Nancy Lankston
“My silences had not protected me. Your silences will not protect you.
What are the words you do not yet have?
What are the tyrannies you swallow day by day
and attempt to make your own,
until you sicken and die of them,
still in silence?
… And at last you’ll know with surpassing certainty
that only one thing is more frightening than speaking your truth.
And that is not speaking.”
~Audre Lorde
feminist poet
“There must be some kind of way out of here,”
Said the joker to the thief,
“There’s too much confusion,
I can’t get no relief…”
~Jimi Hendrix, All Along the Watchtower
The Trump administration is like that magical car at the circus – the clowns just keep pouring out. Steve Bannon, Rick Perry, Ben Carson, Mike Pompeo, Jeff Sessions, an Exxon CEO tossed in just for fun … That’s quite a Brain Trust you’re building there, Mr. Trump. These guys certainly wouldn’t be winners on Jeopardy – or Wheel of Fortune for that matter.
And now it appears that Vladimir Putin may actually be the Ringmaster of Donald’s three ring circus. When American banks refused to loan Trump another dime, he got the money he needed from Russian financiers. Now he is “servicing” his debt to Russia. Trump is our next president, and Putin owns his ass.
After years of being labeled the Evil Empire, Russia is now labeled “not that bad.” Ronald Reagan is twirling in his grave… A racist, sexist circus led by a Russian thug…
Trump Supporter: Oh come on! Putin’s not that bad!
Me: You mean as far as vile murderous thugs go, he’s ok?
Trump Supporter: um yeah…
✧
Truth is definitely stranger than fiction. Donald Trump has now made it cool to be stupid and uninformed. And he’s working on transforming Russia into our best friend. So much for truth and wisdom. Those of us who value education, fact checking and people who actually know what they’re talking about – well, we are all just so uncool.
Sorry Mr. Trump, but I’m putting my money on knowledge and truth. Your days are numbered. It’s only a matter of time before the Republicans realize their mistake.
#ClownTrump #NOTMyPresident
Can you stand at the edge of fear and hold to the truth of who you are?
No matter how big the abyss of fear feels,
it is nothing in comparison to your truth.
When you truly know yourself, fear is merely a tool
that the Universe uses to get you to pay attention.
Stand strong.
~Robbie Warren, Otter Woman Standing
Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries.
Without them humanity cannot survive.
~Dalai Lama
I have been sitting still, watching and listening, for decades. Writers are natural observers and I am no exception. I love watching people and events from the sidelines. But in the past few weeks, it has become more and more difficult for me to simply sit still and observe.
I have been watching and listening for months as Donald Trump encourages his followers to act from a place of hatred and rage. In the beginning, Mr. Trump seemed like a bad joke – a blowhard reality TV star runs for president, really?! But now he has managed to become the Republican nominee for President of the United States, and this ridiculous political side show just got very very scary.
I want to run screaming into the street and stop cars. I want to ask everyone I meet if they have listened carefully to what Mr. Trump says in speech after speech. I want to insist that they follow me home to my living room where I can show them clip after clip of Trump gleefully inciting hatred and racism and divisions between people. And I want to remind them of what McCarthy and other peddlers of hate have done to our country in the past. I want to beg people to not let that happen again.
But I won’t do that. I won’t run into the street and stop strangers. I would be labeled crazy. I won’t make people sit still, watch and LISTEN to what Donald Trump has been saying for months. I wish I could but I cannot.
What I can do is express my deep fear about what Donald Trump may do if he becomes our President. I can voice my concerns to family and friends, and to you, my readers. I can tell you how disturbed I am by all the vitriol and fear that Mr. Trump is selling.
I believe that love is always the answer. And sometimes love requires that we stand up and shout NO, this is NOT OK! Sometime love requires that we step out of our comfort zone and enter the fray.
Mr. Trump’s vision of America is NOT my vision. He does NOT speak for me or the Americans I know and love.
Polite silence is not the answer. Sitting still is not the answer. So I am standing up and shouting NO! every chance I get. I am telling family and friends exactly what I have observed in this man who wants to be my president. And I am doing it in the name of love and unity and compassion.
I hope you will stand up and join me.
“Trump came one breath short of advocating a police state tonight
(it is not an accident that David Duke tweeted such great applause)…
I pray the better angels of America will rise up and
dissolve all the hatred that was spewed
into our body politic tonight.”
~Marianne Williamson, July 21, 2016