Here in New York we have become accustomed to being treated like two year olds by our Governor, Andrew Cuomo. The most recent example of this is the following quote from him regarding the mixed results from his Covid protocols:

“So the restrictions work, and just to make it very simple: If you socially distanced, and you wore a mask, and you were smart, none of this would be a problem. It’s all self imposed. It’s all self imposed… If you didn’t eat the cheesecake, you wouldn’t have a weight problem.”

This is outrageous on more than one level. Of course, if President Trump had said it, the media would have immediately labeled the claim as “baseless” and “divisive”; Twitter and FaceBook would add a fact check disclaimer to clarify that not all cheesecake eaters have weight problems, and late night “comedians” would have “joked” about his obesity; but Cuomo gets an Emmy for leadership. Did anyone else not know that there was such a thing? The opening words of the quote really point to part of the problem, “…just to make it very simple…”. For all the talk about “following the science”, people want it to be simple science, like third grade science, and despite their inability to understand anything much more complex, Science is seldom that simple. Many weight problems can’t be boiled down to “put down the spoon fatty”, and the science of all that Covid is doing to our society isn’t resolved by some thuggish governor saying “Just wear da’ mask!”. Please, oh please, understand this, when someone asks you to have faith in Science; having faith in Science is an oxymoron. Skepticism is rather an integral part of good science, and trusting scientists is not exactly the same as following the science, but most people are too lazy to actually follow the science, much less challenge it. Today’s science is a snapshot of what we understand today, and constantly changing in response to new research, and the challenges of skeptics who are sometimes the ones who are beckoning science onward by their very challenges. If you want to “follow the science”, don’t get comfortable, or dogmatic (dogma has no place in science). I had seven children, all 18 months to two years apart, and was amazed how infant care science changed with each new arrival, in a matter of months. Science is not a stagnant pond, but a rushing river; more so in this time, it’s far from simple.

Of course people like Governor Cuomo have little interest in Science except Political Science, and how the rest of science can be used in that pursuit. His willingness to call out the obviously stupid people (he as much as called them that in the comparison to the “smart” people), and the “cheesecake eaters”, demonstrates a disturbing trend on the political and societal landscapes; shaming. Shaming has become the tactic of choice in the manipulation of others to your will. It began with the concept of political correctness, and has only been exacerbated with the permeation of social networking and the 24 hour news cycle. Others are excoriated for expressing a contrary opinion, or for supporting a different political figure, or even for just being wrong… they are not by this tactic intended to be corrected, engaged, or debated; they are intended to be silenced and cancelled, but not enough to just cancel them, they must be debased and humiliated, because in so doing the shamer exalts themselves as superior… “I’m thin because I resist cheesecake… I’m smart because I wear a mask… I’m better than most people…” Only after fulfilling the lust for superiority are they content to have people change to mimic their superiority. The manipulation of shaming is of course effective in a superficial bullying way, that’s peer pressure; but it effects no essential change in people; instead it builds resentment, resistance, and rebellion.

Maybe it seems obvious to me because I raised those seven children, seven toddlers, seven teenagers, seven young adults; but let me tell you, shaming works well until about the age of three or four, after that it has diminishing returns, and by the time they’re teenagers and young adults shaming only encourages the behavior you wish to discourage, and in the end alienation. In shaming, you make yourself the accuser, the condemner… the Enemy. The Enemy can only succeed by breaking and conquering… is that who you want to be? Governor Cuomo has cast himself in the role of the parent who annoyingly asks, “Why can’t you be more like your brother?”. Instead, try being a friend, a supporter, a counselor… a true leader.

It is often the fallacy of parents and politicians to suppose that all problems can be boiled down to simple solutions, but that is seldom the case with children, and never the case with society. It is annoying when reality intrudes on the magnificence of our supposed solutions. In parenthood this annoyance often expresses itself in criticism, shouting, and anger. The same is true in politics. Shaming is a destructive tool used to bend people to your will, and is by it’s very nature contrary to Liberty, and un-American. When manipulation is the goal, rather than essential change, the end result is increasing coercion and eventual despotism, when shaming is not enough. I want to think we are better than that.

Their quest for power has become the lust for blood. They see demons in every shadow, monsters in every closet. Children, they deem witches; the aged, sympathizers; common men they accuse of wicked motives and heinous crimes. They have come to believe their own hyperbole. They impugn guilt to the innocent, and damnation to the guilty. They are the New Inquisition. They tilt at windmills, and we have become their mortal enemy. They fight an imaginary war, but with very real weapons; and so we are all in jeopardy.

There is always a degree of animosity in any election, as there is in any contest (go to a sporting event in Boston if you don’t believe me!). This election cycle though, that animosity was beyond the pale, and was the culmination of 4 years of simmering rage, failed strategies, and an in-your-face style of a man who did not behave like a politician. Added to this was the daily reporting of just how truly “horrible” this man was, and without any redeeming characteristics or positive accomplishments whatsoever; and how despite this, so many people seemed to support him; the Nobel Prize nominations, the massive rallies, the social media, the Trump election signs. The contest became more than an election, it became Judgement Day for Trump. Like over the top sports fans, not just desiring to win the game, but cheering for an injury to the opponents’ star player, it was not enough to simply win an election, Trump needed to be humiliated, punished, and cancelled. Republican Presidents have always been ridiculed and despised by the left, always with hyperbolic rants about fascism, stupidity, and Hitler analogies… they really need some new material. In my lifetime, though, I’ve not seen this level of hatred against any President, where criticism was without pause, ridicule was without decency, and assassination was regularly suggested and even cheered. It was hatred unfiltered, and that without civility or the moderation of polite society. So overwhelming was the hatred, that it extended beyond Trump, to his wife, his children (even Baron), political supporters, companies whose owners spoke well of him, and yes, even the simple men and women who were pleased with his policies, economy, and initiatives. They have become the mean girls in school, “If you like her, you can’t sit at our table!”. One might have thought with the apparent success of the election, that this hatred might have been assuaged, but alas, hatred is like cancer; and no cancer ever says “It is enough.” It metastasizes and attacks the entire body. Lists are being compiled, sympathizers must be held accountable, Trump voters must be re-educated and absorbed, resistance is futile.

Insults to Trump supporters continue from all quarters of the left. Much has been said about how unseemly it is to be a sore loser, but might I contend, even more unseemly is the sore winner. Those who cannot win with grace, those who cannot sheath their weapons once the war is done, only prove that their victory was unmerited. It is a conundrum to me, and I speak concerning the normal folks I know, the losers seem content and hopeful, and the winners still seem angry. In the words of one of my most faithful readers,

“As Christians we should be acquainted with the poorly understood truth that what looks like defeat can be the prelude to victory. The disciples were stronger after the crucifixion than before it. May we learn greater patience and perseverance from recent events, and may they serve to strengthen us.”

This is maddening to the haters. As we shrug our shoulders at the election, return to our families, our faith, and our jobs, they derive no satisfaction from our apparent refusal to lose our minds, to lose our heart, to lose our peace, to lose our faith. If hatred knows no satisfaction even in victory, faith and hope know only contentment, even in defeat.

