still he would rather stack that deck higher, even at the expense of seating a Senator that is accused of heinous actions, that has twice been removed from the Alabama Supreme Court for refusing to follow the laws he swore to uphold. He would rather have seated a man unfit for the office who is a republican, than to have to work through legislation, letting the process play out as it was designed to. That is against the fundamental workings of the government and is a danger to democracy itself.

We need representation of the people (you and me) that works for all of us. Right now, big money is in control and “the people” are suffering because the reigning party has too much control and their agenda favors big money over a strong and vibrant population. The victory for Democrats in Alabama added to the other recent victories around the country is a step in the right direction.

It is also a victory for the values of the citizens of this country. Donald Trump’s presidential campaign completely destroyed any semblance decency as he mowed everyone out of his way. Lies have now become the normal conversation of every day. Russia interfered with the election more aggressively than ever before and employed mind bending tactics that influenced voters and clouded the issues, so that no one had a clear view of what was happening. I don’t believe the majority of our citizens are horrid, bigoted and hate-filled. I do believe that many are struggling and fearful and many of those have been targeted for exploitation and that this swayed their votes. These very people are going to be devastated by the current Republican agenda.

The people that voted for Roy Moore did not vote for him because he is accused of mishandling young girls, but they did vote for him in spite of it and this is distressing. Quite frankly, it is not surprising. It has been accepted for a very long time that women and girls are held to a different standard from men and boys. Not anymore. This is a victory for those of who value respect for and from others around us. Regardless of our political views, our religious beliefs, our sex and sexual orientation, our culture or the color of our skin, our economic strata, our mental or physical health state, we have the right to be treated with respect in this country.

We have the right to expect the truth from our representatives. We have the right to be recognized as equal in our needs and our opinions. We have the right to vote and to have our vote count. We have the right to know what is happening in our government, local, state and federal. We have the right to feel safe with our representatives.

This was a victory for women and women’s rights and a victory for the resisters of the Republican agenda. We have fought hard for a year against an administration that is admittedly trying to dissemble our government process and destroy democracy. We have fought against legislation that will cause harm and hardship for our citizens. We have fought against discriminatory practices that harm our friends and neighbors. We have fought to keep America robust, vital, welcoming and strong. This victory belongs to all of us.

So, thank you, Alabama for not giving in and giving up. Thank you to the Republicans who have made some difficult decisions in the past few months and done the right thing. We may have differing opinions and differing views, but as long as we ALL work FOR the good of the country, we will be able to work together. Carry on.

November 29, 2017

Yesterday evening, I answered the phone to hear a robo message from the city. It was dark already, there were no weather alerts and for the first time since I was in elementary school in the 50s, my breath froze in my chest, as I waited for the warning. Were we about to be hit with a nuclear attack? For the first time in more than 60 years, I knew that it was a possibility. North Korea proved yesterday they have the ability to put an armed missile on the continental United States.

We don’t have air raid sirens here. We have tornado sirens, but they are different. Tornados are savage and can wreck anything in their path, but they cannot destroy the earth and leave it barren and uninhabitable. We can clean up and pick up the pieces after a tornado. We can’t do that after a nuclear attack.

Yesterday evening the warning was to alert us to a burn ban in our county. I could breathe again, share the warning and go to sleep last night. But it is different now. I will never receive another message from our city warning system without feeling the clench of fear that there may not be a tomorrow.

What Happened

On October 4, 2017 four American Marines were killed in an ambush as they left a meeting with local officials in Niger. Nothing else seems to have any clarity in regards to this event. We don’t know why they were there, what they were talking about, or what group is responsible for the attack. We also don’t know why the president refused to make an official statement on the event for thirteen days.

Today, October 20, (16 days after Americans gave their lives for some unknown reason) the public conversation surrounding this tragedy is focused on the hurt feelings of our president because of Congresswoman Frederica Wilson’s strong criticism of his sympathy call to the widow and parents of one of the soldiers.

I am not naïve enough to think that you and I will ever know exactly how this whole tragedy went down, nor do I think we should. I spent a decade and a half as a military wife and repeated said goodbye to my husband without the guarantee that he would return to me. I was good with not knowing the details of the mission, because his safety depended on keeping that information out of the hands of the enemy. I would like to have the confidence that this information will be shared with the proper investigative groups.

