​I was lucky. I had wonderful parents. I didn’t fully appreciate that until recently, way too late to tell them.
 
They were religious and raised me as a Christian in the Episcopal Church.
 
At least I thought they did.
 
I haven’t been a strong participant. But maybe that’s good.
 
Because now I’m having to accept that I didn’t understand the first thing about being a Christian.
 
I have come to see that, as a child, I learned archaic ideas that don’t reflect true Christian values.
 
How do I know?
 
I’m being taught every day by those who want to set me straight, to turn our country into a Christian nation so we all will be on the right path to salvation. No matter what we thought we believed.
 
For example, I was taught to be kind to people, even those who were different from me. What a wicked concept! I now understand that kindness should be shown only to those who look like me, and certainly not to the poor or desperate. For those others it is Christian to uproot them from their lives and send them elsewhere so they will be out of the way. How do I know this is a Christian concept? Well, so many of our current leaders have professed a strong Christian faith, and they are the ones carrying out these policies that I once thought were un-Christian. They must be right. After all, they are our leaders.
 
Another incorrect concept that my parents had me believe was the Golden Rule which has versions in many of the old religions. You know, the religions we thought gave excellent guidance but now we realize how grievously wrong they were. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. It just sounds so good. It’s easy to see how someone could actually be swayed by such a radical concept. I thank our current true Christian leaders for telling us it’s okay to prosecute or otherwise threaten someone for disagreeing with us. I imagine, if the current leaders are ever stripped of their power, they will follow their beliefs and be more than willing to accept persecution from the other side.
 
I also learned something you are going to be amazed would be taught. When someone does you wrong, turn the other cheek. What? I’m just supposed to allow someone to hurt me and not retaliate in kind? It was always a difficult concept because it does seem to go against normal human behavior. But that didn’t phase my old-fashioned minister. In fact, he said the ability to do that would show others the Christian love of all mankind. Well, now I am learning with relief that the concept is incorrect. The right approach is, if you determine someone is not treating you right (according to your definition of right), you should retaliate in kind (or worse). For example, suppose you go to a church, making sure everyone knows what a good Christian you are by doing so, and the female cleric implores you to be kind. What an affront! The thing to do is to get back at her by scathing her on social media and also have flunkies demand that this cleric, who happens to be an American citizen, should be deported. Thank goodness I’m learning how to unnecessarily escalate tense situations.
 
I feel there are more lessons that will be imparted in the future and my understanding of Christianity will become clearer.
 
If there is an afterlife, I look forward to the day our leaders can set God and Jesus straight.

​It’s time to post again. And I don’t have any idea what to say.
 
This has never been a problem in the past, even though I occasionally thought it might be. Because always something came up that made me mad, or there was some incident of my past that I had an overwhelming desire to share to those who probably didn’t care, or some politician was stupider than ever.
 
It isn’t as if there is nothing happening to arouse my ire or demand my time. After all, the current political situation could and eventually will fuel book after book. Surely a short post would be easy to create. That is, if there remains enough freedom to write it. Just think of the possibilities, only some of which are listed below in no special order.
 
The fear so many of us will feel as we will learn from Trump’s inaugural speech of the many ways he plans to ruin our country.
 
Including his dictatorial aspirations.
 
How Medicare and Social Security will fare now that Trump no longer has to promise that they won’t be affected.
 
How general health will deteriorate as a result of so many turning from vaccines in the interest of avoiding implants of microchips in their child’s body.
 
How our military will suffer under the leadership of a man whose personal record and experience are far from stellar,
 
How women will be treated as it becomes more and more obvious the incoming administration has bought into The Handmaid’s Tale.
 
How prejudice against all except rich white men pans out (unless they are Supreme Court justices).
 
How education, which is a concept feared by the new leaders, will deteriorate.
 
Whether the Republican majority in Congress will ever develop the guts to reestablish the safety of separation of powers supposedly afforded us by the Constitution.
 
Or the same concern for the judicial branch of the government.
 
