I love this country and the freedoms that we enjoy too. This is my patriotism and feelings expressed best by others:
"I listened
as they called my President a Muslim.
I listened as they
called him and his family a pack of monkeys.
I listened as they
said he wasn't born here.
I watched as they
blocked every single path to progress that they could.
I saw the pictures
of him as Hitler.
I watched them
shut down the government and hurt the entire nation twice.
I watched them
turn their backs on every opportunity to open worthwhile dialog.
I watched them say
that they would not even listen to any choice for Supreme Court no matter who
the nominee was.
I listened as they
openly said that they will oppose him at every turn.
I watched as they
did just that.
I listened.
I watched.
I paid attention.
Now, I'm being
called on to be tolerant.
To move forward.
To denounce
protesters.
To "Get over
it."
To accept this...
I will not.
I will do my part
to make sure this great American mistake becomes the embarrassing footnote of
our history that it deserves to be.
I will do this as
quickly as possible every chance I get.
I will do my part
to limit the damage that this man can do to my country.
I will watch his
every move and point out every single mistake and misdeed in a loud and proud
voice.
I will let you
know in a loud voice every time this man backs away from a promise he made to
them.
Them. The people
who voted for him.
The ones who sold
their souls and prayed for him to win.
I will do this so
that they never forget.
And they will hear
me.
They will see it
in my eyes when I look at them.
They will hear it
in my voice when I talk to them.
They will know
that I know who they are.
They will know
that I know what they are.
Do not call for my
tolerance. I've tolerated all I can.
Now it's their
turn to tolerate ridicule.
Be aware, make no
mistake about it, every single thing that goes wrong in
our country from
this day forward is now Trump's fault just as much as they thought it was
Obama's.
I find it
unreasonable for them to expect from me what they were entirely unwilling to
give."---Author unknown.
Someone
wrote:
Mormon
"values" should have prohibited support of Trump.
And in a nutshell,
that’s my premise.
Amy’s friend,
Shawnee Loris-Sawyer shared Valerie Williams blog and wrote:
This is a classy
guy and a great role model to parents, fathers, and husbands. Our upcoming
orangutan has said his own daughter is hot and he would date her etc. BARF!!!!
I don't get how the GOP makes being anti-abortion the only family
value that's important.
Political views aside, it’s
hard for anyone to deny that President Obama is a dedicated parent.
Alongside the First Lady, he’s raised two daughters in the public eye for the
past eight years without a single misstep. Now, in his last address before
leaving office, he pays tribute to these amazing girls and reminds us that
the title he’s most proud to hold will always be that of “dad.”
In last night’s farewell
address, President Obama made many Americans emotional for more reasons than
one, but possibly his most tear-jerking moment was when he spoke of his
daughters, Sasha and Malia.
First, he praises Michelle,
calling her not only his wife and the mother of his children, but his “best
friend.” He says, “You took on a role you didn’t ask for and made it your own
with grace and grit and style and good humor. You made the White House a place
that belongs to everybody. And a new generation sets its sights higher because
it has you as a role model. You’ve made me proud. You’ve made the country
proud.”
Someone pass the tissues,
please. Like, the entire box.
As if that wasn’t
heart-wrenching enough, he then speaks lovingly of Sasha and Malia, making
pretty much everyone cry, including Malia. The Dad-in-Chief says, “Malia
and Sasha, under the strangest of circumstances, you have become two amazing
young women, smart and beautiful, but more importantly, kind and thoughtful and
full of passion. You wore the burden of years in the spotlight so easily. Of
all that I’ve done in my life, I’m most proud to be your dad.”
As the President became
choked up, so did the crowd. Watching Malia wipe tears from her face as she
listened to her father’s words, it’s clear to anyone watching that this family
has an incredible amount of love for each other, along with an unshakable bond.
Despite eight years of vile hatred lobbed their way, the Obamas have
maintained an unprecedented level of class and grace, never stooping to the
level of their detractors. And there’s no question that the gracious example of
the President and First Lady is the reason Malia and Sasha have
grown from sweet little girls into such admirable young women.
When Obama speaks of the
“burden” they bore, it’s hard to imagine what they’ve had to read about their
family over the years. But with parents like theirs, they came through it with
flying colors.
