FEAR - AND CONTEMPLATING THE FUTURE OF OUR REPUBLIC

 A TRULY GREAT LIFE - You know, I’ve had a really great life. Before I retired more than 20 years ago I had a very successful business career and I followed that with a successful second career writing political commentary about local events here and elsewhere.  Even though I’ve throttled that back, this blog has received more than 4.3 million page views and still gets thousands every month. I’m proud of the positive impact I’ve had on my community.

PARTNERS - And all of this has been shared with my wonderful wife, Susie.  For  more than 58 years she has been at my side, through thick and thin, through the many high points and those few low points that happen along the way. I’m a very lucky guy.

DEEP ROOTS - We’ve lived in the same home in the best neighborhood in Costa Mesa for more than 52 years. Our neighbors in this community are also our friends and we’ve helped raise three generations of happy, accomplished children.

I’M A PROUD COSTA MESAN - I’m very proud to live in Costa Mesa. Throughout its nearly three quarters of the century history my town has been a clean, safe place to live. Over the decades it has been guided by some very forward-thinking, dedicated, caring, elected officials and some outstanding city staffers. Yes, we’ve had some bozos who were trying to steer us off the rails a decade ago, but that changed when the voters realize what was going on and voted them out.  I helped with that.

THE PARALLELS ARE UNDENIABLE - But lately I have become very depressed. In the year since Donald J.Trump was inaugurated for his second term as President of the United States I have watched as he seems determined to abandon our hard-earned leadership role in the community of nations, destroy our democracy and turn it into a dictatorship. As a student of history I see the clear parallels between what he is doing and what Adolf Hitler did in the late 1930s. It is terrifying!

FROM DAY ONE IT WAS CLEAR - From the very first day of this term, when Trump pardoned more than 1500 convicted criminals, it was clear that our country was in big trouble.  His heavy-handed attempts to deport “3000 dangerous criminal illegal aliens a day" has resulted in the terrorizing of many of our cities as innocent American citizens are being swept up by the poorly trained thugs that have been hired to accomplish that unrealistic goal.

CHAOS IN MINNEAPOLIS - All this came to a chaotic crescendo in Minneapolis this month when first Renee Good was murdered by a federal agent and then, yesterday, when peaceful demonstrator, Alex Pretti, was murdered -  shot 10 times as he lay helpless in the street after having been pepper sprayed while attempting to help another demonstrator who had been knocked off her feet by a federal agent and pepper sprayed.  Gestapo Barbie, Director of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, immediately attempted to paint Pretti as a “terrorist”, Intent on inflicting violence on federal agents who were “just doing their jobs”.  Nothing could be further from the truth. Video evidence clearly shows him recording events with his cell phone while calmly attempting to direct traffic through the turmoil those agents had created.  He then attempted to assist a woman, who had been knocked from her feet by one of those agents, regain her footing while both were being pepper-sprayed by agents. It was at that point that Pretti was dragged off his feet by an agent, surrounded by at least a half dozen other agents who began kicking and punching him. At one point, one of them removed the pistol from Pretti’s waistband and tossed it aside. Almost immediately thereafter we heard the first shot, followed by a very slight pause, then four more rapid fire shots, then at least five more bullets being pumped into his lifeless body. At no time had there been any visual evidence that Pretti had attempted to reach for his gun or, in any other way, threaten the agents. 

THEY WERE MURDERED! - I’ve watched videos of these two murders - one of a 37 year-old peaceful mother of 3 and the other a 37 year-old Emergency Room nurse at the local Veterans Administration hospital -  several times, trying to understand what happened and trying to see anything that made these two events make sense. I cannot and they do not. The senseless killing of Renee Good was bad enough,  but the slaughter of Alex Pretti, is incomprehensible. As we watch the videos, see him shot multiple times and hear the sounds of the gunfire echoing in the neighborhood, it leaves us aghast and terrified. Those lifeless bodies could be one of us!

