RIGHT or WRONG?
Sometimes there IS no grey area.
In life, and certainly in politics, it is often impossible to declare one position or belief right and another wrong. People will disagree on some things. But there are exceptions, there are limits. In fact, there must be limits to what can slide into the grey areas. No one needs to be particularly religious, or look to the scriptures of various religions, or consult the penal code to KNOW when something is absolutely wrong. The arbiter is the human heart, at least for those who listen to their hearts. Most of us have a pretty well-developed conscience, barring sociopathy or psychopathy. We grew up absorbing the idea that hurting others is wrong, at first because it was painful if someone hurt us. Throw sand at another kid in the sandbox and he or she is probably going to throw it back at you. That’s a pragmatic (and instant) lesson, but somewhere along the line, especially if we were blessed with good role models, we learn that it feels good to be good, that kindness begets kindness, and love is that proverbial two-way street. We also learned there are some things we just don’t do… that decent, honest, reasonable, rational people … don’t do.
This election is absolutely NOT about the ideological differences between conservative and liberal political viewpoints. I don’t care what label you choose, be it Republican, Democrat, or Independent. I don’t care if you’ve been devoted to one of those parties (or any other party) your entire life. Because, and let me reiterate for emphasis, THIS election is NOT about partisan politics. It is about Light versus Darkness, Love versus Hate, and declaring who we ARE as a nation. If this sounds fanciful, rest assured it is not. We are at a fork in the road, and the direction we choose does not mean we might take a little unintended detour. We’ve done that in our history and gotten back on track. No, this is a choice from which there might be no coming back if we fail in our love of country and in our regard for our fellow human beings. That’s a remarkably strong statement, and I shall stand by it.
For years, months, weeks and days, I’ve watched the continued spiraling downward of the GOP. It has lost its values, its dignity, its principles, and its own roots primarily because of the strange and almost inexplicable rise of the MAGA leader. What WAS the Grand Old Party? Brief history: The Republican Party was founded in 1854 by anti-slavery activists who opposed the Kansas–Nebraska Act, which allowed for the potential extension of slavery to the western territories. The party supported classical liberalism and economic reform geared to industry, supporting investments in manufacturing, railroads, and banking. The party was successful in the North, and by 1858, it had formed majorities in almost every northern state. White Southerners became alarmed at the threat to the future of slavery in the United States. With the 1860 election of Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican president, the Southern states seceded from the United States. Under the leadership of Lincoln and a Republican Congress, the Republican Party led the fight to defeat the Confederate States in the American Civil War, thereby preserving the Union and abolishing slavery.
The Republican Party today (as represented by the MAGA leader and his various allies) is a disgrace to America. It has been hijacked by racists, misogynists, oligarchs, wannabe autocrats, religious zealots, and those who are ‘in bed with’ foreign leaders of hostile nations, all without a shred of respect for the U.S. Constitution, our constitutional democracy, or the rule of law. They are, without a doubt, the greatest threat to freedom we as a nation have ever faced. And how did they get to that point of being a threat? How did we let them? There has always been a lunatic fringe of extremists across the political spectrum. But we didn’t imagine… did we… that the lunatic fringe would become the core drivers of the Republican party. We didn’t imagine that the worst human qualities would become the ‘norm’ for millions, or that they could ever get within striking distance of crushing democracy. Be very clear, the central influencers of this MAGA/Project 2025 brand of pure fascism have no interest in government of the people, by the people and for the people.
We all should have noticed, and we should have said ,”No… oh NO you don’t.” But we didn’t.
For nearly 10 years, the MAGA leader has made it acceptable to be a raving bigot, threaten violence against your opponents, profanely insult and defame other political figures, mock what so many of us hold dear—compassion, acceptance, fairness, equality, peace, freedom for all. He is the poster boy for sheer lunacy in a public figure, though I cannot take satisfaction in anyone’s obvious descent into madness. Mental illness is a tragedy. But it doesn’t need to be OUR tragedy too, does it? Does he speak for the majority of Americans? I do not believe that he does. Those for whom he does seem to speak are beyond my comprehension. And any person who actually casts a ballot for the man is either just as mean-spirited, just as self-absorbed as he is, deluded into believing his crap (like saying that America is a “garbage can”) or just NOT PAYING ATTENTION. But how could anyone miss or ignore the horribleness? I know, Pox “News” and similar outlets owned by billionaires have sane-washed, edited, clipped, pretended, lied, rationalized, or completely ignored the rhetoric for ten years. But with the availability of independent news sources, there’s no excuse to not be aware of the plain, unvarnished truth. He doesn’t hide who he is… at all.
