POINT TO THE DIVINE - THE HODEGETRIA

 

"She who Points the Way"

The Hodegetria

Photograph by Silver S. Parnell

Taken at Our Lady of Perpetual Help

Albuquerque, New Mexico

This blog post is about the most elementary aspect of contemplative life, of prayer life, but because it is often ignored, we must be reminded of it regularly.

We need to have our mind inclined to God all the time. That's it. INCLINE THE MIND TO GOD. Instinctively, we know this. It is what we are looking to strengthen in ourselves when we seek outside of ourselves to get inspiration.

I am frequently searching the internet for inspiring religious personalities who point the way to Christ; people who lead the faithful and entice the nonbeliever to incline the mind to Jesus, lift our gaze to Him, and approach Him, so as to come near and bask in the beatific vision, the warmth of His Love and His saving Word. Even a hermit of 20 years sometimes yearns for some common encouragement, along the pilgrim road.

I am usually disappointed in my quest because, although there are many self-appointed interpreters of the message of the day, they rarely bear positive, life-affirming and supportive tidings.

Instead, there is a constant drumbeat of resentments, complaints, and grievances. It isn't enough that the political sphere is rife with professional grumblers and that these political jeremiads are constantly repeated, even by professional Catholics, but the same has also happened with regard to religious scandals, conspiracies and bitter protests, such as dissatisfaction with Vatican II, which was news decades ago but which monastics of various stripe are grousing about even today, as if something could be done about it NOW. Some of them are so extreme that they accuse various people in the hierarchy of  heresy, of all things.

Hodegetria from Rila Monastery

It is one thing to lobby for political change. That is our duty as Americans in a free democracy (particularly NOW, when authoritarians are pushing us toward fascism in a shockingly rapid pace), but that is not the tack we are supposed to take with regard to our religion. Catholicism is not a democracy! Our religion really IS based on an authoritarian model, and the laity aren't in charge of any of it. We're lucky we get a voice at all, considering the way it is set up. Even the priests and monks and nuns have a limited authority and must appeal to their superiors for changes. There are approved, time-tested methods for this kind of thing.

I am not saying that these bellyachers are wrong about everything that disturbs them. I am saying that they are confused about their role in the scheme of things and the manner in which they have chosen to ease the tension of having these objections.

Hodegetria, modern version

For instance, the Latin Mass.  I really wish the Vatican had not suppressed the Latin Mass.  It is not entirely suppressed, but it is close to being so. But as much as I love that Latin mass, I know that it is not my job to lobby for its full reinstatement. At least, I won't be writing tomes dedicated to the topic, nor will I waste my time and everyone else's making public videos about it and insinuating some grand Satanic conspiracy behind the Latin Mass losing favor and giving way to the Novus Ordo, the language of which I find positively ugly. But it is not my job to correct the Vatican, and if it WAS, I would not try to do it by advertising the conspiracy theory on YouTube and getting the laity all heated up about it.

If I really thought I had a duty to make my opinion known, I would respectfully tell the people whose job it is to correct these sort of errors and leave it at that.

Hodegetria of Smolensk

As usual, I am talking about method, which is very important. The importance of method is not my idea. The Catechism of the Catholic Church specifically instructs, in essence, that the ends do not justify the means. You may not licitly use evil means because you anticipate the end result will be good. It simply is not allowed, but we are seeing many examples of illicit, anti-Christians methods being used and advocated by the party currently in power, and it is giving me pause. 

The most obvious example, at present, is the Catholic support of Donald Trump's neighbor-hating vision for our country. Everyone recognizes the necessity for smooth-running procedures of incorporating necessary immigrant influx into our population without taxing our population unduly by criminal activities of poorly vetted immigrants, but that is not what is being done by this administration. This administration is profoundly racist in its policies and behaviors.

Trump and his minions spew constant lies and hateful claims about our neighbors to the south of us. The most hateful claim is that large numbers of criminals are being imported, and that South American governments are opening their prisons and dumping violent criminals into our country. it simply is not true. Factual material has been provided by multiple sources that the crime rate for the immigrant population is at a LOWER percentage than the crime rate among native-born Americans. Neither are they all angels, any more than the population of OUR country, and we have to deal with this reality instead of the hateful dystopian vision that Trump has pumped into our culture with his ugly rhetoric.

ALL Americans, with the exception of the Native American population, are immigrants. It is our history and it is our present reality. We have room for the immigrants, and we need the immigrants, particularly in some industries, such as farming and ranching. It is almost entirely immigrant labor that plants and picks our fruits and vegetables. Who will pick the vegies when the threatened mass deportations are completed? I do not see a lot of white Americans clamoring for those jobs.

The fact is that Americans have taken advantage of immigrants and treated them as sub-standard humans so we could pay them less for their labor and thus enrich corporations and lower the customary food prices for native-born white Americans. We will pay dearly for this sin.

"Do not neglect hospitality for through it

some have unknowingly entertained angels."

