I am Just Freaking Tired of This Nonense

Did you ever wake from a dream and begin to wonder if your fleeting memory of it was something that really happened or just a product of brain sorting information.  That happened this morning at 4:00 a.m. when I was convinced for a few minutes that I had sometime rearranged the shelves at my local Kroger to put different items on a shelf, sorted by color.  Like so many bookshelves in Zoom backgrounds lately where people store their books by jacket color.  (I am certain this habit is on a checklist for psychotic disorder by the way).  That feeling of is this real or is this just my brain has been a dominate feeling for the last four years and has increased in the last few weeks.  All of that is the result of a President who appears to not understand the job, the Constitution or even reality.  The stress is real and at times frightening.  

A good example is the fact that reports suggest that the President of the United States, having lost reelection, help a meeting with a conspiracy theorist lawyer and a former general who admitted to lying about illegal contacts with a foreign government.  The agenda, how can the President use the US military to overturn his recent election loss.  Basically the Commander-in-Chief was plotting a military coup in the Oval Office.  How this isn't a 24/7 story is amazing but the same President is absent without leave on so many other big stories.  Covid-19 is spreading faster than ever, we have a vaccine so we are looking for hope, the Republicans in Congress continue to hold up a response to the growing and serious economic collapse due to the pandemic, and it looks like Russia has accomplished the largest cyber-attack on our country ever.  But part of the reason that it is not dominating the Sunday morning shows is, in part, that we have all grown numb to Trump being Trump.  But that is a real problem.

President Trump's inability to accept the election results is damaging to our democracy.  (yes we are a democracy as well as a republic) Our antiquated way of electing the chief executive has led to his ability to make tons of challenges to the votes and he continues.  He has lost at every level of the judiciary, but continues because there are so many milestones.  First it was certification of the vote, done.  Then the seating of Electors from each state, done.   The meeting of the Electors in each state, done.  Now it goes to Congress, on January 6th they will vote to accept the Electors.  There is a process to object is at least one person in each chamber of Congress objects to any slate of electors, but there is zero chance that will change anything.  Each chamber as a whole would have to vote for the objection.  But before that it would have to be called to question with reasons for the objection.  When that milestone is achieved I can't think of anything that could put up a road block to Biden moving into the White House.  

But we need to look at what the President's recent meeting to ask how he could use the military to stay in power.  Go to any election post on social media and you will see dozens of comments of people calling for this.  One social media platform, Parler, a right wing response to Twitter, has been litter with people calling for armed people in the streets to stop Biden from taking office.  They continue to attack anyone who even suggests that Biden one the election.  Even long-time Trump supporters who are coming back to reality get attacked.  Fox News was replaced for a minute by Newsmax as the source of information.  Newsmax is a conspiracy driven producer of what they call news, but even them are being tossed aside because they acknowledged the the Electoral College results.  But what is worse is that some have acted on the delusion promoted by the President that had a former police officer holding a delivery man at gun point thinking he was bringing fake ballots.  

Violence should never be the answer to a political dispute.  But we have already seen that on the part of some on the right as a group want to kidnap and kill the Governor of Michigan.  We see it now with even members of Congress calling for it.  We cannot operate like this and just chalk it up to Trump being Trump.  Our Republic is fragile when we allow bad actors to have leadership positions and the Republican party has been cultivating people who are bad actors for decades now.  Will some of those elected officials who seem to not have a concern about the country but about their own power.  They need to be stopped. 

There is no chance that the President will remain in office after January 20,2021.  But in the mean time he can cause many problems for the incoming administration and the country as a whole.  I hope the party will finally put country over party and power.  If not we must remember that their power comes from us.  We are the ultimate bosses of these people who represent us.  Let's make sure anyone who tries to subvert democracy never lives that down.  

Crisis of Faith and Today's Politics

Faith in the Divine is a personal endeavor, however for many of us we practice it collectively.  We join religious traditions that tend to share our beliefs and practices.  But we don't give up our individual experience and understanding of our connection to God.  When we speak of multi-faith groups we often think of the collaboration between people of different large religious traditions.  But every religion, denomination, and even singular house of worship is multi-faith.  There is a high probability that the person sitting or standing next to you in prayer in your chosen house of worship connects with the Divine and hears the teachings of your scripture differently from you.  That is okay.  Diversity of thought, even within a self-selected group truly is a strength.  

