Twenty-four years ago, on December 31, 1999, President Bill Clinton closed the 20th century from the Lincoln Memorial with these closing words — the last spoken in the 20th century by an American president: Now, we're just moments from that new millennium. Two centuries ago, as the framers were crafting our Constitution, Benjamin Franklin was often seen in Independence Hall looking at a painting of the sun low on the horizon. When, at long last, the Constitution finally was signed, Mr. Franklin, said: "I have often wondered whether that sun was rising or setting. Today I have the happiness to know it is a rising sun."
Didn’t Liz Cheney say we are sleepwalking into a dictatorship? I don’t know why most people can’t see what’s happening to our beloved country. When I think of what people went through in 1776 and beyond to create a government entirely new and without precedent, and to see it end up like this is heartbreaking.
What if most people can see what is happening and either want it to happen, or don’t care if it does? I fear that those of us who heed the Warning may have been living a fantasy that most of our fellow citizens think and see our country and our government as we do.
All the words like democracy, freedom, liberty, justice, equality, common good, etc. have undergone an Orwellian transformation where we are using the same words, but are speaking a different language!
They are getting their news from garbage sources, pure propaganda, they have no idea of what is possibly coming down the pike. Our freedom of the press has been used against us.
“It cost us $6 trillion, and that number is expected to go higher because of the long-term health-care costs for veterans. It turned the Middle East upside down, increasing the regional influence of Iran. More than 7,000 American servicemen and women died in action; 30,000 more, an extraordinary number, died by suicide. In all, more than 800,000 Iraqis, Afghans, and others, most of them civilians, perished in the war.”
Excellent Steve! I wasn’t aware the cost of the war on terror was over $6 trillion so far. Or 30k suicides. This truly is disheartening. And now Israel is falling into the same rabbit hole that cost us greatly, and it may help Trump win this election.
As for the MAGA threat, it’s all too real and scary. My issue is whether this is worth the fight. The media, continues to cover Trump wall to wall, and pays lip service to Biden; and even then, it’s usually about a gaffe he made.
In the last week alone, Biden gave five speeches, some of them excellent; honing in on the economy and kitchen table issues. Yet, all we heard from the media coverage was crickets; they covered Trump’s trial and tribulations, ignoring Biden completely.
We also have many liberals who will vote third party or not at all because of Gaza, giving little credence to a second Trump administration. And we have Trump currently winning the youth vote and making headway with minorities and Latinos.
My point! If this is the government these people want, the why should we even bother at this point. Maybe they deserve to suffer because they’re imbeciles. We’re making every effort to educate people on the dystopian future that lies ahead, and it’s falling on deaf ears.
Bottom line: this shouldn’t even be close, and right now Trump is winning. Any thoughts?
A couple of weeks ago, I had a days where I thought that if the people of this country want someone like Trump, then so be it. It will be a hard lesson, but maybe the only way to stop this nightmare. I consoled myself by deciding that I could hunker down here in the woods, along the river and try to ride it out.
It came not because I don’t care, not because of not being interested, but because I felt hopeless. Deep within me was this feeling of hopelessness. If I am to be honest, it has made a home within me.
I’m with you 100%. I blame the media for allowing Trump to once again suck all the oxygen out of the room.
Ironically, the MSM can’t quit Trump because he’s ratings gold, but should Trump win, the free press will be anything but free. They’re cutting off their nose, to spite their face…:)
I am down to one news show a day, Deadline Whitehouse. After the first hour yesterday, I changed to watch old seasons of Expedition Unknown. Otherwise, my TV is mostly off.
I also agree with you. As Jefferson said, “The government you elect is the government you deserve.” I am retired and don’t have the energy to educate people who won’t listen. My wife and I recently moved from Texas to California because of politics. If Trump is elected in November, we will probably leave the country. To where we don’t yet know. I will also renounce my US citizenship.
Ron, I have a beautiful home in the southern lake district of Chile that I am selling.
It is completely furnished & turnkey with an amazing view of a snow covered volcano on 1.5 acres of land. It is in an old growth forest in a gated community near a large lake. Who would have ever thought that Chile would be safer than the USA, but it is. Let me know if you want to take a photo look at this amazing deal. We will hunker down on the Big Island and give up traveling so much.
Sorry to hear that and I know it’s the same for many of us- The barrage of negativity, inhumanity, and sheer hell around the world, speaks to the failings of humanity and her leaders. It’s hard to escape.
