We, The People, On July 4th, 2019

Although I rarely say such terrible things, right now I am glad neither my dad nor FIL are alive at this moment. 

I wouldn't want my Battle of the Bulge fighting US Army Republican Dad or my Normandy invading and Italy fighting US Naval officer Democrat father-in-law to see the president of the United States aligning himself with dictators who rival the old Axis enemies for crimes against humanity. Everything these guys went to war to fight against, Feckless Leader has embraced. 

In this past month alone, he has promised advanced weapon construction technology to a country that murdered a journalist who happened to be an American citizen. He brought America to the brink of war with Iran with braggadocio posturing, only to suddenly have an Aaron Sorkin-esque epiphany about how many people might die in an attack when at home in an excess of 45,000 Americans die annually from lack of affordable healthcare he and his party refuse to authorize. And, just for shits and giggles, he held hands with a man who executes his own family members and starves his people while he lives in luxury.

I am so relieved Ziggy, who believed with his entire being in the Constitution of the United States and the system of checks and balances upon which our government is built, isn't here to have his heart broken by the lies, hate, and rhetoric of evil that pours from the executive branch every day without end. He would be decimated by the images of the president and Putin making light of Russian interference in our elections.

I get it that some people are Republican just like some people are Democrats. I get that there are philosophical differences between liberals and conservatives. And I get that these differences are rooted in deeply held beliefs. What I don't get is the name calling, the vituperative commentary, the out-and-out outrageous lies, and the hate. This is not who We, the People are supposed to be. We, the People are supposed to stand for Truth, Justice, and the American Way. I'm not always sure what that means, especially not these days, but I don't think it means cozying up to murderous dictators or caging kids.

And while we're on the subject of dictators and caging kids, let me say this about that: "detention centers" are concentration camps. 

Now, there is a difference between death camps and concentration camps, and we cannot lose sight of that difference. But herding people into those centers, housing them like cattle, refusing to provide for basic human needs qualifies them as concentration camps. Just like Manzanar and the other Japanese internment sites in this country were concentration camps. Face it; they were. 

Too many really cold nights I stood in Dag Hammarskjold Plaza shouting a whole lotta slogans, most of which were directed at the Soviets at that time, but usually included the phrase NEVER AGAIN. Even then, I knew this was not just about us.

No one and I mean NO ONE should ever do to ANYONE what was done to us in Europe. Not just in Germany by Germans; they had help from Poles in Poland, Austrians in Austria, the French in France, Italians in Italy, Greeks in Greece, and the Russians in Russia just to name a few. NEVER AGAIN includes the pogroms that came before that. NEVER AGAIN includes the Spanish Inquisition. NEVER again includes Rwanda, Cambodia, Bosnia, Darfur, and the Indigenous Peoples of the Western Hemisphere. 

NEVER AGAIN MEANS NEVER AGAIN FOR ANYONE.

If you are entertaining the idea that there are no similarities between that list and what's happening at the southern border, think again. ICE and other agencies of the United States of America are rounding people up, putting them in camps, and voiding their human rights. 

Children are dying. Children have been forcibly taken from their parents. Some have subsequently been lost in the foster care system. Not just teenagers....TODDLERS, people. Two year olds. Little kids with no voices of their own.

Where is their Independence Day?

How can I look Little Miss and Young Sir in the eye and say I did nothing to help stop other children from being destroyed by this inhumane machine? 

I cannot. I will not. I will not be silent. And neither should you. 

July Fourth is about independence from tyranny; it's not about perceived military might or hardware. It's not about parading metal macho substitutes through the streets of our capital city. In fact, it's just the opposite.

Fourth of July is a day to rededicate ourselves the idea that once upon a time, We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, did ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

That's my Constitution and I'm sticking with it.

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

This is what July Fourth is not about.

Victory Day Parade 2019  in Red Square.