Happy Veteran’s Day. It’s a long way from the 1970’s, but today I’m feeling patriotic. Yep that’s me back in the day. USMC…Semper Fi! And in the words of President Macron this weekend, “Patriotism is the exact opposite of nationalism. Nationalism is a betrayal of patriotism. By saying ‘our interests first’…we erase what a nation holds dearest…its moral values.”
Another week, another mass shooting, an election…contested, a house regained, an attorney general fired, a sycophant hired, press pass seized, threats of retaliation, lies doubled down, fires raging. In other words, a typical week in the alternate world of trump. We learned a few things this past week. Hate is alive and well in these divided states with far too many election results lingering into the night “too close to call”. Insanity reigns as our president spirals into rage. If the last few years were trump in good times (with allies in all three branches of our government), we are in for a wild, terrifying ride from a defensive trump. The house win, he says, out loud, works well into his (evil) political plan to stay in power. He’ll just blame the democrats for everything.
But something also changed this week. There is a flickering check on the imbalance we have suffered these past few years. It’s certain to be ugly. It will most definitely be exhausting. Our divisions are real, laid bare by our party loyalties, and our recent election.
Before we trudge forward, I have one more thing to say…Apologies to Europe…to the world…for trump and his atrocious behavior in Paris, in general. Apologies to our veterans and service members who have given all to this country for a commander in chief who is afraid to get his hair wet. Apologies to the people losing their homes and sadly for some, their lives, while wildfires rage. I’m sorry you are being blamed for this tragedy and threatened by our president who’d like to cut you off from funding and ultimately out of the union. To the hopeful, seeking asylum from terror and violence in their homelands, I’m so sorry we are not the bright, shining city on the hill you imagine us to be. To the innocent people wounded and killed by angry men wielding weapons of war in our streets, to those suffering from addiction, to those with preexisting conditions, to the marginalized, the poor, the sick, the elderly, people of color, lgbtq, non-Christians, non-republicans, to all the others, I’m sorry we can’t do better. But remember this one thing. Your vote counted this week. It made a difference. We are not powerless. And trump is not who we are. He has his blind followers, but there are more of us who remember, more patriots who cling to what matters most…our moral values, decency and truth. The blue wave may not have been a tsunami, but change is coming.
Sunday’s Week in Reverse – 11 November 2018
sometimes family,
this cold, grey mourning
seeks you
mind your manners
a simple blot of ink
blue haze dissipating
show me, just show me
ice-nipped air, drizzling sleet,
peace exists
~kat
Most Sunday’s I reflect on the previous week. But it is deeply painful to reflect on this week’s events. How does one make sense of madness? It’s not possible. The only thing I do know is that it must stop. I don’t know how to fix this. How to reach across the aisle to those who see me as the enemy, an abomination, “the other”. All I do know is that we can’t keep killing each other with mistrust, insults, exclusion, discrimination, hate. There is no “other”. There is only us. As true as that is, it is also true that we are the only ones who can save us from ourselves.
Ricky Gervais produced a film back in 2008 called “The Invention of Lying”. I highly recommend it. It’s a tale about a world where no one is able to tell a lie; where trust was the way of life. Imagine it if you will. When one dude figures out he has the ability to bend the truth, all hell breaks loose, as you can imagine. Of course everyone believes his lies, because, well, why wouldn’t they in a world where everyone is hardwired to trust, where there is no such thing as a lie. But as a consequence of his invention trust took a beating. It was a new reality, the idea of mistrust. It was the price to pay for lying, no matter the gain. A sobering lesson for us all.
