Today's MOZEN: Far from Perfect

When looking for political parties and candidates to support, most people make the same mistake; they look for perfection.

Well, later for dat'!

Perhaps, a better place to look for it might be on a white, sandy beach with turquoise water, hot sun, crystal clear blue skies, and an ice cold beer.

But, not in politics.

By its very nature, politics tends to be a dirty game with the participants doing virtually everything that they can to stay in power.

So, what does one do to fulfill their duties as an American and still vote their conscience?

Well, one way is to stop expecting perfection from our candidates and, instead, look to the ones with the values that are most closely aligned to our vision of what we expect our Country to be.

For me, this has become a VERY easy choice. And, that choice was made as much in opposition of one party as it was in approval of the other. And, here it is:

The Republican Party, for nearly my entire voting tenure of 47 years, has been the party of mendacity, greed, bigotry, and exclusion. And, it's not that you can't find fault with the Democrats but rather that the GOP has just about cornered the market on negative policies and abhorrent people.

Let's review a partial list of those Republicans currently making the news for, shall we be kind and say, less than stellar behavior:

• Ted Cruz
• Marjorie Taylor Greene
• Rand Paul
• Josh Hawley
• Mitch McConnel
• Ron Johnson
• Lauren Boebert
• Stephen Miller
• Madison Cawthorn
• Mark Meadows
• Marco Rubio
• Kevin McCarthy
• Matt Schlapp
• Just about every speaker at CPAC

It is also relatively easy to do a web search and find a plethora of local Republican politicians who have been convicted of crimes ranging from embezzlement* to child pornography/abuse.**

So much for their Strength of Character.

Now, let's move on to the GOP policies and the effect they have on Americans.

As recently as last night (2/26/2021), The House of Representatives voted in favor of the Biden Administration's $1.9 trillion Pandemic Relief Bill, virtually along party lines. In other words, ALL of the Democrats but 2 voted for the bill, while ALL of the Republicans voted against it - even AFTER the Democrats compromised by removing a dastardly plan to raise the minimum wage to $15/hour. Furthermore, at least 13 of the gutless wonders skipped the vote entirely to attend the farce that is known as CPAC.

The Republicans claim that they voted against the bill because it was bloated and partisan to the Democrats. Yet, despite the fact that millions of Americans are suffering economic woes due to the Pandemic the GOP felt it was not in the best interest of the American people. However, it wasn't too long ago that they voted for tax breaks for corporations and the most wealthy among us.

So, let's add hypocrisy to their list of attributes. They might as well use this as their slogan: Feed the rich. Screw the poor.

This is evidenced by the fact the great majority of our most disadvantage States are under Republican control. 9 out of 10 of our poorest are in the hands of the GOP***. This is not by accident, but by design! Further evidence of this, and their lust to keep power at any cost, can be seen by their use of controlling the vote by passing voter suppression laws and gerrymandering. This is especially true in minority communities.****

Let's look at their immigration policy. Like most of their other programs, it is based on Fear and Loathing. They charge that they didn't invent the deportation of undocumented immigrants and that is true. In an effort to secure our Southern border, Democratic administrations, including that of Barack Obama, instituted policies that included mass deportations. However, the GOP, under then President Donald J. Trump and his chief architect of the Zero Tolerance program, Stephen Miller, raised cruelty to an art form, seeming to actually delight in the separation of families at the border as an incentive for them not to come. Thousands of screaming, crying children were separated from their parents in a heartless effort to stem the tide of immigration.+

Republicans claim that their core principal is Less Government, i.e. keep the government out of our private lives. Yet, they continually pass legislation that attempts to limit a woman's right to choose what is best for her own body by restricting access to safe and legal abortions.++

The GOP economic platform has always been "Trickle Down", i.e. reward wealthy companies and they will create jobs and, thereby, a thriving economy. There is only one problem: it has been proven over and over again that it simply does not work.+++ Still, year after year the Republicans manage to give tax breaks to the rich while weakening unions and other organizations created to level the playing field between rich and poor.

Look, I could keep adding to the list with things like their support of the Death Penalty and other social issues that unfairly target minority communities. ALL of them seem to based on one simple principal:

FEAR and LOATHING.

