Stay Strong

 I created Burnt Chocolate over twenty years ago, shortly after our son Ben was diagnosed with ALS. After my first few posts Ben asked, "Don't you want to write about anything else?" I did actually, but I was consumed with his illness, worried for his future and felt ill equipped to handle this devastation. I forced myself to write about my children, grandchildren, interests, travel, but ALS often crept in unannounced to my commentary.

That's how I feel today. I wake up and the first thing I do is read Heather Cox Richardson's essay and become consumed with the battering our country is taking. Then I read my neighbor, Vicky Shufton's post, and feel unhinged. My worries do nothing to change the situation. I've joined the protestors, written postcards but feel powerless. Blaming every issue on immigrants has become the scapegoat of the current administration. These are good people seeking a better way of life for themselves and their children. But they should enter the country legally you say? Then why doesn't the government create a system that allows them to do just that before they celebrate their eightieth birthdays? 

After WWII, Jewish survivors of the holocaust had to jump hurdles to be accepted into the US. They needed jobs,  sponsors, and proof they were not members of a subversive organization before entering. These hurdles were foisted upon people who had lost everything, including the clothes on their backs. It is a chilling reminder of how heartless the US government can be. But not the US citizens who managed to jump these hurdles for 150,000 displaced people within a few years. 

It's ironic that there's billions of dollars being spent on ICE between building concentration camps and paying signing bonuses but not enough funding to help those who just want to live and work in the US and provide for their families. Those same funds could provide health care, child care, housing for all who need it. It's the arrogance that makes me cringe. 

So the questions I would like to see presented to every person running for office are, 'Do you support inclusion and citizenship for immigrants?' 'Will you participate in creating a fair immigration policy?' 'Do you support universal health care?' So far the only person I can think of who has no difficulty answering these questions is Bernie Sanders. Just cut the defense budget in half and we'd have a huge surplus of funds and no deficit.

There's enough money in this country, if spent wisely, to support universal education, childcare, healthcare, and so much more for those who need it. Instead, it's being spent on things like ICE, made up of criminals themselves who hide behind masks and carry weapons to frighten unarmed men, women and children. The comparisons to the brown shirts in Germany in the 1930's is well placed. There's plenty of money to invad Venezuela, building gigantic ballrooms, create edifices glorifying Trump's name. The vulgarity and sheer madness inflames me. 

Are better days ahead? Only if we fight for them.