Perception and Reality

I once had a boss who was very fond of the phrase “perception is reality.” Used it as an excuse to justify his inaction for almost any employee related conflict. No point in meeting to explain whatever employee issue was being raised that day “perception is reality” he’d say. It drove me crazy each and every time. While it’s true that perception is an individual’s sense of reality. Let’s also be clear, reality is reality. I may perceive the Earth to be flat, but science tells us otherwise.

A transcendent leader, one interested in building consensus and committed to the common good, understands the dangers of false perception. They work tirelessly, oftentimes over communicating with their “constituents” to shape perception to match reality.

Unfortunately, perception is no less important to a leader of ill intent. One who seeks to act only in his own self interest but is nonetheless dependent on the support of the masses to advance his/her agenda. They too work tirelessly to shape perception, only in their case success depends on perception matching a false reality. One that will justify their action and prevent ultimate accountability. One that manipulates others to act against their own self interests.

Our Comrade in Chief and his merry bannon of deplorables have made a career shaping perception to match a false reality. Led by the talentless tycoon turned “reality” show President who bankrupted both real estate conglomerates and casinos at the height of the economy and whose greatest accomplishment is being born into privilege this White House continuously tries to undermine transparency and prevent informed consent. They know the only way to mask incompetence and to hide ill intent, is to mask it. To use misdirection, doublespeak, sleight of hand, technology and sound bites to distract and manipulate the way the brain processes information. Their very hold on power dependent on this perception.

Informed consent is the constitutional responsibility of the American citizenry. Whether dealing with issues of sensible gun control, impacts of climate change, or treason it is our job to push past the sound bites, propaganda and words of those entrusted to represent our interests and find out the truth of the situation. To expose the illusionist and ruin the trick.

Though he didn’t really make the Statute of Liberty disappear David Copperfield once captured the country’s attention when he made the world perceive that he had. Millions clambered for answers wanting to know the truth. Donald Trump on the other hand has in reality rendered Lady Liberty’s words “moot” yet the country continues to chase kneeling squirrels. To quote Twitler, “Sad.”

A Confederacy Of Hate

A confederacy of hate and white supremacy exists in America and within our most sacred institutions. They hide behind the cloak of religion or patriotism to prey on minorities, the underprivileged and those who dare challenge their superiority. They rely on conspiracy theory, fear and alternative facts to connect with constituents who previously sat on the fringe of society and lacked a mainstream voice.

This caravan of deplorables use tried and true methods of organized dogma, scape goating, propaganda and slogan to radicalize new members. They encourage recruits to arm themselves with military grade arsenals and practically dare them to try out their new toys on the deep state, disenfranchised minorities and radical liberals who seek to prevent their ascension.

The time has come for all Americans to protect their standing in the world. To make clear that this group of radical domestic terrorists do not define this great nation or her people. We are the land of the free and home of the brave. Let’s act it.

We cannot wait for a far off Election Day. The constitutional cris is here. The time has come to reconcile America’s identity crisis. To call out and differentiate the majority of us from those who now seek to define our values. Who wish to hit a pause on the progress button and redefine a once great nation’s dreams and ideals.

A New Hope

The road to perdition is paved in ignorance. They say there are only 7 original stories in the world. If you read enough, and pay attention to life, you can actually begin to see them unfold in realtime. You grow able to predict what the author of that real life story is going to do next. The story they are trying to recreate.

Donald Trump and his caravan of criminal enablers are far from originals. We’re all familiar with this story they’re trying to script. For many of us it’s our favorite movie, book or television show. We’ve seen it unfold countless times, albeit in differing variations.

The agents of fear and oppression rise up, usually in the form of a privileged older pseudo populist whose good fortune depends on preserving the status quo. He uses fear and oppression as his primary tools of communication. His speeches comprised of thinly veiled dog whistles that call upon the deplorables of society to rise up to do their dirty work, to sow discord and chaos in our streets. Intimidate others to get on board with the populist agenda. They bully, threaten and blackmail likeminded peers and relatives. Join the cause or face excommunication from the party. Race or party traitors will be blacklisted.

The narcissist grows in time. He begins to divide traditional alliances through rumor, false promises and chaos. He removes safeguards and checks and balances meant to mitigate risk, to protect the health and safety of his constituents. He discredits and smears opponents with lies, misinformation and alternative facts. As his enablers rise in power their tactics become more brutal. Dissent must be suppressed. Foreign enemies abound! Now is not the time for protest and debate!

