fear and loathing...and politics
To paraphrase some of Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth":
"There is something happening here
What it is isn't exactly clear..."
"I think it's time we stop, people, what's that sound?
Everybody look at what's going down..."
"There are partisan lines being drawn
Nobody's right if everybody's wrong
Young people speaking their minds
But so much resistance from behind"
"Paranoia strikes deep
Into your lives it will creep
It starts when you're always afraid..."
I've never written about politics; in fact, until about ten years ago I rarely gave the subject any thought. For years since the "Sixties Revolution," there has seemed to be a sameness in politics and governance in North America, no matter what party was in power. Things always seemed to be done the same way.
But not anymore!
I've just ordered two books: one, James Comey's 'A Higher Loyalty' and Madeleine Albright's 'Fascism'. They have yet to arrive.
My reason for wanting to read Comey's is less for the salacious details regarding Donald Trump than for what I can glean from a Republican's views on what is going down in the country these days. Yes, I am Canadian but with American relatives and deep connection to the USA.
It's been approximately 50 years since Buffalo Springfield's iconic song, and I am very afraid that the freedom of spirit we enjoyed in the 1960s has given way to the current fear of a growing fascist society.
I saw Madeleine Albright giving a brief interview recently about her latest book. She said she was afraid that fascism was "creeping back". She echoed my own feelings in saying that her father (as did mine) fought for our freedom from fascism in the second world war. She sees things in today's world that she thinks are clues that fascism may be making its way back into many societies throughout the world. Sometimes it happens in insidious ways, and not necessarily by way of an overt coup or something so obvious.
I want to read her book to get her Democratic view of the situation. I feel hers will be the more enlightening of the two; however, Comey has written his book partly because he was afraid of Trump and what he was asking him to do. It crossed a certain line and I want to discern for myself what that's all about.
In the meantime, I will continue to be very, very afraid of what is happening here.
"There is something happening here
What it is isn't exactly clear..."
"I think it's time we stop, people, what's that sound?
Everybody look at what's going down..."
"There are partisan lines being drawn
Nobody's right if everybody's wrong
Young people speaking their minds
But so much resistance from behind"
"Paranoia strikes deep
Into your lives it will creep
It starts when you're always afraid..."
I've never written about politics; in fact, until about ten years ago I rarely gave the subject any thought. For years since the "Sixties Revolution," there has seemed to be a sameness in politics and governance in North America, no matter what party was in power. Things always seemed to be done the same way.
But not anymore!
I've just ordered two books: one, James Comey's 'A Higher Loyalty' and Madeleine Albright's 'Fascism'. They have yet to arrive.
My reason for wanting to read Comey's is less for the salacious details regarding Donald Trump than for what I can glean from a Republican's views on what is going down in the country these days. Yes, I am Canadian but with American relatives and deep connection to the USA.
It's been approximately 50 years since Buffalo Springfield's iconic song, and I am very afraid that the freedom of spirit we enjoyed in the 1960s has given way to the current fear of a growing fascist society.
I saw Madeleine Albright giving a brief interview recently about her latest book. She said she was afraid that fascism was "creeping back". She echoed my own feelings in saying that her father (as did mine) fought for our freedom from fascism in the second world war. She sees things in today's world that she thinks are clues that fascism may be making its way back into many societies throughout the world. Sometimes it happens in insidious ways, and not necessarily by way of an overt coup or something so obvious.
I want to read her book to get her Democratic view of the situation. I feel hers will be the more enlightening of the two; however, Comey has written his book partly because he was afraid of Trump and what he was asking him to do. It crossed a certain line and I want to discern for myself what that's all about.
In the meantime, I will continue to be very, very afraid of what is happening here.