***A note about the image: I did not create this figure. I only added the majority of text and I did add the blush to the cheeks. The original figure, an American caricature, of “Uncle Sam” (which has become iconic) was originally painted by cartoonist James Montgomery Flagg in 1917 for an American poster that was used for recruitment into the US Army. The poster came into popular use in 1918.
Only in America can you have more mass shootings than any other country in the world. This past week there was yet another school shooting 19 children dead and 1 teacher dead. I grow more infuriated each time this happens knowing it could be prevented.
Here are some basic facts:
1. The politicians are the first to say "we are sorry, our condolences and prayers go out to the victims and their families."
2. These same politicians have REFUSED to take any meaningful action on gun control.
3. These same politicians are "Pro-Life" (anti-abortion): as if to say you need to have your babies so they can grow up and be shot in school. Hey It's just target practice right? It's as if they value infants more than children.
4. These same politicians pockets are financially lined by the powerful gun lobby and NRA.
5. These same politicians feature political adds with them promoting guns.
6. Obviously the voters don't care because they keep voting these people back in to office.
7. The best ideas these bastards have are BAD ideas that only harm the learning environment and teach children to be even more afraid, like:
- Making teachers carry guns
- adding more police presence in schools
- lock down schools
- give children bullet proof backpacks and blankets to keep in the classroom
- give children more training on how to avoid being shot
8. Something's gotta give!
STOP hiding, like cowards, behind the 2nd amendment which has nothing to do with what is currently happening in America. The founding fathers would be so ashamed.
NO MORE INACTION!!!!!!!!!!!
Vote the bastards OUT!!!!!!!!
Gun Control NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The time for "prayers and condolences" is OVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
***Share this with everyone (though I doubt few will - because they've become de-sensitized and just don't give a fuck anymore). Welcome to America.
It’s amazing how true this video is. We are experiencing totalitarianism on an emotional level right now and it is bubbling under the surface of society and culture ready to break out on the surface.
Whether it’s the manufactured fear generated by the media that governs politicians decisions as opposed to wisdom.
Whether it’s the ever-present observance and loss of privacy generated by corporations and the government thru various surveillance systems and how that is being used to manufacture paranoia. I’m reminded of something the corporation I work for put out about two years ago which stated, “You should assume, when you are at work, that there is NO privacy. Everything is being watched and can be recorded.”
How long will we continue to accept the degradation of civility and vote people into power and support corporations, media, politicians and religions that will continue to generate fear, paranoia, and control over the citizenry?
What will you do and continue to give up in order to live? And is that really living? People may say “Oh, It can’t get that bad.” but that’s exactly how it does happen. The lie that causes people to let down their guards and accept the small changes that lead to the complete transformation. The lie becomes the truth. There is no difference.
Now some may argue that this post itself is manufacturing fear. I want to be very clear my intent is NOT to manufacture fear. I do not want people to be afraid. I want them to WAKE UP! I want all my readers to be ALIVE AND AWAKE not the walking dead.
I was digging through my vinyl collection and came across a real gem of a double album titled The Best Of The Mills Brothers. It had this wonderful song on it which I now dedicate to all politicians. Because they always hurt the one they claim to love (the country and people they serve who voted them into office).
I grew up in a safe environment. Everything was safe. The food was safe. Society was safe. School was safe. Home was safe. But as I got older I learned that it wasn’t safe it was just protected.
There are people who still want to live in their own comfortable “protected” worlds. But protection is a myth. A legend elders tell children. It does not exist. And insisting it does exist, does not make it so.
Further I suggest that propagating this delusion is more harmful than preparing for the facts. The truth. Example: Climate change deniers often use their arguments as an excuse to keep from preparing for the consequences of climate change and taking action to slow it’s impact. And now with the pandemic, humanities approach to disease belies their own unpreparedness. Death and sickness has become unacceptable (even though it is inevitable) So they wear masks, they fight over it, they try to shame those who are “awake” and not afraid. They want a safe world where things don’t change. The climate doesn’t change. People don’t get sick and die. The world doesn’t change. Everything is safe.
What does this have to do with difficult music/difficult listening?
Like the quote from William S Burroughs in the Laurie Anderson video,
“language is a virus from outer space.”