IT’S ALL TRUMP’S FAULT - So, my friends, I’m very depressed. All this is happening as a direct result of one person, President Donald J. Trump. That vulgar, ignorant, deranged, vindictive, lunatic is destroying our country. In 12 short months, he’s managed to alienate every ally we have in this world. He invaded a sovereign nation, Venezuela, and kidnapped their president and his wife and dragged them to the United States for trial as drug traffickers. He has threatened to take over Greenland either by purchase or force, if necessary. He has made overt threats that perhaps Cuba and Mexico might also be on his conquest agenda.  He has consistently ignored the Constitution and made our country a much less safe place to live. My friends in the Latino community are terrified. Even brown-skinned American citizens are afraid to take their children to school or go to work or go shopping for food for fear of being swept up by the Gestapo-like federal agents that now infest our cities like some virulent cancer on our society.

CONGRESS MUST ACT - Members of Congress can fix this by invoking the 25th Amendment and removing Trump from office. That, alone, would not be enough, though. It would require sweeping most of his boot-licking sycophants in charge of federal agencies out, as well.  And, I don't know if Vice President J.D. Vance is up to the challenge.  Will he flip again, and return to the guy who articulated what he thought about Trump a couple years ago, repudiate what he's done and provide the necessary leadership to right the ship of state?  Repairing the damage done, both nationally and internationally, seems almost insurmountable.  I just don’t know how that happens peacefully. I feel helpless and, quite honestly, hopeless. Something needs to be done, but I can’t do anything to help.

HOPING FOR DISTRACTION - Today I’m going to watch two football games to try to distract me from what’s going on in this country. I’m not sure it’s going to help. God save us all.

I'M WILLING TO CONCEDE IF.....

(photo courtesy of NBC News)

FOR THE RECORD

President Donald J. Trump has been in office for the second time for 46 days as I write this, although sometimes it has seemed like 46 years.  

A REFRESHER

Most of you who read the things I post and share on my Facebook page  and here on my blog know how I feel about Trump.  A refresher - I think he’s an ignorant, arrogant, self-absorbed, vindictive sociopath with no real affection for our country, as demonstrated recently by his willingness to spit in the eye of ALL our allies and cozy-up to leaders of countries who have been our greatest enemies - Vladimir Putin in particular.  

A CHRONIC BUSINESS FAILURE

He touts his success as a businessman as a qualification for the job of the leader of the free world, when his history demonstrates failure after failure after failure in his businesses. 

A PATHETICALLY SLOW LEARNER

Despite already having held his office for 4 years, he still fails to understand that government is not, and cannot be run as, a business.  Government’s sole purpose is to provide safety and services to the citizens of this country.  It is not, and cannot, be a “profit making” enterprise - a completely alien concept to Trump. 

HE SURROUNDED HIMSELF WITH LOYALISTS, NOT SEASONED PROS

In his attempt to “remake” government Trump has surrounded himself with loyal sycophants - some of whom have little, if any, qualifications for high ranking positions in government.  They “think smaller” than is required when acting on behalf of the President of the United States of America.  Many of them “shoot from the hip”, attempting to emulate and impress their boss.

A BULLY, NOT A STATESMAN

He demonstrates absolutely no aptitude for statesmanship, choosing, instead to berate and bully those with whom he must deal. 

WHEELER DEALER

That word, “DEAL”, is the cornerstone of his existence.  To him EVERYTHING in his life is a “deal” - every breath he takes is part of a “NEGOTIATION.”  And, in his life, many of those deals have failed badly!

THE GAZA SOLUTION - BONEHEADEDNESS PERSONIFIED

His “Gaza Solution” - to dislocate nearly 3 million residents of that area, scrape it down to dirt and rebuild it as the “Riviera of the Middle East” - is beyond hair-brained, conjured up with no apparent actual thought to where all those people will go and what kind of societal turmoil it will create for them and the entire middle east. 

COSTLY ARROGANT IGNORANCE ON DISPLAY

Without really understanding the monumental negative impact of his actions, he has unleashed the unelected, un-confirmed Elon Musk and his minions on the government like a pack of rabid pit bulls, where they are attempting to dismantle many of the essential functions of our government without apparent concern for the damage they are doing.  By firing tens of thousands of government employees across the spectrum they will create chaos when essential services are abandoned.  Veterans will be forced to stand in much longer lines to receive necessary services.  National Parks will be shuttered due to lack of staff to manage them.  Social Security payments may be delayed or abandoned altogether.  Income tax filings may be delayed because of dramatic staff cuts.  The beat goes on and on and on, with no real end in sight.  

