Come into the Light and Speak

Silence is the tool of the ‘bad actor’. Silence plants the seed of doubt among those of common ground. Silence sets the stage for an agenda of fear and hate. Silence leads to suspicion and creates the illusion of trust.

“Speak now or forever hold your peace.” Silence condemns people to servitude. Silence breeds corruption… No questions asked! Silence can break a heart, and no one would ever know.

Silence in the face of a bad actor leads to the downfall of Kings. Silence due to inaction sows regret and self doubt. Silence suggests support where there is none. Silence creates support where normally it would not have been.

If you are quiet, you’ll hear the silence is deafening. And the loudest among us usually has the least to say. Evil triumphs when good men are silent. And good men who stay silent are truly on the side of evil men.

In the light, that is where the Bad Actor shines brightest!

Keep your head UP!!

“Let Experience Solve It.”

George Washington’s Farewell Address. I am awe-struck at the vision these men had when considering the possible outcomes of a newly created government! He knew that his words would be tossed about for as long as the Union stood. He ENSURED it would by how he acted. How he set the tone, for the respect of the Office. So long as man puts pen to paper, the words of true fellowship and liberty will always win the day.

As true visionaries tend to do, Washington saw how this could all end. As he said, “prevent our nation from running the course which hitherto marked the destiny of nations.” He knew because it had happened before. As did ALL the Framers of our Constitution. The evil of Man has corrupted countless souls, as far back as one can see. The historical tyrants recounted today, number far fewer than the ones long forgotten, who’s actions, though less known, still led to the moral corruption of nations just the same.

The greed of corruption. The self-enrichment from the treasure of our nation, sometimes at the cost of our nation. Blood money. Pork. Lard. Pay for Play. Payola. How ever you frame it, it has stagnated cesspools and swamps, burdened the citizens, and upended civilizations throughout history. And knowing this, Washington spoke after two terms as the first President. Seeing how the nations of humanity reacted to this new ‘organization’ “…what did they call it, an ‘experiment?’ Those crazy colonists…”, and knowing this ‘experiment’ would prove a success, he gave some advice as he left-

“… the JUST pride of patriotism…” Not that the act of patriotism is just, but the patriotism that, today, We take for granted +200 years later. The strong footing on the moral high ground. Not passively enjoyed as passing fad or trend, but hard won over two centuries of shared loss, and triumphant joy in re-unification.

A Well Worn Relationship, Of Union Celebrated, and not of one Unknown!

We KNOW these words, because they were taught to us in public school. We know these words because we BELIEVE in these ideals, and have lost family to keep them. We see the words of George Washington and take them for granted. Because we have now given our all, for generations, to these conceived principals, and it lives WITHIN US! It is real, it is “good”, and THAT is why it is a “…JUST Patriotism”. “You have in a common cause fought and triumphed together!” His words, now amplified over 200 years.

“… to listen to mere speculation in such a case were criminal.” Let experience solve it!

We have now reached a sizable data pool to extrapolate from. The Office of President has been filled as prescribed by the Constitution, 45 times. 45 times our country has elected a President! Yet, to many people in this country, that rings hollow. To many people I know, this doesn’t matter, because they say “my vote doesn’t count. I live in____.” (insert red/blue State) OR “The President is only chosen by Electors, not popular vote.” The disconnect between the value and power of the voter and reality is real. And it is costing lives due to impotent leadership in dealing with natural disasters.

Many of us have forgotten the power to create positive change in our country is balanced… there is a shared responsibility. We are TIED to each other, for better or worse. Most assuredly, we WILL all hang together! No one is doubting that for one moment! That is why it was enshrined in the “Bill of Rights”… Our solution. The ability to Amend, to bend, to create a more perfect union. The existence of a “blank sheet” at the end of our Constitution. It is the most brilliant part of the whole document… nothing. everything. anything. The People’s will. Where the wellspring of fraternity flows strong, that is where OUR just patriotism comes from. Washington KNEW that the exponential growth of human minds, burning brightly within the kiln of a fair and just system, would always provide a solution.

Because the alternative… Our Constitution is a patchwork quilt, made of the beautiful parts of corrupt civilizations long fallen. It’s multi-textural structure, the framework of Laws paired with the flowing and ever changing interpretation, is a singular powerhouse BECAUSE WE SEE IT AS EVER CHANGING… as we should. Our endeavors, though blessed by Universe, are executed through the ‘Word’ of Universe. And as we advance in knowledge, so too must our system of governance. AND KNOWING THIS… over two hundred years ago, fully envisioning how a free country would likely fall, The Framers made their ONE FATAL ERROR. It is the “experiment” directly spoken of.