Difficult music challenges a listeners perception of the norm. It suggests there is something else we need to consider. It suggests that we look into the dark corners. Difficult music is to sound what abstract expressionism was/is to art. And most people who have abstract art work treat if more as wallpaper than as something that has something to say/contribute to the conversation of our times. And in music, people typically do not choose to engage it because it requires them to think about what they are listening to. It is often difficult if not impossible to just hang it on a wall as pretty wallpaper for the soul. Difficult music is often derided as messy, juvenile, scary, ugly, inaccessible (not conforming to any known genre parameters) and ultimately ignored. It is the red-headed stepchild of the music world.
But we can learn much from difficult music. It is not something to be afraid of. The shadows are not scary if you enter with a flashlight. It can teach us about ourselves in ways we haven’t considered or dared think about. But to encounter and engage difficult music one must be prepared and perhaps that is the problem with our “protected”, “safe” elders they are not prepared and they do not know how to prepare the younger generation for the facts and truth of existence.
So, do you want to explore difficult music? Don’t know where to start?
Step One: Turn off the radio and TV – they are notorious “taste makers” that would rather keep you safe than expose you to truth. There are many artists that have helped me in preparing for the real world. I started learning about many “difficult” artists just from reading the underground music press (back in the 1980’s) when popular music was experiencing an explosion of variety. But difficult music existed long before I started reading about it.
Here are some artists you can start with (in no particular order):
Laurie Anderson Public Enemy
Einsturzende Neubauten/Blixa Bargeld The Last Poets
Alva Noto Lustmord
Laibach Rapoon/Zoviet*France
Robert Fripp/King Crimson et al Ornette Coleman
Diamanda Galas Lester Bowie
Sun Ra Terry Riley
The Art Ensemble of Chicago Steve Reich
Philip Glass (early works) Markus Reuter
Robert Rich Scott Walker (after 1994)
Merzbow Cabaret Voltaire
Swans Nurse With Wound
Matana Roberts Godspeed You! Black Emperor
The above artists all have work available on Youtube so enjoy your excursion into difficult music. Maybe in the future I’ll write about some of the specific recordings. Again this is just an introduction to difficult listening. Maybe not what you want to listen to in these difficult times but the music does speak to the truth of the times we are experiencing.
I’ll start you off with this Nurse With Wound video for the song BOTTOM FEEDER
Are the two videos describing things that we are seeing now?
The situations are different but the practices and results are the same.
Any American citizen who is afraid of China and Russia needs to watch these videos and ask if we should continue down this path we are on. Just because we can doesn’t mean we should. These videos highlight two history lessons from America’s past. A dark history at best and a sinister dangerous chapter that should NEVER be repeated. But it IS currently being repeated with a 21st Century twist promoted by the President of the United States enabled by his republican supporters, spread by the media, a democratic opposition propagating dangerous alternate views. There is no balance. The deep cynicism of politicians in Washington is doing more harm than help. While Trump and his Republicans have ushered in the end of Democracy the Democrats are securing it. There is only foolishness on both sides. Surely the hunger for POWER, the FEAR, ANGER, HATRED, IGNORANCE and DISTRUST are the same.
“Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.” – Matthew 12:25
Very few people around the world, and even fewer American’s know how far back the systemic racism goes in the United States – where attention spans limit any thorough reading of the US Constitution. For most American’s. Their knowledge of the Constitution Of The United States is a piece of yellowed paper with hard to read writing that is somehow supposed to be important.
But the United States Constitution is a very important part of our history and needs to be understood – and, I would suggest, needs updated. Because it has not been updated or understood it has allowed for any old jackass, like the president of the united states, to interpret it as he wishes and even use it as a weapon to justify his own racism.
Racism has existed in America before and ever since it became the United States of America. It is actually a part of the US Constitution. Don’t be shocked – slavery was part of the “national” economy when the Constitution was drafted. And I suppose that is where the trouble starts – when humans are viewed as products because of the color of their skin to be sold and traded at the will and whim of whites.
During the US Constitution Convention of 1783 – which was created to frame the government by creating constitutional guidelines. During the convention something happened that became known as the 3/5ths compromise. The article under debate was relating to taxation and representation. Many states wanted representation to be reflected by the number of people in each state and taxes determined by property (i.e. the more property the higher the taxes). While many southern states liked the idea of increased representation because of their slave population they objected to the notion of being taxed for their property since black and brown slaves were considered property which meant not only higher representation in congress but higher taxes also.
