Principle of the Day: THE RULE OF LAW

You don't have to be a legal scholar to have heard of the phrase "the rule of law".  It is the legal principle that means the law applies to everyone and should be applied equally to everyone.  If you haven't heard of the phrase "the rule of law", you most certainly have heard of the phrase that is the meaning behind it:

NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW

Some laws we may agree with, some we may disagree with, but the idea of laws is to protect us and provide some sense of order.  That idea may or may not be followed through on, but I, for one, am not in favor of anarchy.  

Many politicians have invoked this idea by saying America is "a nation of laws".  Some have referred to themselves as the "law and order candidate".  Richard Nixon, for one example, referred to himself as such in response to the young people protesting the Vietnam War, and the perception (or reality) that the country was falling apart.  

To some degree, with whatever language used, all presidential candidates present themselves as in favor of law and order.  Joe Biden referred to America as a nation of laws.  The latest candidate, however, to have self-identified as the law and order candidate is President-Elect Donald Trump.  

He is a law and order candidate?  Really?
America is a nation that follows the rule of law?  Really?

Let me look at this briefly on a broader scale and then narrow it down, all of it relative.  First, look at the slew of cases against police officers over several years getting either not indicted or not convicted.  Other examples could be business executives and celebrities.  There have been some cases where justice is served, but are all those absences of indictments and convictions a following of the rule of law?

Not following the rule of law is now being given a bigger stage, painted with a wider brush, its scope increased in ridiculous measure.  I have two of the latest examples, both having Donald Trump at their center.  I will start by going back to last summer.  On July 1, 2024, the Subordinate Court (formerly known as the Supreme Court), in a 6-3 vote, ruled that presidents have broad immunity from prosecution.  The supposed limiting is in the wording that the immunity is related to "core constitutional powers", more commonly referred to official presidential acts.  If Trump does anything illegal, all he has to do is claim it as an official presidential act, and that's that.

In other words, the Subordinate Court has placed Donald Trump above the law.

Another Trump-centric ruling was the one handed down by Judge Juan Merchan, Justice of the New York State Supreme Court, on Friday.  Following a last-ditch appeal by Trump's lawyers to the Subordinate Court that failed to block sentencing, Judge Merchan's sentence for Donald Trump was this: unconditional discharge.

A conditional discharge is when someone who is convicted is required to fulfill some requirements (e.g. paying fines, community service).  Once fulfilled, the charge(s) are dismissed or the sentence is dropped.  You can probably guess, then, that an unconditional discharge means there is no penalty to the one who has been convicted.  That's what happened with Trump: no jail time (he was facing up to four years), no fines, and no probation.  Nothing.

So, Trump carries the shame of being a convicted felon, but suffers no consequences. 

Trump doesn't feel shame, but he's still planning on appealing the sentence, likely because he feels wronged rather than ashamed.  Judge Merchan's reasoning included Trump's being re-elected to the presidency would mean any punishment would have interfered with the Subordinate Court's ruling.  He stated in his ruling that the only option he had was an unconditional discharge "without encroaching on the highest office of the land".  Granted, passing an actual sentence would be prime opportunity for a slew of legal wrangling.  Nonetheless, Merchan's ruling is a legal affirmation of presidential immunity.

Are these examples proof that no one is above the law in this country?  I know what my response to that question is.  In light of that, here is what we have and will have:
We have someone who is above the law.
We have a state high court affirming that to be true.
We will have, in two weeks, our first felon president.

English politician James Harrington wrote in the seventeenth century about an "Empire of laws, not men" in explaining a key tenet of his political theory: the rule of law is achieved though the prioritizing of the common good over personal interests.  This, he wrote is "according to ancient prudence".  "Modern prudence", in contrast, is when "some man, or some few men, subject a city or a nation, and rule it according to his or their private interest...".  Sound familiar?

Harrington's political views were influential in the establishment of this country.  John Adams, our second president, was quoting Harrington in his writing Thoughts on Government when he defined a republic as a "government of laws, not of men".  

A system of checks and balances was key to their beliefs.  In this country, the three branches of government (executive, legislative, and judicial) were to assure no one or no single group had too much power.  I doubt Adams would recognize this country if alive today.  I suspect he and the other founders of this country would wonder what good were their efforts in the long run.  They knew what they were establishing was tricky, but likely the word futile would cross their minds more than once in observing us now.

How's that modern prudence working out?

Terry

SPECIAL BULLETIN - JANUARY 6, 2025

The Congress of the Separated States Called America (S.S.C.A.)

has willfully defied the Constitution

As of 1:36 p.m. Eastern Time, the S.S.C.A. Congress, in joint session, certified the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States.  This function of certification is normal for January 6th, as the congressional counting and certification of the electoral votes takes place on this date following the General Election.

However, in doing so this year, the Congress has refused to accept the legitimacy of the Constitution by directly contradicting the 14th Amendment.  The Amendment, specifically Section 3 of the Amendment, states:

"No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress,

or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office,

civil or military, under the United States, or under any State,

who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of

Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member

of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of

any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall

have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or

given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may

by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability."