The ability to FULLY share responsibility for another soul, whom you will surely never meet. Can that SHARED responsibility be given FREELY to others? AND fully reciprocated? For myself, my family… our future? They balked… They had DOUBT. They had NO DATA to base a conclusion upon.

WE HAVE THAT DATA! THAT DATA IS GOOD DATA! And we now face a point where the worst envisioned fears of the Framers has come to pass. Sadly, it was of their OWN MAKING. But they left us the SOLUTION…. Because the alternative has been done before.

The intensity of the conflict at the heart of Our American struggle is unrecognized among the media, the polling, the leaders and legislators. The voters KNEW the choices for president, and their disgust for the whole corrupt political system was shouted loud and clear… “These are NOT the two best choices for the HONOR of the Office of President of OUR UNITED States.” THAT was the message. That was the demand. “FIX IT!” Not “BURN IT DOWN!”

So long as we follow the Law, and hold sacred the same values and fears our Founding Fathers held, We should re-affirm our Union and create, through Regular Order, and ratified as prescribed in our Constitution, a more perfect system. Dissolve the Electoral College, and establish in Law, our firm faith in the ideals of LIBERTY, EQUALITY, and FRATERNITY.

As this idea surely will create some panic, as change suggests an unmooring will occur, we must not forget, ALL voices MUST BE EQUAL. Though we all come from differing places, we ALL live our daily lives under the common structure that Every One is Created Equal. And ONLY from that shared equality can we have the balance, for our shared economic prosperity, our shared security, and the comfort that comes from connections unseen but treasured none the less. Values we celebrate not because they are Our values, but because they are WORTH CELEBRATING-

“With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.” –Abraham Lincoln, second Inaugural Address

To a just and lasting peace.

The “Tipping Point”

THIS is the sound… that has held a thousand people down and kicked a person at their lowest. The person who stole your lunch money, the person who forced you to do it, the person who says ‘Toots’ or ‘Broad’, just sos you know ‘your place’.

THIS is the sound that WE hear, when SILENCE is ACCEPTABLE.

SILENCE is NEVER acceptable. Because good people CANNOT hear you and try to make things RIGHT. And that’s how they win- because it is a ‘game of inches’. Numbers, “one here and one there…”, “those we can afford to lose, but the others will come to vote in DROVES!!” Drooling over votes and horse trading the numbers all the way to the BANK. If it’s voting in elections or sitting at a table in school. The minority have control over those they can control through fear, intimidation, and SILENCE.

And now we can HEAR that sound, and we can start to UNDERSTAND whom this is done UPON… better.

Empathy. Because Good People do not understand that it is possible for this shit to happen. And it DOES HAPPEN everyday. We must make a change, “not just for myself, but for others as well.”

The idea of a “Tipping Point” has been reached. Once %10 of the People know an idea or thought to be true, the next %90 of people will gain that knowledge within a fraction of the time it took %10 to get there. This sound is CLARITY. This sound is HORRIFYING. And this sound MUST END. Everyone must HEAR this sound.

keep your head up.

“By Hook, or By Crook…”

Donald Trump is Our President, and we should make no mistake about that. The idea that he is illegitimate is wrong. The law provided the structure for our President to be elected. It also endowed the power to remove the President to the elected representatives. In 2017, Our Constitution oversaw the peaceful transition of power, power given by The People.

The Law provided the ‘method’, Donald J. Trump provided the ‘means’.

Now we have to ask, how does that stand within ourselves? Are we “Good with this?” Or do we want the “system” to CHANGE?

“…we do it in LOVE and we do it IN TRUTH.” – Bishop William Barber

Everyone is interpreting the polling data WRONG. More people see this as a “Which Hunt” because we ALL see crimes have been committed, and NOTHING HAPPENS. Dr. Ronny Jackson is passing out pills to the Prez and his peeps, while a black man with a family sits in prison for WEED.

And all along we fight, brother vs. brother, while Russia, China, N. Korea, Germany, France, Canada, and Mexico are watching. As we judge the actions of everyone, from the leader of the Committee to Elect Donald J. Trump for President, to the treasurer on down, we wonder where the equal enforcement of Law has gone. There is a missing piece to this puzzle we are not being given.