Perfection is one thing, a reasonable attempt at fair governance is entirely another - one that the GOP can't seem to get right. Perhaps, they simply don't want to. If they truly did they wouldn't be worshipping a statue of their very own Golden Calf. ++++

Thankfully, this is STILL a Country that promotes freedom of choice - at least for most of us. But, we can never be TRULY free until that applies to ALL of us. And, I just don't see that EVER happening under a Republican administration. They simply don't get it and I fear that they never will. . .  

* https://rantt.com/gop-admins-had-38-times-more-criminal-convictions-than-democrats-1961-2016

** https://www.pravdori.com/en/story/1/republicans-convicted-of-child-sexual-abuse

*** https://www.politifact.com/9-10-poorest-states-republican/

****https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jan/30/republicans-restrict-voting-access-bills

+ https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2018/05/28/the-trump-administrations-immigration-policies-are-impossibly-cruel-thats-the-whole-point/

++ https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/12/anti-abortion-activists-womens-rights

+++ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tax-cuts-rich-50-years-no-trickle-down/

++++ https://www.marketwatch.com/story/this-cpac-golden-calf-trump-statue-is-spurring-backlash-of-biblical-proportions-11614360507

WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT: The Party of Fear and Loathing.

Since the very beginning of exercising my right to vote nearly 50 years ago, I have been a registered Independent. I chose this course because I didn't want to pledge allegiance to a single political party. My preference is to vote for the person and their agenda rather than strictly by policies chosen for them by their respective parties.

Now, with that said, anyone who follows this blog knows that my mindset skews towards the liberal. And, since the Democratic party, by and large, embraces a more liberal agenda than their Republican counterparts (an understatement?), I tend to support them almost exclusively, but not entirely. Yes, there have been times when I voted for the Republican simply because I felt that they were the best person for the job.

However, that was then and this is now.

With the current lineup of fools, liars, sycophants, degenerates, con artists, grifters, and miscreants as their leaders, the GOP has absolutely nothing of any value to offer to me or any other American. The partial list, in no particular order, includes:

Jim Jordan

Marco Rubio

Ted Cruz

Ron Johnson

Matt Gaetz

Damon Nunez

Lauren Boebert

Marjorie Taylor Greene

Lindsey Graham

Kevin McCarthy

Mitch McConnell

John Kennedy

Ron DeSantis

Gregg Abbott

and, of course, the greatest grifter of them all, Donald J. Trump.

From the insanity of the theory that Jewish lasers in space are creating California wildfires, to the current debacle in Texas, Republicans have fucked up just about everything that they have put their stamp on. Even their ultimate hero, President Ronald Reagan, arguably did more to fuck up the middle class than any president before or since (with the possible exception of Mr. Trump).

Look, all politicians lie when they feel that they need to. They even have a nice word for it: political expedience. They ALL say things that they feel they need to get elected. However, the Republicans have raised it to a fine art. They will not only lie, but cheat and steal to stay in power.

Gerrymandering is a method of redrawing voting districts to insure that your base is now in the right place at the right time to get you elected. Again, the Republicans have become masters at this tactic.* Reagan was called a hero by his fellow Republicans for destroying the middle class by taxing Social Security, eliminating the Fairness Doctrine, lowering the taxes paid by the most wealthy, and diminishing the strength of unions by busting the Air Traffic Controllers strike.**

Virtually every State that struggles with its economy, education, and opportunities is under GOP control, i.e. a GOP governor and legislature.***

And, now, we have the mess that is Texas.

Yes, it was caused by a natural weather event but it was exacerbated by the incredibly inept Texan leadership. And, let's guess who runs Texas - you got it - the GOP. And, if their ineptitude wasn't enough, they pulled a classic GOP tactic, i.e. blame someone/something else. In this case, that means blaming the New Green Deal - even though it's only a proposal and not a law, and renewable energy sources - even though they make up only a fraction of the energy produced for Texas!!!

As if that weren't enough to make them a pariah, Senator Ted Cruz was caught, suitcase in hand, trying to escape the dire situation he found his constituents in. THEN, he had the audacity to try to explain it away by blaming his wife and daughters.

