All Good

Good thoughts, good words, good deeds.
—  Zoroastrianism precept / saying
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On This Day In:
2018	History Judges Incompetent Presidencies, Too
2017	Our Confident New President
2016	Ways
2015	Be Happy, Too
2014	At Least Smile
2013	Comfortably Bound
2012	Certainty
	Thinking About Fathers
2011	And In Every Level Of Media

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On The Other

Last but not least, courage — moral courage, the courage of one’s convictions, the courage to see things through.  The world is in a constant conspiracy against the brave.  It’s the age-old struggle — the roar of the crowd on one side and the voice of your conscience on the other.
—  General Douglas MacArthur
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On This Day In:
2018	Hoping For A Blue Wave In November
2017	Garden Dreaming
2016	Well, Maybe Not “No” Talent
2015	An Appetite For Life
	A Trip To The Library
	Great Expectations
2014	Pass The Soul
2013	Zapping Music And Art
2012	Not Quite Fantastic
	That Kid Is Back
2011	Wolves At The Door
2010	I’m Feeling Patriotic… (Well, more than usual, anyway.)
	Beating the Heat…

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Most Hire

Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some hire public relations officers.
—  Daniel J. Boorstin
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On This Day In:
2018	Sounds Like #45’s White House
2017	Have We Started Winning Yet?
2016	Still Springy
2015	Well Concealed
2014	The History Of Warriors
2013	A Cult Of Ignorance
2012	Counting Valor
	Understanding Faith
2011	I Can Hear You Now
2010	Inception

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What’s At Stake…

And how naive an adult could be.  The birther imaginings about Barack Obama?  Just a silly conspiracy theory, latched onto by an attention seeker who has a peculiar penchant for them.  The “Mexican” Judge Gonzalo P. Curiel incident?  Asinine, inappropriate, a terrible attack on the judiciary by an egocentric man who imagined that the judge didn’t like him.  The white supremacists’ march in Charlottesville?  The president’s comments were absolutely idiotic, but he couldn’t possibly have been referring to those self-described Nazis as “good people”; in his sloppy, inarticulate way, he was referring to both sides of the debate over Civil War statues, and venting his anger about being criticized.
No, I thought, President Trump was boorish, dim-witted, inarticulate, incoherent, narcissistic and insensitive.  He’s a pathetic bully but an equal-opportunity bully — in his uniquely crass and crude manner, he’ll attack anyone he thinks is critical of him.  No matter how much I found him ultimately unfit, I still gave him the benefit of the doubt about being a racist.  No matter how much I came to dislike him, I didn’t want to think that the president of the United States is a racial bigot.
But Sunday left no doubt. Naivete, resentment and outright racism, roiled in a toxic mix, have given us a racist president.  Trump could have used vile slurs, including the vilest of them all, and the intent and effect would have been no less clear.  Telling four non-white members of Congress — American citizens all, three natural-born — to “go back” to the “countries” they “originally came from”?  That’s racist to the core.  It doesn’t matter what these representatives are for or against — and there’s plenty to criticize them for — it’s beyond the bounds of human decency.  For anyone, not least a president.
What’s just as bad, though, is the virtual silence from Republican leaders and officeholders.  They’re silent not because they agree with Trump.  Surely they know better.  They’re silent because, knowing that he’s incorrigible, they have inured themselves to his wild statements; because, knowing that he’s a fool, they don’t really take his words seriously and pretend that others shouldn’t, either; because, knowing how damaging Trump’s words are, the Republicans don’t want to give succor to their political enemies; because, knowing how vindictive, stubborn and obtusely self-destructive Trump is, they fear his wrath.
But none of that is good enough.  Trump is not some random, embittered person in a parking lot — he’s the president of the United States.  By virtue of his office, he speaks for the country.  What’s at stake now is more important than judges or tax cuts or regulations or any policy issue of the day.  What’s at stake are the nation’s ideals, its very soul.
— George T. Conway III
Excerpt from his opinion / editorial: “Trump is a racist president“
Appearing in The Washington Post, dtd: 15 July 2019
The full text of the editorial can be read at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/george-conway-trump-is-a-racist-president/2019/07/15/b13c0bd4-a740-11e9-9214-246e594de5d5_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.2dd85c1c2cbd
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On This Day In:
2018	But What Are You DOING About November?
	Or His Elected Position
2017	Some Good
2016	Edges
	Sums
2015	I Hope Not
2014	Study The Means Of Expressing Yourself
2013	That Stubborn Thing
2012	Like Mike
2011	Flawless Or Candid
2010	Browning…

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More Likely Unsinging

In this life of illusion and quasi-illusion, the person of solid virtues who can be admired for something more substantial than his well-knownness often proves to be the unsung hero.
—  Daniel J. Boorstin
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On This Day In:
2018	But What Are You DOING About November?
	Or His Elected Position
2017	Some Good
2016	Edges
	Sums
2015	I Hope Not
2014	Study The Means Of Expressing Yourself
2013	That Stubborn Thing
2012	Like Mike
2011	Flawless Or Candid
2010	Browning…

