A gadfly upsets the status quo by posing different or novel questions, or just being an irritant.
Socrates pointed out that dissent, like the gadfly, was easy to swat, but the cost to society of silencing individuals who were irritating could be very high.
On Dec. 26, 2018, Donald Trump visited American troops in Iraq. There is a lot of discussion on both sides today talking about how it's "about time" he made the trip or how "wonderful" it was. I don't really have an opinion about the rightness or wrongness, etc., etc. I do, however, feel like the partisanship expressed by himself and displayed by a good number of the soldiers was shocking and something that people should really be concerned about, including both military and civilian leaders.
I'm referring specifically to his comments about the southern border, the border wall, his budget spat and how Democrats are responsible for all of the problems related to the current government shutdown. He spoke as if he was at one of his political rallies instead of in front of military personnel. And the soldiers themselves broke with their traditional protocol by wearing and waving partisan red hats and cheering at barbs against people with different political views in the US.
It's probably not a surprise to many that I am not a great supporter or believer in the traditional militaristic approach that most countries throughout the world have when it comes to armies, planes, missiles and bombs. Many accept these things as a necessary evil. I am one of those who believes these necessary evils bring people and nations closer to war every day. In many countries, people who see the potential danger of militarism gone amuck, set up systems and virtually demand that there is civilian control and oversight of the military. That has been the tradition in the US as well and examples of this go back as far as the the founding of the country.
But we never had Donald Trump to contend with in the past. We never had a situation where a President talks about "his generals" and then puts them in charge of the military and national security. We've never had a situation where lines have been blurred like this. We also haven't had many situations, if any, where a sitting President goes on foreign soil and complains about his political opponents to soldiers in the field and gets them cheering against these opponents.
Perhaps Donald Trump and some of his biggest supporters would like to see soldiers marching with red MAGA hats as part of their uniforms? That's what this breach of military protocol could ultimately produce or allow and we should all be concerned about it. There was a time when I thought such statements were an overreach or an overreaction. No more. When you see it with your own eyes, when you see people who should know better, you suddenly realize that we are crossing lines everyday. I don't want to see troops become troopers who are protecting one segment of the population's beliefs and their wants or needs. Donald Trump doesn't seem to get any of that and no-one seems to want to tell him how wrong he is in his view of American values and politics. People better step up before it really is too late. I would guess there are military leaders and personnel who were not pleased with yesterday's events. My worry is about those who thought it was great!
Jakelin Caal Maquin is dead......and Boarder Patrol agents dump water left for migrants.....and seeking asylum is a universal human right......and DHS says the trip is dangerous......and people are kept away from ports of entry......and people are met with tear gas at other points of entry......and politicians of every stripe fumble around pointing fingers, blaming each other and planning their Christmas get away......and this 7 year old girl is dead. I'm ashamed.
Yes, I am ashamed. We should be better than this. We should know right from wrong. We should demand more of our leaders and people who work for us. We should understand human rights and the dignity of life. We should expect people to find humane solutions to problems. Sadly, this is only one tragedy added to the list of tragedies around the world. We have to do better.
Today ( Nov. 29, 2018) is the memorial of Dorothy Day's death in 1980. I am not an enthusiastic promoter of her canonization but I believe her values and many of her actions for social justice and peace and the poor are a beacon for people to contemplate and follow. Dorothy supported me and many others who were associated with the Catholic Worker over the years. We all learn from each other and I learned a great deal from Dorothy and others at the Catholic Worker. Anyway, here is a little clip for folks who may not have known of her.
Seeing the pictures of Dorothy below, sitting in vineyards in California in 1973, surrounded by California Highway Patrolmen, supporting farmworkers, reminds me of her strength and commitment. She carried her three legged portable stool due to her arthritis making it difficult for her to stand for long periods. I think I know how Dorothy would be responding to the issues we see today on our southern boarder.
Stan Lee, the genius and leader behind Marvel Comics died on Nov. 12, 2018 at 95. When I heard about his passing in the news it brought back some memories from the 60's in my head. I began to remember a visit to the Marvel Comics office in Manhattan. Colorful posters of comic book characters hanging on walls popped into my head. Why was I there? To visit a friend at the time by the name of Denny O'Neil.
But Stan Lee's passing forced me to do some searching and some memory poking. I needed to fill in the gaps. Lots of information between comic book posters and Denny O'Neil. I have thought of Denny in the ensuing years and had already done some research on him in the past few years but now I needed to know and remember more. You see there was a connection between Denny and the Catholic Worker in NYC where I spent some time in my youth. I remembered going to parties at Denny's apartment where he and his wife lived, somewhere in the East Village. A group of young Catholic Workers would gather, perhaps after a Friday Night Meeting (a tradition at many Catholic Worker Houses of Hospitality, an opportunity for clarification of thought) or after a day of demonstrating against the draft or the war in Vietnam. Denny was supportive of our activities and his wife, Ann, had been involved at the Catholic Worker.
My research found video interviews and articles about and by Denny. In many, he talked about his growing up in Missouri, his Catholic upbringing, his military service, his marriage to Ann and his connection to the Worker. He started at Marvel Comics after taking the 4 page writers test in his early to mid 20's. He eventually moved to DC comics and took on the authorship of Batman and many other characters including Green Lantern/Green Arrow and Wonder Woman. Denny has had a brilliant writing and editing career at both DC and Marvel.
But I still wasn't sure about all of those memories swishing around in my head so I reached out to some of my old friends from that time period to see if we were remembering any of the same things or if my memory could be jogged a bit. Nicole remembered Denny's wedding to Ann. It turns out she was a witness at the wedding which did take place at the neighborhood church frequented by folks from the Worker. She can recall Denny's makeshift ring at the wedding and the parties we attended at the O'Neil's apartment. Paul sent me information on a book Denny authored with some fictional characters telling the story of Denny's comic book life. So he also had some memories too.
The most amazing thing I found though was some writing from Denny himself where he talks about a character he created in the Batman series, Dr. Leslie Thompkins. Denny explains that his character of Leslie was based on Dorothy Day who co-founded the Catholic Worker movement. Here are Denny's own words in an excerpt from an article in 2015:
"I had a real person in mind when I was writing Detective #457, someone I’d once met named Dorothy Day. Dorothy began her professional life as a journalist, wrote a novel, lived the Greenwich Village life. In 1939, she cofounded The Catholic Worker, an organization located in a section of lower Manhattan not much frequented by the white shoe crowd. The Worker had three missions: to serve the poor by providing food, shelter and clothing; to help drunks get sober; and to protest war – all war, any war, and any violence.
