by Paula | Mar 19, 2017 | Paula Persists, Uncategorized
It has been a rough week for The D. Despite having slept or tweeted through basic civics lessons and intelligence briefings he is learning the hard way that there really are three branches of government, and that his words and actions have consequences.
How disconcerting for The D to have his latest travel ban struck down, using his own words to interpret intent. The D has been remarkably successful in avoiding any consequences associated with his outrageous statements and/or tweets. However, this week, a ‘so-called’ judge from Hawaii referenced The D’s own words to determine the intent of the travel ban as a way to prevent Muslims from entering the country. (Yet another excellent reason to move to Hawaii.)
How troubling for The D to be criticized for his lack of evidence to support his tweets accusing Obama of wiretapping. The D does not feel it is necessary to validate any information he infers or gleans from cable news shows before tweeting misinformation to the world. Prudence is not in The D’s vocabulary. He is the master of setting a ‘perception’ based on his own wishful thinking–perceptions which take hold in the minds of his faithful. He never lets so-called ‘facts’ get in the way of his beliefs. However, these tweets are being challenged on numerous fronts.
How upsetting for The D to have his name associated with the Alternative health care proposal put forth by Paul Ryan (a.k.a the Fourth Stooge). This plan has been widely panned as Dead on Arrival and is opposed by hospitals, the AMA, Republicans and Democrats, AARP, and anyone who has in-depth knowledge of health care–including my friend Jean. (Who KNEW it could be so complicated??)
The Congressional Budget office (using a technique foreign to the current administration called ‘math’) determined that 14 million people would lose coverage in 2018 and 24 million people would lose coverage by 2020.
Certainly The D himself hasn’t demonstrated enthusiasm for the plan; although on the campaign trail he promised a plan that would ‘cover everybody and be a fraction of the cost’. Where is this magic pixie dust Donald? I really want some!
How distressing for The D to be critized for his proposed budget and his outlandishly lavish spending at tax payer expense. It is dismaying, but no real surprise that the proposed budget slashes popular programs such as Meals on Wheels, NPR, and the EPA. Apparently, we cannot afford meals for shut-ins, but we are shelling out millions for endless golf weekends at Mar-A-Lago (tax money that ends up going to The D himself, cause he owns the place), and $183 Million for Melania and Barron to continue to live in NYC.
Finally, The D closed the week by demonstrating a remarkable lack of class and grace by refusing to shake Angela Merkle’s hand. What an ass. It’s really embarrassing to be an American lately.
The good news is that some checks and balances are finally, belatedly, coming into focus. Concerned Americans continue to speak up in vast numbers, Hard questions are being asked by the media, and investigations continue. Let’s hope the march towards some degree of sanity and accountability is just beginning–with more challenging weeks in the near future for The D.
by Paula | Mar 8, 2017 | Paula Persists
It is the wee hours of the night. My monkey-mind is keeping me awake, and I foolishly went to my FaceBook feed in an attempt to bore myself to sleep. Bad move. I got sucked into a couple vicious political exchanges; which led to more pondering.
The D continues to have his faithful supporters. They accuse his detractors of being overly critical. One poster recently queried – what has he done that is so wrong? Many replies articulately and calmly laid out an extensive inventory of mis-steps, ridiculous tweets, unconstitutional executive orders, lies, and more. I will spare you the full run-down.
The defense provided by his supporters, including his appointed representatives as well as those on FB, are consistently a variation of this theme: “Whatever… but the important thing is that The D is WAY better than Obama — that guy was horrible! “.
Somehow, this argument is used to justify anything and everything. However, it is no argument at all–it is a transparent gas-lighting technique to avoid accountability by shifting the focus to another target or topic. Any High School debator, worth their salt (or evidence cards) could see through that tactic. And I speak from much nerdy debate experience.
The D is a master of this technique-never accepting any blame or acknowledging his mistakes by aggressively attacking and shifting blame to others. Obama is one of his favorite targets, along with most of the media, Nordstroms, immigrants, and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Americans tend to be an emotional bunch–we make decisions and align our loyalties based on emotion. And, once we have made up our minds on something, no amount of factual information or ‘real news’ will sway us from our views. Social media tailors our feeds to show us what we want to see–what we already agree with; while also giving us a false sense that we are keeping up with the ‘news’ .
We seem to turning into a post-fact society, where information is readily available, but facts are hard to discern. This is what keeps me up at night (as well as Stephen Colbert wicked monologues). A charismatic candidate with a sound bite that resonates and lots of media exposure, can be elected without benefit of experience, credentials or actionable policies. It does not bode well for our future.
And that is why an inexperienced, immature, vengeful and impulsive man has the nuclear codes.
It’s a wonder I sleep at all.
by Paula | Feb 10, 2017 | Paula Persists, Uncategorized
Who would have thought that Mitch McConnell would be the one to provide a great summary of women’s progress and a new feminist rallying cry:
She was warned, she was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted.
For those of you that may have been in a coma for the last couple of days: This was McConnell’s ‘mansplanation’ for invoking an obscure and bizarre rule to ban Senator Elizabeth Warren from reading a letter from Coretta Scott King during the nomination hearing for Jeff Sessions as Attorney General: a decades-old letter which urged against naming him as a Federal judge due to his track record of blocking civil rights and voting rights. Although Senator Warren was banned–multiple male colleagues were inexplicably allowed to read the same letter.
