I will borrow words from Keith Olberman to make a point. Commenting on the transformative advice he derived from words of his dying mother about character and integrity, he said:
"It’s been 27 years since she spoke those words. I had to start paying attention. I had to truly learn to walk away from toxic people that I loved dearly. It didn’t matter anymore who you were. If you hurt me, betray me, use me, disrespect me or cause me physical harm or others etc. I will walk away from you. You can no longer treat my life and well-being in a cavalier manner. Yes! I will forgive. And yes my heart remains soft. But I can’t help others if I stick around with those who may be harmful to my well-being! So I now wish them well. Move on! And continue my journey to help others....Walking away from you may have been painful ...But its more painful to pretend your behavior or actions weren’t harmful to me or my family! They were! ...You watch Trump everyday harm others and our country. And you don’t care. You just go about your business. Your lack of empathy is disheartening and disturbing!
To my friends and acquaintances who support or even condone the policies, actions and rhetoric on PUTHOP and this Administration, I say this. I will not attack you personally, though I reserve the right to challenge your actions and ideas. Neither, however, will I respect you or presume that your beliefs and actions come from empathy, compassion, good will or love. Those assessments must be EARNED by you, as you have rejected the foundational premises by your words and deeds. I may intellectually understand your position as based upon logic, sometimes perverse, bigoted and often mean-spirited. Or I may acknowledge that your arguments make no logical sense at all. We CAN have dialogue and discuss issues of the day, and I am open to credible arguments and ideas. But know that you begin on a position of "0," without privilege or credibility. To establish such credibility, you must advance your arguments upon facts, logic and evidence as well as alignment with commonly accepted values and notions of human rights and decency, social justice and respect. These are the essential criteria.
For example, separating children from parents and jailing and psychologically traumatizing them for weeks in cages without adequate food and sanitary necessities is a non-starter. It cannot be justified in logic, factual necessity or humanitarian grounds. If you condone such actions and policies, or the person who is responsible for imposing such conditions, then you OWN the actions and their implications. You may claim to love your own children, but if you condone such treatment of ANY child, you are a hypocrite undeserving of respect or credibility.
Some may find my stance harsh or even intolerant. However, I believe that humanity entails tolerance of difference, but does not entail tolerance of inhumanity. One who stands with the chanting crowd watching a lynching is no less inhumane that the one who places the noose around the victim's neck. One does not have to agree with my opinions or proposed solutions, but the criteria by which I assess your credibility and worth of your arguments are implacable.
You may have fiscal capital, but of moral and intellectual capital you have none! Having abandoned integrity, self respect and humanity, you are at "0" with nothing to lose. You may choose to remain in your self-serving and insular cabal and continue to support hate, division and bigotry. If, instead, you do not support or condone the inhumane, hateful, duplicitous, racist and destructive policies of the PUTHOP Administration, you can establish credibility and integrity by DOING something to remove the blight and cancer from the nation's body politic. In this case, silence does equal consent. Where you go from point "0" is up to you. 🤓
