There Will Be No Step 5 For Me
For a few weeks after Trump's* election, I'd have fleeting moments where it felt like I was about to wake up from a disturbing dream and all would be well—he wouldn't actually be poised to be our next president. Whew! What a relief! We really dodged a bullet there!
But I'm still here and this really bad dream continues.
It's one thing for me to grasp that Trump* is our president and that many of you voted for him but it's a whole other thing to come to terms with so many among us who are still not flinching or voicing any reservations about his opening foreign policy blunder with his ban on Muslims immigrating to the U.S. and in particular his ban on refugees. I can't get my head around that and I won't even try because to do that would be to admit that there could be a valid reason to the hyped-up fear that so many are too willing to accept. John Fugelsang said it best in the meme to the left.
When I think about Syrian refugees I try and imagine those who are elderly or very young or ill—people who are just barely hanging on without even the most basic necessities of life, and with little to no hope. What if I was among them? Or you? How in god's name are Christians of all people okay with turning their backs on these people? And so I continue to struggle, to come to terms with what just happened to this country and continues to happen to this country—and all the while republicans and their supporters stand by and not only watch but applaud as Trump* continues his assault on our democracy and on our good name.
The Statue of Liberty is no longer worthy of the inscription at its base which reads:
“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
There will be no step 5 for me.
A friend is deactivating his Facebook account in a few days and it caused me to wonder if maybe I shouldn't pack up my tent and do the same. It's just become more depressing for me than I care to admit when I see some of the things that friends of mine are in support of; most disturbing of all being the refugee ban. (Call us crazy but Tammy and I have actually talked about how we would be happy to open our home to a refugee family to help get them back on their feet.) I've decided, though, to continue to keep my Facebook account active and continue to selectively speak out against nonsense when I see it because neither do I want to look back at this time in our country's history and see that I was silent. I don't think I could respect myself, but that's just me.
It's been a few years since we've been to the Lake Harriet Kite Festival but we made it back this year. Conditions were nearly ideal but I think some of the larger kites could've used more wind. Still, there was lots of colors to take in and we enjoyed our time on the lake.
The blog continues after the video.
There were two CDs Tammy and I would listen to over and over again when we were dating in 1999: Marc Cohn's Burning the Daze and Collective Soul's Dosage. We never get tired of either CD and we always try and catch either act when they're in town. Last Friday night Collective Soul was here at Treasure Island Casino and we were there! It was such a fun show!
Here are two of my favorite songs from the night. Enjoy! We did.
But I'm still here and this really bad dream continues.It's one thing for me to grasp that Trump* is our president and that many of you voted for him but it's a whole other thing to come to terms with so many among us who are still not flinching or voicing any reservations about his opening foreign policy blunder with his ban on Muslims immigrating to the U.S. and in particular his ban on refugees. I can't get my head around that and I won't even try because to do that would be to admit that there could be a valid reason to the hyped-up fear that so many are too willing to accept. John Fugelsang said it best in the meme to the left.
When I think about Syrian refugees I try and imagine those who are elderly or very young or ill—people who are just barely hanging on without even the most basic necessities of life, and with little to no hope. What if I was among them? Or you? How in god's name are Christians of all people okay with turning their backs on these people? And so I continue to struggle, to come to terms with what just happened to this country and continues to happen to this country—and all the while republicans and their supporters stand by and not only watch but applaud as Trump* continues his assault on our democracy and on our good name.
The Statue of Liberty is no longer worthy of the inscription at its base which reads:
“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
There will be no step 5 for me.
A friend is deactivating his Facebook account in a few days and it caused me to wonder if maybe I shouldn't pack up my tent and do the same. It's just become more depressing for me than I care to admit when I see some of the things that friends of mine are in support of; most disturbing of all being the refugee ban. (Call us crazy but Tammy and I have actually talked about how we would be happy to open our home to a refugee family to help get them back on their feet.) I've decided, though, to continue to keep my Facebook account active and continue to selectively speak out against nonsense when I see it because neither do I want to look back at this time in our country's history and see that I was silent. I don't think I could respect myself, but that's just me.
It's been a few years since we've been to the Lake Harriet Kite Festival but we made it back this year. Conditions were nearly ideal but I think some of the larger kites could've used more wind. Still, there was lots of colors to take in and we enjoyed our time on the lake.
The blog continues after the video.
There were two CDs Tammy and I would listen to over and over again when we were dating in 1999: Marc Cohn's Burning the Daze and Collective Soul's Dosage. We never get tired of either CD and we always try and catch either act when they're in town. Last Friday night Collective Soul was here at Treasure Island Casino and we were there! It was such a fun show!
Here are two of my favorite songs from the night. Enjoy! We did.
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