This may hurt

On your feet or on your knees?

How have you chosen to live your life?

How will you choose to meet your end?

"This is the end Beautiful friend, This is the end my only friend the end.

Of our elaborate plans, the end, of everything that stands, the end

No safety or surprise, the end, I'll never look into your eyes again."

The Doors: The End

How long have I lived? Long enough to remember the assassinations of four of the great men in our recent history. John F. Kennedy, assassinated by  Lee Harvey Oswald 1963. Malcolm X, assassinated by Thomas Hagan, in 1965, Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated by James Earl Ray in 1968. Robert F. Kennedy, assassinated by Sirhan Sirhan also in 1968. While it is true that it is impossible for me to "remember" the assassination of John F. Kennedy I was alive at the time of his death, and the question linking all of these deaths is; How different would America be if they had been allowed to fulfill the promise of their lives? Sadly we will never know!

Each of these men of promise died while standing for something important, John Kennedy died for the promise of what was to come. Malcolm died because of the belief that things could change for the better in a religious system without the hatred of that systems leader Elijah Muhammad. Reverend King died because he sought change in the belief that all men were created equal and deserved equal rights in America. Robert Kennedy died for trying to make the dreams of the three others a reality while at the same time attempting to end an unpopular and divisive war in Vietnam. At least that is how I see it. In short, they died on their feet fighting for a cause that should be just as important today as it was in 1968.

Sadly today in America we have a supposed "leader" who stands only for his own well being, and to divide the nation. His cynical system of belief that holds the idea that men are superior to women (misogyny), he promotes fear of others because of skin tone (xenophobia), derision because of a difference in religious beliefs (theophobia) this one I find ironic because he seems to have no particular religious beliefs of his own, except maybe the religion of money over God. If you don't believe me, take the time to listen to one of his speeches, they tend to come from the not too distant past and could have easily been written by Adolph Hitler. 

In many of his diatribes he has called for the imprisonment of his rivals, and in some cases their public executions. I have said this before, but I believe it bears repeating, how long will it be before he runs out of "real" enemies and turns his focus to the people who support him? Paranoia is something that all autocrats eventually fall prey to, Hitler saw shadows behind every curtain, his closest generals were to become suspect of seeking power by usurpation. Likewise Stalin was so fearful of his generals the he held a purge to eliminate many of the strongest among them. Consider the current Russian dictator Putin, when he addresses his visitors they sit at one end of a long table while they sit far enough away that they practically need to yell to be heard by him. Kim Jong Un is so fearful that he keeps his own family at arms length, and has assassinated his own uncle simply because he wouldn't applaud "appropriately" at the end of his speeches.

The individual running for autocrat here in America cannot articulate an idea without falling off track into a meaningless word salad which later leads his followers to try and "sanewash" his senile ramblings into something that makes sense. Often without a real answer to the question  of "what did he say?" When confronted by a difficult subject he reverts to lies in order to attempt a distraction from the fact that he has no idea how to address the problem he faces. Which is what led to his falling on an internet rumor about one ethnic group eating the pets of their neighbors during his debate with Kamala Harris. Sad as it may seem, Donald Trump is now the person whose sanity and intellect is now, or should be under suspicion as it was with President Biden. So why has this not happened? I honestly believe it revolves around the fear of his wrath. He has managed to get his supporters to live on their knees because of their fear of standing on their feet and telling him the truth!

Consider this: Mr. Trump through many of his rants has complained about such ideas as his political opponent stealing the 2020 election. Look at his actions on 6 January  2021 and be honest with yourselves, did he or did he not amp up those who came to the will be wild rally in Washington D.C. and send them to the Capital building in an attempt to stop the certification of the election? Honestly, if the election was stolen from him where is the proof he has claimed to have? No one but him has "seen" any "proof", even his own lawyer Rudy Giuliani stated that "We have lots of theories, but we just don't have  the evidence" in a conversation with Rusty Bowers. So, riddle me this, theories but no evidence, who was the person truly trying to steal the election?

The technical term for this in psychology class is called projection, Webster's dictionary definition in part reads as follows "the externalization of blame, guilt, or responsibility as a defense against anxiety." In other words projection is the psychological impulse to project onto other people what you are actually feeling. He falsely blamed President Biden for trying to steal a free and fair election. In 2016 after asking Russia to find Hillary Clinton's emails, Trump claimed that the only collusion was "by crooked Hillary and the democrats." A more recent example is  "the one who's got the problem is Biden, because if you look at what Biden did, Biden did what they would like to have me do except there's one problem; I didn't do it." He has also  called his two most recent political opponents "the most corrupt candidate ever." Calling Hillary Clinton a "bigot". Which is ironic when you consider the fact that he and his father were found guilty of unfair practices in failing to rent apartments to people of color in the 1970s. The list of his projections is endless so I will stop here.

Suffice it to say, that Mr. Trump is perhaps the most unstable individual to ever run for the office of president. And by  many accounts he is wholly unfit to hold the office now or at any time in the future. As is the case with all of my entries I speak only for myself, but in this case I find it hard to believe that there is no on else out there who doesn't see  this in a similar manner, yet may be too afraid or apprehensive to voice their opinion. 

Food for thought, if you are hungry. Peace

Afterthought:

Know this, I will stand on my feet before any man and speak truth to their perceived power, and if you catch me on my knees it is because I am praying to God for the salvation of my soul and quite possibly yours as well.

Good luck, and God bless