Hard Feelings

 

It is difficult at times for me to have compassion for those who determine to wreak havoc with their words.  Today was the passing of a very controversial figure in media and as i scrolled through many of the posts on social media I noticed friend after friend being compassionate.  Many, I believe, because they were on the same side of the fight as the person who died.  I immediately looked to see how many likes they had regarding their post and made a mental note of the individuals that agreed with the sentiment.  I have often said that i would not judge a friend for having different beliefs than me, but that does not mean that I will put myself in a position to argue the point.  I find it senseless to engage in political or religious debate because I will not change their way of thinking, nor will they mine.  It's set.  That program in my brain has chummed through all the data and added the wisdom of years and cemented my position.  My politics and religious choices will not differ.  That is not the same as an education though.  I am very open to learning new things and hearing new ideas...if they are truly new.  but rehashing the old is not something with which i want to waste my time.  Give me a new discovery in medicine, enlighten me about the cosmos, update me on the latest technology...my ears are open.  The rest?  Keep to yourself.  Bring me joy, love, peace, and happiness.  Leave your pettiness, hate filled speech,  and conspiracies behind.

The End Game

 As I sit behind my desk and contemplate the final hours of our current president a thought stumbled through my brain:  What if the Pardon/Commutation aspect of the presidency was his End Game.  What if all along he was waiting for the end so that he could protect some of the people that either supported him, or had "something" on him.  I know that is sounds crazy, but as I looked at the previous list of people that he pardoned, I didn't see a whole lot of wrongfully accused.  I saw Wall Street Cheaters, Drug Dealers, Murder suspects, etc.  There were no socially significant individuals.  Not that former President Obama didn't have a share of equally questionable people on his list, but he also righted some injustices along the way a feat that has yet to materialize with the Trump list.  But that should be known shortly.

The state of things...

 It is probably good that I have the job that I have.  Everyday I look at the news and try to glean stories that relate a factual message without adding my own bias.  It is normally an easy thing to do, and thankfully I work in news at a local and regional level.  If I were someone who had to report the current national situation, I might find that my integrity would come in question.  I get so frustrated watching events unfold and then watching everyone react to them.  Left side, Right side, the ones in the middle all wanting people to believe in their causes.  And when mainstream media portrays them you rarely, if ever see mainstream America represented.  you see the country as it has been fractional-ized.  You see the dreads and the downtrodden.  You see people that are upset with their lot in life and rather than try to do something to make it better, they find someone to blame for it all.  Then comes along a leader, that for all intent and purpose, is one of them.  At least in words and deeds.  Someone who knows how to manipulate for his own purpose.  And at first he comes across as a beacon of light, a distraction from the norm for which we have grown accustomed,  but a closer look and cracks begin to appear in the shiny bright picture that has been painted.  it happens slowly over time, not that many of us didn't notice it, but so many were oblivious, because he spoke as one of them.  He used their rhetoric and their vernacular and he became the voice of the disenfranchised.  He brought out the bias and prejudice and flaunted it before the nation.  He was foul, uncouth, and any reverence he had was self-directed.

I know that many of my friends supported, and many still support, him without regard to his behavior or his twisting of the truth, or outright lies created from his own mind.  They didn't see his character based on the company he kept, the people he surrounded himself with, and many who knew him, perhaps didn't know the real him.  The celebrities that spoke highly of him were in a circle all their own.  Because He craved adoration, so he acted in a way that made others adore him.  And the ones that did speak out were vilified in public forums, ridiculed over social media platforms and called 'stupid' or 'idiot'.

We have seen the worst of human nature in the recent past, and I am afraid that the future holds more of the same, even in His absence.  Others will take his lead and build upon the rubble left in his wake.  I would pray for redemption, but i fear we are far removed from that.  I will pray, however, that my words are not a prediction of a future dark and filled with the socially unconscious.