First, let me briefly address the last sentence above.  I understand such a vote to "remove such disability" would likely be for someone who led an insurrection to, what's addressed the Declaration of Independence:

"That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive

of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish

it, and to institute new Government"

On to the bulk of Article 3.  In his first term, Trump was guilty of breaking the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution (Article I, Section 9, Paragraph 8) by profiting from his presidency.  Nothing was done.  That was an ignoring of the Constitution.  By this certification of the 2024 election results, a traitor to this country has been legitimized to become president by Congress today.

This country's founders saw the Constitution as a living document, one open to interpretation and changing.  This traitor-body has deemed the Constitution as nothing more than a political talking point.

Terry

R.I.P. Former President Jimmy Carter

The 39th President of the United States, Jimmy Carter, died Sunday.  He was 100 years old.

He was the longest living president in history, surpassing George H.W. Bush who died at age 94.

He was also the first U.S. president who was born in a hospital.

He married Rosalynn Carter in 1946.  At the time of her death last year, they had been married an incredible 77 years, the longest-married presidential couple.  (They also surpassed George H.W. and Barbara Bush, who were married for 73 years.)

Known as the peanut farmer who became president, his family had a peanut farm since 1928.  He worked on the farm until he went to college (Georgia Southwestern State University).

He entered the U.S. Naval Academy in 1943, receiving his first commission three years later.  Following his father Earl's death in 1953, Carter left the navy to return home to help run the family farm.  He, his wife Rosalynn, and their three sons at the time, had to live in public housing.

His public service began in the mid-1950's, as he became deeply involved in his community, serving on several local boards, eventually serving on the Board of Education of Sumter County.

He ran for Senator in 1962 and won, going on to serve two terms.

In 1966, he ran for the Democratic nomination for governor, but lost in a primary election runoff against segregationist Lester Maddox.  (Carter came in third.)  

The following year, the Carters' only daughter Amy was born.

After failing to win the Democratic gubernatorial nod in 1966, Carter tried again in 1970.  This time, he won the nomination, going on to win the governorship. 

During the campaign, Carter leaned in a racist bent, even criticizing his Democratic opponent, Carl Sanders, for supporting the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  However, during his inauguration speech, Carter stunned the crowd, receiving only tepid applause, when he commented on racial segregation in Georgia.

Leroy Johnson, a Black Georgia state Senator who was, at the the time, the first Black senator elected in Georgia in fifty years, commented on Carter's campaign stance versus his inaugural speech by saying, "I don't think you can win this state without being a racist."

Carter's comment, you can imagine, did not sit well with southern segregationists, many who had helped get Carter elected.  Carter knew what he had to do in the campaign so that he could work for civil rights in Georgia...and later in his presidency.

Carter announced his bid for the presidency in 1974, near the end of his term as Governor.  (At the time, governors were limited to just one term in Georgia.)  In the Democratic primaries, he was one of seventeen total candidates -- seventeen!  He was mostly known only in Georgia, so his odds of winning the primaries and going on to win the nomination was, indeed, a long shot.  In fact, the question "Jimmy who?" was an often-used dismissal of his candidacy.

Carter, however, used that to his advantage, regularly saying, "My name is Jimmy Carter and I'm running for president" in his speeches and commercials.  His strategy, which included giving over 200 speeches in thirty-seven states before any other candidates declared they were running, eventually paid off.

In the Summer of 1976, Carter picked Minnesota senator Walter Mondale as his running mate.

Carter won the nomination and had maintained a lead in the polls over incumbent President Gerald Ford until September, when it dwindled, even leading to a virtual dead heat less than a week before Election Day.

Then, the infamous Playboy magazine interview was released just a couple of weeks before the election, in which Carter admitted to having committed adultery by having lust in his heart.  (Well, the Bible does say adultery isn't only a physical act.)

This was back when many men claimed they bought Playboy "only for the articles".  Clearly, it was not a smart political move and almost sunk his candidacy.  Conservative Christians, who were one block of his supporters, were furious.  (He could have admitted that before running for president...and why Playboy?!)

Still, Carter prevailed, winning 50.1% of the Popular Vote and 297 Electoral Votes to Ford's 48% of the Popular Vote and 240 Electoral Votes.  He was sworn in on January 20, 1977, the last time the inauguration took place at the East Portico of the Capitol.


Carter's presidency was a mixed bag.  Some might use the word "mixed", some might use the phrase "not very good".  There were some key successes and some serious failures.  Some of his success were the establishment of the Department of Education and the Department of Energy, the U.S. Foreign Service lifted its gay and lesbian personnel ban, signing the Mental Health Systems Act [most of which was repealed under Reagan], grating diplomatic status to the People's Republic of China, and signing the second Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (SALT II) with the Soviet Union.

Perhaps his greatest achievement came in early September of 1978.  Having been unsuccessful at mediating an end to the war between Israel and Egypt, President Carter invited Israeli Prime Minster Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat to meet with him at Camp David, the presidential retreat for negotiations.

The negotiations did not secure a withdrawal of Israeli troops from the West Bank, but it did result in Egypt changing its position and formally recognizing Israel, as well as agreeing to the establishment of an elected government in the both the West Bank and Gaza.  Thus, the Camp Accords effectively ended the war between Egypt and Israel.

