On the eve of this holiday I would like to wish all those on DU a happy Thanksgiving. It is a universal need and joy to be thankful and to express gratitude.

I remember as a little child in Germany, Thanksgiving (or Erntedankfest) as it is called is celebrated the first Sunday in October.
On the eve of the holiday we would go to church to hear preaching and choral presentations, plus do some singing. After the service we would have a lantern parade followed by fireworks. On the Sunday of Thanksgiving, friends and family would gather and celebrate with shared foods and laughter.

So it is with a glad heart that I am able to to celebrate tomorrow. To be thankful for family, for challenging and sustaining work, to be able to live in such a beautiful part of the country (Seattle area) to be able to express ones self politically and last but not least, to be in community with so many friends.

May we all be able to take time time to relish what gifts and graces that are placed in our lives. May you all find joy in the holiday and most of all, may you be in community to enrich others' lives as you receive that same gift from them!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING-
Mike C

our youngest, my daughter just received a huge stage promotion, she does stage managing (the youngest ever )appointed/hired for a major arts group. I am proud of her for the promotion, but more proud that she is so committed to the arts. Thanks for listening, just had to shout it somewhere!!!-Mike

the right and others are going to use this as a reason this riot-insurrection happened.

Bullshit: A confession by myself:

Twenty 8 years ago I had cancer, serious life threatening cancer, it came back twice. This is before Obamacare. My insurance dropped me and I wracked up 174,000 1996 dollars in medical debt.
I filed for bankruptcy 6 times in a 4 year period. This is not allowed by the bankruptcy law. But what it did it forced all medical, utility and other creditors from foreclosing on me or discontinuing treatment. Because of that, I did 13 months in federal prison due to being charged with abuse of the US Bankruptcy code and contempt of court. I am not proud of what I did, but saved my life. I negotiated my debt down to 11,000 as a result of my prison sentence.

I confess this because of the report I heard this morning trying to reason out or excuse the rioters-insurrectionists. It was said that they did this because of economic distress. I call bullshit.

In all that mess, never did I ever consider over throwing the government, never did I try to over turn a legitimate election and never did I ever try to or even feel like or think about injuring or killing some one.

In fact in the midst of that mess, I thanked God that I was able to live in this country and found a way to keep on living.

I feel the rioters were pre-disposed to be anti government, predisposed to authoritarianism, predisposed to an ignorance of the constitution and also a dose of racism, xenophobia and chauvinism. IMHO

Thank you for letting me vent.

I am in a reflective mood today, hours and counting til our four year national nightmare is over. Yes there will still be remnants of the bitter, cynical and misinformed, but much of the tone, national dialogue and attitude is formed by our President.

For me these past four years have been both a national tragedy and deeply personal in many ways. As an immigrant and the child of a refugee, what trump was espousing cut to my earliest identity. But is deeper than that, as a nation, the Lady Liberty (To use a metaphor) has been weeping. We lost sight of those lofty words at her pedestal: "give me your tired, your poor..." Then we watched in shame and embarrassment as other nations collectively shook their heads at our xenophobia.

Our family was personally effected. I was put on the no fly list in 2018 and had the validity of my naturalized US Citizenship questioned and had to seek counsel. I was blest that I had the resources to do that, but I know I could have easily been counting time in an immigration detention center.

Enough about me., I watched with many of you, some in silence, some in vocal protest as to how the administration treated those in the field of science, those who had special needs, the poor, the immigrant and other. I looked in horror as the administration lied 30,000 times and denied the lethal capability of a global health scourge that has killed 400,000 of our nations souls. I could not believe my eyes that a president would enrage his supporters to commit sedition against our nation.

I looked in horror as to the greed and corruption that manifested itself on a daily basis. I stared dumbfounded at the pettiness of a president who should have been the "chief servant" among us.
The earliest political quote I learned was that of John F Kennedy when he exhorted us on that cold frosty Jan 1961 morning; "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country" it is my prayer that we will live up to that challenge and distill it even further. What can we do with and for each other.

To harken to a biblical phrase: "Weeping may endureth for the night, but joy cometh in the morning" Our 1,461 nights of weeping will be over. How appropriate this phrase is for me at this moment. Don't get me wrong, I am not deluded enough to think that all of our problems will be over, or that some may ever be solved. But the solutions won't be blocked by cynicism or self aggrandizement. There is hope in me, there is excitement in my soul and there is a promise of brighter and more healthy future to come.