We incorporated Dorothy’s pacifism into Leslie. There wasn’t much; I can’t recall any particular story in which it was a major element. But look for it and you could find it."
So yes, Dr. Leslie Thompkins is a pacifist doctor who works in the toughest part of Gotham's criminal slums. She was an old friend of Batman's mother and father. The character appears in 200+ Batman comics.
Yup, that's the same Dorothy Day arrested over the years in protests over war and social justice. The same Dorothy Day proposed for sainthood in the Catholic Church. Funny and appropriate. Now that it's been brought to light can you imagine all of the prelates in Rome, cardinals and priests, perhaps even Pope Francis, pouring over copies of Batman comics and trying to find references to Dorothy and determining if she should be named a saint. Good luck folks and thank you Denny for helping to confuse the confused. Ah, memories!
I, along with so many others, have watched President Donald Trump stand before reporters and cameras and lie with a straight face. The examples are way too numerous to recount here but all anyone needs to do is search Trump's comments on just about any topic - payments to Stormy Daniels, knowing Matt Whitaker, discussions with North Korea, tariffs, polls, faked videos, etc.
Initially the press has tried to confront him on lies or mistruths but they have a couple of things going against them. First, Donald Trump is tricky. He is fast on his feet. He makes rapid fire comments and gives rapid fire responses. Most of this trickiness is based on his acting and entertainment role as the reality 'apprentice' President. It's mostly an act and it's meant to entertain. It has nothing to do with any search for the truth. The other tactic he uses very effectively is something I call "question interruptess". Pay attention and you'll notice that he usually doesn't let the reporter complete their question. He'll start answering and if the reporter continues to try to clarify, he'll say something like "hold on, let me speak". That tactic confuses the reporter and any audience trying to figure out what's going on.
But the reality is that he lies and he lies often and with, as noted above, an absolute straight face. He seems to enjoy the lies and doesn't worry much about getting caught in them. Perhaps like many pathological liars, he thinks he's telling the truth even when the lies are obvious. So what are journalists to do? What is their best approach? Right now, they seem to be focusing on persistence and hoping that eventually Donald Trump will either slip up badly (which he doesn't care about), or that their truth seeking will win out over his lies. Unfortunately, none of this will work.
But there is an approach that may prove a bit more successful. When the press corp knows Trump is lying as he stands in the driveway talking over a helicopter's engine, perhaps there's only one unified choice. They should all just walk away from him and leave him talking to air and having to turn around and head for the chopper. It's not a protest, it's just a recognition that they have better things to do and better sources to interview. He loves their attention and views it as a challenge and a fight that only he can win. Walking away leaves him on his own with his lies. Yes, journalists have to stop feeding the beast. Feeding the beast just makes the beast bigger. Starve him and leave him flapping in the wind.
I'm sure there are plenty of truthful sources and people who can provide contradicting information to the lies that Donald Trump tells. That's the job for journalists in today's environment.
Last night (11/09/18) I had the opportunity to be a part of a kick-off event for The Arc of Schuyler's first ever Capital Campaign for what they've identified as a 'transformation' of their supports for people with disabilities, their families and the entire community of Schuyler County. It was an informative and fun event with lots of information and stories about the importance of the organization to people in general. The Capital Campaign is for a total of $1.75 million but the organization has been working behind the scenes and has raised a substantial amount of money through grants and donations from Board members and supporters that has left a balance of $280,000 to be raised.
The 'transformation' is the development of integrated employment opportunities for people with and without disabilities, and integrated employment training program and a community center that will include people and organizations from throughout the community.
Now I need to disclose that I was the executive director of The Arc for 32 years, so the organization is close to my heart. But I've been retired for 7 years and the agency has continued to meet the needs of people and families very successfully. One of the things they did last night was to share a short video that tells the story of how The Arc has impacted one family. Take a look at it here.
So that's one family's story and a great on at that. So.....if you want to support The Arc in its efforts, here's a link to a page where you can become a part of the Transformation 2020 Campaign:
Every year at this time, I find myself pondering and remembering Roger LaPorte, a young man and colleague at the Catholic Worker in NYC. Roger worked with me and others at the Worker, cooking meals, feeding the poor and providing clothing and shelter to men and women on the Bowery, the skid row of the city at the time. Roger also opposed the war in Vietnam, participated in demonstrations and on the morning of Nov. 9th, 1965, took his own life by pouring gasoline on himself and lighting a match on the sidewalk in front of the United Nations. He died a slow and painful death the next day. Roger's life was important as was his final act. Here are some pieces I've written in the past about Roger, his life and death:
I've spent too many years seeing and experiencing some very bad things that have happened to people, in their lives in general and specifically around their ability or inability to vote. As a youngster I went to Selma, Alabama because I saw people on TV being beaten and chased by horses when they were making a point, a simple point about their right to vote. Their right had been denied and suppressed by rules and tests that were not only foolish and mean but ultimately illegal. They got mad because they had seen their brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers and friends throughout the country discriminated against in the same way. They were beaten, jailed and killed over this right to vote. I was lucky. I was only called names and arrested.
I saw young men drafted and sent to Vietnam, thousands killed while government officials were eventually shown to have lied to the American people while winning elections and asking for votes. Many of those young soldiers never had the opportunity to vote.
For many years I worked with people who had intellectual disabilities. I saw the time when those individuals were housed in institutions with little care, support or education and in addition no right or ability to vote. I remember the times when people would laugh about giving someone "like that" the right to vote.
The list is too long but there are some names that people have to remember, have to think about when we talk about the right to vote. People who were killed in the struggle. People like Jimmie Lee Jackson, Rev. James Reeb and Viola Liuzzo. They all died in the Selma fight. Andrew Goodman, James Earl Cheney and Michael Henry Schwerner all killed in Mississippi while working on voter registration. Medgar Evers, Martin Luther King, Jr. and on and on.
So when people tell me or tell you that our votes don't count, they're wrong. Our votes all count. Mine counts just like those people in Selma who were beaten and killed. My vote counts the same as those young men who lost their lives in Vietnam should have counted. It counts just like all the intellectually disabled people who vote or should vote. It counts like all the women who had to fight for their own right to vote. It's an equalizer, that vote. It's rich and poor, company boss and trade unionist. I get angry and frustrated when I see the same fight happening today. Things that I thought had been corrected. Voter suppression due to skin color or political affiliation.
