The MAGA Lie: America IS a GREAT Country

You have been told, are being told, and will continue to be told, how bad our country is, how dark is our future. It’s a lie. It was a lie 8 years ago, it was a lie 4 years ago, it’s a lie now, and it will continue to be a lie until it not longer serves the purpose of the liars.

In the 10+ years since I retired, I’ve been to all four corners of our great nation, the Northwest  (including Alaska), the South and Southeast, the Southwest, and New England. And then, of course, I live in the middle (MO). From stunning vistas, happy people, and a humming economy, I’ve been privileged to witness a great country, of which I’m proud to be a citizen. 

But if you believe everything you hear, we are a nation in decline, no longer great, no longer successful, no longer strong, and faced with a dark, dismal future, unless you hand over power (lots of power) to people who can only see that darkness.

America IS a great country. MAGA is built on a lie, because its foundation is that once (AGAIN doesn’t imply, it clearly states) we were great, but we are no longer. Let me remind you, that was the slogan in 2016, as well. Let me also ask, when was that period of greatness that no longer exists?

I’ve travelled (literally) around the world, including South America, Australia and the South Pacific, and Europe), and there is no other country that can compare, no other country in which I’d prefer to live or be a citizen. I challenge you to name one. What other nation do we wish to serve as our model for greatness? With all due respect to the citizens of other nations who think theirs is also great, we are the Muhammad Ali of countries on our planet, “the greatest.”

Any politician who tells you otherwise, who tells you….

“We are a failing nation….”

“We are a nation that is hostile to liberty, freedom, and faith….”

“We are a nation whose economy has collapsed….’

“We are a nation where free speech is no longer allowed….”

“We are a nation that [has] lost its confidence, willpower, and strength….”

That politician is lying to you. Again.

When I hear parroting politicians try to sell the idea of a country that once was, but no longer is, great, I question not only their truthfulness but their motivation. My witness tells me they’re lying, because that is not what I’ve seen and continue to see, daily.  Sewing discord and discontent is simply their pathway and payoff to personal power and wealth. 

Selling fear and unhappiness is not a new political marketing strategy (the KKK used it with great success in the 1920’s; Hitler used it to great effect in Germany in the 1930’s). If they can convince you to be unhappy, they can also convince you that they, and they alone, can reverse that and make you happy again, protect you from mythical enemies who want to personally do you harm (who have YOUR failure as THEIR objective). 

But first the parrots must convince you to ignore everything that is good, beautiful, and great about our country, to look past all the so many positives that make us the envy of the world, and, instead, focus on our (undeniable) problems (great ≠ perfect or problem free) that remain to be, if not solved, at least improved.

If you can choose, and you can, “Choose Happy.” Only you can make that choice. Choose wisely.

P.S. Note well, please, that just because something is not YOUR problem does not mean it’s not A problem.                                                                                                                                                                  

                                                                                           -30- 

Trying to Make Sense of Horror

I write this with some trepidation and beg forgiveness in advance. The situation in Israel is well above average on a polarization scale that continues to recruit members at both ends of the spectrum at a frightening rate. Keeping in mind (Berndt) Rule #31: “If you’ve never offended anyone, you might ask yourself if you’ve ever said or done anything worth thinking about”…

At the invitation of one of my dearest friends, I attended a solidarity event last Tuesday at Temple B’nai Amoona, the synagogue at the school where I ended my teaching career. Ever since I have been trying to refine my thoughts about the multiple human tragedies unfolding daily since October 7 in the Middle East.

U. S. citizens have zero business judging the leadership of any other democracy, especially not since 2016. The similarities between Netanyahu and Trump, with a touch of Putin for flavor, are both glaring and frightening. Wannabe autocrats actively sabotaging freedom share many qualities, none of them admirable. 

Jews know their history, not just their history in Europe during World War II. For the current hostages in particular, but all Jews in general, how familiar must the events of October 7 feel? Innocents murdered, tortured, rounded up and hauled off to an unknown fate by people openly dedicated to their complete annihilation. Blatant anti-Semitism has emerged from its closet, not just recently but over the past several years, and it must create a frightening sense of déjà vu.

Listening to the reading of the 240+ names who have been abducted – and still remain – as hostages in the dark tunnels of Gaza, one family stood out for me (though it was just one of several). Two parents and three of their children were taken from their home on a kibbutz near the border, and dragged off to what is, essentially, an underground concentration camp, where they remain.

We all want simple solutions, simple answers to incredibly complex problems. I know enough, have read enough, have studied enough, to realize such a desire is completely delusional. No one, certainly including me, knows how this tragedy will play out, how it will end, and in some cases has already ended, for the many thousands impacted by it. All the analyses of causes and effects, all the political posturing, nothing will change that. Unfortunately. Abducting and holding innocent hostages only inflames an already open sore.

Poisonous hatred, and anti-Semitism is only one potent ingredient, has been steeping in the boiling darkness of our world for much longer than any of us are probably willing to admit, and the resulting concoction is, and, sadly I fear will remain, a bitter brew, with a polluting aftertaste that will last for years. 

Hostages. Did I mention Hamas continues to hold innocent civilian hostages? Over a month after their initial attack. Yeah, pretty sure I did, but it’s a fact that must neither be forgotten or ignored.