Aug 28, 2020
Concerns for my country
At this moment in time, I am so concerned about the fate of the United States that words almost fail me. There are those who are demonized for caring about people, demonized for wanting justice for all citizens regardless of anything that makes them different, demonized for wanting a fair break for the powerless, demonized for wanting people to have health care, demonized by a lying candidate who has made the entire Republican Party a gang of dupes and sycophants. The party has become repugnant to all that it once was. If you are one, wonder what John McCain thinks of you or Abraham Lincoln?
The news is not fake. More Americans have COVID19 than any other nation on the planet, More Americans have died of COVID19 than any other country. And the numbers remain in the top three countries every day. The idea that testing, for example, is the problem, is a bad joke. I am glad that there weren’t people out there telling me that radar was producing attacking aircraft or incoming missiles and sonar was generating enemy submarines. And yet, there is no real presidential response except to deny, distract, claim claim the “mission accomplished on COVID, obfuscate, pressure career personnel misrepresent, D. C. has transitioned from a swamp to a cesspool.
The failure to criticize Putin tells you everything you need to know. Russia has paid bounty for U. S. and allied bodies. Not a word. China is good or bad depending on how Trump’s ego is stroked and what side of the bed he tweeted from. The stock market was all time but the workers in this country have been on the same pay scale since the 90s simply keeping the employments stats, before COVID, by accepting second and third low paying jobs. The pandemic crashed the markets, money was misdirected to non-tax paying corporations and a sniff sent to those with jobs. The job market is some of the worst conditions of all times but the stock market is soaring so all is good. If you believe the Party of Trump et alia, you really need to be deprogrammed.
You may criticize the democratic candidates for president and vice president all you want. But, I ask that you to use the same level of scrutiny to examine Trump and Pence. I ask you to decide whether your life is better today than it was four years ago. Remember, for the first two years, the Congress was completely controlled by republicans. In the last two years, the Congressional output has been essentially block by Mitch McConnell except for his conservative judge appointments. The “do nothing dems” in the House have passed about eight hundred bills that have been scuttled by McConnell as a matter of his own choice or in conjunction with Trump. I ask you, on this path, whether your life will be better four years from now. If not, what are you going to to about it?
Unfortunately, my words — here — will not get to the people who need to hear them. The venue is wrong and most eschew reading past the first paragraph. Then there’s the fake news thing.
I have known liars my whole life. They cheat the rules of a level playing field by claiming things that are not, by saying things that are known to be false in order gain advantage when honest people stop to evaluate the claim. Is winning the game by any means even winning? Hype a resume is the game that is on now.
It is a pity that honest people cannot compete with liars. In their simple commitment to the truth, to simply let their yeses be yes and their noes be no, they do not seem as attractive as those who claim the impossible. When people think, honest people have a chance. When the consumer of something does not think, the liar normally wins. There is the axiom that still matters: if it looks too good to be true, it is.
Next January, when all the garbage that is about to be dispensed is settled, what do you expect to see? I have one vision that is an autocratic state, a dystopian society split along party lines. Incivility will rule the day. Divide and conquer will have won. The other is not as attractive. It is one in which We the People will have to sit down with one another and try to resolve our difference in order to move forward. The former seems sexy to some of you. The latter is dire.
Tell you what, real Americans do dire better than almost any nation on Earth. Real Americans can go toe to toe with anyone not require special tariffs, taxes, incentives, etc. They don’t have to fake it till they make it because they usually make it very quickly. This era of false, insidious, neo-nationalistic era, in which forces we have defeated in past world wars now have a seat at the table, where the size of your arsenal counts more than the capacity of your brain, I hope it is a phase. But it is up to you.
I want to work on the more perfect union not the Trumpian “because I said so,” and “only I can fix it.” I want to work on the mentality that has allowed Trump to pervert American values. But only you can help. I know what I am doing. Do you? I know what real American values are. Do you?
Biden-Harris… it’s not a political thing, it’s a save our soul thing.
b.