To my friends on the left, and yes, to a few on the right, guard your friendships, guard your relationships, and guard your souls. Political leaders are fair game, they participate in a violent sport, and can usually recognize it as sport, as Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have in their reconciliation, or as Trump and Cruz did in theirs. But believe not every voice that steers you toward hatred, rather search things out for yourselves. No longer do we have arbiters of the truth. The mainstream media and social platforms have chosen a side, but so have the alternate media. If you must be angry, then be angry… but be focused, and for God’s sake be informed. Forgive liberally, and be quick to walk away from your anger, do not become addicted to it. People can be wrong without being evil. Those who see demons in shadows have never seen actual demons. Those who think there are monsters everywhere, have not known monsters. They who cast children as villains and citizens as devils have not experienced the presence of evil. Darkness and hatred filter down from above, but goodness and decency, civility and kindness, will not be found in some royal figure from Camelot. These things come from the bottom up, these things are found in the hearts of the humble and the small. Thus, we ultimately are less concerned with who sits in the oval office, than the conditions of the hearts of our family, our friends, and our neighbors. In this we do have a concern. The violence and level of hatred we see in our youth is indeed disturbing, because they represent the future. The fact that it is being demonstrated both on the streets of our inner-cities, and on the grounds of our college campuses as well, points the finger not only at the disintegration of the family structure, but at the hollowness of the structure even where it remains intact. But if some have failed to convey to their children the Spirit of America, others have clearly succeeded, and nothing is more pleasing to an aging soul than to see the young stepping up to the eternal challenge, and that there is hope for America in the courage and valor of a remnant of our youth.

I leave you with the words of the most hated modern day President, that is, before Trump, Ronald Reagan. Upon his primary defeat to Gerald Ford in 1976 he wrote this to a supporter:

“Going on with what God has given us, confident there is a destiny, somehow seems to bring a reward we wouldn’t exchange for any other.”

“The spirit of resistance to governments is so valuable on certain occasions that I wish it to always be kept alive.”

Thomas Jefferson

Not that I am not a believer in miracles, but it would take a miracle, and a genuine one with a capital “M” for President Trump to serve a consecutive second term. With the possible exception of Abraham Lincoln, there has likely never been a President both so beloved by some, and so hated by others, and in nearly equal numbers. Throughout his presidency, and even before he was inaugurated, there was the ballyhoo of those who labeled themselves as “The Resistance”, championed by the likes of Nancy Pelosi, Maxine Waters, and Chuck Schumer, these are they who devoted their entire political existence to the cancellation of the Trump presidency. Not content to wait for the next election, they sought to undo what the voters had ordained… by hook, or by crook. They were unsuccessful, and as resistances go, they were an abject failure; the Trump presidency became one of the most monumentally significant terms of office of any modern U.S. president, as the years ahead will certainly show. In an otherwise dismal chain of failures, I will not begrudge the Democrats their moment of glory in a victory at last, and their avoidance of four more years of humiliation. That said, it’s a bit like shutting the barn door after the horse has bolted; too little, too late; and as a resistance, they get an A for effort, but have failed the course. It has been said, as it always is, that this election was the most important election of our lifetime, but I expect history will show that for substance over symbolism, it is the last election that will prove the more significant. For this we rejoice. But as we embark on this next segment of the adventure we call The United States of America, we need to remember some of the few words Joe Biden was permitted to speak during his “run” for office, we are headed for a “dark winter”. Remember, Spring and the life it brings always follows even the darkest Winter. An opportunity has been missed, but all is not lost. We live, we are still strong, we have been blessed and are galvanized… and for now, we are the resistance.

There is something to be said about those who change the rules when they can’t win the game. Politics has always been a dirty business and a violent sport, but there were rules, customary practices. When hatred becomes one’s focus, civility and customary cordialities go out the window… things get ugly. In a boxing match, one boxer cannot observe the Marquess of Queensberry rules while the other resorts to street fighting. There will be retaliation. And while Biden has made the obligatory plagiarism of there not being blue states and red states, but just the United States; it’s a meaningless platitude, and we all know better… we are a house divided, and the only thing keeping us from civil war is the fact that we are not divided by states, but by county and city, and ideology. It is not as simple as North and South, or division would already be in the works. And so we exist as a divided nation, and as the last two presidential elections have shown, it is a remarkably even division. So we are consigned to survival of the fittest; it is a sad state of affairs. The rules have been changed, and now, within the various limitations of our consciences or lack thereof, we, the resistance, will play by the new rules. As Mitch McConnell warned Harry Reid about using the nuclear option to change the rules of the Senate,

“You’ll regret this, and you may regret this a lot sooner than you think.”

Welcome to the Supreme Court, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh… Amy Coney Barrett.

So now it is our turn to become the resistance, we shall, and that in accordance with the “new rules”. You will forgive us if at least some of us cannot lower ourselves entirely to the example set by our liberal enemies, (and it is you that have made yourselves enemies.) We will not be screaming in the streets, looting our local Wal-Mart, or burning down our cities (and certainly not our own farms and businesses!). Our own self-respect will prevent us from becoming the lunatic fringe as you did. Oh, there may be a few crazies among us, but don’t expect us to keep them accountable… new rules, that’s your problem, call the police you want to defund. We will, however, be unaccepting of your overtures of unity… been there, done that… it’s like an adulterous husband wanting us to just forgive, forget, and move forward. A trust has been broken, the rules have been changed, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander, and now it’s our turn. Our resistance will not be from Hollywood stars, overpaid journalists, or ignorant sport stars; nor will it be from the spineless politicians in Washington as much a part of the swamp as Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. It will be from the many common men and women who will pledge their lives to keep America as a light to the nations. It has always been these who have preserved the light, and so it shall ever be. Hate may win a battle, but never will it win the war.

The rules have been changed. Knowing Donald Trump, He might have changed them himself had the Democrats not done so for him. There will be legal challenges to the election, not because they will likely yield desired results, just to resist, just to be A-holes… new rules.

“You think he’s gone? He’s never gone!”

“What About Bob”

As is the continuous failing of liberal thought, they neglect to see things in three dimensions, ever neglecting to look beyond their two dimensional wishful thinking. In keeping with Obama’s failure to follow the convention of staying out of the business of subsequent administrations, Trump is going nowhere, and might even be up for a redux in 2024, though I think that unlikely. He will remain the obsession of the media, and has the money to become his own media. Oh, He will tweet! I doubt Joe Biden has the energy to steal the camera from The Donald, and if Joe has been the invisible candidate, he might now be the invisible president. Of course, with the Democrat losses in the House, the stage is set for the Hunter and Joe corruption impeachment to commence in two to three years… new rules, hope you’re up for it Joe!

There are things we should learn from this, and some of them are things we should have learned years ago. Pollsters cannot be trusted. They are paid to deliver the desired results. For all the plaudits devoted to “science”, this is simple statistics, and if your poll falls outside the margin of error, you did it wrong… you are either incompetent or dishonest, and either way you should be out of business. I’ve lived long enough to see that the polls always err in the same direction; they walk things back slightly just before the election as though there are vast numbers of voters changing their minds (to Trump?) just before the election so they can not look quite so far off. Like so much of society, we have come to accept incompetence, or possibly dishonesty, with pollsters, and blame such glaring errors on excuses like “the shy Trump voter”. Have you met a Trump voter? They are not that shy!

Next, the media is no longer independent from political parties. No honest observer can say that the mainstream media was balanced in their coverage of President Trump. Presidents have regularly been antagonistic toward the press, but never have we before seen the press so reciprocate that animosity with such zealous attention to every opportunity to do so, while at the same time being completely derelict in their pursuit of the truth for what might be politically disadvantageous to the president’s rivals. As a result, the overwhelming success of Fox News debuted years ago (albeit the subsequent schizoid pandering of the network) has spawned a cottage industry of conservative networks verging on becoming mainstream, and threatening the income streams of the corrupted major networks and even Fox… we need to continue to hold them accountable, and embarrass them when they are derelict or in their duty, or fake news. If Trump was to just go away, one wonders what the news would be?

