Human-kind

Shameless demagogues practicing the politics of fear and loathing. Bombs being sent through the mail. Good people being slaughtered in their places of worship. It is enough to make a person revisit a burning question we have probably been asking from the very inception of our species: “Why do such terrible things happen to good people?” But a very wise lady once told me that the question is a trap. “We cannot know or understand the answer,” she warned. What we do know is that evil walks the earth feeding on hatred and paranoia, that we must confront that evil whenever and wherever it rears its ugly head, and that we must do our best to deprive it of the hate and fear that sustains it.

My heart goes out to the victims of the violent attack that took place in Squirrel Hill. Pennsylvania and to the people who lost their loved ones there on that terrible day. In a very meaningful way we are all the victims of that horrible crime because it was an attack on our family – the family of humankind. Science and all of the world's great religions tell us that we are all related to each other, that we are each others' brothers and sisters. We must not ignore the suffering of our brothers and sisters, and we should not wait for some terrible tragedy before we let them know we care about them. Even in the great depths of our grief and the heat of our anger we must tend to the light of love and good will. As difficult as it might be at times, that light must be sustained because it is our love and good will that separates us from such evil and allows us to form the bond and the promise we share with each other. There is no us and them; there is only us, and we must do better.

Blessed And Cursed By Hope

Hopes, dreams, and aspirations are all too human and necessary. The problem arises when we tie them to expectations that may be too optimistic. When the events or results fall short of our expectations we suffer disappointment. The disappointment we suffer is particularly vexing when we have expended too much hope and expectation on events or outcomes over which we have no control, such as hoping and expecting someone else to act in an ethical or a wise manner.

So it was that I allowed myself to invest too much of my hope in conservative Democrats and misnamed “moderate” Republicans. I say too much hope because I really did know better than to expect those conservative Democrats and misnamed moderate Republicans to do the right thing. In fact I even warned one of my friends about them. I told this friend that Heidi Heitkamp and Joe Mansion would act like politicians rather public servants, and they would do what it takes for them to get re-elected. I also told him that Lisa Murkowski, Jeff Flake, and Susan Collins were Republicans first and were very unlikely to go against the majority of their party regardless of what is right or wrong. And yet I had this strong hope that I was wrong.

Kudos to Heidi Heitkamp. Her vote against Kavanaugh's appointment (technically against cloture) was a pleasant surprise, and I am not about to question her motives. Lisa Murkowski's vote against cloture was less of a surprise but is still worthy of praise. Jeff Flake, on the other hand, did what his name suggests and flaked out as usual. He is great at occasionally expressing his disagreements with the Republican leadership, but he caves in to those leaders whenever push comes to shove. How can anyone call for an investigation into the allegations against Kavaqnaugh and then express his satisfaction with a show and a sham in which the FBI was so constrained about who they could interview that one cannot truthfully call what they did a credible background check or an investigation! As for Susan Collins, what she did is indicative of what we already know about her. She demonstrated that she still has the backbone and conscience of a jellyfish!

The reasons Susan Collins gave for voting for the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh are even less believable than Jeff Flake saying he is satisfied with the FBI's so called investigation. I am struck by the inanity of Susan Collins and other Republicans accusing the Democrats of depriving Kavanaugh of his right to the “presumption of innocent.” Someone should point out to those disingenuous prevaricators that there is also something called due process. Presumption of innocence is a criminal standard, and as such it requires the same sort of due process as a criminal matter would require. In other words, there has to be a criminal style investigation and a trial in which all of the evidence is presented through witnesses, all witnesses are called upon to testify, and all witnesses are subjected to cross examination! None of that was done! Indeed this sham of a hearing and investigation did not even rise to the level of competence that the bar association insists on for civil matters. I should add that the test for civil matters (a preponderance of evidence) is the test that should apply in regard to confirmations. But regardless of what test should be applied, the key issue that none of the Republicans want to talk about is the egregious lack of any effort to gather and present any evidence other than the testimony of the two principals in regard to only one of the three alleged acts of misconduct or criminal activity on the part of Brett Kavanaugh!

Once more the Republican senators are selling crap for chocolate to the base Republicans, knowing that the Trump chumps are stupid enough to believe Trump when he blames the Democrats for the taste. The rest of us are not buying the crap, and we are justifiably angry!  I can only hope that enough of us will express this anger in the voting booths this November.  I know I will.  What we need is a gigantic blue tsunami rather than a mere wave!