Heb. 13

Trump does not remind the American people of all that we owe to the immigrant community. Instead, he continues to spread hate and division around this topic. This is the OPPOSITE of the most important Christian commandment, next to loving God.

"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God

 with all thy heart, and with all thy 

soul, and with all thy mind. "This is 

the first and greatest commandment." 

"And the second is like unto it. Thou 

shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."

~Matthew 22:37-39

Last night, I tried to find another hermit whose words might inspire me, and instead I found a number of videos by a monk who appeared to be somewhat young to be dispensing wisdom on high, and he had nothing uplifting to say.

Hodegetria Bohorodicka

He had politics mixed up with religion and he was first putting forth the idea that Vladimir Putin, the murderous ex-KGB officer who has ruled Russia as a sadistic murdering dictator for the last 25 years, is not really all that bad, because of some weird logic and word salad, word salad, word salad. 

This reputed "monk" brought up the disproved notion that Russia has NOT been consecrated to our Blessed Mother, as requested by Our Lady at Fatima, when the Vatican has clearly stated, a number of times, that it HAD done so. There are all sorts of conspiracy theorists positing that it was not actually done or it was done in the wrong way and that therefore bad things are happening in the world because of it, when the evidence for this is not sound. His logic was bizarre.

Instead of leading the way to Jesus through Holy Mother Church, this "monk" is attacking the church ITSELF. People who do this are like a cancer that eats its host from the inside. Satan loves this.

For some reason, the study of classical logic has been missed in the educations of many people who are opening their mouths and giving opinions these days. I don't know how this happened because I know that I certainly was made to learn Classical Logic and its fallacies in HIGH SCHOOL, so I don't know why so many folks are ignorant of this entire field. They are not even aware that it exists and they therefore do not know that they do not know pretty much anything because, until you learn how to think and how to reliably discern truth from fiction, you are ignorant.

Icon from the Iconostasis of St. George

Being a practitioner and teacher of meditation for many years, I know that the thing on which we meditate is the direction in which we travel. It's very much like driving a car, which I learned when I was 16. If I looked to my left, I found myself turning the wheel in that direction instead of heading straight down the road. I narrowly averted several accidents until I learned to keep my eyes fixed on where I wanted to go. 

In short, if you concentrate on your complaints, resentment and suspicions, you will arrive in Hell in no time. If you want to live with Christ, concentrate on Him, look to Him, and occupy your mind with Him.

The point of spiritual life is to go to Christ. This is what our Blessed Mother does. She points to Christ. This concept was considered so important, so central to the faith, in the early years of the church that either the first or one of the very earliest icons was called "Panagia Hodegetria" or "the Hodegetria," in short.  It means "She who points to Christ." Its first painting was supposed to have been worked by Saint Luke the Evangelist.

Saint Luke the Evangelist

Painting the Hodegetria

I have a personal connection to this particular icon because my 46th Great-Grandmother, Saint Aelia Eudocia, the (wife of Emperor Theodosius II, my 46th Great-Grandfather) brought it from Antioch to Constantinople, to be housed in the Hodegon Monastery, also known as the Monastery of the Panaghia Hodegetria in Constantinople, which was built specifically to house this standing icon. (Later icons are typically painted from the waist up.)

In the west, this icon is sometimes called "Our Lady of the Way."

My 46th Great Grandaunt, Saint Pulcheria (Empress of the Holy Roman Empire) founded that Monastery for the housing of that icon, which was very celebrated in its day. (Pulcheria lived from January 19, 399 to July of 453, and was said to have taken a vow of chastity on the day it was brought to her in Constantinople, she was so profoundly affected.) 

I was thrilled to be able to see a simple reproduction of it when I was attending Our Lady of Perpetual Help Byzantine Catholic Church when it hosted that icon and I was able to photograph it (above.)

Notice that Our Blessed Mother is holding Jesus in the crook of her left arm and pointing to him with her right. Her head is inclined toward Him, reminding us to place our mind on him. In turn, his sweet little baby hand is raised in blessing toward her.  It is a wonderful image!  The iconography is a complete lesson in itself. It is remarkable, really. Spiritual life is not a life of complaint. We should always have our attention fixed on Christ and he will bless us for it! This is the sum total of the purpose of most spiritual disciplines and is highly relevant to the contemplative life.

Hodogetria, sitting, Greek model

We do not know what happened to that icon. Various legends claim that it was spirited off to Russia or Italy. Indeed, Russian iconography is full of many copies of this icon and has a long historic tradition.

When it was in Constantinople it was displayed every Tuesday to the public, and there is some record of its procession through the crowd. Sometimes it would be touched with puffs of cotton wool that were then given out to the crowd.  As you can see, it was a devoutly cherished item of religious devotion, but after the Fourth Crusade, in about 1261, it was moved to the Monastery of the Pantocrator, which is now a mosque in Istanbul.

Hodegetria of Crete

It disappeared during the fall of Constantinople and may have been cut into 4 pieces. Some Russians continue to insist that it did get carried to Russia and is there today, in Moscow.

