I was in the cafe where I first heard John McCain's voice when here he came again. We are indeed blessed.
Ann: John?
John: Oh yes, Annie, you didn’t think you’d get away from me that easily, did you? I was touched by your remembering when we first met, that little café where I strong armed into sitting down and listening to me. I still laugh to remember how you staggered out of there as if you had been hit over the head.
Ann: Well, let’s face it, John, you’re not exactly low key.
John: Nope, never was. Now I was out over my skis on more than one occasion just trying to prove that I could be me, me, me and not the family clone. Annie, the ego is a curious thing. You got to have it to keep your wheels turning, but, when it gets out of hand, you’re headed for a face plant for sure.
We all come in thinking that we are the center of the world with a single minded determination to get our needs met come hell or high water. Slowly it is borne in upon us that there are other people on the planet who walk around in their own self-centered little universe.
I wonder if you or any of your readers remember when you first came out of that bubble? Not everybody does (witness my former colleagues) but you will know when it happens to you.
I’ll tell you how it happened to me. I wanted my mother’s approval. I knew I had her love. Never thought I could measure up to Dad or the ancestral admirals so I set out to prove myself a daredevil fly boy. Too bad I didn’t have the flying chops to go with the ego.
And then came the Hanoi Hilton. It was us against them, no me, me, me would have survived that torture chamber in body or soul without the “us” that held "us" together. We saw what evil was and we saw it’s opposite. Comradery and friendship, loyalty and courage, this is what will carry you through with the soul deep understanding that you are not better than anyone else.
Don't just mouth the words. Know it. Without that, it is easy to step off that false ego cliff into a trough of me, me, me, again. And this time some of the folks falling have the power to make what they want stick and put everyone else in a hole so that there is no choice but to serve you, you, you.
So, my old Republican friends, have you looked in the mirror lately? I doubt it. You have thrown those thirty pieces of silver on the body of our Constitution and have declared all-out war on our democracy.
Well, boys, you're about to find out that two can play that game. You’re gonna have to go a long way to go to put something over on Uncle Joe. He’s been around that block enough times to know when to fish or cut bait, and he will pull out all the stops to keep this country whole and intact for the benefit of its working people. He works for Us and he has put "me, me, me" way off in the back corner.
Go on now, go on. Go on TV and let it all hang out, the meaner the better. Show the world who you are, how you never changed from that squalling infant who screamed "me, me, me," but this time you are sacrificing everything on the planet on the twin altars of greed and power. And you’re doing it in front of God and everybody. It won’t hold, boys. You may catch a few stringers for a little while, but lies and deceit will get you in the end.
Have you noticed that you are inspiring a whole new generation of political converts, and they ain’t converting in your direction? Sooner or later most of us will get sick to our stomachs of your corruption and lies, and then look out for the mudslide that is headed your way.
And we are not just watching – though it is important that we not turn away from the filth that you are using to cover your tracks. We are recording your every deceitful action and will bring them all back to shove in your face when we take you down.
This is the job of every person who sees it happening. Call it out, record it, remember it, and take every opportunity to cut off its lifeblood in the treasure and influence that these thieves are using to turn our country into a rich man’s colony.
All we have to do is to keep our eyes open and remember that there are more of us than there are of them, and that’s what will bring us home if we keep our eyes on the prize, the prize being a fully functioning democracy with liberty and justice for all.
So don’t lose heart, my friends, as you watch them go their length, because sure as God made little green apples, hell is waiting.
April 27, 2021
All blog entries are works of the imagination and are for spiritual and entertainment purposes only.