I admire so many women for their ability to rise and persist in the face of adversity. In my own lifetime I have seen sexism become less institutionalized; yet it is still pervasive. In many ways I think it is even more difficult to raise a strong, confident woman in these days of hyper-sexualization and a social media that is both brutal and 24/7.
There are times in everyone’s lives where they face a decision as to whether to take a stand or submit to the prevailing winds. In my own life, I most regret the times I have not persisted in doing what I felt to be right. I recognize that not every issue is worth the fight – sometimes the ‘juice isn’t worth the squeeze’. Yet, at some point, we need to say enough is enough. I will not let your sexist or racist statement go unchallenged; I will not allow my daughter to be treated that way; I will not allow my co-worker (or myself) to be treated disrespectfully; and I will NOT stand by quietly while our ‘so called president’ ravages our country.
I have long held that the definition of courage is standing up for what is right — even if the odds are against you. It is that brand of courage that won women the vote, desegregated our schools, gave us a 5 day work week, did away with Jim Crow and more. People have suffered, people have died. Nevertheless, we persist.
by Paula | Jan 31, 2017 | Paula Persists, Uncategorized
The first week was a doozy.
The executive order against immigrants entering the USA has caused chaos and confusion in airports across the country. People entering the country legally were left stranded; many having to return to the country of origin. For some of my colleagues trips ‘back home’ are being cancelled; hard working professionals are making contingency plans in case they need to flee the country quickly.
And … we appear to be building the damn wall. Although the purpose is not entirely clear: I believe it is a response to the ebbing away of well-paying manufacturing jobs across America. But that logic is flawed: automation, the global economy and gutting of unions are the root causes for the loss of manufacturing jobs in the US (Even Trump’s companies are doing manufacturing overseas). However, we seem to be in a post-fact era; where it is easier to vilify a scapegoat than to address complex root causes.
We’re in an altered state of reality; where executive orders are issued based on alternative facts. Lies are loudly and passionately presented as facts; as if volume and spittle can substitute for truth.
The comparisons to the Nazis become more relevant each day–it is no longer far fetched speculation: the administration is feeding a frenzy of unrest, hate, entitlement and victimization; while placing the blame for a variety of woes on a particular religious group; which ultimately sets the stage for sanctions, hate crimes, and worse.
Press conferences are bizarre rants against the media and of self-promotion. Mainstream media is demonized and threatened when daring to challenge ‘alternative facts’. The media is being bullied into accepting everything said by the administration as the absolute truth–the true hallmark of a facist leader.
Trump does not even bother to provide a facade of separation of his personal interests from his presidential duties. Increasing his personal wealth and the wealth of his cronies is clearly a major priority for this administration, and he does not see a problem with that. My god, how much money does the man NEED before he can even consider being generous to others outside his inner circle?
Unfortunately, the core of the problem is one of temperament and character … it will not get better. It is likely to get much worse before sufficient checks and balances kick in–due to Republican control of congress and (seemingly) significant swaths of the judicial branch. Eventually, the media and the courts will be this administration’s most effective foes; we can only hope that a devastating war does not break out before then.
What can we DO now? Donate to the ACLU and Planned Parenthood; call and write senators and representatives; march, protest, speak out. And… reflect and retrospect. Reflect on how we got here. Reflect on the sense dis-enfranchisment that many American’s feel. How can we find a common ground so that we are less divided? How can we have a civil outcome if we cannot have a civil discourse?
And finally – how can we maintain any sense of inner peace with the crazy that is going on? One of my wise FB friends suggests that each of us meditate for 10-20 minutes every day – with intentions of peace and love and letting go of hate. I’m going to try it. It will certainly be a better use of my time than another 10 minutes scrolling through my FB feed.
by Paula | Nov 27, 2016 | Paula Persists
Anyone over the age of 25 will always remember where they were on 9/11 in 2001. That was the day our sense of safety and blissful ignorance of global terrorism was shattered.
It was a normal Tuesday work day. At the time, I was a lead for a large state-run project — with a large contingent of IT consultants, with origins from all over the globe, including New York, China, Pakistan and India. As I came out of my early morning meeting, we found the entire staff huddled around a small black and white television that someone had brought in. I found a seat, and got ‘up to speed’ with what was happening– just before the first tower fell.
I will never forget the sensation of sitting in that room with colleagues from all around the world, reacting with horror as we watched the second tower fall. We were facing an uncertain and frightening new reality.
Fast forward to Election night, 2016, when I felt the same mixture of horror and disbelief. Only this time, it was not an outside evil inflicting violent radicalism and hate upon innocent citizens; this time the radicalism and message of hate has come from within. As with 9/11, we are again facing an uncertain, yet frightening, new reality.
The dynamics behind a Trump presidency and the alt-right movement represents a national cancer that has been underestimated and untreated for too long. We became complacent in our confidence that a racist, misogynist, mocker of the disabled and assaulter of women; could not possibly be elected to our country’s highest office.
We were fools.
We still have a moral imperative to stop Trump. Having failed to keep him out of office; we are compelled to tirelessly resist his policies of fear and hate. We are compelled, more than ever, to demonstrate kindness, support and love–especially in the face of mockery, injustice and fear.
Particularly in this season of post-election and pre-inaugeral limbo: it is a great time to ponder on how we personally can get more involved and seek ways to be kind, supportive and helpful to others.
As the saying goes: Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. (BTW – that is what George W. was trying to say here).
