In the High Peaks
















Wednesday, July 22, 2020

Warning: The Disastrous State of the Nation

Think very seriously whether you want to read this post. No books are mentioned. And no, I don't consider it a rant. It is a warning cry to all who would listen. Yes, gosh darn it,  I have had terrible difficulty posting regularly here. The state of our nation presently could not be more dismal, could not be more horrific. And people are sitting idly by. Well, perhaps if we were at war with a nation destined to crush us to dust, perhaps that would be worse.

I don't wonder that people in countries throughout the world HATE the U.S. 
There should have been a massive insurrection a long time ago to pressure the removal of our current pseudo-leader who is a sham, a charlatan, a puffed-up self-aggrandizer who is fatally paranoid, a fake, a conniver, and most of all a malevolent person who would do anything at all if it meant he would come out on top. He is, in fact, evil.

My apologies to any of his supporters who have stumbled onto my blog by mistake. It would be best if you left now.
But the stakes are too high now to remain silent. The president is operating a secret police force in several cities, where ununiformed federal officers are kidnapping protestors off the street. These officers wear no identification. They throw people into unmarked cars and take them away. Where???This has been happening in Portland, Oregon for one. This is real news. And little wonder, with this secret police crackdown, the  protests are becoming worse. We are now in the throes of a country exactly like Nazi Germany, like the Soviet Union, like the Russia of today. And it's all thanks to Mr. Fake Man who is a white supremacist and an anti-Semite, and his cronies. Oh, and don't forget the troops he has called out to battle protestors.  Troops armed with U.S. military weapons to shatter protestors. Oh, yes, you're right. Those weapons were intended to only be used by trained military in the event of war. The  police using them have not been trained in their use. And they were never developed with civilian uses in mind. WTF???
I am 67 years old. I remember the race riots of the 1960s. I remember the deaths at Kent State. But nothing then compares with what's happening now.

Okay, so where do BOOKS fit in to this picture? Well, they don't, not really.



17 comments:

  1. All true! I wish it were November already. I know some people are coping by blocking everything out. That doesn't work for me even when I get information overload and realize it is 1 am and need to be brilliant at work the next morning. Reading the Washington Post and to a lesser extent NYT has made me feel more positive. I know it would cheer me up if my house were clean and organized but instead of actually doing that as planned this week, I am finishing up my semester assignments and reading Louise Penny. There is a strange smell in the refrigerator so I know I have to figure out what it is and remove it yesterday. I wish I had the Downton Abbey servants at my disposal (except Thomas Barrow).

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    1. Your comment made me feel so much better--the humor about your house cleaning and the refrigerator most of all, and No! I agree. I could not tolerate Thomas Barrow. Heavens, help us!
      And I agree that although taking a "time out" from the stress of the news is helpful, as a citizen I don't feel right about sticking my head in the sand and never coming up for air. I couldn't sleep so I got up and wrote letters about the main topic of my post to our two senators, Schumer and Gillibrand. I don't know if it helps, but if enough people let them know how serious we believe this to be, then the better.

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  2. What we are seeing is an authoritarian movement attempting to destroy a liberal democracy. It may succeed but hopefully we we will get rid of him soon. Unfortunately the has likely done long term damage.

    In my opinion there is no need to apologize for expressing opinions on your blog. If people disagree that is part of normal discourse. I let so many opinions fly on my blog about controversial issues that I cannot imagine anyone agreeing with me about everything.

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    1. Brian,
      You are so right about this "authoritarian" movement, which I might also label as totalitarian, white supremacist, fascist, etc.
      The NPR program, "On Point" had a fascinating program last week about a 2006 FBI investigation into the organized infiltration of white supremacists and alt-right para-military individuals into the ranks of police units in towns and cities, states, etc. A number of members of Congress are trying to get the Freedom of Information Act documents they received to be unredacted, because most of the text of documents are redacted. The FBI reported on the deliberate recruitment of white supremacists into police forces in numerous areas across the country.
      Yes, and the 2006 report was based on data collected long before Trump ever took office. Sigh.
      I guess I don't want readers to be so offended by what I write that they never return. But thank you so much for your thoughts about this!! I appreciate it.

