Reading a book I came across this story “A Father Forgets” by W. Livingston Larned, I thought it would be nice to share it on Sunday. It serves as a good reminder.

“Listen, son: I am saying this as you lie asleep, one little paw crumpled under your cheek, and the blond curls stickily wet on your damp forehead. I have stolen into your room alone. Just a few minutes ago, as I sat reading my paper in the library, a stifling wave of remorse swept over me. Guiltily I came to your bedside.

There are things I was thinking, son: I had been cross to you. I scolded you as you were dressing for school because you gave your face merely a dab with a towel. I took you to task for not cleaning your shoes. I called out angrily when you threw some of your things on the floor.

At breakfast I found fault, too. You spilled things. You gulped down your food. You put your elbows on the table. You spread butter too thick on your bread. As you started off to play and as I made for my train, you turned and waved a hand and called, “Goodbye, Daddy!” and I frowned, and said in reply, “Hold your shoulders back!”

America has developed slowly over time righting the wrongs that existed as time passed. One of the greatest wrongs was slavery; it took over 400 thousand Union deaths to stop it and over 300,000 Confederate deaths to defend it. There has always been a tug between hanging on to the status quo or moving forward with more progressive programs to better the life of all Americans.

A Trumper  stated: “I see that the libs are the greatest threat to America: the leftists, the Dems, the autocrats like Biden, the socialists, the historical revisionists, the Big Gov Tax and Spenders, the globalist interventionists, the “hate speech” haters who hate free speech, the reverse racists who hate those of European descent, and libs who put all Republicans in one basket and spite them.” What is most ironic about comments like this is the Trumper is probably receiving Social Security and is on the Medicare health insurance program which he apparently excepts from being a threat to America. I’d also have to guess that if he was eligible then he did not turn down the most recent $1,400 check which was sent.

A Trumper makes the incredible assertion in discussing the January 6 riot: “What about claiming that the election was stolen? That’s an opinion. Americans have a right to express their opinions.” You wonder what that means in the context of the riot. No one doubts you can express your wacky belief that the election was stolen. Trump claimed that even before the first vote was cast as he did in 2016. But you cannot claim it by invading the Capitol.

The Trumper also writes: “Did those hundreds upon hundreds of Trump supporters carrying American flags attempted to “overthrow” the Government? Of course not.”  He said they were there only to delay the certification of the vote but that is nonsense as we have seen. Then one is left with the question what was there purpose? All that is left is they wanted Trump to remain as president which is tantamount to overthrowing the government.

But the Trumper’s total defense of what happened boils down to this: “On Jan 6, the hundreds of thousands at the Mall were peaceful. Of the thousands who marched to the Capitol, a few hundred were violent/destructive.” 

The Trumpers and QAnons in Congress and those spread throughout the country who speak about this uprising on January 6  tell us there were other riots over time in our country. One went back to the 1954 attack in the House of Representative by four Puerto Rican nationalists which ended up wounding five Congressmen. But most tell us about the Black Lives Matter demonstrations during the 2020 summer.

I fail to see the relevance of those attacks with one upon our nation’s Capitol by hundreds upon hundreds of people intent on disrupting the orderly process of government at the urging of Trump. One wrong does not justify another. Small wrongs do not justify a giant wrong.

Here we had for the first time in our history a president of the United States urging his mob of followers to go to Congress to stop it from acting as it should.

The Trumper notes: “Some protesters wrongfully fought back. We condemn violence, but we do understand.” Understand what? I assume what is understandable from the Trump point of view is that the violence was all  justifiable for three reasons:

I returned to Trump over the past few days to gain an insight into the thinking of his followers who suggest they are conservatives when they are really Trumpers and QAnons which is a totally different thing. I wondered what they thought about and how they justified the January 6, 2021 attack on our Capitol after three months. Fortunately  looking around I found some of them who spelled it out.

These people do not want to address the how and why of the January 6 attack. That would be inconvenient. I suggest you can take judicial notice that It came about because Trump asked his supporters to come to DC on that day because it was going to be “wild.” Mr. Trump tweeted on Dec. 19, “Big protest in D.C. on January 6th” He urged his followers to come:

“Be there, will be wild!”

What did Trump mean by that?  As one article had it: “For weeks, President Trump and his supporters had been proclaiming Jan. 6, 2021, as a day of reckoning. A day to gather in Washington to “save America” and “stop the steal” of the election he had decisively lost, but which he still maintained — often through a toxic brew of conspiracy theories — that he had won by a landslide.

On occasion I would read something about the union organizing at the Amazon plant in Alabama and scratch my head and wonder: “Don’t these folk know about the history of union organizing in America?”

About the time the vote got underway Bernie Sanders showed up. If you knew American labor history you would think Jeff Bezos the owner of Amazon paid him to do this.  Bernie’s message was: “The reason that Amazon is putting so much energy to try to defeat you is they know that if you succeed here, it will spread all over this country.”  

Now there are two things that immediately stand out about Bernie’s  visit and his message. First, Bernie is looked upon by most Americans as being very close to a Socialist. He calls himself a “democrat socialist.” He fools no one. He does it because he knows running on the Socialist ticket he has no chance of getting elected. The Democrats foolishly let him into their tent.

Next, the workers at the Amazon warehouse in Alabama are not interested in spreading a message all over the country. They are interested in keeping their present job. Little is accomplished if you wave the union flag if you do not have a job yourself. Like politics, all union organizing is local.

Shortly after it all began on March 21, 2020, I made a pitch on this blog saying: “Were I in a position of power to do so, I’d prohibit any person going outside without a mask. You say we have a shortage of them. That’s not true. We can make our own. Let’s start doing it.”

A Trump supporter, objected: “Part of the joy of life is seeing human faces, . . . Masks give a false sense of security. . . .  2009 Swine Flu: “. . . 12,469 deaths . .  . in the United States . . . due to the virus.” Even if coronavirus is ten times more lethal, expect 120,000 deaths. And for this, we shut down society, we shut down the economy? Compare that projected 120,000 with the annual 70,000 drug deaths.” 

A little later the Trumper added: “To order Americans to wear masks is an order incapable of being complied with. You say people can make their own masks. How effective are they? Who has tested them?” He asked that we, “objectively assess the adverse effect on mental health and physical health caused by these closures. The adverse effects of putting millions out of work should also be assessed.” Then he said, “The hope is . . . this scourge passing within a few weeks.” He added: “supporting our president and vice president, AND FIGHTING THE GOOD FIGHT, ESPECIALLY AGAINST LIBERALS.”

I all but stole the above title from an article I recently read. I changed the first word from “How” to “Did” and made it a question.

It relates to abortion. Anyone who understands American history knows that at one time the Evangelicals, with whom the Conservative Catholics now form a “Club for Trump,” once did not have a particular fondness for those who professed allegiance to the Pope. It was during the time of the second coming of the KKK that began in 1915 and grew to millions in the 1920s that white Protestants saw as their main target people who were destroying the morals of our nation because they were not sufficiently American. These were the Catholics and the Jews. This hatred was virulent not only in the South but in the mid-West.

Now  all is forgiven or probably forgotten. It took a while but the abortion issue brought them together. But what is most amazing about this, while the Conservative Evangelicals and Conservative Catholics find common ground, the issue was first brought to the fore by Liberal Catholics as the article notes.