Sadat, Carter, and Begin at the public signing
of the Camp David Peace Accords 

Carter's biggest (and ultimately insurmountable) hurdles were the economy and the Iran hostage crisis.  The economy was good at the beginning of Carter's presidency, but inflation and high unemployment numbers (a 6.6% average for his term) countered that.  The inflation rate would fare even worse.  The overall year-over-year (YOY) inflation average during Carter's term was 9.9%.

The second oil crisis in this country, beginning in 1979 and continuing into 1980 -- oh, I remember odd-even gas rationing then -- saw OPEC raise the price of a barrel of crude oil over 150%.  Obviously, this increased inflation even more, resulting in an inflation rate of 11.3% in 1979 and 13.5% in 1980.

Just like this year, if inflation's bad, it does not bode well for an incumbent president.

The final nail in the coffin politically for Carter began on November 4, 1979.  The Iranian Revolution student uprising which included the storming of the American embassy in Tehran, resulting in the taking hostage of fifty-four U.S. diplomats and citizens, would irrevocably taint an already souring public opinion of Carter and his administration.

The hostage crisis remained a standoff for well over a year, led by the Ayatollah Khomeini.  I can remember seeing on the nightly news a graphic counting how many days the hostages had been held getting larger and larger.  In short, it was a response to the U.S. supporting the Shah of Iran, who the U.S. helped to install, and its overall opposition to the Iranian Revolution.

Negotiations failed over and over.  Two military attempts to rescue the hostages -- one attempted, one planned but aborted -- were unsuccessful, and further stained both Carter's and the United States' image.  Carter and his administration tried to get the hostages released all the way up to his last day in office, to no avail.  It was often perceived publicly that Carter was useless in getting the hostages released.  I remember one of my college professors referring to him as the "do nothing president".

Ronald Reagan won in a landslide in 1980, but it wasn't until he was sworn in as the 40th President of the United States on January 20, 1981, that the hostages were released after 444 days in captivity.  I remember the television news anchors simultaneously announcing any updates on the hostages' release throughout the inauguration broadcast.

Carter may not have had a high rating as president, but it was clearly his time after the White House that garnered the greatest praise.  It remains the largest part of his amazing legacy.

Carter's own Christianity was genuine.  It was neither a mere talking point nor some political cloak that he wore when advantageous.  He believed it and lived it.  It is a refreshing look-back when it comes to a president's faith compared to many of those in office since.

While in office, he taught Sunday school at First Baptist Church of Washington, D.C.  After leaving office, he returned to teaching Sunday school at his and Rosalyn's home church, Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, GA.

The year after leaving office, the Carters started the Carter Center, which is located adjacent to the Jimmy Carter Library and Museum.

The Center's focus, per its website:  Waging Peace. Fighting Disease. Building Hope.  The Center's work has reached over 100 countries.  It engages in fighting diseases and infections, and dealing with mental health issues, among other health issues.  It also engages in peace initiatives around the world, including election monitoring, supporting those who defend human rights, working toward fairer treatment of women and girls, and working toward establishing the rule of law and a system of justice accessible to all.  Jimmy and Rosalyn have traveled the world themselves in the initiatives of the Carter Center.  Find out more here. 

Another well-known initiative that the Carters had been involved in is Habitat for Humanity.

The organization was founded by local Georgia farmer and biblical scholar Clarence Jordan, along with Millard and Linda Fuller in the early 1970's.  The concept was for those in need of housing to work alongside volunteers (putting in what they called "sweat equity") to build new homes.

Projects were funded by its Fund for Humanity, and the Fullers decided to take the Fund for Humanity concept abroad.  They went to Zaire, which is now known as the Democratic Republic of Congo.  After spending three years there to get the program off the ground, which was successful and still exists today, the Fullers returned to the U.S. to begin Habitat for Humanity International; it became official in 1977.

In was in 1984 that Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter joined in Habitat's efforts and gained the organization its biggest notoriety.  They weren't simply spokespersons, faces seen to advertise the organization.  No, they did the work, the on-site work, the physical work, right alongside others.  They were one of the crew.

The Carter Work Project that worked hand-in-hand with Habitat for Humanity was soon formed.  The Carter Work Project's first project was the renovation of a six-story, 19-unit apartment building, Mascot Flats, in New York City.

Carter and Project Manager Taylor Eskew
looking over much-needed renovation work

Mascot Flats today

The Carter Work Project itself has built over 4,000 homes in 14 countries through the combined efforts of over 100,000 volunteers.  Habitat for Humanity has helped over 59,000,000 people achieve housing in all fifty states and throughout more than seventy countries.  I had the pleasure of doing an in-service day at a local chapter of Habitat for Humanity in the restoring of a rowhouse several years ago.  It was a rewarding experience!  Find out more about Habitat for Humanity here.

In 1999, President Bill Clinton awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to both Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, citing his work as president and their incredible work in this country and around the world.

In 2002, Carter received the Nobel Peace Prize for "his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development."

Carter was the author of several books.  I read Our Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis, released in 2005.

In it, President Carter...
"offers a personal consideration of 'moral values' as they relate to the important issues of the day. He puts forward a passionate defense of separation of church and state, and a strong warning about where the country is heading as the lines between politics and rigid religious fundamentalism are blurred"[publisher's description]
It was a profound read, and it has become even more relevant over the years.  I recommended it after reading it and I still highly recommend it today.