Here are the things that are grinding against my sensibilities. The ambush happened on October 4. The following day we learned of 3 deaths and two wounded. No official statement from the president. Then a fourth body was retrieved on the 6th. No statement from the White House. The days dragged on as new widows and grieving parents were notified with no official statement from the president, in spite of repeated questions from the press.

It took 13 days for the president to comment on the deaths and to contact the families of these men. I’m not going to spend a lot of time or words on the insensitive comments he made to the family of Sgt. Johnson. I can well imagine he was making an attempt to comfort them with words given to him by General Kelly. I realize he is incapable of sincere expressions of empathy and he screwed it up.

Here are my observations. Something went wrong. There was an intelligence breakdown of some kind. These men, these green berets, are the best of the best. They operate under the most efficient information gathering networks available, the highest securities, the best logistics. Everything they do is dangerous, and they know that. They plan for everything. They don’t like surprises. Why were these men surprised on October 4?

Trump has made no secret of his disdain for the intelligence of the United States. He has installed people with questionable security issues in his cabinet positions and in White House positions. He himself has broadcast state secrets to Russian actors in the Oval Office. There are still several people, including his own family members who are under suspicion of questionable interactions with Russians. The Russians are our enemy. Russians are part of the fabric of unrest in Africa. Did one of Trump’s close advisors, like Miller or Gorka or Donald, Jr. let slip some secure information about the meeting in Niger? I have the same questions about the disastrous raid in Yemen in February.

We don’t know. We can’t accuse. There is no proof. But I have no confidence in the security of this president and most of his administration. He is a proven liar who also requires that members of his administration lie to support him. We can no longer have confidence in the statements or declarations issued from the white house.

He lacks a good moral base. He is childish and without dignity, ethics or basic honesty. He is unable to empathize. I found his actions regarding this ambush suspicious. His were the actions of a guilty man.

I think he and his administration are a danger, not only to our democracy, but to the very lives of the men and women he so cavalierly sends into harm’s way. He is like a child playing with his toy soldiers, without the reality check of knowing these soldiers will bleed and die and not be able to be brought back to life.I think he is a danger to our way of life. I consider him to be the biggest enemy of the State to ever hold the office.

I want to end by sending my condolences to the families of: Staff Sgt. Bryan Black, St. La David Johnson, Staff Sgt. Dustin Wright and Staff St. Jeremiah Johnson. These are heroes who have made a mark in history. These men fought hard and bravely and paid the ultimate price for our freedom. May they all be honored for their service and may they rest in peace.

It's Time

It is time for Congress to step up and take on the role of leadership.  It is time for congress to stop playing childish games and really lead this country out of its current dilemma.  The spirit of solidarity shown in the speeches on Wednesday and the baseball game last night was inspiring, but now they need to be backed up with action.  This is not a partisan issue. It is a national crisis. It Is time to push away the party lines and work for the good of the country.

Stop the hateful, half-truths, used to promote your side of the issue and realize there is only one right side. That is the side that works for the whole. It will be a compromise and it will not leave anyone’s views out.

This government was designed to work with party friction as a motivator, not a road block. The debates that separate the wheat from the chaff in the Senate and the House are familiar to you. You know one another on many levels. You present your argument and meet for a beer. The rest of the country consists of millions of people who don’t know each other on a personal level. When your talk pits us against each other, some are sure to take it too far.

Tone down the rhetoric, please. This is your opportunity to lead with compassion and understanding. This is your chance to show all the people that you are working for the common good, the good of the country, not just one party. And you need to take that into everything you do in office. You need to do this now, because we have a long, unpredictably hot summer ahead of us. We must have leadership to keep the country cool and calm.

Why Sean Spicer's Apology is Moot

What a difficult job Sean Spicer has. I cannot imagine the degree of difficulty he faces with every single performance. That said, he sometimes seems ridiculously unable to meet the minimum standards. From his very first presidential press conference, when he scolded the waiting press for daring to present the truth to the public about the attendance at the inauguration, he set the tone. Lying is preferable to reporting an unfavorable story about the new President of the United States.

