Tag: President

The Next Day

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That’s really how it feels sometimes. One day, I’m on top of the world, and the next just scratching the surface, feeling the grit inside my frame of mind, unable to process what was once like hang gliding in the atmosphere one beautiful fall afternoon. Then something happens in our world that cannot be denied.

I often yearn for that balance in my life, rather than the peaks and valleys. Living with the rush of exhilaration that comes with a high and then trying to accept the low a few days later can be very wearing on anyone. The hardest part though is when people don’t understand or that me myself doesn’t want to, wishes not to fix the flaw. I’d rather stay inside the mire of a sadness that I just will not ever be able to escape. Though moments of hope do always exist in our lives.

Today, something historic happened. We elected our next president of the United States. Four years of hell just ended and a weak man spent the day on a golf course building his own case of denial. A gracious man accepted the nation’s choice to have him – Joe Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris – to be our next leaders of this country.

I remember when I first saw the announcement, I was stunned. It felt finally there would be some normalcy in our country. We didn’t have to struggle with being fractured any longer. We had a chance to be loving again.

My only regret is that I am alone with this celebration. Today, I spent the day watching the news, and it was so uplifting so beautiful so hopeful that I couldn’t imagine anything else in my life for just that moment.

But then the fear came back, this seething manner that my mind just trails off to where nothing really matters, and I become caught up in my own woe. The interesting thing is that being able to write it now is so revealing and yet at the same time freeing. I know I will always struggle this way, but there are beautiful things out there in our world that will always continue to offer my satisfaction and confidence.

I’m riding a wave of happiness tonight, the right person was elected to office, and now as he said we begin to hear as a country. Will he or she both be perfect. NO. Kamala Harris and Joe Biden are as human as any one of us, though they have fought all their lives with principled ideals to finally stand where they do today.

So how do I measure my own life. I look at a man whom has lost his family and gained another over time whom he speaks of with love. His predecessor really does not have a clue, and will be carried out of the Whitehouse kicking and screaming, and i cannot wait to watch that day evolve before our eyes. That’s reality, that is our humanity.

For me, I have to continue to fight for this happiness I so yearn, a model of our society has the potential to help move my state of mind forward.

˙˙© Thom Amundsen 11/7/2020

Impeached

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Trying to wrap my head around meaning,

listening to the pundits,

saying the same thing,

the same thing

same, again,

the words are reimagined,

and yet,

this really did happen,

the talk became the action,

yet,

wait for it,

I don’t see the moving trucks

lining the White House rotunda

with Mara Lago plates

aligning their next destination.

 

The only thing I see tonight,

is a blowhard repudiation,

suggesting,

everything we are listening to is,

certainly will,

sell a newspaper,

get a channel change,

allow some office banter,

about the events of the day.

 

What does it mean today,

any different from over two decades ago,

the person in office,

on both accounts,

stayed in the oval office,

didn’t hide away,

people with varying views

began their own analysis,

and the news went on and on and on …

 

and the beat goes on.

© Thom Amundsen 2019

On Donald Trump and Ignorance

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For weeks, perhaps months, no to be sure, for the last two years I have struggled with the phenomena that is Donald Trump. I will secretly admit to everyone that a decade ago, when he first threw his name into the hat as a candidate and then swiftly pulled it out because the powers that be told him it was too early, I was intrigued by the idea. For all the right reasons: a non-political, yet wealthy candidate that could finance his own election, and perhaps turn D.C. upside down. Yes, I realize it his task at hand at present, but back then, I really didn’t understand the depth his brain could transgress his ideals.

His latest tweet or podium delivery or emanation from his incredulous mind has me deeply saddened. We have witnessed the grueling scrutiny of our national police force with tragedy upon tragedy that raises remarkable scrutiny upon their efforts. We have watched one trial after another, where the reputation of the police department’s efforts are caught in a catch-22 of a moral compass because of the damaging actions of a few. We have witnessed heads of police forces plead with the public that their wish is to train their departments to be of the highest ethical standard on the streets as they protect the citizenry of our country.

Trump to police: “Don’t be too nice too prisoners” -CNN 7/29/2017

Time and time again I have watched this man make statements in rallies and addresses with an angry flair that denigrates, discriminates and blatantly insults certain society with complete disregard. This time he has taken on the police force. So now, according to the POTUS, he wants the blue shield to rough up the alleged criminals. What does this say to our society? Simply that it is ok to take no prisoners, and let the melee proceed.

For me, it is upsetting enough how this man has allowed his vitriolic verbal assaults, to literally wake the dead in regards to racist slurs, homophobic slams, and supremacist ideals. Yet, those close to him suggest he is misunderstood.

We live in a world today that can ill afford to walk itself back 50 years and forget the efforts necessary to create a mosaic life in the United States. How can we possibly move forward if our elected President of the United States continues to demean the efforts of many in our society to remove the literal walls we have fought to break down for decades.

There is no easy answer, beyond asking this man to find his integrity, and that will seem to be a long time coming, maybe less than one term. We can only hope.

 

Donald Trump & Everyone Else ( a rant )

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Here’s the thing. I wrote a poem based completely upon the persona that Donald Trump showed America in an interview shortly before he gave a campaign speech in Iowa. What is really frightening is that people will actually take the time to listen to him. The man is a fraud of himself and he doesn’t even realize it. He so happy to present an obnoxious intolerant persona, that he doesn’t even have to think about the damage, nor does he have a clue the harm that his words and action bring upon America or the United States as we stand as a Nation. He touts The Bible as his favorite book, but is unable to connect with any spiritual character from the book. I don’t imply that Donald Trump is not a smart man, I only want to impress upon people that he is a dangerous man.

He visibly demeaned a Mexican National when he kicked Jorge Ramos out of his press conference. He even went so far as to bully him, and sternly tell him to sit down. This was a passive man asking a question. Trump eventually said, ‘go back to Univision’ before having one of his goons remove the reporter. Let’s think about that for a minute. What does ‘go back to Univision’ imply when speaking to a Mexican immigrant? It suggests go back to Mexico because you don’t match up to the standard I see America living, or you don’t fit into my grand plan.

My wife has compared Trump to Hitler. I have disagreed until tonight. Imagine if this man was in charge of our country. First of all it would take years for him to understand the process of being the POTUS because right now he just thinks it is a position he can own with money. It is a sad commentary to have the masses of our nation get behind a person that represents taking everything away from the poor and the lower middle class, the people of color, the immigrants and anyone else who does not have the where with all to survive in the world Donald Trump believes he will create.

I do sincerely believe that he does think that is possible. His ego is being stroked by every person that looks him in the eye and smiles whenever he says anything that desecrates the political process, or when he slanders or destroys in words only the credibility of people running for office or running our country.

Tonight before his rally – I didn’t watch the speech, but I did see Ann Coulter at the podium introducing Donald Trump. Think about that for a moment would you please. She is a self-proclaimed racist, last time I checked. What a pair of people to represent our nation. My wife’s analogy is becoming more and more believable with every appearance Donald Trump makes on his campaign tour.

We are a diverse country. We are not expected to all get along together. But at the same time, we must begin to realize that what Donald  Trump represents is nothing more than the 1% wielding their power and control of the American dream, if that still exists. If we put someone like Trump in office, we are suggesting we are an ignorant populace in a democratic country that is willing to throw their freedom away as a result of a disparaging, conceited, clueless, loud-mouthed narcissist that could care less about anyone but his own image carved into a statue that is gaudy and mis-representative of everything our founding fathers created for this country. Mount Rushmore doesn’t have enough volume of rock to accommodate this egomaniac’s head. Wake up America!

Good night moon!