LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR WHEN YOU'RE VOTING

Teacher hugs a child at Briarwood Elementary School after a

tornado destroyed the school

{NY Daily News}

Here is the situation: The Russian government infiltrated our political system and installed a corrupt businessman as president, by manipulating social media, broadcasting lies and propaganda, secreting bad actors into our system, and generally wreaking havoc with our democratic process. American co-conspirators remain in place in our government, though 19 have been indicted and 5 have pleaded guilty to their part in the conspiracy and subsequent attack on the American people. We need to clean house in order to restore our freedom to choose our own leaders. Our freedoms are permanently limited, if we do not do this. Once the conspirators gain control of the government and populate the House, Senate and presidency, getting them out may never be possible.

I read in The Washington Post this morning, however, that some leaders of the Democrat Party are underestimating their constituents. People like Senator Sherrod Brown, who is "running for reelection in a state Trump won," thinks that his constituents are more interested in "jobs and health care." He, and others like him are afraid that, if they talk too much about the Russian conspiracy and attack, Americans will tire of it and they will lose votes.

The idea is that they think that Americans only care about themselves and their own "kitchen table" topics, i.e., the things they worry about and talk about over their kitchen tables. Even though it would be extremely dangerous to leave these Russian co-conspirators in place to destroy our entire way of life, these leaders of the Democratic Party are focusing their energies on more pedestrian topics.

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and

with all your soul and with all your mind and with

all your strength. The second is this: 'Love your

neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment

greater than these."

Mark 12:30-31

Our country is not built on pure selfishness. Yes, there ARE some narcissists who only care about themselves and their personal fortunes, but those people do not define our national personality. We are, historically, a Christian nation based on enlightened Christian values. [This does not mean everyone has to be a Christian to be an American. Christian values help, support and nurture everyone. Even organizations that are specifically Christian typically help all people, regardless of faith.] The most important commandment, according to Christ, is to love our neighbors as much as we love ourselves.

When I vote, I vote in a way that I believe will benefit everyone. I have the confidence that most Americans also do this. Even those with whom I disagree about method have good intentions. Many of my friends voted for Donald Trump with good intentions. I trust that. I disagree about him, obviously. He is terrible for our country, but I think that, were it not for malicious propaganda and manipulation of "news" outlets, such as Fox News and The Heritage Foundation, those friends might have voted differently.

What we need is MORE information about the criminal acts of Donald Trump and his co-conspirators. This information needs to reach more people, and it needs to be clear. 19 indictments. What does that mean? 5 people have pleaded guilty, and there are more to come, who will either be proven guilty or will admit to it without having to go through the trial process. The legal ramifications for these individuals needs to be advertised. What these people did needs to be detailed publicly.

We are not a selfish people, and we do not need to be coddled with topics that are more personal or more fun. The state of our government is in our hands because our votes determine who serves us in Washington. We need more information in order to make informed choices, not less.

Silver Rose Parnell

THOMAS AQUINAS AND DONALD TRUMP

Saint Thomas Aquinas

Doctor of the Church

Angelic Doctor

Feast day: January 28

I have been wondering whether or not all the demonstrating and the marches and the loud outrage against the new president of the United States is a healthy thing. He won the election, and, regardless of whatever help he got from a politically motivated head of the FBI and computer hacking done by Russia, aren't we supposed to just be gracious and give him a chance?

Today is the feast day of Saint Thomas Aquinas, who said:

"To bear with patience wrongs done to oneself is a mark of perfection, but to bear with patience wrongs done to someone else is a mark of imperfection and even of actual sin."

Is it our place to "forgive" Donald Trump for sexually assaulting women and bragging about it on audio tape? Are we then to forgive him (or, worse yet, believe him) when he trashes the characters and reputations of the women when they come forward to confirm that yes, indeed, he DID do these things that he bragged about? There is at least one woman brave enough to follow through with a lawsuit against him. I don't know if the other dozen or so women who came forward to confirm Trump's own words will likewise sue, or if his new, even MORE powerful position has scared them off.

Are we supposed to "give him a chance" when he lies continually, both during his campaign and after his ascension to office? What about those tax returns? While making a grab for the nomination, he promised that, if nominated, he would release his tax returns. Now, he is actually elected to office and refuses to release them. Is an unrepentant liar supposed to get wholesale forgiveness?

Is it our job to forgive him for insulting the Mexican people who have come to our country by calling them criminals and rapists? Can any of us speak on behalf of the Mexican people?