JMHO

HAPPY INAUGURATION DAY TOMORROW!!! Mike C

Have you had enough of the corruption
have you had enough of the lies
have you had enough of the self aggrandizement
have you had enough of the obstruction of justice
have you had enough of the criminal activity
have you had enough of the cruelty to others
have you had enough of the race baiting
have you had enough of the violation of norms
have you had enough of the trashing of human decency
have you had enough of the shredding of our constitution
have you finally had enough of trump?

Or are you still so God damn stupid or non caring that you put party over country
are you still willing to see our nation descend into anarchy
are you still willing to sell out our values and traditions as a nation
are you still willing to suck it up for trump in order to further your own careers?

It's time to wake up republican's

if yesterday didn't do it then
you're either too dumb to be in an elected position
too much of coward to hold office
or you plain don't give a fuck or
worse, you're on the take.

as an immigrant, before coming to the United States, I was repeatedly told how incredible our orderly, lawful and peaceful transition of power has been. The wonder of the US was/is it's value and awe in that treasured document: the Constitution.

It was this promise and hope as a child passing the Statue of Liberty, I proudly wanted to become a US Citizen.

I am shattered that we can come to this situation today. I do place the blame on trump and the hate media drumming conspiracies and misinformation 24/7

this sadly was my fear 5 years ago when trump announced, that he would want to be a dictator.

For those who have winked at trump's craziness, for those of you who have enabled trump
for those of you who have excused his fascist attempts: this is on you!!!

This to me is the logical conclusion of his presidency. Let us hope who can regain our sanity as a nation!!!
It's gonna take work, it's gonna take stomping out trumpism and it's going to take republicans to have the courage to call this what it is, an attempted coup and it is going to take holding hate media accountable!

I would like to share with you the words of Howard Thurman:

The Work of Christmas!

"When the song of the angels is stilled,
when the star in the sky is gone,
when the kings and princes are home,
when the shepherds are back with their flocks.

The work of Christmas begins:

To find the lost,
to heal the broken,
to feed the hungry,
to release the prisoner,
to rebuild the nations,
to bring peace among others,
To MAKE MUSIC IN THE HEART!"

as we end this dark year, may we look forward together to this New Year. A new leader, a vaccine and a chance to collectively redeem the aspirations our nation once held.

May we make music in the heart, together, with and for one another.

Merry Christmas DU! Mike C 2020

what am I thankful for? of course, friends and family and that I survived having COVID this year, but the unique thing I am thankful for this year is that Joe Biden won the presidency. This may sound like a political post, but actually it's not.

I am thankful in the sense that it will definitely save our nation from descending into anarchy and being ruled by an authoritarian type dictator. It has weighed on my heart these past four year how debased our civil discourse has become. It has weighed on my heart how close we have come to being ruled by a dictatorship. It has weighed deeply on my heart as to how close we have come to trashing our sacred gift of the Constitution.

My earliest memory is of coming to the US and on our first day having my father read to my mother and I in (German and English) the words on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty:

"Give me your tired your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shores.
Send these the homeless tempest tossed to me.
I lift my lamp beside the golden door."

That lamp has been dimmed these past flour years. As an immigrant who had to achieve his US Citizenship, I learned about the constitution many years ago. I learned to marvel at it's uniqueness and protections. During these past four years is had grieved me to see it trashed and disregarded. In addition we have not lived up to the promise of that contract on the statue.

As a child, my mother (who was a child refugee from Hitler's war) would often warn me about certain words and actions that people in power or vying for power, would say and do. She would warn me of the subtle signs of creeping authoritarianism. It so alarmed me greatly five and a half years ago when a politician came on the national stage who was giving the world hints about wanting to edge into a dictatorship.

So it is with relief and a grateful heart for the sake of our nation, the sake of our global relationships and for those oppressed that we have elected a person who cares, who is thoughtful and who is experienced. We can look forward to a new political attitude from our nation leader.

Perhaps we can remember the words of Hubert Humphrey that I have shared before:

"The truest test of a nation is how they treat those in the sunrise of life, those in the sunset of life and most importantly, the poor, the sick and the stranger among us."

It is with those words I am thankful and take not only comfort in but also revel in the promise of things to come!

I am also thankful for you my friends on this site. For being able to grieve together, to share our outrage, to at times laugh not only at those in public life but share humor and personal grief, struggles and joys.

I greatly anticipate the day when we can all be in community with each other together again.

Happy Thanksgiving, be safe, be thankful and enjoy your day!!! Mike C