Midway through the story a cataclysmic event occurs. Plague, disease, pandemics beget war and destruction. The stuff of nightmares. Our worst fears realized. Freedoms must be restrained to contain the threat. At that point resistance is futile; the takeover complete. That’s the story Trump and his merry bannon of deplorables have written.

There’s another version of that story though. The one written about the protagonist. A story of hope, freedom and perseverance. How love saves the day. A last minute miracle. A heroic act that thwarts catastrophe to expose the naked emperor and unmask the fraud. One in which truth, justice and the “American” way win out. We, the people, can still write that story but to do so requires sacrifice and an organized opposition that coalesces the majority under a single tent.

Either way; the good news is this story always ends the same way. Love, empathy, sacrifice and acceptance win the day. A renewed unity and tolerance emerge. The villain denounced. A cautionary tale in history’s annals.

Progress by definition knows but one direction; #Forward. A new hope will spring. I’ve seen this movie a thousand times. Karma is the ultimate bitch and she always grabs back. The jokes on them. It’s only a matter of when, not if.

Crisis Leadership

As anger spills into the streets and protests erupt over racial injustice and systemic racism that corrodes the American dream the importance of strong leadership is magnified. It’s no surprise but in times of crisis constituents look to their leaders not only for solutions but for a clear message. They rally around flag, extend trust and offer approval even when it may not have existed beforehand. They tune in and long to hear transparent communication that transcends party lines.

A key element of crisis leadership is to offer a clear message that reinforces a sense of safety and security in the listener. It lets them know that the sacrifice they feel today is temporary; that there is a better tomorrow on the horizon. Words are carefully chosen with themes and sound bites to convey confidence that there is a clear plan forward, a light at the end of the tunnel for all to see. Without that, chaos ensues and institutions crumble.

Good leaders inherently understand the need for reassurance in times of crisis. They avoid sarcasm and conjecture during such times. Unfortunately it comes as no surprise that our current Commander in Chief is incapable of such. He is in every way the opposite of a transcendent leader capable of rallying a diverse nation through times of crisis. His agenda extends no farther than his own bedroom mirror and the sycophants who cheer him on.

Our country has been tested countless times before. In those moments both Republicans and Democrats have used their bully pulpit to successfully guide this nation through the turbulence. They did so by adhering to basic leadership principles. To a man (they all had that in common too) each leader embraced the following during such times,

They do not think perception is reality. They rely on facts, science and logic to shape perception to match reality.

They emphasize collaboration and inclusiveness. They do not fear diversity. They embrace it.

They do not suppress feedback, free speech or dissent. They open their doors, listen and learn from it.

They do not finger point or deny accountability for their decisions. They own their choices and know the buck stops with them. Always.

They do not act a prisoner of circumstance or scream about how unfair life is. They innovate and experiment with new paradigms to limit or remove obstacles.

They do not view empathy as a weakness, but as a strength.

They do not bully. They nurture.

They do not ostracize, belittle, or build walls. They instill confidence, promote commonalities, break barriers and build bridges.

They do not rule by negativity and fear. They grow consensus through transparency and hope.

They do not surround themselves with “yes men” and seek to be the smartest person in the room. They challenge themselves with diversity and grow through failure.

In the course of history there have been countless examples of leaders who chose to rule otherwise. Who ruled through fear mongering, authoritarian accountability and slogans. Who preyed on the weakness of the disenfranchised to promote their own agenda. Who sent out thinly veiled code and dog whistles to call upon the deplorables of society to do their dirty work.

But riddle me this? Has such a leader ever been on the right side of history? Have they ever progressed our collective interests? Brought us closer to that more perfect union our founders dreamed of?

The answer, I fear is obvious.

Empathy Lost

My heart aches for George Floyd and the minority community in this country. Empathy is not supposed to a political trait, but a human one. Yet here we stand in the year 2020 and it is clear that the greatest difference between progressives and conservative lay not in policy but in the ability to empathize with all humanity.

In brief progressives lead and respond to crisis and events with a “what if that was my child” approach while our conservative minded brethren respond to each crisis with a “that would never be my child” mindset. It has evolved to the point where such philosophy extends beyond the individual and is now institutionalized. Our police, judicial system, military, education and economic institutions have all been hardwired to discriminate first. They withhold trust from those most in need of a helping hand. They require the victims of society prove their worthiness first before they extend the compassion and freedoms that all members of humanity are inherently entitled to enjoy.

