201111 Word and Action

 Nov. 11 

Robin made a poppy. A school-wide virtual assembly was organized for children learning at home. Robin and Indre projected it onto the TV screen and watched together with their dad. 

*****

On the heels of his defeat at the polls, President Trump, still not accepting his loss, is replacing important military and defense personnel with hand-picked loyal supporters. (See this morning's news of Pentagon leaders.) This is setting up a base for an armed push-back against the President-Elect. It is not good news. I thought that some Republican supporters, even some armed supporters, might take to the streets for Trump, but he is lining up "official" positions to carry his flag. This, in a country we have depended on to be stable and safe and law-abiding, of which we would say "It couldn't happen here." 

CNN (news platform) published an article yesterday which included this quote:

"This is scary, it's very unsettling," one defense official told CNN. "These are dictator moves."     (I have copied the link below.*)

This is the other shoe dropping. We have to hope that there are some sane and powerful people who can control this fire before it roars out of control. The newly installed Pentagon personnel are known to be fear-mongers and alarmist racists. Is Trump capable of trying to pull off a coup? Does he have the following? 

Am I now spreading fear and alarm where there isn't any? Ouch. I need a reality check. But where to look? 

When you ask, "But how can one person be so dangerous?", you have only to look at the dictators, individuals and governing bodies alike, around the globe to see that one person or one ideation can impose violence and destruction on a country or a people. (And remember Hitler.) I would rather be proven wrong than reject my gut reaction out-of-hand. 

When I ask, "But how can I, one person, respond to such a danger?", I know that there has to be something. I can speak. I can believe that there is goodness in enough people to overcome those who are selfish power-seekers, that the good people will stand together in mutual trust against evil. Evil is not a word I am used to using, because it invokes the idea of "Evil" itself as a power external to the human spirit, but it is enough to be humanly evil, for evil to be born in the mind and heart of a person, to be learned and nurtured, just as goodness and peace can be born, and learned, and nurtured. There is our task. Love and hold fast to goodness and peace, teach and nurture them consciously and openly, in every word and action every day. 

Keep safe. Be kind.

Mumma Yaga

* https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/10/politics/pentagon-policy-official-resigns/index.html