Cycle of Cynicism

There is no quick and easy fix here. This is why effective leaders do not allow catastrophic risk to ever materialize. They don’t wait to expand the court, or remove procedural obstacles. They have a bias for action and an unwavering zeal to defend their core objectives and values.

It pains me to be a cynic. To wonder aloud if Democrats are not complicit in the degradation of our values. Accomplices to the turning back of progress. It is undeniable that the party’s failure to stand in unison in defense of Obama’s nomination of Garland to the Court has a direct correlation to current events. It was obvious then that Democrats chose the path of least resistance. That rather than force a constitutional showdown they gambled on an 2016 election victory. A path they continue to follow time and time again despite the fact it is now overgrown with thorns and poison ivy, and infested with ticks and venomous snakes.

Perhaps that was the plan all along. The objective to allow the red path to grow so thick and hazardous as to leave sensible travelers with one remaining choice. Force future hikers to “Choose blue no matter who!” Is it possible our representatives would so callously play Russian roulette with our democratic values?

I’d hate to think that the case but we all know what happens next. This doesn’t end with the reversal of Roe and removal of abortion rights. This is about the establishment of an American theocracy. If Biden and the Democrats are serious about leading America in a “battle for the soul of our nation,” well, as the wise Rafiki says “It is time.” For I have seen thine enemy and its name is the GOP.

That’s right. Trump isn’t the sole enemy in the battle for the soul of this nation, the entire GOP is. To continually capitulate and surrender ones value to the enemy is nauseating. “We, the people” need proactive leadership. This isn’t a battle. It’s a war. Tim’s to take advantage of our majority while we still can.

Two Americas

The time for cognitive dissonance, for denial, is past. It turns out that Barack Obama was wrong. We are two Americas. It is true we are not separated by red and blue states. The contrast is far greater than that; more divisive and permanent. We are two hands. Two ambidextrous fists that keep slamming into each other. Unable to recognize that we are attached to the same body. One hand tattooed with the word “hate” across its knuckles. The other “love.”

We have denied the obvious for far too long. Handicapped our nation by alternately tying one hand or the other behind our back. Hiding it from view for long stretches of our history. It is time we make a choice. To amputate an appendage and choose our country’s identity once and for all. To advance the dreams of our fathers requires we now pick a dominant side.

This is not a choice that can be prayed away. There are no alternative facts. One hand reflects the audacity of hope and dreams of our ancestors. It appends to those outraged by the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Trayvon Martin, Freddie Gray, Tamir Rice, Eric Garner and the countless other lives lost. Clenches in silent protest with those who kneel in defiance of the institutionalized racism that caused their senseless deaths. Points in condemnation of the prejudice rendered by Lady Justice that renders their deaths hollow.

It is the fist we used to smash through the bonds of slavery and defeat the grasp of Nazi facism. The hand extended by Franklin, Susan, Martin, Margaret, John, Ruth Bader and Barack as they took on world leaders and espoused the virtues of American exceptionalism. The fist we raise in pride for our immigrant heritage and in our standing as the beacon for hope and liberty to the world’s oppressed.

The other hand is no less powerful or prevalent in our nation’s history. It is the hand that draws false equivalents between those who protest for equality and freedom, and those who espouse hatred, ignorance and exclusion. The one we use to point at, slap and dehumanize people. The hand extended by those who kneel at the heels of Confederate statues and on the necks of our most vulnerable minorities. That hand that guides the whip and rips the refugee children from the arms of their exhausted mother. As if they are “animals,” unworthy of the basic inalienable rights bestowed upon all men.

It is the fist that holds the tiki torches, burns the crosses, and straps the nooses and assault rifles to their bodies to intimidate. The one that targets our sons and daughters in their crosshairs and acts as if they are of no more value than an avatar. The hand extended by Andrew, Robert E, Cheney, Anton and Trump as they alienated world leaders and preached the virtues of “America first.” The fist we raise in acknowledgement of white power and to loot the halls of our nation’s Capital.

These two fists can no longer coexist. Our identity crisis must end. Love or hate? Empathy or apathy? Progress or status quo? What’s it going to be America? It is time to choose a dominant side and embrace it. The future demands it.