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  3. I don't think people hate the US, hopefully they know the difference between a country's people and its leadership. Although I am aware that some don't. Peter scared me when he told me he'd read that if Trump loses the election he won't concede. He'll say it was fixed and call an investigation and 'stay on' until it's settled. Which could be sometime never. I can't tell you how chilling I find that. It's like he's thought, 'Well Putin's done it, why can't I'? I'm 67 too and like you have seen a lot, but the world is far more frightening now than anything I've ever experienced. I've read a lot of books about the 1930s and that's what it's feeling like to me.

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    1. Hi Cath,
      Thank you so much for responding. The media is talking a great deal about this, based on Trump's comments from a couple of weeks back.
      First of all, due to the virus, many, many more people will be voting by absentee ballot rather than going to polling places. (That includes Ken and me.) Absentee ballots will take weeks and weeks to count, we know that much right now.
      But as Vice-Pres. Joe Biden has said, once all those ballots have been counted, and the result determined, then if he (Trump) refuses to leave the White House, fine. Implying that he can live there and tell himself he's still president, but if the results go against him, the duly elected president will begin his first term as scheduled. Period. It's a constitutional mandate.
      I'm more afraid of the stunts Trump will pull between now and the election. We see it happening now.
      And Cath, to your point, yes! We have both seen an awful, horrible lot over the course of our lifetimes, and I totally agree with you that the things happening now are scarier. This white supremacy backlash that is still gathering force in this country is something to behold. They are stockpiling weapons, and have been for some years, in preparation for the "civil war" or "the race war" that they wholeheartedly believe is coming. I have been following the work of scholars who have been researching what is happening among these groups. It's way beyond scary. And yes, the 1930s, yes--especially if you're talking about the Stalinist Purges in the Soviet Union, and the rise of Nazi Germany, and the rise of Fascism, in all nations of Europe, including England, although they never got very far in your country.

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  4. I agree with Cathy, it's the leadership other countries hate about us these last 4 years, Every day we become more numb to the outrageous behavior by this loser running our country who feels the need to rant about his dementia test and how tough it was but he ACED it - give me a break.

    You have a right to speak your peace on your own blog unless that right disappears the way things are going - and to wish a woman well who was responsible for sex-trafficing young girls??? enough said.

    BTW - You, Cathy and I are all 67!

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    1. Diane,
      First of all, I think that Cath, you, and I should celebrate being 67!! Yay!
      Secondly, I believe that people are numbed out by President Evil's behavior. I am convinced that he is in the early stages of dementia, compounded by all this other mental illnesses. It is so evident.
      But unfortunately Diane, I have heard from people who believe that the American people are at fault here for what's happening. They seem to forget that the majority of Americans did NOT vote for Trump. One person from the UK told me that the British press said that white women voted for Trump overwhelmingly. This is false. It is true, however, that the majority of white women without post-high school education voted for Trump.
      And Diane, thank you so much for reassuring me about speaking my peace on my blog. I guess my fears have been that I most want to connect with people on subjects that can sustain us while we're living through these times. I don't want people to be fearful of visiting. My blog is not about politics, after all. But I so appreciate your support. You have no idea how much!!
      Thank you!!

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  5. I was recently thinking about the deaths at Kent State and how long ago that was. I was in college at the University of Alabama at the time, and it was very scary. I don't remember if the college closed but I do remember that not many people were on the campus.

    What scares me the most is that Trump has so many supporters and that there are so many people who say that coronavirus is a hoax. I am reading the news more now than ever because of keeping up with the effects of the virus, etc. but I try to keep a sense of humor and be optimistic. I read newsletters from the Washington Post, the NY Times, and the LA Times.

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    1. Hi Tracy,
      Thanks so much for your comments.
      I'm not certain that Trump has as many die-hard supporters as he once did. Polling seems to indicate that his support has weakened. He appears to have a solid base of 34 percent. And as of today, I think the number of people who think the coronavirus is a total hoax has also decreased.
      Are you finding that people in your locale believe it is a hoax?
      I think there are some old farts (and yes, they are OLD farts [all men]!) who say that it is a hoax (at the supermarket, for example), but in general, in many states as thousands and thousands of people sicken, fewer people are able to openly bluster that it is all a hoax, without appearing to be total blithering idiots.
      I cannot keep a sense of humor about it, but I think it's great to be able to be optimistic.

