Tuesday, September 26, 2017

Civil War

We are in a civil war, only this time it is not about secession, it is about rights.  It is about rights that our constitution supposedly guarantees.  Funny how people choose to interpret that.  Seems pretty clear to me.  We have the right to free speech.  We have the right to protest.  We have the right to stand up or kneel down for what we believe to be right.

Standing, kneeling or laying down during the national anthem is a right.  Just as standing and placing your hand over your heart is a right.

For the so-called President of the United States to incite civil war is wrong.  It is inflammatory and just plain lunacy. Someone should put a muzzle on him, but no they let him go on and on.

Trace and I have been watching an amazing PBS show called The Vietnam War.  That was the era I first learned about protest.  Actually it coincided with the civil rights movement and both issues tore this country apart, opened many people's eyes to what protest can accomplish and finally changed the course of at least the Vietnam War.

Making people aware of issues, in whatever form you choose to take (I exclude violence) is a right.  The players who are kneeling are making people aware of issues.  They are not holding signs or berating people or calling people names, they are simply demonstrating their concern.  It does not mean they disrespect the anthem or the flag.  It means they know we are better than what is happening right now and they have chosen a means by which to demonstrate that.  Wow, hats off to them.  Thanks guys for peacefully demonstrating, rather than calling people names, belittling them, and inciting them to civil disobedience.

Right now we are a leaderless country, fighting among ourselves, and being egged on by someone  who is supposed to be an example and a leader.  It is absolutely disgusting that someone who is rude, racist, bigoted, and unfit for office is calling names and pointing fingers.  In this instance, the old saying don't point fingers at others because you will have four pointing back at you is sooooooo true.

Maybe we should all take a look at what the protesters are really trying to say before we jump to conclusions and listen to someone who wouldn't know the meaning of peaceful protest, let alone practice it.

Let's end this civil war by having a dialogue, not a rock throwing contest.

Tuesday, September 5, 2017

Apologies are going to be the rule it seems.

First of all I did not realize how long it has been since I posted anything here.  Wow, since May.  Great summer though.

A conversation I had recently started out with a question.  "Why does it take a disaster for people of all backgrounds and colors to come together?" She was referring to Hurricane Harvey.   But, then the conversation took a detour.  The person I was talking with is from Guam and works for Wal-Mart.  She works in the grocery department.  She is a bubbly, funny, and genuinely kind-hearted person.  She had a customer who was looking for a certain brand/kind of cookie.  My acqaintance told the woman she did not think they carried the cookie, but she would look anyway.  The woman told her, how would she know, since she was not from here anyway.  Hmm, why should that matter.  So like the good employee my acquaintance is, she began searching for what the woman wanted.  She even went to the back stockroom to look.  When she came back the woman, obviously irritated, asked to see the manager.  My acquaintance offered the department supervisor, but no she wanted the store manager.  So, enters the manager.  The manager listened to the woman complain about someone whom she did not know at all and how she was told the employee could not find what the woman was looking for and she was sure she had gotten the cookies at Wal-Mart and proceeded to go on about people from somewhere else coming and trying to do something they obviously did not know anything about.  Like a good customer service person, the manager listened and then proceeded to tell the woman that Wal-Mart does not tolerate discrimination and that she could leave. 

Wow, over stupid cookies.  You have got to be kidding me that someone would insult someone over not finding the brand/kind of cookie they wanted.  Good on the store manager for sticking up for the employee.

The point of this is that have we lost all of the ground that we have made over the past 50 years.  Has it come back to the point where we privileged white folks think we are so high and mighty that we can insult and belittle someone who is just trying to do their job, all because of the color of their skin or the accent they have.  My acquaintance made a very valid point.  We all come from the same God and he does not care what color our skin is or whether we speak English well or not.  He only cares what is in our heart and as for me I would rather have love, kindness, and compassion.

I apologized to my acquaintance for that woman's insulting behavior.  I have a feeling at this time I will be doing a lot of apologizing for the white people who think they are so much better than any other human being.  So I will begin here.  I apologize to all of you hard working, family oriented, kind, generous people who have given up everything they have ever known to come to this country to make a new life for yourself, only to be treated like subhumans.  Not all of us are like that and I hope you can forgive those of us who are and pray for them that their hearts can melt and find the compassion they need without there being a disaster to bring us together.

Tuesday, May 30, 2017

Memorial Day

We just celebrated Memorial Day.  A solumn reminder of the many lives that were given to keep our country free and to help keep oppression from taking over the world.

It seems to me that we have disgraced those valiant lives that were sacrificed by electing a man who obviously thinks that the very oppressors they gave up their lives for are his friends.  And, the only reason he believes this is because they bailed him out of a bankruptcy and laundered money through his properties.

Even if a third of what is being reported about the connection between the Russians and the Trump group is true.  It is so morally and ethically wrong as to be criminal.  That the party who put him up for election condones these actions is also criminal.