Risky Business

An effective leader mitigates risk before it occurs. Puts controls and monitors in place to ensure the worst case scenario never occurs. Unforeseen risk is always a possibility but that which can be foreseen must always be prevented. The faulty O-rings which led to the Challenger space shuttle explosion. The Chernobyl nuclear meltdown. The Pan Am Lockerbie flight. The downing of the Twin Towers. These are the exceptions. Preventable catastrophes that nonetheless occurred. In each, however, lessons were learned. Elements of failure dissected; people, process, technology. New controls standardized as a result of prior failure that markedly reduce the potential of a repeat failure.

The failure to protect our children. The absence of common sense reforms intended not to eliminate gun violence, that is an impossibility. The objective of sensible gun control is to reduce mass killings. To regulate access and keep weapons of mass destruction out of the hands of those most likely to abuse them. To preserve and balance the guarantees of individual freedoms with those inalienable rights of life and liberty bestowed upon the collective citizenry. That no such measures have yet to be implemented is not a mere dereliction of leadership, it is a crime against our children.

It’s been nearly 10 years since Newtown. That the AR-15, very instruments of terror used then remains available and accessible to those who pose an obvious risk to the health and safety of our children, it is beyond comprehension. Where is the justice in this country? The means by which “we, the people” get to hold politicians to account for the blood of the innocents that stains their money lined silk pockets. What must be done to charge those NRA controlled representatives who refuse their civic duty as accessories to murder? How do we demand that those who intentionally obstruct efforts to protect the future of this nation are charged for their negligent indifference?

Trump sensationalized a “national emergency” to redirect military funds to build an ineffective border wall. Surely there is an EO Biden can sign to force the issue. A prosecutorial interpretation that AG Garland may utilize to preserve the rule of law. Democratic leadership must do more than simply react to senseless massacre after massacre. To protect our children. To preserve the dream will demand they lead with both a proactive intent and an uncompromising position

Sweet and Lower Than Low

We need to stop sugar coating the situation. America has a terrorism problem. A threat to freedom and our very way of life exists within our shores. A clear and present danger that jeopardizes the safety of our children even as they innocently sit in a theater, at a church, a concert or even a school yard. Unawares that a terrorist has him/her in his crosshairs and is about to fire the fatal bullets in rapid fire high capacity succession.

Of course it won’t be delivered by already vetted refugees. Rather it will be brought by the same domestic terrorists who have repeatedly attacked this country over the past 10 years. In spite of the rhetoric and Muslim bans. Regardless of what you may hear about caravans of refugees, or those SOB kneeling football players. There is no question. The greatest and most immediate threat to our national security lies within our shores. Most of us just choose to turn a blind eye

We know their names and the preferred methods they use to spread their carnage. Mass shootings at schools, shopping malls, grocery stores, places of worship and night clubs. They reap havoc and preach the words of fear in response. They carry tiki torches and storm our Capital to intimidate and bully all who try to call out the brazen lies and propaganda they preach.

Their influence extends far beyond the battlefields of their creation. Their disproportional political might enables them to block any attempts at sensible gun control. Filibuster any efforts to protect over 31,000 annual domestic victims of gun violence. They shriek faux outrage at the thought the 2nd Amendment may be in any way regulated, all while curbing the 1st and 4th.

Trump trounced on HRC for not saying the words radical Islamic terrorism. Let’s hear GOP leadership speak out. Condemn the rise of white Christian domestic terrorism #GunControlNow #EnoughIsEnough

American Horror Story

The very thought of it haunts me. There is no justification. No amount of mental gymnastics that make this okay. 40 minutes! 40 minutes before police entered that schoolroom! Even if the risk of further spread was contained babies lay dying in that room. Desperate for help and critical medical aid. Each precious second the potential difference between life or death.

Other children living in the face of terror. Covered in the blood of their peers. Hiding in corners, under blankets, scared to make the slightest of sounds or movements. Too young to even comprehend what death means but certain that they will soon find out.

