 |
| I can do this again. |
I hate the word Left. I am not a Leftie. I am a patriotic American (born on Flag Day -which I share with Cheeto and my late husband was born on July 4). I love my country. It is a great country, and can be even greater ... but not with our current lack of leadership.
The Women's March on Washington was truly inspirational.
I want a leader, not a creepy tweeter!
Yes, I am liberal, and liberal means generous and sharing. I cannot imagine that a person of faith could be anything but a liberal. There is no doubt in my mind that Jesus would approve of this march -- remember his actions in the Temple?
I believe in capitalism but a compassionate capitalism where greed is largely non-existent. I believe in universal health care, the right to choose, a rude free press. I do not believe that I have right to force my religious beliefs on anyone else, so please check your religious beliefs at your door. No one is forcing you to marry someone of the same sex. I am a straight woman, but I see nothing wrong with two men or two women getting married. Rights are for all, and not for some.
Matthew 22:34-40 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
The Greatest Commandment
When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
This is the end. Here are the posts in order.
http://thewomensmarchonwashington.blogspot.com/2017/01/getting-ready-for-march.html
http://thewomensmarchonwashington.blogspot.com/2017/01/on-way-to-march.html
http://thewomensmarchonwashington.blogspot.com/2017/01/walking-to-march-and-waiting-on.html
http://thewomensmarchonwashington.blogspot.com/2017/01/marching-across-mall.html
http://thewomensmarchonwashington.blogspot.com/2017/01/a-momentus-and-historic-day-in.html
http://thewomensmarchonwashington.blogspot.com/2017/01/my-america-inclusive-not-exclusive.html
http://thewomensmarchonwashington.blogspot.com/2017/01/so-many-people.html
http://thewomensmarchonwashington.blogspot.com/2017/01/this-is-what-democracy-looks-like.html
http://thewomensmarchonwashington.blogspot.com/2017/01/onto-mall.html
http://thewomensmarchonwashington.blogspot.com/2017/01/to-other-side-of-mall-closer-to.html
http://thewomensmarchonwashington.blogspot.com/2017/01/down-constitution-to-trumps-hotel.html
http://thewomensmarchonwashington.blogspot.com/2017/01/finally-pennsylvania-avenue.html
http://thewomensmarchonwashington.blogspot.com/2017/01/at-ellipse.html
http://thewomensmarchonwashington.blogspot.com/2017/01/home.html
Well said! It is hard to work out what is going on from the other side of the world, and appreciate your insightful post. I guess we all in for a wild ride.
ReplyDeleteAmen!
ReplyDeleteThank you for expressing my beliefs so eloquently.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing Marlene! And thank you for marching! I so wanted to go but the broken ankle and recuperation has put my life on hold. Seeing all the pictures posted from around the world warmed my heart.
ReplyDeleteWonderful words!
ReplyDeleteI didn't realise you were at the March til I caught up on your column today. I flew from Chicago with a friend to New Jersey and went down on a bus from there. Here are a few highlights.
ReplyDeleteBy this time, the streets were filled with festive people of all ages and races. There were many men, both by themselves or accompanying the women in their lives. There were old people in wheel chairs and babes in strollers or carried by their parents, strapped to their chests or riding on their backs. Signs carried by many groups of families or friends identified them as rather varied; I saw one family group that proclaimed themselves "trans and gay, black and white". There were many multi-generational families, too.
And the signs! They were everywhere and were mostly handmade. Most were anti-Trump (along with a few anti-Pence) and ranged from fairly polite to downright scatological. I took pictures of a few signs; one was a drawing of Putin, naked and riding a horse with Trump's head. My fav, though, was a sign that read "Keep your tiny orange hands off my pussy", with a picture of a very cute looking...cat. Elise and I wore read red baseball caps which read "Make America Great Again" -- in Russian. (We did verify the translation with a Russian-speaker).
Here are my takeaways from the experience.
ReplyDelete1. How many young women and others in the crowd either hadn't voted because "both parties are the same?". Or had voted for a third party candidate? There's some statistic that in the three important states the Clinton lost that the vote difference was 60,000 between Trump and Clinton (in Trump's favor) and an astounding 250,000 votes for third party candidates. What if those third-party voters had voted for Clinton?
2. This march was mainly spread by social media. Supposedly, 500K attended the march. (The number may turn out to be higher, but for now, that's the number I'm seeing). How many of you remember seeing or reading about the Martin Luther King rally and march in August, 1963? And seeing the pictures of what seemed to be 100's of thousands of people? Well, according to Wikipedia and other sources, the attendance that day was between 200-250K. Half of what the numbers were from yesterday. What a difference social media makes. I first became aware of this during the Arab Spring in 2011. And, of course, social media was responsible for the marches and rallies held all over the world. (A hat tip to Emily and Andy who took my grandgals to the Chicago march! Can't get started too early!)
3. News reports. I read several reports where the violence done in DC on Friday night was somehow included in the reports about the peaceful marching on Saturday. That rally had no violence what-so-ever and at no point did I ever feel in any sort of danger. Why the disingenuous reporting?
4. What to do going forward? I don't have an answer to that but I do think the world-wide marching and rallying makes it clear that people don't like the Donald Trump presidency and the working of the Republican Congress. All I know is that we can't stay silent and disengaged any longer. Maybe we borrow tactics from the Tea Party? They certainly went after what they wanted.
Let's try to make a difference in the days and months ahead. Organise, organise, ORGANISE...