So don't take it lightly. There are trails of blood and battles we can't imagine. Take it seriously, please. My vote and your vote do count for something. Don't let anyone take it from you and don't give it away by ignoring it. Celebrate it! Vote whatever way you want...but vote.
It really doesn't matter where a leader is or who she or he leads. It could be an organization or a school or a company. It could be in a place far away or someplace right next store. Perhaps it's a team, a congregation or an army. The point is, that leaders are all around us and that different leaders may impact different aspects of our lives. They get to where they are through various means and routes including, education, training, experience, appointment, election and so forth. The fact of the matter is that someone has placed faith, and hopes and dreams in them.
Yes, leadership is a skill and the communication that a leader provides is part of the toolbox that they may use to get the job of leading done. Normally we would all agree that good, clear communication is a necessity for a good leader. Then we are confronted with the upside-down world of Donald Trump. His leadership in the cut throat environment of real estate development and property management has been based on division, dividing and conquering, insults and bullying. That's the world he has known and he relishes the fight. I say it's an upside-down world because there are other leaders in that world who see things differently than Trump and who use more traditional models of leadership.
But when Donald Trump won the election two years ago, many people thought he would make a transition to a more traditional method of leadership. Well so far that hasn't happened. Some people have been left scratching their heads and others are disgusted with what they hear and see from someone who is supposed to lead a country, a people and a world looking for direction and yes, leadership. Why they ask, is a President holding political campaign rallies instead of leading the country?
It seems like a silly conversation that we shouldn't really need to have but here we are. There are people defending a message of division, hate and disruption. After a week of domestic terror, where suspected explosive devices have been mailed throughout the country and throughout the mail stream to 15 individuals perceived as political enemies of Donald Trump, some hesitate to say Trump's tone is a problem. After a weekend of killing 11 members of a number of Jewish congregations, there are still those who defend a tone and message of nationalism and anti-immigrant language.
Tone does matter. Tone is how children learn from their parents. Tone is how people learn from relationships, Tone is how students learn from teachers. Sometimes leaders take on all of or a combination of those roles and the people who follow them listen. For a real leader to blame their tone on the tone of an opponent is childish and another sign of an immature leader - someone who just doesn't get the consequences of their own words or language.
I think hate speech is pretty clear. Hate speech is hate speech, is hate speech! And hate speech can kill people because people follow leaders. So this weekend 11 Jews were killed. Jews who were helping immigrants were killed. Donald Trump needs to be told over and over again that his tone, his words, his rallies, his encouragement of chants all matter. He needs to be told by his staff, by members of the GOP, by world leaders and by voters. He should be unifying a divided nation and helping people heal. He should be the first to pull people together in any tragedy. If he doesn't or won't, he has failed us all.
Hon. Richard C. Wesley Tuesday, Oct. 23 10:50 a.m. class Jephson Science Center, Rm. 104
Join students in Dr. Angela Narasimhan's Law, Politics, and Society class for a special presentation from guest Judge Wesley, who sits on the U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit, and hears cases bound for the U.S. Supreme Court. He’ll share his thoughts on judicial independence in the wake of the recent Supreme Court confirmation hearings and subsequent Senate vote for nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
Above is just one of the things going on in my world, in and around Penn Yan, NY. This is a great opportunity to hear from a Federal Judge and to interact with students and professors at Keuka College. Join in if you can.
And then on Wed. Oct. 24th between 1pm and 3pm at Starkey Lookout on Rt. 14 in Dundee, NY join NYS Senators Tom O'Mara and Pam Helming for a round table and panel discussion with 20 experts on water quality looking at and talking about "The Future of Water Quality: A Discussion on Challenges, Crises and Responses".
HABs, invasive species, non-point source pollution and other contaminants, flood and erosion control, habitat preservation, and water quality infrastructure will highlight the range of issues the panel plans to discuss. How we understand and proactively address the issue of water quality is critical. It is important for drinking water, for the agriculture and tourism economies, and for the recreational use of lakes and other waterways.
With all of the issues we have had with the quality of the water in the Finger Lakes recently, this will be an important event.
More, more, more........On Thursday evening, Oct. 25th at 6pm, as part of the Civics 101 Series at the Penn Yan Public Library, there will be a session on the Midterm Elections 2018.
What are the midterms, why do we have them, and how important are they? Who thought it was a good idea to make us vote every two years? These questions and more will bring November’s election into focus, whether you’re a political animal or are hoping to better familiarize yourself with our democratic process. And the many reasons to Vote, Vote, Vote! The Library is pleased to welcome members of Keuka College’s Political Science Club to present this important topic! This event is free and open to the public, and there’s no registration necessary.
The US policy seems to be stated that simply - you can kill a journalist if you buy our weapons. Perhaps you can kill more than one. Who knows at this point?
Many times over the past few years questions have been raised about the language and attitude emerging about the press in our own country. We have heard journalists being accused of presenting 'fake news', a term that is now used commonly around the world. We have heard journalists and the media being described as 'enemies of the people'. We have seen various examples of people acting out against the press, from phone threats to graffiti on buildings to shootings at news sites. All of this has been reprehensible and goes against American values as well as the basic concept of free speech and the First Amendment. As we move toward the midterm elections, these and many other issues are being debated openly and freely.
But now we are confronted by our own government and the leader of that government laying out a crass and in my mind, immoral statement about the value of a journalist's life. As the mystery of Jamal Ahmad Khashoggi's death is being investigated it seems that the United States, Saudi Arabia and Turkey are working on developing an alternate truth, an agreed upon story about this terrible incident. The alternate truth will not disrupt the economy of the region or of the world. The alternate truth will not stop weapon sales to the Saudi government. The alternate truth will allow Turkey and Saudi Arabia to kiss and make up relative to their recent spats. And at what cost? A good man's life, a truth seeker's life, a journalist's life.
Why though should any of this be surprising based on the attacks on the press that have been strong and ongoing from dictators, presidents and despots all over the world? The messaging is clear. Tell it our way or beware, yes be afraid. Why should it be surprising based on the importance that has been placed on the manufacture and sale of weaponry that spreads across the world and is used against civilians and children in Yemen, the unreported war.