Of course, there is Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene whose most outlandish of her many questionable theories is that Jewish run satellites are deliberately aiming lasers at California and causing their devastating wildfires. Really.

Finally, the Republican Governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, is requiring all flags over governmental buildings be lowered to half staff to honor the racist, misogynistic, blowhard Rush Limbaugh - a man who managed to piss off the entire Country except his base of - you guessed it - hardcore Republicans.

These may be the most outrageous examples of their depravity but there always seems to be more, including the fact that 43 Republican Senators could see no wrong-doing in President Trump's OBVIOUS incitement of his supporters to attack the Capitol on January 6th.

By comparison, a woman who is both feared and loathed by Republicans, Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC), and in contrast to their own senator, i.e. Cruz, had the audacity to raise $MILLIONS to help those suffering in Texas (she represents NY, by the way) and deliver it directly along with a message of hope.

THIS is leadership!!!

WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT, for the life of me, I'll never understand how the GOP got, and maintains, the support of working people. It has to be one of the great marketing schemes of all time. All they sell, all they have ever sold, is Fear and Loathing.

Well, I'm not buying it - never did and never will.

*https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/19/us/politics/republicans-gerrymander-trump-election.html

** htmlhttps://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy/column-how-reaganomics-deregulation-and-bailouts-led-to-the-rise-of-trump

***https://www.politifact.com/9-10-poorest-states-republican/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/19/us/politics/republicans-gerrymander-trump-election.

Today's MOZEN: Steps

 

In an effort to maintain some decent aerobic fitness, especially during a harsh winter like this one when walking outside becomes more difficult, instead of taking the elevator, I climb the 5 flights of stairs to my duties at the CBS Broadcast Center on W57th St. in Manhattan. If you are at all familiar with that building then you know how massive it is - so, the stairways are equally impressive, i.e. long and steep.

And, for some reason, the set of stairs from the ground level to the first floor seem to go on for ever. In fact, when I look at them from bottom to top, they can be downright intimidating, especially considering it's just the first flight of 5!!

So, I don't look at it that way.

Instead of facing the journey in total, I focus on one step at a time - literally. From the beginning, I keep my eyes and concentration on ascending just one before I precede to the next, then the next, and so on and so forth, never looking up until I reach my final destination. It's as if each step is its own, separate journey.

At the end, I may be huffing and puffing but I have accomplished my mission - and, I feel damned good about it, too.

I try to use this as a metaphor for how to approach life.

Sometimes, it all seems so big. Things come at us with an ever increasing pace so that we can become overwhelmed. We are concerned about our jobs, our relationships, health, and overall well-being, etc. If we try to deal with them collectively, we often get bogged down to the point where nothing actually gets done. Now, if can take on our challenges one at a time, it is much more feasible to accomplish our chosen goal.

The concept of one step at a time is incorporated by others, such as Alcoholics Anonymous (i.e. The Twelve Step Program), to help people deal with issues that previously overwhelmed them, causing great harm to themselves and others. However, this philosophy shouldn't be used only in times of great stress but, rather, in everyday life, for the simplest tasks - one foot before the other, one step at a time, each second separate from the rest.

And, before you know it, you're at your destination.

Today's MOZEN: Without Honor

 

We often think of cowardice in physical terms, i.e. running away from a fight. However, the term may be applied under a number of circumstances. For example, there is the moral kind. The kind that looks for excuses instead of accepting accountability and responsibility.

What we witnessed from the Republican party during the opening of former President Donald J. Trump's historic 2nd Impeachment trial is the perfect example.

Instead of dealing with the issue, i.e. that Mr. Trump's incendiary rhetoric was directly responsible for the January 6th assault on The Capitol, they choose to defend the former President by bloviating on the constitutionality of the whole procedure, i.e. he may indeed be guilty but we can let him off on a technicality.

In other words, they punted.

Their cowardice was on full display. Instead of owning up to the seditious behavior of the man they supported, through all of the lies, all of the bullying, they looked for an excuse to not deal with the reality of his guilt. They found it in Parliamentary Procedure: it's too late to Impeach a President who is not longer President.