Yes, I am a liberal.  Trump and the Republican party in general do not stand for what I stand for, but the fact is even though I did not hold the same views as the Republican party I felt they did have the country's well being at heart.  Boy was I naive.  These people spit on the graves of every one of our young men and women who have died in some far off land to protect us and the world from dictators, oppressors, and hate mongers.  How dare these people insult those lives like that.  And for what power, money, their own selfish needs.

I worry about our country and our people.  We will never be the same.  Who do we trust?  How can we believe in our system if greedy, power hungry can manipulate it to their own ends and there seems to be nothing we can do about it.

I want to apologize to all of the men and women who have paid the ultimate price for what they believed in and who did their duty for our country.  I also want to thank the men and women who are doing that today around the world.  They go where they go because their country has sent them there.  Our  "leaders" need to make sure that they are not put in harms way because of their own selfish, greedy desires.

To all of the military serving around the world and to all of their families who miss them terribly thank you.

Tuesday, April 18, 2017

Indoctrination

Okay, I broke a rule.  I engaged with a Trumper and I let the responses make me angry.  I felt like I was a 10-year-old being told why I should never do that deed I just did again.  I did not start it.  I did not finish it, but I sure felt like it.

We were having a pleasant day.  We were doing our favorite pass time junking and checking out book stores and vinyl shops or trying to, kind of slim pickings.  We had gotten a recommendation from my daughter about a book store she and her husband had seen but not been able to go in because it was closed the day they were there.  It was open, so we went in.  Nice shop.  Lots of interesting books, nicely labeled and we were having fun.  Then it happened.

I walked to the front of the store and kind of out of the blue the owner made a remark about Hillary Clinton.  I felt myself tense up and almost did not respond.  He kept going.  I finally asked him what he thought was so great about the guy in the white house.  His response made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.  He went on and on about how the white house guy had been treated unfairly by Boeing when he wanted to do a political stop at Boeing and that is how it was moved to Lynden.  Since I and a group of friends were stuck in the traffic on that day, it resonated with me.  He went on about how unfairly Trump had been treated and how awful Obama was.  I tried to speak reasonably to him, but he just kept talking over me and "lecturing" me on what a great job Trump was doing.

When I tried to  ask him how he felt about having a racist, lying, womanizing person representing our country to the world that is when it really went downhill.  He stated that Trump was not a racist and suggested that I had been indoctrinated by the liberal news.  I asked him if he knew anything about Steve Bannon, the friend of Trump who sat on our security committee and he did not know anything about him.  When I told him about Bannon's plan to completely change our way of governing and that he was a fascist, the guy ignored me.

By this time, I was ready to go.  I found Trace and told him I was going to step outside.  I was trying to leave and the guy would not shut up.  I told him he had a great store, it was nice meeting him, etc.  By that time Trace had walked up and the guy was engaging him, so I found my opportunity and left.

This morning Trace posted a blurb from someone who sounded just like the guy yesterday.

So this is my thing.  Everyone has a right to their opinion.  I really mean that.  I do not hold ill will against that man for not holding the same view point as I do.  My problem is that they seem so indoctrinated that they will not look at a different view point and they seem to think that those of us who hold a different view point are somehow not American and standing by our President.

In the case of the man yesterday, he had been a teacher.  It frightens me that he would be teaching my child.  It frightens me because critical thinking is essential in making choices that match our values, morals, and integrity.  When you spout doctrine without having thought about that doctrine you throw the values, morals, and integrity out the window and you can be used by whomever to further their own agenda.  It is a frightening thing that is happening in our country right now.  Next time, I will just hand him a glass of Kool-aid and see if he drinks it.

Sunday, March 19, 2017

Be careful of the lies

Since the budget has come out many of us have been upset, angry, and frustrated  by the cuts and the obvious lack of compassion for programs that affect children, the elderly and the most vulnerable of our society, as well as the arts.

It has taken me a bit to try to digest all of this stuff, especially after the secretary made statements that seemed to be totally without compassion or understanding.  Then it hit me, actually someone made me realize these people are trying to run this country like a business.  You cut spending where there is no profit and you pour money into what will make a profit.  My guy informed me that war has always helped the economy, thus more military spending.  Hmm, the United States as big business.  I suppose it is if you look at it from a purely Chairman of the Board perspective.

The problem I have with this is that most corporations only look at the bottom line, which means dollars.  They rarely look at the hard work and dedication of the people who make that profit for them.  To do that would be far too personal, God forbid that we have compassion for the guy on whose back we are making those bucks.  After all they should be lucky they have a job.

I read an article about a town in Kentucky, (my birth state) that voted for the guy in the White House because he was going to bring jobs to their region.  They are one of the poorest towns in the United States.  They are hard working, good people who happen to live in an area where the economy was based on coal mining.  The coal mines shut down and the jobs went away.  Now they are experiencing the ravages of drug use and poverty, much as inner cities experience.  They feel that the guy in the White House will bring those jobs back to their area and they can get back to being that beautiful, self-sustaining area they felt they once were.

I wish that were true for them.  Since this regime feels as though this country should be run like a corporation and this area of the country obviously does not make a profit and to have them make a profit would take a big investment from some company or companies there is no incentive for the regime to help these people out.  I feel horrible for them because of their predicament, but mostly because they believed a liar and a con man.  Shame on him for preying on the hopes of people who were already down, but that is what he does.

