Something to Think About

Taken from a friend's post. In order to defeat something, you must understand it. I encourage everyone to read this and understand it is many people's point of view. You may not agree with some of it or any of it. That is not the point. This is a very honest statement on those that back the President and what they feel and believe. Read and understand. 

If you are a liberal who can’t stand Trump, and cannot possibly fathom why conservatives would ever vote for him, let me finally fill you in.

It’s not that we love Donald Trump so much. It’s that we can’t stand you. And we will do whatever it takes — even if that means electing a rude, obnoxious, unpredictable, narcissist (your words-not ours) to the office of President of the United States — because the only thing we find more dangerous to this nation than Donald Trump, is you.

How is that possible you might ask? Well, you have done everything in your power to destroy our country, from tearing down the police, to tearing down our history, to tearing down our borders. You are systematically destroying our schools, and brainwashing our kids into believing socialism is the answer to anything (despite being an unmitigated failure everywhere), while demonizing religion and faith, and glorifying abortion, violence, and thug culture.

From calling us racists every time we expect everyone of any skin color to follow our laws equally, to telling us that our “tolerance” of lifestyles we don’t agree with isn’t nearly enough....no, we must “celebrate” any lifestyle choice or gender option (forget science) you throw our direction, or you think it’s fine to calls us homophobic or some other degrading slur — and ironically, all while lecturing us on hate speech. While you gaslight us about 52 genders, polyamory, grown men in dresses sharing public locker rooms with little girls, and normalize the sexualization of young children, you simultaneously ridicule us for having the audacity to wish someone a “Merry Christmas” or hang a flag on the 4th of July, stand for the national anthem, or (horror of horrors) don a MAGA hat in public. So much for your “tolerance.” Do you see why we think you are hypocrites??

We’re also not interested in the fact that you think you can unilaterally decide that 250 years of the right-to-bear-arms against a tyrannical or ineffective government should be abolished because you can’t get the violence in the cities you manage under control. Free-speech should be tossed out the window, history erased, and those who disagree with your opinions, are fair game for public harassment or doxing. Spoiled children with nose-rings and tats who still live off their parent’s dime should be allowed to destroy cities and peoples livelihoods without repercussions. That chaos, and lawlessness, and disrespect for authority should be the norm. This is your agenda. And you wonder why we find you more dangerous than Donald Trump?

Your narrative is a constant drone of oppressor/oppressed race-baiting intended to divide the country in as many ways as you possibly can. You love to sell “victim-hood” to people of color every chance you get because it’s such an easy sell, compared to actually teaching people to stand on their own two feet and take personal responsibility for their own lives, their own communities and their own futures. But, you won’t do that. You will never do that, because then you will lose control over people of color. They might actually start thinking for themselves, God forbid!

This is why we will vote for Donald Trump.It is not because he is the most charming character on the block, nor because he is the most polite politician to have ever graced the oval office. It is not because he is the most palatable choice, not that we love his moral character or because he never lies. It is because we are sick to death of you, and all of the destructive crap you are doing to this once beautiful and relatively safe country. Your ineffective and completely dysfunctional liberal “leadership”(?) has literally destroyed our most beautiful cities, our public education system, and done it’s damndest to rip faith out of people’s lives.

However bad Donald Trump may be (and he is far from perfect), every day we look at you, and feel that no matter what Donald Trump says or does, there is no possible way he could be any worse for our country than you people are.

We are sick to death of your stupid, destructive, ignorant, and intolerant behavior and beliefs — parading as “wokeness.” We are beyond sick of your hypocrisy and B.S. 
We are fed up with your disrespectful divisiveness and constant unrelenting harping and whining and complaining (while you live in the most privileged nation in the world), while making literally zero contributions of anything positive to our society. Your entire focus is on ripping things down, never ever building anything up. Think about that as there is something fundamentally very wrong in the psychology of people who choose destruction as their primary modus operandi.

If Donald J Trump is reelected, rather than blame us, look in the mirror, and blame yourselves. Because, you are the ones that are responsible for the rise of Donald Trump. You are the ones who have created this monster that you so despise, by your very actions, your refusal to respect your fellow Americans, and the things that are important to us.

You have made fun of the “fly-over states,” the people who “cling to their guns and religion,” the middle class factory workers and coal miners and underprivileged rural populations that you dismissively call “yahoos” and “deplorables.” You have mocked our faith and our religion. You have mocked our values and our patriotism. You have trampled our flag and insulted our veterans and treated our first responders with contempt and hatred.

You have made environmentalism your religion, while trashing every city you have taken responsibility for. You scream from the rooftops about “global warming” and a “green new deal” while allowing tens of thousands of homeless people to cover your streets in literal sh*t, garbage, needles and plastic waste without doing a single thing to help them solve the environmental crisis that your failed social policies are creating. But we’re supposed to put YOU in charge of the environment while gutting our entire economy to institute this plan when you can’t even clean up a single city?? You complain — endlessly — yet have failed to solve a single social problem anywhere. In fact, all you have done is create more of them.