So now, we are the resistance. And I for one find it a more comfortable place to be. Trump says and does things that are difficult at times to defend, despite the results he attained for the nation, the conservative movement, and the world. Now we are the resistance. And in accordance with the new rules, I have no remorse in resisting in complete honesty. Joe is an empty suit that the Democrats used to present a generic candidate to allow hate and disdain to rule the day. No one voted FOR Joe Biden, they voted against Donald Trump… and that was the sad calculation. They have gotten rid of Trump (or so they believe); all that is left is for them to determine is how to get rid of Joe. He’s never been the sharpest knife in the drawer, and now he’s more like a spoon; and unless the Dems have use of a spoon in the White House, I expect we’ll see him resign before his term expires. Don’t suppose the Dems have less leverage on him and his family than the GOP does. As always, he will do as he is told. The swamp is back, right Joe?, but even after 48 years, the swamp is not above eating its own. If he were a better man, I would almost pity him.

I have heard a few so discouraged by the results that they are swearing off politics and devoting themselves to the rest of the beautiful things of their lives far away from this current ugliness. This is understandable, and I suppose we could all use a break. Politics is not, nor should it ever be, the entirety of our lives, and unlike so many on the left who were left only with despair when their whole existence seemed to melt down with Trump’s election, loss reminds us that there is so much more to life than political pursuits, and that there is a higher plane that should always be our first focus. Acknowledging that politics is not the sum total of our existence, it is just the same an important part of our lives, and to give up on it over one razor thin defeat, diminishes us as an individual, and it diminishes us as an army fighting the good fight. It is not the time to abandon hope. It is time to shine a light. For all the rhetoric now coming from the Democrats about unity, a unity they only seek when they are victorious, unity comes from two sources: success and disaster. Assuming a mandate where only disdain for Trump exists is a poor substitute for success, and disasters are fickle uniters. Four years will pass quickly, two years even quicker! It has ever been our contention that liberal policies do not illicit success, and let us not allow a disaster to be created without the blame being squarely and truthfully placed. Because of the Democrats singular mission to destroy Trump, they have won a Pyrrhic victory. They are left with a president and vice president only able to win an election when they do not speak, and where Trump is the opponent, and that by the narrowest of margins. Their failures in the house, their failures down ballot from Trump, and the cracks in the walls of their stranglehold on minority voters do not bode well going forward. Trump may continue to be a factor, but we have no human saviors enshrined in our endeavor for the preservation of the idea of America. Rather we depend upon the idea itself, and the Author of that idea. We depend upon those who have walked before us to preserve the idea, those who shed their blood to preserve it. And we depend upon ourselves, heirs to the mission; we, the bruised, but unbroken… we, the resistance… we, the people.

Freedom isn’t free. No valuable thing is. Indeed, the value of anything is determined not just by it’s utility, but by its price tag as well. We treasure all the more the things we love, in part, because of what they cost us. Throughout our existence as a nation we have paid the price for freedom on many occasions, and each time its value rises. We are paying that price again. Were we to sacrifice freedom as other countries have, we could, no doubt, save more lives. But we are the country initiated with the words of Patrick Henry:

“Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death.”

That’s not just a bumper sticker or a motto for a license plate, it’s the expression of the national spirit of a people who, from their inception, have placed a greater value on Liberty, than on peace, security, or life itself. That is clearly not to say that Americans do not greatly desire peace, seek for security, embrace life; but they have not, and will never sacrifice ultimate liberty in the pursuit of these things. There are those who are offended that we are not like other nations in that regard. These almost seemed to revel in the effectiveness with which freedoms were curtailed, and foresee with hope a new dawn with ongoing centralized control of the citizenry for the welfare of all. Others posit that government overstepped from the beginning, and point to the crisis as evidence of how easily the nation is relegated to authoritarianism, they fear that we have lost forever the America we once knew. Both proclaim the oft repeated mantra; the one with giddy anticipation, the other with sorrow and dread; “Things will never be the same.”

It may be that both groups misunderstood Americans’ response to the crisis. Panic is not an unreasonable response in some situations. Anyone who has been in a car accident, or near accident, knows that one’s first response in such a case is a full stop. Often that full stop involves slamming on the brakes in what is known as a panic stop. If you had the time to evaluate, possibly the panic stop wasn’t completely necessary in a certain situation, but no one will fault someone for standing on the brakes in an emergency situation where human life is at stake. This was our response to the Covid 19 crisis. We hit the brakes, and we hit them hard. Some might think too hard, others might say we were slow to the brake pedal… well, we did what we did, and it seems as though the initial panic, where nothing but stopping matters, is beginning to subside. What happens next? Continuing with our car crash analogy, what does one do once the car is stopped? We ask our passengers, “Is everyone O.K.?” We can argue over whether someone was driving too fast, or whether the car was in tip top shape… but first: “Is everyone O.K.?” In America, everyone is not O.K. We would like to think that stopping the car was the end of the crisis, but as the panic subsides; we see that our sudden stop caused a broken nose for one passenger, another is in hysterics, the baby is crying… and the car is on fire. Single minded myopic panic is no longer the preferred response, it’s time for a calm and ordered response. In America, people are without jobs, without income; frustrated with typically unwieldy bureaucracies, uncertain of their futures. Suicide rates are likely to spike, depression may well be our next epidemic. Who knows what the result will be on the economy? Economists know about as much about this as the scientists knew about the pandemic; and it may be that our future selves will look back on this moment with chagrin, and lament that we acted too slowly. Many still have their jobs, and their paychecks, and it’s easier for them to demand a sacrifice they aren’t being required to make… yet. There are things you can put on hold, but childhood is not such a thing. In the monotony of adulthood, where one year is much like the last, we can forget that childhood is fleeting, and a year once lost… a season, a moment… is gone forever. It is not always our own liberty that we sacrifice on the altar of safety and security, but the liberty of our children. It is a sad society that sacrifices the well-being of its children for the comfort of its adults. These children are missing proms, graduations, romances, school, playing with friends, and the freedom of youth. The long marathon of adulthood looms on the horizon for them, and there is joy in that journey as well, but precious are the days of innocence, and we ought not spend our children’s treasure lightly.

The protests happening across the nation, the calls for restoring economic activity, the outrage over the temporary suspension of some basic rights; to the comfort of some, and the disappointment of others, show that the spirit of liberty is not dead in America. She panicked for a moment, and many acted foolishly. The toilet paper hoarders, and their counterparts in the government, the politicians who demanded massive quantities of ventilators, and hospital rooms that would never be used; the charlatans who took advantage of the situation to price gouge and cheat, and their counterparts in politics and the press, who take advantage of the situation to push their political agendas and damage their enemies; those paralyzed with fear who demonstrate just how self-important they consider themselves; and their counterparts in politics and the media, who forego leadership for advantage, and service for ratings; all these run rampant in the pandemonium, but it’s time for cooler heads to prevail, and America to rise again. It’s time for legislators and government to get back to work. If Walmart employees and firefighters were able to continue through the worst of the crisis; if health-care workers, nurses and doctors, were able to work under adverse conditions at the height of the pandemic; now that the curve is flattening, now that we know more of what it takes to deal with it, should not those who refer to themselves as public servants find a way to get back to the business of serving the public at every level. If government is crucial in a crisis, as so many insist, then as coordinators of our rebuilding, it seems logical that those in the far less risky positions of government can find a way to re-open government and develop ways to start getting back to business, even if its not quite business as usual. And once government is back in business, it’s time to find safe ways to get America back to business.