Who delays in such moments? Where is the morality in this country? Would it be more impactful if we start referring to these massacres as retroactive abortions? Will that get the attention of the pro-lifers? America is a nation whose exceptionalism applies only to self-delusion and hypocrisy. Our morals and values are no longer even average, let alone aspirational #NoRationalArgument

Transactional Democracy

This is not about political ideology. This caravan of corruption does not represent a political methodology or follow a philosophical party platform. They do not stand for principled values or practice fiscal restraint. Today’s GOP is a cult. They advocate for nothing more than the Rapture, guns, and personal enrichment. Everything else, whether individual rights, racial or gender equality, or systems of government is negotiable, viewed as a commodity in the “art of the deal”.

That’s what is truly scary. They view their success in strictly transactional terms. They function in an us verse them paradigm where their side only wins when the other loses. The more “they” have, the greater America is #MAGA.

Consider the implications! Those who adhere to Trumpism, the modern day GOP, is openly rooting against more than half of our citizenry. They believe they are only doing their job effectively when the majority of their constituents are upset. To say this is an unsustainable form of representative democracy is an understatement. Let’s hope that justice (or karma) intervenes before the whole system collapses.

Fish Filet

As the “Mooch” says, “the fish stinks from the head.” So let’s wrap this impeachment inquiry up and start there. The time for impeachment is long past.

Donald Trump is inherently unfit to lead a democratic republic. This isn’t a hot take. It’s no secret he serves only himself and the almighty dollar. That his morality bends to justify whatever decision, in that moment, will advance his own self interest. Yet those are just symptoms of what makes him uniquely unfit to hold public office.

The fact is Donald Trump has never worked for anyone other than himself. He has no concept of what it means to work for the common good. His whole life spent negotiating solely for himself. Motivated only by unbridled greed and the need to appease a small group of loyal investors with a healthy return on investments.

The very office of the Presidency. That it serves, “we, the people.” That its closest advisors, the Cabinet, swear an oath to the Constitution, not a person. These are foreign concepts to our Comrade in Chief. He is hardwired to think of his role as a leader in binary terms. His whole worldview rooted In a transactional us verse them paradigm. Every deal unique but each having a winner and loser.

The concept of transparency is anathema to the art of the deal where information is power. Intimidation and braggadocio assets. Lies, deceit and misrepresentation the keys to victory; transparency a weakness. Truth has no business in real estate or casinos, only the appearance of truth matters.

This is the ethos our dear leader lives by. There is no such thing as public service in his world. Rules, traditions, and precedent matters not as the man himself cannot be changed. It’s time to drain this cesspool of criminals and corrupt enablers and filet the entirety of the Raptureheads, Russia enabled military hawks and racist status dependent deplorables that comprise the entirety of today’s GOP.

“We, the people” know Trump plays Russian roulette with our republic and poses a clear and present danger to the American dream. Let’s once and for all decapitate this piranha and remove him from office so we can once and for all make America great again. Sanitize this country of the stench that emanates from this golden calf and all he touches. Render his legacy “moot” and reclaim the words of Lady Liberty

America Interrupted

The problems faced by American today will not be prayed away. There are no alternative facts to mask the daily damage being inflicted on our collective psyche. No election that will provide a magic elixir to undo the pain, anger and betrayal that comes when you are stripped of self identity and self worth. The time for cognitive dissonance and denial is past. America is broken. Our constitutional republic, and accompanying checks and balances has derailed.

From coast to coast America is comprised of Republicans, Democrats and Independents. Our Main Streets lined with young, old, Muslim, Christian, Jews, atheists and other, Irish, Italian, Asian, African, European and Native Americans. Our workplaces filled with scientists and clergy, gun enthusiasts and gun control advocates, men and women. We are the great melting pot. That diversity IS the American identity. We can’t change that anymore than a tiger can change its stripes. A list of all the great contributions immigrants and and refugees have made to this country would dwarf a list of their misdeeds a million times over.