It's 2015-16 all over again! Even MSNBC had panels covering and analyzing every word, or TFG movement for hours on end after the day ended. They mentioned Biden speeches, but didn't bother airing them. Even CSPAN wasn't airing them, but aired TFG's rally! I still blame the media for giving us this clown.
No need to make anything up! Do ads that show the reality of the Trump Presidency: those long car lines at food pantries, tax breaks for the richest among us, migrant children in cages, Trump saying Covid will go away. Kushner hoping for blue state catastrophe. There’s a lot to choose from, all within our experience. So many seem to have forgotten the reality we just lived through.
The protection of freedom that Americans have been “born” with, since its inception are at risk because a Trojan Horse, that entered into the gates of our political universe, under the guise of being, well so many things, but first and foremost, a “Reality” TV show, not based at all on reality. The “answers” he brought to American problems have all been as bogus, il informed, and criminal as every single thing he boasted as his “reality” which was tied up in a bow and crammed down the unaware TV watching population’s throats, who took it hook, line, and sinker.
The misnomer of “The War on Terror”, which was in actuality(as you have pointed out), a blood bath launched upon those unlucky enough to be despised by, or in any way held suspect by, an equally subverted “leader”, George W.Bush, (who now paints peacefully in his Texas ranch) who used our flag, and our impassioned loss as fertilizer for his own brand of misled, unabashed hate. It also laid out a model, which replicated itself in Syria, to name one, and there are many and now against the people of Palestine.
Watching/letting the horrific wars proliferate has left Americans and the world in a consistent state of shock. Ignoring the inhumanity is the only way to cope.
Our capitalist society, set up to keep the lowest among us down, is consumed with itself. Putting roofs over the heads of our children, educating them, feeding them, and doctoring them, is at the very least all consuming. If we don’t fall in that category (God forbid) we have another set of “you don’t deserve to live” problems.
Then we have a “Religious Right” (who are stealing their place in our society, since we were actually set up to be completely protected from them) who take AIM at every “other” life, which isn’t theirs because of course they believe their God has ordained them to do so.
A woman cannot even have a private sexual life anymore. Think about that.
We are not walking blindly, or ignoring the obvious when it comes to the totalitarian regime knocking at our door.
We are beleaguered by the bullying, the lack (even though we’re the richest country in the world) the gaslighting, the ridiculousness of our healthcare system, the closing of doors to any not rich enough to enter, and the day to day mammoth effort it takes to be an American. We are bewildered at a system that ALLOWS, no PROTECTS a criminal caught red-handed at attempting to over-throw our country. And we are comatose from watching the endless “news” hours, On.That.Alone. What about the kids, baseball, and piano lessons?
I hear your call Steve. I am not offering excuses for why Americans are not rising up. When a country’s entire Media Complex stops for six weeks to see NOTHING else besides the minutia of a trial of a man who so obviously is guilty as charged, we missed virtually everything else that happened in this time frame. Everything.
Spot on Marc Blackwell. Millions are indifferent, millions are exhausted. I know I will vote again for President Biden, and all blue down the line, put up my signs , and try to talk with others. But it feels like swimming upstream against a raging river.
Speaking for many of my friends and me, exhaustion has replaced outrage. It isn’t apathy, indifference or neglect it is burnout.
I feel hopeless in the face of ignorance, indifference and pure evil.
Just yesterday, on an official campaign site we read of a new Reich, not an implication but an outright attack on a judges heritage and the prospect of taking away contraception.
Just one day, and it’s everyday! Yet half the country wants him to be potus 47.
How can this be? Where have we gone wrong? And you want us to be enthusiastic? How can we be? If feels hopeless!
You couldn't make a clearer case than you have here. I am not indifferent, I do feel outrage. I am not prone to violence. The fading dump trump signs in my yard and at my business will get stop trump signs to accompany them. Don't miss the May 22 Letters from an American. Thank you, Steve.
I'm reminded of the native American story about the two wolves within every person, one of Light and goodness, the other of Darkness and evil. The one that wins is the one you feed.
However, the story doesn't end there. In the Cherokee world, there’s another version of the story:
(Excerpt from article by Jean-Michel Wu
Sept 2, 2020)
The old Cherokee simply replied, “If you feed them right, they both win.” and the story goes on:
“You see, if I only choose to feed the Light wolf, the Dark wolf will be hiding around every corner waiting for me to become distracted or weak and jump to get the attention he craves. He will always be angry and will always fight the Light wolf.”