In closing, I would like to cite a passage in Carter's 1996 book Living Faith, in which he describes his life experiences and his religious values transformed in a living faith.  In this passage, he writes "the most unforgettable funeral I've ever attended, maybe with the exception of those of my own family members, was the service for Mrs. Martin Luther King, Sr., mother of our nation's greatest civil rights leader."

He relays the story of the pastor's sermon, in which he says two dates will be on her gravestone, the day she was born and the day she died.  He then focused on "the little dash in between", saying that little dash represents the whole of one's life.  He said that little dash was everything to us and to God.

He then said to the gathering, "The question is, What do we do with that little dash in between, which represents our life on earth?"

No doubt, Jimmy Carter did a lot with his little dash.  Because he did, he made the world a better place.  May we do the same.

Rest in peace, God speed, and hail and farewell, President Jimmy Carter.

Terry

January 4-6: Events throughout Georgia will be held.
January 7-8: A horse-drawn carriage trip through Washington to the U.S. Capitol, where Carter will lie in state in the Rotunda.
January 9: National service at the National Cathedral / National Day of Mourning; interment in Plains, GA.

Reminder of the Season: REMEMBER THOSE LESS FORTUNATE THAN US

It is Christmas Eve and many of you are, no doubt, finishing up your preparations for Christmas...or still rushing to try and get things done.  Christmastime, and indeed the entire holiday season, is a hectic time.  My life has slowed down considerably, but I can remember Christmases past where running around trying to get things done was an accepted part of the season.  And I know my level of hectic was nowhere near the level of many others.  Still, holiday hustle and bustle was part and parcel of this time of the year.

It is far too easy, regardless of the time of year, to be in such a rush, as to be overwhelmed, that you miss some things.  Rushing out of the house without your coffee, rushing to finish some task at work that you forget a step, and rushing to do too much that you forget to take care of yourself are just a few examples.

At Christmas, where the lights are bright and our hearts are light -- well, hopefully, they're light -- we tend to forget those far less fortunate than us.  Part of it is many of us consciously choose to ignore those other folks.  It's along the lines of the old saying "out of sight, out of mind", or even the chorus to the 1985 Phil Collins song, Long, Long Way to Go, making reference to stories on the news about those struggling:

Turn it off if you want to

Switch it off it'll go away

Turn it off if you want to

Switch it off or look away

People less fortunate than us have been, are, and likely will always be there.  After all, not everyone can flourish, or cover all their bases, or even just barely make ends meet.  Not everyone has a roof over their head.  Not everyone is healthy.  Not everyone lives their life free of war.  No everyone is only minimally affected by the greed of others.

And so, on this Christmas Eve, I am presenting four songs that speak to those issues by lifting up awareness of those persons.  If Christmastime means an opening of hearts, surely we can open our hearts to those less fortunate than us.

The first two songs are by an artist you may or may not have heard before.  I just came across these two videos last week.  They are by Canadian folk singer Martin Kerr.  This first one is done to the tune of Away In a Manger.


This next one is done to the tune of God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.



These next two are far more well-known songs.  First, a song that was released in 1967 and gained several-years-later popularity again last year.  This is Stevie Wonder's Someday at Christmas.


Finally, John Lennon's So This Is Christmas (War Is Over).



As you celebrate the holidays, keep those in far worse situations than you in mind and in your heart.  Be thankful for what you have, yes, but remember those less fortunate.  And if you can do something to help, anything, do it.

And for those of you who have those things that others don't, but you still feel empty -- maybe loss of loved one(s), or a feeling of being alone -- I hope you find a way to feel connected, to feel full emotionally, and to feel loved.  It may not come in a way you imagined or thought likely, but when it comes, welcome it.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Terry

Word of the Day: DESERVE

One month ago, it was Election Day in America.
One month ago, the American people spoke.
One month ago, America changed for the worse.

But did America change for the worse on that night?
Or did the bandage merely get ripped off the scab?

It was a showdown between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, in his third bid for the White House, after a 1-1 split (well, for most of us).  Many people, including myself, were calling it "the prosecutor vs. the felon".  Many people, including myself were saying the decision would be an easy one; it wasn't.  Many people were saying it would be a close election; it was.  Harris ended up about 1.5% behind Trump.  Many people were saying, well, the American electorate knew even better what he was all about, so that would make a huge difference; it didn't.

So, what the hell happened?  The Cliff's Notes version, incomplete as it is, is this: Harris received roughly 6.5 million less votes that Biden did in 2020.  It is reasonable to say that a huge chunk of the Democratic base said, "Thanks, but no thanks."  There were other reasons I'll be getting into shortly, but whether that was because they weren't all that thrilled with Harris or they wanted Biden to stay in, who knows?  Whether Biden should have stayed in will be debated for decades to come.  I, for one, thought Biden handed the election to Trump after their only debate back in June.  Would he have won if he stayed in the race?  I honestly have no clue.  Part of me says no.

As a side note, maybe the usefulness of debates needs to be looked at hard.  After all three debates, none of the candidates got the "post-debate bump" for their side.  None of them.  Admittedly, though, that may speak equally to either the usefulness of debates or the die already being cast in voters' minds.