We’ve had enough. We are tired of quietly sitting by and being the “silent” majority. So don’t be surprised when the day comes when we finally respond. And trust me it’s coming, sooner than you might think. And also trust me when I say it won’t be pretty. Get ready.

If Donald Trump is reelected, it will be because you and your “comrades” have chosen to trash the police, harass law-abiding citizens, and go on rampages destroying public property that we have all paid for and you have zero respect for.

If Donald Trump is reelected it will be because we are sick of your complete and utter nonsense and destruction. How does it feel to know that half of this country finds you FAR more despicable than Donald J. Trump, the man you consider to be the anti-Christ? Let that sink in. We consider you to be more despicable, more dangerous, more stupid, and more narcissistic than Donald Trump. Maybe allow yourself a few seconds of self-reflection to let that sink in. This election isn’t about Donald Trump vs. Joe Biden. This is about Donald Trump vs. YOU.

So, if on the morning of November 4 (or more likely December 29 by the time the Supreme Court will weigh in on the mail-in ballot fiasco we are headed towards) if Donald J. Trump is reelected, the only people you have to blame is the left-wing media drones and yourselves. You did this. Yep, you!"

Time to walk away! 

Some Thoughts on the Upcoming Election

I really need to SAY something. Also, I need to DO something. This is just the beginning of my doing my part to help get rid of tRUMP. Read on!

If you feel you cannot vote for Biden, you can at least vote for someone not named tRUMP! Therefore check the box for Biden! This is my attempt to sound like tRUMP himself.

Not voting at all or voting for someone who has no chance of winning, is as good as a vote to continue supporting the direction in which the U.S.A. has been heading.

During the convention, it was good to finally hear people tell it like it is regarding tRUMP as president! I did not detect ANYTHING ERRONEOUS in last night's convention speeches.

The convention was not about politics, it was not about "platforms" promised and then not fulfilled after elected, it was about people, a government for "We The People."

Some things for which I am thankful to tRUMP are his transparency in lying, manipulation, gaslighting, ability to "spin"; and being antisemitic, misogynistic, racist, homophobic, and anti-immigrant; finding all kinds of loopholes to make the government take on his "face" and his being greedy, self-serving, mean, inarticulate, ignorant. Thank you tRUMP for showing us how evil a person can be!

It is absolutely beyond me to think that anyone could still vote for tRUMP knowing what he has shown us, said to us, and by his actions (usually against us).

Fake news is always a good excuse, but when you watch the man, listen to the man, see what the man is doing to our institutions and our country and our people ... HOW CAN YOU STILL SAY YOU ARE GOING TO VOTE FOR HIM?

This is so much bigger than tRUMP. This is so much bigger than Democrats vs Republicans. This is about human decency. This is about the basic definition and love of humankind. This is about the future of our nation!

How can anyone who considers themselves a Christian, or any religious label for that matter, vote for tRUMP? If you're feeling disenfranchised with any aspect of our government, a vote for tRUMP will make things worse and should make you feel even worse.

Show me who has NOT suffered as a result of tRUMP's time in office, except those who are not only very rich but very greedy about being rich at the expense of the rest of us.

Not all cops are bad, not all politicians are bad, not all Blacks are bad, not all Whites are bad, not all men or women are bad, not all entitled people are bad. Yes, some are and they bring us all down with their actions and power-seeking. What has tRUMP's administration done to solve problems? What tRUMP has done is actively sought to divide us by exaggerating "good vs bad" and by bringing down all of our American Institutions without providing any better alternatives.

Money and wealth is not a bad thing as long as one does not take advantage of others to get it. And hopefully once one has money and wealth, they continue to be compassionate and generous in their sharing it with others. Not just giving it away but doing things for others that matter!

Honestly, I NEED to begin a series of UNFRIENDING family and friends on Facebook, who still feel that tRUMP has been good for the country and will give him their vote in November! I cannot let those people be part of my life when our belief systems are so different. I cannot let them make me less than I am by continuing to let them be part of my life! 

Another Look at Post Election Life

This well written look at post-election emotions is from my neighborhood Yoga Center where I have attended several classes. Click here to see Greatful Yoga's website in a new window.

Hello Michael,

It's been almost two weeks since the election, and my mind continues to search for stories that help me understand what is happening.  My yogic inclination is to look beyond surface appearances to the deeper dynamics at play, both in the world and in myself. 

I am reminded of the Buddhist concept of bardo, which originally referred to the "intermediate" state between death and rebirth.  The concept was extended to describe other transitional states, such as being born, living, dreaming, meditating, and dying.  In fact, everymoment can be seen as a bardo between past and future.  We are always on our way from one state to another.

