by Paula | May 28, 2017 | Paula Persists, Uncategorized
I had coffee with a friend last weekend. We compared notes regarding our respective acts of rabble-rousing and resistance. My friend is a mostly-retired psychiatrist (in other words, she is WAY smarter than me); who had not been expecting to expend her early retirement energy in active political resistance; yet, here she is. Here we are.
She and I are aligned in philosophies and have a shared sense of dread, grief, and horror regarding the current administration. For us, this sensation is both a catalyst to action and a burden–a burden that often takes residence in our guts and minds, like an OCD virus that threatens our sense of inner peace and causes bouts of crankiness that are sometimes directed at innocent nearby targets, such as our husbands.
The past couple weeks have been a good opportunity to take a mental break. The D is doing an excellent job of exposing his own incompetence and blinding narcissism–without any help from myself, his many detractors or the ‘fake’ media. In my friend’s words: “he is doing our job for us”.
The D’s firing of FBI Director Comey is a clear obstruction of justice; the initial reason given was Comey’s revelation of newly discovered Hillary emails in the late days of the 2016 campaign; a laughable and ironic justification from The D regarding an act that he previously praised, and one that most likely tilted the balance of election in his direction. On the heels of that debacle, The D shared classified intelligence with his Russian BFFs during a cozy photo op (for Russian press only). That may be one traitorous act too many, even in the eyes of Republican cronies — time will tell.
There is a rumor that several Republican’s are considering withdrawing support from The D in a belated attempt to restore their integrity–or at least a facade of integrity. This may be a window of opportunity for them to actually hear what their constituents are saying during the current Congressional break.
Ultimately, The D’s cluelessness and blinding narcissism will be the primary reasons for his seemingly inevitable downfall. The House of Cards is starting to crumble; the cracks in the orange veneer are getting more obvious. As much as I’ve enjoyed a week or two ‘off’, watching events play out; I/we cannot return to the not-my-problem complacency that allowed the D to be elected in the first place.
I used to sing in a choir. For long-sustained notes, we used a technique called ‘circle-breathing’: each chorister sneaks a breath at a different time, so that the audience hears one seamless long-sustained note, without a perceptable break. Circle-breathing depends on teamwork, recognizing that each individual needs to occasionally catch their breath.
To my persistent friends–take a breath when you need to and protest loudly when you are able. Collectively, our voice is unbroken and undeterred.
by Paula | May 20, 2017 | Family
Lately, work has been more of a grind than usual… the weeks are long and the weekends bring respite: Mother’s Day weekend was particularly soul-replenishing and served as a reminder of how blessed I am — with MUCH to be thankful for.
That Friday afternoon I spoke at an annual professional event (making good on a promise / threat I had made a year ago to do so) – the presentation was well received and followed up by a few drinks with former colleagues. A very pleasant ending to a rough week.
I was on the tennis court Saturday morning, with a standing group of tennis friends; followed by a quick shower and a brief journey north with Dan to attend a family brunch. The food was amazing and we caught up with various family members. On the way home we stopped for a nostalgic stroll at Devil’s Lake State park – where we visited the ‘brick’ commemorating our marriage there five+ years ago. (Our brick is located 3 bricks down from the one labelled ‘Tinkles’). The park was jam packed with families out enjoying the much-appreciated warm weather.
That evening, we had date night and went to a movie, which was hilarious. I highly recommend ‘Snatched’ with Amy Schumer and Goldie Hawn.
The next day was Mother’s Day. #1 Daughter Kelly had already made a donation to school a third-world girl for a year in my name (awesome!). Son Ben paid a visit to make us lunch and visit in the sun over lunch. In the afternoon, I went to a concert with #2 daughter–by a choir she was a member of when she was in school. My own mother had been a choir director, and her presence was strong as the chorale music filled our souls.
#2 Daughter and I finished the afternoon with a visit to my father, highlighted by watching the end of the Brewers game and an extended search for #2’s phone – which was eventually found in the cushions of a chair.
Lots of family, with doses of sun, nostalgia, tennis and music. All in all, a most excellent weekend.
by Paula | May 16, 2017 | Paula Persists, Uncategorized
Well, well. We may finally be getting an answer to the question I posed just a few days ago: Is there any act that is too outrageous, unlawful, unconstitutional, self-serving, embarrassing or cruel for Trump to be held accountable by the Republican’ts?
Given recent events, we are seeing the faintest glimmer of hope that a few Republican’s are being reintroduced to their spines: the edges of the dark cloak of loyalty are starting to fray. Mere obstruction of justice (firing of Comey) wasn’t compelling enough: But–the casual sharing of highly classified information, for purposes of self-aggrandizement, to his Russian buddies just may just have crossed a line that even the Republicans won’t (or can’t) defend.