The most shameful and horrifying event to take place in our country of late is without doubt the hate rally at Madison Square Garden this past weekend. On the very spot where, in 1939, Nazi sympathizers spouted their twisted “aryan” philosophy of white supremacy and ‘cleansing’ the world of human vermin, the MAGA leader and his evil band of haters did precisely the same thing, though with even more vulgarity, profanity, and putrid language. I’m not going to repeat much of it here because it is so distasteful and shocking I can’t believe I live in a nation where such things could be said out loud, in public, and on national television. Their ‘comedian’ offered up racist jokes one after another, the most widely reported being one about the “floating island of garbage in the Pacific…it’s called Puerto Rico.” Another ‘joke’ … about Latinos making lots of babies because they push their way in and don’t know when to pull out. I’m paraphrasing and that is bad enough as it is.
All speakers’ remarks were vetted and approved in advance by the candidate’s campaign, and loaded into the teleprompters, so there’s no credibility when they say, “oh, that doesn’t reflect what we believe.” The only remark that was reported to have been ‘censored’ shall we say, was the comedian’s comment calling Vice President of the United States Kamala Harris the “c-word.” No, I am sure as hell NOT going to spell that one out. Elon Musk, however, had no problem with it when he posted a big color ad on his twitter platform saying, “We don’t need a c*** in the White House.” One after another the various speakers ranted, shouted, screamed insults, and demeaned most of America. Spittle flew out of their mouths, rage twisted their features, and still the crowd applauded as the Proud Boys (white supremacists) handled “security.” It was a night that will live in infamy. No MAGA person can pretend it didn’t happen, but I suppose many will try.
When asked about the rally, the MAGA leader proclaimed it the most beautiful thing… a “love fest.” No, I am NOT kidding. That is a quote. He is monstrous.
While Vice President Harris has provided detailed plans for the way forward… for everyone in America…Mr. MAGA has no policies, no rational plans (though irrational ones to be sure), no long-term vision of creating a better life for us all. Other than rambling on and on about his 200% tariffs (which would tank the economy and add a huge burden to middle-class households and millions of working people and bankrupt Social Security) and promising to send the U.S. military around America rounding up immigrants AND all his “enemies from within,” he has nothing to offer but whining about his grudges. He doesn’t CARE about Americans. Why? Because he doesn’t know how.
Over 200 highly credentialed medical professionals took out a full page ad in the New York Times that contained a formal letter outlining all the observed symptoms displayed by the MAGA leader that he is a malignant narcissist--one of the most dangerous personality disorders in the DSM-5. Such people are capable of unimaginable cruelty, greed, rage, and serious harm to others. He HAS harmed others directly and the United States as a whole. He has lied, cheated, stolen, assaulted women, compromised our national security, colluded with foreign interests, been convicted of 34 felonies, all the while lining his pockets selling cheap tawdry souvenirs. He incited an attack on the U.S. Capitol and sat watching on his television with great satisfaction as people fought, bled, and even died. He and his bizarre mob of malcontents and deluded people vented their rage… on US.
Yes, on us. We the people who, even if we don’t agree with something, are not out violently trying to overthrow the government. We who think the U.S. Constitution is sacred. We who do NOT wish to enslave or denigrate people of color. We who know our own ancestors were immigrants, and legal immigrants have rights just as we do. We who believe genders are of equal value and deserve equal rights. We who do not demonize the LGBTQ+ community. We who offer acceptance to people unlike ourselves. We who believe in the separation of church and state. We who will not bow down to dictators.