“But if I acknowledge him, he is happy and the light wolf is happy and we all win. For the dark wolf has many qualities — tenacity, courage, fearlessness, strong-willed and great strategic thinking–that I have need of at times. These are the very things the light wolf lacks. But the light wolf has compassion, caring, strength and the ability to recognize what is in the best interest of all.”
“You see, son, the light wolf needs the dark wolf at his side. To feed only one would starve the other and they will become uncontrollable. To feed and care for both means they will serve you well and do nothing that is not a part of something greater, something good, something of life.”
“Feed them both and there will be no more internal struggle for your attention. And when there is no battle inside, you can listen to the voices of deeper knowing that will guide you in choosing what is right in every circumstance.”
“Peace, my son, is the Cherokee mission in life. A man or a woman who has peace inside has everything. A man or a woman who is pulled apart by the war inside him or her has nothing.”
“How you choose to interact with the opposing forces within you will determine your life. Starve one or the other or guide them both.” (end)
Right now, the Dark Wolf is devouring most of the food.
Dark Wolf indeed Max. Talk about frustrating, here is a story. I have spoken before here about an amazing 2,000 page tome that I have been studying for 55 years, Titled The Urantia Book, which claims to be the fifth Epochal Revelation to this strife torn planet ( the others are explained in the text). It explains the universe of universes, our relationship to God, human evolution, the development of civilization, science, philosophy, world religions and the COMPLETE life and teachings of Jesus, as was recorder by our unseen "cousins" called the MIdwayer creatures, ( I know that sounds crazy). It emphasizes the importance of truth, beauty and goodness in living our lives, and yet there are Trumpers in our spiritual movement.
How can this be? How can one profess to believe these teachings, read such a large book and still support this evil man. Then at our recent international conference (the book has been translated into 25 different languages, so many people around the world study it) we were requested to not talk politics. BS I said and talked privately about this threat to our democracy to anyone who would listen. There are no opposing forces within me, I know the truth and the truth has set me free! But I wonder, is there really hope that Biden can get elected if Urantia Book student, who should know better can vote for Trump?
I never heard of this Urantia book, but I will check it out.
I am particularly drawn to native American allegories because they colorfully provide a way of looking at life situations. They don't provide a list of hard and fast rules.
I definitely have opposing forces within me, so the story I posted speaks directly to my experience.
I think a Urantia book student - despite my lack of knowledge - certainly could vote for Trump. People behave in contradictory ways all the time. Plus, people can fall victim to lies and then double down on their beliefs despite hard evidence to the contrary. I don't think anyone is immune from getting caught up in the denotation of a metaphor rather than the connotation of a metaphor (to paraphrase Joseph Campbell).
It is definitely not for everyone, only those with open minds, that are willing to be stretched. It does have some interestings stories about the red race and their migration from China to North America 85,000 years ago, which is much earlier than our scientists think that they came here. I have great respect for Joseph Campbell.
feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
i don't think anyone reading here is indifferent. the problem is there are no cahones in most of the R Party. We still have Mike Pence saying he will vote for Trump even though he was almost hung a few years back. If there aren't tons more R's coming out to explicitly say they will vote for Biden then we will have Trump back in. There was a great article today in Pro Publica about the chaos in the Michigan R Party and just how many formerly sane Republicans have wholesale adopted that the election was stolen and how that asshole Bannon has strategized a precinct level takeover that is changing how the people select their reps.
Thank you so very much for your eloquent well thought out, vividly supported efforts to save us all from the brutality and selfishness of the few. May your words strike hold in the minds and hearts of all your readers & spread like wildfire.
What I wanted to talk about is where we went wrong, rooted, as so much else in the aftermath of Watergate.
I spent the 1980s working for a scrappy alternative paper in Seattle. We grew aby solid reputation for our insider's view of politics and coverage of "what's really going on" in government. I was so proud of the times the dailies picked up our lead.
But then came an evening during budget season. The King County Council (local government for burgeoning suburbs) recessed for dinner and I joined the beat reporters from at least 3 dailies at a local restaurant. We were happily sharing stories when I started ranting about the irreconcilable differences in the facts as presented by each of 2 wings in the council, and my struggle to figure out which budget number were correct. My colleagues told me, en masse, that everyone was lying, there was no way to find the truth, so our job was to just repeat what each side was saying.