Let's look at some already-stated reasons for why what happened happened:
- While it can be argued that Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris may or may not necessarily have been the best candidates, too many Americans still won't vote for a woman for the top office.  Lousy reason.
- Too many Americans would never vote for a Black woman (who's also Asian) for the top office.  Another lousy reason.
- Many Americans felt Harris did not separate herself enough from Biden, especially regarding Israel and the Israel/Gaza war.  Very understandable.  Harris' echoing the "Israel's right to defend itself" message, even though also saying Palestinians have "their right to dignity, security, freedom, and self-determination", was a deal breaker for many.  
- In what I call "panic politicking", moving a younger Harris into the top slot after forcing out the elder Biden may have been a deal breaker for many Democratic voters.  I, too, was immensely disheartened and utterly confused after Biden's performance in the June debate.  If you're not feeling well, Mr. President, reschedule the damn debate!  After the debate, I said Joe Biden just handed the election to Donald Trump.  If that was one of the reasons for not voting for Harris, I get it. 

The U.S. House of Representatives remains in POT (Party of Trump) control, although their seven-vote majority will now be only a five-vote majority.  Control of the U.S. Senate was flipped to the POT.  Democrats had a two-vote majority; the POT will now have a six-vote majority.

Trump's victory in 2024 is LARGER than his victory in 2016.
Popular Vote:
2016: just under 63,000,000
2024: over 77,000,000
Electoral Vote:
2016: 304 electoral votes
2024: 312 electoral votes

A lot of people have been harping on polls.  (I'm right there with you!)  That's always been an argument, and it ramped up even higher in 2016, when almost all of the polls had Clinton winning the election.  Even Trump's own 2016 campaign (and some say even Trump himself) thought he would lose.  The reason he took so long in 2016 to come out for his victory speech (roughly 3:00 a.m.) was because his campaign scrambled to put together a victory speech.  I think the trustworthiness and viability of polls may have been definitively determined with this election.

Before I go further, let me say the democratic process worked just fine.  It worked as it should have.  The democratic process was not broken and is not broken.

Some folks said that Trump's win in 2016 was a fluke.  With Biden winning in 2020, it seemed that theory was right.  The 2024 election proved that theory to be ultimately incorrect.  With Trump winning in 2024, his election in 2016 was no fluke.  As it turns out, Joe Biden's election in 2020 was the fluke.

I voted for Clinton, Biden, and Harris, so why would I say that?  Well, one of the reports I heard repeatedly after the election was that democracy was the second-biggest concern on voters' minds, with the economy as number one.  A lot of economic indicators said the economy was better during Biden's presidency than during Trump's, but I've been saying it's only been better for the better-off and corporations.  The indicators may be correct, but for most of us, myself included, coming home with a ton of groceries, for just one example, was less and less a normal occurrence, and more and more and more an expensive occurrence.  

Look through history.  If the economy is not doing well, odds are the incumbent president is voted out.  If the incumbent in a second term, odds are the other party will get voted in.  That has often been the case.  During Biden's presidency, inflation overall, including gas prices, has been worse than during Trump's presidency.  Granted, we went through soaring prices during the pandemic with supply line disruptions and price gouging, but most voters consider the current state of the economy when election season comes a-callin'.  

The economy is, and has always been, a huge issue for voters because they face it in real time on a day-to-day basis, so I get it.  Living paycheck to paycheck and one financial catastrophe away from bankruptcy are more the norm than ever before.  Are you better off now that you were four years ago? has been a consistent campaign question from both sides for decades, if not centuries, as though voters have to be reminded to consider how they're doing personally when it's time to vote.  Was Biden going to be the solution?  Will Trump be?  Who knows? 

All I know is struggling and fed up is just as strong of a motivator, if not more so, than voting red or blue.

Immigration has remained a campaign issue, really an ongoing political issue, for ye ... uh, deca ... well, centuries.  (During Trump's first term, by the way, deportations went down.)  You want to come here?  Sure, but do it legally!  My grandparents on my father's side did so legally -- he and his siblings were first generation American born -- so you should, too!  That's probably the only thing on which both sides can agree on this issue.  Still, is Trump the answer?  His new "border czar" Tom Homan will make sure how immigration, legal and illegal, is handled will be a scary and disgusting process.

Also, on the topic of Trump's messaging on immigration, Oh, they're not talking about me will likely be found to not be the truth it's thought to be.  When it comes to targeting, whether you're in the center or on the furthest-out circle, you're still a target.  

Something else I've noticed about Trump's supporters in all three elections: They say you can't take everything he says seriously, especially if it's something that gets a lot of heat.  He said this, or he said that, and he was just kidding.  (That's also Trump's frequent excuse.)  Well, that's not true for Trump, but I have an overarching question: if you're not supposed to take everything he says seriously -- and this goes far beyond any candidate making a joke now and then on the campaign trail -- then why is he your guy?  And if your party backs someone like that, how grounded is your party in serious, viable, intentional leadership?

One of the most confusing aspects of this election is how, in so many states, down ballot questions with positive consequences for folks passed, but those same voters voted for Trump for president.  HUH?!  It could be said you take those down ballot issues as very real issues, but the "character" gets your vote for the top slot.  That just doesn't compute for me.  I was thinking, "I don't get it" really fits how I feel overall.  To a degree, that is still true, but I acknowledge that voters are, quite plainly, a finicky bunch.  Sad, but true.

