So today is another inauguration. A day that will be different from the past. Different due to a pandemic, different as this country is more divided than it has been in recent history or atleast my lifetime. Different party, different thoughts and policies. Things are just different. And as always I have a few different thoughts.
We have almost reached the year mark of this pandemic. We have become isolated and fearful and fighting to stay well. A virus is a virus, the nature of the virus has been made political. There are people I know who blame 45 for the virus and deaths and he should have done things to keep the virus at bay. My thoughts, if one mortal man could keep a virus at bay and keep that same virus from mutating, well how about stepping up and do the same for HIV, cancer and the common cold. I am not going to debate the “well your party did this and my party is better” as I am so weary of that argument. It is argued by people who want to politicize this virus. It is a virus and politics carry their own viruses. If the outgoing president caused it, then what will the incoming do to resolve it? If the virus miraculously clears, well did it run its course, was it because the incoming administration waved a wand and it disappeared (which truly would make one wonder if it was a political virus) or will we continue to be locked down indefinitely as fear of more virus mutations and government control? There has not been one mention of the flu during these winter months. Masks are keeping the flu at bay but not Covid? Is some of the covid diagnosis really the flu? Will the sensitivity of testing get more accurate? Will the CDC, the WHO, the experts maybe be consistent in their thought process and not keep changing guidelines and maybe just be transparent? Will businesses survive? Will people’s mental health survive all of this? Will people become more than just a statistic? These are my thoughts.
We have become a divided nation. Not just divided parties but divided people. I can freely admit that I have debated politics on social media. I have been called names and apparently I have drunk so much Kool aid it has effected my thought process and common sense– no wonder the Kool aid man busted through walls as he was very misguided. I have seen key board bullies throw out insults and call names all under the guise of educating those with a different opinion. Gosh how did we ever make it this far? I get passionate and a couple have really gotten me spun up and by someone watching the interactions, well I apologize if I was a stumbling block in your walk and my walk with Jesus and that you didn’t see Jesus from my words. I have an issue with being dismissed, degraded and told I am simple. I am a simple woman simply human but simple minded doesn’t describe who I am. We are in a culture with a whole new catch phrases and name calling– whataboutism, calling someone a racist, all kinds of nicknames for people who voted for Trump. Threats and actions of vetting people, talks of tracking down Trump syncophants to ruin their futures. Hatred for this one man has turned Americans against each other and some feel the need to continue that hate filled dialogue. Now they have not complained at low gas prices, best unemployment rate pre pandemic, bringing jobs back to America and not giving money to the whole world, three historic peace treaties in the middle east. Biblically, we should support Israel and whomever turns their back on Israel invokes God’s anger. Previous administrations did just that, turned their back. Here is the other thing I have noticed, these same people who throw out names like the trash, also degrade people of faith. Christianity is distasteful to them. Well I would rather have the Lord’s word and love than to answer for why I mocked Him and missed His saving grace. So if someone dares to have another opinion, there are some who feel the need to educate from their throne of superiority. Well, I know which throne matters. I know I matter and so do my thoughts just as yours do. Not one more superior but each have their own merits and faults as well.
Four years ago, there were demonstrations, violence, screams of not my president, and the ever famous Russian collusion. Fast forward to today and there is no voter fraud, we are petulant children and we need to play nice and unify and accept who is in office. How dare you remind anyone of their past behavior, that they were justified in their outcry but we should now be silent. That finally the world stage will be proud of America once again. The media will have to find some other person to pursue and other opinions to spew. This reminds me of when my grandmother would say the saying that someone was A street angel and a home devil. So the street angel is going to look polished, going to give money to other countries who are bellying up to the pocket book of the American people, that we open our borders and streets to illegal entry to our country, that there is a party line to present. While at home this angel forgets to care for who lives in that house. He forgets the veterans who fought for this freedom we enjoy, the homeless, the working poor, the many ills that face his children because the outward appearance matters much more than the house he has been blessed with. Do we want to be the darling of the world or do we want to be the darling of our own country? We need allies, I am not that naive, but allies and economic gain to the detriment of our children’s children isn’t the best answer. Is this going to return to politics as usual? That is one of the biggest offenses from this out going president is he didn’t play politics as usual, he wasn’t controlled by the political machine. We now enter back into that machine. A Washington insider in politics for 48 years but now going to make a difference. So now we wait and watch. The world is watching, God is watching.
