Politics
Speaking Out Against Hate Doesn’t Require a Permit
Trump may not be a Nazi. But, he is something close to it and about as repugnant. The problem with Trump’s careless, disgusting and ignorant comments about “both sides” being responsible for the violence in Charlottesville is that it doesn’t address the fact that “both sides” did not drive a car into the other side. “Both sides” did not murder somebody from the opposing side. Only one side did that.
Trump is a complete failure as a leader. Trump has proven time and time again that he is more worried about his image, more worried about his dwindling base of supporters than he is about the country as a whole. No President in our nation’s history has ever directed their statements about national concerns exclusively to only their supporters while completely ignoring the rest of the country. He is a deadly combination of brash inexperience, unapologetic arrogance and uncontrollable ego—the perfect prototype for America’s first despot and tyrant.
Unfortunately, Trump’s ridiculous statement about the hate-group combating “leftists’” that had failed to obtain a Permit just demonstrates how limited the thoughts in his poor mind must be. Did it surprise Trump that not only Neo-Nazi’s could attend a rally; that there might actually be respectable people who think hate groups in America might be a bad thing and that they should actually bravely speak up and say something about it? That there are actually good people with viewpoints that oppose the hatred that the rally marchers were promoting really is something that should have been lauded by any normal, respectable leader of the free world. As American citizens, these so called “leftists” had every right to be there. Sorry “Mr. President,” speaking out against hate doesn’t require a permit.
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.
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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.
Fear Itself Does not make America First
There was a U.S. President in the last century who came from a family of wealth. He offered to the American people a statement for their consideration. It may not have been any type of pompous executive order. But it was definitely a little more hopeful than the current chaotic disruption that defines today’s White House as it had taken a clear stand against the unreasonable, over imagined fears people might harbor.
The idea was simple as much as it was reassuring: “the only thing we have to fear is…fear itself.” We should remember that. Reacting hysterically and irrationally to suggestions that the sky is falling will typically lead to rash, uninformed decisions. And these decisions may vary dependent upon what side of the bed you get up on or from which direction the wind blows or what acorn happens to hit you on the head. This is never a good thing.
Rather than inciting panic and taking advantage of the hidden fears that people might have, our President from the last century made a deliberate decision to instill hope into the hearts of people. We, as Americans, can meet any challenge. And we can do it as Americans who believe in liberty and justice for all. It is much different from the messages conveyed by rival totalitarian states or by the despotic tyrants our current President might admire and praise. “And justice for all,” if you notice, is not justice for some; not justice for only Americans; it’s “and justice for all.”
America is not first because it hides its head in the sand. America is not first because it embraces an isolationism like we tried to embrace before World War II. America is not first because it denies evidence produced by scientific research or attempts to villainize scientists in the face of evidence that proves “the world is round and not flat.” America is first because we believe in liberty and justice for all. We are ready to meet any challenge and confront any foe who might want to threaten our liberty even if it comes from within.
Our principals are based upon traditions of tolerance and empathetic religious influences that encourages us to reach out to others, promoting our ideals of freedom, liberty and justice to all nations even when it means there is a chance that the freedom we advocate might cause deranged people to take advantage of our generosity and our openness. It may even cause them to try to attack us. But we need to take that risk. Without that balance pragmatism we are no better off than the many despotic, autocratic countries in the world afraid of their own shadows and paranoid that around every corner is the next boogieman. Those types of countries are perfectly willing to sacrifice liberty and justice in order to preserve their presumed security.
“America First” is not a notion that needs to be promoted if you really believe in America. In fact, that slogan should be avoided if you are true to what really makes America great. That idea about being “first” was tried by the Nazi’s when it was “Germany first” and it was that exact slogan of “America First” that was herald by Nazi sympathizers here in America before World War II. Any historian with the most meager of credentials will tell you just how much isolationist ideas contributed to the events that led up to World War II. Had those ideas been kept in check there is a good chance World War II could have been avoided.
So, we know, from the lessons of history and reinforced by centuries old biblical lessons (i.e. Matthew 20:16), the idea that we should turn selfishly inward to be “first” will certainly only make us last. Refocusing on what really is important about America; making liberty and justice first, working on projects that are not exclusively about ourselves, doing things for others, being the good neighbor, like we always have done in the past, is the only way America keeps its position as the leader of the free world. It is the only way that America can be first. It is the only way America will be first.
Off-Color Remarks in Jokes
The problem with Colbert’s inclusion of an off-color remark in the joke he told last week is that now, instead of keeping the focus of attention on Trump’s reckless, baseless, unsubstantiated, totally unthoughtful, untruthful and outrageous claims about a former President that might highlight for the general public Trump’s incompetency as a leader, the focus of attention is now on Colbert’s controversial remark. The focus is no longer where it should be. For a political joke to be effective, you need to keep the focus of attention squarely directed on the target of the joke, not on yourself.
But, on the other hand, I don’t believe the FCC has much of a chicken leg to stand on if they want to consider fining Colbert given that the word Colbert used means something totally benign with the formal use of the word in the English language. If you look the word up in any Google search, the definition is: “a male bird, especially a rooster.” So, to the FCC chairman and his crusade to spend time and money to investigate something that would have been outright dismissed by any other sane, less vindictive administration, I only have one thing to say: “Cock-a-doodle-do.” Besides, the less time the FCC spends “investigating” something that doesn’t need to be investigated, the more time the FCC and congress can get back to destroying our internet protections and making your life on the internet less secure and more annoying.
Presidential Mouthwash
It’s pretty obvious that the controversial portion of Stephen Colbert’s joke contained a statement that was quite inappropriate. And I think Colbert should offer an apology. Also, to further differ with Colbert on that topic, of course Trump’s mouth is good for other things.
For example, Trump’s mouth is good for telling Billy Bush how great it is to be able to grab things he shouldn’t. Or exclaiming how former Presidents have dressed-up in stealthy black attire to sneak into his towers to bug his every conversation. Or how the Intelligence community knows less than he does about the fairytale of Russian hacking. “Fake news” is Trump’s mouth’s middle name. Therefore, Trump’s mouth is good for anyone who aspires to be a despot or who wants to disgrace our American form of democracy.
For those cases, Trump’s mouth is the perfect useful tool. No longer is it just a pen for Putin’s prize Rooster. Speaking of which, that also now explains why I always thought I saw feathers flying around Trump’s head after ever watching him speak. It all makes sense now.
The Polarity Resistance 