There arose what became known as the 3/5th compromise which allowed southern states to be taxed on only 3/5ths of their slave population. So this effectively denied humanity to 2/5ths of the slave population. That is like saying to every single black and brown person, “You’re not allowed to do ‘this’, or ‘that’ because you’re only 3/5ths of a human being. “You’re not even a complete human being”. That is outrageous!!!!!!
Thus the United States Constitution Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3 states:
“Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons.”
Now there was some good news to follow but it didn’t come until after the Civil War – and frankly, by then the damage had been done. Generations covering 80+ years had viewed people of color as “not entirely human”. The good news came in the form of the 14th amendment to the US Constitution which completely reverses the 3/5th compromise and states the “whole” number of people will be counted. So people of color were declared by law to be “whole” persons again.
Not that they needed white politicians to tell them that – but it did afford them the same protections as white people. So why do I say the damage was done? Well peoples minds were not that easily persuaded and by 1877 slave states started subverting the new law and actively sought ways to disenfranchise people of color. And that has been going on even into the modern era. Today people of color have been disenfranchised from property ownership, disenfranchised from voting because of all the voting district gerrymandering by politicians, Disenfranchised from education, career opportunities and economic success. There MUST be reparations. Reparation will be difficult for everyone. But putting it off because it will be difficult is not a sufficient excuse. The longer we wait the harder it will become. It will require a political will to change tax law, economic law, police law, credit law, and major criminal justice reform.
More than ever before we need to use the popular quote by John F Kennedy (which he stated about going to the moon) and apply it to reparations:
“We choose to …, not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win, and the others, too.”
Where are our leaders with the political will to make this happen? It makes me angry to hear politicians deny the widespread systemic racism that exists. They are afraid – and they should be – because we live in a time of tyranny. And we must overthrow tyranny.
A great quote commonly misattributed to Thomas Jefferson (But no one knows for sure who first said it):
“When government fears the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny.”
I’d ask each of you to ask the question: What is our world and culture doing to me? Is it making me more human or less human?
I recently watched the excellent and possibly most aggressive film Ingmar Bergman ever directed. It’s called SHAME. Even though the setting is an imagined Civil War it is a reflection of his thoughts and feelings about WWII and the Vietnam War. It is one of the better anti-war films because it graphically shows what happens to “third parties” in a conflict (i.e. not the principal players) On the Criterion Collection edition DVD there is an interview with Bergman’s muse at-the-time, Liv Ullman. She recounts what Bergman said at the time:
“He said, ‘What we have to be aware of for ourselves is coldness, indifference, looking down at other people, lack of contact with other people….'”
I love that quote and I think it is a perfect thing for us to meditate on in these times in which we live, where there is rapidly rising partisanship, greater ideological divides and an onslaught of excessive blame, cruel judgement, harsh criticism, hatred, lies and extremism in every format (even advertisements – I’m thinking of a weed killer commercial where a woman shouts “Kill em ALL”). And when extremism is presented as humorous or justified as mocking and we laugh – we add to the problem and become insensitive. We need to THINK and think critically about what we consume in media and advertisements. It’s easy to get caught up in all the reporting about this and that twitter feud but as we do we also become more emotionally trapped by that. We begin to choose sides. We are blind to the fact about how that is slowly stripping away our humanity. We cease to see people, who disagree with us, as human. We desire to see them treated as the animals we perceive in their reported and confessed behavior. It’s the old trap: An eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth…… Before you know we become the animals ourselves.
So how do we rise above? And even though I don’t identify as Christian anymore – I’ve always loved Jesus Christ and am amazed that religious people (especially in America), who seek positions of power in their religion and in politics, fail to see that what they seek is what killed their Savior to begin with. It was not the Jews (as a race) who killed Christ it was religion and politics. Politics because of Roman leadership that refused to get involved and handed Christ over to the religious leaders; it was then religious moral high-mindedness, protectionism and fear that finished the job. Both politicians and religious leaders wanted to maintain control of the people and how did they do that? They killed love.