And not that we needed more
proof of the Obamas being amazing parents, but we got yet another example last
night of the values they’re instilling in their girls when Sasha was absent
from her father’s farewell address. Social media noticed she was missing and
began to speculate, but it turns out, the younger Obama daughter had a
very teenagerly reason for not being there; she had an exam this morning that she needed to study and rest up for.
Could they be more grounded and normal?
We’ve had the most
shining example of loving parenting and family life from
the Obamas for the last eight years. We will miss them dearly for a number
of reasons, but mostly, we will miss having a first family that people from
either side of the aisle could be proud of. A constant reminder of what an
American family should be.
Thank you, Obamas. From the
bottom of our hearts.
Trump
has me searching for a new religion
By Garrison Keillor January 17 Washington Post
And so the Boy President heads for Washington to
be sworn into office, pumping his fist, mooning the media, giving the stinky
finger to whomever irks him, doing his end-zone dance, promising to build the
wall, cut taxes, create jobs, provide great health insurance for EVERYONE and
send his son-in-law to the Middle East to solve that little problem, and the
rest of us will sit in a barn and keep ourselves warm and hide our heads under
our wings, poor things. Discouraging.
So I’ve been shopping around for a new religion to
see me through the next four years. Too many of my fellow Christians voted for
selfishness and for degradation of the beautiful world God created. I guess
they figured that by the time the planet was a smoky wasteland, they’d be nice
and comfy in heaven, so wotthehell. Anyhow, I’m looking around for other
options.
Buddhism involves way too much sitting still for
my taste; the Dalai Lama basically says, “Be gentle. Listen to the universe.
Live in the moment. Let happiness flow through you.” And I think to myself,
“This man has never had children.” Hinduism includes sacred cows, and my
experience with cattle makes it impossible for me to revere them; they are
stubborn and stupid, and letting them wander loose in the streets — why? Prime
rib is their proper destiny.
Islam is great and so is Judaism but they’re so
complicated! You can’t just walk into a temple and listen to a holy person and
burst into tears and throw yourself down on the floor, as you can with
Christianity, and say, “I believe!” and get dunked in water and, shazam, you’re
in.
And spirituality is no go for me, like what you
read about in books with sentences like “Creativity is the journey of
channeling connectedness and realizing the potentiality of being.” Don’t want
that. I want a religion.
At the moment, Zoroastrianism is looking good to
me. Compared with other religions, it feels comfortable, something a guy could
get used to. (It has nothing to do with the masked adventure hero Zorro, by the
way. Or his ass.) Zoroastrians believe in one Great Almighty Spirit of Good who
is in combat against evil forces, and Goodness prevails in the end. There is no
self-flagellation or staring at the sun or snake-handling. In the afterlife,
you will basically reap what you sowed in life. If you were industrious,
generous and kind, you’ll be okay, and if you lied and cheated and didn’t pay
your bills and plastered your name on big buildings, beware.
If I embraced it, I’d be one of the few
Zoroastrians in Minnesota and I could start my own First Reformed Zoroastrian
temple and pretty much write my own ticket. This is a huge advantage over the
old system of adopting the religion of your forefathers. My parents were
Bible-believing Christians, but I don’t get the parable where the latecomers
get the same pay as the early birds and also the part about lust in your heart
being the same as committing adultery itself: Where did that come from? A
Christian who believes in those things is not going to be a happy person.
My religion would be a gentle faith that believed
in the sacredness of leisure. Napping as a form of prayer. You worship the Lord
by sitting on the porch and sipping iced tea and dozing off over a good book.
Baseball is part of Reformed Zoroastrianism, and the number three, and Ferris
wheels and deep-fried cheese curds. A tolerant religion, but it would come down
hard on tailgaters and the writers of technical manuals and people who butt in
when you’re busy working. “I’m sorry to disturb you,” they say. Well, then
don’t, okay?
But then I stop and think about all the work
involved in starting up a religion and deciding on dogma and having mystical
visions, and proclaiming the truth to people who don’t care, and dealing with
the oddballs and misfits who’d be attracted to the thing, and I think, “No
way.”
So I am left with Confucianism, accepting the
sacredness of confusion. Life is messy and it always has been. We work hard to
earn money, we neglect our health and then we pay the money to restore our
health, meanwhile we forgot how to enjoy life, so what good is health anyway,
and now 80,000 people in three states have elected a president who can’t focus
on anything for more than a couple of sentences and who contradicts himself
every other day. So it goes. Have mercy.
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