There is little doubt in my mind that Trump (I have not been able to write President), being concerned about his lack of popularity and his disastrous poll numbers decided to do only what he knows best and that is create a diversion.  In an effort to get the American people to like him Trump decides to drop bombs instead.  First in Syria and then in Afghanistan. Everyone paying attention knows how egocentric Trump is which requires him to take action to “prove” to the American people and indeed the world that he is not the ill prepared, narcissist and temperamental man many of us have seen hound to be. So what does he do?  He bombs an airfield in Syria and during Holy Week he orders the “Mother of all Bombs” to be dropped on Afghanistan.  The media and some of the American people were very congratulatory to the Donald which boosted his ego which is exactly what he felt he needed to do in order to make people like him. With those two actions Trump has placed America more in harms way and closer to another war.  What is it going to take for America to wake up and see Trump for who he really is: a pathological liar, a bully and an insecure egomaniac.

Is America’s denial about the depth and breadth of racism so engrained in it’s consciousness that it is willing to have a dangerous and ill-prepared bully as its Commander in Chief?  What will it take to make America recognize exactly what made so many like minded Trump supporters elect this man as POTUS?  What will it take for America to realize how the two party system is destroying our democracy?  What will it take for America to admit the election (though fairly) of Donald Trump) is a reaction to America’s election of an African American and highly educated and charismatic man as POTUS for two terms? One need only look at how a Mitch McConnell and a Paul Ryan are gleefully embracing Trump knowing full well their efforts to deter everything positive President Obama tried to do for our country.

Has America forgotten how McConnell refused even to accept Obama’s nomination to the Supreme Court nor allowed the candidate’s name to even be brought to the House?
What will it take for America to see how Trump is playing America like a fiddle?  What will it take for Americans to see how ill-prepared and temperamental Trump is and as a result has placed America in harms way?  What will it take for Americans to see how the Democrats squandered many opportunities to distance itself from “those politicians” who have been in the storm too long and cannot  see a way forward except for their ‘good ole boys?” The setting for bickering and infighting and personal insults and attacks  against one another is now standard practice.  CNN in its effort to be nonpartisan has become the prototype for how one should behave-by slandering, misinformation, arguments and attacks against each other regardless of ones point of view.  How dare Jeffrey Lord a political analyst for CNN and a Trump supporter try to compare Trump to Dr. M.L.King Jr and not expect to receive much deserved criticism? What will it take for Americans to come together to recognize what a terrible mistake was made in the election of Donald Trump to POTUS?  Of course I understand the election is the way of democracy and I have to accept it.  But what I do not have to accept nor give my consent to is someone who is such a flawed person in so many ways. I have long advocated how I am less interested in your being perfect but more interested in your being accurate. With Trump there is neither perfection nor accuracy which has already placed the America he intends to make great in immediate candidacy for another senseless war.

I remain a firm believer that it is not by might nor power but by My Spirit, thus say the Lord.  I am persuaded that America is so toxic and filled with anger and revenge that none of us is safe.  One need only look how two white cops in Georgia brutally attacked a black man with his hands up yet, the Black Lives Matter movement is viewed by too many as being racist.  One need only look at the recent incident on a United Airlines flight where an Asian doctor was physically dragged off of a flight  and ended up with a broken nose and a concussion.  What will it take for Americans to understand that something is terribly wrong with all of us and we need to look more closely at what our respective religious and and spiritual beliefs teaches us to become.  Last week my wife Fran and I were invited to share the Passover Seder with a dear friend along with several members of his family. As l listened to the ancient words from the Haggadah being read aloud by each person seated at the table, I  realized how blessed all of us were in that special moment because we were all celebrating what it meant to be free from any kind of tyranny or threats.  America is already great and America must use its greatness to become better and not bitter.

I leave you with the words of the late theologian and preacher Dr. William Sloane Coffin who expresses what I believe to be my difficulty with Donald Trump.  “The world’s smallest package is a person wrapped up in himself.”  And so it is;  Peace and blessings, Dr.Paul