And they wondered why people quit reading newspapers.
There is so much blame to go around. Who even pays attention to the US Senate, except for an occasional eruption (like teen acne)from the Joe Manchin's of the world. The solid, important work of Sheldon Whitehouse to call a corrupt judiciary to account has been ignored. There is no point in blaring about Senate confirmation hearings if we are content to confirm Brett Kavanaugh in blissful ignorance of who paid all his debts. Or not knowing or caring that what used to be the extreme right wing has bought its way to a working majority of the Supreme Court.
(A prize to be determined to who finds the last confident pronouncement the Supremes would NEVER overturn Roe vs Wade because advocating overturn was such a great fundraising tool. I was reading versions even after draft Dobbs leaked)
I'm concentrating on the failures of journalism because it's what I know best. But also because the founders envisioned a vital role for truth tellers. I don't know that they ever envisioned a press absorbed into indifference.
"They're all lying" should never have been the lesson of Watergate.
What scares me is that we have spent more than half a century operating on the underlying premise that it's all corrupt. Political leaders, journalists, business are all liars, operating a conspiracy we poor schmucks know nothing about. The smart people are pulling the wool over the eyes of folks who actually care about who we elect, what laws are proposed, the promises the powerful make.
Do folks really think you can indoctrinate 2 generations with the idea House of Cards is reality and NOT have people believe it? It's the bottom line of a popular culture that includes endless best-sellers, TV series, movies....The occasional hero or heroine is the exception swimming against an ocean of liars and profiteers.
The short-term lesson of Watergate was the good guys prevailing. Long-term, it was electing Ronald Reagan, in so much the epitome of promising one thing and doing another. The Washington Post, at the time, a sleepy, mediocre company town paper rose to glory by swimming against the tide and insisting Watergate mattered while The New York Times resolutely insisted nothing was happening here. But the Times paid no price for its failures, becoming the epitome of cozy, access journalism. The model became Maggie Haberman, sitting on Trump himself announcing what Trump was up to until her book was done. She should have been fired, not give a permanent White House nest.
This is too long. Let me return for anyone who thinks this is just a rant.
Bill Clinton? REALLY If anyone ever made great noises while destroying our ideals by seeking "compromise" as a virtue, not a tool for a bigger purpose....
From far away I watch this tragic horror unfolding in the USA. It effects our world and because I care, it keeps me awake at night. I too am getting exhausted. I am having thoughts of maybe it is history repeating itself. And the world with the USA needs once again to learn a hard lesson. When people tell me only tRump can save America, that Biden is too weak… I see a decent man as president who cares for „normal“ Americans and by improving lives and infrastructure is making an American future something bright. What, pray, is weak in that??
I think we are fucking blind. Today’s MAGA outrage is that Joe Biden tried to have Trump assassinated by the FBI when it went in search of the huge trove of classified documents and MarALago. Because Alito and Thomas are in the tank for Trump on the hijacked SCOTUS, and because Cannon is in the tank for Trump in FL, none of the outrageous and treasonous crimes this man has committed will be adjudicated in a court of law before the election.
Americans don’t know WTF because the crimes against the US perpetrated by Trump have been successfully delayed beyond the point of ghoulish reckoning. The election.
And Biden isn’t ringing a klaxon every day and refuting each egregious lie and fabrication and because of that failure, the lies sink into the collective national gullibility and the media amplifies all the bullshit.
We are likely going to lose this country and it breaks my heart. I become grimmer and more depressed with each passing day.
Didn’t Liz Cheney say we are sleepwalking into a dictatorship? I don’t know why most people can’t see what’s happening to our beloved country. When I think of what people went through in 1776 and beyond to create a government entirely new and without precedent, and to see it end up like this is heartbreaking.
What if most people can see what is happening and either want it to happen, or don’t care if it does? I fear that those of us who heed the Warning may have been living a fantasy that most of our fellow citizens think and see our country and our government as we do.
All the words like democracy, freedom, liberty, justice, equality, common good, etc. have undergone an Orwellian transformation where we are using the same words, but are speaking a different language!
They are getting their news from garbage sources, pure propaganda, they have no idea of what is possibly coming down the pike. Our freedom of the press has been used against us.