Yes our weapons are touted as the best in the world. The best technology. The best America can sell. Jobs, jobs, jobs are the reasons given, the bill of sales as it were. We shall see. How often and for how long can you sell your weaponry and your technology before someone or some entity uses it on you. The best missiles, the best aircraft, the best drones, the best bombs all out there on the international marketplace. Yes, we shall see where that goes.
I the meantime, journalists, writers, commentators and most likely some poets and musicians will continue to challenge power knowing that they are living in a more dangerous time as a result of Khashoggi's death for a price negotiated by two nations.
Moral courage is something that needs to be celebrated, always. The challenge is that we need to find it first. Some may think it's hard to find and it does seem that way some times. Usually though, that's because we just aren't paying attention. Our lives are busy. Our time is limited and we are forced, or so we think, to prioritize how we use it. Busy, busy, busy - we chase the news, the news chases us. Our work and leisure bump into each other and we are forced to make choices. Seasons change and our lives move on at a pace where we may miss what's right in front of us.
The point is though that moral courage is critically important to our evolution and experience as human beings. So we need to find it and embrace it. We need to stare it in the eye and let it stare back at us. It's good for the soul - perhaps necessary.
Today I saw a terrific article about moral courage as exemplified by Megan Rice, a nun who has stood up to the nuclear arsenal of the United States of America. She is 84years old and is spending time, perhaps her life in prison for her anti nuclear actions (writing words of peace on weapons and walls). She and her compatriots are examples of true moral courage. You can get the full story HERE at Open Democracy Spend a little time learning her story and follow links in the article above to see her writings. Her insights on the prison experience are right on.
Another example of moral courage comes from and through the Kings Bay Plowshares. Information on their personal action against Trident Missiles is available HERE at the Kings Bay Plowshares website. I personally know a number of these folks and believe they too are filled with moral courage. The entire group is identified on the website listed above.
Years ago when the Berrigan brothers, Phil and Dan, really established the Plowshares movement, I along with others at the Catholic Worker and in the broader antiwar movement debated the rightness and/or wrongness of property destruction. There were long nights of philosophical discussions over beer, coffee and music. Was it the right thing to do? Did it cross the line and move nonviolent action to violent behavior? Breaking the law by breaking and entering government property - was that the way to go? Friends disagreed with each other then and disagree with each other now. But moral courage was never in question.
We are certainly in a time when moral courage is needed more then ever. Megan Rice knows her role in this world. She knows about the abuse of power that happens in prison. She knows that all of our time on this earth is limited and she knows how she wants to spend hers. She's a great example of moral courage.
Yes it's over. The false hope that the US Supreme Court would remain the one institution of non-partisanship is gone forever. Yes, most of us falsely hoped that this was true, that the Supreme Court was fair and decent. We grew up on the concept that the United States of America was a true democracy and a country of laws vs men. We were spoon fed a belief in equality under the law even though every day we saw the reality of prejudice. There was always the hope that even though black men, the poor, immigrants and women were treated unfairly, their voices would be represented and heard in a courtroom of nine justices. That arguments would be presented and decisions made without prejudice and with a search for the truth not impeded by interference from the other branches of government, the executive and legislative.
That hope, that last hope, was destroyed forever with the appointment and confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh and finalized with his ceremonial swearing in by former Justice Anthony Kennedy at the White House on Monday, October 8, 2018. Yes the fix was in as soon as Kennedy resigned and Kavanaugh was named as his replacement. Kennedy was part of the deal making. The swing vote Justice's last swing was against the court. Donald Trump spent countless hours during his 2016 campaign screaming and yelling about the Washington swamp and how the system was rigged. He was so right. He has spent the last two years proving it through appointments and decisions. He has fed the swamp and rigged the system over and over. Now, with the help of his enablers in the US Senate, he has reached into one of the last institutions of freedom and justice, the US Supreme Court and turned it into a partisan sham.
I don't believe the institution will ever recover. The damage has been done by the likes of Trump, McConnell, Grassley and Graham. They have destroyed the Court, its process and decision making forever. Yes we are a country of men. Men who are in their last gasp for power before minorities become majorities and rip that power from their old white hands. They are fearful of the consequences as they should be. They will stop at nothing to hold on to that power so be on guard.
Yes, people should resist and yes, everyone should register to vote and make sure that they do vote on Nov. 6, 2018. But recognize we have lost our soul. We have lost any perception that there is a branch of government that is fair and non-partisan. The US Supreme Court has not been protected from the swamp. It is rigged. It is gone.
It seems to me that the way we measure the success of our economy is out of balance with reality. If you listen to any recent stories or reports, it's pretty much always the same and has been for years. The economy is booming or failing based on the stock market, various indexes, the profits or losses being generated by businesses and banks and so on. In effect, we measure the economy based on how well the rich or the wealthy are doing. As I say its been that way for years. There's no other way to say it, the measure is based on the success of the wealthy.
But this may be why so many people scratch their heads and say "wait a minute, I'm not feeling it. The economy isn't working for me." This is why I'm wondering if we really need a different measure. Something the talking heads and pundits could spend more time talking about when they tell us all that the economy is doing well or not.
So lets start measuring some really worthwhile things. Things like how is the middle class really doing? Or how about college students and debt? How are they doing with that and how are they feeling about the interest rates they're paying? If the economy is good (according to traditional measures), why aren't these rates and costs changing? But here's the most important measure of a good or strong economy. How are the poor and the homeless doing? Are they less poor, less homeless? Are the poor and perhaps the underemployed doing better in terms of their wages? Wages are currently measured but they don't seem to be weighted in a similar way as the wealth being created by the stock market or other investments. Let's measure the minimum wage and entry level wages as a measure of a good and strong economy.
All of this would be a start in changing how we all view the economy and perhaps it would help business leaders and politicians realize that they had to do more to tout a successful economy.
They're coming, they're coming! This is Trump's cry to build fear in not just his base but to anyone who will listen. They are - People of color, Muslims, Mexicans, MS-13, Antifa, strong women, young people, progressives, China, Africa. Yes, according to Donald Trump your property, your life and your family are threatened by all of the above. He would have you think that your world will be turned upside down by all of these terrible people. He is saying that violence will occur if his opponents win the midterm elections. Really? The winners will beat up and attack the losers? It also seems he is saying that his party is the party of white people - white people who are threatened by a fear of those who are different. Most of what Donald Trump does is based on this type of hateful politics and governing by fear. He understands what he is doing and seems to enjoy promoting fears and building walls, pitting people and groups against each other. We also need to understand that there are plenty of people who will revel and celebrate in the hatred and the fear. This should be the real fear. My hope is that more and more people will begin to realize that there really are no "others". We citizens of the world are really in this together and we need to stick together against the promoters of hate and fear who exist all over the planet.
