WHEN ONE AND ONE ARE THREE

 

 

DISCLAIMER: I’ve been self-quarantined since March and, like many of you amidst this craziness, fear I might be “losing it” just a bit. For example, I’m confused why I’m in the living room, but I know if I stand here long enough, then I’ll remember. 

 

Do you find it disconcerting being treated differently than others, especially when the people who demand change while requiring we follow specific protocols DO NOT do so themselves?  I’m going to turn 80 in two years so please indulge my lack of political correctness and/or WOKE skills. 

 

It just came to me. I need to turn off the living room lights. 

 

I began writing this article in May, but my family asked me to please not share with you in fear of my well-being. I do know that by voicing my discontent on controversial issues, by choosing not to put my head in the sand, leaves me vulnerable to be flanked in the rears and could potentially invite attacks and unkindness.  

 

There was a time at 6’1” and about 190 lbs. that I would easily embrace an encounter, but the truth is, I’m shrinking as we speak. I’m most likely closer to 5’11” now (and definitely a little heavier!)

 

I wish no harm to anyone. I’m simply voicing my opinion. May God be with you! 

 

Now, did I leave the cats out?

         

 

Our country has been traumatized by a pandemic that has resulted not just in the death of more than 160,000 Americans (for current information, click here), but also the loss of multiple businesses and jobs. Combining that with social unrest, the anarchy initiated by the horrific murder of George Floyd, and the tireless injustice and inequality that African-Americans have suffered far too long has unleashed a frightening rage from people of all colors!

Sadly, to those who see opportunity in all catastrophes—the hustlers, takers, and pimps—we are no more than a trick! In today's America, is it possible to initiate a conversation addressing the zealots and those whose mission is to only fan the flames of hate, fear, and anger ONLY to enrich themselves as they blatantly utilize arbitrary, bitter vitriol to incite more discontent, to gain power, without the fear of being assaulted, ridiculed, or chastised? 

What can a parent say to their children concerning the upheaval surrounding them? How do we address the discrepancy between peaceful protesters and those causing violence, loss of life, looting, and destruction? By what means can I articulate another state of consciousness, another point of view, ideals, or morality that won't fall on deaf ears, stimulate rigid pushback, or worse? 

Contributing deception and confusion in to the mix are the “spin doctors” who reside within sociologically antiquated press rooms where the news is now invented! Media gurus have found it necessary to expand their editorial staff so they are better equipped to “Create” the news instead of Reporting it. These new “psychic and telepathic divisions” are up and running!

BE A MENSCH, WEAR A MASK! 

IT COULDN’T HURT!

The media has shamed and scolded us for leaving our homes even to make a living, concluding that we would be responsible for killing others if we do so. The messages and warnings keep changing, but we all do our best to follow the directions given to us by our elected leaders. 

For months, COVID-19 consumed the news every night! Wear a mask, don't wear a mask. Information is power, but too often it seemed the data was politically motivated and inaccurate. Those with the virus must be quarantined, yet contagious senior citizens were released from hospitals and sent back to their respective assisted living facilities to die where they infected and ultimately caused the deaths of thousands!

Then something entirely unforeseen happened—

It VANISHED from the news cycle! Like playing three-card Monty with The Riddler, you just couldn't find the COVID-19 charts, the daily briefings, and analysis.

Once again, political opportunists would be driving the news. The media’s assessment along with like-minded politicians decided the protests and lawlessness in the streets better fit their agenda. News of the riots transcended reporting of the killer pandemic putting our wellbeing on the back page. The pandemic reporting only returned to the headlines when the crime, deaths, looting, and burning of our cities became too difficult to support and were negatively affecting their cause.

These “spoon-bending illusionists” want you to put your common sense aside. Don’t be concerned that they are ignoring every warning they gave us for months concerning the dangers of COVID-19 and about being in crowds as if they no longer mattered! Perhaps the health organizations found the virus only targets specific groups and ideologies and avoided others? 

Protesters, looters, statue assassins, and anarchists need not be concerned for you are “safe” from the virus and “will not” infect others! Pardon my sarcasm again, but isn’t having groups of people screaming in each other’s face, walking hand in hand, reckless behavior considering many of us have not been out for months in hopes that this pandemic might end?

FOLLOW THE SCIENCE!

 

If we are to follow the science, then it would be prudent to consider more than one’s physical health for that is just one part of a healthy, human being. Mental and emotional health is paramount as is spiritual and economic well-being! The very fact our politicians took such a drastic approach to COVID-19 based on only one of the aforementioned human health concerns is ignorant and definitely not following the science.

 

1)    Mental and Emotional Health:

a.     The Washington Post reported that in only the first three months of the quarantine, federal agencies predicted an "historic wave of mental health problems is approaching; depression, substance abuse, post-traumatic stress disorder, and suicide."

b.   John Muir Medical Center revealed in recent months that they have seen more deaths from suicide than from COVID-19. Doctor Mike deBoisblanc stated, "We've never seen numbers like this, in such a short period of time…we've seen a year’s worth of suicide attempts in the last four weeks." 

2)    Spiritual Health:

a.     The New York Times stated, "cancelled religious services are another symbol of a lost chance to be still, and to breathe.” But for many Americans, their Faith and Church is a big part of who and what they are. To remove such an essential component of their lives is misguided and totally arbitrary when used car dealers, landscaping, and pool maintenance are deemed “essential” to name a few.