What will happen to the Dreamers whose only memory is the United States, their home for virtually all their lives?
 
How journalists will live in fear and perhaps be made marginal.
 
How cruel will we be to those who fled to a former beacon of freedom as terror struck their lives in their home countries.
 
Whether we will follow the lies into a dictatorship like what happened in Nazi Germany.
 
Will the Democratic party learn from their mistakes and adjust to what the people of this country really want?
 
And will that party search out and foster young dynamic free-thinking leaders?
 
And the list could go on and on.
 
So, since all of the above, and so much more, is available for pontification, why is there a problem with producing a screed?
 
I don’t have a definitive answer. But I wonder if there aren’t so many topics like those posed above that it seems pointless to tackle just one
 
I know, at least for now, it is too much for me to write about. It is best for me to limit my exposure and my thought. Because it is painful to think I’m going to be an observer of the self-destruction of my country.
 
There aren’t many advantages to being old, but there are some.

It didn’t seem real.
 
How could our country elect such a man to impose his will domestically and expose his incompetence externally?
 
It was a shock that hit so deep that many of us, maybe most of us, have been attempting to get through life by forcing it from our minds.
 
After all, we had more than two months before Trump could force his devastating policies on us. And we had the holiday season which was so much brighter than the future’s bleakness we all fear.
 
But now it’s January and the horror is coming in just a few days.
 
In fact, it’s January 6, four years to the day since a gang of ruffians attacked the capitol.
 
In fact, it’s January 6 of the current year in which the certification of the Trump victory will occur without the lying of four years past.
 
And we have to ask, “Now what?”
 
Will he actually do all he has threatened?
 
I have no doubt he will. We pretend otherwise at our peril.
 
Besides, we have seen foreshadowing of the future even while we were hiding behind holidays and pretension.
 
For example, we have learned of his cabinet picks, a sorry bunch in which Marco Rubio, believe it or not, stands out as the sanest and most competent.
 
In spite of all evidence to the contrary, I still can’t accept the vast majority of our country actually approves of the terror that is Donald Trump.
 
So does that make me feel better?
 
Not a bit!
 
But, grasping at straws, I’ve thought of scenarios that could conceivably save our country. Unfortunately, none comes without a price. I believe, sadly, that if our country is to be saved, it first must be hurt.
 
For whatever they are worth, the scenarios follow. If any of them actually occur, I’m thinking of hope for elections in two or four years (if we still have elections then).
 

1. Many of Trump’s votes came from those worried about the economy, particularly about inflation. I believe the majority of these were single issue voters concerned about survival. Now what if, as several knowledgeable people have predicted, Trump’s policies of tariffs and alien deportation actually add to inflation? Would these single issue voters then swing back the other way? Downside: they and all of us would have to suffer the detrimental effect of inflation before it became obvious.
2. The incompetents he has placed in charge of many of our government’s departments mess up so badly that the average Joe and Jane are affected negatively. Downside: we may have to deal with the reduction or elimination of vital services before this becomes obvious.
3. Infighting within the Trump orbit, already begun, could delay or sabotage some of Trump’s policies, showing an inability to satisfy the demands of his base. Downside: who knows what would happen to policies we have come to rely on as different individuals attempt to prove their point by implementing disgusting “fixes.”
4. The assignment of too much power to billionaires who have no understanding about the needs of the average citizen and employ their decision making to feather their own nests at the expense of the rest of the country. Downside: before getting their come-uppance, they will inflict so much damage it may take a long time to make it right.
5. The lifetime of lying, poor eating, constant anger, and generally unhealthy lifestyle may finally catch up with Trump and bring him to his knees physically. Downside: originally, I couldn’t think of anything. Then I remembered J. D. Vance.
6. Trump could act in ways that finally offend his supporters so much that they would abandon him. Downside: we’d all have to live with whatever this bad action was and it’s doubtful his believers would hold him accountable anyway. After all, they have forgiven his role in an insurrection, sexual misadventures, lying, and so much more. Why should we expect different in the future?

 
I wish my list made me feel better.