I am writing this in part to a response of a friend who is having a crisis of faith over the fact that her chosen tradition includes some who see President Trump as chosen by God.  This has been baffling to many over the last 5 years.  President Trump has never been the first person you think of when imagining a Christian leader, especially among evangelicals.  His lifestyle is what they would rail against from pulpits for decades, he was pro-choice until he started to run for office, he has openly admitted to extra-martial affairs, including with women for money, he is divorced several times and couldn't come up with a single meaningful Bible verse when asked about it.  In fact he tried to quote a verse when speaking to a room full of Christians and so botched the citation to it that it became a long running joke that still pops up regularly.  So why you might ask?  Well for some supporting him was, in part, because they didn't like Secretary Clinton as a candidate in 2016.  The demonetization of the Clintons is on record for over 30 years.  Donald Trump, formerly friends with the Clintons, was a perfect weapon for them against her and the history of her family.  A brash bully who while not very articulate, was able to make attack lines stick and feed the need for some people to have someone articulate that which they felt in their heart.  They cheered him not because he was a great man with a vision for the future, but because he wasn't a great man.  Because he was a base man that sounded like an anonymous comment section of social media page.  He was their hate avatar.  So when they chose to back him strongly, they stuck with him, allowing any of his actions to be explained away when it contradicted who they were.  They also got sucked into the cult of personality that is so common among people looking for a simple answer to the complex questions of the day.  So Trump embodied both, a way to express their own hate and to offer a simple way of viewing the world thinking it would benefit them.  This, of course, is not the totality of the Christian Trump supporters but this is a good number.  

There are also those who like his relationship with the right wing of Israeli politics.  For many Christians, Israel is the lynch pin for the second coming of Jesus.  Many evangelicals are heavily invested in Israeli politics in favor of the more conservative positions in the Israel population.  Bibi Netanyahu is happy to exploit this for his own political and national gain.  Donald Trump has shown that for the most part he is willing to give Israel what is seeks.  When he moved the US Embassy to Jerusalem he did what no President wanted to do because of the status of Jerusalem being something that was always thought to be a negotiation in the development of a two-state solution.  Many Israeli and American Jews wanted this move.  Jerusalem is the Capital of Israel.  But international politics is often tricky but for Trump and some of his followers it should be simple and thus now the American Embassy is in a neighborhood in Jerusalem.  Another step for those seeking the end of days.  

The problem with the way our culture views Christianity in this country is always like a reflection in a carnival mirror.  Many people see it not in their daily experiences but in the mass media that helps define Christianity on a grand scale. This is true of both left and right political worldviews but in many cases the main focus has been on the right.    Be it the preachers on TV who call for their followers to send in money so that God will reward them or those who have used Christianity as a cloak to allow them to be more political operatives than ministers.  People listen because they want to.  When an admired preacher puts his arm around a man like Trump it gives them cover to support him.  The most recent choice of candidates for President is a prime example.  President-elect Biden has been a regular church goer for decades, a whose life experience gave him every reason to abandon faith, only had it strengthened over the years.  Yet people who identify as Christian have openly made fun of him for attending mass.  That is troubling but not uncommon.  But you should never let that subset of people define Christianity, even Evangelicals.  Too often that is why people ignore Evangelical voices in multi-faith conversations.  So the stereotype not only persists but is give validation.  

But the vast majority of people who are Christian are not like that, just a powerful subset that has become more politically active in the last 50 years.  They should not define what it means to be Christian for anyone.  If you are looking for examples of Christianity in the country, visit a food bank in the basement of a church, where ordinary people volunteer to make sure people are fed.  See the work on the streets of Christian groups that help find shelter or at least warmth for the homeless.  Look at organizations that driven by their faith act on behalf of the weakest, the abused and discarded in our society.  There are many.  Across all denominations, across all walks of life.  

Sometimes people think a great deal about their faith and wonder about and envy those whose faith is so easy for them.  They may even see them as ignoring reality for the sake of their faith.  That is a very human trait.  I think many times people do not want to wrestle with divinity.  It is hard and makes you question a great deal of what you may have at your core.  It is unsettling.  But doubt has been with us forever.  Simplistic world views are easier to cope with.  I found the best illustration of this in a scene from one of my favorite science-fiction television series, Babylon 5.  Created by J Michael Straczynski, the show told the story of humans and other races living on a diplomatic space station trying to prevent war between races while preparing to and eventually fighting a war against evil.  Well written and I think did what no other TV series did well, explores the faith deeply, in all its grand and frustrating diversity.  G'Kar, a leader of a race known a the Narn developed a following after writing a religious text, based on his experience and response to an earlier text.  He didn't want this devotion but needed to respond to it, though his personality was not set to it even if his spirituality was a magnet.  When ask what is truth and what is God this was his response: 

If I take a lamp and shine it toward the wall, a bright spot will appear on the wall. The lamp is our search for truth, for understanding. Too often we assume that the light on the wall is god. But, the light is not the goal of the search. It is the result of the search. The more intense the search, the brighter the light on the wall. The brighter the light on the wall, the greater the sense of revelation upon seeing it.