Well, I have become so skeptical of people and promises, prove it. I won’t scream in the streets that he isn’t my president, I won’t wear a uterus hat, I won’t support any violence (and I have thoughts about the storm on the Capitol) I am not going to call someone names based on who they chose as a president, I am just not that petty. But what I am is someone who is going to pay attention. Someone who will be emotional in her responses but willing to see a situation from both sides and you better believe I am watching to see how an all democratic government is going to dazzle me for the next two years. I will respect the office of the president as that is what we are called to do. Somehow people forgot that for the last four years. I may not agree with the person holding office but I am called to respect it. My thoughts are there are those in government that are going to have to step up to the plate, now more than ever. They have forgotten they are hired by us the American people, not by their special interest groups. Their interest should be in us first and foremost. Take care of those in its borders before you open up the borders. Maybe let congress get $600 versus their monthly salary. Maybe they live off of a real world wage, real world insurance, real world transportation and retirement. Look up their net worth, look up how many days they work and what their salary is. Look on how they vote for what matters to you. Don’t look at their party, look at their policy. Listen to what they say and do. Don’t look to see if they are an elephant or an ass, look at that person. Don’t keep voting in the same old people because it is comfortable. Think about how we move forward and trust the process that has been cast in doubt. Voter ID, term limits, put Americans as a priority. Look beyond the media, look beyond ourselves. We need to be more vigilant and more aware. We need to be looking up and not down.
The media has become the biggest player of them all. They are a machine of pot stirrers. Snippets of audio followed by their biased opinion. Do you know that people are called names if they watch something other than mainstream media? Did you know you actually have choices in what you watch and don’t have to believe everything you see? We saw the media assault the out going administration from election night four years ago. They were so sure Hillary had won and when the numbers came in, I saw grown adults who portrayed themselves as journalist, cry on air in total shock and disbelief. If you think there was a fair and unbiased coverage of 45, well you must have your own drink of choice. Obama didn’t have that same treatment and somehow I don’t think Biden’s administration will either. We live off snippets of a story but not the whole story. Gone are the days of Peter Jennings, Walter Koncrite, and even Paul Harvey’s the rest of the story. Listening to the news this morning, the tide and tone has changed. So sad to see that the media has become more one sided then impartial. Growing up we had 3 news channels, now we are inundated with so many news sources, so many opinions and sometimes facts buried versus being exposed. I want news, not their slanted opinion, let me form my own opinion based on what the actual news is. But with censorship and opinions we don’t move forward and are hemmed in on all sides at times.