There is an "Italian tradition" that has a completely different story, and you can read about all of this online. 

In any case, I hope to have brought you a sweet reminder of the importance of continuing to incline the mind to Christ and keeping it there, and I ask you to remember to take regular breaks from the stress and fighting of our modern life to meditate and contemplate on Him, who is our Salvation.

I pray for you daily. Please pray for me.

Silver Rose

Monastery of the Pantocrator

Did Putin Orchestrate the Trump Presidency?

In the Indictment of the 13 Russians and the 3 companies that conspired to put Donald Trump in the White House, it is charged that the Russians started their activities in 2014.  Donald Trump is crowing about it because he claims he had not decided to run yet - a point which isn't relevant, if Putin is the one who convinced Trump to run in the first place.

When Trump traveled to Russia for the Miss Universe Pageant in November of 2013, I think Putin and his operatives quickly saw Trump's desperate need for approval from a strong man figure (not a callow, privileged cadet with a curled lip who got 5 deferments from the Viet Nam war because he was in military school and lastly because of BONE SPURS.) A malignant narcissist is always at the mercy of his own need for approval.

Donald Trump in military school

holding bowling trophy

Trump was later to claim that he never met Putin, but since he lies continually, I can't believe him. He may have had a private meeting, but it was probably not even his first, since he has been getting millions of dollars of funding for his golf resorts from Russia for many years. These extensive financial ties to Russia go back to at least 2007 that we know of, and probably before that. Several of his top administration aides and department heads have multiple strong ties with oligarchs and their banking institutions, some even sitting on the board of the most infamous bank that launders money from these creatures.

[In 2008, Donald Trump, Jr. famously announced that "we see a lot of money pouring in from Russia." Trump's ties to Russia are longstanding, and, like everything else with Donald, it is all about the money.]

In June of 2013, Donald Trump appeared to be courting Vladimir Putin with a tweet that read:

"Do you think Putin will be going to the Miss Universe Pageant 

in November in Moscow - if so, will he become my new best friend?"

~ Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump ~

18 June 2013

A few months after the trip to Russia, Trump posted a glowing approval of Russian oligarch Vladimir Putin.

"Putin has shown the world what happens when America

has weak leaders. Peace Through Strength!"

~ Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump

28 Apr 2014

You can see in this tweet an obvious bromance brewing between Trump and Putin, but I doubt it was mutual. Putin was grooming Trump, pumping his ego, encouraging the hero worship, and schooling Trump in a philosophy convenient to the Russian state.

Between Trump's late 2013 trip to Russia and his capture of the oval office, he frequently mentioned Putin and Russia in his tweets and his speeches, all of it glowing with approval for America's traditional enemy, which Reagan used to call "The Evil Empire." In one astonishing speech, Trump invited Russia to hack into Hillary Clinton's emails and release them. Putin obliged.

Comedians made hay with Trump's INVITATION TO RUSSIA.

You can see the video yourself, all over the internet, including the web page of the LOS ANGELES TIMES

While Obama was still in office, it became known that Russia had hacked the Democratic National Committee, had released Hillary Clinton's emails, had undergone an extensive social media campaign designed to foment discord in an already fractious electorate and had worked to ensure the election of Trump.  The Obama administration struggled with the question about what to do with this information received from U.S. intelligence agencies.

When the Obama administration was preparing to leave office, there was some concern on the part of that administration about how much Trump and his crew could be trusted with sensitive information about Russia, because Trump's love affair with Putin had made everyone wary, and they were not sure whether Trump was a cooperator or a stoodge.

Indeed, even though Obama issued sanctions against Russia just before he left office, and sent 35 Russian diplomats back to their country, Putin, apparently, had been told by the Trump administration that they could count on their reversal, once Trump came into office, so Putin did not retaliate against the U.S. for the sanctions. He thought they had no teeth. Lately, it appears that Trump has not followed through with his promises to Russia, and Putin has issued a warning that he may have to retaliate after all. Those of us familiar with Trump's poor character are not surprised that he would violate an agreement with an entity that helped him win an election. He has no loyalty to anyone but himself. With all the talk about Russia over the last year, and the release of the indictment, he can't afford to do anything that would actively help Russia.

My voting experience goes back to 1972 - the first year I was eligible - and there has been no scandal that comes anywhere near this magnitude of what we have experienced with the Russian attack against our democratic process. The danger to our national security that this presents is extreme.

I have been overwhelmed and shocked by the election of this morally bankrupt, incompetent liar. Learning that one of America's biggest enemies was instrumental in placing him in the White House makes the puzzle fall into place for me. I find it encouraging that, even though Russia launched a massive campaign against Hillary Clinton, in favor of Donald Trump, he still did not get the popular vote, which means that most people in America have some sense of decency, dignity and honor. The only reason he is president today is because of the stupid electoral college, which I pray is eliminated very soon.

