My Nation

My nation has entered upon difficult days.
Dark and dangerous times.

Two competing visions of America.
One, generous and kind, mindful of people, not the dollars.

Determined to help everyone find the American Dream.
Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Fully understanding:
We're all in this together.

Because all of us owe a huge debt to one another.
A debt paid without question or regret.

The other, of course, all about the dollars.
Government on the cheap.

With a mission to further feather the pockets of the mega-rich.
While telling everyone else to take a hike.

Or, worse,
"Improve yourselves and get your own money."

Somehow or other believing the money taken by the mega-rich,
Will trickle on down to the rest of us.

Which it never does.
Because once it's gone into the money machine of the rich.

It's gone.
Gone forever.

Taken from us.
US ... you and me.

Who made this money, in the first place.
With sweat of brow and brawn and brain.

Two visions.
And the contest is on.

We've seen it play out before.
In the fateful days leading up to Sumter.

Gettysburg and Shiloh.
Bull Run and Chickamauga.

And out of the smoke and blood.
Other such seasons, as these two recurring visions lock horns.

Hoover and the Great Depression.
Busted banks that went too far.

And then FDR.
Out of the blue, so to speak.

A man of polio.
Who knew what it was to depend upon others.

FDR. Who wasn't perfect.

Understood this America of mine.

So did Eisenhower.
And even Nixon.

But the GOP has, as of late, gone mad.
I mean, really, thoroughly, deplorably, mad.

There is no kindness left in its ranks.
Bitterness and bigotry have consumed its soul.

Racism and misogyny.
War and power.

A disgust with the poor.
And love of money.

Led by a madman.
A Russian puppet?

Who knows what scurrilous elements comprise this closet.
What shenanigans hide beneath that mop of hair.

So, where are we?
For now, bad times.

As the GOP flexes its muscles.
To deconstruct FDR's America.

And create Amerika anew.
A feudal society.

A few haves.
And the rest, have-nots.

This, too, will run its course.
But not before damage has been done.

Real damage.
That may take years to repair.

And some damage, permanent.
Beyond the failsafe point.

Two visions now test America's soul.
I stand with FDR on this one.

An America for all.
An America ... for all.