So back to my question how do we rise above it? First we need to come down to earth. How do we stop ourselves from becoming the thing we hate? I think the answer lies in Bergman’s quote. We need to remain warm in our observations of others and realize that those in the news, twitter, facebook, youtube or whatever other outlet that allows their dehumanizing hate to be vomited out into the world, are still human. Human in spite of the latest outrage. We NEED to find a way to see them as human beings that are worth saving. We need to reach out to hear them, understand them and meet them part way. If we criticize them and ridicule them, judge them, shame them and embarrass them we do nothing to win them over. We only become more like them and when we realize that – then shame sets in and we are filled with shame and self-loathing. Lost in a cycle we can see no way out of. It takes someone to step outside the self-perpetuating cycle and say, “Wait…. I’m sorry, while I disagree with what you are saying or how your are expressing it I’d like to hear more about why you feel that way and see if there’s a way we can work through it together.” And when they say something you disagree with ask them, “Why do you think that will work or how will that help the situation?” There is NOT one way to do things.
That sets the stage for dialog – it’s the beginning of change. We cease to be lost in the coldness of our own defenses. When we stop the polemicizing and start listening to other peoples stores we cease to be trapped by the indifference we feel toward others. We stop looking down on others and take steps to heal the contact, the bond between us that makes us uniquely human. We stop defining the other person as “them” or “the other”. We also need to stop being offended by criticism. Remember offense is something you take = it’s not given to you. Accept criticism and respond lovingly and appropriately. And if you give criticism and the other person is offended you can be the salve, the healing balm with a simple “I’m sorry, I did not mean to offend I was just trying to express what I feel. Why does that offend you?”
So are you tired of the “ball of confusion” that perpetuates modern society?
If you are, I dare you seek out difference and find a way to meet it and meet with it. You can rise above it all. WE can rise above it all. When we help others rise up – especially those who are different with different ideologies, beliefs, moral centers, values ….. when we help others we help ourselves. I dare you. Will you dare? You might be surprised who will come along.
RISE UP
STAY HUMAN – “All I want to do is stay human with you…..”
It’s not going to happen unless we (you and I) make it happen.
BE THE CHANGE
BLACK AS NIGHT “I believe in the good things coming…”
Pass it on. Link this post to your blog, tweet it to everyone!
(5/2019)
What happened to my country?
I feel like an alien in my own land
where everything old is new again
old arguments
new context
the earth is flat
we never landed on the moon
the return of nazism returns and
white supremacy, nationalism, dictators
abortion rights
suppression of the press
the end of free speech
power of the gun
more walls fewer bridges
tiki torches over electricity
more bombast less wisdom
voter suppression
denial, deny everything
forcing yes by saying no
lie, lie, lie like there’s no tomorrow
the holocaust never happened
domestic terrorism rules the day
a normality of school shootings
armed teachers
corporate kings keep half of America
addicted to opioids
never once asking if they should
they knew they could earn a ton of dough
from the drug trade
so they would
act now apologize later
Is this the death of America or just democracy?
the all-you-can-eat
brimstone and treacle buffet
Every moral notion I’ve EVER had
is being crushed by
the people who taught me
everyone has their religion but no one believes
religion is politicized, weaponized and bastardized
everyone is talking
no one is listening
technology moves forward
while humanity falls
faster backward
Where are the lovers the haters have killed?
we pray for ourselves by cursing others
we pray for our kind and curse differences
as if only we matter
sameness perpetuates division
diversity has become a word
to bring attention to our differences
not the things that unite us
Everyone wants to be Goliath
the bigger the better
determined to change history
but they forgot David won the war
believing they can turn back the clock
moving forward in the delusion of progress
taking a life synonymous with birth
the rights of the living aborted for
the rights of the unborn, the nonhuman,
the corporate, the government, the powerful
the dog serves its master
the worm serves the fish
and the pigs shit everywhere
America, where is your
o, beautiful for spacious skies?
when did the battle hymn of the republic change?
Now we only trample through the vineyard
where we grow our own grapes of wrath
and prepare to loose the lightning
of our own swift sword
beating the drum to war
unnecessarily we forgot the
beauty of the lilies and
Christ irrelevant born
forget about his glory transfiguration
it’s just you and me
(sung) Glory, glory hallelujah
Glory, glory hallelujah
glory, glory hallelujah
only the lie is marching on
America America
God shed his
onward christian soldiers
white privilege freedom thieves
now crown your good
white brotherhood
from sea to shining sea
and Jesus doesn’t love the children
all the children of the world
red and yellow, black and white
white are precious in his sight
that’s not the way the fucking songs go!