What about the hypocrisy of Donald Trump smearing President Obama because of his use of executive orders while in office and then issuing a flurry of them IN HIS FIRST WEEK himself? The insults to our previous President remain unvindicated. The Republicans had announced that their sole aim was to prevent Barack Obama from having a second term, and they refused to pass any bill he presented. He HAD to issue executive orders to get anything done while in office. Trump has a Republican House and Senate, yet bypasses the legitimate, customary procedures, a mechanism that leaves a lot of detritus behind, since Trump doesn't bother to work out the details of what will happen as a result of his sweeping declarations.

The press, called "the fourth estate", has also been vilified by Trump and his people. Trump calls the press vile names and accuses them of lying; his press secretary attempts to force "alternate facts" down their throats during his bizarre and abrupt first meeting; and Steve Bannon, alt right scion and fake fact purveyor, flatly tells them to "shut up and listen for a while." Are we to endure this horrifying suppression of the First Amendment, the diminution of a press that represents the people of America in its attempt to get questions answered by our First Servant who is acting like the master of the house? Do we just sit back and watch while representatives of the press are called names in public venues? Who decided that it was within our rights to "forgive" Donald Trump for his boorish and crude treatment of people who are trying to gather the facts for US?

Can we, in good conscience, ignore Donald Trump's insults to our American Democratic system and all of the people who have pledged to maintain the integrity of the voting system? He lies and says there are 3 to 5 MILLION people who have voted illegally and refuses to provide a shred of proof, while every reputable source of information on this topic says that it is simply not true, and not even partially true. The years of education and experience that each of these experts has dedicated to this topic have been dismissed and discounted, simply brushed aside because the new president has such a grotesque ego that he can't stand the idea that he lost the popular vote by almost 3 million people.

The ego of the man is so perverse and has such a grip on his psyche that he is more than willing to hurt anyone he has to hurt in order to spread a lie that strokes that hungry ego.

These people, organizations and institutes of higher learning are being trashed, their valuable input dismissed, their reputations and characters just SHREDDED. Should we sit idly by and let these lies continue, unabated, without comment? Shall we sit and watch while all these people are humiliated?

What about the refugees and legitimate travelers from Muslim countries that have been stuck in an American airport for hours this morning, and the others that were preparing to come here, legally, and suddenly have lost all hope?

Again, I must repeat: WHAT ABOUT THE REFUGEES? There are legitimate refugees that are in desperate circumstances, fleeing from repressive regimes and ISIS?

What about the little girls who have been stolen from their parents, raped, and forced to convert to Islam and marry old men? Shall we sit here serenely, knowing that she cannot escape that old husband and his gropings? Her hopes dashed, she must endure the daily assault. Every day that Donald Trump prohibits refugees from taking refuge here in America, is another day of violence, death, beheadings and rapes of innocent people.

How many other desperate schemes of escape from the mayhem in Syria are in process but cannot proceed because Donald Trump, in the fashion of the new dictator, has summarily prohibited anyone from coming here?

Donald Trump is an arrogant, lying hammer, and all people in his path are nails. He is destroying America's reputation and he is HURTING PEOPLE.

We SHOULD be mad. We should be FURIOUS.

I am sick, disabled, poor and isolated - par for the course for the little hermit - but YOU are not! I pray that you will rise up and make your voice heard. Do not let this evil continue unabated. PUSH BACK against the evil. SPEAK TRUTH TO POWER.

Silver Rose Parnell

P.S.  I am working on transforming my Facebook page to one of inspiration. For the most part, I am publishing (1) Saint of the day; (2) Saint's quote of the day; (3) Bible readings (mass readings) for the day; (4) pictures of saints; (5) "Three Good Things of the Day"; (6) Artistic, creative and crafts posts; and (7) News items from reliable sources. Please join me there! Here is the FACEBOOK LINK TO MY PAGE

THE SUN RISES EVERY DAY

One of the primary reasons the Jews didn't accept Jesus as the Messiah is that Jesus came as a poor person with no power, whereas they were expecting him to be an earthly king. They would say , "what good can come from Nazareth?"

Jesus emphasized, over and over again, that the meek will inherit the earth (meaning "everything"), not the powerful. The meek and tender of heart will inherit the true riches of human life, which is eternal relationship with him.

Political power and position were never held as the goal of Christians, which is why i am so surprised to see so many Christians become hysterical, getting angry, and generally expressing a doom and gloom vision of the future. While it is important to participate in the political story, it is not our story, and we need to remember that. We do the best we can, leaving the result to God.

If your candidate does not win, it isn't the end of the world. I promise. Jesus promised. Whatever the result, accept it and move on.

Yesterday, I awoke to hot air balloons in the sky with the sound of migrating sand hill cranes in the background. God is good. Life is good. Take heart.

Silver Rose