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    2. I recently read different articles mentioning people who were not worried about the virus because it was a hoax (or overrated), and I found that disturbing. The age groups were not old. I am sure the numbers supporting Trump and believing in the hoax are going down. But there are still many people in California not using masks and wanting to gather at the beaches.

      Where I live I have seen none of that, but I don't go anywhere except places that require masks. I was surprised to see that downtown Santa Barbara had closed State Street to cars so that businesses could expand to the sidewalks and street, which is a good thing, but many people were not wearing masks and not socially distancing.

      Most days I find Trump and his antics humorous, but today has been a down day, so that isn't working.

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    3. I think you're right that younger people in some areas of the country have been flaunting the no mask-wearing thing. I should have specified that this is in my town that I've witnessed this among older men. It's the very old "Live Free or Die" thing that captivates some older, rural-born men. It has more to do with our culture here--not New York State culture--but rural American culture, super-independent, no one is going to tell me what to do, let me keep my guns or I'll kill you, that kind of mindset. Of course not all older men are like that here. Many are transplants from other regions, many realize the benefits of mask-wearing, but there is a certain element...
      I guess the whole hoax thing is super-spreading via conservative sites on social media. That's what I've heard.
      It would be really, really frustrating to me to have many people totally ignoring the mask warnings.

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  6. I have to say that I haven't been surprised about anything that Trump has done. Jack said from the beginning that T wouldn't give up the presidency when the time came. I suspect that he knows that if he isn't president it will only be a matter of time before he ends up behind bars, so it's all or nothing for him. His alliance with the Christian Fundamentalists is so dangerous, it's corruption and no actual Christian can agree with his behaviour. I'm keeping informed via CNN and C-Span even although it's horrifying. Americans definitely aren't hated en masse, we can differentiate between good and evil and know there are plenty of decent 'Yanks' of all creeds and shades.

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    1. Katrina,
      I haven't been truly shocked until the events I discussed in this post. He totally messed with the sovereignty of the state of Oregon and is planning to do the same thing in Illinois, and in other states. Newscasters have bandied the term "constitutional crisis" over and over during Trump's presidency, but his actions of the past week come closer than ever to a true, bona fide constitutional crisis. The State of Oregon has filed papers to sue the federal government. In addition, the Oregon chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union has also sued the feds. Trump cannot win these cases in the lower courts.
      As to Jack's conjecture, I will say that people do worry about that. But if Trump takes serious action to deny the results of the election, THIS WILL BE a CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS, the likes of which this country has never seen. Note: The Supreme Court has already ruled against Trump in two critical decisions that were extremely important to Trump. AND, the two SC judges Trump appointed ruled against him in the most important of the two cases. Trump, if he is in his right mind (and we know he's not), KNOWS for a fact that the Supreme Court will not side with him if Biden wins the election.
      The big mess of a problem will be the massive number of absentee ballots, because of the pandemic. They will take weeks to count. Trump will act to take advantage of this, but the Supreme Court knows this, as do all the justices of all the courts in this land. The House and the Senate know it, and I'm sure are already discussing amongst themselves what will they do, what can they do, in the event of Trump refusing to leave office.

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  7. I was appalled and couldn't believe I was watching scenes from the USA when I saw the news yesterday - the horrific events at Portland. And how gullible people are who believe coronavirus is a hoax! That man has to go. Each time I see what is going on in the US I shudder thinking about you and the other US book bloggers I follow and your country and hope this will all end.

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    1. Hi Margaret,
      I could not believe it either! I was so horrified--so shocked. I got up at 6 am the next morning to write to my two New York senators, Chuck Schumer (the Democratic leader in the Senate)and Kirsten Gillibrand to ask them what they, as senators, plan to do about this.
      Yes, people addicted to social media will believe anything that comes at them, I say. However, what I've found lately is that in areas where many, many people are very sick from Covid-19, the hoax believer numbers come way, way down. I guess it's impossible to believe it's a hoax when you start to see your relatives and neighbors being hospitalized for Covid-19. Shoots that "hoax" in the foot, if you know what I mean.

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