So … I ask… where is the huge outcry, where is the massive indignation, where is the ‘hell, no’ from ALL thoughtful, fair-minded, decent Americans? Not just some, but ALL… except of course for the ones who are just okey-dokey with racism, despotism, the subjugation of women, and the rich getting oh so much richer. They, naturally, are gleeful, champing at the bit for a chance to turn America into a dark dystopia of people hating each other, where all hope for truth and beauty and peace is dead. Where basic human morality is irrelevant. I ask, when did the moral character of a leader cease to matter? When did standing up in front of crowds saying over and over the stupidest and most grotesque things, making up absurd lies, and still claiming to be God’s chosen one become okay?
Twenty-four hours ago, a Halloween parade took place in Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania. One would think it was primarily for the amusement of the kids, but everyone loves a parade, right? Or maybe not. In that parade was a motorized ‘golf cart’ type vehicle. Sitting on its roof a sniper rifle on a tripod. Standing on the platform at the back, a person wearing a Donald costume and wig. Walking behind the vehicle, attached to it by a rope or chain, a person representing Vice President Kamala Harris. No, I am not making this up. A celebration of white people ‘dragging’ a person of color behind a car. Anyone think that’s okay? I don’t. Even less so because it has only been about 25 years (in 1998) that a 49-year-old black man, James Byrd, Jr. was tied to a pickup truck driven by three white supremacists and dragged for three miles along an asphalt road in Texas. Medical evidence suggested he was conscious for at least half the distance and would have suffered longer except that he was decapitated. The men dumped Mr. Byrd’s torso in front of a black church… to make a point.
Yes, it’s grisly, shocking, revolting… and why did I relate something so terrible that happened a fairly long time ago? Because the same thing could happen right now. People made a decision to put that display in a Halloween parade… to make a point. And it’s the SAME point. We just like to pretend it isn’t. We like to pretend that everything is fine… nothing to see here! Really? When is it “fine” to have a candidate for the highest office in the land, and arguably one of the most powerful leadership roles in the world, who stands on a stage spewing personal insults, claiming immigrants are eating domestic pets, accusing people of color of “poisoning the blood” of America, and fabricating, at will, the most egregious and outrageous lies imaginable. A candidate who dines with and praises some of the world’s most evil people. And all the while, he spirals down, clearly in cognitive decline, slurring words, forgetting where he is or what he’s saying, and not caring…because his cult of MAGA doesn’t care what he says.
It's interesting that some people act as if they don’t know what fascism is. We know Donald is never clear on facts or knowledge despite his claims of being a “genius.” He’s called Vice President Harris a “Marxist/communist/socialist/fascist” so that says a lot for his intellect. Here’s a quick explanation of fascism and why the would-be 47th has been accurately compared to Adolf Hitler. Fascism began with Benito Mussolini who, after trying to create a peaceful, prosperous socialist society, gave up on the idea and decided that the only solution was to have a very, very few powerful men in charge of everyone and everything. The assumption was that average people were too stupid to participate in government. The path to moving Italy to a fascist form of government was a strategy of creating hostility and discord among the citizenry, to appeal to a warped view of “national pride,” that excluded a number of religious and ethnic minorities. Divide and conquer.
Hitler enthusiastically embraced this philosophy and created what was in essence a complete myth about the “master race” of Germany and then sold it like a pitchman on a carnival stage. He perfected the art of demagoguery. He created a cult of personality. He played on people’s fears and soon the German people discovered there were lots of enemies within—not only Jews, but gypsies, gays, members of certain religions, people of color, uncooperative newspaper publishers, uncooperative jurists, and… anyone who did not agree with him. Women, he declared were only suited to the roles of “Kinder, Küche, Kirche” or “children, kitchen, church,” and told it was their duty to produce “pure” white children for the Reich. Sound familiar? It should, because one way or another, Donald, all his cronies at the Heritage Foundation, the architects of Project 2025, extremist evangelicals, and all the MAGA influencers and alt-right social media cretins have said exactly that. Their vision of America is Christian Fascism…period.
In Ronald Reagan’s farewell address to the nation, he alluded to a phrase written by an early Pilgrim settler, John Winthrop, talking about the America he imagined as a “shining city on a hill.” Reagan said, “I’ve spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don't know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall, proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, wind-swept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace; a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity. And if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That's how I saw it, and see it still.”
What will it be? A shining city on a hill, or a dark, smoldering pile of rubble where America, from sea to shining sea, used to be?
There are moments when there are only two choices.
