02/19/2024
Bucks County Herald Chatterbox
This week's Chatterbox was seen as too contravertial for printing, so you are privvy to the pulled column. Hope you enjoy. Quite a crazy note to return to FaceBook with. Hmm, sorry about that. Comments are welcome.
Remembering our humanity
I’m an easy weeper. I tear up, sometime, nearly every day for any of a variety of reasons: some are those which warm my heart so much, my eyes steam; some are those that make my heart break and my eyes leak; some are those I can’t express, so my tears speak for me.
Today, it was the profundity of a brief speech I happened upon, delivered at the January 8, 2017 Golden Globe Awards. It wasn’t about making movies; it was about humanity. It was an actress shining a light on an action which most of us have seen, by a man waiting to be sworn in as President of the United States of America; he lost the popular vote, but the Electoral College voted him in anyway (Haven’t we all wondered about that process; so, why do Americans bother voting?).
Some people may be tired of hearing about this action, and his fans may be tired of the iterated attack on Donald Trump for this and so many other things. Still, these indiscretions, including his body language, are history, even now, as he battles to get his name on the ballot for another run at President. This is risky with his uncensored nature, both for our America situation and current international relations.
At this time, we the people should be revisiting every move he made that was incongruous with the distinguished office that the American President once was; even his supporters now understand his loose cannon approach to too many critical situations and the absence of the required decorum he so reflexively displays.
Of course, most of us agree we’ve gone downhill over the past several administrations, and it started in the 70s, in terms of political performance. We had moments, here and there, where there was a bit of elegance and a term or two when the Commander-in-Chief tried hard to achieve some bi-partisan progress. Sadly, then and still, party members choose chest-thumping, power over progress, and self-indulgence over stability for the nation.
Their self-importance continues to stymie the advancement of the nation. We stagnate as they refused to find solutions for most matters of importance rather than risk any President of the opposing party making progress while in office.
All such behavior is far more than counter-productive. It is, though no one wants to say the word, treasonous, a crime against the nation, and a violation of the oath each official takes when being sworn in to any office from a township building to the White House. Period… and, as always, America’s hard-working people, always in the trenches, have born and bear the brunt of elected officials’ blind ambition for their own careers, image, and dedication to party rule over dedication to their constituency or their country’s sovereignty.
Even having experienced all of this, when we thought we had hit bottom, we installed a President who used obscenities in his speeches, ridiculed others after he had clearly misunderstood simple remarks, publicly humiliated public servants, military personnel, mocked war heroes, prisoners of war, and those killed in action. Well documented, all of these actions are not only totally unbecoming a public servant of any measure, let alone the President of the United States, but despicable of any human anywhere, publicly or privately, any time.
The action, however, noted often and in Ms. Streep’s speech, quietly and sincerely delivered, was that of one specific action by Mr. Trump, witnessed by millions, which no human of any moral character should abide by: that is his physical and verbal imitation of a handicapped news reporter. She eloquently noted that Trump mocked “…someone he outranked in privilege… and the capacity to fight back…. this instinct to humiliate… modeled by someone… powerful… gives permission for [others] to do the same…”
Of all the insensitive, irresponsible, inconsiderate, immature, reckless and painful, schoolboy behaviors that revealed a sense of arrogance and disrespect or display a sense of privilege and superiority, this was one of his greatest. It is an image some Americans may defy, but none can forget, though, depressingly, too many thought, like Trump, it actually was funny. Never suitable anywhere, certainly a mind-set of such negative discrimination doesn’t belong, ever, in our White House.
Now, through another legal circus and with another election upon us, with greater experience and some eye-opening years behind us, perhaps, civility and sensibility will not be forgotten by our court system, our voters, or our Electoral College.
We must remember who we are. --- END ---