From that day forward, the press has had to analyze everything that comes from the White House for truth. Sean is obviously following the direction of our Commander-In-Chief. It is difficult to keep one’s stories straight when one lies constantly. Even Trump, for whom lying is second nature, cannot do it. He’s constantly changing stories, confusing facts and refusing to recognize reality.

Who can blame Sean, who isn’t as experienced in the arts of subterfuge and distraction, if he stumbles when trying to subvert attention from the current unpleasant fact of the day? In an administration riddled with many forms of bigotry and conflicts of interests, it must be almost impossible not to shine a light into the dirty corners on any given day. For those who can’t be bothered with current events or history, places like Khmer Rouge, Uganda and Bosnia, for example, it can’t be easy to find anyone else to compare Assad to, except for Hitler, and they have already exhibited a coldness in regards to the Holocaust.

My guess is that Sean never comes to these faux pas without some direction from or previous discussion with his boss. Statements that are inflammatory and divertive are often repeated by others on the staff, indicating that they are, if not rehearsed, at least tested among the staffers before being used. There seems to be a singular lack of common understanding about how their words will be received.

But then it all, even the misspeaks, is hardly more than another flash bang attempt to keep our minds off the ever looming fact that Russia attacked our election process and that a growing number of Trump advisors, cabinet members and associates had some sort of association with them.

Down What Path Do We Wander

We have deployed missiles to a Syrian airstrip in retaliation for Assad dropping Sarin gas on his own citizens. What does it mean? What will it precipitate in the-near-future? These are substantial questions for us to ask.

Let’s back up a few days. On Thursday, Secretary of State Tillerson made the public statement that Assad and the future of the Assad regime should be decided by the Syrians. Did anyone else feel a finger of dread run down their spines when they heard this? I did. On Tuesday Assad dropped Sarin gas on civilians in Syria, killing men, women and children in a horrific fashion and showing the world that they had not destroyed the deadly gas, an act that Russia was supposed to have verified.

Trump made an emotional response 36 hours after the bombing, after Secretary Tillerson had condemned Assad, after UN Ambassador Haley condemned the killings and shamed Russia for its acceptance. His speech writer was great. The speech had the right amount of sorrow and horror and, except for the few times he went off-script, was almost believable. Except for this: “None of God’s children deserve this.” I really cannot believe that phrase has ever voluntarily crossed his lips before. I was surprised that he was so moved by these pictures, having apparently forgotten pictures from the previous similar attacks.

Right away some people were talking about his pivot. The refugee children he was willing to allow to wash up on the beaches had finally been replaced by the dead and dying ones from the gas attack, and had sparked his empathy.

Yesterday Trump surprised us all by sending Tomahawk missiles to the Syrian airfield where the gas strike originated, thus saving us all from … the great unknown. Today we are all trying to figure out if this strike was a good decision or not. It will probably take some time to sort it all out.

Let’s look at some facts. Assad is a brutal dictator who cares nothing about his subjects or anyone else. He is guilty of war crimes many times over and is a cruel and sadistic dictator who has been surprisingly tolerant of ISIS in his country. Putin supports Assad, his only ally in the middle east. Could this be another indicator that Trump is finally making that ever-anticipated pivot? Tillerson chastised Putin for not being sure the deadly gas had been destroyed. Haley called on Russia to get tough on Assad.

Is this an elaborate performance orchestrated to give the appearance that all those nasty rumors of an unhealthy alliance between dozens of Russians and dozens of Trump associates are really nothing at all?

Was Tillerson’s initial assessment that Assad’s future could be left up the Syrians a bit of a dog whistle, signaling him that he could now do what he wanted, like gassing civilians so Trump would have an excuse to get tough?

The costly and flamboyant attack on Syria came after Tillerson announced publicly, that steps were underway to remove Assad from power. The missiles used were not the kind that would cause damage to the airstrip. Russian and Turkish troops were warned before the air strike. The only real damage done was to several buildings on the air field. The gas is untouched and its whereabouts unknown. It is good that the missiles did not hit the gas and cause more people to be injured.

This will boost Trumps flagging approval rating because unfortunately so many people like the idea of war and showing our strength. It may (or may not) give the leader of North Korea a bit of a warning as well. It most certainly takes the attention away from the failed travel ban, the decreasing popularity of the border wall and that inconvenient investigation into the Russian connection.

