Did you hear that glub, glub, glub sound like the last gasp for air before sinking irretrievably under the water? Or was it our forefathers turning over twirling in their graves as the mob’s feet stomp over them. Are we losing this nation that for so long has been the light and hope of the world?
How did we elect a convicted criminal with no regret for his crimes who has bragged about his sexual escapades, who has shown every indication of wanting to be a dictator, not just of this nation but of the planet? And where in the world are those in our tripartite form of government who are supposed to guide and protect this nation in the way that the carefully executed documents intended. Do we not recognize ethics at all?
It is becoming increasingly difficult for me to stick to my principles of not condemning an entire group for the actions of a few and to salute the office, not the officer. What has happened to the idea that the welfare of all is the idea instead of pure unadulterated power?
How did we, a nation of immigrants, reach the point of mistreating the hopefuls in need of escape from the tragedies of life in their home countries? How did we close our eyes to the contributions made by immigrants, documented or undocumented, through the years? What would have happened to our food supply had we not established the farm labor program or who would do our distasteful jobs except immigrants?
When we consider health programs for citizens, what makes us think that the injuries and diseases of non-citizens are any less hurtful or contagious endangering all than those of citizens? What is so difficult to understand about all humans having the same basic needs?
How do we ignore statistics that clearly indicate that a larger percentage of our criminals come from our birth citizen population than the beleaguered immigrants? Are not those who commit crime in the misuse of money belonging to others just as criminal as the poorer among us? Why do they get less harsh prison assignments than the immigrants? Even those with papers justifying their presence are lying low these days especially if they have tinted skin.
We spend lots of time and effort these days on our condemnation of slavery and other practices of the past yet we treat many among us little better. We condemn the Nazis, but the stories from Guantanamo and the planned Alligator Alcatraz hardly speak well for us. Until we can clean our own government of human abuse we can hardly be “holier than thou” with other nations.
As if the citations above were not enough to cause us to pause for reflection on just where we are and what we need to do to remedy the situation, why are we so comfortable in funding Israel in its treatment in Gaza?
Addressing all the “ifs, ands and buts” of how this situation came to be must wait until another time, but even in the worst war conditions deliberate starvation and destruction of medical facilities have never been accepted in any way whatsoever.
Just when we think things can’t get any worse with this would-be dictator and his Republican Party associates, he changes the Pentagon from being the Defense Department to the War Department.
There are different connotations to the words. No war is nice, but defense is necessary and this nation has always used defense intending to avoid war. Where is Congress regarding this change of emphasis?
There is an election in a month, but will we take the action needed to reverse the direction? We fail at our own peril.