In the panic, we followed authority, because we are willing to temporarily set aside liberty for caution in a time of crisis. When the house is on fire, you follow the fireman’s orders without resenting his authoritarian tone. But that submission is short-lived, very short-lived in furiously independent America. As the smoke begins to clear, we see things that were done needlessly, or in a manner inconsistent with our Constitution. And now it’s time to fix those things, and to hold accountable those who were less than stellar in the performance of their duties. The cure for the pandemic might not yet be worse than the disease, but as with so many medicines there are some very serious side effects. Like the Hydra in Greek mythology, we have cut off the head of the monster and more have appeared. Our real work has only begun, the economy, our mental health, our spirituality, our society with each other, what to do with schools, what to do if our liberties and rights are threatened, what to do if the virus re-energizes, and a non-biased look at the virus itself and our response… our plate is full. But now that the panic has passed, we are up to the task, we have to be. We are Americans after all, one nation under God. We have in our history faced a bloody civil war, and come back from the brink united. We have suffered through The Great Depression, and rebounded to be the most prosperous and charitable nation on earth. We have endured the cataclysms of two World Wars, and emerged from the darkness as a light for the nations. Each of these trials and tribulations changed the world for us, and the fiery furnace made us a better people. So no, after this pandemic, things never will be the same, and that is some good that we can take away from this. For no weapon formed against us will prosper. Think not that a crisis will change the indomitable spirit of America, neither you who would welcome that nor you who dread it. We are a nation who grows dull and fat in prosperity, but shines in adversity. We set aside hatred, we join hands in cooperation, we do what needs to be done, without losing our souls in the process. Oh, there are the haters, the traitors, the cowards and the fools; but, for the most part, we are e pluribus, unum. We follow loyally those who would lead us, but we will have no kings. We will not bow the knee to politicians, media, domineering busy-bodies, or a virus. We are a people who can suffer much, stand strong with courage, set aside fear to serve each other; but, for better or worse, we do not long tolerate captivity.

 

 

“The politicians all make speeches while the news men all take note,
And they exaggerate the issues as they shove them down our throats;
Is it really up to them whether this country sinks or floats?
Well I wonder who would lead us if none of us would vote.

Well my phone is tapped and my lips are chapped from whispering through the fence,
You know every move I make, or is that just coincidence?
Will you try to make my way of life a little less like jail,
If I promise to make tapes and slides and send them through the mail?”
Larry Norman (1972)

 

 

There’s always an Arquillian Battle Cruiser, or a Corillian Death Ray, or an intergalactic plague that is about to wipe out all life on this miserable little planet, and the only way these people can get on with their happy lives is that they DO NOT KNOW ABOUT IT!

Agent K from Men In Black

 

 

Might I echo in my opening the words of Father Joseph Damien: “My fellow lepers,”… Being in a work situation that is categorized as “essential”, I have had the mixed blessing of continuing to work while others are cloistered in their homes here in the Corona capital of the world, New York. From the suspicious glances of the people I pass on the street to the less than polite comments from store clerks, there is a troubling thing happening in the places I find myself… fear; and fear’s close cousins, panic and suspicion. We do well as Americans when we have a common enemy, it draws us together, and renews our national camaraderie; but when we have a “hidden enemy”, then we don’t know who we can trust… “They walk among us!”… might that one have the virus? or that one? We see potential threat invading our space, in our markets, on our streets. With our enemy hidden in the microscopic, the threat we can see, the threat we can point to and shun is our fellow citizen, and those we would one time have considered allies. People are often not smiling or speaking to each other, for fear another might feel encouraged to socialize. We are all beginning to understand the undeserved (but understandable) suspicion that Muslims and those of middle eastern descent felt in the aftermath of 9/11. We have become “lepers” to each other.

It is troubling to me that politicians, pundits, and news agencies, in their zeal to focus on the physical threat, have neglected to broaden their gaze to include the rest of life. Panic does that. It gives you tunnel vision. In that tunnel vision we often neglect to see the unintended consequence of our words and our tone. Psychologists, sociologists, economists, spiritual leaders need to be included in the public consideration and discussion of our response to this threat, lest, as President Trump is prone to warn, the cure becomes worse than the disease. Panic doth protest that nothing else matters if you die! But life is always risk, and life cannot only be the avoidance of death, we would not fly, we would not drive, we would not be near other people… we would perhaps not die, but neither would we live. The risk of death must always be balanced against the need to live, and we often err in both directions, but panic takes the decisions outside the realm of rationality, and into the tyranny of fear. Seldom are decisions born of fear alone anything but disastrous. In this current crisis, it is my concern that we have forgotten at once the lessons learned both of Y2K, and the Great Depression. Further, we in our laser focus on “social distancing” and isolation, are not giving due attention to just how much this goes against our biology and our humanity, and what the ramifications might be. Like so many other parts of creation, we are social creatures. We need to talk, to be with others, to touch, to hug, to hold, to kiss. That taken from us, and it sometimes is, will have an effect, the severity of which will be commensurate with the severity of the separation. “Social distancing” was an exceedingly unfortunate choice of terms for what should have been called “Physical distancing”. We can muddle our way through physical separations, but few of us do well at all with universal social separation. As Tom Hanks so aptly portrayed in Castaway, remove us from human beings, and we will begin talking to volleyballs.

When politicians and reporters breathlessly report the latest crisis with often hyperbolic predictions that exceed what is known for certain, they forget, sometimes, who is listening. Parents, guard those little ears! Children don’t need to know all the fear; they have not yet developed the coping mechanisms you should have by now, to deal with this frightening world; that is why they are in your care. In my childhood we were taught to hide beneath our desks from nuclear bombs; more recently, children have been exposed to “the end of the world” from climate change, and now, Covid 19 will kill us all. Why do we do this to them? Can we not keep them safe, and yet free from the terror that little ones should not need to endure? Can we not put aside our fear, our panic, to do our job? Feign courage for another, and you may find strength you did not know you had. Life is Beautiful is a wonderful film that portrays a Jewish father consigned with his young son to a Nazi concentration camp. He finds a way to convince his little one that the camp is just a game to see who would win a tank, so that his babe might not know the horror they were facing.

The story strains the limits of belief, as only cinema can, but teaches a lesson. Our children are ours to protect, even sometimes from the truth, not to mention things that may or may not be the truth. Likewise, there are the vulnerable within society that don’t respond well to panic. A teenage girl in Britain recently committed suicide because of the distress over Corona Virus. We all are seeing the hysteria and hoarding occurring in our grocery markets, and the sell-offs and pessimism in our stock markets. Reading into the psychology behind these behaviors, do we imagine that more suicides are not on our hopeless horizons? Possibly we could all take a lesson from the President, regardless of our love or hatred for him. He seems to know what people want, no, need to hear, Hope. He speaks of going back to work by Easter; doubtful, and as always he leaves it open ended; but in contrast to Governor Cuomo telling us we may be locked down for 9 months or more, it gives us hope… and suddenly the stock market is no longer in “bear” territory.  It may be that the truth is closer to Cuomo’s augur than to Trump’s optimism, but sometimes the truth is best administered a teaspoon at a time, lest presented in one dose it overwhelms.