I, for one, do not believe that Trump is a different person from the one on the campaign trail. I do not believe that at the ripe old age of 70, he has finally developed a sense of empathy. I do not know who writes his speeches and strokes his ego and keeps him upright and functioning without going off the rails. I believe he is the same narcissistic, mentally unstable person that can’t tell the difference between reality and falsehoods and doesn’t care. I believe that he and his crew are dismantling our government and destroying our nation and the republican party is complicit in all that he does. I believe that somewhere, there is a monetary reward for Trump or Putin or both. Keep your eyes on the money.  

What do you think?

We Are A Nation Divided

Yes, we are a nation divided and a nation divided by design. Even though I continue to hope for healing and will work for that end, as long as I can, we cannot simply seal over the scalding infection of our wounds. That will only lead to further and worsening problems.

In the past two months, I have watched our country, a progressive and vital democracy with hope and opportunity to offer, attacked by a contingency wanting to destroy it.  We are currently in a death struggle with opposing ideas and alternative facts.

Ours has not always been a country of compassion. We have often been the bad guys, but in recent time we have worked to make our image one of welcoming, tolerance and compassion. Our humanitarian efforts have literally changed the way the world population responds to one another.

That is rapidly draining away. Since January 20, 2017 we have twice been responsible for civilian deaths on foreign soil, we have made strides to block refugees from safely entering our country, even though they have been vetted far more strictly than other countries.

We have separated families of undocumented immigrants from Mexico as we rounded them up for deportation, even though the president expressly promised he would not allow that. Our leadership leans increasingly toward white supremacy and intolerance, causing an increase in crimes against various groups of people. These people are us. They are our citizens.

Now with the proposed budget we see the decimation is to include the old, the young, the disabled and the less fortunate.

The problem is, this is acceptable to a portion of our population who has been made to be afraid of the refugees and immigrants and who does not like the idea that their money might be supporting the undeserving among us. These ideas are fueled by a steady stream of misinformation that is regurgitated by Trump and his staff. They want to divide us. They have planned for this. They work hard at exploiting our differences, differences that have always been there, but were previously fuel for creating our democracy. Now they are well placed explosive statements, designed to destroy.

We are a nation divided, not by our differing opinions, but by a coterie of wealthy individuals whose only goal is to enhance their own coffers. I caution you to check out what you hear and keep your humanity close at hand. We are the People. We can change this, but it will take work and will probably include a lot of blood, sweat and tears before it is over.

Racism Is Real

Racism is real. White supremacists exist. Representative Steve King has long been known for his views and he deserves no excuses for his comments. We all know he is far from the only one who believes white skin makes one superior regardless of how he couched his defenses with words like culture and destiny. Racism, like all forms of bigotry, is dangerous and counter-productive to maintaining our democracy.

Racism is here. It is alive in the minds of people ignorant of the facts around them. The color of one’s skin does not make them more or less intelligent, lazy, mean, kind or any of a million other characterizations applied to them. The fact is that there are good and bad people in all skin colors, in all economic brackets, in every belief structure and every culture.

Representative King, trying not to tell an outright lie and also not to perhaps, damage his re-election chances, by telling the absolute truth about his belief, placed the emphasis on culture (their culture versus our culture). The acceptance of other cultures, he says, are damaging to our way of life. What that means, I cannot know. I know that our way of life includes systemic racism where we compartmentalize the “different ones” and push them into certain neighborhoods, jobs, education facilities.

Racism is wrong. It is wrong when Rep. Steve King suggests it. It is wrong when the current administration encourages it. It is wrong when one person causes harm or discomfort to another because we are different. Worse than being wrong, is the damage it does to out value system and our way of life.

This is a country of immigrants and suppressed Native Americans and refugees and freed slaves. It is the flavor of each of these contributors to our mix that produces the vibrant, resilient, strong society that we have today. We are better than the white supremacists. We are better than the hate groups. We are better than we have to be. We are better, because we are diverse and tolerant.

Yes, racism exists It is here. So does anti-Semitism, xenophobia, gender bias and a host of other bigoted ideas. We need to face them all and learn to be even better than we are today. In the United States of America EVERYONE deserves an equal opportunity. Stand and fight for equality and denounce Rep. Steve King and Steve Bannon and anyone else who encourages unfairness to any of our citizens.

