Look, no one's perfect.
But right now, it seems to me, our nation is governed not by imperfect people, who might at times rise to heights of greatness, but men (yes, some women, too) who are given to all the lesser instincts of humanity, and, frankly, incapable of greatness.
Sadly, such men hold the sway in two branches of our government, and are trying mightily to secure the third branch as well.
Given our Constitution, it works only when the people who govern seek its counsel, yet when all three branches of government are held by the venal and the immature, the Constitution can be disregarded, and there's no one around to provide the checks and balances essential to democracy.
We're in a real pickle right now, and its potential for harm is enormous, and growing daily.
Elections this November are critical to turning around the ship of state.
And, please remember, we're not looking for perfect people, but people at least capable of greatness when such is needed.
Sunday, September 30, 2018
Tuesday, September 18, 2018
Three Russians and a Bulgarian ...
Remember, the three Russians and the Bulgarian visiting us? No joke!
It was a good time ... the Bulgarian is home by now, and the three Russians are at their hotel and then in for a bit more travel before heading home.
If you can't travel, have some guests from other countries - there's always so much to learn.
We rode the train with them, and they were surprised to hear that it wasn't free for students and seniors.
Moscow's subway system is huge and works well, they said. And it's free for students and seniors.
Well, that's socialism for ya'.
And I thought:
Is that so evil?
Is that so wrong?
As a nation, we could do so much more for one another ... to boost life-quality ... to ensure a stable society ... to lift people out of the terrors of poverty ... give a little more health to each other ... better schools, transportation, housing ... we could do that, and more, if we wanted, and still there'd be plenty leftover for the top dogs.
The rich, of course, hate the idea, and keep telling us that we can't have free-riders and welfare queens robbing us.
They preach the message of scarcity, that somewhere someone undeserving will get something that doesn't belong to them, by taking it from us, who, of course, deserve it.
So we look at one another with a competitive eye, suspicious thoughts, and outright condemnation sometimes. After all, there isn't enough to go around, so we gotta fight for it, and there have to be losers, then, and that's okay, because the rich tell us so.
But the rich have it wrong, and I can only hope that in time, this nation will get it right.
It was a good time ... the Bulgarian is home by now, and the three Russians are at their hotel and then in for a bit more travel before heading home.
If you can't travel, have some guests from other countries - there's always so much to learn.
We rode the train with them, and they were surprised to hear that it wasn't free for students and seniors.
Moscow's subway system is huge and works well, they said. And it's free for students and seniors.
Well, that's socialism for ya'.
And I thought:
Is that so evil?
Is that so wrong?
As a nation, we could do so much more for one another ... to boost life-quality ... to ensure a stable society ... to lift people out of the terrors of poverty ... give a little more health to each other ... better schools, transportation, housing ... we could do that, and more, if we wanted, and still there'd be plenty leftover for the top dogs.
The rich, of course, hate the idea, and keep telling us that we can't have free-riders and welfare queens robbing us.
They preach the message of scarcity, that somewhere someone undeserving will get something that doesn't belong to them, by taking it from us, who, of course, deserve it.
So we look at one another with a competitive eye, suspicious thoughts, and outright condemnation sometimes. After all, there isn't enough to go around, so we gotta fight for it, and there have to be losers, then, and that's okay, because the rich tell us so.
But the rich have it wrong, and I can only hope that in time, this nation will get it right.
Saturday, September 15, 2018
We're a Pack of Fools
I know enough history
to know how history works ...
truth is told, sooner or later.
And of the US of A, these days,
history won't be kind to us.
We're a pack of fools who voted for an idiot.
Well, I didn't, and maybe you didn't either.
Maybe you stayed home.
Or maybe you voted Third Party.
Maybe you didn't want a "woman" in the WH.
Maybe you're anti-abortion.
Maybe you believed his lies.
Who the heck knows.
But somehow or the other, a moron is now in the WH.
And how he got there will be noted in history
as one of America's worst moments,
a dark click in time,
like McCarthy, when American went nuts.
Or when you had the flu
and crapped your pants.
Yup.
That's how history works.
to know how history works ...
truth is told, sooner or later.
And of the US of A, these days,
history won't be kind to us.
We're a pack of fools who voted for an idiot.
Well, I didn't, and maybe you didn't either.
Maybe you stayed home.
Or maybe you voted Third Party.
Maybe you didn't want a "woman" in the WH.
Maybe you're anti-abortion.
Maybe you believed his lies.
Who the heck knows.
But somehow or the other, a moron is now in the WH.
And how he got there will be noted in history
as one of America's worst moments,
a dark click in time,
like McCarthy, when American went nuts.
Or when you had the flu
and crapped your pants.
Yup.
That's how history works.
Friday, September 7, 2018
Pipe Dream
Pipe dream:
That men like Sessions and McConnell,
from the South,
could one day see the opportunity before them,
to address their own countrymen [sic] and call them upward
to defend and abide by the Constitution of the United States,
to "form a more perfect Union,"
to build bridges of understanding and
heal the wounds of division, and
then go to their graves
having bourn the burdens of greatness,
even in the latter days of their lives.