And then there is the issue of governing that we are all witnessing today. Donald Trump is very proud of his use of Twitter. He touts it as his way of being able to communicate with the American people. Think about it. This is a 71 year old man who otherwise seems to be technologically challenged. He doesn't use a computer, email or numerous other electronic communication tools. He also doesn't use traditional modes of communication such as news conferences. But, yes, he discovered Twitter at some point a few years ago and saw how effective it could be as a tool to get his ideas across untethered by questioners or facts.
Having said that, I'm amazed at the fact that government officials, party officials, security staff, family, friends, and elected officials haven't been able to educate him about the appropriate and inappropriate use of this social media platform. The fact that we have someone governing through Twitter is crazy and dangerous. People are being notified of their firing through Twitter. Foreign governments, allies and adversaries are being communicated with through Twitter. The stock market, businesses, the Fed and other economic entities are being impacted by Tweets. Other politicians, friends and foes attempt, in a silly way, to communicate with Donald Trump through Tweets. Members of the media use Tweets to report on Trump's Tweets. In the process we all lose. We all enable governing through Twitter.
I have no idea why we accept any of this. History will not look kindly on our country allowing governance in this way. Personally I feel sorry for Donald Trump. He really doesn't and I don't believe he ever did understand the reality of what it meant for him to be elected President. He never understood what it would mean to lead or govern the country. But here we are, he is responsible for governing and leading. He should and perhaps will, be held accountable for his Tweets. I hope the rest of government realizes what a terrible method of governing we are seeing before us.
Catholic Church Issues
I recently posted a piece about the Catholic Church and its miserable failure of accountability related to sexual abuse, highlighted by the report from the Pennsylvania Attorney General. There has been a lot of coverage since I first wrote about this, including the Pope's recent visit to Ireland to address sexual abuse in that country and the internal battle within the church over conservative vs liberal approaches to teachings as well as a power struggle as old as the church itself.
Sadly there are those within the Catholic Church among clerical leadership and the laity who want to use this scandal to place blame on homosexuality and some fairly feeble attempts at inclusiveness within the church. I want to be clear that, in my opinion, the sexual orientation of priests has nothing to do with the the issue of sexual abuse in the church. In addition, the LBGTQ community that has had to struggle for acceptance in the church should not be used as a scapegoat in any of these discussions.
Sexual abuse is sexual abuse and it occurs within and across all forms of sexual orientation. The church has failed in its own understanding of power, authority, accountability, abstinence and the lack of including women in positions of authority. There has been a culture of acceptance and coverup related to all of this and that's what the church needs to deal with if it has any chance of surviving this latest episode.
The conservative vs liberal battle taking place in the church is a different discussion but is taking place in the environment of these abuses and is in fact using these abuses to make arguments for and against a power shift. But lets be clear, this is all about power in the clerical leadership of the church. The clerics opposed to Pope Francis and his messages of social justice, peace, and inclusion but most importantly his views on clerical reform want him gone. This power struggle has gone on for centuries and again, is part of the church's struggle for any real relevance in today's society. Who gets the power, the fancy vestments and hats, the best real estate, is what we see happening before our eyes and its pretty unseemly to say the least.
The Shame of Puerto Rico
We should all remember that deaths in Hurricane Katrina numbered somewhere around 1000 people. At the time our country was horrified at what was witnessed in that natural disaster. President George W. Bush and FEMA were held to account in both public opinion and the world of politics. But here we are, a year after Hurricane Maria and new reports indicate that 2975 people died in Puerto Rico as a direct result of not only the storm itself but as a direct result of the US government's poor response. What a shameful thing this is and it goes on. We have become numb to the reality of people dying and suffering. The other example is of course Flint, Michigan and the lack of clean water for children and families that still continues. There is something wrong with us and our government that all of this is accepted while billions are being spent for weapons of war.
And Speaking of Weapons of War
Not many discuss whats happening in this area. The most we hear about it is from D. Trump who reminds us and the world that US weapons are the best. Missiles and Jets are the best in the world he says and we're selling them to everyone. Yes, these missiles are showing up in Yemen where school buses of children are bombed by Saudi Arabia. US drones continue to do their damage too and are either being sold or duplicated throughout the world. I'm afraid there will be a day when we will see the results of our own technology and weaponry flying near or within our shores and we will be startled and wonder how this could happen. On another weapons front, cybersecurity and cyberattacks seem to be on a back page. We will see how that plays out I'm sure.
Donald Trump Unhappy With Google Search and Internet News
More humor from the President as he gets upset about the negative stories that show up about him and his administration in search engines and in internet news. Perhaps he should think about the things he does like separating families, putting children in cells, attacking people at rallies and on Twitter, making white nationalist statements, and so on. Yes, Mr. Trump, these things will show up as news stories and in search engines. Wait till he reads the history books.
The following is David McReynolds Obituary from the New York Times on August 18, 2018. David was a friend, fellow protester and resister. He and I reconnected about three years ago after fifty years. We continued to be in touch through email and facebook, enjoying each others conversations and information. He was an important leader in the anti war and progressive movement.
David McReynolds, Socialist Activist Who Ran for President, Dies at 88
David McReynolds, right, explaining plans to protest the draft at the University of Denver in 1970.Denver Post, via Getty Images
David E. McReynolds, a pacifist, socialist and sometime political candidate whose activism spanned many decades, died on Friday in Manhattan. He was 88.
The War Resisters League, where Mr. McReynolds had been a staff member, confirmed his death. He was taken to Mount Sinai Beth Israel hospital after falling in his Manhattan apartment, a friend, Bruce Cronin, said.
Mr. McReynolds was best known for his demonstrations against the draft during the Vietnam War, his advocacy of pacifism and denuclearization, and his two bids for president in 1980 and 2000 as an openly gay man running on the Socialist Party USA ticket.
“He’ll be known for the lifetime of leadership and the pacifist movements that, to a large degree, he defined in the post-World War II, Cold War era,” said Professor Cronin, the chairman of the political science department at City College of New York. “But what I think helped to define him was that he was as much a humanist as he was an activist.” He had met Mr. McReynolds at a denuclearization rally in the 1980s.