Some disappointment remains that my fellow Christians have defended his hateful policies, refused to believe truth, refused to investigate him thoroughly, and resolutely supported him, even while he continues to fund Planned Parenthood. Their primary excuse for voting for this horrible little man was that he was "pro life" - which is a huge lie. The hypocrisy has made me cry every day.

"Not everyone who saith to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into 

the kingdom of Heaven;but he that doth the will of my Father 

who is in Heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of Heaven."

~Matthew 7:21 ~

It is my fervent prayer that my fellow believers adjust their values to Christian values, rather than what is currently being passed off by the Republican Party as "Christian." Modern Republican politicians advocate policies that are hateful, bigoted, misogynistic and hurtful to the poor and vulnerable - all of which are the opposite of what Jesus preached. This false association with Christianity is responsible for the election of Trump. Russia merely took advantage of our weakness in this regard. We are not helpless against them. We can repent of our mistake and do better next time.

God save us all.

(C) Copyright 2018, Silver S. Parnell
All rights reserved.

WHY AM I WRITING ABOUT POLITICS?

Flynn sitting next to Putin

I've never been focused on politics. Typically, I would vote after some degree of study of the issues (or not), and that would be it. I rarely paid much attention after that.

Why the change? There are things happening in our government that are dangerous to our entire system of democracy and, if left to continue, will result in grave and perhaps permanent destruction of our entire way of life and the forced abandonment of everything we hold dear. What is happening now is not "business as usual."

Every American who cares about their country should get up to speed about what is happening and then lobby their representatives in Congress to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate and get all the facts on the record before it is too late.

We are under attack by Russia: a foreign power that has always been very frank in its hatred of the American democratic system. Russia is not our friend. It consistently works to destroy our democracy by discrediting it, using misinformation, disinformation, and the leakage of state secrets that is calculated to destroy the faith of the American people in our government and the reputation of America in other countries around the world. There is evidence that Donald Trump, his family, his associates and his close campaign people have aided and abetted the Russians in exchange for Russia hacking Hilary Clinton. 17 independent intelligence agencies have confirmed the continual contact of Trump campaign associates with the Russians during the Trump campaign, in this country and other countries around the world, where meetings were held between the parties.

Although Trump has made the unfounded claim that his "wires were tapped," by President Obama, he is confused again. The Russians communications are always being monitored, just like Russia monitors ours. That's how the spy game works. Trump associates, and perhaps Trump himself, got caught on tape incidentally when they made contact with the Russians (or vice versa.) This is one of the methods by which the intelligence community has confirmed the communication between the Trump campaign and the Russians, as well as Russia's hijacking of Hilary's campaign.

Donald Trump and his family have multiple ties to Russia and to post-Soviet Union countries and oligarchs that are among the most corrupt in the world. He is known to have business dealings in that part of the world, and, while many of the details are obscured, what we do know is alarming.

Donald Trump's cabinet is likewise full of people with ties to Russia, including his commerce secretary that sits on the board of a Russian bank that launders the money of Russian oligarchs whose income from their government jobs is about $12,000 a year but who are millionaires and billionaires, thanks to the ill gotten gains of criminal enterprises. (It is illegal for American businesses to work with foreign criminals such as this, by the way.)

Every day there is more evidence that the Trump campaign obtained a softening of the language of the Republican Party platform against Russia in exchange for Russia's interference with Hilary Clinton [who Putin hates] and that this was at least one of the reasons why (1) Donald Trump won the election despite losing the popular vote; (2) Russia did not retaliate when the U.S. kicked out 35 of its officials out of our country during the Trump campaign; and (3) Donald Trump continually made pro-Putin, pro-Russia and pro-Wikileaks comments in his speeches and interviews during the campaign. Republican Committee officials have confirmed that the official language of the Republican platform against Russia was softened because of the insistence of the Trump campaign.

At least two of Donald Trump's close people lied under oath about their contacts with the Russian ambassador: Flynn, who is famously gone, and Jeff Sessions, Trump's new Attorney General, whose meeting with the Russian ambassador occurred just days after the news broke in the press that the Trump campaign had continual communication with the Russians. It was an explosive revelation that had everyone on The Hill buzzing, yet Sessions went ahead and met with the ambassador. He now says it was in relation to his duties on a committee, yet none of the other committee members had EVER met with the Russians, nor was it appropriate for that committee to meet with the Russians.

It is impossible to see the extent of Donald Trump's business dealings with Russia, Russian oligarchs, and other corrupt governments because he refuses to provide his tax returns, despite promising to give them, should he ever gain the nomination for president. These tax returns MUST be seen and can be seen if subpoena'd during an investigation.

There are at least three current investigations into Donald Trump and his affiliates, but these investigations on "The Hill" are not independent bi-partisan affairs. The Republicans are investigating themselves, in essence, while Democrats and some Republicans are continually and firmly lobbying for an independent prosecutor, such as when Bill Clinton was impeached. Bill Clinton was impeached for lying about a sexual affair with a junior staffer, which is why, although impeached, he was not thrown out of office. Donald Trump's cooperation with the Russians is far more serious, a fact which should be obvious to anyone.

