Paul Thomas had a terrible biking accident on Christmas Eve and has endured great pain while he recovers from a broken hip. He is a serious cyclist, not just a guy out for a bike ride. He and his friends were mowed down by a careless driver.
During his recreation, he has been thinking more than ever about the world and the mess we are all in.
Let him tell you about a novel that he read and the thoughts it provoked.
So as I recover in the weeks leading to my 56th birthday—a new year, a new age, and this new existence forced onto me—I am deeply moved by “you could get used to anything.”
Anything?
What an ugly thing to be human and having the capacity to get used to anything.
But there was a time in the U.S. when slavery was perfectly normal. There was a time in the world when the Holocaust was perfectly normal.
Because normal, like history, is the province of those with power, a way to render some Others “deliberately silenced,…preferably unheard.”
And today the U.S. is eagerly normalizing a person and ideologies that would have seemed illegitimate just months ago.
Make a promise: You will not get used to “anything.” You will never forget what a democracy and a decent society are supposed to be. You will not accept the cruel policies that we are about to experience as normal. They are not normal. Keep your sense of values. There will be another election is less than two years. And another presidential election in less than four years. Hold on to your integrity.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I believe it was Reich but I can’t find the link. He asked why the Clinton’s are normalizing F#%$ face Von Clownstic by attending his inauguration. One can say the same about Bush and everyone else that pretends to be normal and pretends to care for the American people. No is nothing normal about him besides being a traitor and a rapist and a Republican at the same time. Well he may be the first president accused of rapping a 13 yr old . But certainly not the first treasonous piece of sh!#. We had Nixon who physically broke in to subvert an election but that was after he possibly cost the lives of 28,000 American boys who died after he did his best to subvert the Peace Talks. Than we had Reagan who scuttled Carter’s effort to release the Iran hostages. Someday maybe we will tear his name off of airports.
Even the Soviet Union fell . When Soviet troops didn’t fire on the people. I doubt we will be so lucky.
no nothing is
Here’s a link about the Bill and Hillary attending the inauguration. I don’t know if their attendance “normalizes” Trump. They may want to be seen as good sports; maybe they are showing respect for the office, not the man. It could also be they want to court donations for the Clinton Foundation. Who really knows? http://freakoutnation.com/2017/01/shameful-hillary-clinton-to-attend-inauguration-and-help-normalize-donald-trump-video/
Here is the link
http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/robert-reich-no-democrat-should-get-near-trumps-inauguration-including-former
Reblogged this on BLOGGYWOCKY and commented:
I agree. Do not “get used to anything.”
What has been unleashed since the Trump campaign and subsequent election, the overt racism, sexism, xenophobia, and so on, are totally beyond the pale. Of course, they have always existed, but now it now it seems as if more and more of the bigots are increasingly inclined to let it all out, in very unpleasant and nasty ways.
We must remain vigilant and keep fighting back against these obnoxious forces.
And no, I am not inclined to “give Trump a chance,” as some are calling for, or to “make nice.” This is not the time for “nice,” it’s the time to resist, resist, resist and do everything in our power to protect those who need our protection. And we should hold our Democratic politicians feet to the fire if they seem inclined to “get along with” Trump’s agenda and the agenda of the current Republican Party.
Sadly I believe it is true. This is why education is vital. Children can be taught most anything. Hitler youth. The Spartans. The list is lengthy. Adults now have been bamboozled by a promoter. “There is a sucker born every minute”.
The corporate media has let us down big time. They have focused on trivia and let the vital issues fall by the wayside. They have denigrated the public schools and teachers. Now we are ALL going to pay a humongous price.
A narcissistic buffoon will have his hands on our nuclear arsenal. A Narcissistic buffoon will, according to what he has said, remove the items which might have slowed down climate change.
People will believe what they choose to believe and now with so much false news and post-truth to find “truth” will take more effort than way too many people will be willing to put in.
John Adams said something to the effect that democracies do not usually last that long. I fear that we are on the brink.
Someone said it well. What we have now, the only thing that can save us is our Constitution. Eternal vigilance is indeed the price of liberty. We will see how many people really care about the future of our children to seek out the truth and to act to save that which we were taught our country stood for..
After the Constitutional Convention in 1787, Benjamin Franklin was asked what we had, a republic or a monarchy. And he said “A republic……if you can keep it.”
The biggest question now is, indeed, “if we can keep it.”
You are correct, Gordon Wilder. We need “eternal vigilance.” And we shall see if, despite the best efforts of reasonable people, we can secure the future of our children and our country.
If we can keep it indeed. I think the media is waking up to the threat. The tone and content, the way things are written and talk about the media now suggests that. The only thing: is it too little and too late? I really do not know BUT we absolutely MUST organize and fight back. Do NOT just post your – the people who write here – your thoughts here. Write and telephone your elected officials.THAT is where it will have the most impact Organize fellow teachers, teacher’s unions, parents etc etc. In my view, this is the ONLY way we can hope to survive.
Yes. I am pushing 70 and disabled, but I still call and email and write my elected officials, I work for the election of those on the same page I am, I go to meetings when I am able, I support causes and organizations I believe in.
We all have to do our part, in whatever way we are capable of, lest this country descend into a true oligarchy run by the 1%.