Mr. McReynolds spent almost four decades as a staff member for the War Resisters League, a pacifist organization based in New York City. His activism took him around the world for demonstrations and meetings as a member of delegations in Libya, Japan, Vietnam and other countries.
“There were all these things that made him a giant in antiwar and civil rights and social justice,” his cousin Dusty Kunin said on Friday.
He was also a photographer, a writer and a music aficionado who regularly hosted friends at his home for discussions about art, life and politics.
David Ernest McReynolds was born on Oct. 25, 1929, in Los Angeles. He was raised as a Baptist and was once affiliated with the Prohibition Party, he told The Village Voice in a 2015 interview.
Mr. McReynolds, who was the oldest of three children, described his childhood as “pretty protected.” His father’s job as head of the local water reserve and his family’s access to his grandfather’s farm and livestock helped insulate them from the worst effects of the Great Depression, The Voice reported.
By the time he attended the University of California, Los Angeles, in the early 1950s, he had become an active socialist and an ardent pacifist.
This was during the era of McCarthyism, and the government took notice of his activities. Mr. McReynolds would later write that the F.B.I. had compiled hundreds of pages of files on him, which he obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.
His work spanned myriad issues. He demonstrated in favor of civil rights and against the Korean War in the 1950s, so that by the time widespread antiwar sentiment had gripped young activists during the 1960s and ’70s, he was an experienced protester.
Mr. McReynolds was known as a mediator with a human touch, and much of his organizing work took place behind the scenes. But he occasionally appeared in news reports, including the time he publicly burned draft documents during Vietnam War protests in 1965.
He first gained wider public attention as a candidate for Congress in 1958. He ran as an openly gay candidate for president in 1980, and again in 2000, although he did not make gay rights a central issue in either campaign.
By the time of his last presidential bid, he was 70 and technically retired from his position as a field secretary with the War Resisters League.
“I think we have a title for me,” he said at the time. “I’m an emeritus of some kind. I’ll have to ask someone up front what my title is.”
Mr. McReynolds resigned from the Socialist Party in 2015 after he was censured for two comments he had made on social media. In one, he expressed concern over Islamist extremism following a terrorist attack on Charlie Hebdo, a newspaper in Paris. In the other, he used the word “thuggish” in reference to Michael Brown, the unarmed black teenager who was shot and killed by a police officer in Ferguson, Mo.
“The failure of the Socialist Party, its tendency to substitute a kind of left rhetoric for serious analysis, is to be regretted because if ever we needed a democratic socialist movement it is today,” Mr. McReynolds wrote after his resignation.
He is survived by a sister, Elizabeth Gralewski, and a brother, Martin McReynolds.
On Friday, the War Resisters League said in a statement that Mr. McReynolds was on its staff until 1999 but had remained a member of the league’s community throughout his life, adding that he “will be remembered for living radical pacifism.”
As news coverage continues over the Pennsylvania report about years of sexual abuse of thousands of children by 300+ priests and the coverup by leaders of the Catholic Church, I'm reminded of this quote by Dorothy Day:
“As a convert, I never expected much of the bishops. In all history popes and bishops and father abbots seem to have been blind and power-loving and greedy. I never expected leadership from them. It is the saints that keep appearing all through history who keep things going. What I do expect is the bread of life [the eucharist] and down thru the ages there is that continuity.” (Dorothy David,Letter to Gordon Zahn, October 29, 1968)
Blind and power-loving and greedy. Yes, she says it well. I grew up as a Roman Catholic, went to Roman Catholic schools and spent two years at Maryknoll Seminary studying to become a priest. I have had all of the Catholic experiences including devotion, guilt and questioning. I viewed priests as leaders and teachers and for many years, I respected those who chose the religious life, nuns, priests and brothers. But all of that changed at a certain point in my life as I questioned and saw things related to social justice, peace and poverty. At some point I left the Church or the Church left me.
My experience in the seminary was interesting. I had close friends. We broke rules, raised questions had some fun along the way. I did realize eventually that the priesthood wasn't for me. There were lots of reasons but one of the biggest ones had to do with the immediacy of problems in the world and the Church's foot dragging on many of those problems. There was also my struggle with what I began to see as a structure of unquestioned authority within the institution of the clergy. Parishioners and seminarians were pretty low in that structure.
The report from Pennsylvania is disgusting and shameful. It is an indictment of the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church. The damage that was done and has been done to children and families is astounding and unforgivable. All of this coming from an institution that has hurt people in so many other ways relative to sexuality, from the treatment of the LBGTQ community to the pressures put on women and men relative to birth control and abortion. Judgmental men, purportedly speaking for God, about the role of women in their sacred institution.
I have listened to commentators and individuals asking over and over, why? Why and how did this happen? What causes the secrecy and the mob like protection of the inside scandals? Why didn't more insiders speak up over so many years, so many children, so many sins? There are a number of answers to these questions, I'm sure, but as we have learned from so many other scandals and crimes, it is always an important practice to follow the money.
Yes, follow the money of an institution that is built on the dependence of individual donors every Sunday to house and feed their priests, build their churches, maintain their properties, etc. Over time that same money has created power and fascination with power and all of its trappings. The vestments, the chalices, the rings and crosses. The pomp and circumstance, the power, the life, the dinners in private homes, all of it depends on willing supporters and believers. The fact is that in most of these powerful men's minds, reporting these scandals would have threatened it all. Interesting how the leadership of the Church became so blind, and power-loving and greedy. We should have never expected leadership from them.
That's where we are in our country - people, including the highest elected official, are encouraging mob reactions against journalists. As others have pointed out, this will not end well. When people are enabled and encouraged to act like goons or to scream and yell at people who are performing jobs reporting on events or the news, we are on the brink of serious violence and intimidation. Many have fought and advocated for leadership in government to find ways to protect the media and journalists. Success in this area has been mixed but the efforts have always been intense.
Writing and reporting are really the essence of the First Amendment. Much of the debate in the founding years of our country were in the written and spoken word. Pamphlets, broadsides, newspapers and soapbox speeches on street corners were how the issues related to the early years and development of the Constitution took place. This should make all of us realize and think about why the First Amendment was thefirst amendment.
I have watched the rallies that Donald Trump has held across the country and in every one of them he points to the press, pointing his finger and waving his hand. He talks about how terrible these people are, what liars they are, how they are reporting things incorrectly and promoting 'fake news'. He shouts it out with anger and bile in his voice and his supporters yell and scream at the reporters who are held in a pen at the back of the event. People jeer, pump fists, give the finger, raise signs and shout obscenities. Donald Trump seems to enjoy it immensely. Mobs are great fun as long as they're not after you.
