Last Stand in Trump's War Against America?

On January 6, 2021, more than 74 million registered voters in the United States of America violently stormed the heart of democracy, the United States Capitol, while the Constitutional ceremony of counting Electoral College votes for the next President was underway in full accordance with the Constitution.  The objective of the attackers was to overthrow that very Constitution that forms the foundation for the legitimate Government of the United States.  The treasonous attempt to destroy the democratic processes was designed to keep in place the now unconstitutional Government that had been rejected by more than 81 million registered voters on November 3, 2020.

For those few who have paid any attention to my own personal descriptions of this current Civil War that began nearly eleven years ago, this assault on the seat of our democracy was the expected ending to the failed Presidency of Donald J. Trump.  The signs had been there for many months now, if not years, including a trove of pervasive indicators provided by what Trumpers have come to religiously refer to as Fake News.  For any Trumper (the 74 million) that was shocked by the events of this past week, take a look at the history that has unfolded over the past six months, to include minute-by-minute commentary from millions of sources, and you will see the obvious predictability of the events that took place in Washington, DC on January 6.

Like the Confederate soldiers from the Civil War of the 1860s, there are more than 74 million Americans (Trumpers) who cannot duck their responsibility for Wednesday’s escalation of the Civil War of 2010 that is now raging at a much greater intensity because of the millions of gallons of fuel added to the fire by the Trumpers and their supreme leader.  When soldiers in gray attacked Union Soldiers in the 1860s, it was the entirety of the Confederacy that bore responsibility for the deaths and destruction that occurred, not just those particular individuals who fired the shots.  Similarly, all 74 million plus voters who voted for Trump on November 3, 2020 bear the responsibility for the lives that were lost and the damage that was done at the Capitol on January 6.

I’d like to offer my personal thank you to all Trumpers for desecrating the pride I had in my support and defense of the Constitution of the United States of America since July 26, 1986.  It has especially saddened me to realize that millions of my brothers and sisters who had also taken the oath to support and defend the Constitution have failed to uphold their oath.  To all Trumpers, I ask you this, “How great is America now because of the leadership of the past four years?”  In typical Trumpian fashion, I expect those who don’t feel great will place all the blame on the Democratic Party.

The Year of Hope is Upon Us

The year 2020 may have been the worst year for anyone who survived it.  One thing the past year did, however, is give us hope.

We have hope that the Coronavirus (COVID-19) that ravaged the human population unlike anything since the flu outbreak of 1918 will be placed in our rearview mirror with a successful, world-wide vaccination program.

We have hope that in-person service industries such as travel, entertainment, health and fitness, and the many others will begin the long road to recovery.

We have hope that the Government of the United States of America will cease to be the world’s laughingstock and resume a prominent role in promoting good for all people across the globe.

We have hope that the extreme bitterness that has torn apart family and friends will begin to dissipate.

We have hope that the United States Postal Service will be able to return to their glory days when on-time delivery of mail was part of the real world.

While the hopes of many tens of thousands will be dashed during the first half of 2021, there is so much possibility ahead for the billions of people who make it into the second half.

Happy Year of Hope to We the People of the United States of America and to ALL the PEOPLE around the world!

The Divided States of America

It has become increasingly clear to me in the days following Election Day of November 3, 2020 that the United States of America (USA) has truly become the Divided States of America (DSA).  As the final counts come closer to being concluded, it seems an astounding 74,222,958 registered voters of the USA opted to choose loyalty to a single man over loyalty to the Constitution of the USA, the governing document that has been the foundation of who we are as a sovereign country for more than 200 years.  On the opposite side of the hardening red and blue wall that now divides friends from friends and family from family, just like what we experienced in the 1860s, more than 81,283,098 registered voters of the USA opted to vote for the Presidential Candidate who represented loyalty to the Constitution.  But, were all of those voters voting for the Constitution or were they voting for a Party?

As my awareness to the existence of multiple realities began to come into focus over the past several months, I have come to wonder how many different realities might exist among the 81 million who found themselves on the same side of the wall as the Constitution.  How many of the more than 81 million would choose loyalty to other things, such as a Political Party or a person, above loyalty to the Constitution like the 74 million on the other side of the wall did?  Can we find a way to dismantle the wall that divides us and keep the USA together, or will the DSA win out in a way similar to the blue and gray division that created the Confederate States of America in the late 1850s into the 1860s?  How many Civil Wars can our Constitution endure before experiencing its ultimate defeat?  Is the Constitution relevant in its current form to sustain us through the remainder of the 21st Century, or should we look for ways to modernize it to better serve our current needs?  For example, does the Electoral College continue to serve the purpose for which it was created more than 200 years ago, or has the world of the Internet removed that purpose?

Like in the 1860s, we can survive the current atmosphere of divisiveness and alternate realities that are driving us apart.  To even have a chance at doing so, however, we must bring families and friends back together by destroying the wall that divides us and finding ways for our different realities to coexist within the same physical plane.  It won’t be easy.  Building and maintaining a democracy was never meant to be easy.  Perhaps our successes of the past have made our lives too easy and we have forgotten how to work hard for the things that matter most to us.  Where do we start?  How do we start?

Restoring a Constitutional Government where elected representatives represent their constituents, the portion of We the People they were elected to represent, rather than a Political Party is likely a good place to start.  Group Think is not the right way to operate a democracy.  Differences of opinion with an accompanying free expression of those differences are an absolute necessity to keeping our nation strong and flourishing.  Consensus isn’t something you can demand.  It must be earned.  It requires hard work and hard conversations.  Does every Democrat in New York State think the same way as every Democrat in California?  Does every Republican in Texas think the same way as every Republican in Montana?  If that isn’t the case, which I suspect it isn’t, then why is it that every Democrat in Congress votes one way on every issue brought before them while every Republican votes the opposite?  We the People have always had more in common than not.  However, the practice of lockstep, Party loyalty trumping loyalty to our Constitution that is enforced by the bully network that is our Congress is doing nothing but adding more and more bricks to the wall that currently divides us.

Since it has become apparent that we are living in multiple versions of reality (fake news/real news, loser wins/winner loses, etc.), relearning how to cooperate and compromise is going to be essential if we are to survive as the USA.  It is necessary to understand that the different realities we find ourselves living within tend to occupy the same physical space.  That means conflicts between realities must be resolved before the realities can coexist.  For example, two people living in two different realities can’t own the same piece of physical property without destroying the property or each other.  We must find a way to connect the realities, at least for a moment, to come to an agreement about how the property is to be used by each.  The complex question here for another time is this:  is there a need to build bridges between realities for greater understanding and cooperation, or can living separate realities without bridges make each of us more prosperous?

The time for a second period of Reconstruction is upon us.  Can we do it again as we did after 1865?  If the Government of We the People doesn’t get down to the business of representing We the People, then I fear the USA will permanently become the DSA.