A few more than 1% voted for Trump. Yes. Organize. Oppose. Resist. But more importantly Recognize that soon to be ex-President Obama was the true threat to constitutional government. Trump is restoring democracy and constitutional government. He does have to be watched, closely watched, but compared to collectivist identity politics he’s a “good thing” for freedom. The Greek Zorba should understand that. After all, that’s what the Greek National Anthem is all about, Freedom. Surely you embrace freedom.
Harlan, you apparently think that Trump will restore whatever you think of as “democracy.”
This is not what the Greeks thought of as δημοκρατία (democracy).
What Trump seems to be envisioning is a form of plutocracy, based on the people he is nominating to head various departments and agencies. Most of them are billionaires or multi-millionaires (those who are not ex- military) and many of them seem intent upon destroying the agencies they will be in charge of, to the detriment of the people, the πόλις (citizenship).
I went to Greek school twice a week growing up (after public school). We sang the Greek National Anthem all the time. I am more than well aware of what Ελευθερίαν (freedom, liberty) means. We learned about the history of Greece from ancient times until modern times.
Are you aware of what that history means?
For instance, Trump has proposed a Secretary of Education who is a Christian Dominionist, who seems to be intent upon siphoning money away from public schools (which the vast majority of our children attend) in order to enrich non-accountable, often for-profit charter schools, and vouchers for private schools, including religious schools. This is democracy? I think not.
When I went to Greek school, we learned that one of the first things that the Ottoman Turks did was forbid the countries they controlled to run schools and educate the children. Do you know what the Greeks did? They continued to educate their children secretly, anyway.
We learned a little song about this:
Φεγγαράκι μου λαμπρό
φέγγε μου να περπατώ
να πηγαίνω στο σχολειό,
να μαθαίνω γράμματα,
γράμματα, σπουδάγματα,
του Θεού τα πράγματα.
Φεγγαράκι μου γεμάτο
The translation is:
My little shining moon,
Light my way so I can walk
To go to school,
To learn my lessons,
Reading and writing,
God’s wishes.
This is because the Greeks sent their children to school at night in order to teach them. Despite the danger of being found out and punished by the Turks.
So don’t try to tell me what democracy, and freedom, and liberty, are about, because Donald Trump does not represent those values.
Having said all this, I have nothing further to say to you. Ever.
Zorba, Thank you for the brilliant and incisive response to that far right wing loony.
Zorba, Thanks for posting your 1st-hand account. I wanted to add that, unfortunately Greeks and Armenians share a troubled past with the Turks. Some of my family survived the Armenian Genocide at the hands of the Turks. One of my uncles, who was not in Armenia, was called back under false pretenses. He was killed and his head was put on a pike for all to see. His crime? He was a teacher. The Turks murdered all of the educated persons first. Don’t want anyone smarter to question what’s going on! The sad part, the Turks still deny this happened to 1.5 million Armenians. No more witnesses. It’s documented in a public speech that Hitler got his “idea” for the Holacaust from the Turks. Thank you for letting me share!
In too many countries, the “disappearing” of teachers under new dictator rule is long recognized. In the USA we have been slowly but surely “disappearing” many experienced, opinionated teachers for years, now, under the less dramatic but no less harmful abuse of demeaning, labeling, harassing and ultimately dismissing in the name of “test scores.”
Mary Louise, I have a good friend who is Armenian-American, and we have often talked about the Armenian Holocaust (which also killed a bunch of Assyrians and Pontic Greeks, although not nearly as many as Armenians).
Yes, Greek teachers and Greek priests (who were also educated, and of the “wrong religion” as far as the Turks were concerned) were also killed or forced underground, under the Ottomans.
I do not blame the current Turkish people for what their ancestors did, but you are correct, the Turkish government still denies the Armenian Holocaust, and it is illegal to write or speak publicly about it in Turkey.
Just got home after a very long day at school….. but these pieces pulled me right in. Couldn’t stop reading even though I have lots to do and supper in almost ready.
Great writing, Paul Thomas. And, hope your injuries heal quickly!
EduShyster @EduShyster 2h2 hours ago
Struck by scathing denunciations of Betsy DeVos I’m hearing from establishment pols in Michigan. goal is to destroy public schools
And the ed reform echo chamber will cheer her every step of the way!
I wonder how fast they can “wind down” public schools and parcel them out to contractors. 4 years?
Just some random things we have gotten used to as human beings.
Diseases killing massive numbers of human beings. And in the middle of one of those plagues, a town in England decided to collectively keep the plague by not leaving. Heroically, they sat it out and died mostly together.
War on a grand scale a hundred years ago. And a brief Christmas peace with a few ball games.
Slavery for ages, still surviving in some recognizable form. Yet in the midst of the American civil war, my friend Joe Lee’s ancestor got permission to take care of his soon to be former master. He was fighting for his freedom, but took time off to nurse a confederate back to health because he knew him.
The point is that no matter what we can get used to, we can also do something human to alleviate the suffering caused by whatever our attitudes might be. While we fight for what is right, we must be good to people or our fight has consequences that are as bad as the thing we fight against.
My grandmother used to say you could get used to hanging if you hung long enough. Never knew quite what that was supposed to mean. I have a feeling the next four years might answer that question. If, in fact, we can hang that long.