Plus, voters like to remain uneducated, uninformed (or not fully informed), or flat out lied to, when it comes to casting their vote.  After the election, it was reported that two of the biggest Google searches were "What is a tariff" and "Can I change my vote". 

On February 23, 2016, after winning the Nevada primary, Trump said in his victory speech, "We won with the poorly educated. I love the poorly educated."

To the majority of voters, Trump...
Is coming for immigrants, legal and illegal ... GOOD!
Talks down to people ... THEY DESERVE IT!
Talks aggressively ... THAT JUST SHOWS HE'S TOUGH!
Was impeached ... PFFT!
Was impeached twice ... DOUBLE PFFT!
Is a convicted felon, 34 times over ... SO?
Is an adjudicated rapist ... WHATEVER!
Separated 5,000 children from families at the border ... HE'S PROTECTING OUR COUNTRY!
Is pro-White Supremacist ... LEFT-WING LIES! (or HE'S ONE OF US!)
To that last point, here's a quote I found from a Trump voter on why he voted the way he did: "People say he's a dictator. I believe that. I consider him like Hitler. But I voted for the man." 

I have no words.  Just...no...words.

Elizabeth Willing Powel was an upper-class socialite who had many political ties in early America, was a friend of George and Martha Washington, and hosted many socialite dinners.  During the course of the Continental Congress in 1787, likely at the conclusion or during a recess, Powel had asked Pennsylvania delegate Benjamin Franklin about what kind of government the delegates had created: "Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or monarchy?"  His response was, "A republic. If you can keep it."

Perhaps Franklin envisioned a voting away of the republic as a possibility, or not. 

After the election, I posted a picture on social media that said, "America is no more".  While true in one understanding, it is a bit of a misnomer; this is what America has become.  That's terrible to say, and I hate to say it, but I'm just calling it as I see it.  Can America, and its very soul, be turned around?  Yes, but not without a lot of work, and not without a lot of looking at the big picture beyond ourselves simultaneously.

To be frank, I am afraid I will have little sympathy for those who may utter during the next two or four years: I didn't think it would be like this/this bad or I thought they were talking about someone else or I didn't vote for this.  The Thomas Jefferson quote at the top of this post is my reason why.

There's been a lot of use of the phrase "in two years", referring to the 2026 mid-term elections, going around.  True, that's the opportunity to do some turning around, but consider all the damage Trump can do, especially now that he'll be essentially unfettered in the presidency, in two years.  And also consider whether or not both houses of Congress will be flipped to keep him in check -- no small task.  If both houses of Congress stay in POT control after the mid-terms, Trump continues unchecked.  If only one of the houses of Congress flips, it will only mean a slowing down, only a partial check on him.  Both houses need to flip.  It's happened many times before in our history, so it's not impossible, but it too is a case of we'll have to see what happens then. 

Will all of the proverbial gathering of defenses and road blocks already being prepared be effective against Trump?  Who knows?  Even if they are effective, how effective?  To what extent?  You won't eradicate Trumpism, White Supremacy, the hatemongers, and the coming First American Reich just like that.  All of that was around long before 2016.  Trump's stirring it up and rising it up means, when January 20, 2029 rolls around, whether he leaves or not, this will not magically go away.  No easy fix is available.

Indeed, "The government you elect is the government you deserve."  This is truly no longer the United States of America, except in name only, but rather, what I call the Separated States Called America.

I no longer recognize my country.  I just don't.

More, much more, to be said...

Terry     

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

Hello dear readers, old and new!

Terry here, and I wanted to announce that I am returning to the blogosphere.  I had just a couple of odd postings afterward, but this blog officially ended almost four years ago (January of 2019).

A lot has happened since then: The pandemic, of course ... a car accident that was fortunately not serious physically, but my car was totaled (and it took over a year to get a new car) ... my mother dying ... various financial hardships ... and two presidential elections (2020 and 2024).  Needless to say, a lot has happened since January 2019, and a lot can be said.  A lot.

With that in mind, this Thursday, December 5th, The Keyboard Commentarian will return!

So, in just a few days, I will be warming up my fingers and getting my blogging chops up and running again.  I hope my older readers, those I gained since January 2019, and any new ones go forward from now will find my posts interesting -- FYI: I go for quality (when I have something worthwhile to share), not quantity -- and that they'll keep you coming back as a regular reader.

I look forward to returning to the blogosphere!  I hope you will join me!

Terry

Word of the Day: VIRUS

R.I.P. George Floyd

Dear readers ...

Well, it's been a while, hasn't it?  It's been a year-and-a-half since I wrapped up this blog.  I wasn't sure if I would ever come back to it.  (There certainly has been plenty about which I could have been commenting!)  However, the events of nearly three weeks ago and the resulting response has hit me pretty hard and I just need to share this.  This is not exhaustive of everything I feel and it's certainly not the be-all-end-all statement on this issue.  So, for good or for bad, here is what I have to say.

For starters, I truly hope you are all safe from COVID-19 and healthy.  Stay strong and stay safe.

Before I begin, some clarifications.  This is not a full-time return to this blog.  I am not ready to make a return, so this will be a one-off post.  Also, there are those who have spoken and will speak on this far more eloquently than I, but I am adding my voice simply because I feel so strongly about this.  This will be more controlled than what I've been saying out loud around the house.