 

NEWS ALERT: Attending churches and funerals is unessential; therefore, it is forbidden! Yet, cannabis businesses and liquor stores remain open. 

How is nourishing your spiritual health, your faith, burying your loved ones, or earning a living considered UNESSENTIAL?

 

b.     Our Constitution states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”

3)    Economic wellbeing:

a.     In May, the Washington Post wrote more than 100,000 small businesses have closed permanently according to a study by researchers at the University of Illinois, Harvard University, and the University of Chicago. 

b.     Within the U.S., 99.9% of businesses are considered small businesses. They are responsible for over 47% of U.S. employment and 44% of the gross domestic product. They are the key to our economic recovery and now many of them are gone! 

 

The mayors and governors of these states are complicit 

by allowing the lawlessness to continue. 

DO WHAT I SAY, NOT WHAT I DO!

 

Although we’ve been required to abide to rules regarding wearing masks and adhering to quarantines and curfews, those who enact these rules are often ignoring their own rules!

Burying a loved one is “unessential” to most, but burying a colleague is essential to public servants! Many mayors and others in the public eye eliminated the 14-day quarantine for themselves so they could travel to Atlanta, a high-risk spot, and back to DC to attend the funeral of Congressman John Lew. May he rest in peace! 

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy prohibited gatherings of 50 or more people and extended the social distancing to six feet, but walked arm in arm with hundreds of protesters without a word of the dangers of doing so! 

 

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer insisted quarantined constituents could not even cross the street to visit their neighbors, yet she walked amongst thousands for a photo op. 

 

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot defied own order and opened a “non-essential” business just to have her hair cut only to close it back down. Although many of us felt like hippies with our growing hair, Mayor Lightfoot exclaimed, “I’m the public face of this city. I’m on national media and I’m out in the public eye.” 

 

No one is above the law, especially if you initiate that law yourself!

Lori, you're a 57-year-old public servant, not Beyoncé!

Instead of breaking the laws, these public figures should be setting an example for their constituents both local and abroad. How can we be expected to “follow the rules” if they aren’t followed by those who lead us? 

FICTION OVER FACTS

To more clearly appreciate the absence of accountability when newscasters unashamedly deceive and fabricate the news, you should first think of them as tabloids where half-truths and manipulation of facts is common. 

A logical example concerns a newscaster who night-in and night-out passionately insisted everyone needed to STAY HOME if we were to end the COVID-19 pandemic. Having tested positive for the virus, he continued his broadcasts from his basement.  Then one evening, after verbally bullying his audience to adhere to the stay-at-home orders, HE was spotted in a local neighborhood with his wife and children—WITHOUT masks!

It gets worse! When confronted by an elderly gentleman simply requesting that they don their masks, instead of doing so, this mask-less newsman attempted to intimidate and verbally assault this gentleman.

Indifferent to the fact that his deception was exposed and had been reported in the media, he chose to disregard the Journalistic Code of Ethics—truthfulness, accuracy, objectivity, impartiality, fairness, and PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY. He had a TV film crew capture his bogus, long-awaited emergence from being quarantined in his basement. His wife and children pretended to see him for the first time since his quarantine. I imagine if he feels no remorse lying to America, he just doesn't care that his offspring will see him as a liar and a fraud. His wife later admitted she caught the virus two weeks after her husband went into quarantine.

America is the sum total of all that has happened from our inception until now. The good and the bad, the beautiful and the ugly, the ignorant and the brilliant somehow go hand and hand in the creation of something so magical that people from all over the world come here for a better life. We are one of the youngest countries in the world, but still have so much to learn and change. Ignoring our past, destroying all evidence of it, or attempting to erase it is foolish! Without history, you have no country. Removing or manipulating history is a totalitarian tool. Obviously, you cannot learn from nor change something that never existed!  

"THE SUMMER OF LOVE"

I'd like to suggest a wise course of action for many of the devotees of the fallen 196 Nation Chop. Nurture your memories and perceived power as you morph from obedient Lemmings to obsequious minions on your journey back to reality.

Your host, Mayor Durkan, put up with the shootings and deaths of your brethren. She then banished you from her site after literally having to put up with seeing you from her front window. The Elite will tolerate anarchy, except when it’s in their neighborhood.

 

Mayor Durkan’s disregard for families, small business owners, and those who respect the rule of law is pathetic. It’s a telling view of far too many mayors and governors responsible for destroying our cities as they seem only to be interested in qualifying for the WOKE Olympics, and possibly a Vice presidential nod.

WHAT SHOULD A PARENT SAY?

With all the turmoil we are all facing in America, how do I, or any parent, explain to their children and grandchildren that many of the protesters feel it's justifiable to shame, bully, and physically assault certain races regardless of their demands for equal rights and the end to racism?

 

In what rational conversation can I articulate to my loved ones that they might literally and/or figuratively be asked to take a knee and apologize for being white? The privilege this has afforded them as well as the possibility they may be in harm’s way because of the color of their skin is now a possibility.   

 

How will prejudice ever end if bigotry is diverted from one group to another? Prejudice keeps veering its ugly head for forgiveness is frail and elusive, often having a short shelf-life; whereas, hate seems to get stronger and stronger!

 

If you find it troubling and unfair seeing signs demanding you wear a mask, 

try to imagine what it feels like to see these signs!  

 

GOD BLESS AMERICA!