Hopefully artificial intelligence
will be ‘cause actual intelligence
seems to be the victim of extinction
let there be peace on earth
and let it begin with
someone else
FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!
God will not intervene!
even God wouldn’t deny the freewill
that humanity denies each other
God knows no borders
yet the rich and powerful use God
to force crisis borne of political expediency,
build walls and wage wars
Protect the money
grow the money
protect the money
grow the money
say it with me
protect the money, grow the money!
there is no happy ending here
man may have been made in the image of God but
God is still an extra-terrestrial alien creator
killed by its own creation
just as humanity will be killed by technology
the thing it creates
there is no rapture
the second coming came and went
it’s hard to imagine heaven
when all we create is hell
God damned humanity and
only humanity can save itself
I’m sorry if you were hoping for
words of encouragement
words of hope
words of inspiration
this vessel has been emptied and
washed clean
ready for a new beginning
let it begin
let the day begin!
On second thought
I think I’ll leave it empty for awhile
Forgive me if I do not take your hand
White hand
Leprous hand
White as snow
You sound like help and look like death
Forgive me if I do not take your hand
White hand, leprous hand, white as snow
your heart is too close to the skin
you cannot see what I see
Your deformity prevents you
from feeling the pain you cause
Forgive me if I do not take your hand
White hand, leprous hand, white as snow
I see the disease you bring
Hidden among your so-called gifts
Your virtues tainted by
The supremacy of your unclean hand
Forgive me if I do not take your hand
White hand, leprous hand, white as snow
The diseased heart has spread to the hand
You build your gated communities, armed fortresses
Of wealth, leper colonies, prisons of your own making
Separating you from a whole world of wonder
Forgive me if I do not take your hand
White hand, leprous hand, white as snow
You seek to unify YOUR family
By separating ours… mine
You burn bridges and build walls
Usurper of truth, teller of lies
Forgive me if I do not take your hand
White hand, leprous hand, white as snow
The lesions of your thinking
Discolored by the deafening roar of hatred, intolerance & FEAR
I could feel sorry for you
If it were not for the swift kick
Of your Jackboot and the Searing heat of your tiki torch
Forgive me if I do not take your hand
White hand, leprous hand, white as snow
The prophesy has foretold
You will starve, you will lose all you had,
You will die by your own white hand
And when there is no more white
Who will be left to dig your grave?
Forgive me if I do not take your hand
White hand
Leprous hand
White as snow.
In the current political climate regarding migrants in the United States and the world – this image can be a visual metaphor for the futility of walls(“fences”) and gives me hope for the future. We should be using our resources to build bridges – NOT walls!
“All propaganda has to be popular and has to accommodate itself to the comprehension of the least intelligent of those whom it seeks to reach.”
~ Adolph Hitler
This sadly shows what has happened here in America in politics, media and religion and can be seen on the rise throughout the world. It is a race to the bottom.
******************
and now… the uplift…. As bad as things seem to get there is still hope. The lower things go the easier it will be to turn around and head back up. Here’s some uplifting music to help turn things around.
CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE IS SOMETIMES NEEDED TO GET TO A BETTER PLACE
We are living in a time where civil disobedience may be needed.
Some favorite quotes from a classic scholarly treatise from someone who might be considered a domestic terrorist in our current time ~ Henry David Thoreau: July 12, 1817 – May 6, 1862 – Quotes from CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE AND OTHER ESSAYS.
“If the injustice is part of the necessary friction of the machine of government, let it go, let it go: perchance it will wear smooth–certainly the machine will wear out… but if it is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then I say, break the law. Let your life be a counter-friction to stop the machine. What I have to do is to see, at any rate, that I do not lend myself to the wrong which I condemn.”
“Unjust laws exist; shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them, and obey them until we have succeeded, or shall we transgress them at once? Men generally, under such a government as this, think that they ought to wait until they have persuaded the majority to alter them. They think that, if they should resist, the remedy would be worse than the evil. But it is the fault of the government itself that the remedy is worse than the evil. It makes it worse. Why is it not more apt to anticipate and provide for reform? Why does it not cherish its wise minority? Why does it cry and resist before it is hurt? Why does it not encourage its citizens to be on the alert to point out its faults, and do better than it would have them?”
