The times we failed to hold up our standards recently are numerous.
1. allowing anyone to run for President of the United States without forcing them to provide tax returns.
2. electing a President of the United States who was caught saying ‘I like to grab them by the pussy.’
3. electing a President of the United States who openly mocks the physically disabled.
4. Congress not acting as the separate power that they are, to hold a daily lying to the world (via Twitter or verbally) presidential candidate, or actual President….accountable. Just acting like the President is Teflon Man, and nothing outrageous or an actual lie he utters over and over almost without the ability to contain himself…nothing sticks to him. No accountability.
The list is endless and we all know it is.
A love of Truth and Virtue is not leading this country anymore.
It is absolute abuse and corruption of absolute power. The country was set up with three branches of government; the Executive branch (the President), the Legislative branch (Congress), and the Judicial branch (the Supreme Court and lower courts.) The whole purpose was to BALANCE power.
There have been, of course, MANY times when one political party held all three branches of the government in control. But it has NEVER been as abused as it is being abused right now.
There was always compromise, based on a common goal of truth and decency.
That no longer exists.
We like to think that our elections are the one fail-safe we have to right the ship of abuse of power. Perhaps that is still true. But we don’t even know if we can trust our elections anymore due to electronic hacking and gerrymandering of voting districts.
There is no way that our Founding Fathers could’ve anticipated an electronic revolution that would allow hacking to the political level that it is currently being employed. Paper ballots is still the safest way to vote. We are told that there is enough separation of voting by states to prevent a change in the outcome. But we saw with the last election that if only a few states have a change of a few hundred thousand votes each, enough to swing their electoral college, well….we have a different outcome.
These are horrifying times for our country.
Whether Brett Kavanaugh was a notorious black-out drunk in high school and college…whether even if we accept that, and that condones his forgetting potential horrible crimes like gang rape…the ATTITUDE and BEHAVIOR and blatant LIES (about getting into Yale unaided–he didn’t, about “Devil’s Triangle”, about his age and the legal drinking age in high school, to name a few of his perjury lies)…he exhibited during Thursday’s testimony ought to make him unworthy of a lifetime appointment to the highest court in our country. The verbal abuse he spat out, the accusations against anyone left of him politically, where beyond appalling. He is supposed to be part of the most politically-free, impartial court in our country.
He even went so far as to THREATEN the left to expect retribution!
“This whole two-week effort has been a calculated and orchestrated political hit, fueled with apparent pent-up anger about President Trump and the 2016 election, fear that has been unfairly stoked about my judicial record,” Kavanaugh said. “Revenge on behalf of the Clintons and millions of dollars in money from outside left-wing opposition groups.”
“This is a circus,” he continued. “The consequences will extend long past my nomination. The consequences will be with us for decades. This grotesque character assassination will dissuade confident and good people of all political persuasions from serving our country, and as we all know, in the political system of the early 2000s, what goes around comes around.”
So he talks about revenge. He makes it ABSOLUTELY POLITICAL by discussing President Trump and (for God’s sake) the Clinton’s. He makes it clear he could NEVER be politically impartial ever again. He even goes so far as to THREATEN when he says ‘what goes around comes around.’
This is a man we are supposed to trust with the laws of our land, for LIFE? This is a man who is THIS out of control when sober?!
It’s appalling. But we live in the times of Donald Trump. Where lying is the norm. Where almost every sentence uttered by our President EVERY DAMNED DAY, MANY TIMES A DAY, is the exact OPPOSITE of the truth. Where the President hates our country’s allies and all but worships the enemies of democracy.
It’s an appalling time. Yesterday, quietly, a judge ruled to allow 200 Democrats in Congress to continue their anti-corruption lawsuit against President Trump over his violations of the Emolument’s Clause.
It’s all about the money and absolute corruption of power FOR money. First, foremost, always. If Trump could end term limits today, he absolutely would.
The thing is, we have no idea where this is headed. You read all of the respected pundits, and all that they (and anyone) can do is point to the past. But we are living in a different world. On the daily, past regulations and more importantly, moral guidelines and MORES are being destroyed. I don’t think we can trust the Constitution or Bill of Rights or Amendments to protect us, anymore. The only thing left to protect us is a free and accurate voting process.
And do we have that any more? I honestly don’t know.
***
It’s hard to deal with all this. It’s been two long years already. This is a marathon, not a sprint. I personally ebb and flow on what I can handle, and when I have to pull back and try to ignore it, but the daily attack on our sensibilities NEVER ENDS. It’s a daily assault on decency. Any attempt I’ve made to just try my best to live a GENTLE life, gets slapped down anytime I view any news source. One has to completely bury their head in the sand in the USA to avoid it. And isn’t avoiding it, the very reason we are in the position we are in now? We didn’t speak up louder against Trump when we had the chance two years ago? We didn’t fight harder to convince non-voters or third party voters that a vote for anyone other than Clinton was a vote for Trump, because we didn’t seriously think a ‘pussy grabbing, physically mocking the physically disabled’ man could possibly win the Presidency?
So I just can’t avoid for too long at a time. I try but I can’t. I have tried to stay away from turning this blog political. I avoided blogging altogether because of it. But the daily assault really has left me no choice. I FULLY intend/need to get back to the good old days, when talking about tv shows and grandkids and getting ready to retire (22 working days left!!) were all that matters. The Rams -my beloved NFL team- is kicking butt. I am enjoying that fully.
But…this week is EXTREMELY important. This Supreme Court choice will affect our country for at least the next 20-30 years. To just pretend it all doesn’t matter, isn’t important, can be avoided….
that’s what got us into this mess. AT least, that’s how I see it.
Peace and love to you. I gotta go get cleaned up and go watch my youngest grandson play some soccer and enjoy a nice burger lunch on the way to the game.
Thanks for making it this far, if you did!
A Gentle Breeze 