Advoken's Blog

It’s easy to look at the current state of affairs on Planet Earth with despair.  It’s easy, too, to see no chance for hope of positive change in 2020.

Each month the results of global warming become more apparent with forest fires, terrible rains and snows, huge floods in some areas of the earth and drought in others.  Scientists and climatologists are virtually united in accepting the truth that these often tragic phenomena is the result of climate change.

While most nations of the world accept that truth and are joining in the effort to take steps to slow down the rate of warming, our nation — led by our Cheerleader-in-Chief — is turning not only a blind eye to the obvious environmental catastrophes, but is actually turning back the clock and weakening environmental laws.

In addition, the pages of the New York Times (the only paper that covers much of the world’s news) are filled each day with stories of terror attacks, of dictators that ruthlessly and wantonly govern their nations, of the growing fear of nuclear attacks and of outbreaks of ebola and other infectious diseases.  Among the many current tragedies of the times.

In the United States — supposedly the “greatest nation in the world” — our democracy is in danger of unravelling, led by the Cheerleader-in-Chief who has won significant support from a steady 40% of our citizens by wooing them with a constant stream of lies

and mean-spirited tweets.  He is further supported by nearly all Republican senators who should know better but join in his cheering section and will most likely not find him guilty in the impeachment proceedings.

Many of us look on in alarm, wondering how nearly all Republicans love this awful man so warmly.  The answer, however, is clear: by and large, he has delivered on the GOP agenda by lowering taxes for the rich, by turning back regulations on the banks and the financial industry and by weakening regulations on worker safety and environmental standards — all aimed at increasing profits for corporations and enhancing the wealth of the rich.

It’s mystifying, too, to watch so many of our citizens becoming enraptured with the Cheerleader-in-Chief, even when their own incomes and living standards are suffering.  These misguided folks are often in our small towns and rural areas, where earnings continue to be stagnant, where health care is hard to access and where educational opportunities are limited.  Their very futures are made worse by the policies of the Republicans and those of the Cheerleader-in-Chief.  

whether these citizens are wooed by what might be a false sense of nostalgia, an appeal to want life as it used to be when African-Americans were stuck in their ghettos, when our Hispanic populations only showed up for harvesting crops and then returned to Texas, and when Muslim, Sikh and Hindu residents were a novelty.  What these citizens fail to realize is that when they seek to push back on these “different” populations they are actually stifling their own hopes of a better life.  It’s obvious that many of our citizens are still infected with a lingering racism that clouds their ability to study the issues openly and to act rationally for their own good as well as that of others.  

As we enter 2020, are we without hope?

Of course not, for a life without hope is hardly a life worth living.  Throughout the nation, in our urban centers, within our sprawling suburbs and among our ranches and farms there is an awakening of the American spirit.  People in “red” and “blue” communities alike are organizing to end racism, to rebuild an awareness of the need for environmental protections, to call for fairness in our justice systems, to seek living wage jobs and to create strong schools so all children have an opportunity to share in the ever elusive “American dream.”

It’s our hope in 2020 that Americans will join in even greater numbers and dedication to tell the truth about the issues of the day and to take action to remedy them so that all may prosper.  And, there may even be hope that many who are currently enthralled by the Cheerleader-in-Chief may learn to reject his tweeting rants and raves and look to join in resolving our current problems together.

In 2020, that means we must urge our Senators from both parties to fully consider the evidence contained in the impeachment of the Cheerleader-In-Chief’s actions and act according to their conscience and not because it is politically comfortable.  

Also 2020 is an election year.  Need we say more?  Unless the C-i-C is found guilty in the senate, Americans must remove him in November, and some of the Republican cronies who blindly supported him.  That will mean the Democrats must walk away from primary battles and unite on a winning candidate if we are to unseat this totally unsuitable leader.  

Is all that too much to hope for?  – Ken Germanson, Dec. 31, 2019