HAIR-BRAINED IDEAS

He spontaneously combusts with hair-brained ideas, like levying onerous tariffs on goods imported from some of our most important trading partners, apparently not caring that it is the American consumer who will be paying the bill.  And, the reciprocal response will kick us consumers in the teeth - twice!  Yep, that $45,000 Canadian-built Toyota RAV4 may end up costing you $55,000!  If you live in a few of the northeast states who import their electricity from Canada your next bill will be a whopper!

HIS “GOLD CARD” PATH TO CITIZENSHIP

While probably not illegal, his scheme to permit wealthy wannabe immigrants to purchase a path to citizenship by simply forking over 5 million bucks for his “Gold Card”, along with some amorphous promises to ‘build businesses and create jobs”, makes me uncomfortable while less wealthy immigrants may end up imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay.  

ADIOS, USAID

He attempted to cease payment to organizations contracted to provide goods and services on our behalf around the world.  Those actions will, in fact, bankrupt many American businesses, including large numbers of farmers for whom the United States Government is their only customer.  

MORE BULLYING

He mistreats and harangues leaders of other countries as they pay homage to him.   Yeah, he’s the most powerful man in the world, but he doesn’t have to treat people like they’re his servants! 

WITH FRIENDS LIKE HIM…

He has abandoned the people of Ukraine in their most dire time of need because their president, Mr. Zelenskyy, failed to pay "proper respect" to Trump in their recent Oval Office engagement. He accused Mr. Zelenskyy of flirting with “World War III”, when, in fact, it is Trump’s behavior that is steering us toward that brink. 

THE PARALLELS ARE UNDENIABLE

He, much like Hitler in the late 1930s, overtly expressed in no uncertain terms an interest in taking Canada, Greenland and the Panama Canal by whatever means necessary because “we need them”. 

AND MORE...

These are just of the few more "memorable" gaffes Trump has perpetrated since being inaugurated in January.  You may remember many more, but you get my drift. 

MARK YOUR CALENDARS - I WILL CONCEDE IF…

But, despite all the anger and distrust I feel for Trump, I am willing to concede that I’ve been wrong about him if, by one year from today, he has actually accomplished the things he seems to be trying to attempt to do, although very much like a bull in a china shop, without destroying our country.  

*If he has stemmed the flow of illegal immigrants and drugs across our borders without going to war with our neighbors to the south and north.

*If he has rebuilt our economy and, by doing so, driven prices on essential goods and services down as he promised.

 *If he has managed to orchestrate a peaceful conclusion to the Ukraine/Russa war without forcing Ukraine to give up even more land to Putin. 

*If he has helped orchestrate peace in the Middle East without uprooting entire populations.

*If he has mended fences with our NATO allies and helped them become stronger both economically and militarily.

*If he has managed to keep China from taking Taiwan without us becoming involved in a Pacific War again.

*If he will begin acting Presidential and stop acting like a dictator in a 3rd World country.  Just follow the darn script on the teleprompter, for goodness sake!

*If he will focus his ICE agents on seeking out the real criminals among the illegal alien population and stop terrorizing hard-working citizens in our minority communities.

A YEAR IS ENOUGH

Based on his blitzkrieg through our government since taking office less than 2 months ago, a year is plenty of time for him to accomplish his promised goals without destroying our country.  I will not promise to agree with his self-assessment that he’s the “greatest American President”.  He recently conceded that "maybe" George Washington was our greatest President.

ONE FINAL THING, MY FRIENDS…

Some of you reading this are actually my friends, not just “Facebook Friends”.   Some of you are both.   I value every one of you, even if you disagree with me.  Unlike Trump, I accept the fact that others may have a different view of things than I do - such is life.  And, I respect your right to express that disagreement without fear of retribution.  Of course, I feel you should always agree with me. (That’s a joke)  What I do NOT want to happen is for us to stop being friends.  If what I write bothers you so much that it angers you,  then please, by all means, stop reading it.  As I’m permitted to do in this Representative Republic, I will continue to express my views, for whatever they are worth.  For me, they are not worth losing a good friend.  So, off we go, with fingers tightly crossed for the future of our wonderful country.  

                                              

GRIEF, ANGER AND FRUSTRATION

A REMEMBRANCE - A year ago I wrote HERE about the passing of a friend - a man I'd known since the first day of kindergarten.  It was a melancholy remembrance, posted to mark a major change in my life - a time when more and more friends and acquaintances depart their earthly ties.