The opening quote from Agent K echoes the internet meme that we of advanced years have “seen the end of the world like ten times now”. There is indeed always some looming disaster on the horizon, and when there is none, we invent them. Our literature and cinema are replete with doomsday themes, Armageddon seems to fascinate us. Always hovering in our collective consciousness is the awareness that we are fragile creatures on a fragile planet, often at the mercy of relentless and terrible forces that seem perpetually intent on finding a way to destroy us. In each of us individually, despite our best attempts to turn a blind eye, is the nagging awareness of our own mortality. For most of us, we are able to avert our gaze to the business of day to day life, and divert a morbid contemplation of death and dying to fictional displacements; but occasionally situations arise, like this virus, that bring the focus back to just how vulnerable we all are. As Tolkien penned, “It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door…”. Of course, in a nation where someone dies every 12 seconds, the number of deaths from Covid 19, while grievous, are dwarfed by the ongoing number of equally grievous deaths from other causes. Certainly, we do what we can to avoid all causes of death, but we do not exist in perpetual panic. Imagine if we became this panicked over heart disease, from which one person dies every 37 seconds in this country. Government enforced dietary restrictions, mandated exercise regimens, government funded public gyms with required memberships, social ostracizing over obesity, hoarding of heart healthy food… But no, our response is more measured; we leave that to the individual and their families, we provide medical assistance and education services to help people make wise choices. Ah, I can hear you now, “But the virus is different, others’ poor choices can affect my life with this!” But that argument only holds water to a certain extent. Have we not all made choices? There have been pandemics throughout history, and we know that the answer to pandemic is isolation. But now we call on all society to turn their world upside down because we are unprepared for, or unwilling to endure that isolation? I, for my part, live by myself in a rural area. I have sufficient food and money to last months. I have an ample supply of toilet paper, purchased before the crisis, and a gun to protect it.  All choices I have made, and I could easily isolate with almost no chance of infection until this all blows over. In the security of my sanctuary, I could smugly ridicule those who have not chosen so wisely as I.  I might resentfully chide those willing to take more risk than I in their trekking weekly to the market, with their infested re-useable cloth bags, in a quest for the toilet paper and lysol that they so thoughtlessly neglected to procure before this all happened. I might post to FaceBook diatribes about other’s irresponsibility in standing within six feet of each other, when I stay six hundred feet from anyone; that they believe that some flimsy paper mask or bandana will keep them as safe as my bolted door. But no, we all need to make decisions based on today’s realities, and while others’ decisions might to a degree affect the decisions we need to make, we are ultimately most subject to the decisions we ourselves have made, and continue to make. We weigh things in the balance, and that balance varies from person to person. I won’t be self isolating, though I clearly could, but I am nevertheless trying to be sensible… or at least what I consider to be sensible. Others I’ve seen are a bit more “risk tolerant” than I, and a few seem simply oblivious. I could be critical, but some might criticize me, and others might criticize them… what is the point? It changes nothing. The liberal big government mindset is always the same, it assumes that once authority tells people what they should do, they will do it. But so much of the human condition is predicated on the fact that people often do what they should not, even when they know they should not; how much moreso when they’ve only been told that they should not, and don’t necessarily agree. This is why strong central governments always require a boot on the neck of their citizens.

With each disaster humanity faces, the same actors always appear. It begins with the doomsday prophets who never seem to underestimate a catastrophe, or the horrible consequences of failing to act with immediacy and extremity. These are the ratings driven media, the FaceBook hysterics, and the politicians unwilling to let a good crisis go to waste. No response seems excessive to them, and their mantra is “We hope we’re wrong, but better safe than sorry!” At what cost?  Then there are the frightened lambs, they hear the prophets and imagine even worse. These are the hoarders, the hiders; driven by fear, they expect the worse and torture themselves with every word they hear. There are then, at the opposite pole, the oblivious optimists, those who ignore almost everything they hear, preferring to delude themselves than to interrupt their slumber with responding to a threat. These are often young people suffering from senses of invincibility that their few years have not yet served to dispel; but there are older folk too, who mistake stupidity for courage, bravado for bravery. Finally, come the rescuers… and they often appear at the last. At least because they are less noisy, we don’t notice them until the last. These are they who calmly maintain their senses, and courageously go about the business of resolving the crisis. They are the doctors and nurses, the philanthropic businessmen, the truth talkers. These are they whom Kipling references, “If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs…”; the people you need most in any crisis, without the which, we really would be in a death spiral. The best of these are often battle tested, they have seen dark nights, but also fresh sunrises. They know that crisis is neither the time for panic, nor for unrealistic calm. There has ever been such things, plagues, famines, holocausts…  and always the fear that the world will never be the same… but morning comes, the earth moves on, essentially as it did before, generations pass, the land heals. Most see a divine Providence insuring that it does, finding ways always to forestall our doom, keeping this fragile planet buffeted as it is, whole and unbroken, as if It is Its divine intent that we continue. There may come a day when that Providence steps aside, or for the faithless, when the numbers just catch up with us. When that happens, it won’t much matter what we’re doing. Yet for me, I’d rather be found comforting others, dressing their wounds, fellowshipping with friends, hugging my family… than at Walmart with a shopping cart of toilet paper.

 
“Welcome to Lake Wobegon, where all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average”

Garrison Keillor

 
While we are perennially dismayed by the annual numbers that show how poorly American students rank in academic standings compared with other less prosperous nations, there is one category where our children continually excel, where we are seldom anything but first place… and that is self esteem. Though it is not uncommon in other cultures, the extent that we Americans consider ourselves superior is particular to the U.S., often in the absence of evidence to support that conviction. In Psychology, this is referred to as illusory superiority, or more commonly, because of the above quote, the Lake Wobegon effect; the statistically impossible situation where large majorities of a population believe themselves superior to the rest of the society. We are all familiar with the study that showed that 93% of American drivers consider themselves to have better than average driving skills, 80% think they’re in the top 30%! When polled, 90% of college professors consider themselves to be above average teachers, two thirds of them place themselves in the top 25%. And those high school students scoring so well in self esteem? Well, only 2% of them consider their leadership skills to be below average, and just 1% believe their social skills in general to be so. How fortunate we are to live in a nation so full of geniuses!

It’s not that there is no one who sees themselves more accurately, or more humbly at least. Research has shown that while people with lower than average IQ’s tend to overestimate their IQ, people with above average IQ’s tend to underestimate themselves. A study showed that humble people don’t downplay their strengths or achievements, rather they don’t consider themselves entitled to special treatment or accolades because of them. These people are rare finds, and if the actors we’ve seen in the impeachment hearings over the past few weeks are any indication, rarer yet in the realm of elected officials and bureaucracies.

How remarkable to see how the Democrats have now embraced the deep state bureaucracy, the which they once disdained. How far from the sentiments expressed by their darling, Eugene McCarthy, from decades ago “The only thing that saves us from the bureaucracy is inefficiency. An efficient bureaucracy is the greatest threat to liberty.” How has the the liberal view of bureaucracy changed, from a necessary evil, a lurking power to be carefully monitored; to now a group of selfless, brilliant, apolitical heroes who should be left unfettered to perform their skillful duties as saviors for the nation. As criticism was leveled at the Commander in Chief for having the audacity to countermand the “established policy” of the “seasoned public servants” (albeit unelected), I could only think of the iconic character Jack Nicholson played in “A Few Good Men”, Colonel Nathan Jessup. The bureaucracy is apparently now the power that keeps the machine running, that loyally guards the wall; they “don’t give a damn what you think you’re entitled to”, and “would rather you just said ‘thank-you’, and went on your way”… “You can’t handle the truth!”.