This post is short – by the time I press publish, there will no doubt be new plot twists and revelations to consider. You just can’t make this stuff up.
by Paula | May 14, 2017 | Paula Persists, Uncategorized
The latest SNL Skit nailed it. Alec Baldwin, as Trump, freely admits he fired former FBI Director, James Comey, because of the Russian Thing. The interviewer looks surprised and asks as an aside: ‘Wait, did I finally ‘get’ him on flagrant obstruction of justice’? Only to realize: “No, it doesn’t matter – nothing matters anymore”. Trump/Baldwin then further demonstrates his absolute power by beckoning his lapdog, Paul Ryan, with a little bell to serve him ice cream. Unfortunately, The parody is spot-on.
The Republican majority has given Trump a blank check to run roughshod over our Democracy. There appears to be no act that is too outrageous, unlawful, unconstitutional, self-serving, embarrassing or cruel for Trump to be held accountable by the Republican’ts.
Trump has been given free reign to spew his incendiary lies and tweets; to obstruct justice; to use his position for profit; and to flaunt his outright contempt for our Constitution, our laws, the media, the judiciary and civil rights. We tell our children that actions have consequences; yet that is clearly not true for our Tweeter-in-Chief.
Democrats, and much of America; are relegated to the role of bystanders watching a catastrophic runaway train wreck playing out in front of us in slow motion. Despite our screaming and waving our arms, donations, appearing at town halls, signing petitions and other energetic forms of resistance–the casualties continue to pile up, and the stench increases.
I was a teenager during Watergate. While I had little political consciousness at that time; I remember being affected by the message that even the President has limits to his/her (still hopeful) power; no one is above the law or the Constitution. We are now at an equally critical crossroads in our democracy. Is our democracy still stronger than a corrupt President? Will checks and balances finally kick in–or will we continue our slide down a dystopian slope?
While we don’t know yet how this will end; We do know that without an active, engaged and vocal resistance, things will get far worse. While it sometimes feels like spitting into the wind, we must continue to fight — putting up as many roadblocks as possible against the runaway Trump train.
Trump must be stopped. Our Democracy and way of life depends on it.
by Paula | May 12, 2017 | Family, Uncategorized
I recently took a break to spend a few days with the just-turned-4 twin grand girls. Usually Grandpa and Auntie Dee Dee accompany me on weekend trips, which translates to a total of five adults doting on the darlin’s during our visits; one of those adults being their momma; who is (understandably) their favorite go-to person in almost any situation. This generally means that the girls are wound up over all the extra attention, and it is difficult to carve out some quiet one-on-one (or one-on-two) time with them.
So, for this trip, I strategically left Grandpa Dan and Auntie Dee Dee behind, and babysat the girls for a few days during the work week. We played with play-doh, we sang songs, we went on bike and scooter rides outside, we played on the swing set (going REALLY High), we read books, we played Hi-Ho Cherry-O (remember that one?), we did chalk sidewalk drawings, and so on. A couple times I turned on a Peppa Pig video when I needed some time to prep for lunch or clean up a mess. They adore Peppa Pig!
At one point while we were playing outside little X2 said I was a flower and pretend-watered me. I spread out my arms like I was growing, and she gave me a radiantly beautiful smile. My heart melted. Little X1 made dozens of play-doh pasta pieces for me to ‘eat’, chattering and narrating every step of the way in both Spanish and English.
We made cookies; using both chocolate AND butterscotch chips and had great fun dumping in the ingredients, stirring, taste-testing the batter and randomly glopping the cookies on the cookie sheets. Then… grandma made a mistake. Grandma forgot that their gas oven burns hotter than most. Grandma forgot that the extra dose of chips in the cookies means more sugar in the mix – and melted sugar tends to burn.
When the smoke alarms went off – both girls started howling and one wet her pants. I tried to console them, but had no idea how to turn off the smoke detectors. Luckily, poppa Luis raced up the stairs (he had been working in his lower level office) to open windows and shut off the alarms before helping me console the traumatized girls. Eventually the girls calmed, and Luis was able to get back to work.
Little X2 went upstairs to her bedroom and was sitting quietly in a corner by herself. It occurred to me that she was still scared and when I asked “do you want to sit in grandma’s lap and have a cookie?” she quietly nodded and reached up to me. She was sitting sweetly in my lap, munching a crispy cookie, when she wrinkled her nose, looked up and me and said “This is disgusting!” We all had a good laugh over that!
The following day after a long walk, X1 climbed in my lap and I read her several books while she nestled into me sleepily, and my heart melted for a final time before hitting the road back to Wisconsin. It is just those kind of ‘small’ moments that I came for, and I was not disappointed.
This grandma gig is pretty sweet – even though I won’t be baking cookies again for awhile.