I spoke to a young man today who said even though he did not vote for the guy he liked how he just said things straight up.  I asked him, so you are okay with what he says even though it can be proven to be a lie?  He said, well no, but I like that he says what is on his mind.  I said so you like him even though you and your family are using the ACA, you receive Medicaid, and food stamps, and you get assistance with housing, all programs that would be drastically cut with the new budget.  Well, no he said, I did not think about it that way.  Hmm, I said, maybe you should because if this regime gets their way, you think you struggle now, you have not seen anything yet.  He just looked at me kind of sadly.  

I am so often surprised that the people I talk to who say they either like the guy or want to give him a chance have never read anything about what is really happening in this country right now.  The young man and his family would essentially be fired from this US corporation because they cannot carry their own weight.  Quite compassionate isn't it?

I read that Meals-on-Wheels is getting a huge boost in volunteers since the news came out that their budget would be drastically cut with this new budget.  I am thrilled to hear that since it is a wonderful program that does so much more than just deliver meals.  But there again that boost was caused by this corporation mentality preying on the most vulnerable in our country and good people responding to that attack by picking up the slack.

I think this regime has to realize that the United States is not a corporation.  It is not a for profit company.  You cannot get rid of the "dead weight" by starving them or not educating them or giving them false hope just to further your own selfish greed.  Oh they may believe that you have their good at heart for a bit, but sooner or later they will figure our you have lied to them and then all those people who were thinking you were so great will turn on you quicker than you can go on a golfing weekend and spend hundreds of thousands of their dollars.  And the people in your party will be right along with you, wondering what happened.

Friday, March 10, 2017

Quit telling me to get over it!!!!

By all rights I should be a Republican.  I was raised in a family full of Republicans.  The most influential people in my life were Republican.  But, somewhere along the line I started looking at what they stood for and thought about it long and hard and felt that the party of my family wasn't the party for me.  For a long time I did not even let them know.  I did not want to argue with the people I loved so much.  I did not understand how they could be in favor of so many things that did not have anything to do with human rights and why they felt that building a big military was more important than taking care of poor people.

During these troubled times, many of my friends have been offended by posts I have done relating to the guy in the White House.   Equally, I have been offended by their posts.  Even though I do not understand their opinions they have a right to them.   I decided to blog about my opinions, rather than push them in their face on Facebook.  I decided to start a Facebook page to send all of my opinion filled posts to a place they did not have to look at it, if they did not want to.  And, still, I read their posts filled with insults and telling me to get over it, the guy in the White House is our president.  It does not seem to matter to them that he and the group he surrounds himself with are using the highest office in our government to further their own financial gains or that we have stepped back at least 40 years in the  fight for clean water and educating our children and the future of our country.

I have spoken to several Trump supporters and asked them if they knew who Steve Bannon was and what he believed in, since he is the guy in the White House' chief advisor.  Of those I talked to no one knew anything about him.  They did not know about his other cabinet members who are directly involved in banking with Russians or that the guy in the White House sells property to Russians looking to hide their money.

If you are going to back someone so fully whose agenda seems to be to tear our government apart (and don't misunderstand, I realize there are a lot of flaws in our system), at least read up on what the agenda is.  It certainly is not about making this country great again, it is about getting all the information they can to make themselves richer and insulting the American people's intelligence by feeding them fear and lies.

The Republicans keep telling us to get over it.  Sorry folks, I can't.  If I trusted that this regime was really working for our country it would not matter to me if they were Republican, Democrat or dog walker.  But I cannot get over that our government is being torn apart and reassembled by people whose only goal is their own agenda for their own good not ours.  So please DO NOT ASK ME TO GET OVER IT and please stop insulting people who don't feel the way you do.  And, for goodness sake, please find out more about the people you want us to get over.  That is all I ask, find out more about them.  Not the stuff that you want to believe but the real stuff.  It is available on the Internet as well as in the library.

THINK



Tuesday, March 7, 2017

Don't get distracted

Seems to me while all of us are being distracted by the newest, most outlandish BS to come out of the mouth of the guy in the White House, congress is just sliding one new and outlandish bill after another one through.  Maybe we ought to focus more attention on what they are doing and just keep laughing at the comedian in the White House.

There are some bills coming up that pertain to vouchers for schools, EPA, and budget cuts that sure need our attention.  I have called my congressmen more in the last few weeks than I have in my life.  I think I will put those numbers on speed dial.  It does not seem to do any good, as they have their own agenda and have started wiping out about 40 years of hard work to the environment and schools, but it is still worth a phone call.  At least we know we have tried.

I would actually like to call every congressman and senator in the United States, but I don't think they would listen to someone who is not their constituent or even live in their state.  I keep wondering when the Republicans who do have a moral ethic and are not crazy are going to stand up and say we have had enough.  This guy needs to shut up and go and take his gang of money laundering, philandering, racists with him.  Come on Republicans in office, grow a pair and speak out.  What have you got to lose.  You already look as stupid as he does by backing him.  It might make you look like you were elected for good reason.