Trump is ALREADY in violation of the emoluments clause but refuses to divest himself of the businesses from which he is benefiting as a result of his ascendancy to the office of president, and no one is forcing him to do so. What he TELLS his supporters is that he doesn't HAVE to adhere to this clause, but he is lying to his base, who are glad to believe him. He DOES have to adhere to that law, but Republicans have complete power on The Hill and are not forcing the issue.

One of Trump's foreign advisers is a man named Konstantin Kilmnik, and he used to work with disgraced ex-Trump staffer, Paul Manafort. Kilmnik admits that he was part of Russian military intelligence, the GRU. He had originally come to the U.S. to put pressure on his Trump associates for the softening of that language in the Republican Party platform.

Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, met with the Russian Ambassador during the campaign. The meeting was held in Trump Tower, and no one believes that Trump himself did not know about it. Trump was living in Trump Tower at the time.

I have seen many videos of Donald Trump bragging about his business interests in Russia. Later videos have him swearing that he has NEVER had dealings with Russia. His son was known to say, however, that most of the money "pouring" into the Trump coffers was from Russia.

The New York Times has been printing some excellent articles about the many details of the Russian connection and other matters having to do with the strange presidency of Donald Trump. Their investigative journalism has hit a nerve, and Trump has redoubled his efforts to put a damper on the press, in general, calling the most respectable news outlets, such as CNN, "fake news."

Aside from attempting to ruin the reputation of the press so he can hide the illegal activities of the Trump machine, this is the first device that every dictator has ever used in an effort to overturn a governmental system and keep it under control. Communist Countries such as North Korea and China do not have a free press, and even the internet is closely guarded, with many websites unavailable to the populace. A free press, "the fourth estate" in America, is the hallmark of a free country, but we are moving in the opposite direction.

Hitler called the press "lugenpresse," ("lying press") and, while eliminating legitimate journalistic outlets, substituted his OWN version of reality with a propaganda machine in print, posters and movie clips.  By the time he invaded Poland and Austria, the population was welcoming him and throwing flowers on the solders and the tanks rumbling through the streets.

I was shocked to see the press physically pushed out of a "photo op" of the new Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, who refuses to give the expected press briefings, will not answer any questions from the press, and who has said he will not allow the press on his plane when he travels to foreign countries. The press has always accompanied the Secretary of State. The purpose of this is to keep Americans apprised of what is happening in our government. The press are the eyes and ears of each American, and it is foolish to be swayed by Trump's castigation of the press. The more that Americans are pushed away from the President and his cabinet, the less we know about what is really going on up there.

Rex Tillerson is another Trump appointee with ties to Russia. He has no government experience and his whole working life was with Exon. Exon has 68 million acres of land in Russia that they cannot drill because of the sanctions. Are you seeing the theme? Russia Russia Russia Russia.

The day that Tillerson became Secretary of State, the 4 most experienced, most knowledgeable personnel in the State Department left. At least 3 of them had been in that department for more than 40 years. They weren't political appointments. They were career officials who had seen many different presidents. To date, they have not been replaced. The people who could help Tillerson (and Trump) learn to navigate the sometimes turbulent waters of government are gone. Thank you for your service. Trump plans to cut that department by 37%, he is so ignorant of the crucial nature of its duties.

The secondary issue of grave concern is the mental status of the president, who gets his news from Breitbart and "Fox and Friends," as well as other conspiracy theorists on the radio. He doesn't use a computer, as it has been reported that he doesn't know how to operate one. He is an old man who has stayed "old school" and is out of the loop when it comes to the information age.

Instead of relying upon his intelligence sources at the White House, he has routinely begged off from the meetings, assigning that "duty" to other people, and has been making snide comments about the American intelligence community in public, ever since the dossier about his supposed vulgar activities in Russia was made public. Any time something unflattering appears in a public forum, in print or television, he attacks it publicly and tries to discredit it. His multiple disparaging remarks about American intelligence agencies, insulted the very people from whom he needs the most help at this critical juncture in his presidency, but he probably suspects that they know things about him that he doesn't want made public, so he discredits them with the American people.

"The dossier": During an early intelligence briefing, Trump was presented with a dossier that had an attachment that was not corroborated. It was attached because it had been given to intelligence sources, and the intelligence people reported its existence as part of their duty to inform, not as a confirmed document. They didn't create it. They just received it. While some aspects of the attachment seemed calculated to make Trump look foolish by detailing embarrassing details of a supposed encounter between Trump and Russian prostitutes in a hotel in Russia, a surprising number of other claims are now beginning to emerge as based in fact.

Trump has the gold standard in intelligence available to him, but he refuses to avail himself of it. Instead, he gets overheated about the wacky conspiracy news and sends out unsubstantiated tweets, such as the recent accusation that President Obama had his "wires tapped." There is no evidence of such a thing, which is not possible anyway. Presidents don't order wire taps. It isn't in their baileywick, but Trump is so woefully ignorant about how the government works that he actually believes this poppycock.