Yes, the laziness and indifference are not what Americans fought so hard for
I think this nation is completely drugged out on social media. And Putin, an expert propogandist, is exploiting it like crazy.
“It cost us $6 trillion, and that number is expected to go higher because of the long-term health-care costs for veterans. It turned the Middle East upside down, increasing the regional influence of Iran. More than 7,000 American servicemen and women died in action; 30,000 more, an extraordinary number, died by suicide. In all, more than 800,000 Iraqis, Afghans, and others, most of them civilians, perished in the war.”
Excellent Steve! I wasn’t aware the cost of the war on terror was over $6 trillion so far. Or 30k suicides. This truly is disheartening. And now Israel is falling into the same rabbit hole that cost us greatly, and it may help Trump win this election.
As for the MAGA threat, it’s all too real and scary. My issue is whether this is worth the fight. The media, continues to cover Trump wall to wall, and pays lip service to Biden; and even then, it’s usually about a gaffe he made.
In the last week alone, Biden gave five speeches, some of them excellent; honing in on the economy and kitchen table issues. Yet, all we heard from the media coverage was crickets; they covered Trump’s trial and tribulations, ignoring Biden completely.
We also have many liberals who will vote third party or not at all because of Gaza, giving little credence to a second Trump administration. And we have Trump currently winning the youth vote and making headway with minorities and Latinos.
My point! If this is the government these people want, the why should we even bother at this point. Maybe they deserve to suffer because they’re imbeciles. We’re making every effort to educate people on the dystopian future that lies ahead, and it’s falling on deaf ears.
Bottom line: this shouldn’t even be close, and right now Trump is winning. Any thoughts?
A couple of weeks ago, I had a days where I thought that if the people of this country want someone like Trump, then so be it. It will be a hard lesson, but maybe the only way to stop this nightmare. I consoled myself by deciding that I could hunker down here in the woods, along the river and try to ride it out.
It came not because I don’t care, not because of not being interested, but because I felt hopeless. Deep within me was this feeling of hopelessness. If I am to be honest, it has made a home within me.
I’m with you 100%. I blame the media for allowing Trump to once again suck all the oxygen out of the room.
Ironically, the MSM can’t quit Trump because he’s ratings gold, but should Trump win, the free press will be anything but free. They’re cutting off their nose, to spite their face…:)
I am down to one news show a day, Deadline Whitehouse. After the first hour yesterday, I changed to watch old seasons of Expedition Unknown. Otherwise, my TV is mostly off.
I stopped watching the news completely…:)
Me too. I keep posting in threads how boring it is
Dateline Secrets Uncovered. As soon as my gorge starts to rise and I begin a panic attack.
I also agree with you. As Jefferson said, “The government you elect is the government you deserve.” I am retired and don’t have the energy to educate people who won’t listen. My wife and I recently moved from Texas to California because of politics. If Trump is elected in November, we will probably leave the country. To where we don’t yet know. I will also renounce my US citizenship.
We can’t make/force people to change. That goes for the media also. I’m retired also and feel the same. Glad you were able to leave Texas
Thanks! We love Sacramento.
Renouncing your citizenship will not help anything. You don’t want to stay and fight. I sure do
My point is that I'm not willing to stay and fight roughly 50% of the population. I don't want to be a citizen of such a country.
I know your point. That’s how Europe went to war. No one cared enough
Ron, I have a beautiful home in the southern lake district of Chile that I am selling.
It is completely furnished & turnkey with an amazing view of a snow covered volcano on 1.5 acres of land. It is in an old growth forest in a gated community near a large lake. Who would have ever thought that Chile would be safer than the USA, but it is. Let me know if you want to take a photo look at this amazing deal. We will hunker down on the Big Island and give up traveling so much.
Sorry to hear that and I know it’s the same for many of us- The barrage of negativity, inhumanity, and sheer hell around the world, speaks to the failings of humanity and her leaders. It’s hard to escape.
I feel that.
It's 2015-16 all over again! Even MSNBC had panels covering and analyzing every word, or TFG movement for hours on end after the day ended. They mentioned Biden speeches, but didn't bother airing them. Even CSPAN wasn't airing them, but aired TFG's rally! I still blame the media for giving us this clown.
Trump gets free tv time every day from MSM. Biden gets little coverage except negative! That’s one reason!