This is not the America our founders envisioned. The prejudices of their day were real and borne of ignorance and hate. It also fueled the experiment in self governance and social justice they set in motion 250 years ago. By now it was meant to evolve to erase the sins of our ancestors and create a land where all men and women were afforded equal opportunity regardless of skin color, gender or national origin.

Of course some progress has been made in this area but that one national party still exists that fans the fuel of hate is inexcusable. That they fan the flames of hate with false equivalents, stereotypes and outright lies a stain on our Republic. How can our Black men and women trust a society that so clearly does not trust them? That turns a blind eye to the institutionalized ignorance and prejudice that they are forced to endure? How do we move forward when our leaders refuse to face reality? As they knowingly fail to confront and drain the swamp of these small minded men and women who seek nothing more than an extension of the status quo in which the white Christian male reigns supreme?

As a nation we are only as strong as our weakest link. It is shameful but we truly have become a country of deplorables.

The Summer of Discontent

The summer of our discontent is upon us and Deplorable Donald is leading the charge. Our country is being ripped apart at the seams. Torn asunder by a so called President who finds security in the chaos and division he stokes.

To Trump’s credit he’s been quite transparent all along. Review his twitter feed from a different perspective and it almost reads as if it is both a self confession to treason and a whistleblower report (the good kind). In many conversations from “Russia, if you’re listening” right up to his present day cries of “Obamagate!” Trump openly flaunts his treasonous behavior for all to see. It’s what makes his threats to shoot unarmed protestors, shut down social media and cries of a coup, and accusations of deep state treason so dangerous.

When you see the completed puzzle you realize that these are not random pieces, projections or the rants and raves of a lunatic. Trump’s words are more than empty threats, but part of a greater design. They are the culmination of the best laid plans. Years of careful planning and coordinated efforts by those who do not hold America’s best interests at heart.

Enemies both foreign and domestic whose agendas and values do not thrive in a representative republic such as that envisioned by our founding fathers. The consolidation of God before country Raptureheads, Russia enabled military hawks and the racist status quo dependent deplorables all under the GOP big tent. Donald Trump nothing more than a golden calf to shepherd the message; a Trojan horse in which to deliver the troops and a Midas god to deliver the gold to his puppeteers.

Trump made his fortune as a CEO and reality show producer. Effective messaging and storytelling are two areas he actually does well. This attempt to divide America is no accident. Trump knows an indictment awaits his return to civilian life. His best hope to avoid prosecution is to hide behind the shield of executive immunity. To use the resources of the 1%, the blind faith of the Raptureheads and the insecurity driven hate filled strength of the deplorables to silence public dissent and suppress any efforts to otherwise remove him from office.

He seeks their approval and blindly advances their agenda with no questions asked. After all what’s a few dog whistles, conspiracy theory shout outs, executive orders and race baiting tweets in exchange for a loyalty oath from the majority of this nation’s gun owners, billionaires and private militias.

Even a domesticated dog’s behavior grows unpredictable when they sense the end is near. This isn’t a political fight, it’s a moral one. Brace yourself for the storms to come

Competent Incompetence

Trump’s response to the corona pandemic is not incompetent. Incompetence implies failed effort. It suggests an attempt by this administration to fulfill its constitutional responsibility to faithfully defend and protect the health and security of all our citizens against threats both foreign and domestic. The word does not apply to our current situation.

Trump and his caravan of corrupt criminal enablers made no effort, incompetent or otherwise, to faithfully protect all American people from this pandemic. Rather they quite competently treat the threat as an opportunity to tighten their grip on power and further their own agendas. Whether furtherance of the permanent oligarchy being erected under our noses, the elimination of voices of dissent or the assurance of the paper tiger king’s reelection all their efforts and sound bites speak to these goals.

Trump’s actions are premeditated. They are meant to suppress voter turnout through fear, disease or otherwise. Far from incompetent what you see is designed to eradicate political enemies and voter turnout through suppression and fear. Make no mistake. These acts may be described as unpresidential or as a dereliction of constitutional responsibility but they are not the result of inability.

To dismiss poor behavior or sloppy work product as mere incompetence is the easy way out. It prevents a deeper analysis of motive and ill intent and suggests that by simply replacing the person we will improve the result. No larger lessons learned or systemic change need result when the cause of failure is mere incompetence. The quicker we as a nation realize what ails our nation goes beyond mere incompetence the sooner we may be able to heal from this cancerous mass.