It has also struck me recently as I've listened to people in these crowds being interviewed by the media they seem to hate, that there are other things going on. Listening, I'm beginning to pick up that a number of these audience or mob members, are regulars. Yes, some of these folks travel from state to state, site to site to attend as many of these Trump rallies as they can. Perhaps someone should do a more comprehensive review of how many of these folks are just repeat groupies and followers.
As I said earlier, this will not end well. Journalists will continue to probe and Donald Trump will continue to call them out as enemies of the people. Someone, somewhere will take his words seriously and interpret that action needs to be taken. I hope it doesn't happen. I hope journalists and writers and newscasters face down intimidation but we should all realize how hard it is and how hard it is going to be if mobs continue to be incited.
This is not an allegation. It's not an accusation. It's a serious question that many in our country have been thinking about or very seriously worrying about, especially over the past few days as more bits of information have come out relative to the midterm elections, interference and in effect cyber attacks.
The question became more relevant in my mind as Facebook announced its latest findings about a serious and continuing disinformation campaign that has been identified on their platform. I would suspect that others like Twitter will follow.
Here, it is probably important to define what we're talking about when we discuss a disinformation campaign. The simplest definition I've found follows: false information deliberately and often covertly spread (as by the planting of rumors) in order to influence public opinion or obscure the truth. A disinformation campaign can take many forms but the main purpose is to confuse, build fear, create mistrust of institutions and of each other. Our intelligence agencies do it and all of our perceived enemies and allies do it. Disinformation campaigns have been used for years to influence people's perceptions of political movements on the left and the right. Recognizing that, it is usually people working against a country's interest but can be done internally against those who disagree with a particular point of view.
In hearing about the disinformation campaign aimed at our midterm elections, I began to think about many of the things that have come out of the White House over the past year and a half. Much of it has been contradictory at times, some of it has been hateful with finger pointing and insults and some has been confusing. People are at each others throats. Families and old friends are arguing at best and not speaking to each other at worst. The media has been identified as and called the enemy. The truth comes from the flock or cluster we're part of and lies come from the folks we don't agree with. Honestly people don't know what or who to believe. What all of this proves is that disinformation works and it works well. All we have to do is look at each other and the extreme splits that have been developed among us.
So here's the question - What if Donald Trump and a number of his aides are in fact, knowingly a part of a planned disinformation campaign? What if we find our selves in a situation where the President of the United States is knowingly assisting a foreign power in confusing people in our country about facts and issues? Many can agree that there have been untruths told and spread by the President. The facts about these statements just don't lie. But the question becomes one of purpose and intent. Donald Trump can be either an incompetent person put in charge of a world power or a willing partner in a plan to disrupt political life and balance in the United States. There's not a lot of room in between. So there you have it, the what if question without many answers on my part. In the end, I think this matters a lot. How people react and deal with the potential of a foreign entity disrupting a political system to the point of controlling who a leader is and how they govern is pretty special indeed. But ah yes, we've been a part of it before.
This past Sunday, July 22, I had the opportunity to spend some time with a number of other folks from the Elmira, NY area, listening to John Dear talk about a life of nonviolence and peace. The event was part of Dear's tour around the country to discuss a commitment to nonviolence based on the teachings and lives of people like Mahatma Gandhi, Dorothy Day, Martin Luther King, Jr., the Berrigans and others.
The talk was given after the Liturgy at Mt Savior Monastery just outside of Elmira in Pine City, NY. In many ways, John Dear's talk is an introduction to the concept and philosophy of nonviolence and that is certainly not a bad thing. He spends time walking people through the commitment to nonviolence and a nonviolent life by people like those mentioned above. More importantly he lets people know that a nonviolent life is not about passivity. Its not about putting up with the current state of affairs. He points out and reminds people that a nonviolent life is about speaking up, speaking out and taking action, direct action that many times gets people into, as John Lewis says, good trouble.
No matter how committed someone may be to nonviolence and a nonviolent life, we all need reminders once in awhile. We need to hear from others about why the struggle continues and why it's important. We need to remember friends and neighbors who have fought the fight through the years. But most importantly we need to be reminded that action continues to be necessary. People's actions can include writing, demonstrating, organizing, participating and going to jail as necessary. The reality is though that a nonviolent life really requires us to do something in the face of a society and culture that has propagated the concept of violence, racism, sexism, etc. Violence against others has been justified and romanticized to the point of almost universal acceptance.
John Dear also reminds us that nonviolence has to be worked on constantly. We stumble and fall in living our nonviolent lives, especially in these times of extreme partisanship and extreme personalities. It has become easier to speak in hateful language. It has become easier to ignore opponents. It has become easier to hate those we don't agree with. John helps people to understand that a nonviolent life is an ongoing challenge that has to be worked on regularly.
As an independent writer, self publisher, blogger, etc. I hope everyone really takes some time to think about the importance of a free press and the work that journalists do on a daily basis. Some of the work is mundane. A lot of it is hard and it's guaranteed that most every piece will annoy someone, somewhere. Sadly threats and disrespectful actions are part of what comes with the job.
Intimidation, fear and physical harm happen far too often to journalists around the world. Thankfully, a belief in telling a story usually outweighs all of that. Solidarity with writers, storytellers and journalists everywhere as we grieve the five lives lost in Maryland.
The author of this piece is David McReynolds, an old friend and partner in crime, literally. David is a long time socialist and pacifist, retired, living in Lower Manhattan. Here are his thoughts on the separation of families at our borders.
This week Donald Trump staged a show in which his racism was masked by the use of the tragedy of others.
While parents at the border were frantic about where their children were, Trump brought together a handful of Americans whose sons and daughters had been killed by aliens.
The tragedy of those deaths was real, the grief was a fact, not a political position. It would not matter whether the deaths had been by accident or intent, or whether the agents responsible were citizens or aliens. Let nothing I write here be taken to minimize the death of loved ones.
But Trump had something else in mind. Trump, the talented but empty man, unloved by his father, not terribly bright, clearly a bit mad, and racist to his core, was using the grief of those on stage as if they compensated for the horror Trump had imposed on the immigrant community.
In the face of parents whose children had been taken away from them by the thousands, and are now scattered in holding centers across the nation, Trump wanted us to see those alien, human, frightened men and women, hoping for safety for their children, not as our brothers and sisters, but as killers, rapists, and the agents who had brought grief to the handful Trump had gathered for his TV show.