The arrogance and self satisfaction on display there are emblematic of what happens when a group of people arrive at the decision that it is their right, indeed their duty, to impose their will without consideration, and sometimes even in defiance of, the will of the people they are charged to serve. Why? Because they are convinced that they are smarter, more skilled, more experienced, less naive, more entitled. Their opinion should count for more than others, they suppose, because they are right. We almost all see ourselves as right; who would consider their opinion wrong and continue to hold it? Tyrants rarely see themselves as wrong, or ignorant or evil, they see the world as ordered correctly when it is ordered after their “superior” will. Religious tyrants don’t use force because they think their religion inferior to others, but because they believe themselves to be right, and others to be wrong… they are certain of it. And so the Pilgrims found it necessary to venture to the shores of an untamed land, to escape the tyranny of the “right”.

Fully understanding the reality of illusory superiority, our forefathers established a nation based not on the concept of “rightness”, but of rights; not on the imposition of the superior will, but on liberty, and the freedom to be wrong, and rule of the people. As appealing as a benevolent monarchy might appear, they recognized that Arthur’s Camelot was the stuff of fairy tales, and that a King George Washington’s reign would one day necessarily give way to just another King George. When almost all people consider their own opinions to be the right ones, the Constitution’s protections from the imposition of that “rightness” against those who do not hold the same convictions, become the more precious. From before the 2016 election was even decided, the process of circumventing it was begun from people who considered themselves smarter than the rest of us. Hillary’s comments about the deplorables foreshadowed the attitude that would permit the attempts to overturn an election by whatever means necessary. The Hollywood elites came out with, hopefully tongue in cheek, comments about blowing up the White House, or “actors killing Presidents”. Deep state actors began discussing “insurance policies”, and using a salacious dossier to obtain FISA warrants to spy on the administration, along with other unorthodox tactics that James Comey admitted would never have been used on an Obama or Bush administration. The elusive bogey-man of “Russian meddling” was employed in the hopes of delegitimizing a legitimate election, and legitimizing an unparalleled and uninterrupted attempt to unseat a duly elected President.

Impeachment is indeed provided for in the Constitution as a remedy for when someone elected President is found to be corrupted beyond the pale. It is, frankly, a way for the people and their representatives to say, “we made a mistake, and this cannot stand”, a way to take back a vote when the offense is so egregious that waiting for the next election is not something the people will stand for. It is so fundamentally against the principles of Democracy, that it cannot just be used as one more tactic to undo the people’s will; and that has long been the intent of many on the left who are convinced they are right. Rather, the impetus for such an action should emanate from a collective groaning of a clear majority of Americans grieved by what is a monumentally outrageous infraction seen as such by not just a few. The case should be overwhelming. In the case of removing a legitimately elected President with another election a few short months away, we the people have been, and continue to be… underwhelmed.

 

 
We all do it. We set up scenarios in our minds; ways that we see life unfolding, little plans with great expectations. In our suppositions things unwind so wonderfully. Simple manipulations result in the simple expected outcomes. Ah, but real life is far more complicated, and “The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” How frustrated the Democrats must be after these weeks and indeed years of confident plans that have gone awry. Weapons tried and true which have always worked before, that fall fruitless against this buffoon and his minions. And now the latest in the uninterrupted strategies to wrest power from what they deem the abomination in the White House seems destined to backfire like another one of Wile E. Coyote’s all too clever contraptions to catch the Roadrunner. In case you missed it, the impeachment hearings were a bit less than must see T.V. Ratings fell as soon as viewers realized that pretty much all you needed to do was read the transcript of the phone call, and you knew all there was to know. Oh, the Dems dragged out their usual cast of characters to underline the horrific offense; the sympathetic woman who had been mistreated, the decorated military guy, the career bureaucrats (I guess we refer to them as “seasoned public servants” now, as per the mainstream media)… ah, the one with the european accent, she sounds so smart! We should take her word as gospel, we should believe all they tell us. Except we don’t. We’ve been lied to too many times, and many of those lies came from these very accusers.

Three years of accusations, wasted hours, days, weeks and months… wasted dollars… have done nothing. Trump is still Trump, and he’s still our President. Trump supporters still support him, and if anything, his popularity has ticked up, even here in blue New York according to a recent poll. How do you fight an adversary that grows stronger when you attack him? Frustrating indeed! They can’t stop now, they’re all in… unfortunately their poker face is Alexander Vindman’s, and to say they have a tell would be ridiculously understated. You have to play the cards you’re dealt, but you don’t have to bet the farm on them, unless and until you’ve made the mistake of allowing the scenario in your mind to dictate your wager.

The problem is that in attempting to destroy the President, the Democrats have destroyed their own brand. They have become the critic, the naysayer, the accuser… the avenging angel in their own minds, but the annoying child in the eyes of the electorate. Anyone who has been the parent of more than one child knows the exasperating experience of dealing with a tattletale. The child is often correct in identifying a misdeed committed by their sibling, but if their motivation is anger, hatred, or jealousy in reporting it, then the parent sees that cancerous antagonism as the greater threat to the family than their brother’s infraction. Even we who have not always been huge fans of Trump recognize that Democrats are dressing revenge in a cloak called Justice, and their hatred they mask as patriotism. With their incessant accusations and attacks, they have transformed an incumbent President with a thriving economy into an unlikely underdog; and so where they sought to engender indignation, they have instead spawned sympathy; where they thought to appear as saviors, they instead have acquired the visage of raging demons. It is difficult to align oneself with hatred, and when that hatred wields power, people steer clear, or stand up for the oppressed, even the imperfect oppressed. America loves the underdog, and we hate hatred.

It is, then, uncomplicated why Trump supporters support him all the stronger no matter how much dirt Democrats dig up on him. It is unsurprising that only the main stream media choir sings along with the Democrats’ dirges of impeachment. It is hardly inconsistent that evangelicals stand strong for a man with feet of clay. If political power is the goal for Democrats, then they are probably beyond the point of no return in their unholy quest. Yet, they should probably understand by now that the clean coup they had envisioned in the scenario in their mind, will more likely be a messy and bloody battle that they may well lose. And if they do win, then we all lose. Their criticisms of the bombastic and inappropriate Trump may have garnered more support had they come by them more honestly and organically. But when we see them with laser focus looking for indiscretions to exploit, with hatred and rage lusting to destroy him, then it is difficult to let that pass. It may be that they will one day find the silver bullet. I doubt this is it. God help us if we were ever to impeach a President for anything as foggy as this. There are remedies for infractions besides “off with his head!” Let us reserve the nuclear option for something a bit more significant. It’s Trump; they may yet find the silver bullet. If they do, it will be a sad day. Not because we have had to overturn an election, but because hatred will have found a way; and having found that way it will have been established, soon to become a well travelled thoroughfare.

 

” For ’tis the sport to have the enginer
Hoist with his own petar; and ‘t shall go hard
But I will delve one yard below their mines
And blow them at the moon: O, ’tis most sweet,
When in one line two crafts directly meet.”