The opposite of love isn't hate. It's indifference.
Thanks to Steve and to all of you. Time to shock the American people out of complaints and complacency. There is no future without action now.
Carol, what are your ideas of “shocking the American people out of complaints and complacency”.
No need to make anything up! Do ads that show the reality of the Trump Presidency: those long car lines at food pantries, tax breaks for the richest among us, migrant children in cages, Trump saying Covid will go away. Kushner hoping for blue state catastrophe. There’s a lot to choose from, all within our experience. So many seem to have forgotten the reality we just lived through.
The protection of freedom that Americans have been “born” with, since its inception are at risk because a Trojan Horse, that entered into the gates of our political universe, under the guise of being, well so many things, but first and foremost, a “Reality” TV show, not based at all on reality. The “answers” he brought to American problems have all been as bogus, il informed, and criminal as every single thing he boasted as his “reality” which was tied up in a bow and crammed down the unaware TV watching population’s throats, who took it hook, line, and sinker.
The misnomer of “The War on Terror”, which was in actuality(as you have pointed out), a blood bath launched upon those unlucky enough to be despised by, or in any way held suspect by, an equally subverted “leader”, George W.Bush, (who now paints peacefully in his Texas ranch) who used our flag, and our impassioned loss as fertilizer for his own brand of misled, unabashed hate. It also laid out a model, which replicated itself in Syria, to name one, and there are many and now against the people of Palestine.
Watching/letting the horrific wars proliferate has left Americans and the world in a consistent state of shock. Ignoring the inhumanity is the only way to cope.
Our capitalist society, set up to keep the lowest among us down, is consumed with itself. Putting roofs over the heads of our children, educating them, feeding them, and doctoring them, is at the very least all consuming. If we don’t fall in that category (God forbid) we have another set of “you don’t deserve to live” problems.
Then we have a “Religious Right” (who are stealing their place in our society, since we were actually set up to be completely protected from them) who take AIM at every “other” life, which isn’t theirs because of course they believe their God has ordained them to do so.
A woman cannot even have a private sexual life anymore. Think about that.
We are not walking blindly, or ignoring the obvious when it comes to the totalitarian regime knocking at our door.
We are beleaguered by the bullying, the lack (even though we’re the richest country in the world) the gaslighting, the ridiculousness of our healthcare system, the closing of doors to any not rich enough to enter, and the day to day mammoth effort it takes to be an American. We are bewildered at a system that ALLOWS, no PROTECTS a criminal caught red-handed at attempting to over-throw our country. And we are comatose from watching the endless “news” hours, On.That.Alone. What about the kids, baseball, and piano lessons?
I hear your call Steve. I am not offering excuses for why Americans are not rising up. When a country’s entire Media Complex stops for six weeks to see NOTHING else besides the minutia of a trial of a man who so obviously is guilty as charged, we missed virtually everything else that happened in this time frame. Everything.
Even Israeli hostages took back seat.
Who the hell can keep up?
Spot on Marc Blackwell. Millions are indifferent, millions are exhausted. I know I will vote again for President Biden, and all blue down the line, put up my signs , and try to talk with others. But it feels like swimming upstream against a raging river.
Bravo, brilliant column
Speaking for many of my friends and me, exhaustion has replaced outrage. It isn’t apathy, indifference or neglect it is burnout.
I feel hopeless in the face of ignorance, indifference and pure evil.
Just yesterday, on an official campaign site we read of a new Reich, not an implication but an outright attack on a judges heritage and the prospect of taking away contraception.
Just one day, and it’s everyday! Yet half the country wants him to be potus 47.
How can this be? Where have we gone wrong? And you want us to be enthusiastic? How can we be? If feels hopeless!
You couldn't make a clearer case than you have here. I am not indifferent, I do feel outrage. I am not prone to violence. The fading dump trump signs in my yard and at my business will get stop trump signs to accompany them. Don't miss the May 22 Letters from an American. Thank you, Steve.
I'm reminded of the native American story about the two wolves within every person, one of Light and goodness, the other of Darkness and evil. The one that wins is the one you feed.
However, the story doesn't end there. In the Cherokee world, there’s another version of the story:
(Excerpt from article by Jean-Michel Wu
Sept 2, 2020)
The old Cherokee simply replied, “If you feed them right, they both win.” and the story goes on:
“You see, if I only choose to feed the Light wolf, the Dark wolf will be hiding around every corner waiting for me to become distracted or weak and jump to get the attention he craves. He will always be angry and will always fight the Light wolf.”