“If a plant cannot live according to its nature, it dies; and so a man.”
“Even voting for the right is doing nothing for it. It is only expressing to men feebly your desire that it should prevail. A wise man will not leave the right to the mercy of chance, nor wish it to prevail through the power of the majority. There is but little virtue in the action of masses of men.”
“A very few, as heroes, patriots, martyrs, reformers in the great sense, and men, serve the State with their consciences also, and so necessarily resist it for the most part; and they are commonly treated by it as enemies.”
“I think that we should be men first, and subjects afterward. It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right. The only obligation which I have a right to assume is to do at any time what I think right. It is truly enough said that a corporation has no conscience; but a corporation of conscientious men is a corporation with a conscience.”
“Is a democracy, such as we know it, the last improvement possible in government? Is it not possible to take a step further towards recognizing and organizing the rights of man?”
“I believe,—“That government is best which governs not at all;” and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have.”
*****Do you have a favorite passage from this particular collection of essays that is not in the list above? If so feel free to post it in your comment.
Now, a classic hiphop tune for your enjoyment – civil disobedience in the 20th Century and beyond.
Being a citizen of the United States Of America the past 8 months have been excruciatingly difficult to endure. We have a President (along with other White House leadership) with no self-control, no discretion, no discipline, no compassion and no love who continues to emotionally/psychologically abuse, harass and harm the very people he is supposed to lead. Never has so much damage been done in and to the office of President of the United States than has occurred under Donald Trump. It will only go to deepen the cynicism and distrust that people have for politicians. I think the notion of a politician being a force for good is not even possible with the current leadership. It has been depressing to daily and sometimes hourly see breaking news stories of how the President has, yet again, done something so outrageous and shocking that it is virtually unbelievable. We are being forced to watch a reality media show that is seemingly never-ending. And the media is focusing on the sensational. Now I have no great love for the media and that is about the only thing Donald Trump and I have in common. Our reasons for disliking the media are completely different. I would like to see more investigative journalism and less sensational journalism. Trump just decries anything he doesn’t like as “fake news”. But it’s NOT fake news it is the reality we live in.
This past weekend we saw many developments in the United States. The rise of racism, talks of secession, hatred for all things non-white. And in the past few months we’ve been seeing the increased likelihood of nuclear war with North Korea, Venezuela, and a trade war with China. Sure with all this “madness” it would be easy to throw in the towel and say it is WAY bigger than anything I can have any power over or change. But I’m not ready to do that. Now more than ever we need to be strong.
We do need to look at both sides of a story but we also need to address and stand up to those values and positions that would harm others or enslave them for ones own enrichment. For example: The American Constitution has a provision for free speech and lawful assembly. These laws apply to ALL people – even people who believe differently from me. So for neo-nazis, white supremacists etc; we must acknowledge they have the right to protected free speech (we just don’t have to like it). Just like people who oppose them have the right to protected free speech. Now I know a lot of people are going to be uncomfortable with that notion. But as a follower of Jesus Christ I am a FIRM believer in what he taught about loving ones enemies (I’ll explain more on that later). It’s just that in these troubled times it is difficult to STOP, take a moment, consider, weigh ones reactions before making those reactions public. But that is exactly what we must do. I do not love Donald Trump’s policies I specifically hate his approach to what should be collaborative, positive working relationships. I hate his non-stop “twittering”. But I do NOT wish him dead. I hate now Trump and many in the white house continues to hold his business interests (even if they are in his children’s names – who are his official presidential advisors and aides) creating conflicts of interest. I cannot hate a man who is misguided, foolish, delusional and emotionally unstable. I can honestly say I’ve had to think about this long and hard. The past 8 months have shown me that we all have the capacity for hatred but we do not all act on that. I understand why people may think that the only way to solve this crisis we face in America is to kill or assassinate Donald Trump. I understand because I felt myself slipping into the same hate for hate thinking and had to stop myself. I pray to God that Donald Trump is not assassinated. Here’s why. I don’t have any confidence in the Vice President that would take his place. And killing Donald Trump would only give the alt-right extremists the martyr they’d love to have – which they would use to justify further violence. On top of that as a Christian I am against the death penalty for anyone because I believe that just as God gives life he also takes it away it is not up to man take life away. And anyone who behaves abominably should have the opportunity to change or, to use an archaic term, repent. If they are killed we are depriving them of that opportunity. So death is NOT the answer. But Donald Trump should be impeached and that needs to happen ASAP (in my opinion). I seriously doubt that Trump will survive to the end of his first term.