It's never to late to be great,
in the grasp of the issues,
and to hold before the Land an
exalted vision of the Common Good.
That men like Sessions and McConnell,
from the South,
could one day see the opportunity before them,
to address their own countrymen [sic] and call them upward
to defend and abide by the Constitution of the United States,
to "form a more perfect Union,"
to build bridges of understanding and
heal the wounds of division, and
then go to their graves
having bourn the burdens of greatness,
even in the latter days of their lives.
It's never to late to be great,
in the grasp of the issues,
and to hold before the Land an
exalted vision of the Common Good.
Wednesday, September 5, 2018
The Greatest Threat
Never, since the days of the Civil War, have we faced an internal threat the magnitude of which we presently have on our hands.
The monster in the White House would more than happily take away our freedoms, our democracy, our educational means, our social supports, our right to think and choose and make decisions.
Sadly, there are three groups, two of which use the third, to feather their own interests. Because of those interests, the first two groups despise democracy; the third is gripped by fearful ignorance, rendering the third group easily manipulated by the first two.
The rich know he'll give them what they want: all the money, and the rich in turn will give him power.
The evangelicals know he'll give them a SCOTUS to reverse Roe v. Wade and support anti-gay laws, and they in turn will support him.
The dispirited and the defeated white working class has been lead to believe he'll give them what they want: White Supremacy, and they in turn, as needed, will take up arms for him.
For reasons known but to God, the GOP, at large, has sold its soul to the monster in the White House, aiding and abetting the greatest threat to America since the Civil War.
The monster in the White House would more than happily take away our freedoms, our democracy, our educational means, our social supports, our right to think and choose and make decisions.
Sadly, there are three groups, two of which use the third, to feather their own interests. Because of those interests, the first two groups despise democracy; the third is gripped by fearful ignorance, rendering the third group easily manipulated by the first two.
The rich know he'll give them what they want: all the money, and the rich in turn will give him power.
The evangelicals know he'll give them a SCOTUS to reverse Roe v. Wade and support anti-gay laws, and they in turn will support him.
The dispirited and the defeated white working class has been lead to believe he'll give them what they want: White Supremacy, and they in turn, as needed, will take up arms for him.
For reasons known but to God, the GOP, at large, has sold its soul to the monster in the White House, aiding and abetting the greatest threat to America since the Civil War.
Tuesday, September 4, 2018
If Kavanaugh Is Confirmed
If Kavanaugh is confirmed, and I'm sure it'll happen, and then, sometime in the not too distant future, Roe v. Wade will be overturned, then the great Southern hope will come true - that states' rights will prevail over national purpose and unity.
Of course, some states will allow for the rights of women to make their own medical choices regarding pregnancy. Others, of course, chomping even now at the bit, will pass draconian laws against all such rights and freedoms.
This is what the South has always wanted, in order to protect and promote its own racist "peculiar institution," and it's now the evangelical way, as well, to protect and promote their own religious "peculiar institution."
The antebellum Southern Gentlemen in his time, and today's evangelicals, are all too similar in their lack of interest in the welfare of the nation or the common good above personal interest. Both, in their respective times, perceive their own interests to be of such a godly and virtuous proportion as to merit supremacy over all other considerations of national good and personal freedom.
As in other times, so today, American continues to face the largest questions of the Union - what's needed to keep us intact as a nation, with high ideals of welcome and freedom of thought, expression and endeavor, versus a smaller version of nationhood, driven by factionalism and small ideas pertinent to local customs or religious camps.
Moving ahead, in fits and starts, sometimes falling backward into fear and bigotry, we'll continue to march on. I have no doubt that the "south" will again lose the war, but at great cost to all. It's a storm we'll weather, but like any great storm, there will be damage, requiring of us a mighty effort to build for a new day.
Of course, some states will allow for the rights of women to make their own medical choices regarding pregnancy. Others, of course, chomping even now at the bit, will pass draconian laws against all such rights and freedoms.
This is what the South has always wanted, in order to protect and promote its own racist "peculiar institution," and it's now the evangelical way, as well, to protect and promote their own religious "peculiar institution."
The antebellum Southern Gentlemen in his time, and today's evangelicals, are all too similar in their lack of interest in the welfare of the nation or the common good above personal interest. Both, in their respective times, perceive their own interests to be of such a godly and virtuous proportion as to merit supremacy over all other considerations of national good and personal freedom.
As in other times, so today, American continues to face the largest questions of the Union - what's needed to keep us intact as a nation, with high ideals of welcome and freedom of thought, expression and endeavor, versus a smaller version of nationhood, driven by factionalism and small ideas pertinent to local customs or religious camps.
Moving ahead, in fits and starts, sometimes falling backward into fear and bigotry, we'll continue to march on. I have no doubt that the "south" will again lose the war, but at great cost to all. It's a storm we'll weather, but like any great storm, there will be damage, requiring of us a mighty effort to build for a new day.
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