GOOD TROUBLE HAS CONSEQUENCES

In the background of all my days is the Covid-19 pandemic, but that isn't the first thing I think of when I wake up. I think of the nutty, conspiracy theory fueled, abusive authoritarian regime that has captured our government. It has scary implications for a poor disabled old lady who is going blind and has no power, except the power of my mind and my prayers....which is not "my" power at all, but the power of The Divine.

Hitler had his brown shirts. Trump has his white supremacists, Boogaloo Bois, neo-Nazis, Q-Anon conspiracy theorists, and pseudo militia men, tricked out in full camo and loaded assault rifles, who are now taking the law into their own hands and are murdering citizens who have the gall to protest the killings of black citizens by a trigger-happy, militarized police force.

The dangerously escalating situation started when a black man, George Floyd, was murdered by four policemen in broad daylight, on a city street, in full view of many witnesses, and memorialized by several videos.

While the prone, defenseless, unarmed and restrained citizen pleaded that he could not breathe and begged for his mother, one of the police officers, the murderer, pressed his knee into George Floyd's neck while the other police held him down. Onlookers can be heard on the videotape, trying to intervene, but the police officers spent a good six minutes strangling him. The cold, bloodless look on the face of the murderer is eerie.

Protests started to break out in response. It certainly wasn't the first black American to be murdered by police, but enough people had finally had enough of this travesty that they were willing to risk their own lives to protest with an eye to change.

The response of Trump, the police and the right wing "law and order" crowd was to kill more people and assault the peaceful protesters with gas, rubber bullets, and clubs.

Online, the right wing was complaining, not about the citizens who had been murdered in the street by the police that were supposed to protect them, but the tiny percentage of looting and violence that was occurring. This is typical of the alt right talking heads. They ignore the main issue and get it lost in the weeds of much less evident side issues. This is how the conspiracy theorists operate, as well. If they can find ONE instance of something happening, they blow it up to such an extent that, in their minds, at least, it becomes true for a massive number of people. It isn't truth, but they don't care about truth. They care about force and punishment, even if they have to manufacture an issue that they can then stomp on.

The response of Trump's administration and the right wing lie machine was to (1) express outrage against the protesters instead of the police who murder citizens on the street; and (2) express approval and encouragement for armed white supremacists to take the law into their own hands and come to the protests with loaded weapons to, supposedly, "protect property," but all I saw were pitched battles between them and protesters, initiated by the quasi-military goons who had taken it upon themselves to establish "law and order."

The response of the police was to (1) kill MORE black citizens; and (2) collude with the white supremacists so they would come in large numbers, bristling with weapons.

The protesters, seeing that there was no attempt to address the issues of racism and human rights abuses, but that, instead, the establishment had doubled-down, became enraged. (Who could blame them?)

Most recently, part of a group of white supremacists, a 17 year-old proudly came to a protest with an assault rifle and killed two protesters, after which he approached the police, who basically patted him on the head and sent him home. (You can well imagine if the kid had been black and had approached the police with an AR-15 slung around his neck, after killing two citizens. They would have shot him dead where he stood.)

Shortly thereafter, police can be heard thanking the armed civilians for coming out that night.

There is video and audio of all of this, and I have seen most of it.

Witnessing some of the recent murders of citizens by police, vis-a-vis video and audio tape taken by bystanders with their cell phones, had actually made me sick to my stomach.

The pandemic, a despotic fascist dictatorship, and the string of abuses against people of color, women, minorities, disabled folk, seniors, and anyone deemed too "different" to be allowed to live, is horrifying. This is not the America that the world has counted on to do the right thing. Starting with the kidnap and incarceration of babies and children at the border, we became the bad guys. I have cried every day since this started.

I have always been nonviolent. I have subscribed to Martin Luther King Jr.'s philosophy of nonviolent protest and resistance since I was a little girl. In response to the blood bath on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in which John Lewis, of blessed memory, was savaged and nearly killed, I participated in a protest march in the streets of Carmel, California. But now, since becoming old, disabled and nearly blind, I can't even do that. All I can do is meditate, pray and advise.

I admit that I sometimes feel demoralized and overwhelmed by the sheer volume of amoral, abusive language spewing out of Trump, but when I put my mind at the feet of the Lord, the way is clear. I have to continue to advocate for the vulnerable and the weak, even though I myself belong to those categories.

In Proverbs, there is a commandment to kings which I believe Jesus would agree that we follow:

Open your mouth for the dumb,

for the rights of all the unfortunate.

Open your mouth, judge righteously,

and defend the rights of the afflicted and needy.

~ Proverb 31:8

Although I have not taken to the streets to protest, I have suffered reprisals for my words of protest. I used to have supporters, in my parish and here, online, who were helping me with small gifts and gestures of kindness. One of them bought me a reclining chair when mine broke, so that I would have something on which to sleep. (I can't sleep lying down.) Another gave me a couch she had inherited. A group of them took me to lunch or tea on my birthday - but because I advocate for the weak, the vulnerable and the marginalized, and because I call out Trump and the lies of the right wing, they all, (except one) called me "hateful" and shunned me. They blocked me on Facebook and never spoke to me again.

The last time I was able to go to church and actually sit through mass, I happened to encounter one of them in the hallway. She glowered at me ferociously, lifted her nose in the air, turned her back to me, and stomped out the door.

Another supporter, a woman in IRELAND, of all places, had somehow become a Trump enthusiast. She had been trying to help me find a decent place to live that would be helpful when I lose more of my vision, but she also sent me an angry screed.

The assistance of my "Christian" family has always been welcome, especially since my father's will had been changed after he got dementia, and I was written out. (Typical family greed. He subsequently died under very suspicious circumstances, and I didn't know he had passed away until his body had been cremated, destroying the evidence.)

It is ironic that I left the Hindu convent because of the lack of love exhibited by the people in that faith, only to find that Christians are, for the most part, no better. Just because they claim to follow the God of love, doesn't mean they actually DO. A good portion of them don't even advocate for Christian love and fellow-feeling, opting instead for the dark side of resentment, grievances, force and punishment. The few who actually follow Christ are a beacon of light to me, and I thank God for them daily.

I mention all of this because I want you all to know that there is a cost to advocating for truth and justice! I am not just "blowing hot air" because the internet enables me and it is therefore easy to get my opinion published. I have suffered and continue to suffer retaliation for my advocacy - so when I ask you to do the same, you understand that I am also paying a high price.

I offer up my prayers today for all who need them, especially for the black community that has endured so much for so many years, and I pray that they continue to protest without undertaking violence. I recommend the same to the rest of you, as well.

May God bless you all.

Silver Parnell
(Sannyasini Kaliprana)
Copyright © 2020 Silver 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