Skip to main content

No matter who you are, be safe and careful out there

I’ll return to blogging my thoughts in more detail soon – things like how we might actually “drain the swamp” and clever analogies between seemingly divergent groups – but tonight I’m thinking about Hallelujah. Kate McKinnon’s performance was heartfelt and moved me (it is second only to my brother’s version), and as I listened to the spiritual memorial to both a great songwriter and a political movement, it struck me yet again how many arbitrary barriers we have raised between all of us. We all want love and kindness but find ourselves belittled and belittling in return.

This isn’t to make a rhetorical point, or even to hope it will stop.  I know it will not, at least not easily, and certainly never completely.  It’s just a moment of oneness completely juxtaposed with a moment of eerie separation.

So, I’m just hoping we all feel a little closer instead of farther away, and I wish all well:
  • To the first responders called out for protests, come home safely
  • To the protesters, raise your voices in anger and sorrow, but you, too, be careful and come home safely
  • To the Central High School girl on the bus who had to listen to racism, those on the bus do not represent anyone but themselves, and hopefully that was just machismo
  • To the boy whose mother went nuts because of the school vote for Trump, that was unacceptable, and you are loved
  • To the American girl of Mexican heritage, in Beaverton, Oregon, you will not “be gone” because of the election – you are an important part of the United States, and we love you
  • To the man beaten outside his car for even possibly voting for Trump, that was horrible and unacceptable, and no one deserves such treatment

To all the others struggling to make it through this tough time, remember that the world is much nicer than it is mean. As President Bill Clinton said at his inaugural, “There is nothing wrong with American that cannot be cured by what is right with America.”  It’s still true.


No matter your persuasion, just be careful out there, come home safe, and we’ll keep moving forward together. (Oh, and enjoy the super moon!)

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Election 2016: Why Hillary’s conflated scandals are unconvincing #ImWithHer

This is part of a series of posts on Election 2016 . To be honest, I’ve stopped listening to most of the scandals about Hillary. That’s not because I think she is perfect or would never do something scandalous, but because the noise of obvious crap, generated over 3 decades, has made me jaded about spending any time investigating stories by people who think Killary is a fascist Communist. To be clear, I think she is an imperfect human. We don’t subject most politicians to the kind of scrutiny that Hillary has faced – how much do we know about George and Laura’s relationship, or his struggles with addiction, for instance?  But she isn’t perfect.  I think she is a bit paranoid and has a tendency to “circle the wagons” at the slightest sign of problems, and I think she is a fierce competitor that swings first and asks questions later. Like all successful politicians, she is willing to spin the truth to meet her needs, and she comes across, in crowd settings, as a bit fak...

How to read the Bill of Rights

The legal rights in the Bill of Rights didn't exist until the 20th century Social media has been abuzz with the Bill of Rights, and in particular the 1st Amendment, recently. Many posts, explicitly or implicitly, trace the Bill of Rights to the Founders.  That's wrong and leads to a poor understanding. A proper reading of the Constitution and the law reveals that, while the text was written then, these rights did not apply even on paper to the states until 1868, in fact until the middle of the 20th century, or even into the 21st century for the 2nd Amendment. “It is a Constitution we are expounding.” The Constitution sets out principles and goals, structures and limitations, and we must never forget that . It is law -- the highest law of the land , in fact -- but it is not code , which is detailed and often attempts to be exhaustively complete and explicit. The Constitution was written to provide a framework of balances by a group of  flawed aristocrats trying to rebel from an...

Finding facts and data about COVID-19

It's easy to find thoughts on COVID-19, but hard to parse through it all.  This series is my attempt to give my view of the state of knowledge about COVID-19, as of late July and early August  through late 2020. Here are the entries (these will become links as I post the others): Finding facts and data about COVID-19 (this one) Why COVID-19 is much worse than the seasonal flu Testing, contact tracing, and quarantining The path to vaccines To wear a mask or not Deaths and long-term impacts Economic and secondary impacts Safely co-existing Bots and divisiveness Leadership You need to find reputable sources for data.  People are rightly skeptical of what they see online.  In fact, the World Health Organization has declared that, beyond the pandemic, there is an Infodemic, which is “a surge of information about COVID-19 that has made it hard for people to know which news and guidance about the virus is accurate.” If you are actually interested in how to find the best new...