“But if I acknowledge him, he is happy and the light wolf is happy and we all win. For the dark wolf has many qualities — tenacity, courage, fearlessness, strong-willed and great strategic thinking–that I have need of at times. These are the very things the light wolf lacks. But the light wolf has compassion, caring, strength and the ability to recognize what is in the best interest of all.”
“You see, son, the light wolf needs the dark wolf at his side. To feed only one would starve the other and they will become uncontrollable. To feed and care for both means they will serve you well and do nothing that is not a part of something greater, something good, something of life.”
“Feed them both and there will be no more internal struggle for your attention. And when there is no battle inside, you can listen to the voices of deeper knowing that will guide you in choosing what is right in every circumstance.”
“Peace, my son, is the Cherokee mission in life. A man or a woman who has peace inside has everything. A man or a woman who is pulled apart by the war inside him or her has nothing.”
“How you choose to interact with the opposing forces within you will determine your life. Starve one or the other or guide them both.” (end)
Right now, the Dark Wolf is devouring most of the food.
LOVE that story!
Thank you for sharing the Cherokee story!
WOW! Brilliant.
Dark Wolf indeed Max. Talk about frustrating, here is a story. I have spoken before here about an amazing 2,000 page tome that I have been studying for 55 years, Titled The Urantia Book, which claims to be the fifth Epochal Revelation to this strife torn planet ( the others are explained in the text). It explains the universe of universes, our relationship to God, human evolution, the development of civilization, science, philosophy, world religions and the COMPLETE life and teachings of Jesus, as was recorder by our unseen "cousins" called the MIdwayer creatures, ( I know that sounds crazy). It emphasizes the importance of truth, beauty and goodness in living our lives, and yet there are Trumpers in our spiritual movement.
How can this be? How can one profess to believe these teachings, read such a large book and still support this evil man. Then at our recent international conference (the book has been translated into 25 different languages, so many people around the world study it) we were requested to not talk politics. BS I said and talked privately about this threat to our democracy to anyone who would listen. There are no opposing forces within me, I know the truth and the truth has set me free! But I wonder, is there really hope that Biden can get elected if Urantia Book student, who should know better can vote for Trump?
I never heard of this Urantia book, but I will check it out.
I am particularly drawn to native American allegories because they colorfully provide a way of looking at life situations. They don't provide a list of hard and fast rules.
I definitely have opposing forces within me, so the story I posted speaks directly to my experience.
I think a Urantia book student - despite my lack of knowledge - certainly could vote for Trump. People behave in contradictory ways all the time. Plus, people can fall victim to lies and then double down on their beliefs despite hard evidence to the contrary. I don't think anyone is immune from getting caught up in the denotation of a metaphor rather than the connotation of a metaphor (to paraphrase Joseph Campbell).
I am glad that you are curious about the Urantia Book. You can read it free on
www.urantia.org
It is definitely not for everyone, only those with open minds, that are willing to be stretched. It does have some interestings stories about the red race and their migration from China to North America 85,000 years ago, which is much earlier than our scientists think that they came here. I have great respect for Joseph Campbell.
feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
i don't think anyone reading here is indifferent. the problem is there are no cahones in most of the R Party. We still have Mike Pence saying he will vote for Trump even though he was almost hung a few years back. If there aren't tons more R's coming out to explicitly say they will vote for Biden then we will have Trump back in. There was a great article today in Pro Publica about the chaos in the Michigan R Party and just how many formerly sane Republicans have wholesale adopted that the election was stolen and how that asshole Bannon has strategized a precinct level takeover that is changing how the people select their reps.
Thank you so very much for your eloquent well thought out, vividly supported efforts to save us all from the brutality and selfishness of the few. May your words strike hold in the minds and hearts of all your readers & spread like wildfire.
What I wanted to talk about is where we went wrong, rooted, as so much else in the aftermath of Watergate.
I spent the 1980s working for a scrappy alternative paper in Seattle. We grew aby solid reputation for our insider's view of politics and coverage of "what's really going on" in government. I was so proud of the times the dailies picked up our lead.