All he had to do was call in Comey of the FBI and ask him if an order for a wire tap was signed by a judge, but he hasn't communicated with him.

Trump is surrounded by the government he doesn't trust, the government that Steve Bannon, his right hand man, had previously said he wanted to destroy. Whenever he can get away to his country club, Trump escapes for the weekend to Mar-a-lago, jaunts which have cost the taxpayers more in one month than Obama spent per YEAR in travel costs. Since Trump's family is so welded to him that he had to give them all jobs, the secret service has to protect all of them, costing the taxpayers millions. (This is another common feature of totalitarian governments, by the way. They all move their families into the palaces and give them "jobs.")

Now that Trump has become the president, he seems unable to drop the adversarial stance he took while he was campaigning. His lack of trust is so pervasive that the White House is a ghost town. At least 500 positions have not been filled. There aren't even any names being presented as candidates. He won't hire anyone whose loyalty is at all in question and, with the continual leaks from the White House, his trust factor has got to be in the tank right about now.

Another feature of Donald Trump's troubling behavior is his continual lying - lying that is easily disproved. It continued full throttle, as soon as he hit the oval office. First it was the dispute about how many people attended the inauguration, then it was his claim that 3 to 5 million people "voted illegally" for Hilary Clinton (which explains, in his mind, why he did not get the popular vote.) He claimed he had the biggest victory, the most votes "ever," when, in fact, many of his predescesors far outstripped his meager electoral college results. He has told so many lies, I would need to write another 3 pages to accommodate them.

The bottom line is that Donald Trump is crazy and dangerous. The fate of our democracy hangs in the balance.

There are at least THREE major investigations being conducted on The Hill, but they are all being conducted by Republicans who are so thrilled to be completely in charge of the government that they cannot be relied upon to submit a non-biased result. Calls for an independent nonpartisan independent prosecutor to look into the Russian connections, the lies of Jeff Sessions, and the insane tweets of the President are becoming more insistent, even in the case of some Republicans who just can't fake it any more. Their president is a basket case, and illegal activities have gone on and may still be going on. The White House is empty, and the President is treating it like an ordinary company office, retreating to a country club nearly every weekend while North Korea lobs missiles into the sea near Japan.

Meanwhile, Spicer keeps dancing around the questions of the press during the daily briefing. "Do YOU believe that Trump is telling the truth?"

One particularly keen young female reporter asked Spicer, if the president has evidence that Obama ordered Trump to be wire tapped, isn't it a waste of resources to ask for an investigation of the wire taps? Why doesn't he just hand over the evidence he has?" The answer runs in multiple circles.

More details can be found in the newspapers, magazines and television outlets. It would take several pages to explain it, and why reinvent the wheel? Rachel Maddow does a very good job of explaining the timelines and associated facts of the whole Russia thing that is going on now and, although I don't agree with much of her POLITICS, I certainly admire her journalistic abilities, which are substantial. Watch her program for a week, and you will get up to speed. Fill in the gaps with other news programs and the New York Times. My information has been gleaned for this post through a long list of news agencies, newspapers, magazines, online articles. Everything from EWTN to the New York Times.

If any of this sounds unfamiliar to you; if any of this sounds crazy; you'd better get yourself educated about what is happening in America these days. It is NOT "business as usual." It is not your typical political craziness. It's dangerous stuff, and you need to know what is coming so you can write your representative in Washington. When you get up to speed, you are going to want to do it. I guarantee it.

Silver Rose Parnell

FOR THOSE WHO ARE IGNORANT OF HISTORY

"Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I" (1907)

by

Gustav Klimt

I typically steer clear of movies set in Nazi era Germany. I have seen so many of them over the years, that I just can't bear to be reminded once more of that horrible time when the world descended into the madness of primitive impulses and allowed the personification of evil to rise to power and then commit heinous crimes against the Jews and, to a lesser degree, human beings who were designated as "other."

The movie WOMAN IN GOLD was an exception. I chose to watch it last night because it was about the return of artworks stolen by the Nazis. It is based on the true story of Maria Altmann and her attorney Randy Schoenberg who spent years attempting to gain the return of stolen pieces of art, including this wonderful painting. I love art. Gustav Klimt is one of my very favorite artists and THIS particular painting, above, which was renamed WOMAN IN GOLD by post-war Austrians, (perhaps intending to hide its provenance) is one of my favorite paintings.

This painting was a portrait of Maria Altmann's aunt and was one of a household full of precious objects that the Nazis stole from the home of Maria's parents, while the family was forced to sit and watch. The family had arrived in Austria with nothing, but they worked hard and strove to improve their fortunes, and they succeeded. Watching all their hard earned possessions being cataloged and then hauled away by those filthy Nazis must have been gut wrenching. The loss of this particular painting must have been the source of much sorrow by that family, not because it is a masterpiece, but because it was a painting of a beloved family member.

