Month: July 2017
Trump’s FBI Lies and the 5th Avenue Effect
Because of his lies and erratic behavior, Trump is the most dangerous President we have ever had. Trump just makes things up. People without any opposing information readily available to counter his false claims have no ability to question it at the time his statements are made. It is only afterwards that they find out that Trump’s statement is something he pulled out of thin air. From stealthy wiretapping former Presidents to false claims that the FBI had previously reported to the President before Nixon ruined it all with Watergate, his consistent, never-ending stream of falsehoods is astounding and unprecedented. Some will eventually realize that Trump is a fraud and a liar.
But, even if enough people realize what Trump really is, by that time, it is probably too late and the damage already done. If you are basing your decisions on “alternative facts” that are simply not true and you are President of the United States, then the likelihood you will make decisions that will greatly damage our great nation is pretty obvious. It is not rocket science. Blatant lies have consequences.
But if that wasn’t already serious enough for you, there is something more serious to consider. Lies like this will lead people to believe that they could shoot somebody on 5th avenue and suffer no consequences. It will lead someone to believe they can collude with foreign governments and suffer no consequences. It will lead someone to believe they can obstruct justice and suffer no consequences. It will lead someone to believe they can pardon themselves and suffer no consequences. It will lead someone to believe that they are above the law.
Is that someone you really want continuing to represent you in the White House? Is that someone you really want representing the face of America? If too many answer, “yes,” to any of these questions then all hope is lost and the fate that befell Russia where an autocratic leader murders or jails his opposition without any fear of reprisal, who will not relinquish the power he has enjoyed for over ten years, where the freedom to speak freely without government reprisal is limited is not a too far off distant future for America.
References:
Invite a Migrant Home to Dinner
This morning I watched an interview segment on a Sunday news program to commemorate the fallen in last year’s assault on police officers where five Dallas police officers were murdered and seven others wounded. David Brown, former Dallas Police Chief, closed the interview with a story. Brown was a product of Busing and racial desegregation. As a young boy, Brown was bused to an all-white school where he met a white classmate who invited Brown home to have dinner with his family.
David Brown’s whole perspective about race was changed by that single act of random kindness that included a couple of pot pies for dinner. “God knows,” Brown contemplated, “what I would think about people had Mike not invited me home for dinner.” The greatest move that we could ever make for our country and for ourselves is exactly to participate in that type of inclusive civility.
Walls are never good. Discriminating bans are never good. Building bridges is much better because it allows us to find out that the migrant, that foreign invader from another neighborhood, from another part of the world, that person that is so much different from us is not to be feared but actually turns out to be our best friend. It’s a priceless discovery because it is the solution to making our country and the world a better place.
Migrants have friends and family in other parts of the world who will hear stories similar to the story Police Chief Brown told. It will be the real “Voice of America.” That story will be retold and heard around the world. That is the real key to making America great and it has always been the key to America’s greatness from the very beginning when we declared “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.”
So, next time you are inclined to jump on a bandwagon that preaches division and divisiveness, jump off and invite someone from the other side to dinner instead.
July 4th Note #3: The Tweeting Conspiracy Theory Wackos
Travel Bans, Voter Fraud Commissions, Allegations of Wiretapping former Presidents; America: no longer the leader of democracy and freedom in the world, no longer the home of the brave but, now, proudly, the home of the new and improved tweeting conspiracy theory wackos.
July 4th Note #2: Let’s Enact a Travel Ban!
This 4th of July, forget about liberty and freedom and, instead, concentrate on the notion that they are all out to get us. We must hide our heads in the sand. We must succumb to every imagined fear we can. We must close all our boarders to all who seek refuge to show the world how autocratic and third world country we can be. You guessed it. It’s time to play, “Let’s Enact a Travel Ban!” Check local listings for dates and times.
July 4th Note #1: www.mad.evil.prez
This 4th of July we celebrate America’s new incivility towards each with the grand opening of the new website: www.mad.evil.prez. Disclaimer: this great new website while overstocked with lots of snake oil is not intended to be a replacement for divisive random tweets based upon nothing but conjecture, thoughtlessness and thin air.
The Panegyric Cabinet Meeting
Like a Roman emperor receiving his panegyric from his trusted and loyal subjects, the odd video of the first full cabinet meeting offered to the media last month, June 12 2017, is quite disturbing and alarming. I half expected to see each one of his cabinet members kneel in front of Trump to kiss his ring before they left the room. This is absolutely not something that happens in America. And yet, it is.
Anybody who believes in America, its implied stand against kings and personality cults, should be just as alarmed as I am. We don’t need Jonestown Kool-Aid. We don’t need a “Dear Leader.” “Dear Leaders,” they belong in North Korea. What we need from our representatives here in America is real work, transparency (not laws crafted in senatorial secrecy), a respect for law and order, an appreciation for traditional American protocols, a respect for our American government institutions, more civil discourse and inclusion, less concern for the pettiness of conceited personal image and then we need government officials championing our freedom and democracy instead of groveling at the feet of someone who fancies himself the newly appointed sovereign.
The Polarity Resistance 