ONCE MORE - Early this morning I wrote on my Facebook page about the passing of a very dear friend and neighbor, Barry Mason, yesterday evening.  My wife and I spent a few hours at his home comforting his long-time companion and helping her deal with the necessary details involved with this kind of a situation.

THE POTOMAC PLANE CRASH - Meanwhile, most of the country was glued to their televisions, watching the coverage of the crash between a commercial airliner and a military helicopter over the Potomac River adjacent to Reagan International Airport in Washington, D.C., looking for explanations and grieving the 67 souls lost in that tragic accident.  None were yet forthcoming.

IDIOT-IN-CHIEF - I awoke a little late this morning - I didn't actually hit the sack until around 3 a.m. as I contemplated the passing of my neighbor.  I immediately called his companion to be sure she was doing OK, then checked communications from friends and found several expressing outrage at the comments being made by President Donald Trump about the air accident.  When I finally dragged myself out of bed, cleaned up a little and, through bleary eyes, I watched replays of  news reports of the accident, including Trump's comments.  I was stunned by the thoughtless, heartless, ignorant speculation he was spewing to the world on the issue.  He had already decided the accident was due to misguided DEI hires and was blaming the Biden administration - before a single fact about the crash had been authenticated!  All the while,  loved ones of the crash victims are looking for the truth, not speculation by the President, yet, that's what they, and we, are getting.

SAME AS THE FIRE INFORMATION - This kind of uninformed, speculative, bloviations were exactly the kind of bilge he puked out at the press event after touring the Palisades Fire site last week.  He chided state and local officials for not "turning on the spigot" to route more water from the Pacific Northwest to quash the fires - which, according to actual knowledgable experts, would not have helped with 100+ mph winds fanning the fires.  He consistently fails to grasp his depth of ignorance on important issues (I guess that's kind of redundant, huh?)

GRIEVING MORE THAN THE LOSS OF FRIENDS - Today, running on fumes, I continue to grieve the loss of my dear neighbor and friend.  Today I also grieve for our nation that has elected an ignorant,  callous, thoughtless bully as the President of the United States.  I grieve because, based on his public utterances and actions after only a few days in office, he shows us the path he is planning on taking this country over the next 1,451 days - and I'm terrified!

DESTROYING THE ECONOMY, ALIENATING ALLIES AND PROVOKING ENEMIES - Every day we see him perform acts and making statements that seem aimed at destroying the very foundation of this country - the Constitution!  Time after time he attempts to toss aside portions of that document designed to provide protection for us all from abuse of power and - dictatorship!

APPOINTING INEXPERIENCED SYCOPHANTS AND BOOTLICKERS - We've seen him nominate some candidates for senior advisory positions who bring almost no relevant experience to the job - just blind loyalty to the man himself.  This reeks of behavior of a certain World War II dictator who began exactly the same way - and I am terrified.

HIS BEHAVIOR SHOWS US JUST WHO HE IS - Trump has demonstrated that he is a mean-spirited, vindictive, ignorant human being throughout his life and with recent actions.  During his first tour as President he surrounded himself with old hands in government - men and women of great character who actually understood the jobs and tried to do them to the best of their abilities.  Trump fired many of them when they pushed back on his inane proposals.  Since taking over two weeks ago he has cancelled protections provided to a few of them - protections necessary because of their actions and views expressed in their service to this country made them subject of death threats by foreign governments and others.  Without careful contemplation of the impact of his actions he issued a few dozen Executive Orders, many of which gut existing programs and place tariffs on goods from countries that will certainly impact American consumers in a very negative way.  He bellows brainless screeds, then is forced to have his staff backpedal when legal challenges are put forth.  He is a blustering, brainless buffoon who poses a real threat to our form of government and way of life.

FINGERS CROSSED - So, sleep-deprived as I am this afternoon, I will do my best to contemplate a bright future for our country as real, honest-to-goodness fine human beings like my neighbor pass on.  As a friend recently reminded me, Tocqueville told us that we will get the government we deserve.  Will we ever learn?

REMEMBERING THE PAST AND CONTEMPLATING THE FUTURE

CONTEMPLATING THE PAST - AND THE FUTURE

As I sat on my front porch on another perfect Southern California afternoon contemplating life and awaiting hoards of trick or treaters on this glorious Halloween day, I was having very mixed feelings.  