Now, allow me to offer a few examples of personal perspective.  First, I was picked on a lot in school, so much so that it really got to me.  At the school where I attended grades 4 through 8, back in the days when there were no such things as middle schools, I was picked on every year.  My mother told me that, when you're new at a school, kids will pick on you.  I replied that I must be new every year because I was being picked on every year.  Later, she added I was being picked on because I was a "stocky" kid.  (What I wouldn't give to be stocky now.)  I offer this first example not to say that being picked on is the same thing as being harassed, unnecessarily imprisoned, or killed.  Absolutely not!  Not even close!  I did not automatically understand racism and how I felt, no matter how bad it felt, paled in comparison to what black people in this country have to live with.  I offer it merely to illustrate that I was made aware of being attacked for no good reason and having done nothing wrong at an early age -- it made no sense and it was wrong -- and that first building block stayed with me ever since.

Second, I am male and white, the "best" combination to get along in life.  A lot of people would argue that this whole "race stuff" shouldn't concern me.  I am less likely to even be pulled over for a traffic stop, aside from being a pretty good driver, or turned down for a job even if i'm qualified.  In other words, I should just keep quiet, sit back, and enjoy the ride.  I cannot.

Third, I was always someone who said, "All lives matter."  (I still believe it.)  For me, that included everyone.  However, primarily, my own people (white folk) co-opted it as a saying that really meant you (black folk) can wait.  Thanks a bunch.  (sarcasm intended)  For those who may have an issue with "Black lives matter" or simply confused about its meaning, I think this might clear it up:

Finally, I believe the only real race is the human race.  End of argument.  (Well, that should be the end of the argument, anyway.)  Just like there are different breeds of dogs and cats, different species of marine life, and different classifications of mammals, we are all variations of one race.  Words for that are ethnicity, ancestry, nationality, and descent.  You don't hear anyone saying, for example, someone who is of Irish descent is a different race. do you?  This idea that black, white, Asian, etc., are different races is sheer fallacy, a bogus narrative that numbs description and promulgates division.

There is something about the murder of George Floyd that has finally awakened society.  What it is specifically, I'm not sure.  Some commentators have said it's the graphic nature of the video.  That could well be true.  I thought the murder of Eric Garner six years ago, which was also filmed in its entirety, would have been the turning point in this country, but it wasn't.

The inclusion of the murders of Breonna Taylor, Freddy Gray, Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice, and Ahmaud Arbery, to name only a few, certainly, and bitterly, compound the frustration.  It may well be that the filming of the actual murder itself, close up, has led to George Floyd's murder at the knees of Milwaukee Police becoming our national clarion call to action.

What that action is must be shaped, of course, by the problem itself.  You don't need me to go through a history of racism and race relations.  If you have paid attention, if you have heard, if you have studied, you know what it is and the stain on this country it has left, and continues to leave.  It is not only "America's original sin", it is also "America's ongoing sin".

Just like pressure controlled by a valve, it will blow if the pressure isn't released.  One of the ways that building pressure has been expressed has been through marches.  It is also one of the rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution: "peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances".  Some may say to march in protest is wrong, but they couldn't be more wrong.

Allow me to sidetrack for a moment to address those who demonize peaceful protests with looting and destruction, the rioters.  Nothing good has ever come from rioting, whether you look at the mid-twentieth century to the early protests over the George Floyd murder, or the Tulsa Massacre ninety-nine years ago, where white rioters decimated an affluent black community in Tulsa, Oklahoma, injuring 800 and killing as many as 300 people.  Some of today's rioters are from loose-knit groups seeking anarchy or a second Civil War, but whatever the reason, their actions make it far too easy for the ignorant among us to slap on labels of "thugs", "troublemakers", or "all blacks are bad".  No solutions have come from labels.  However, what I have seen in some protests, with protesters calling out the rioters, has been a welcome and empowering sight.

Maybe if black people were no longer given any reason to protest, the rioters wouldn't have a venue for their own kind of hatred.  Just a thought.

Now, what this country has had for centuries is a virus.  The coincidence that we are battling the COVID-19 virus at the same time is not lost on this blogger.  Both are insidious, both include death, both are easily transmissible.  The main differences are: a) one is biologically mutated and the other is perceptually instilled; and b) racism has been around far longer than COVID-19.

This racist virus is so insidious and so permanent, all of those infected with it refuse to accept they have it.  It not even a case of being asymptomatic, as with COVID-19, but rather being normative.  You will find some victims of this virus saying, "That's just the way it is."  They were brought up in a racist environment, became infected, and live their lives accordingly.  Others have simply resigned themselves to that state of normative attitudes and behaviors.

This sense of normative infection has been, as we've seen with George Floyd and too many others, a result of not just personal racism but also systemic racism.  Look at hiring practices that have been discriminating against black people (as well as other disenfranchised groups).  Look at how those in law enforcement have been mistreating black people.  Look at how the legal system mishandles black people.  Even look at the cell phone videos posted online of white people calling the police because they are near a black person, showing how they think the system is for them and no one else.