The Republicans argued that the entire affair was politically motivated by an opposition whose only agenda was to dump Trump. In the meantime, they ignored the overwhelming amount of evidence presented, often in Mr. Trump's own words, that the former President's fiery rhetoric served as the inspiration for the whole affair.

With rare exception (I believe that 5 Republicans voted in favor of continuing the prosecution), rather that face the reality that Mr. Trump was indeed culpable, they found an excuse instead. 

I'd say shame on them, all of them. But, you can't shame people who have no honor.

YOU CAN'T MAKE THIS SHIT UP: Today's GOP

 

As is my modus operandi, when confronted by complex scenarios and topics, I like to reduce them to their most simple terms. So, here's the latest:

All you need to know about the current state of the Republican party is that they have chosen to censure Congresswoman Liz Chaney, a woman who had the guts to do the right thing, heed the evidence, despite knowing it would be unpopular with the party, and voted to have Donald J. Trump impeached while at the same time have rallied behind Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a gun-toting, QAnon believing, Trump supporting sycophant who has theorized that California wildfires are caused by space lasers operated by a cabal of Jewish businessmen.

Seriously?!

So, just to be sure, the GOP admonished a woman of character and lauded a fucking mental defective. Well, my friends, if you continue to support them, you will get what you pay for - just like the last time and the time before that. The Republicans have sucked their heads up their asses yet again. And, if you don't see that, can I sell you a bridge? A great bridge. The greatest bridge of all time. Cheap.

That is all. . .  

WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT: A Symbol of Disgrace

 

The Stars and Bars - The CSA Battle Flag

Whenever I hear the term, SLAVERY, I am not only angry, but incredulous as well. However, I should really juxtapose those two descriptions. You see, I am angry because I simply can't believe that there are many today who still believe that there was an adequate rationale to explain why their ancestors fought and died to defend it. This was (and, IS on a regular basis) evidenced by the extraordinary amount of appearances by the symbol of that lost cause; The Stars and Bars, i.e. The Confederate Battle Flag.

Of course, the flag is flown highest and proudest by Southerners, but also by many others who do so in support of the same, damaged mindset. And, it was on FULL display at the latest assault on the rule of law and DECENCY, i.e. The Attack on The Capitol, January 6, 2021.

Confederate Flag inside the Capitol/AP Images

All of them will rationalize their support of this banner by trying to say that it is more than just a racist symbol but of one of defiance against a repressive government, then AND now.

My response is always the same: BULLSHIT!

In addition to its racist roots (that in and of itself should be enough to disqualify it from public display), it is also an emblem of sedition and treason. It literally cost of the lives of over 600,000 Americans during the Civil War and countless others since.

And, for WHAT??

For the right to OWN another human being?

REALLY?

Think about that - owning another human being!

Again, defenders of that symbol will argue that the great majority of Southern, i.e. Confederate, soldiers were NOT slave holders. Well, that to me is yet ANOTHER reason to reject that flag and EVERYTHING it represents. Why would anyone give their life to reward a landed aristocracy that would treat you only slightly better than the people they actually owned? And, I believe there within lies the key: as long as poor, uneducated white people had a group that was even poorer and less educated than they were (are) they were willing to fight to keep the status quo.

Unfortunately, not enough has changed in the 156 years since the end of the Civil War. Systemic racism haunts our legal, judicial, financial, and educational institutions. African-Americans still die at the hands of the police in disproportionate numbers. And, they still lag behind in virtually every other category that reflects success and wealth.

Confederate Flag Rally NC

WHY?

Because thousands, no hundreds of thousands of misguided fools still admire and follow a symbol that represents everything that is WRONG with this Country.

And, if you don't see that, you are not part of the solution, you ARE the problem. Saying it is a "part of our history" may be true, but it is not sufficient to resurrect it as a current meme. Put it work it belongs - in a museum 

 

Today's MOSTLY TRUE SHORT STORY: Times Change

 

When we so-called baby boomers were kids we would listen with great amusement as our parents regaled us with stories of how much tougher their upbringing was than ours. You know, the they walked 13 miles to school with snow up to their waists kind of stuff. Of course, we always felt that they made most of it up just to make their stories more dramatic.