We are a divided nation. We have become divided because of each other. We see things through different visions. This summer we saw racial divide surge to almost like it was in Rosa Parks day. The police and first responders were celebrated and our hero’s during 9/11 have now become loathed and called for defunding. The death of any person should be taken seriously no matter the color of their skin. Rogue law enforcement officers need to be removed from their position. Excessive restraining, excessive force requires examination. Looting and rioting occured during what the media reported as peaceful protests. Extreme factions lashed out and took that opportunity to become agitators causing chaos and discord. Stealing from stores, burning down establishments, autonomous zones set up, threatening their fellow neighbors, intimidation, doxxing, ignoring a pandemic guidelines, none of that honors those souls that were lost. It glorified themselves. It glorified their agenda. Peaceful protests are still our constitutional rights, becoming a lawless mob isn’t. The protest at the Capital was a constitutional right, the extreme factions who stormed the capital pushed their agenda, made it about them not the concerns about an election. So now people are being doxxed, asking to resign for standing against a possible voter fraud. Congress wants to remove an elected representative because he spoke out about voter fraud, he was elected in by the people and removing him as he has a different opinion is dictatirship. Harris said over the summer the protests wouldn’t stop, she encouraged them. Maxine Waters said seek out Republicans and assault them, hit them, take them down. Neither comment should excuse violence however it could be construed as inciting violence. The storm on the capital and the storms in our hometowns were both instigated by agitators and instigators and the purpose was lost in the violence. Each one acting on their free will. If the president incited the storm, then who incited the riots from the summer? The assault on the capital had minimal police coverage, capital police is managed by the speaker of the House, the same police that been called to be defunded and yet we have called forward 20,000+ national guard. So do we want protection only when we want it to be convenient? It wasn’t right the threats to life over the summer or two weeks ago. One thought I had at how scared the Congress was, they now know how every school shooting student felt, how when threats come against you the powerless feeling, or of the feeling that Americans have right now. It is just a thought. One bad deed doesn’t equal another and each situation is different. So do we blame democrats for inciting riots and democrats blame 45 for inciting the Capitol storm? Does anyone stop to think that there are factions in both instances that don’t represent the whole? Was every protestor over the summer radical? Was every Trump supporter? In my humble opinion, no. There are extreme factions in both groups. They are the ones that grab everyone by the short hairs, they get the headlines, they taint the intent. Yet we are quick to judge the group as a whole! Then we continue to judge and label, we continue to be the arm chair quarterbacks and keyboard bullies that we have become. Where did we lose sight, where did we lose compassion? When did we become so lost?
By the time I finish this, the inauguration will have taken place, the world will be facing a new chapter. Will it be the chapter to bring peace or more division. The choice is up to us as people, as leaders. We all don’t have to agree. Someone shared a video on social media where a man is stating Trump supporters have been brain washed and need to be deprogrammed and that they have blindly followed a man and are misguided. That is his opinion and he is welcome to it. I just find it amazing that the opinions can be so dogmatic against a conservative party. I find it just as bullish as the people who cuss a “friend” because they dare to disagree or are just as passionate about their stance. I find it amazing we have reached a time where we act like school yard bullies and taking our marbles to go home. I find it amazing that the media has already declared Trump impeached prior to a trial. I find it that only one train of thought should be the only train of thought we should ride. I find that we have so many hurts and we lash out to hurt others. I find it amazing gas prices in my area have already gone up 20 cents a gallon. That we have deployed 20,000 national guard deployed for a virtual inauguration. I find it amazing that people will argue and unfriend on social media and refuse to have a reasonable conversation to debate respectfully. I am amazed the censorship that exists in our culture. I am amazed and not in a good way. I find it amazing and very sad that we have focused on these two men and yet we have lost sight of the One who can truly save us.
My thoughts may make some unfriend me on social media, may unfollow and may dissolve ties based on the fact I have an opinion. For you, I feel really sorry for you that you can’t be mature to discuss things and open dialogue. Some still feel the way I do. Some feel differently. But what I do know is we all bleed red, we all were blessed to be born in the USA and have been afforded more privelege than most. I do know that when we get to heaven, the living arrangement will not be color coded, politically coded or financially driven. I know that this is our temporary home and know that this isn’t the end goal. My end goal isn’t to inflame or disrespect, I have no agenda to say that everyone has an opinion, everyone is welcome to discuss said opinion in a reasonable manner. Your political beliefs are just one part of a person, I am one of those people that is into the whole person. I may disagree with your politics but I still can care for your well being. If someone feels that can’t do that in return then I feel extremely sorry for you as you may be missing out on some wonderful people. And by the way, I don’t need deprogramming, I don’t need to be schooled, I don’t need to be degraded and I don’t need to be censored. We are still a free country for now and I pray we stay that way.
So this one day starts a new chapter. What are you going to do with this new story? Repeat the same rhetoric and hate or start showing people who you really are? We all have choices, so guess we better start making the ones that count. As always, my humble opinion and conundrum of thoughts. My train let’s all kinds of thoughts and passengers on board, can you say the same?
