Sunday, January 22, 2017

For What It's Worth...

Evidently I don't have enough street cred or my readers would have listened in larger numbers to my earlier post, "A Political View from a Southender."  If you were one of the people who didn't read it at all, you will find it in the archives for December of 2016.

Let's recap a bit. I urged you all to read your history books, especially as to how the dreaded Hitler came to power. I was not the only one to make those comparisons during this election year, by the way. Well now that the damage has been done, let's move on in this discussion.

What the heck does "alternative facts" mean. These words recently came out of the mouth of chrump's White House spokeswoman and counselor, Kellyanne Conway, as she attempted to explain White House press secretary, Sean Spicer's comments about the crowds at the recent inauguration.  His estimate differed greatly from what the "evil" media reported.

I need a little help here from you English majors out there. Here's my interpretation as gleaned from my handy dandy Webster's.

alternative: The choice between possibilities; one of the possibilities to be chosen; allowing a choice; unconventional.

I vote for "unconventional"

or maybe misnomer: An inappropriate or wrong name

anomaly: Departure from the normal form, order, or rule. Something irregular or abnormal.

What do you think? All of these definitions would seem to apply here as his explanation of the size of the crowds were later found untrue. Therefore could we say that "alternative facts" is another way of saying "We have a good explanation here and damn it you better listen."

NOT.

My observation of the activities in Washington and in fact around the whole world in the past two days are that this so-called president is necessarily always going to be on the defensive for the entire time he chooses to stay in office, at least for this term of four years. My question is, "How can anything get done in our Federal Government if he has to waste all his time twittering an answer to everyone who bruises his delicate ego?"  Are there not better things he could be doing?

Maybe you don't agree with me here. That's your right and privilege under our constitution. If we want to see our country go forward in its democracy we have to get more involved. I marched in the 60s to protest some of the very things the people in these marches are protesting. When does it end? I would like to live my life as a senior citizen in peace and without the fear of losing my rights, my Medicare, my Social Security, my marriage. I don't think that's too much to ask.

Remember that Democracy understandably takes time sometimes. The wheels move slowly for a reason...so that rash decisions can be reined in; so that decency towards all citizens is the rule; that justice is given to all; that we are able to live with a roof over our heads, food in the refrigerator and hopefully find medical care when we need it.

I ask you to stay in touch with your representatives in this state and in Washington, D.C. to let them know your thoughts; what you want to see done. If you are able to, run for an office of some kind even if it is just the school board or city council. Work toward positive changes in your community, state and country. "Stronger Together" really is a good slogan to keep in mind.

If you want to see your words and thoughts in print in the hopes that someone out there will listen, write to the editor of your local newspaper. You can also reply to this blog below if you wish. Not to say that I will actually allow it to be seen here, as I am the owner and therefore the editor of this blog. Of course you are still allowed to start your own blog on the internet. Heaven forbid if the man manages to stifle free speech and free press. By all means, forward this blog to anyone you think might me interested if you wish. There is also a way to do that at the end here.

A shout out to our friend Emmet O'Meara who kept us all so well  informed during the election process via Facebook. Ya done good Emmet. Keep up the good work.

Thanks for listening.