The Soul of our Nation

It’s time to take the gloves off. This is not a political fight, it’s a moral one. Traditional political messaging has no place in the fight ahead. Biden and his surrogates must present a clear and aggressive message. They must weaponize fear and no longer worry about who they alienate in doing so. If ever there was a you’re either with us, or you’re against us moment it’s now.

Let’s start by calling a spade a spade. Those who serve and support this administration are a vast minority of our citizenry. They are not members of a traditional political party, but more akin to a cult. The entirety of their agenda boils down to God, guns and a consolidation of money and power; a preservation of the status quo long past demographics will otherwise allow. The latest tantrum by their golden calf in which he threatens to implement regulations that would shutdown social media just the latest abandonment of traditional GOP values.

If this is truly a “fight for the soul of our nation” as Biden claims fight it as such. Do not be afraid to ostracize those who disagree. Donald Trump has betrayed his oath of office. He has failed in his responsibility to protect and defend the health and safety of all people within our majestic shores. He is most likely a traitor to this nation and those who support him are not patriots but accomplices in his mission to end the hopes and dreams of our founding fathers.

There is all sorts of evidence to support this view that Democrats should take to the airwaves daily to present. From his first days in offfice when he allowed Flynn, a known national security threat, to remain as the head of the NSA for 19 days without restriction, to his attacks on a free press and free speech, to his failure to prepare for a predictable pandemic, to his focus on Wall Street this administration has proven time and again that they serve the interests of the few. Every debate should be filled with incendiary language that supports these claims. Transpose these events with the values America was founded upon.

Violence Is Not The Answer

“Violence is not the answer.” The safe and typical common ground that both supporters of the protests and supporters of the status quo spout off in their media interviews.

They’re right off course, violence does beget violence.

When our uniformed officers use excessive force and act with apparent disregard for black lives, it begets violence.

When racist vigilantes shoot first and ask questions later, it begets violence.

When laws are enacted that excuse those who “stand their ground” for reasons borne of ignorance and hate, it begets violence.

When unarmed children are systematically caged and forcibly removed from their guardians, it begets violence.

When minority fathers are disproportionately cuffed and sentenced to multiple years in prison for victimless crimes, it begets violence.

The problem with the statement “violence is not the answer” is not that it’s incorrect, but that it is only used reactively to condemn the victims of violence instead of the perpetrators. It’s utterance the very essence of systemic racism. We need every police academy, every uniformed officer, every teacher, judge and elected official to be trained in this simple concept from the day they enter their desired vocation.

The fires in our streets today are not being fueled by protestors but by systemic ignorance and lack of training. The vast majority of European officers do not carry lethal force weapons on them for a reason. They are trained in non-violent deescalation and apprehension techniques first.

Violence is not the answer but save those empty words and condemnations for the perpetrators of that violence. Until then this country can expect to continue to see nights of violent unrest.

Recipe for Disaster

Chaos and division; exactly what Trump seeks. This is a recipe for disaster. Deranged Donald will continue to stir the pot until all of our nation’s frustrations boil to the surface and martial law rules the day. He senses the opportunity to declare yet another national emergency that will suspend our representative democracy as we know it. The transformation of the American dream into a nightmare near complete.

Trump’s success means everything to him. His sole source of validation that he’d do anything to protect. He’s still under multiple investigations for various financial crimes that include laundering oligarch money. He knows this and also knows that a criminal indictment awaits his return to civilian life. Perhaps the same fate as one Jeffery Epstein not far beyond. His only shield from prosecution the executive immunity offered by the Oval Office.

Is it really far fetched to believe he wouldn’t do anything to protect that reputation? Safeguard his freedom? Never in the history of this country has an incumbent President been so unpopular. The truth is Electoral College or not he will lose a national popular vote by MILLIONS to most any candidate. His chances of re-election in a free and fair vote are slim to none. In other words, Trump has no desire to leave office and will most likely take whatever means necessary to ensure that won’t be the case.

We must not allow our Divider in Chief to shape these protests, this rebellion, to be perceived as a race war. Racial injustice may have been the righteous spark that ignited the movement, but the anger and frustration which fuels the unrest runs beyond.

Scan the crowd. Look at the scenes unfold and you’ll see a cross section of our populance engaged. A nation tired of the systemic and institutionalized injustice that belies our constitutional ideals and suppresses the inalienable rights of all our citizenry.

This is not a racial fight. It’s a moral one.