If you are interested in this topic, you may find an article about the return of these paintings at this LINK TO ARTICLE ABOUT RETURN OF ART STOLEN BY NAZIS

Something that Helen Mirren says in her portrayal of Maria Altmann really struck me. After fighting with the Austrians for years for the return of the stolen art works, she finally admits to herself and to her attorney that the Austrians had always been like this. After all, when the Nazis triumphantly paraded through town, the non-Jewish Austrians "threw flowers" on them, welcomed them, and later participated with glee in the multiple humiliations and, ultimately, the removal and deaths of their Jewish neighbors.

Here is a video of Austrian residents welcoming the Nazi soldiers to their town at this LINK TO VIDEO OF GERMAN SOLDIERS BEING WELCOMED BY AUSTRIANS..

Currently, we have a wave of antisemitism happening in America in which Jewish places of worship and cemeteries are being vandalized, and multiple bomb threats have been made. Nazi symbols have been spray painted. Frequently, Donald Trump's name is invoked as a badge of license.

It isn't that Donald Trump is an antisemite. I don't believe he is, but Donald Trump, and his rhetoric of hate towards immigrants ("the other") has inflamed the dormant Nazis and similar groups, such as the KKK (which has lent Trump their stamp of approval.)

Trump's brand of hatred and division emboldens all of those people that bear hatred toward anyone different than themselves. The Jews are not the only groups that are currently experiencing a steep uptick in hate crimes. Those who are different from the whites who hold power are being subjected to violence. Just within the last few days, an Indian (not a Muslim) was shot in the arm and told to go back to his country where he came from.

A Sikh, wearing a modern turban

(NOT a Muslim!)

Part of the problem with the people who are inflamed by Donald Trump style rhetoric is that they are ignorant and uneducated about the variety of people that live on this planet. Anyone who wears a turban is wrongly identified as a Muslim (against whom Trump IS encouraging some prejudice.) Actually, Muslims do not typically wear turbans, but ignorant people, fueled by Trump's movements against the Muslims, are targeting anyone who is wearing a Turban! Ridiculous.

Hitler gained power by appealing to the fears of the people. He set up a scape goat to blame (the Jews) and simply fed the flames of hatred that were ignited in the hearts of the people who wanted a change in their country. Without the help of non-Jews, he could not have risen to power.

Hitler used lies as his primary tool, directed the hatred of the people against Jews as the scape goats, suppressed the press and replaced it with his propaganda productions. He used the Austrian people to help him steal a massive amount of wealth from a segment of the population and then killed the owners of that wealth in gruesome, horrific and humiliating fashion. Many Jews tried to leave the country, but were prevented. Hitler couldn't afford to have living witnesses wandering around the world, "telling tales." In order to accomplish his true aims, power and money, he had to kill them, and that is exactly what he did, brutally exterminating millions of people.

Why am I drawing an obvious parallel between Hitler and Trump? That's simple. Trump's speech and behavior mimics that of Hitler to a "tee." "Alternative facts" (lies), scapegoating "the other" (immigrants), suppressing the free press (calling it "the enemy of the American people") and using a wide variety of disinformation and misinformation to confuse the population are all measures Hitler used himself.

Here is an article that reminds us of the history behind the term "enemy of the people" that Trump has been using against the press: READ THE WASHINGTON POST ARTICLE ABOUT "ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE" HERE.

While Trump calls the American press "fake news," Hitler called the press "Lügenpresse," which means "lying press." During Trump campaign rallies, Trump supporters have yelled this German word, resurrecting the memory of Hitler in the minds of many.

Here are some articles that remind us of Hitler's attack against the press that tried to warn the people against him:

The ugly history of ‘Lügenpresse,’ a Nazi slur shouted at a Trump rally - Washington Post

Donald Trump Channels Adolf Hitler to Attack the ‘Lying’ Press - PoliticusUSA

Like Donald Trump's phrases of "MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN," and "AMERICA FIRST," Hitler made liberal use of similar propaganda.

One of Hitler's propaganda posters reads

TO LOVE DEUTCHLAND (Germany)

Claiming that his executive orders to stop travel between the U.S.A. and certain predominantly Muslim countries "will not be questioned" asserted a dictator's typical stance; that he is the ultimate authority and holder of power and that anyone who questions him will be eliminated. He DID fire some people who questioned him and is so paranoid about surrounding himself only with people who buy into his conspiracy theory, lunatic fringe philosophy that there are more than 500 key positions that have yet to be filled. None of these positions require Senate approval. He simply has to HIRE these and several thousand others, but it is the 500 something that are crucial. Many people WON'T work with him, and we have heard news, now and then, of people who declined Trump's offers of employment.

