Fear and Loathing, Or Politics In America Today

I despise our political process in this country.  It has devolved into some sort of contest to see who is the biggest bully or the glibbest liar. 
That said, I wade through stories and statements and reports, and try to make intelligent decisions when it seems most of my fellow citizens either do "eeny, meeny, miney mo"  or vote for the one who has gotten the most publicity, or in some cases, for whomever their pastor has instructed them to vote for. 
This year, I have decided that NONE of the Republican possibilities are qualified to be President.  None have the presence, or the presence of mind, or the ability to execute that office without sinking this great nation into a slough of disaster it might never recover from. 
On the Democratic side, I'd love to be able to make a hybrid of the two candidates.  We need Hillary's experience with working the system and dealing with the rest of the world, we need Bernie's sensible ideas about getting things on track here.  I really do hope whoever wins, that those two will work together, and it is my most fervent prayer that God deliver us from Donald Trump and Ted Cruz.  Both of them have demonstrated ignorance of our Constitution, and shown contempt for people other than themselves.  It frightens me that such as they could even be seriously CONSIDERED for the office of President. 

All that aside, here are this week's ruminations on life, the universe, and everything

3/7/16
Again faced
With an empty page
Each day's challenge
The same, but not.
Because no two days
Are really
The same.
So many  things I could
Be doing
But I promised
I would Write. So here I am
Filling lines
And time
With not much.
Story of my life.


3/8/16

Left it late
We often do
Leave what should
Be done
To the last possible
Moment
Catching ourselves
On the ragged edge
Of commitments
And needs
How prone to wander off
Is the mind
Especially nowadays
When so many
Beguiling
Electronic amusements
Beckon
Some feel productive
But they all
Just eat our time.
Some time IS
Well spent
If it allows
Us to connect to
Others
But most is
Just vacant
Staring at words
And cat pictures
On a screen.
Or playing idle games.
All of it gone
With the flip of a switch.

Perhaps it is an apt metaphor for all of life.
 So much of what we do seems pointless
 and yet is important to someone.
And our very existence could be wiped out just that quickly -
The strike of a meteor,
The launch of a missile
The spread of a microbe -
We are far more vulnerable than we wish to believe.
So, I'll cherish all my friends
The ones here,
And the ones all over the world
Online
All just as real
As you or I
For all that
Some
I've never met in person.



3/9/16

O coffee,
Elixir made
From magic beans
Hot and strong
Waking me up
On a foggy, grey
Morning.When I would much
Rather
Stay in bed.
Giving back
The ability
To think ,
Clearing my head
But this morning
Your flavor
Reminds me
That I need
To clean
The coffee maker
But still,
You are good.
For there are magic
Cocoa beans
In this batch,
Too.


O Lord,
How we
Poor,
Blind humans
Grope about
Seeking You.
We each have
Different perspectives
On what the greater
Power is -
Some don't see You
Because they cannot
Or will not
Others have tried
In so many ways
To describe
That which cannot BE
Described.
 I believer we are ALL
Responsible
For living up to the
Truth
However we received it -
And that Truth
Universally
Seems to me to be
LOVE.
So many
Use the name
Of God
As an excuse,
A rallying point,
For behavior
That goes directly
AGAINST the heart of
EVERY message
About
You
 That we have ever heard
From the teachers you
sent
And from You, Yourself,
As I believe
You came
We are NOT
Loving our neighbors
As ourselves,
And we are
Certainly
NOT
Loving God with all of our
Being.
Forgive us
And help us
Before we
Destroy
Each other -
I beg You!

Lord, in Your Mercy,
HEAR OUR PRAYER !


3/10/16

I missed a day.  Easy to do when there are so many things that clamor for time and attention.
I thought I had that is, - turns out that pages stuck together
I THOUGHT I had written yesterday, but the evidence
Seems otherwise.
No coffee
Today
So I am
Slower to
Wake
But I can't
Have that jolt
Too often
It isn't good
For my body
So my mind
Must patiently
Rouse itself
Instead of depending
On Coffee's
Alarm
Calling all things
Into focus
And action
More slowly
Instead of
In the fire-drill
Immediacy
That Coffee
Can cause
For me.

An adventure tonight
At work
I've done it
Only once before
But it's
ZUMBA TIME
and I'm going
To work out
With them
The adventure really
Is in remembering
ALL the details.


3/12/16


Another lost day.
Yesterday I just wanted to read.
Writing appealed not at all.
Today I have more time,
But I don't feel there is anything to say

Other than
To express my sorrow
Over the mess
Our election process
Has become.
I really fear that
Trump is popular because
He knows exactly how to
Manipulate the fearful and frustrated
among the
Great, under-educated masses
In this country.
He panders to the selfish nature
Of those who seem to
Think they pay for
Everyone else.
I can understand frustration
I cannot understand naked hatred
And seeking to blame
A group or groups
For your problems.
That sounds too much
Like a song we heard before
From a guy named Hitler.
Remember him?
Remember how many people
DIED stopping him?
Remember how many he
Slaughtered
before the world
woke up and decided to
Stop him?

This generation would do well to quit being so selfish and lazy and look to long - term and HUMANE solutions to our problems.  Hate and blame do not solve problems, they create MORE problems, bigger problems, the kind that will see this great nation reduced to rubble.
Trump doesn't care one BIT about ANY of you and your frustrations, except as a means to give himself power.  He will throw you under the bus in a hot minute if it will suit his purpose.  He doesn't care for anyone but himself, and he certainly doesn't know a single thing about God.  His behavior and his words show that.  Treating anyone who disagrees with him like garbage to be thrown out - he shows us exactly what kind of state we'd be in if he wins. 
You enjoy your right to free speech?  Kiss it and your social media good-bye.  Trump is threatened by opposition of any sort.  He will quash it.  Whether it is legal to do so or not.  The law of the land does not seem to matter to him, either.
He will start rounding up any group he dislikes and "disposing" of them because they are "a threat to the country" - If our Congress would do it's job, he'd be impeached the first time he tried any of that, but who knows?  Most of Congress (and alas, our population) seem ignorant of the very Constitution that they have sworn to uphold.
Trump has stirred up something vile in this country.  For the first time, I really fear the end is near.  I beg of you, vote for anyone other than a man who openly shows his contempt for every single principle of freedom that this country was founded on.  While you're at it, keep an eye on what the other Republican front runners are saying, because some of them sound like religious cult leaders rather than presidential candidates. 
This country needs common sense and cohesion, not a narcissist stirring up division and dangerous hatred.
Our strength is in our ability to work and live together, in spite of our differences, and our ability to use those differences to solve our problems.  You can't go wrong with a variety of talents and perspectives brought to bear on our issues.  That's how this country became a great nation to begin with!