However, because of the incredibly rapid rate at which the world has changed, some of what they were preaching just might have been at least partially true. For example, take the walking in the snow thing: the world has been steadily warming over the last century (Global Warming IS real). This means that our parents DID actually have to deal with more snow storms than we did. And, we seem to be getting less snow every year. So, there was some veracity in their recollection.

And, now, I find myself in very much the same situation as my parents, i.e. explaining to young people how different, and in many ways, how my youthful experiences were both simpler but more difficult.

Here's an example.

When I was growing up in the middle and late 1960's, my hometown, Fort Lee, NJ, was experiencing a building boom. My family, like so many others, were moving out of the 5 boroughs of NY City to the more gentle confines of the suburbs, like Fort Lee. So, to accommodate the influx of new families there was an enormous amount of home construction going on.

Of course, unguarded building sites are an irresistible attraction to pre-teens and teens. And, we were no exception.

There was one such construction site located just across the street and down the block from our home. Well, one afternoon, a group of my friends and I were exploring the skeleton frame of the new house when someone noticed a sheen on a puddle of water that was created after a heavy rainstorm the day before. The water also had a powerful odor of gasoline to it. Putting 2 + 2 together, we figured that the sheen was being caused by some fuel that must have been dumped into the puddle. We figured that if we threw a lit match into the puddle, the water would literally burn. And, that's exactly what happened. Someone struck a match and when it hit the gasoline infused water it erupted in flames. COOL we all blurted out - the water was indeed burning!

After a few minutes of being mesmerized by the flames, we got bored. So, a bunch of the gang decided to start tossing other things into the blaze just to watch them burn. One of my friends decided to take it one step further and light something WITH the fire but not toss it into the inferno. So, he found a cardboard box and lit the edge of one of the flaps. He then pulled it out of the fire and decided to swing it as fast as he could over his head. We were all amazed when the faster he spun the box the more the flames formed a continuous loop, like a flaming lasso.

Well, after a few minutes the flap that my friend was using to hold and swing the flaming box by broke off, sending it flying - eventually landing squarely on my head!!!

It was not a thick cardboard box so the flames just lasted a few more seconds while still affixed to my head and face. Fortunately, it did not burn me badly but it was just long enough to singe my hair, blacken my face, and burn off my eyebrows!!

Still, I was horrified!!

As I mentioned, my house was just about a block away and I made a beeline for it, running as fast as a could, screaming all the way. My older sister still remembers the sound of my cowboy boots (I was obsessed with cowboys at the time) banging on the pavement while I was yelling WOOOOO the entire way home.

Of course, my mother was home at the time and assessed the situation. I was really more singed that actually burnt but I would certainly need to be attended to. However, instead of taking me to the nearest hospital (which in those days was a considerable distance away) or family doctor, my mother took me to the local pharmacy. The pharmacist was a childhood friend of my father's and we were taken to him, rather than a hospital or doctor, the great majority of the times we needed some type of medical intervention.

And, this was deemed as no exception.

The pharmacist coated my head, face, and neck with a cooling burn gel and sent me home in the care of my mother. I remember getting the special treatment which including resting in my sister's bedroom because she had her own room (I shared mine with my younger brother) and a full-sized bed (mine as just a single). I must say that I was treated like a king - for a few days, anyway! I was not seriously injured and really suffered more from embarrassment that anything else.

I think that any parent today would be mortified at how that situation was handled. I believe that they would have had me airlifted to Westchester Medical Center to be placed in a hyperbaric chamber! OK, perhaps that's hyperbole but they certainly would have taken me to a hospital or one of the emergency walk-in clinics that have proliferated in recent years. But, at the time, that was not OUR reality.

Does this upbringing make me any tougher than say someone who was raised more recently? Perhaps. I'm not so sure of that. However, I do believe that it's safe to say times have certainly changed. Things certainly were simpler in most ways 50+ years ago. But, does that make one way better than the other. Of that, I am no so sure of either. 

Only when our children tell THEIR children will the truth be revealed.

Today's MOZEN: Not Left Behind

Donald Trump's meteoric and almost completely unexpected rise to the Presidency of the United States was fueled by millions of people who felt that they had become disenfranchised from the American dream. Mostly from rural areas and un or under-educated, these Americans expressed their frustration with being left behind, if not downright ignored by the government by voting for Mr. Trump.