Flynn Resigns

Last night, during the last two minutes of prime-time television programming, it was announced that Michael Flynn, the National Security Adviser of the United States had resigned his post amid controversy over his discussions with a Russian delegate over the sanctions imposed on Russia by President Obama over Russia’s interference in our election.

I find it appalling that we have been talking about this for days with the emphasis on whether-or-not he lied to Mike Pence and Reince Priebus about it. Aren’t we missing the point here? At a time when Flynn, a not-yet-appointed cabinet member of the not-yet-president of the United States, took it upon himself to call a Russian delegate several times on the day that sanctions were imposed on Russia, it just seemed like there was a better than average chance that one of the points of discussion would be the future of those sanctions.

Several people wanted to know. Flynn denied any mention of the sanctions.  Pence believed him. Priebus believed him. The entire republican leadership in congress defended him. It was a childish and obvious lie at the time, one that was confronted by Sally Yates shortly before she was fired. If Pence and Priebus chose to endorse this lie, they are complicit in it.

The big point is that Russian interference in our election is a factor in having Donald Trump elected as our president and he seems to be unnaturally fond of Vladimir Putin. Paul Manafort and Carter Paige, both heavily involved in Trump’s campaign have had to resign because of their questionable connections to Russia. There is enough suspicion around all of this Russian love fest to worry me.

We need to demand a robust and immediate investigation and it should include all the cabinet members that have ties to Russia. There seem to be far too many Russian enthusiasts making decisions about how our country is going to be run. 

The Gift of Being Uncomfortable

In rereading “The Afterlife of Billy Fingers” I was reminded, yesterday, of something forgotten. We do not grow spiritually without experiencing discomfort. I have, for a while now been feeling that we, brothers and sisters of humanity, are on the brink of a major change, a quantum leap of evolution. I have felt us moving steadily toward this brink with the occasional setback or reversal for several years.

And then, we had this election that seemed to turn the world upside-down and throw us into an unfamiliar, almost unreal universe. Overnight we began to boil. There have been dramatic scenes, an upsurge of violence and bigotry laced events. Protestors have become the norm and their numbers are growing every day. Emotions are raw and on the surface everywhere. Our leader pitches us into chaos on a daily basis, as he blatantly courts Vladimir Putin while ripping up treaties and threatening our allies and foes alike.

What does all this mean? Are we going to war? Will a nuclear event render the globe uninhabitable? Will we be pushed to a civil war to defend our brothers and sisters of different races, faiths, ethnicity, sexual orientations or genders? The fact is, we don’t know. Many of us see our rights and the rights of others melting away and the truth has now become unrecognizable.

I have always heard that catastrophe comes before renewal. Perhaps that is what is around us now. One would think we might have learned enough to avoid the complete destruction of our nation or our world before we can begin to mend it. Reading yesterday about the need to be uncomfortable in order to grow gives me hope. Many of us are uncomfortable right now. Many of us who are more comfortable being quiet, are speaking out. Many of us who have been uninterested in politics, are now hanging on every word about politics.

Many of us that have rocked along thinking there was nothing we could do to make a difference have changed our minds. We are doing something. We are doing what we can do and we are doing it with grace. Whether it is a peaceful march, a prayer meeting, standing up for someone who is being bullied, writing an article, giving a speech or just telling someone we are not going to go quietly into that dark night, we are all doing something.

And it is making a difference. I can see it as we make our opinions known. We take hits every day, but we are fighting back. Whether we are fighting for our reproductive rights, the rights of children for a good education or a good meal, fairness in the work place or along the borders or compassion for those who need help, we continue to fight. It makes my heart full, because it is not done out of small-mindedness and self-need. We are marching out of love for others, out the needs of others.

So, don’t stop. March on. Talk on. Write or speak or donate, Do whatever you can do, no matter how small the action. Join a group: “Still We Rise”, “Resist” any other that fits your need. We can make a difference. We are making a difference. We are growing stronger. The battle may be long and it may be hard, but it must be ours. We must evolve.

Day Ten

I listened, this morning, as Sean Spicer alternately lectured and shamed the press corps while they tried to clarify the circumstances surrounding this weekend’s executive order banning travelers from seven eastern countries from entering the U.S. Sean is going to have improve his side-step as well as his poker-face, if he remains the white house press secretary for long. In all fairness, he was much better at both than Reince Priebus was on Meet The Press on Sunday.

