Reading time – 2:44; Viewing time – 3:46 . . .
In anticipation of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s visit to the U.S. and her discussions with President Donald Trump I was struck with a BFOTO (blinding flash of the obvious), that Merkel is in a unique position – that’s “unique” as in: she’s the only one who can do it – and I started to daydream.
The dream began with the clarity that Merkel presides over the strongest economy within a 2000 mile radius – maybe further. She grew up in Soviet communist East Germany, so she has no false illusions about life in a totalitarian regime. And her having come of age in post-WW II Germany means that Merkel has a solid understanding of the horrible consequences of a country electing a charismatic, sociopathic leader. She knows what happens when the people don’t stand up to a tyrant.
So, I dreamed that all of that and more put Merkel in the unique position to stand up to Trump, to refuse to put up with his vacuous diatribes. I dreamed that she ignored Trump’s fatuous claims and scoffed at his baseless bragging. I dreamed that she talked with him on an equal footing about NATO and pushed back on his blinders-in-place foreign policy nonsense and told him to listen to his generals, who tell him to expand, not contract our diplomatic corps, instead of expecting that we can bomb the world into Trump’s cartoon vision of trade arrangements that work for him.
My daydream was about Angela Merkel telling Donald Trump where the bus stops. It was about Merkel speaking to the world, imploring us to stop this self-important manipulator before it’s too late. She’s the only world leader who can do that.
Then my daydream ended and I realized once again that we the people are standing up to this tyrant and will continue to stand up and tell Donald Trump where the bus stops.
In Other News
President Trump and the Republican leaders in Congress have proposed a new healthcare bill that is so dramatically flawed that almost nobody likes it. I heard it said on the NPR show Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me that this Republican healthcare plan could be labeled like the album of rapper 50 Cent, “Get Rich or Die Tryin’.”
Trump and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan have promised unspecified additional legislation at a later date to fix this hollowed out program, which is lovely if you like pie in the sky. Now they say they’re open to adjustments and amendments, this in hopes of being able to squeak the bill through the House.
But the bill will send hundreds of billions of dollars to already wealthy people at the cost of cutting over 50 million Americans out of health insurance altogether and it will impoverish millions more.
Some of us want to help our mostly wealthy legislators to feel what that’s like. We want them to walk in the shoes of, say, a 60-year-old making $25,000 per year whose health insurance cost will balloon to devour over half of their income. Here’s how you can help these disconnected legislators feel the pain.
Sign the Change.org petition calling for removing healthcare subsidies for members of Congress and their families. See how they like that.
There are nearly 600,000 signatures on this petition already and it’s heading for a million, so be sure to post the link to the petition on your FaceBook page.
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Ed. note: There is much in America that needs fixing and we are on a path to continually fail to make things better. It is my goal to make a difference – perhaps to be a catalyst for things to get better. That is the reason for these posts. To accomplish the goal requires reaching many thousands of people and a robust dialogue.
YOUR ACTION STEPS: Offer your comments below and pass this along to three people, encouraging them to subscribe and engage. Thanks! JA
Copyright 2024 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.
3 Responses to Bus Daydream
Paris March 25, 2017
I love your dream Jack!
dominickpalella March 23, 2017
Will see you at the Saturday meeting!
dominickpalella March 19, 2017
Jack, I have a dream every day. In this dream, voters break free of the delusional political beliefs implanted in their minds starting in grammar school. Some continue to beg politicians for the things they want, like children begging their parents for candy or a new toy. Unlike their parents, politicians can, and will do harm to them without a second thought. Yet they sign petitions, call their offices, send them letters, or march in the streets throwing temper tantrums when they don’t get their way. Then, at election time, they listen closely to what these politicians promise for them, perhaps a new toy or more candy. Unfortunately, the candy they offer doesn’t just rot their teeth, which they can’t afford to fix; it also rots their brains as well.
Other children, despite years of political propaganda indoctrination, develop critical thinking skills in adulthood and start to question their politicians. They visit the Internet and listen to information from many groups calling themselves progressive. They see and hear stories of blatant and shameless corruption by the politicians that occupy 99% of their government executive and legislative offices, as either Democrats or Republicans. However, they too keep voting in elections for political promises because they can’t figure out what else to do. That’s why I created my web site.
The first step in creating effective political change is to recognize and accept that traditional reform tactics, like signing petitions and calling politicians will not change the fundamental problem with our political system. That your First Amendment rights to plead with politicians to do the right thing is a waste of your time, or the money you give to organizations that follow these outdated traditions. At best, these tactics take years to make minor changes, which can be upended by the next administration. This should be a very clear lesson learned from the results of our last election.
The next step is to demand that you elect representatives that will listen and respond to you. Our fundamental problem as citizens is electing politicians who have no obligation to represent their constituents. We must stop electing politicians who do as they please, the moment they step into office. Everyone of your representatives is your employee, who should be expected to act like every other employee in our country. We must demand, not beg them to listen and respond to us. This can be done with a very simple pledge. I am constantly seeking a way to make these two steps easy to understand, and have just recently revised my pledge to do this. http://TrueDemocracyNow.org