Tibetan Buddhism developed a set of practices designed to prepare us for the bardo after death.  Unbound from our physical body, we have the potential to see the nature of reality and choose a favorable rebirth.  Metaphorically, we now have the same opportunity as a country and individuals.  Assumptions, expert opinions and behavioral norms are thrown into question.  The next formations have yet to arise.  We are floating in the space between incarnations.  

Francesca Fremantle elaborates (subscription required for the full text):

This gap is brought about by the intensity of emotional experience, which is always accompanied by an equal and opposite reaction, so that we are thrown into a situation of conflict and uncertainty. Two contrasting extremes are present simultaneously. Trungpa Rinpoche described it as being drenched with boiling hot and freezing cold water at the same time. At that very moment there is nothing to do but let go: give up trying to hold on to one extreme or the other, abandon the battle between life and death, good and bad, hope and fear. Then, in that instant of relaxation, there comes a sudden flash of realization. There is always the possibility that, in the midst of an everyday situation or at the height of some emotion, we may suddenly catch a glimpse of its essential emptiness and luminosity: a moment of sacred vision.

In order to take advantage of a bardo, we need to stay steady and clear. As Einstein observed, "We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them."  Our current bardo has been fed by a potent brew of alienation, misunderstanding and anger.  We will not navigate well if we stay intoxicated by these forces.

Our individual and collective actions have a bigger effect in the bardo.  Therefore, yoga and self-care are more vital than ever.  Not because they allow us to escape reality, but rather to develop the capacity to respond skillfully to what comes and make new choices.

At Grateful Yoga, we are renewing our commitment to offering practices that support a positive "rebirth".  Particularly, we want to strengthen and celebrate the remarkable community that we are.  So many of you are doing amazing, generous things with your time. If you'd like to share the nonprofit or world-changing work that you do, please drop us a line - we'll feature it in an upcoming newsletter.

As ever, and especially during this week of gratitude: THANK YOU for your continuing support and inspiration.

Namaste,

Hallelujah

Hillary Clinton (Kate McKinnon) performs Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah." 

Hillary lost the election on 11/8 and Leonard passed on 11/7.

Nicely sums up the election week we have all been through with various degrees of sorrow, disappointment, disbelieve, fear, and hope.

To Be or Not To Be

While I have been trying to "live my life" optimistically and with positive energy since November 8th, I continue to feel a heaviness, a pall over my days. I continue to try to remain mindful in my thinking, processing, coping. I have decided to take the stance that I will not participate in knee jerk reactions or in trying to analyze publicly my emotions or academically discuss my perceptions of the "history" in what I think is taking place here. But I also will not resort to "Everything will be OK" in fear of not being as vigilant as I should.

HOPE vs HATE

Have you noticed that the e-mail issue keeps coming up and then gets dismissed. People hear the negative, believe the negative, but don't see or hear the retraction and continue believing negative? Have you seen the list of other top Republican government officials who have also used private servers during their office? Have you noticed that this approach keeps popping up with Hillary? Negative issue ... issue dropped ... retraction not noticed ... negativity continues? What I believe is that Hillary (whether people like her or not, whether people feel "Republican" or "Democratic" or not, whether people trust her or not ... is the ONLY candidate when compared to Trump ... and with so much at stake ... this is not the cycle to vote for an independent or third party candidate or to not vote at all!

Mid-Term Elections 2014

Nice “going down in flames” with friends yesterday. At Danny & David's, the  pizzas were delicious and it was fun to be with friends watching the election results roll in. We were disappointed for the most part because we were routing for the Democrats and mostly that was not to be.

“Going down in flames” isn’t really true. Have you noticed that while people get all worked up about how political elections unfold, for the most part there seems to be very little difference in our day to day lives. 

The "morale" of the country may be better or worse depending on who wins an election, which probably helps the economy etc but for the most part things stay the same or if the change, it is improvement and degeneration slowly over time almost unnoticeably. 

Over time life in the United States gets harder or easier, perhaps as an outcome of who is in office, but for the most part, in looking back, it seems pretty much the same year in and year out. Election in and election out. 

There are some big negative exceptions which probably have less to do with the outcome of any one election: 911, 2008 Recession, etc

There are some big positive exceptions which are probably having grass roots finally take hold, like woman’s right to vote, repealing prohibition, progress (some) for Black Americans, Roe vs Wade (still shaky,) election of the first black president, Marriage Equality, etc. Rather than those kinds of changes take place over longer periods of time rather than any one political cycle!

Somehow I feel like a little old lady living in the rural, back woods of China going about my day to day survival/life; fetching water, growing crops, mending clothing, etc; as the various Communist Regimes come and go!