Look at the video of George Floyd's murder and how the (now ex-)officer with his knee on Floyd's neck is behaving.  He looks right at a camera, without screaming at the person filming to stop and without a scowl on his face, hands in his pockets.  He is nonchalant about it.  He is doing what he believes to be normative.  This kind of behavior -- knees on necks or any kind of murder -- is normative.  Whether it is their training (which instills a sense of normalcy) or their current police chief who publicly says the officer(s) behaved according to protocol (which also instills a sense of normalcy), the infection is there.

Add to that a president who tells a gathering of police officers in Long Island, New York, in the summer of 2017 to be rougher with criminals, receiving their enthusiastic applause.  It is like recovering from ingesting a poison and then taking very small amounts of it, not enough to kill you, from to time; recovery becomes impossible.  The desire to send active military troops on the streets, and to refer to the streets as the "battle space", is akin to taking more than a small amount of a poison.

Another element that adds to recovery being impossible is the police officers' "code of silence" (aka "blue code of silence", "code of honor").  In short, it means to keep quiet if a fellow officer has done something immoral, illegal, or improper in some way.  (Personally, I find this similar to the sexual abuses by priests in the Catholic Church.)  Legally, it's called "qualified immunity" and it stems from the U.S. Supreme Court recognizing it as legal doctrine back in the late 1960's as a means to avoid frivolous lawsuits against officers and police departments.  However, over the course of decades, it has been applied to cases of police brutality or impropriety.  Most people saw this as a kind of "Stay Out of Jail Free" card for law enforcement.  While this automatic absolution hasn't applied to every single case against officers, the occurrences when law enforcement is actually held accountable are far too infrequent to say the infection has been eradicated.

Your code of silence is your code of violence.

Watching the news coverage of the protests following George Floyd's murder has given me pause and a sense of hopeful surprise.  Go back and look at pictures and films of protests over civil rights and the killing of black people in the 1960's.  Next, look at the protests from Ferguson and Baltimore.  Then, look at the protests now.  Notice the glaring difference?  The number of white people has increased immensely.  The diversity at these protests -- granted, the U.S. is more diverse now than the 1960's -- is amazing and heartwarming.  Not to mention that they have continued for nearly three weeks, since George Floyd's murder, and protests are happening not just here, but around the world as well.

After so many times saying to myself that the protests following the unnecessary murder of a black person by police might be the turning point, but then seeing nothing come of it, perhaps these protests are symbolic of the fundamental societal shift that has been too long denied and too long overdue.  What does it say about us when the following is a predominant theme:

Many times, at various tragedies, I hear people say things like It's [whatever year] and this is still going on? or When are we going to stop this? or Now is the time!  That last one, especially, is partially true, except for how it's typically used as a term of a new beginning.  There is no new beginning, at any of these tragedies.  The time isn't just now, whenever "now" has been, the time has always been here to make things better.  The time has always been here to behave morally.  The time has always been here to course correct when we go astray.  Any time, all the time, every time, we are called to see ourselves as one race, to come together as one people, to see each other as people, and to not make things great for some, but to make things great for all.  The call to all of us has been here from the beginning, has never left us, and never will leave us.  We all just have to answer the call.  Maybe, just maybe, we are finally doing just that.  I truly hope we are.

At the bottom of the George Floyd mural in Minneapolis, it reads, "I can breathe now," following his pleas of "I can't breathe" to his murderers.  In the context of time mentioned above, that can refer to not just being free from the pain of being murdered in broad daylight by those who are supposed to protect us, but also of being free of being looked down upon as something less by those who are supposed to protect us.  George Floyd's life mattered because black lives matter.  We need to achieve black people being free without death being the only means to do so.  Fight this virus!  Let them breathe!

This virus has gone on too long, and we need to rise together as one to fight this virus.  We need to knock down our other methods of division in coming together.  In that spirit, I would offer to following:

Remember the words of Jesus: Love one another as I have loved you., and rise up!  Remember the words in the book of James: Faith [without] works is dead, and rise up!

We are, and have been, in a pattern of "koyaanisqatsi" or "life out of balance".  (The Native American term can also translate to "life of moral corruption and turmoil".)  Help us to return to a life of moral goodness and balance, rise up!

Nature focuses on balance and imbalance, not good or evil.  Help to bring us back to balance to get us back on the right path for ourselves and the planet we live on, rise up!

Faith may be a religious term, but it is not so exclusively.  Have faith in yourselves and your fellow human beings.  Come together to do the right thing, and rise up!

We must listen to each other and work with each other, or else this will be yet another squandered opportunity.  No ifs, ands, or buts.

We need to heal, but maybe we need to see "heal" as a contraction or sorts, where "heal" is made up of "hear" and "deal".  We need to really hear black people, like any subjugated class of people, and not give them merely "ear service".  That means not telling them what they think or how they are supposed to perceive things.  Then we need to deal with making things right.

Healing the virus in the hearts of those who defend and endorse racism is the far bigger challenge, for just fixing the here-and-now means more of the same is coming later.  I don't have the answer on how to do that, aside from saying open your hearts and raise the upcoming generations better.  My belief is that's not just the answer, but it can be a big part of the complete answer we need.  We need to make what all of this appears to be, the needed shift, a reality for now and for our future.

WE MUST BE THE MEDICINE FOR OURSELVES AND EACH OTHER!


Terry