Is This What Your Jesus Would Do?

This Senate & House Republican healthcare "overhaul" bills. This monstrous proposals that will cost millions their healthcare and millions more the level of healthcare that helps prevent catastrophe. This greedy bill that would constitute one of the largest transfers of wealth in recent memory. And that wealth wouldn't be coming towards you and I, as our healthcare costs go up (as if they're not high enough already) and protections for out-of-pocket caps and pre-existing conditions go right out the window.  Nope. That transfer of wealth will go right into the already-heavy pockets of Congress and their wealthy, corporate cronies. You know, the folks that need the least amount of financial help on the planet. (Although they are in dire need of help in the compassion department.)

The Republican Party--as it is now represented in Congress--can no longer be allowed to call themselves the party of "family values". Really? Someone who values family wouldn't gut the healthcare options of those who are less fortunate than themselves. And I certainly no longer accept this idea that they are the party of "Christian values". Seriously, Christian people-- is that what your Jesus would do? Jesus would basically send a big "f--k you" to those in poverty, the working poor, and the middle class?  These are people who literally live paycheck to paycheck. And for many, those paychecks they work so hard for don't cover expenses. They have little to no savings or cushion. No safety net. In another life, I went to many years of Catechism classes and in none of what I heard or read or debated in those classes was there any reference to The Big J hoisting a middle finger to the masses.

No Republicans. Don't preach to me about "Christian values" or "family values". To follow the banner carried by Trump and McConnell and Ryan and the rest of them is to embrace an attitude of "Mine! Mine!" It's to forgo genuinely caring about and acting in the best interest of all families. It flies in the face of what Jesus purportedly taught. It's embracing the worship of the Almighty Dollar.

No, your sandal clad, tunic-wearing, poor carpenter from Nazareth would not hold with these values.

Our Nation's Lost Soul

Truth be told, I still grieve Trump being in the White House. Every. Single. Day. I continue to be dumbfounded that this guy somehow won the electoral college and that he still has so many supporters... how is that possible?
The heart and soul of our nation has a long, ominous shadow of hate cast across it by The Donald and his supporters as they repeatedly embrace fear, anger, bullying, and discrimination. I grieve that woefully insecure, fearful, close-minded, negative individuals across the nation are choosing to put all their toxicity into action, as if they've been given license to do so by the example of He Who Shoves Fellow World Leaders Out of His Way. And all these folks--including their reality-tv-star leader--call themselves "Christians"?
I grieve that Trump--as the Guy in the White House for a mere five months now--has done zilch to discourage or squash the toxicity. He fans it with every Twitter rant; every abominable cabinet appointment; every rollback of protections for women, LGBTQ, and the environment; every version of his Muslim ban; every version of his party's loathsome "healthcare" bill; and every time he fires someone who won't do his bidding or "pledge loyalty" to him. Trump is bigotry and hatred wrapped in the rabidly insecure go of a tiny human with no sympathy, no empathy, and no heart. 
I understand that many Americans feel left behind, disenfranchised, and angry at the system. Let's face it: the system is not rigged for the success of regular, working people; it's rigged for the benefit of the wealthy. Period. That should be something the majority of us can agree upon! While some have felt forgotten during the Obama years (though I've yet to read or hear an intelligent answer as t why), others of us felt that way during the George W. Bush years. But, I make the case that the Trump administration is different and rightfully alarming. No, I was definitely not a fan of George W., and I often mocked his invented vocabulary ("strategery" and "nucular") and that regretful "Mission Accomplished" photo op. But I didn't feel that President Bush was a morally bankrupt person or a heartless person or that he was actually working to stick-it to people or that he was unhinged (or as they say in the South, "touched in the head"). I believe that--in his way, guided by his world view--he was truly trying to do right by the United States and his presidency was not solely about enriching himself and his family. It just happened that he and I had very different world views. No...Trump is a totally different animal. Very few people really dispute that he's racist, sexist, misogynistic, bullying, ill-tempered, greedy, homophobic, untrustworthy, religiously intolerant, has bragged about sexually assaulting women, mocked a disabled journalist, and is overall a bigot of monolithic proportions. By and large, Trump supporters don't genuinely listen to the well-documented and factual grievances about him. Usually, the rabid defense is purely deflecting to some supposed Hillary flaw (hello, she lost the election; live in the now) or some over-dramatic diatribe about those commie-heathen liberals. Nope. Such non-answers don't forward the dialogue at all.
Maybe from their perspective, Trump supporters feel just as exasperated about talking to liberals and progressives. Perhaps for their sensibilities, all that hopey-changey-peacey-lovey-equality stuff just gets old. But why can't we find was to move closer together on issues? Why does it always have to be Us vs. Them in our nation? The recent shooting at the Republican baseball team's practice clearly shows that there are dark, unstable, ill-intended people on both sides of the political aisle. To see another mass shooting (practically at Congress' doorstep) should be bringing us Americans together on the need for common sense gun ownership guidelines. (Notice I said nothing about "taking away people's guns") But this doesn't appear to be happening. A quick visit to Twitter confirms that the divide remains wide. Admittedly, as someone who just wants everyone to be safe, healthy, educated, to have a shot at happiness, and to live and let live--I don't gt the Trump party's perspective. Ultimately, the heart and soul of our nation--and the world--is in OUR hands. As I watch and mourn the state of our nation every single day, I choose to put my faith in people and their ability to be kind, to be love, to stand up for what is fair and just for ALL humans. You know, all that hopey-changey-peacey-lovey-equality stuff.