All Americans understand why we are not told. We understand classified intel exists for ONE PURPOSE and we accept that. When the HONOR that once was associated with that purpose is discarded, and those who continue to maintain their HONOR are made to look like they stand against our People… AND NO Officer, either elected or appointed, does ANYTHING?!!

Of Course we SCREAM “Which Hunt!”

The corruption of unseen money ROTS a system based on HONOR. It creates a conflict of interest within a mortal man, pitting the choice between survival of family vs. survival of society. IF the benefit of society is to create stability and prosperity for ALL who seek it, then Donald J. Trump has beautifully demonstrated where the weaknesses are in our current election system.

He is, under Constitutional Law as it stands today, our Commander in Chief. And until we recognize the scope and abilities that are ‘part and parcel’ of the Office We have created, and own it FULLY…

History shows where “witch hunts” end.

We have been given the Power to CHANGE that destiny. We, The PEOPLE, are the only one’s who can DEMAND it. United. Demand it from Our Leaders… accountability, transparency, ACTION for the People, not the moneyed interests. The Vote, a POWER WEILDED by THE PEOPLE every two years, to enact change, or to ensure our shared prosperity, however We see fit.

End The Electoral College.

“Where Were You When…”

There are certain movies that, as soon as the first image comes to life on the screen, you know with out a doubt, what year you are looking at. Maybe it’s the type of car that passes in the opening credits. Sometimes it’s the clothing the actors are wearing. It strikes the mood in an intended way, as directed by the script. Usually the time of occurrence is integral to the plot.

But certain movies are unavoidably tied to a specific time period due to iconic events. As soon as that is flashed on the screen, no matter when the movie is trying to portray, we automatically know this movie is history.

As soon as you see this, you know a specific time period, specific circumstances. If you lived it, songs on the radio that summer, smells from events that took place, people you haven’t seen since then. Feelings that you felt from seeing such an amazing sight.

I hope that historians will look back at our current situation and see this image of Lady Liberty under repair, as how they describe the nation. It is a fitting metaphor for our society right now.

After hundreds of years of storms, hurricanes, earthquakes… dirt and damage due to neglect has left a noticeable mark on Liberty! The torch does not shine quite as bright as it did not so long ago. She STILL stands, but no one seems to notice the beauty as much as they used to. “Yeah, yeah… we know. What else ya’ got?”

I suppose that’s the problem with such a beautiful thing. You take for granted the idea that this powerful force stands with you everyday and you don’t stop and recognize just how wonderful it is. So many long to see her and make a point of visiting, just once, and then hope one day, they can make this place their home, too. To Us, it’s as reflexive as inhaling or blinking.

Until one day… there’s talk of changing it. What?!! There’s nothing wrong with her? Look… Keep your hands off my Lady! She’s the best thing in the world and ain’t you, or NO ONE gonna change that! You hear me?!!

Then the scaffolding goes up…

And now, that beautiful lady we didn’t want to leave, has faded from view. It’s temporary they say, but it hurts none the less. It forces us to remember just how precious having her around really is. But even more than that, it awakens a love deep within us we didn’t know was there. Seeing things in a way not seen in hundreds of years…

My God, when she’s gone, how we ache! And the comfort, and safe feeling… I wish EVERYONE could feel that way, forever. The gift of universal love and acceptance shining brightly, we must recommit to it and reaffirm just how wonderful she is!

Anyone can tell you, after so many years, every relationship has to be worked on. It cannot just sit and “be”. As we all grow, so too must our connections to others. Things get rough from time to time, and sometimes, when something separates people, it can rekindle a passion long forgotten. It will force you to question what is the priority and what is the obstacle. Having that destination in mind, of returning to that warm embrace, clarifies and emboldens.

And both understand, that this commitment is only an optional thing. We knew going into this, that we could change it at ANY POINT. The majority of relationships before ours have been dissolved, and odds are stacked against us. Some days its hard to see the common ground we want to achieve. Some days we think maybe there is greener grass. But there is something to be said for the comfort we get from being in a relationship with Liberty. The ability to chose, to bend, to grow. The freedom to gain scars from failed endeavors, and know a place to heal awaits us in times of trouble.

As disconnected as we sometimes feel we are, when we see her, we remember why we get out of bed some mornings. Because we gotta try and get it right… if not for me, then for Her.

Keep your head UP.