William Shakespeare, Hamlet

 

I’ve always wanted to understand Shakespeare. All those intelligent people applauding his clever wit and ability to turn a phrase. But I daresay that for the most part there is little written in the English language, aside from the directions for assemble yourself cabinets, that I understand less. And so while others extoll the literary genius of the Bard, I always feel a bit like the little boy in “The Emporer’s New Clothes”. Like most of the passages of Shakespeare that I do understand, my understanding of the above passage is enabled by the subsequent usage of the idiomatic phrase. So, to some extent at least, I understand that when someone is said to have been “hoisted with their own petard”, it means they have been caught in their own devices, which casts some light on Hamlet’s musing on how he had turned the tables on Claudius.

Following the news for the past couple of weeks, and seeing how all the investigation of Russian interference with our elections is yielding scandals in surprising places, not the least of which being the very people that have been driving the narrative, I was reminded of the quote about being hoisted with one’s own petard. I will admit that before researching the phrase for this post I had no idea of exactly what a “petard” was. I assumed it to be a spear, a sword or a pike that someone might by some turn of events have inflicted on themselves; but as perhaps the more learned Shakespeare fans among you are already aware, a “petard” was what the french called a small gunpowder bomb, used to blow holes in walls or gates. So when one is hoisted with their own petard, it means blown up with their own bomb!

With the news of the Uranium One deal, the fake Trump dossier deal, the Donna Brazile revelations… like Wile E. Coyote, the Democrats have found that their “collusion bomb” has landed at their own door. I suppose we can always dream, but despite the obvious corruption apparent to all but the most naive partisans, there is little chance that the chants of “Lock her up” will ever find fruition. The Clintons have always been called “Teflon”, because despite their endlessly suspicious and outright deviant behavior, nothing ever seems to stick. That being said, teflon eventually wears down and must be discarded; it is also unlikely that Hillary will ever be considered for public office again. Shakespeare’s intentional misspelling of the word “petard” by dropping the “d” is a vulgar reference to the french word for flatulence which comes from the same root. And so, Hillary may not have been blown up with her own petard, but with her own “petar”, with such a stink emanating from her that even her friends no longer want her in the room.

I am reminded of the origin of the Jewish feast of Purim; the story of Mordecai, Haman, and Esther. Haman was a noble in the court of the Persian King Ahaseurus, and Mordecai a lowly Jew in the captivity. Mordecai, because of his religious devotion would not bow down to Haman, which enraged the noble. Not content with the the destruction of Mordecai, Haman plotted to annihilate the whole of the jewish people in an ancient holocaust. Unbeknownst to Haman, and even the King himself, the King’s beloved wife Esther was herself a Jew, and the niece of Mordecai. Haman erects what is probably mistranslated as a “gallows” on which to hang Mordecai; but since hanging was not used by the Persians, this was more likely what I once thought a petard was, a long sharpened post on which to impale someone… in this case a very large post, 75 feet high. He also issues a secret decree for every Jew to be killed as well. In the end Esther exposes the plot, risking her own life to do so, Haman is hoisted on his own petard, and the Jews are rescued. The rage of the enemies of President Trump, that like a cancer has metastasized to his supporters, and all things conservative, is a bomb ready to blow… but sometimes bombs return to their creators.

As a prime example of rage clouding good judgement, I submit one of the most despicable campaign ads ever made. Supporters of Ed Gillespie in the Virginia gubernatorial race, as well as Tea Party supporters in general, are represented as a homicidal redneck in a pickup truck with a confederate flag trying to run down children of color with his truck. It was thankfully pulled after the NYC Home Depot truck incident, but likely not before the damage was done; not so much to Gillespie’s chances, but like Hillary’s ridiculous “basket of deplorables” comment, this might be an insult so offensive and without justification that it dooms the very candidate it was trying to support.

Rage is seldom a useful emotion. The lessons we learn from the political, we would do well to extend to the personal. When we are governed by rage, our anger, even if justified, is magnified beyond reason and control. We devise destruction that often results in collateral damage to those undeserving of your rage. Often the bombs you try to hurl explode at your own doorstep. And say you do drop your bomb of rage, you have your vengeance, you strike your target and fly away; how have you yourself been changed by the fruit of your rage? How have those around you, your friends and your enemies, been changed? We would do well to consider the words of Oppenheimer as he considered how the development of the atomic bomb he helped create would change the world; he quoted from the Bhagavad Gita:

 

“I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.”

 

Is that who we want to be?

 

 

“I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, religion,
in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend.”

 

Thomas Jefferson

 

 

 

It has long been held that neither religion nor politics should be discussed in polite conversation. This being the internet, however, let us not delude ourselves into thinking that we are engaging in polite conversation! Given that, I take the liberty to discuss elements of both here, but just the same, I will try to keep the conversation as polite as I can.

Christians will be familiar with the enigmatic vision of the Apocalypse that John experienced while in solitude on the island of Patmos. It is from this cryptic book of “Revelations” that we derive so much of the fear and the hope that the idea of the end of the world conjures. The Anti-Christ, the mark of the Beast, the Resurrection, the Great Tribulation, the final judgements, the Millenial rule… ample fodder for both dreams and nightmares, an occasional movie, or best selling book for writers both weak on eschatology and literary skills… ok, that wasn’t polite! John describes a heavenly battle where Michael and his angels fight against “The Great Dragon” and his angels, and cast them out of their place in heaven down to the earth below. A loud voice is heard saying “The accuser of our brethren is cast down!”. Elsewhere in scripture The Dragon (Satan) is referred to as a thief, a liar, a murderer, all wicked attributes, but here at the end of all things his nature is described as an accuser; an oddly moderate description for the Prince of Darkness. If there is an end such as this, these puzzling descriptions of the Apocalypse will no doubt hold special meaning for those who witness these events, but as with so many writings, there are meanings beneath the surface that make John’s vision pertinent to every generation. Here, humanity’s enemy is termed “The Accuser of the Brethren”, and the greek word used is kategoreo, the same root from which we derive our english word “category”. Kategoreo implies a legal accusation intended to categorize someone as an offender, not worthy of exoneration or association. And so the great enemy of humanity could be rightly called “The Catgorizer of the brethren”, because in categorizing us as offenders of one sort or another he divides us from each other, and eventually from God himself, because as offenders we are in a different category than God, unworthy of his fellowship. Interestingly the name of the angel who casts out the Accuser is “Michael”, the meaning of which is a question: “Who is like God?”. Who is like God? …no one. If God kept to His own category, He would stand alone.

Now that I’ve lost all but some of my most devoted Christian readers by delving too deeply into religion, I will likely lose the rest of you as I make the turn to politics! It is the way of God, or “The Universe” if you prefer a less personal Deity, to create endless diversity, and then to draw that diversity into union without the loss of that diversity. It is the way of death and darkness to accentuate differences as barriers, to categorize and to separate along party lines, religious beliefs, racial divides, and more. “They are not like us, they are a different category of people…” from there it’s a short jump to seeing those other categories as inferior, or even sub-human. The greatest atrocities of history have come with the dividing of humanity into categories deemed inferior or evil, less than human and inconvenient. Division is of course cancerous, and seldom content with just separating “us” from “them”, it will continue to then divide “us” again, into sub-categories of ever finer distinctions… ultimately leaving each one alone in a self constructed box, because no one is like us.