But then came an evening during budget season. The King County Council (local government for burgeoning suburbs) recessed for dinner and I joined the beat reporters from at least 3 dailies at a local restaurant. We were happily sharing stories when I started ranting about the irreconcilable differences in the facts as presented by each of 2 wings in the council, and my struggle to figure out which budget number were correct. My colleagues told me, en masse, that everyone was lying, there was no way to find the truth, so our job was to just repeat what each side was saying.
And they wondered why people quit reading newspapers.
There is so much blame to go around. Who even pays attention to the US Senate, except for an occasional eruption (like teen acne)from the Joe Manchin's of the world. The solid, important work of Sheldon Whitehouse to call a corrupt judiciary to account has been ignored. There is no point in blaring about Senate confirmation hearings if we are content to confirm Brett Kavanaugh in blissful ignorance of who paid all his debts. Or not knowing or caring that what used to be the extreme right wing has bought its way to a working majority of the Supreme Court.
(A prize to be determined to who finds the last confident pronouncement the Supremes would NEVER overturn Roe vs Wade because advocating overturn was such a great fundraising tool. I was reading versions even after draft Dobbs leaked)
I'm concentrating on the failures of journalism because it's what I know best. But also because the founders envisioned a vital role for truth tellers. I don't know that they ever envisioned a press absorbed into indifference.
"They're all lying" should never have been the lesson of Watergate.
Yes this Rebecca Biden!
As Sinclair Lewis described "It Can't Happen Here."
Yet, "Here" we are indeed.
What scares me is that we have spent more than half a century operating on the underlying premise that it's all corrupt. Political leaders, journalists, business are all liars, operating a conspiracy we poor schmucks know nothing about. The smart people are pulling the wool over the eyes of folks who actually care about who we elect, what laws are proposed, the promises the powerful make.
Do folks really think you can indoctrinate 2 generations with the idea House of Cards is reality and NOT have people believe it? It's the bottom line of a popular culture that includes endless best-sellers, TV series, movies....The occasional hero or heroine is the exception swimming against an ocean of liars and profiteers.
The short-term lesson of Watergate was the good guys prevailing. Long-term, it was electing Ronald Reagan, in so much the epitome of promising one thing and doing another. The Washington Post, at the time, a sleepy, mediocre company town paper rose to glory by swimming against the tide and insisting Watergate mattered while The New York Times resolutely insisted nothing was happening here. But the Times paid no price for its failures, becoming the epitome of cozy, access journalism. The model became Maggie Haberman, sitting on Trump himself announcing what Trump was up to until her book was done. She should have been fired, not give a permanent White House nest.
This is too long. Let me return for anyone who thinks this is just a rant.
Bill Clinton? REALLY If anyone ever made great noises while destroying our ideals by seeking "compromise" as a virtue, not a tool for a bigger purpose....
Let me apparently digress
Here are the results of the popular vote in the
2016 presidential election:
65,853,516 Hillary Clinton
62,984,825 Donald Trump
108,000,000 Eligible Voters Who Didn’t Vote
Indifference won.
From far away I watch this tragic horror unfolding in the USA. It effects our world and because I care, it keeps me awake at night. I too am getting exhausted. I am having thoughts of maybe it is history repeating itself. And the world with the USA needs once again to learn a hard lesson. When people tell me only tRump can save America, that Biden is too weak… I see a decent man as president who cares for „normal“ Americans and by improving lives and infrastructure is making an American future something bright. What, pray, is weak in that??
nothing, it is propaganda from the right, the American Taliban. the problem is they have been taught to hate the left and all non-whites for decades.
I think we are fucking blind. Today’s MAGA outrage is that Joe Biden tried to have Trump assassinated by the FBI when it went in search of the huge trove of classified documents and MarALago. Because Alito and Thomas are in the tank for Trump on the hijacked SCOTUS, and because Cannon is in the tank for Trump in FL, none of the outrageous and treasonous crimes this man has committed will be adjudicated in a court of law before the election.
Americans don’t know WTF because the crimes against the US perpetrated by Trump have been successfully delayed beyond the point of ghoulish reckoning. The election.
And Biden isn’t ringing a klaxon every day and refuting each egregious lie and fabrication and because of that failure, the lies sink into the collective national gullibility and the media amplifies all the bullshit.
We are likely going to lose this country and it breaks my heart. I become grimmer and more depressed with each passing day.
If we don’t wake up, we are truly fucked.
I am sorry to say I agree with you much to my chagrin.