Priebus, who’s voice is always a little whiney anyway, sounded and looked as if he had one foot in an enormous pot of warm dog poop and couldn’t get it out. Actually, I suppose that is the case. Trying to defend one of Trump’s new executive orders, that has people marching and petitioning in protest all around the world has got to be a prickly predicament.

We Are The People

Yes, I will be boycotting the inauguration on Friday, not that I got an invitation anyway or that I think the incoming president will notice my absence. He did not win this election fairly. I respect the people who will attend because they don’t want to cast a pall on the election process. I also respect the people who cannot accept this man as the legitimate president. Theirs is the right to protest.

I will be boycotting because this election was important. They all are, and too many people are beginning to think they aren’t. A very dear friend said to me recently, “I don’t think it really matters anyway. Everyone in politics is crooked and they are all out to make money for themselves and screw the rest of us. There’s nothing you can do that will make it different.”

I refuse to believe that. There are some, way too many, politicians that are like that and with agendas that don’t reflect the needs of the regular people. But there are some good people who really want to see a change and to administer that change. There are really people who, whether I agree with everything they say or not, are really working hard to preserve the good things about this country. One of them was in this past presidential race.

Another country did, without a doubt, interfere in this election and in previous ones. That disturbs me. That and a few dozen other things about our democratic process. We are our own worst enemy when it comes to getting a fair and accurate vote here in the United States of America. Voter fraud, gerrymandering, voter suppression, misinformation, the entire primary process and campaign season violate my sensibilities and make finding the best choice a bigger chore than it needs to be.

This election exploited every problem to the max with the help of a foreign leader that had a favorite candidate. He won. He cheated, he lied, and lied about lying. The Republican Party helped with the tried and true voter suppression methods, and then there was a widespread fake news program that continually assassinated the character of Hillary Clinton.  Add to that the questionable actions of the FBI director and some other unfair acts and we are now about to inaugurate the most unsuitable person to ever have the office.

So, I won’t be watching the inauguration. I’m sure I can find a transcript of the speech he says he is writing himself. I doubt that, even after the picture he tweeted out to prove it. The President Elect has already insulted all our allies on the world stage, most of the women in his country and the world, anyone who isn’t white skinned and rich, Muslims and more, who he now wants to support him. But he refuses to say a word against Putin.

He communicates his hurt feelings and future policy actions via tweets and has nominated a cabinet full of wealthy racists and misfits, most of whom have no knowledge or experience in the fields they are charged with heading up. Several of them have been openly against equality for gays or women or races or religions.  Now he wants to cripple the press. This is the stuff that makes fiction exciting and reality very dangerous.

We need to fix the voting problems. We need to count every vote of every citizen of this country. We need to do this now. As we sit here with an unqualified president at the helm and ultra-conservative republicans rushing to take away healthcare, social security and medicare, we have now been backed into a corner, the best position from which to fight.

So, no I won’t be watching the coronation. I will not give to him the respect he would never give to President Barack Obama. I will not call him illegitimate, though I don’t think he won a fair election. We do need to respect the election process. I will be in support of the millions that will march on Saturday. They are our voice, the voice of THE PEOPLE. We are the People for whom and by whom and of whom this country was founded.  Speak up, let us know what you need.

Indivisible

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands -  one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

This is the way I learned to say the Pledge of Allegiance and I really prefer this version.

“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America”

Our children say this every school day, although they cannot be compelled to. Many of us say it regularly for one reason or another, in club meetings or patriotic ceremonies, sometimes as part of our jobs. Do we really bear allegiance to a piece of fabric? No, our allegiance is really to “the republic for which it stands,” the United States of America. The flag is merely a symbol of our republic. Nothing we can do to the flag will destroy the country. It is our standard and in battle and in diplomatic situations a great deal of importance is bestowed on being able to see the colors flying high and free and treated with respect. If those colors, that flag, is not in evidence it means we are not in control, but the country continues to exist.

“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands…”

It is the republic for which we will die and live. We will stand together against common enemies and foreign foes. We work together for a better life, a better life for us all; better health, better opportunities, better jobs, better roads, better beaches and parks, better values. The values of the United States should be constantly improving.