Our country was founded as a nation where distinctions would be embraced, while unity treasured. E Pluribus Unum. That is why it is so sad to see football players expressing their grievances by not standing for the anthem and the flag, which are symbols of our intent and desire. Sad again when one election causes such outrage that people sever relationships, speak openly of secession and even assassination; restaurant owners, rap singers, and entertainers send their patrons packing if they don’t share the same politics… and those who exhibit such vitriol are lauded for their vulgarity. Hatred has become cast as more of a virtue than love or forbearance, as we literally curse each other for our differences. We feel free to exaggerate, assume the worst, cast aspersions and even lie to advance the righteousness of our hatred, so irreproachable is our hate we justify even violence in its pursuit, and the dividers become our heroes. We expand our hatred of our leaders to hatred of our fellow citizens, using words like “libtards” or “Trumptards” at once insulting those who disagree with us, and the disabled among us as well, …and we consider that clever. We create divisions through the use of labels and categories of humanity, that we view as inevitably separated. What was once denounced as stereotyping is now made more palatable by using modifiers such as “systemic”, “cultural” and “typical”, and by this we excuse our slandering of entire groups of people by pointing to the worst examples of their group. This is what Hillary did when she suggested that half of Trump’s supporters were in a basket (a category) of deplorables. Likewise it is unhelpful for the President to refer to citizens as “sons of bitches” despite how misdirected their protest might be. We are so quick to categorize! Insult is a poor substitute for reasoned debate, but in our society we now appreciate it more. Don McCormick and Michael Kahn wrote that critical thinking can better be taught if we use the metaphor of a barn raising, instead of that of a boxing match. A boxing match may be more entertaining, but if you are trying to build something, punching each other is seldom productive. If we achieve our political goals only by beating dissenters into submission, then we succeed only by taking advantage of their weakness, and we lose their needed strength in the dust of the battlefield; civil wars diminish even the victors.

George Washington’s warning against the influence of political parties is well known. There is little doubt that it was informed by these words from one of his favorite authors, Joseph Addison:

“There cannot a greater judgement befall a country than a dreadful spirit of division as rends a government into two distinct people, and makes them greater strangers, and more averse to one another, than if they were actually two different nations. 

The effects of such a division are pernicious to the last degree, not only with regard to those advantages they give the common enemy, but to those private evils which they produce in the heart of almost every particular person.
This influence is very fatal both to men’s morals and their understandings; it sinks the virtue of a nation, and not only so, but destroys even common sense. A furious party spirit, when it rages in full violence, exerts itself in civil war and bloodshed; when it is under its greatest restraints, naturally breaks out in falsehood, detraction, calumny, and a partial administration of justice.
In a word, it fills a nation with spleen and rancor, and extinguishes all the seeds of good nature, compassion and humanity.”

 

 

Sound familiar?

“But those with an evil heart seem to have a talent
for destroying anything beautiful which is about to bloom.”

Cynthia Rylant

 

So discouraged and disappointed have I been with the negative, hateful, and juvenile interactions of people in the sphere of politics, entertainment, and even some from my own personal sphere, that I have set aside my writings for quite some time now. Instead I have tended to my other responsibilities, content to become a spectator, or to avert my gaze when the discord became too overbearing. When the news became painful to watch, I’d turn the channel, try to escape the distressing hatred, flee from the outraged invective, close my ears to the bludgeoning arguments. I looked to social media for some uplift, but interspersed with the usual fare of pictures of pets, kids, and dinner, there it was. Liberally scattered across the ever present “poor me”, “lucky me”, and just plain “me” posts, was the same hate-filled diatribes, the same foul mouthed angry insults, and the same vile cartoons and memes which exemplified the dark tantrums I was trying to escape. I looked to the comedy shows for a moment of laughter, but no matter how well crafted the joke, how polished the delivery, there’s nothing funny about hatred. And then I realized it was September… FOOTBALL! Sports, meaningless conflict removed from the real conflict, a place liberals and conservatives could stand side by side to cheer for their team without concern for their differences in the real world. Football, my refuge from so many of life’s disappointments, strifes and stressors… Football, I can always count on you! ….”No,” says Football, “You can’t.”

Worlds are colliding. Athletes using athletics to get political; politicians using politics to control athletics. Entertainers becoming politicians or political pundits, and politicos going all Hollywood and prime time to sell us their agenda. Worlds are colliding. And when worlds collide no place is safe. Those who wanted no part of one world now must endure that world’s impact. Those who follow politics now must talk football; those who love football now must think politics… those who enjoy both, but partitioned, now must consume them both together. And while blurring lines is a bipartisan malady, it is, at least at this point in history, far and away more a progressive cancer. “Open borders” has become more than just a geographical war cry, as progressives seek to inject politics into journalism, entertainment, baking cakes, and now sports. Remember when the closest liberals got to being sports fans was watching the olympics every four years? Not anymore! ESPN led the way, football, basketball, baseball… watch out NASCAR! And as with all things progressive, the institution takes a backseat to the agenda. Everything becomes an avenue for the forwarding of the progressive agenda, and where can you go to escape when worlds collide? As the progressive vision seeks to leave no state of refuge for the conservative minded, it also suffers no institution to ignore its intrusions.

Years ago, a relative we had not seen for years travelled across the country for business, and took advantage of the situation to visit with us. All the family was anxious to catch up with her as to how the years had passed for all of us in our time apart. She was driven by something else though, to convince us to sell Amway products. Now I’m sure Amway is a fine company, but their pyramid marketing structure pushed people to use every opportunity to hard sell the product and the plan. A few days later she left, and we knew far more than we had about Amway, but little more than we did before about her… except that she really, really liked Amway. Progressives are often the Amway salesmen of the political world, infusing everything with their agenda is their mission. If they were not generally so antagonistic to religion they would probably be the Jehovah’s Witnesses of politics, so fond they are of proselytizing, so enamored of their own world view, so dismissive of anyone else’s… knocking on every door… every door.

I like garlic. I like it, but I don’t put it in my pancakes, or on my fruit salad, or in my shoes for that matter. I like politics, but some things are better without that seasoning as well. I never had any illusion that Hollywood, the NFL, or the NBA were bastions of conservative thought… and I didn’t care, as I assume they didn’t care about my political persuasion so long as I bought tickets. It was a great relationship. I’m not one for organized boycotts, as I see them as coercive, but now you’ve put the whole thing in my face and I have to decide if I am willing to appear as though I support your views by supporting you. Frankly, you’ve taken the fun out of it all by adding the strife and contention. I’m not part of a boycott, but neither am I watching. Simply, there’s no enjoyment for me there, and that’s really why I watch. There is nothing so uncomfortable for me than to be in a position where I recognize I am hated, and that the values I hold sacred are despised. Why would I want to experience that under the guise of entertainment? Like the boorish family member that sees holiday gatherings as opportunities to address grievances, we destroy unifying events by insisting on infusing our divisions at every turn. There are 365 days in a year, Thanksgiving is not the day to revisit our family strife, nor is game day in the NFL, or during the monologue of a comedy show, unless you’re trying to become the Limbaugh of the left, but that’s a different kind of show. There is a time for every purpose and a way forward, but appropriating an event or a time slot, or a holiday gathering for your own agenda fixes nothing. In a reversal of King Midas’s golden touch, progressives possess what is sometimes referred to as the the King Sadim (Midas spelled backwards) touch, where everything they touch turns to ashes. Colliding worlds fixes nothing. Airing your grievances and venting your rage in places we could find common ground if only superficially, doesn’t further your cause anymore than ruining Thanksgiving can bring peace to your family. You’ve ruined television. You’ve ruined Hollywood. You’ve ruined the Emmys. You’ve ruined comedy. You’ve ruined football now. …You’ve ruined everything.