Similarly, someone who does not search, who does not bring a lantern with him, sees nothing.

What we perceive as god is the by product of our search for god. It may simply be an appreciation of the light, pure and unblemished, not understanding that it comes from us.  Sometimes we stand in front of the light and assume that we are the center of the universe. God looks astonishingly like we do. Or we turn to look at our shadow, and assume that all is darkness.  If we allow ourselves to get in the way, we defeat the purpose, which is to use the light of our search to illuminate the wall in all its beauty, and in all its flaws, and in so doing, better understand the world around us.

His followers were impressed but didn't understand.  So they ask their question again, to which he said simply that truth is a river and God is the mouth of that river.  All were happy.

There are people who recoil to any answer like the first one, it is a chore to think of faith that way.  They prefer the river analogy.  When it comes to most things, President Trump gives the river answer, and it comforts them.  I suggest we always seek out the lamp answer.  It may cause you discomfort, but religion faith should always comfort the afflicted and afflict in some way the comfortable.  Thinking about one's faith is a holy act.  It makes the light brighter.  

Shots Fired

So the proponents of the fictional war on Christmas have taken out a new weapon this year.  In light of the Covid-19 pandemic and the record rise of cases and hospitalizations public health figures are suggesting that people shouldn't gather in large groups or travel for the holiday season.  Of course this is common sense as we are seeing the results this week of those who ignored this suggestion at Thanksgiving.  But leading Republicans, who seem to think that the pandemic and the nearly 300,000 deaths from the disease are some how not a public health issue but an attack on Christmas.  Matt Gaetz, a congressman from Florida, known as a simple-minded sycophant of the President gathered with young Republicans in New Jersey in violation of local public health regulations and Congressman Jim Jordan, another right wing member of the House who has a passing connection to reality suggested that Dr. Fauci, who is calling for Americans to take this recent surge in cases seriously, wants to stop people from saying Merry Christmas.  This is nuts.  

 For decades it seems there has been a fight over what a branch of government can do in terms of promoting Christmas using public land, money and schools.  Supreme Court rulings have created a still confusing patchwork of what can be placed on a courthouse lawn and in a classroom.  Too often people don't dialogue about it and litigation has been the answer.  Often causing unnecessary uproar in communities.  The issue is that as a culture we have come to understand the diversity of practice beliefs or lack there of and wanted to be more inclusive.  Christmas plays in public schools became holiday shows and that should be okay.  But for some that was some how a personal attack.  But what has been more idiotic to me is that attacks on private organizations.

It seems about a decade or so ago retailers discovered that not everyone celebrates Christmas and started to change their advertising to reflect this.  Some began using age-old phrases like Season's Greetings or Happy Holidays.  Some on the right called for boycotts of stores.  One of the most anger inducing changes was asking people not to say Merry Christmas, but to say another holiday greeting when a stranger was the customer.  This is common courtesy as well being aware of your customers.  The argument from the right wing noise machine and some elected officials has always been that it doesn't matter that people get offended, it is the Christmas holiday.  However, the only people I ever saw offended by an expression that time of year were people who hate to make room for others.  Starbucks every year create a holiday cup that often has the colors red and green, things that look like Christmas lights or bulbs for a tree.  However one year it was just a red cup.  The right went nuts.  People actually bought coffee and then dumped it out in the parking lot to stamp on the cup.  But my absolute favorite was the time I was in line at a grocery store that catered to the small Jewish community in the neighborhood more than any other.  At check out the cashier, a teenager if I recall correctly, said "Happy Holidays", the man checking out said, "In my house we say Merry Christmas".  Now it was a few years ago but I think I remember saying (as I stood there with my kippah on my head) "In my house we aren't rude to people wishing us well".  Maybe I just thought to say that.  I don't know.  But the fictional war on Christmas has been something that has bothered me for quite some time. 

So here we are, in the midst of a raging pandemic.  With leadership that is throwing rocks at the ship of state trying to navigate these waters and members of Congress and the Executive Branch are saying the public health measures that are easy to take (no large gatherings, stay in your bubble, and avoid unnecessary travel) are yet another attack on Christmas.  I am simply too tired to continue to listen to this nonsense.  I think it is criminal for elected officials to continue to repeat the idea that Democrats, or Liberals or Leftists or whatever they choose to call us are saying we hate Christmas, (some even said we hate Thanksgiving).  It is nuts and they should be forever questioned about this nonsense.  