We are strongest when we respect and allow for all views but that doesn’t mean our leaders and media members need to promote them all. To solve school violence, immigration, terrorism, or even the opioid epidemic requires not just a change in Washington, DC., but a wider acceptance throughout this nation. An understanding that we are a nation built on compromise, trust and acceptance. The loudest voice isn’t always the right one. The dreams of our founders was a future in which all citizenry was united under common bonds that provided equal assurance of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness to all. One nation, ruled by the people and in service of the people, to be the land of opportunity for all and a beacon of hope and freedom to the world’s underprivileged and oppressed.

Make no mistake, the American identity exists. To embrace the divisiveness that permeates our shores today is to reject that identity, as well as our nation’s past, present and future.

What If….

Two simple words that comprise one of the most powerful phrases in the English language. Once the psyche enters a “what if” wormhole it may be lost for hours, occupied in an endless maze of regrets and gratitudes. What if I had been there…What if i hadn’t quit…What if those chads didn’t hang…What if she had said yes…What if I spoke up…

The one thing I learned in Hebrew School was “never forget,” and I haven’t. We know what happens when a citizenry turns a blind eye to the everyday horrors unfolding around them. When a deluge of carefully orchestrated propaganda, false equivalents, sound bites and alternative facts enable a fearful and threatened demographic to perform acrobatic feats of cognitive dissonance to normalize, what in other times would be considered irrational actions. I will not suffer that fate. There is too much to lose. The only way to preserve the dreams of the future is to heed the lessons of the past.

Donald Trump is far from an original. The recent past alone provides a litany of would be authoritarians who proved capable of hijacking democratic institutions to slowly consolidate power. That Trump is the first to so blatantly do so from the Oval Office hardly makes him unique in his technique.

He seeks to divide the citizens of this country along racial, socioeconomic and political lines in order to deflect from his own scandals and advance the agenda and interests of a select few. He uses his bully pulpit to marginalize, belittle, conflate, delegitimize and, if necessary, squash dissent and opposition. Doing so allows him to continue presenting alternative facts, only now without the alternatives. Lies then become truth, and perception reality.

Though his tactics are tried and true the danger posed is no less real. Donald Trump and his merry bannon of deplorables pose a clear and present danger to the experiment in individual freedoms our founding fathers set in motion generations ago. He makes no secret of his intent; his desire to deconstruct and eliminate outdated democratic institutions. He seeks to rip the very fabric of America’s soul from its identity, to dim the light that serves as a beacon of hope and freedom to the poor, disenfranchised and oppressed who suffer across the globe.

The right to a free and independent press, the right of assembly, the right to be free from religious persecution, the necessity of checks and balances with three equal, though often inept, branches of government. These essential ideals are all under attack. The yuge majority of Americans realize that we are the great melting pot. That diversity IS the American identity and what has always made us great. We can’t change that anymore than a tiger can change its stripes. A list of all the great contributions immigrants and refugees have made to this country would dwarf a list of their misdeeds a million times over. Yet that is what appears to be at stake.

To those who continue to support our so called President, understand this. All you are doing is identifying yourself as a dinosaur. Painting a scarlet letter on your sleeve that your way of thinking and very belief system will soon be relegated to the history books. Think carefully about your next move.

The pathway to perdition is paved in ignorance. Do not suffer that fate. Do not remain passive. Future generations need not wonder where you stood when our leaders decided to play Russian roulette with our democracy. Do not be left to wonder what if…

People Over Party

Resist the urge to take the bait. This isn’t a story about Trump or Clinton. It’s a story about pedophilia and sex trafficking. It’s about the private lifestyle of the rich and powerful and their privileged status that sits above the laws of accountability.

Regardless of last name, regardless of party allegiance, whoever took part in the illicit behavior, helped to cover it up, obstruct the investigation of, or failed to protect key witnesses or preserve evidence in should be held to account.

We are all on the same side here. Let’s demand a full and transparent investigation. In fact, let’s reserve a special place in Guantanamo for the guilty. The national emergency exists within our borders and “we, the people”need to coalesce and unify around our common interests and shared values.

Drown out the divisive voices and cast them back to the corners. If the preponderance of evidence shows that Trump and Clinton are two sides of the same coin, so be it. This isn’t a political fight, it’s a moral one.