So, they elected a man who supposedly was not a part of the Washington system and promised them everything that they wanted to hear: glorious coal would be making a comeback.  Manufacturing jobs would be returning in droves. And, a new border wall, paid for by Mexico, would keep the violent hordes from shit hole countries away from their jobs, wives, and daughters.

They would not be forgotten anymore.

Certainly, most of their concerns were (and, still are) legitimate. Many rural areas have been sorely neglected for decades. Since the bulk of US voters live in urban areas, political expediency dictated that the lion share of available aid went there instead of to country folk. With the risk of sounding flippant, it's simply more popular to be poor in the city than it is to be in the country.

However, despite the legitimacy of their issues, their cause eventually took on the mantle of Fear and Loathing. This, of course, was exacerbated by a feckless President, who fed on those insecurities for his own benefit. In doing so, he created an atmosphere that encouraged rage instead of cooperation.

He fostered an attitude that by raising the living standards of those who have been traditionally overlooked (i.e. people of color, immigrants, etc.), we would thereby reduce what people who had little left to lose even further. So, they would cling to the last vestige of power that they had left, that of White Privilege. It seemed as long as they had someone to look down on, their lives couldn't be all that bad.

Although very much in focus today, this attitude has been with us for a long time, particularly in the South. One of the great conundrums of the Civil War was how a slaveholding aristocracy managed to convince a poor, non-slaveholding populace to fight and die for THEIR cause. Many historians suggest that they did so by aristocrats persuading white Southerners that they still had at least someone, i.e. blacks, that they could look down upon. At least that was something.

And, we have a similar attitude today.

The mob that attacked The Capitol in Washington, reaping havoc and causing wanton destruction, was overwhelmingly white. OVERWHELMING, if not exclusively so. The very idea that their man in the White House, the man who told them what they wanted to hear, whether truthful or not, was no longer in charge sent them into a frenzy of carnage. Furthermore, although people participated from all over the Country, interviews revealed a very high percentage of participants that came from rural America.

They feared that the progress of some would mean even less for them.

The Civil War is over!!!

Somehow, some way, some day, we will have to convince these people that raising the standard of living for ALL doesn't mean accepting less for OTHERS. If we work together to improve the lot of all, we are not leaving anyone behind. The two things are not mutually exclusive! Fear and Loathing should NOT be part of the equation.

There will still be enough cake left for everyone to have their piece - and, eat it too.

Today's MOZEN: A NEW DAY

All photos by F LoBuono

 Like the sun breaking through the clouds of a storm that we felt would never end, a new Administration is shinning over a revitalized America. The Rule of Law has prevailed. Our Democracy, although battered and bruised by the thugish behavior of the previous occupant of the Whitehouse, has once again showed its resilience.

Joe Biden, in a moving and glorious ceremony, was inaugurated as the 46th President of the United States. His running mate, Kamala Harris, was also sworn in as the first woman AND the 2nd person of color to hold the office of the Vice President.*

The entire day was filled with brilliant significance. THIS administration, contrary to the previous, is rightly proud of the diversity it is bringing to Washington. President Biden (damn it feels good just to say that), has surrounded himself with a highly qualified, assorted group of professionals that include women, gays, and various cultures. There are even two rescue dogs! Again, this in high contrast to the previous one which was overwhelming white, older, and male (and, Mr. Trump hates dogs!).

The four plus years of ugliness, bullying, mendacity, and fraud can slowly but surely be put behind us. Donald J. Trump has finally dragged his sorry ass back to his faux fortress in Florida leaving me and over 81 million of my fellow Americans, basking in the glow of a new day.

And, it sure feels good . . . 

* Charles Curtis was the 31st VP of the US. He was a bi-racial Native American.

The Ugliest Americans

 

F LoBuono

The term Ugly American was popularized in 1963 by a movie of the same name starring Marlon Brando about an American diplomat serving in Southeast Asia struggling with the clash of cultures. The expression was often used as a pejorative to describe the perceived arrogance of Americans, especially when traveling abroad. It was an attitude expressed by many Americans that thought our wealth, freedom, laws, and very Democracy made us better than any other society. To quote a crass phrase, we acted as if our shit didn't stink.