While there is hope on the horizon, this holiday season is going to be a difficult one for many Americans.  By the time I finish writing this there will be 300,000 dead from Covid 19, over 100,000 who will be in the hospital maybe until the New Year, and over a million families who have had to deal with the disease, many with long-term effects of this terrible virus.  Let's stay away from each other for a few more months.  Let's keep the masks on in public and let's pretend it is March again and we sing our songs as we wash our hands, we buy cool mask to show off our style, we use the internet for more than just playing games, and we take into account that our country has had the worst situation of the developing world.  So when someone says that public health requests are an attack on a faith, or a holiday.  Remind them that there are hospitals who have Ipads on IV polls so loved ones can say good-bye as someone dies in isolation.  Remind them that doctors and nurses are stretched to capacity all over the country and the worst is yet to come.  Remind them that they have the power to slow the spread.  Celebrations can always wait when people are dying.  

Oh and if your congressperson is one of those who is flaunting the public health guidelines and saying that Christmas is under attack.  Work hard to vote them out.  They don't deserve to represent you. 

President-Elect Joe Biden

We need to keep repeating the Joseph Biden was elected the next President of the United States and is the President-elect by any measure used to declare that in the past.  Every day another state certifies their vote and setting the Electors who will vote for him in December.  On January 20th at 12:01 p.m. he will be the President.  The reason we need to keep repeating that is because the current President, Donald Trump, is lying and he and his lawyers holding meetings and going on television claiming that there was massive fraud, that the elections should be thrown out and he should remain President.  The attacks from these people included lying about the company who contracted with some states for voting technology, poll workers and elected officials administering the elections in various states and even Republican governors.  Most recently one of the lawyers, a partisan hack for sure, called for the killing of Chris Krebs, the cyber security official who was in-charge of elections who was fired by the President.  He was fired because he released a statement that this was a secure election and no attacks or software changing votes.  This is where we are.  

Now this is totally on brand for President Trump.  He has lied to people his entire life.  Since coming down the escalator 5 years ago he has been a fire hose of falsehoods that have flooded the American conversation.  So as you look at social media in the last three weeks you will see ordinary Americans repeating the falsehoods of the President as if they are fakes, even in light of evidence.  The most recent was the President's spokesperson, who has the title of Press Secretary but acts as a campaign spokesperson, responded to the announcement that Joe Biden appointed an all-woman Communication Department by saying the President already has that.  The White House website proves that to be a lie, there have always been men on that staff for Trump.  The Trump supporters simple dismiss that fact because they would rather believe Trump than reality.  I am not sure how that could ever change.  There will always be followers of someone who can see them doing no wrong.  It is easier to believe conspiracies when they help you feel important and right.  But that is dangerous for the country.  Creating election skepticism and de-legitimatizing the government can only lead to problems moving forward.  It will handcuff the Biden administration and either consciously or unconsciously will push policy in a direction. 

But what is most troubling is the Republican leadership who is bolstering the President's nonsense and creating a real sense of them living the same delusion gives support to the people who want to believe in the non-existent fraud.  People who even were re-elected in this cycle claim there was enough fraud to overturn the will of the people.  Lindsey Graham, a former critic of the President, tried to tamper with the process of counting votes in at least two states and when asked if Trump will attend Biden's inauguration said he hoped Biden would attend Trump's.  This is delusion but we have heard it from several Republicans since the election.  Members of the cabinet, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the man representing the US to the world, made a similar statement.  Most Republicans are hiding behind the Electoral College vote (suggesting that Biden didn't win until they vote) but they have never had that standard in the past.  Others are just not answering the question when asked if Biden is the President-elect.  Any member of the party who does stand up for reality is attacked.  So an entire party is putting American values in jeopardy to sooth a man who is either living in his own world or doesn't care about the country.  President-elect Joe Biden continues to move forward even with these feckless republicans trying to make it seem like it is in vain.  

So I have a suggestion for the media. If you have a Republican near a microphone, do not let them say anything unless they answer the question of whether Joe Biden is the President-elect.  If they have changed their position from the past, then don't let them speak about anything else.   

As for us, every Senator has a twitter feed.  Get on it and simple ask as a constituent  I want to know, do you see Joseph Biden as President-elect.  If not why not?

We need to get back to reality.  The President and his mouthpieces are lying and hurting our democratic standards and his party is too scared of him to stand up for the country.  It will take us to show them they are on the wrong side of history.  President-elect Biden needs the country to help him get through the pandemic, the economic fallout it produced and continues to, and to bring our country back to a good standing in the world.  Let's be the country that we aspire to be.