The Media Scapegoat

"You hate Trump because of the Media!"

"The MSM makes him look bad, but he's not!"

"Our country being divided like this is because of the FAKE NEWS, not the President!"

This is the biggest lie being told today.

There are several ways to refute this.  But I'm going to pick the most obvious to me.

Our media has always reported on politics.  The Republican side will warp the news to fit their narrative.  The Democratic side does the same.

And yet it wasn't until 2017 that modern day politics created this level of division in the nation.

So.  What happened?  Where did the vitriol come from? 

Why are families and friends suddenly resorting to shouting matches?  We haven't always been so disparaging.

Let's revisit the common scapegoats used by Trump supporters.

1)  Hillary Clinton:  This stopped being about Hillary the night of November 10th.  Blaming her 10 months later is pointless and, frankly, pathetic.

2)  President Obama:  The former POTUS is a comparative, but the trespasses of Trump are not explained away by the legacy of Barack.

3)  The MSM:  The media has always been there.  They have always reported on politics.  Fox News had 24 hour coverage of Obama being awful for 8 years.

Honestly, Trump doesn't need the media to make him look bad.  Look at his Twitter, the most unfiltered source of his opinions and state of mind.

Trump doesn't need help looking bad.

He does that all on his own.

There is hardly an objective news outlet available.  So don't blame mine and render yours blameless.  Because I assure you... Yours isn't more right.  It's just as biased.

We tend to allow the old information we agree with over new information we don't.  But why are we so arrogant as to believe we know all there is to know?  As children, we soaked up new information like a sponge.  Today, we only allow that which already fits with preconceived notions.

It is imperative that we allow ourselves more openness. 

If we refuse to entertain the possibility that we might be wrong in a debate...

We don't do anyone a disservice by our obstinance but ourselves.

The best thing we can do is two pronged.

First, we must admit that sometimes in the debate we all stand the same odds of being wrong.

Second, stop the attacks towards family and friends.  Because when Trump leaves office, whether in 3 years or in handcuffs, you can't take back the things you said to the people who matter to you most.

Repose 8/29/17

She's stubborn and grace
Beautiful intelligence
Beyond compare
Grants serenity
With reliable repose
This is her
And it's the reason I love her.

She laughs with charisma devout
An orchestrated grin
Angelic classical voice
Her tone scripted overture
Divine, mortal goddess
This is her
And it's the reason I love her.

When she looks at me
Eyes like emeralds
Gaze laced with amber specks
She achieves
Knotted free ambient space
This is her
And it's the reason I love her.

If I'm her knight
She's my shield
I lean on her for her strength
A resource that needn't be replaced
She's the maiden and the queen
This is her
And it's the reason I love her.

She speaks to me
Heaven sent
Existing between several worlds
Collapsing, expands
Into mine
This is her
And it's the reason I love her.

Wherever I go
I see her, hand placed
Firmly in mine
I take her, she takes her time
But she's there
This is her
And it's the reason I love her.

Aphrodite meets Athena
With a Persephone twist
Janus decides to split
Celestial but with purpose
Physics and rules cease to serve
It's just her
And it's the reason I love her.

In the end, the list of reasons
Defined as limitless
Unheld, unspoiled, unmatched
Are what we are
And what she is
And it's the reason I love her.

M.C.K.

8/29/17

True Love

I've seen love in many forms.  I've seen puppy love.  Infatuation.  First love.  Love at first sight.  Love between soul mates.  Abusive love.  Unhappy love.  False love.  One sided love.  Unrequited love.

And true love.  The kind that you know could last you a lifetime.  The kind you dream about.  The kind you hope for.  The kind that doesn't abate, diminish, or desist.  It has this imperfect perfection.  Where you know every day you'd wake up smiling, just knowing you have it.  You'd fight for it.  Take a chance on it.  Do anything to keep it.  It inspires the artist.  It's the writer's muse.  It presents itself without shame, it is unprejudiced.  It wants what the best friend wants, what the brother and father wants, what the teacher and student wants, what the lover and partner wants.  It changes perspectives and worlds.  It is rare.  It is painful.  Beautiful.  Elation within consequence.  It inspires hope and robs tomorrow of worry.  It grants courage in ways unfathomable and allows serenity in the most chaotic and terrifying of times.  It doesn't judge.  It doesn't quit.  It doesn't expect or request.  It just is.  It's the most powerful thing on Earth.  You are given it at the birth of your children.  But in another soul... It's so hard to find some don't.  True love is a combination of all the other loves you know with none of their pitfalls, weaknesses, or limitations.  It doesn't stop.  Not for a minute.  Not in the worst times.  It flourishes in presence of the two.  In sunlight or darkness.  In love or tribulation.  It has no faults.  It sees no barriers.  It wants nothing but the best for the beholden.  It can weather the storm.  It can conquer the undefeated.  It can't be anything but everything you've always wanted.  It's much more than close to perfect.  Its much more than almost enough.  It's the reason hearts beat.  Minds grow.  Souls join.  Its... everything.

That is true love.  I know this.  I've always known this.

Our Differences Make Us Different

My greatest concern since the last election hasn't been focused on the politics surrounding it.

It has been the way people have treated each other during.

When Obama was President, my Conservative friends told Conservative me that I shouldn't have voted for him.

But it was done with respect.  There were no personal insults.  Nobody let my political choice affect our friendship.

