I had planned to write about my Saturday night dinner with Terri — a good friend of over 30 years who now lives in Florida.
I was going to write about how she surprised me with the news that she has fallen totally and addictively in love with an Argentinian man who seems perfect, but in a very real way...this is not a future Dateline story.
In the many years I've known Terri, I have honestly never seen her more beautiful, more content, or more happy. I am thrilled for her.
Our three hours fly by, and the pictures do little to capture her beauty.
It'd be nice to be thinking all good things, given such a fun night. But I write what's on my mind, and tragically, this is what is on my mind today.
- A random shooting at Brown where two are killed.
- A massacre at Bondi Beach in Australia where at least 20 are killed at a Hanukkah event.
- And the murder of Rob Reiner and his wife in his own home.
This is a blog about mostly trivial stuff. Day-to-day pleasures and annoyances. I try to stay away from the bigger news items. But sometimes it's impossible.
I think Trump is playing a major role in poisoning our collective society.
I'm not saying that he is responsible for any of the tragedies I've sited above. But his politics have created a divisive global environment that encourages angry, dangerous behavior. Just recently he called all Somalis "garbage." This, from a world leader. This, from the person who represents our great country. He has said worse and done worse. Here is a man who embraces violence (January 6 being the most egregious example) and uses extreme rhetoric and actions against those who don't support him (too many examples to list).
Like so many, I pray that things improve in 2026. And that Democrats and informed Republicans do a better job of countering what's been happening.
We need more positive actions. More good news. Better, bolder world leaders.
(Sorry, I usually stay away from politics, but I just had to add my two-cents, which literally doesn't even exist anymore).
ADDENDUM
Trump just posted this on his Truth Social site:
You have done a much better job than I of trying to keep politics and the state of our country and the world out of your everyday verbiage. I couldn't agree with you more, Trump is definitely a VERY large reason that people in the US and the world seem to feel that it is okay to say and do irrational, illegal and disgustingly dastardly things. The leader of the free world should have a baseline of being a decent human being who has the betterment of our country, our citizens and the world as his/her guiding light. Instead we have a disgusting person running the show who only has one thing in mind....."how can I screw over other people to try to get me richer".
ReplyDeleteWell said, Gary, and I totally agree. Did you see that Trump now blames Reiner's death on his anti-trump rhetoric?
ReplyDeleteI'm not a fan of Trump either, but to suggest that he is somehow responsible for the deadly shooting at Bondi Beach is to miss the obvious. Survey data show that about 50% of all Muslims worldwide express clear antisemitic attitudes. In the Middle East the percentage of openly antisemitic Muslims rises to 75%. In addition, 50% of Muslims in western countries think Israel should not exist. These are deeply entrenched attitudes that have been around for many years.
ReplyDeleteThe murder of Rob Reiner and his wife by their mentally ill, addicted and estranged son is somehow connected to Trump? Your post is an overzealous statement that somehow all evils in the world were somehow precipitated by Trump.
We should all take a look at our own statements and beliefs and see if we share some responsibility for the divisive politics that have overtaken the public discourse.
I just noticed that my message above is anonymous. It was posted by Rick Moses.
DeleteFirst, so nice to hear from you. You make some excellent points. I'm not saying nthat Trump is responsible...just that he has created in an environment where all types of egregious behavior seems normalized.
DeleteBut are we a collective society? And adjust your two cents for inflation and dismiss politics. Perhaps the greater question might be Lyn, when will it be your turn to be so in love, content and happy?
ReplyDeleteTo all who read this, during a very difficult period of my life back in the 1980s, Lyn was a great friend to me and I appreciate her for it to this day.
ReplyDeleteRegardless of how often (or little) we speak Rick, my thoughts of you are (and will always be) positive and filled with love.
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