While the lunative fringe constantly criticized Obama's every move, including the expense of his travel, Donald Trump has cost us more in one month than Obama did in an entire year. For one thing, Trump is living as if the White House is his office, spending almost every weekend at his country club in Florida. All this travel back and forth, for himself and his family, including overseas travel for various family members, has cost us 11.3 MILLION DOLLARS FOR ONE MONTH, and the same people who complained about Obama's spending (12.1 MILLION FOR AN ENTIRE YEAR) are SILENT on Mein Trumph's spending that far exceeds Obama's. Hypocrites! The following are some links that discuss this:

Trump on track to spend exorbitant amount of taxpayer dollars on travels By one estimate the president has already rung up as much in travel costs as the Obama and Biden families did in eight years – all at the expense of taxpayers - The Guardian

Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Trips So Far May Have Cost Taxpayers Up To $10 Million - Fortune.com

Trump’s first month of travel expenses cost taxpayers just less than what Obama spent in a year

Conservative activists refuse to believe Trump is spending more on travel than Obama

Why the Trumps' Travel Expenses Matter - The Atlantic

The Trump family's lavish lifestyle is costing taxpayers a fortune

Last night I fell asleep in my recliner. I made myself a cup of tea and said to myself, "I'll just have this nice soothing cup of tea and then I'll go to bed." I woke at 10:30 in the morning, with the television still churning out this nauseating daily horror of truly weird news. Trump has tweeted definitively that Obama arranged to have Trump wire tapped. Here is a copy of the tweet:

"How low has President Obama
gone to tapp my phones during
the very sacred election process.
This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad
(or sick) guy!"

His cohorts are demanding that, while Trump's ties to Russia are being investigated, they have to investigate Obama's supposed overstep of his power by ordering wire tapping.

Those who would know have stated categorically that there has never been a wire tapping warrant for Trump or Trump Tower. Trump is so ignorant of the workings of the government that he STILL does not realize that the President is not a King and that there is a system of checks and balances in our government that has frustrated many a president. As it happens, in this case, the President does not have the power to order a wire tapping warrant. Representatives of Obama's team have also confirmed that none of them authorized or ordered any wire tapping against any American citizen. Read the following links:

Trump's baseless wiretap claim - CNN - includes video clip

Earnest: It May 'Come As Some Surprise' To Trump That Prez Can't Order Wiretap - Talking Points Memo

White House calls for probe of Trump's unsubstantiated claims as Obama spy official denies wiretap

White House, still offering no evidence, demands probe of whether Obama abused executive power - Los Angeles Times

Comey Asks Justice Dept. to Reject Trump’s Wiretapping Claim - The New York Times

Trump’s charge that he was wiretapped takes presidency into new territory - The Washington Post

No one knows where Trump is getting his ideas because he refuses to tell us his source of information, nor will he provide any evidence of this or any other bat poop crazy assertion he has made, such as the 3 to 5 million people that he says voted illegally in the last election. No proof. He demands that everyone believe him and ACT on his crazy ideas. He has made it clear that it is the job of everyone else to prove that he is wrong, which is backwards, of course.

On the heels of the numerous discoveries of Russian ties to the Trump administration, including lies about meetings with the Russian ambassador, Trump has sent out one of his outrageous tweets, making accusations that are similar to other accusations that he has issued in the past, when the news cycle wasn't flattering to him. Former White House Secretary comments on this:

Former WH Press Secretary On Trump: 'The Bigger The Scandal, The More Outrageous The Tweet' - VIDEO included

Meanwhile, Mein Trumph's sycophants believe whatever he says and repeat it back to other people. I've seen it on social media. Crazy, unproven, illogical and highly improbable ideas that violate every FACT that I know are being broadcast by people who are pitifully ignorant and, evidently, too lazy to read a book or a newspaper or a legitimate source of solid information. Either that, or they simply wish to believe what Mein Trumph tells them because it dovetails with their own internal bigotry. Fringy, conspiracy theory rags that are created, whole cloth, out of an ideological world view rather than facts about things that HAPPEN, continually fan the flames. This is exactly what happened when Hitler came to power.

My gut instinct is that Trumps charges are fantasies created by a sick and aging mind that cannot tell the difference between paranoid imaginings and truth. Someone or some people are feeding off his mental illness and are using him as the figurehead for a movement to dismantle our democratic system and put something else in its place. We have already seen the beginnings of this in the nomination of people to department posts whose history has been one of hostility toward those departments and agencies. I've dealt with this in other posts.

I am old, disabled and poor. I can do nothing about the coming catastrophe except to try and alert people to the danger of what will happen if we do not put a stop to this insanity. There is a man in the White House who has no business being there. He's brought the lunatic asylum with him and installed them in positions of power over agencies they've fought against their whole adult lives.

At the very LEAST, I would hope that people will be incited to educate themselves about our government, our history, and how the American democracy works; not in a GENERAL way, but the specific, tedious facts. Most of what Trump says is disproved by history and the facts around the workings of our system. Don't throw flowers on this monster. Arm yourselves with knowledge.

As an interesting side note, I tried to

God save us all.

Silver Rose Parnell