What is stunning to me is not that Trump would stage this show, not that he tore the children at the borders from their parents - there is, to Trump, no moral center, no trace of any awareness of right or wrong. No, what is alarming is that there is a willing audience for Trump, that the racism in our nation, at times so masked we even elected Obama as President, can be brought to the surface, cultivated like a lethal virus, turned into a political force.
The issue is not Trump. He learned the social graces well enough to move freely among the very rich, to have the Clintons at his wedding, to buy the silence of those he abused - great money has great power. No, the issue is us, the public, and the question is why Trump has any following at all.
What has happened to the evangelical community that it supports him? That a man would put on a stage show of those who have suffered, to divert the public from the issue of those now suffering, suggests the sickness of the man. But what of us? Is there any grief greater than that of a mother or father whose child has been lost "In the system", who cannot be reached, touched, embraced?
We are entitled not to agree on some single "correct position" on immigration, but we are not entitled to use children as bargaining chips for political ends. Trump is not Hitler - he lacks the complexity of Hitler. But we risk being the German people. The evangelical church needs, with great urgency, to read the gospels on which it is based. To remember the words of Jesus on the value of children. Jesus saw them as of intrinsic value. Trump sees them only as coins in a political game.
He has gone too far, at last. He has always allowed himself a tiny wiggle room. When he launched his campaign by attacking Mexicans as killers and rapists he added "and some I'm sure are good people", so his followers would not see the depth of his racism. But now that slight qualification is gone. He has not only used the children as political coins, but in his stage show of those who suffered from attacks by aliens, he has used human grief for entirely political ends.
History may bury Trump. But what will it have to say of us? Of those in the GOP whose fear of losing a primary has forced their silence? Rarely has raw evil been so clearly in view.
As I've watched and listened to all of the news about our country's zero tolerance policy and the separation of children from their parents, I've been struck by many things. The policy certainly has forced many people to think about children and families. Its made us think about the underbelly of racism in the US and how deep it may run. Its made me think about prisons, detention camps and 'tender age facilities', the latter being a name the government has come up with for baby and toddler detention facilities. I've also thought about history and the future and what all of this says about our country and its current leadership as well as our political state of affairs.
All of the above is the initial and perhaps logical response to what is going on. But recently I realized that there is something much more significant that needs discussion as well as some answers from political leaders. Watching what can only be described as management incompetence, I realized how big and serious our problem really is and we should all pay attention.
The crisis at the southern boarder has shown us that the emperor, or more specifically, the president, really doesn't have any clothes. We elected a person with no experience in running a government. We put him in charge. We watched as his transition team recommended and hired outsiders without checking competency. We watched as more and more staff became frustrated with a lack of management skills, both on their own part and that of their leader and other team members. All of this has happened over a period of time and it has worn many people out. It is debilitating.
But it also brings us to the reality of today. The government of the US is in total disarray and is sending a message of incompetency across the globe. What we are seeing is the inability to verbalize and implement policies and plans. We are all witnessing poor communication, confusion, and contradiction from the top and between and among agencies of the federal government. Imagine if you will that this government had a serious crises threatening homeland security. How confident can anyone be that agencies involved would be able to handle such a crises after watching things unfold in Washington and Texas over the past week. Homeland Security and Health and Human Services can't even coordinate a numbering system between their agencies for tracking parents and children. The Department of Justice came up with a policy with no implementation planning. Resources at port of entries were not planned for. Housing and holding facilities were not thought about. I could go on and on.
Yes running governments and bureaucracies is hard. Its difficult. That's why people try hard, in both the government and private sectors, to hire extremely competent people to perform operational tasks. Shooting from the hip may sound like fun but we are seeing the results up close right now. Yes our government is managing through chaos and confusion. All of this should send shutters through all of us relative to how badly most sectors of government are probably running under our current President. I fear we are just seeing the tip of the iceberg. This is a manufactured crises. Imagine an unplanned and real crises. This isn't the coordination we should expect and we certainly don't deserve it.
Donald Trump has spent a lot of time talking about a 'deep state'. He has felt used, abused and threatened by bad actors in the FBI, the CIA, the NSA, the Republican Party and his own White House. Bad, bad people all out to get him. But in reality we have been given a glimpse into his own 'deep state': Children & toddlers disappearing around the country in the middle of the night. And think about it, they have no identification, they have no passports, nothing. Yet they and their handlers are walking through airports and flying on airlines, who by the way, try to deny their involvement. Try that yourself. Somehow TSA is waving these folks through. Airlines, police and military are all participating without question. Police deny access to properties by the media and public officials. Contractors move children with gag orders. In the midst of all of this, First Lady, Melania Trump travels to Texas and meets what are described as smiling & happy children. She checks out neatly made beds and listens to a Lutheran shelter explain that everything is fine for these 55 children. No need for mothers here. All is well. A very deep state indeed.
History will not look kindly on anyone who remains silent about what is happening in our country. Baby and child prisons in the US should be unacceptable on every level. In reality, they aren't. People of color have been totally dehumanized and are being kept from entry into our country, even when threatened with the worst violence. Politicians, Republicans and Democrats, have failed us all. Imagine, no one, including elected officials have been allowed to view current baby prisons. There is no oversight and pictures are provided by the government. People sworn to uphold the Constitution are clearly subverting it. The Presidency and Congress are a disgrace. Yes, history will not be kind. People working for federal agencies, private contractors, White House and Congressional staff and yes, all of us, will have to answer to history. Reputations will be held to account and families will be ashamed of relatives and their actions or inactions. There will be heroes here and there - people of conscience who speak up and refuse to follow orders.There are times when people need to ignore and not follow unjust and immoral orders. It has happened throughout history and will continue into the future. There will be courageous people working for ICE, Boarder Patrol, Homeland Security and private contractors who will refuse to continue to participate in the separation of children and families. They will need encouragement and support. History will be kind to those souls. The Trump Presidency will be time limited. It will end. I believe it will be seen for what it is - a nationalistic and racist regime - anti democratic and worse. History will tell the story and it will be a stain on many.
Yes, I am ashamed. We should be better than this. We should know right from wrong. We should demand more of our leaders and people who work for us. We should understand human rights and the dignity of life. We should expect people to find humane solutions to problems. Sadly, this is only one tragedy added to the list of tragedies around the world. We have to do better.