We felt as if we were immune to the class stratification, bigotry, and racism that was found in so many foreign societies. In essence, we dripped of privilege.

Whenever I traveled abroad I was very aware to keep that term in mind. I always did my best to respect whatever local culture we were visiting and the people people who lived it. They certainly had as much to give me as I them, perhaps more so.

Although the term is generally associated with travel it can also be used to describe the Zeitgeist of many Americans. The type of Americans who chant Love it or Leave it, America First, and Make America Great Again, i.e. the type of people who assaulted the Capitol on January 6, 2021 - Trump Supporters.

The crowd that did their worst to stage a Coup on our legally elected government at the behest of a rogue President were The UGLIEST AMERICANS - ignorant, overwhelming white, spoiled, privileged fools, taken advantage of by a snake oil salesmen. The crowd was ripe with goons, their Stars and Bars flags flowing. Trump banners and hats were visible everywhere. Wannabe soldiers of fortune paraded in their phony tactical gear and militia insignia. Even half-naked savages in phony animal pelts made an appearance.

They came because he played on their fears that their way of life, of what little white privilege that had left, was about to be ripped away by others who simply wanted their share of the so-called American Dream. You know - brown people, black people, yellow people, gay people, trans people, Jews, and anyone who didn't look like them, talk like them, worship like them, or think like them.

I watched the assault on TV with my mother, sister, and my mother's aid, a beautiful black woman named Melissa. As we watched the crowd get more out of control and serge towards the Capitol, I remarked to Melissa, "wow, look at all the black folks there!"

She responded, "I don't see any black people."

I said, "exactly."

Ugly, white Americans.

Like a bunch of spoiled brats who didn't get their way for their birthdays they decided to ruin the party for everyone and rampaged virtually unchecked.

Yet, they claim to be ordinary Americans.

They may be but I say, who the fuck do they think they are to negate MY  voice - the one, who along with over 80 MILLION other American voices, said ENOUGH, BE GONE. We want our Country back!

Four years ago I had to acknowledge that my candidate had lost the election and that a man I had no respect for would become our new leader. I never liked it, but I accepted it. I didn't give a shit that he won on a technicality. Under our laws, Donald J. Trump was the duly elected President of the United States. And, even though I detested him as I man, I NEVER challenged his right to the Presidency. In the beginning, I even resisted calling him anything but Mr. or President Trump - because that's what he was. And, I was willing to support any policy that I felt he attempted for the good of the Country.

However, those policies NEVER came. I never supported a wall that Mexico would never pay for. It was never completed anyway. Promised Health Care reforms never happened. Environmental safeguards were dismantled. No coherent measures were ever taken to combat the deadly Covid-19 pandemic. North Korea remains a nuclear threat. Russia still runs roughshod over our elections. Our allies now refuse to meet with our representatives. And, our Country hasn't been this violently divided since the deadly Civil War.

Still, I never even contemplated having Mr. Trump illegally removed from office. There is a huge difference between opposing his platform and participating in an attack designed to overthrow our legal election process! When his first Impeachment ended without a conviction, I may have been disappointed but I ACCEPTED THE RESULT  - because being a true American means accepting the Rule of Law.

What was exposed on that rueful day in January was the UGLIEST part of America staged by The Ugliest Americans: the racists, the bigots, the homophobes, and the ignorant. And, unfortunately, I fear that they will always be with us. We are not perfect and never will be. We can't be. That is not realistic. However, there are those of us who still believe that this Country can move forward together and once again make this a land of opportunity for ALL. It can be a land of strength through compassion if we want it to be. There is still more of US who believe than there is of THEM who don't - yes, them.

Unfortunately, it must be that way. January 6th proved that. That behavior IS America, too. I don't believe that we will ever truly eliminate this mindset from our ranks. But, with the right leadership, I think that we may be able to at least control it - to resign it to the backwaters of the American psyche from which it came.

And, they can take The Ugliest American of Them All, Donald J. Trump, with them.

Long Live President Joe Biden.

Long Live The United States of America.