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, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Some people, apparently believe it’s better to curse the darkness than to light one candle. What a shame. 🙁

I believe that The United States of America is currently a great nation and has always been a great nation.

It’s great, not because of our wealth, our military might and prowess, geographic location, our resources or our political leaders, but because the government it is based in high ideals such as law, order, justice, freedom and human rights.
To be sure, we sometimes fall short of our goals and stray from our ideals. It is when we set our goals consistent to our ideals and work toward them.

Our founding documents, such as the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States of America, masterfully detail those ideals.

While many nations on Earth embrace many of the same ideals we do, we are one of the rare nations whose inception is built around a set of ideals. Having these ideals and striving toward them make us a strong, stable nation.

As long as we remember, revere and strive toward our ideals, we will continue to be great. When we don’t, we risk losing this great nation.

My name is Mike.

I’m a Democrat and a proud American.

I believe that the United States of America is in existential danger from several sources.

There is danger from a foreign power who has meddled in our last presidential election and seeks to undermine our very democracy by sowing doubt and distrust among us.

We have a President who seeks to divide us, one from another by pitting us against one another. He consistently violates long-held democratic norms, spreads disinformation and tries to make us believe that agents of the free press are the ones who lie rather than he. He seeks to profit from his position, rather than serve the people who have elected him and those others who share this great land with him. He also regularly thumbs his nose at the concept of the rule of law and seeks to break all of the institutions whose purpose is to serve as a check to would-be tyrants.

Many other threats exist. Among all of the threats that endanger our nation and way of life, I believe the worst one is our disappearing ability to communicate with each other. Many forces conspire to drive us into ever-shrinking tribes where we communicate only with other members of our groups. We are quickly losing the ability to come to action as a nation of people.

We’re all acquainted with the strategy, “divide and conquer”. We are currently being successfully divided. If this continues and does not reverse, can the inevitable outcome be far behind?

There is hope though. We can all make choices to thwart this threat. Here are the steps I plan on taking to do my part to solve this crisis:

• I promise to be civil to all I deal with. This includes people with whom I fervently disagree on several issues. We don’t have to agree with everyone, but we MUST respect all people. When confronting people with whom my views differ, I will be respectful and state my views while providing information about why I feel as I do. In return, I ask my fellow humans to give me the same consideration. I will always try to remember that just because someone is opposed to something I support (or supports something I oppose), it doesn’t make them bad. I have my opinions just as they have theirs. I must respect them.
• When sharing stories or information that can be controversial, I will try to check the facts as best as I can. I will not blindly just share information which my point of view. Before I do, I will do my due diligence and check to see if the article, story, picture, etc. are factual and not just someone made up to elicit a certain reaction. Just because it’s on the internet, certainly don’t assure the information’s veracity.
•   I will try to uplift people instead of bring them down. We all see negative “news” every day. I’ll endeavor to share stories about how we can all cooperate and share our lives.
• I’ll try to always keep in mind that we all have FAR MORE in common than we have differences. I’ll try to highlight those things in common and, at the same time, celebrate those differences we have. I believe that diversity is our great strength in this nation and among all humans in general. My perspectives on issues are by necessity, limited (as are those of all others). I can only know truth by comparing and combining my perspectives with those of others (see the poem of The Blind Man and the Elephant) .

These ideas are by no means complete or extensive, but it’s a start. Please let me know your thoughts and share your ideas and feelings as well.

Peace and love to all.

Well, 2017 is over and I’m not sorry to see it go. For me, personally, the year had its ups and downs. It included new carpet, work successes, a three week bout with debilitating digestive issues (food poisoning or some nasty bug).

As a country, I feel that 2017 was an awful year. In that regard, it lived down to my expectations. In January, a person who is uniquely unqualified, assumed the office of President of the United States. His performance is as awful as I had feared. The only surprising thing, to me, is that we are not yet in a nuclear war as I feared we would be by this time. We have another 3 years for him to realize that fear, however, so I’m not comforted.

The damage that he has been able to do has been substantial. Many aspects of the social safety net have been eroded and some  abolished. The protection of our environment has been greatly scaled back. Our standing of the world has been greatly diminished. This has all been achieved in less than a year. Even if he is somehow removed from office earlier than his term ends, the damage has been done. The people who might possibly replace him are just as bad in some regards. Our only hope is that a possibility exists that one or more of the houses of Congress may come back into Democratic hands. This would, at least, be a small check on his power.

I’m not very hopeful that this will happen, but the small possibility of it is all we have for now. If there is a God, now would be a good time for him/her to intervene.

 

To all people who who are proclaiming that they are grateful that they can again say “Merry Christmas” at this time of year, I ask, “Who ever told you that you can’t?”

The fact that many individuals, businesses and government institutions choose to greet people with “Happy Holidays” instead, doesn’t diminish the expression of your faith in the least.

“Happy Holidays” is meant to be an attempt to include all people in the festivities regardless of their religion or beliefs. Rather than unintentionally exclude people by assuming that they are Christian, we wish them “Happy Holidays” to wish them happiness regardless of their beliefs.

If you want to say “Merry Christmas”, then by all means, do so. Just remember that the person to whom you send this greeting, may not share your beliefs. They probably won’t be offended as they will just attribute it to just another person making assumptions.

If, on the other hand, you’d like to indicate to people that you care about them no matter what their beliefs are, then consider using “Happy Holidays” instead.

Today is the first day of a new year. I have mixed emotions about the move from 2016 to 2017.

On a personal level, 2016 was a pretty good year for me. My work is going well. I was able to complete some major projects. I really like and respect my manager and she holds me in high regards and has told me that numerous times.

My relationships with family, friends and others are going well. I still love my home and I’m continuing to make improvements to it. Financially, I doing fine.

2016 was good for me personally, but there were some really ugly things that happened nationally.

The presidential primaries and the election were extremely ugly. It seemed like every day, there was some new ugly, gut-wrenching turn. I’m glad that it’s over, but the outcome has left me worried, concerned, fearful and sad. After the “Great Disaster” on November 8, 2016, I’m actually on the verge feeling hopeless.

It’s for this reason that I hate to see 2016 go. The thought of what is going to happen only a little over 19 days from now makes me want to cry.

It’s like I’m trapped in a car with no brakes, no steering and no way to get out. The car is hurtling toward a solid brick wall at 70 mph and there is nothing I can do about it. The optimist in me tells me that we’ll all survivr, but this is nothing like we’ve ever experienced before. I can see how it coule ALL end very badly.

Yesterday, I order some “I Support President Obama” bumper stickers, which I will have on my car for at least the next four years.