A SOLID FOUNDATION FOR A GREAT LIFE

I’ve had a wonderful life!  I grew up in a loving family with hardworking, honest,  parents who guided my sisters and me in preparation for life ahead.  I have many valued friends from those early years and still have contact with some of them.  They helped form the foundation of my life.

EXPERIENCE AND PROUD SERVICE

I’ve had a variety of work experiences, sprinkled in among my college days.  I worked as a shipping and receiving clerk, box boy and lifeguard.  I baked baseball bases, put sticks in popsicles, was a carpet layer’s helper,  pumped gas at a marina and learned something about life and myself in every assignment. I was a very good competitive water skier and a darn good teacher of that sport.  I taught hundreds of people to ski. Although I had no competitive swimming experience in my youth and had only seen one water polo game, I competed in both sports in college.  I proudly served my country during the Vietnam War era.  I flew helicopters for awhile - but didn’t see combat.  I’m grateful for that.  I learned a lot about myself as a leader during that time.

MY BEST CHOICE

I met my Sweet Susie, the love of my life, more than 58 years ago and have been married to her for 57 of those years - and counting.  That union made me part of HER wonderful family.  Her parents had a very different background than mine - they were World War II immigrants - but they had the same family values and it shows in their offspring.

A LITTLE LUCK AND A LOT OF HARD WORK

I’ve had a wonderful career - a couple of them, actually.  When I mustered out of the Army I lucked out and found a job with a terrific company that provided fantastic opportunities for advancement.  During my seven years with them I worked in six different cities in progressively more responsible jobs.  My Susie and I followed a gypsy life - we drove across the country for a promotion a week after we were married - and were living the American Dream, in which our hard work paid off.

THE FAST TRACK TO THE FROZEN EAST

When it became clear that the only place we could end up with that company was on the East Coast - two winters were enough - I left them and we moved home - south from the Bay Area back to Southern California where, once again, I was very fortunate to land a job with another wonderful company.  During my six years with that company I held several positions that provided me with exposure to sophisticated, cutting edge technology and gave me more depth in my career as a Human Resources professional. 

OOPS!

When the lack of a college degree became an artificial roadblock for further advancement I changed jobs - this time for a very short 6 weeks - to a position with a company that was NOT the kind of place I wished to work.  I began seeking another job on my second day.

RUNNIN’ AND GUNNIN’

Then I became the Employment Manager of a high-tech company that was, at that time, the fastest growing company in Southern California. That was lots of fun - fast paced in a very creative environment where the staff I managed developed new techniques so essential to quickly and efficiently filling those positions.  And, oh, yes - it was also financially rewarding.

A VALUED CONSULTANT

After a couple years I chose to strike out on my own and created a consulting practice, specializing in Executive Search and Team Building.  Among my client companies, in addition to a couple previous employers,  were small start-up organizations that needed help building a management team and guiding their organizations through their early days.  I never advertised for work - word of mouth as a result of my efforts was all it took.  I loved that job!  I was pretty good at it and made enough money to retire after 20 years.  

LIFE-MATE, SOUL-MATE AND PARTNER ALONG THE WAY

Through this all my dear wife stayed at my side, pulling more than her weight with every oar stroke as we navigated our life together and supporting me every step of the way.  She is the best thing that has happened to me in my life.

WRITING OPINIONS

After retiring I began paying attention to the world around me - particularly local issues.  I wrote the occasional letter to the editor to local newspapers, offering an opinion or observation on local happenings - usually political issues.  Over the years the Daily Pilot (our local “newspaper of record”) offered me the chance to write a regular column for them - 12 times.  Each time I politely declined - I didn’t want to write “on assignment”.  They continued to publish my contributions - sometimes  as many as 3 of my letters a week.  Similarly, the Orange County Register and the Los Angeles Times published my contributions and also offered me regular space on their pages.

THE BLOG

Then, nearly 20 years ago, I decided I needed more space to express my views.  By that time I was attending almost every important city meeting and event, so I started my blog, A Bubbling Cauldron.  After 18 months and nearly 180 posts I changed hosts so I could include photos and comments.  Since then, after posting nearly 3,500 entries, I’ve throttled back on that effort in recent years, but the blog still receives upwards of 10,000 pageviews each month!  As of this date the blog has recorded 3.8 million pageviews on the current host site.  I had no way to measure traffic on the other site.  Over those years the blog was chosen as the best blog in Orange County - twice - and I was selected by the editors of the Daily Pilot as one of their "DP 103" people who positively influenced their communities - 9 years in a row.  I certainly appreciated that recognition and I’m grateful for the continuing interest in what I’ve written over all these years.