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It Is A Start…

Below you will find the U.S. House of Representatives Resolution 489 condemning #45 for his racist remarks (on Twitter and in public speech)…   The Resolution appears as 1) individual images (click on them to enlarge them in your image viewer), 2) a link to the full PDF file (click on it to read the PDF in your viewer), and, finally, 3) the text of the Resolution…
Click on the following link to read the full pdf file in your reader: BILLS-116hres489ih
116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. RES. 489
Condemning President Trump’s racist comments directed at Members of Congress.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Mr. MALINOWSKI submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on
RESOLUTION
Condemning President Trump’s racist comments directed at Members of Congress.
Whereas the Founders conceived America as a haven of refuge for people fleeing from religious and political persecution, and Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison all emphasized that the Nation gained as it attracted new people in search of freedom and livelihood for their families;
Whereas the Declaration of Independence defined America as a covenant based on equality, the unalienable Rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and government by the consent of the people;
Whereas Benjamin Franklin said at the Constitutional convention, ‘‘When foreigners after looking about for some other Country in which they can obtain more happiness, give a preference to ours, it is a proof of attachment which ought to excite our confidence and affection’’;
Whereas President Franklin D. Roosevelt said, ‘‘Remember, remember always, that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists’’;
Whereas immigration of people from all over the Earth has defined every stage of American history and propelled our social, economic, political, scientific, cultural, artistic and technological progress as a people, and all Americans, except for the descendants of Native people and enslaved African-Americans, are immigrants or descendants of immigrants;
Whereas the commitment to immigration and asylum has been not a partisan cause but a powerful national value that has infused the work of many Presidents;
Whereas American patriotism is defined not by race or ethnicity but by devotion to the Constitutional ideals of equality, liberty, inclusion, and democracy and by service to our communities and struggle for the common good;
Whereas President John F. Kennedy, whose family came to the United States from Ireland, stated in his 1958 book ‘‘A Nation of Immigrants’’ that ‘‘The contribution of immigrants can be seen in every aspect of our national life.  We see it in religion, in politics, in business, in the arts, in education, even in athletics and entertainment.  There is no part of our nation that has not been touched by our immigrant background.  Everywhere immigrants have enriched and strengthened the fabric of American life.’’;
Whereas President Ronald Reagan in his last speech as President conveyed ‘‘An observation about a country which I love’’;
Whereas as President Reagan observed, the torch of Lady Liberty symbolizes our freedom and represents our heritage, the compact with our parents, our grandparents, and our ancestors, and it is the Statue of Liberty and its values that give us our great and special place in the world;
Whereas other countries may seek to compete with us, but in one vital area, as ‘‘a beacon of freedom and opportunity that draws the people of the world, no country on Earth comes close’’;
Whereas it is the great life force of ‘‘each generation of new Americans that guarantees that America’s triumph shall continue unsurpassed’’ through the 21st century and beyond and is part of the ‘‘magical, intoxicating power of America’’;
Whereas this is ‘‘one of the most important sources of America’s greatness: we lead the world because, unique among nations, we draw our people — our strength — from every country and every corner of the world, and by doing so we continuously renew and enrich our nation’’;
Whereas ‘‘thanks to each wave of new arrivals to this land of opportunity, we’re a nation forever young, forever bursting with energy and new ideas, and always on the cutting edge’’, always leading the world to the next frontier;
Whereas this openness is vital to our future as a Nation, and ‘‘if we ever closed the door to new Americans, our leadership in the world would soon be lost’’;  and
Whereas President Donald Trump’s racist comments have legitimized fear and hatred of new Americans and people of color:  Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives —
1	(1) believes that immigrants and their descend-
2	ants have made America stronger, and that those
3	who take the oath of citizenship are every bit as
4	American as those whose families have lived in the
5	United States for many generations;
6	(2) is committed to keeping America open to
7	those lawfully seeking refuge and asylum from vio-
8	lence and oppression, and those who are willing to
9	work hard to live the American Dream, no matter
10	their race, ethnicity, faith, or country of origin; and
11	(3) strongly condemns President Donald
12	Trump’s racist comments that have legitimized and
13	increased fear and hatred of new Americans and
14	people of color by saying that our fellow Americans
15	who are immigrants, and those who may look to the
16	President like immigrants, should ‘‘go back’’ to
17	other countries, by referring to immigrants and asy-
18	lum seekers as ‘‘invaders,’’ and by saying that Mem-
19	bers of Congress who are immigrants (or those of
20	our colleagues who are wrongly assumed to be immi-
21	grants) do not belong in Congress or in the United
22	States of America.
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On This Day In:
2018	Young, Fun And Playing Well
2017	Earning Your Blessings
2016	A Suggestion…
	Capable Of Being
2015	Looking For The Needles In The Haystacks
2014	The Definition Of A Gentleman
2013	Thar She Blows (Not)!
2012	Naturally
2011	Been Here, Done That
	Remember
2010	Timeless Classics

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Slow Wisdom

Not until just before dawn do people sleep best; not until people get old do they become wise.
—  Chinese Proverb
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On This Day In:
2018	Young, Fun And Playing Well
2017	Earning Your Blessings
2016	A Suggestion…
	Capable Of Being
2015	Looking For The Needles In The Haystacks
2014	The Definition Of A Gentleman
2013	Thar She Blows (Not)!
2012	Naturally
2011	Been Here, Done That
	Remember
2010	Timeless Classics

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