I was surprised to hear friends and family say alarmingly disrespectful things about Obama, but I didn't attack them.  It was their opinion and they had every right to it.

I remember the first time I took notice of politics.  It was 1995.

Since then, I can say that I had never witnessed family and friends denigrate one another due to political differences.

Until now.

I have heard such vitriol this last year.  Directed at me.  At my friends.  My family.  Strangers.

None of it was ok.

And I'll admit, for a time during the election... I was just as quick to debate with overly charged emotional platitudes.

That wasn't ok either.

Last week I got into a debate with a friend.  It was heated.  I tried to speak but was talked over.  I remained calm.  I spoke and clarified my viewpoints.  It ended well.

But it didn't start well.

That's a problem.

I have never let political or religious beliefs define my relationship with people.  I was raised better than that.

I know that differences don't inherently make me right and you wrong.  They just make us different.

I have strong opinions.  But I will never let them justify bullying you for not sharing them.

I will write passionately.  I will express clearly.  I will use my voice in all the ways I can.

But when I look at the friends Ive made, and the family I have, I won't focus on where we differ.

I'll focus on what they mean to me.

No difference can excuse ill behavior.

Because as Evelyn Beatrice Hall once said,

"I do not agree with what you have to say,  but I'll defend to the death your right to say it."

"But Hillary!"

Trump supporters:  "But Hillary!"

No.  Not "But Hillary!"  Stop it.

Hillary is not POTUS.  Hillary is not saying anything as President. 

Trump is.

The "Well Hillary" and "But Hillary" argument is completely inconsequential at this stage.  All it does is excuse Trump from well-deserved blame and accountability.

Imagine if you and another person were gunning for the same job.  Let's call the other person Karen.  Now, Karen is unlikable.  So you get hired instead.  But on Day 1, you are an awful employee.  You are rude, you lie, and you're just plain terrible at the job.  Sometimes you take off to golf during a shift.  You even treat certain customers and coworkers like garbage because they vote different from you.

So your coworkers complain.  The boss asks you to stop.  You tell him "Hey, I'm better than Karen!"

How many days do you think that excuse will fly?

Karen doesn't work there.  You do.

Stop blaming Karen.

"Well, he's better than Hillary" is a flawed and juvenile retort for a number of reasons.  She has never been President, so we can't say for sure.  You can assume.  But assumptions aren't fact.  They're guesses.

The "He did it bad but she would have done it worse" argument is something we wouldn't let children get away with.  So to use it ourselves?  Absolutely absurd.

At this stage, we can only blame one person for what Trump does.

Trump.

Diverting attention is not helping anyone.

Excuses will cripple us.  They ARE crippling us.

Trump does a lot of stuff badly.  In fact, the only thing he can do well are bad things.

He says one thing, does another.

He lies, repeatedly.  Then calls facts lies.

He undermines all news that doesn't paint him in a flattering way.

He is unstable, unhinged, and bullying.  Usually at 140 characters at a time.

What happened to the most revered position in American history?  What is this freak show we're watching?

So.  I say to you.

Drop your Hillary Clinton comparisons.  Stop blinding yourself to reality.  You like Republicans.  You hate Democrats.  We get it.

But a Republican is our President.  A Republican is doing terrifying things, made worse but his gross incompetence. 

The focus should be on who is President and not who isn't.

I don't care about how bad you think Hillary would have done.

I care about how badly Trump is doing.

"Moments"

They say time is a gift
We take it
We use it
Sometimes we waste it
But ultimately the hours we claim
Are little more than the expressed testament
To gild past mistakes and moments
As memory.

They say love is powerful
We find it
We chase it
We desperately hold onto it
But ultimately the ferocity of our resolve
Cannot guarantee the certainty
Of its longevity
Because it comes and goes
Without discrimination.

They say death is inevitable
We fear it
We avoid it
We devote money and energy to abate it
But eventually it comes
In one form or another
And neither time nor love
Can dispel it the day
It finally decides
To take you.

If everything is this fleeting
If nothing can extend the duration
Of our time
Of true love
And before death
Then why do we soldier on
Awaiting meaning to life
And purpose to present
Forgiving mistakes in our past
And hoping for the future?

Because time is wonderful
Even fleeting
Even wasted
We choose how we spend it
And with whom
And if we're really lucky
We find people who make hours
Feel like seconds
And make us wish our seconds with them
Could become hours.

Love
Love is so encompassing
Such painful elation
A bursting interpretation
Of our desires laced with expectations
Our needs lacquered with fulfillment
The power rivals nature and transcends the metaphysical
Apt descriptions are little more than semblance of the actual
Which leaves peace only by recourse
Of giving up expressing what it is
And simply enjoying what it is
And that we have it.

There are then the two releases attributed to death
The moment it happens
And the moment we stop fearing it
Focusing instead on what the opposite gives
Ignoring the arrival of life's absence
Conquering what's life-taking is breathtaking
Freedom follows
Then beauty
Delivering more time and better love
Because when you place your attention on what life has in store
You are fully able to appreciate what's coming
And at that moment, you shape it
Claim it
And that's when you really start living

Death... It isn't the end.  It's eventuality.
Love... It isn't everything.  But it resides there.
Time... It isn't what's past us.  It's now and what lies ahead.

Take breaths
Laugh
Escape pain
Run
Grant yourself forgiveness
Wonder
Make the intangible, tangible

Death won't wait.  Love won't wait.  Time won't wait.

Start today.

M.C.K.
8/8/17