MY POINT - SOCIETAL DECAY

All this background is slowly dragging me to my point - the societal decay I see these days!  It deeply saddens me to watch as the level of political discourse has degenerated to something akin to a bar fight!  I guess I can attribute much of this to the evolution of Donald J. Trump as a political force in our country.  He has lowered the bar for statesmanship, conducting himself as a pre-pubescent teenager might in junior high school.  His example has encouraged many elected leaders to follow his lead, which hamstrings progress.  His mere presence has coarsened our society to the point where fans at college football games feel it’s appropriate to lob water bottles on the field when they disagree with decisions made by officials.  This decay was most recently exhibited by two “fans” at the New York Yankees/Los Angeles Dodgers World Series game at Yankee Stadium when they yanked a ball from the glove of Dodger Mookie Betts in an attempt, apparently, to help the batter achieve a home run.  One of those idiots - both of whom were ejected from the game -  proclaimed when asked during a post-game drinking binge at his favorite bar,  why he did it, he proudly said that he was just “providing some D” for the team.  

IGNORING THE RULES

In our broader society we see more evidence of the decay.  We see more and more people completely ignoring the rules of the road.  Speed limits are apparently viewed as mere suggestions and stop signs are consistently ignored, for example.  They just blow right on through them - a trait many of the children driving E-bikes now emulate.  

COARSENING OF DISCOURSE

No longer is it sufficient to simply disagree with someone and move on.  Today, thanks in great part to Trump,  his acolytes and the anonymity provided by social media sites, it is becoming more a standard practice to attempt to demean and belittle those with whom we disagree.  Civility is disappearing.  Courtesy is a dying art.

FEARING THE FUTURE

I join many Americans in fearing for the future of our country, regardless who wins the election next week.  While I agree with some of the policies he advocates, Donald Trump has clearly shown that he possesses neither the intellect nor character to be entrusted with the job of the most powerful man in the world.  Kamala Harris is completely unqualified for this job, so we voters are left with the choice of, according to outstanding Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan, between ”empty and awful”.

WHAT’S NEXT?

So, what do we do?  Well, I did not cast a vote for President of the United States when I completed my ballot two weeks ago.  I did focus on the down-ballot measures and candidates and, although I no longer attend meetings, I do pay attention to local issues and do still comment occasionally when the spirit moves me.  I can do very little on national issues, but I know I can provide input to my neighbors on local issues and, sometimes, influence the outcome of important decisions made by our local elected leaders.  Although I no longer have the energy I did two decades ago, I will continue to be a voice in my community and let others judge the value of that voice.

RE-DISCOVERING CIVILITY

In the meantime, I think it’s very important for our society to re-discover civility.  We need to take a collective remedial course in civil conversation - something we could observe in the mainstream media in years gone bye.   Not so much today.  The examples set by Walter Cronkite and Huntley and Brinkley are long gone.  Our children - your children - need better boundaries and need to learn and to understand and follow the rules.  We ALL need to include a lot more “Please” and “Thank You” in our daily lives.  We need to do a lot more “listening”, not just hearing, the other side of arguments.  We need to be willing to make intelligent, well-reasoned choices and compromise for the better good when necessary. 

THE GREATEST GENERATION

My parents generation, the so-called “Greatest Generation”, had gone through years of sacrifice to make happy lives and keep our country safe, first during the Great Depression when they were teenagers and then through World War II when they sometimes worked two jobs for the duration of the war.  They learned to ‘make do” and to ‘do without”.  They developed frugality into an art form.  In those years our society pulled together for the common good.  Today we are so factionalized that we seem to be pulling against each other, shouting each other down instead of having a meaningful dialogue to resolve issues.  When our leaders behave like children, using denigration and name-calling as a staple of their dialogue, it diminishes us as a people.  We simply MUST change.  We MUST re-learn to work together to resolve the problems facing our society today.  As long as our elected leadership practices and encourages divisiveness our form of government is in peril.  We MUST demand better.