Bird(s) on a Wire

Like a bird on a wire
Like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free....
Leonard Cohen "Bird on a Wire"

For some reason I have had the Leonard Cohen song going through my head all morning and, full confession, remembered a picture I took many years ago that I wanted to use.  It seems to express quite well where we as a nation stand right now. We have always taken our democracy for granted yet we are clearly vulnerable to the designs of a wannabe dictator and his cronies, and to our own ignorance and complacency. There is clearly a playbook involved in making this current government happen and we are finally waking up to the fact that we have let it happen. It's going to take a lot of work to change it but when the president sent military troops to stand against his own people I believe people began to wake up. It was heartening to see how many turned out, not only here but in cities all over the country. I think we showed our strength and determination yesterday. I hope we can keep it up.

Thank you to all you good people who sent hearts and cheers this way. It's been a busy weekend and my comments have been scarce, but I do appreciate yours. I think that even if we manage to turn things around, a lot of damage has been done, particularly in the rest of the world. Why should anybody trust the United States after what they have seen? But a majority of us have seen through the performances and the lies, the cruelty and the manipulation, and we will continue to work to prove that the emperor has no clothes....

Oh, like a baby, stillborn
Like a beast with its horn 
I have torn everyone who reached out to me
But I swear by this song
And by all that I have done wrong
I will make it all up to thee

I'm as shocked and horrified as everybody else at the shootings in Minneapolis yesterday. It's both ironic and symptomatic of all that is wrong with this country right now. I hope that if nothing else, we can show that to all those who are grieving right now, and dedicate our efforts to them.

Today is Fathers' Day here and we are going to a multi-family, multi-generational gathering in the neighborhood, so I'm publishing this early.

All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.
--Thomas Jefferson