Sadly America can only blame itself for creating AND electing Donald Trump the tyrant. No one should be surprised by what he is doing. He used the same tactics in his reality TV shows. People who have participated in his shows “THE APPRENTICE” and “CELEBRITY APPRENTICE” have noted how Trump would pit people against each other, he would harass and harangue people to create and build drama in the show. He is a victim of his own celebrity – believing in a false value of self. Unfortunately, we can see that what works on television isn’t what works as a world leader. He has also gotten support from an “Evangelical Right” that uses scripture to justify and encourage Donald Trump giving him a false moral justification for all he does. This same type of Evangelical movement that uses the Christian Bible to justify white supremacy also supported Hitler and The Third Reich (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Evangelical_Church). I also think it may be time to do away with the electoral college. There was a time when the electoral college had value. But in the internet age the electoral college is an archaic institution that can only do more harm than good. It is time to elect leaders only by popular vote.
Now about love. It may seem odd and unlikely to read about love in this type of post. I think it is necessary to bring the needed balance and provide level-headed options to the discussion. Please consider this; how do we love a tyrant, a despot, an oligarch, a hate-filled man? We CANNOT react in the ways he reacts. We can find ways to slow down the discussion allowing time for all parties to think about their positions. We can act respectful to them without agreeing with them. We can seek to remove them from their position for their own good. Donald Trump is clearly over his head and he is being battered on all sides continually and that would be enough to make anyone crack. The kindest thing we can do for America is also the kindest thing we can do for Donald Trump. Impeach him. Remove him from the position that is causing him so much distress. And wish him well as he leaves. Now I’ll be the first to admit this is easier to type than actually practice. Love is not some easy fluffy romantic notion – it is something we have to work at.
One of the benefits of writing this is that it also reaffirms what I believe and helps give me the strength I need to practice what I “preach”. I cannot hate Donald Trump I can only hate the carnage he has created while in office. I do not believe there are evil people only evil actions. And I choose to not act evil or out of malice toward my fellow Americans, or any living beings. And if I do act evil (because I am human and have occasional weakness) it is a weakness that I quickly seek to remedy.
Matthew 4:43-45 (NIV) “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
Feel free to agree or disagree on any and all points. That’s why it’s called free speech. We can disagree and still be respectful.
***If you think more people should see this post – feel free to re-post.
Probably like most people, the desperate situation in Syria that has been going on for several years sickens me. I am so disgusted with the politicians playing with innocent peoples lives. But is there hope?
I love this song and video by Maher Zain. It’s filled with powerful images and allegory. Enjoy. Will love prevail through you and me?
* if you purchase this song from iTunes – all proceeds go to Syrian humanitarian relief work. Help The Syrian People: http://humanappeal.org.uk
Little did I know in 2012 – when I took this photo of some graffiti on a wall – how relevant it would be only 5 years later in T-rumpworld – where borders are being shuttered and talk of walls being built. East Vs. West and North Vs. South. The McCarthy era has returned with a vengeance – where suspicion breeds fear and hatred.
I look forward to when walls come down and borders are opened – it will happen eventually no matter how hard you fight it – history has ALWAYS proven that walls come down… so why bother to build? Couldn’t better things be done with the money?
November 8 – will we drown in hatred, fear, and misery?
Trump without a “T” is just a rump.
RUMP
noun \ˈrəmp\
Definition of rump
: the back part of an animal’s body where the thighs join the hips
: a piece of meat that comes from the rump of a cow
: the part of the body you sit on
Another holiday in the US – Memorial Day is a shameful experience. A sham to make us feel better about the bad things we do and have done in the name of politics, war and nation. More national self-victimization promoted, celebrated, paraded and justified as we sink/slink further and further toward totalitarian rule (in the name of democracy). A certain despicable presidential candidate has as his Hitlerian slogan “Make America Great Again”. But I think we need to ask, “Does America deserve to be great?”
Is anyone asking the tough questions anymore? Or is it actually like one of my favorite headlines from the satirical paper, THE ONION – REPORT: NOBODY FUCKING CARES.
... on being and becoming ... 