“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands; one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all.”

I love the simplicity and purity of this sentence. “One nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all” captures the essence of what our country stands for. “One nation, indivisible,” meaning we stand together as one nation accepting of our diversity and of change. “Indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” That is what we will fight for and die for and live for.

When the pledge was first written by Francis Bellamy for the opening ceremony of the Columbian Exposition in 1892 we were a long way from achieving “liberty and justice for all” but it was implied, even then, when the definition of “all” was still incomplete. We have come a long way and we have a bit further to go yet.

In 1954 when the words “under God” were inserted it created the possibility of a small threat to the word, “indivisible.” ‘Under God’ seemed to say that non-believers no longer had a place in our nation, a right to the liberties and justices we had been promising. For this reason, even though I had barely learned to repeat it from memory, I still prefer to say it and hear it without ‘under God’.

The sentence originally read: “I pledge allegiance to my flag, and the Republic for which it stands – one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” Bellamy soon added a ‘to’ before the Republic. In 1923 the words ‘my flag’ was changed to ‘the flag of the United States’ at the urging of the Daughters of the American Revolution, so immigrant children would be clear about which flag they were saluting. The next year “of America” was added and in 1954 ‘under God.’ These two words have been challenged many times since they were added.

Of all the words strung together in 1892, “indivisible” is the strongest and the most important one to remember at this time.  We are one nation, indivisible, in spite of differences of opinion, of spirit and of physical attributes. We are diverse and stronger for our diversities, but divisible we are not.

Goodby and Hello

It was certainly a sad day in America. I listened with a heavy heart to President Obama give his farewell speech last night. A man and his family that have stood before us with elegance, intelligence and compassion will soon step aside. He leaves the office with the country in a much better state than when he took it. Except, of course, for the great division of our people.

Before I could even begin to process that eloquent speech this morning, I was bombarded by the antithesis of President Obama. The current President Elect would give the first press conference in 6 months and before he could do that the breaking news broke and shattered any thought of that press conference being anything near civil.

Although he used his new “presidential voice,” he didn’t even make the attempt at civility, attacking the mean media, of course and the wrong one, also of course. One would think that someone who had spread such vile things about his opponent just a couple of months ago would not be shocked to reap what he had previously sown. Fortunately for him he was able to focus most of the attention on the lewd and somewhat perverted sex act and keep the attention away from the unproven items like “Putin did know about the Wikileaks war against Secretary Clinton” and the back and forth communications between Trump’s campaign staff and “somewhere in Russia” for several months, etc. We will find out more about them later on, I suppose.

Anyway, I am going to do my best to bask in the afterglow of our current President’s speech for as long as I can. He and his family have given us something to look up to. Good night. Sweet dreams.

Dear Mr. Trump,

I want to speak to the fact that you do not feel you are not getting the respect from the public and the media to which you are entitled. You feel you are being mocked and you are understandably hurt by this. It does hurt to be mocked publicly, or privately, for that matter.

For the past many, many months I have listened to you mock one person after another and smirk; one group of people after another and puff your chest out and bow to the applause. Rosie O’Donnell, Megyn Kelly, Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, a Gold Star Mother, a reporter who has a successful career in spite of birth defects and many more have come under the knife of your cruel and witless tongue.

You gave yourself permission to jettison the truth from your campaign agenda because “winning” is the important thing. You refuse to acknowledge facts that put the security of this country and its citizens in danger, because you like what Putin says about you. I don’t like Putin so I don’t care what he says about you.

I could go on, but there is no use. What I want to say is this: I think you are getting exactly the respect you deserve. In fact you are getting the respect you have taught us to show. You are being treated as you have been treating others. Not by the media that you call crooked. They are doing their jobs. You are being treated this way by the citizens, the majority of the people you serve, the people who did not vote for you.

You won! Congratulations! You had to cheat and lie and behave badly to win, but you won. That’s all that matters. You had to hurt people and make promises that are meaningless now, but you won. Now you get to live with the knowledge that the majority of the people of this country don’t respect that kind of behavior. You are the most unpopular person to ever take the oath of office for the President of the United States of America. But you won. Enjoy. But if you want to be treated better, you need to learn how to act better. Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.