The Best of Intentions

July 23, 2021: Today marks the beginning of the International Olympics in Tokyo.  The Olympics were originally scheduled for 2019 but were delayed for a full year due to the global Covid pandemic that, to this day, has not been brought under control and has morphed into ever more virulent strains that seem to be finding ways of penetrating the defenses of both the human body and the best that medical science can throw up as barriers.

 As the opening ceremonies get under way, it is painfully obvious that these will not be the “usual” or “normal” games for the 32^nd Olympiad.  Hundreds of protectively masked athletes enter an almost completely empty stadium, capable of seating over 60,000 spectators.  One must admit that the image projected is of a stage show where actors try their best to play their parts hoping that, at the end of the data stream that is the internet or the broadcast channel, there is an appreciative audience and those who will be inspired for their years of training, sacrifice and efforts. In this regard, it is a statement that in all things of such importance, “the show must go on”.  Also, it is a parody of the real life “theater” that we are all part of where we must, through our best efforts and best intentions, do all that we can to help our global “show” go on.

 

A Clear and Present Danger

As one whose ancestors entered the then British colony of Virginia in 1670 and who fought against Cornwallis at the Battle of the Cowpens (January 17, 1781), I am hypersensitive to displays of corrosive power based on lies, rumors and innuendo aimed at the democratic ideals of the seminal documents of our land and the proven will of the majority of the American populace. The current example of that corrosive power is now found in the “tyranny of the masses” under the Trump banner and the outlandish conspiracies promulgated by the likes of QAnon, The Proud Boys and The Oath Keepers.

In recent Boston Globe Opinions by Evan Allen and Zoe Greenberg (January 11, 2021) “Trump’s presidency is ending, but his increasingly violent movement remains” and by Renée Graham (February 11, 2021) “’Stop the Steal’ fueled white fears about their country being stolen”, I had thgree conclusions: First: on January 20^th, 2021, many of the Trump supporters referred to in the articles chose to secede from the United States of America mentally and emotionally. Second: while weaponized by Donald Trump throughout his corrosive presidency, divisive political thought over the last 400 years between various segments of our population has been laying the foundation for our current state of affairs.  Third: “a nation divided against itself cannot stand…”as Lincoln so eloquently stated during another time in our history so fraught with division and danger. 

This situation poses a clear and present danger to the domestic tranquility of our populace because it will continue to chafe against the bonds that unite us until the costs of our warring posture is greater than the cost of believing in our mutual worthiness and wellbeing

Perhaps it is just another impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic that has left so much of our population bored and feeling unfulfilled due to the totally negligent handling of the pandemic by the Trump administration that threw so many out of work and shuttered so many businesses. Maybe it was the fact that Mexico never did pay for the border wall.  Maybe it was the fact that so many farmers and fishermen and business owners ended up on the federal dole due to Trump’s economic policies. Maybe it was the gradual realization that rather than “Making American Great Again”, much of the goodness, beauty, stability, and civility of America had eroded during the past four years which inevitably left Americans poorer, more divided, more stressed and less hopeful than at any time in the past quarter century.  And, maybe it was the suspicion that our billionaire President really had been more interested in his brand name than in the plight of the common men and women of our country. Whatever it was, I believe it created a misplaced anger that should rightfully be directed to Donald J Trump, the members of his family, his aristocratic administration and a Republican controlled Senate that ignored the signs and then created fantasy stories of cause and effect to fulfill QAnon, Proud Boys,  Oath Keeper and other anti-government conspiracy theories.. 

After the events at the Capitol on January 6^th, it is time for Trump supporters to take a long look in the mirror where, if they are honest with themselves, where their righteous anger belongs and how close to the support of sedition they have come. 

Every four years, we go to the national polls to elect our President and the rules for such election are outlined in the Constitution for the United States and the individual states. If most of the electors from the states cast ballots on behalf of the popular votes of the states and those votes are certified by the states, then, the recipient with the most electoral votes becomes the President. We may not all like the result but, from that day on, our attention must be focused on doing what we can to fulfill our part of “the American Dream” under the new administration.  The National Election of November 2020 was not a “stolen election”! The votes, the states, the courts and the Congress confirmed it.

Unfortunately, it will not be until the US Presidency and the Congress achieve a rapprochement that we will begin to reduce the inherent danger to our democratic form of government.  This is a time when our politicians must put aside Party and focus on the good for all of the country or the clear and present danger will prove to be the prelude to wider and more disastrous conflict.