Thank you for revisiting this…and for the outstanding “Six Questions” with Malcolm Nance, whose depth and breadth of experience is a rare and precious thing during this fraught moment in our history. Trump has loaded our country into the ‘way back machine’. We might as well be under the thumb of King George, as you have so aptly described.
Happy Birthday, America? Not unless we become reborn. Not unless we remember our mission and strive for it; to become a freer, more equal, more compassionate country that thirsts for equality and opportunity for all. Not unless we remember what freedom is NOT. I think this piece lays bare how much has been stripped away, and how quickly.
I lay awake last night, wondering how some of the former leaders of this country are feeling and what they are thinking about all of this. Kamala Harris warned us, as did Barack Obama. Hillary Clinton, too. The people that protected our precious gem of a democracy during Trump’s first term are gone. He seeks refuge in tax-payer funded vanity projects that no one requested while some Americans starve. He wallows in self-pity, and bathes luxuriously in Justice Department directed revenge and illegitimate prosecutions of his perceived enemies at a scale that would make Nixon blush.
I am discouraged and afraid. Time marches on with no relief from this administration’s grift, corruption, and carelessness. The words of our founding fathers have been replaced by Supreme Court rulings that support Kingship. The Golden Rule has been replaced by; “He who hath the gold maketh the rule.” We await mass pardons of anyone and everyone that, as it is reported, has come within 200 feet of the White House, while our feet grow weary.
And weary we are…weary of the growing sense of dread…weary of the ignorance, weakness and fear among lawmakers who ought to know better…weary of our waning energy to care when it counts. Weary of the grandstanding of both political parties. We, the People, are treading water on this, our 250th Birthday. I am mortally afraid of drowning in this morass. Somebody send a lifeboat…an oar..or a buoy…before it is too late.
"And, honestly, it was stunning to realize how closely many of the grievances our founders asserted toward King George III mirror the issues we are facing with the tyrannical despot currently occupying our White House." Steven, that line is spot on. And philosopher George Santayana chimes in with "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Another George, King George, has served as Trump's model. Every day Trump looks into a full length mirror, he sees not a rumpled pajama-clad elder, but himself fitted with crown and cape. And beause his sycophants have learned to praise this apparition, Trump starts his morning full of bravado and cruelty. If only Cheerios would suffice. Alas, the Breakfast of Champions sours in his bloated stomach.
Thanks you Steven: Not understanding parts of the American birth I had to google King George 111. I assumed you were scripting about the present despot occupying the White House this moment. King George III (1738–1820) reigned over Great Britain and Ireland for nearly 60 years. Remembered for the loss of the American colonies . He also appeared to have a few mental problems , just like the present dictator. I feel the root cause of these difficulties comes from the Heritage Foundation cabal and their agenda 2025. They have the perfect sycophants to push the agenda through its stages with the likes of Stephen Miller and others along with a stacked Supreme Court. I keep sensing William Wallace when he screamed FREEDOM while the British despots were disembowelling him back in those stormy days on August 23, 1305....
It’s as if you held up a clairvoyant mirror from the past to see so closely the morass we are in.
I love this statement:
“Indeed, this is foundational in both articulating the radical aspirations of our nation and providing standards and values against which we can measure our progress.”
History does not repeat itself, but it rhymes. In the words of Mark Twain we see the rhyming of the conditions of 1776 and the current day. Both George III and Donald Trump thought they had the authority to rule by fiat. The king was a victim of severe mental illness, as is the felon in Washington. Our best hope is to reassert our independence from a mad president* in the same way our founding fathers declared independence from George III.
Thank you for revisiting this…and for the outstanding “Six Questions” with Malcolm Nance, whose depth and breadth of experience is a rare and precious thing during this fraught moment in our history. Trump has loaded our country into the ‘way back machine’. We might as well be under the thumb of King George, as you have so aptly described.
Happy Birthday, America? Not unless we become reborn. Not unless we remember our mission and strive for it; to become a freer, more equal, more compassionate country that thirsts for equality and opportunity for all. Not unless we remember what freedom is NOT. I think this piece lays bare how much has been stripped away, and how quickly.
I lay awake last night, wondering how some of the former leaders of this country are feeling and what they are thinking about all of this. Kamala Harris warned us, as did Barack Obama. Hillary Clinton, too. The people that protected our precious gem of a democracy during Trump’s first term are gone. He seeks refuge in tax-payer funded vanity projects that no one requested while some Americans starve. He wallows in self-pity, and bathes luxuriously in Justice Department directed revenge and illegitimate prosecutions of his perceived enemies at a scale that would make Nixon blush.
I am discouraged and afraid. Time marches on with no relief from this administration’s grift, corruption, and carelessness. The words of our founding fathers have been replaced by Supreme Court rulings that support Kingship. The Golden Rule has been replaced by; “He who hath the gold maketh the rule.” We await mass pardons of anyone and everyone that, as it is reported, has come within 200 feet of the White House, while our feet grow weary.
And weary we are…weary of the growing sense of dread…weary of the ignorance, weakness and fear among lawmakers who ought to know better…weary of our waning energy to care when it counts. Weary of the grandstanding of both political parties. We, the People, are treading water on this, our 250th Birthday. I am mortally afraid of drowning in this morass. Somebody send a lifeboat…an oar..or a buoy…before it is too late.
"And, honestly, it was stunning to realize how closely many of the grievances our founders asserted toward King George III mirror the issues we are facing with the tyrannical despot currently occupying our White House." Steven, that line is spot on. And philosopher George Santayana chimes in with "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Another George, King George, has served as Trump's model. Every day Trump looks into a full length mirror, he sees not a rumpled pajama-clad elder, but himself fitted with crown and cape. And beause his sycophants have learned to praise this apparition, Trump starts his morning full of bravado and cruelty. If only Cheerios would suffice. Alas, the Breakfast of Champions sours in his bloated stomach.
E Pluribus Unum. Time to revisit that idea.
https://albellenchia.substack.com/p/the-struggle?r=7wk5d&utm_medium=ios
Thanks you Steven: Not understanding parts of the American birth I had to google King George 111. I assumed you were scripting about the present despot occupying the White House this moment. King George III (1738–1820) reigned over Great Britain and Ireland for nearly 60 years. Remembered for the loss of the American colonies . He also appeared to have a few mental problems , just like the present dictator. I feel the root cause of these difficulties comes from the Heritage Foundation cabal and their agenda 2025. They have the perfect sycophants to push the agenda through its stages with the likes of Stephen Miller and others along with a stacked Supreme Court. I keep sensing William Wallace when he screamed FREEDOM while the British despots were disembowelling him back in those stormy days on August 23, 1305....
In our local paper this morning there was a reprint of a letter sent to the Boston Gazette complaining about the tea tax. It was interesting to read.
Thank you for revisiting your earlier writing. By chance have you seen this clever presentation by the clever and capable Robert Reich? https://www.facebook.com/stories/171714997655289/UzpfSVNDOjg1NzQ0MzE4Mzc1NDM3Ng==/?bucket_count=9&source=story_tray
It’s as if you held up a clairvoyant mirror from the past to see so closely the morass we are in.
I love this statement:
“Indeed, this is foundational in both articulating the radical aspirations of our nation and providing standards and values against which we can measure our progress.”
…”radical aspirations”but wonderful:
All men are created equal…
💙🇺🇸💙
May we have the link from a year ago?
History does not repeat itself, but it rhymes. In the words of Mark Twain we see the rhyming of the conditions of 1776 and the current day. Both George III and Donald Trump thought they had the authority to rule by fiat. The king was a victim of severe mental illness, as is the felon in Washington. Our best hope is to reassert our independence from a mad president* in the same way our founding fathers declared independence from George III.