Another Trump Mess That Needs Cleaning - Why Is Lawrence DeJoy STILL Here?

 Hello Fellow Travelers!

Remember this clown?  He's a Trump toady named Louis DeJoy, who was named the Postmaster General.  This candy-bar-in-the-swimming-pool was handpicked to break the USPS so mail-in ballots wouldn't be counted.  Yup, that thug.   It didn't work but he's still here.  His ham-handed attempts to slow the delivery of ballots was not only disgusting and unsuccessful but he damaged a much-lovingly derided institution relied upon for hundreds of years.  Throughout our history, the US Postal Service has been delivering to locations near and far-flung across the country.  The "snail mail" as it is affectionately called, is probably doomed to the same fate as the dinosaur and the land line.  Right now, however, during Covid, we have to rely on the mail.

De Joy looks and sounds like a rejected extra from the Sopranos.  When I think of postal workers, I picture Jerry Seinfeld on a route or Tom Hanks delivering a card.  What I don't envision?  What no one wants?  Is an unqualified, thuggish, cretin to smash one of our most cherished and revered institutions.  The mail is often a subject of derisive jokes and complaints but they're our bad jokes, our petty concerns, America depends on the US Postal Service, especially in difficult times.

In researching DeJoy I saw his comment where he declared, "You better get used to me, I'm not going anywhere."  Really?

Need An American Hero? Look No Further!

 
Hello Fellow Travelers!

Hanks Rescuing a Plucky Immigrant - Happy Resolution! -

Classic America!  Tom Hanks in a Western!  "News of the World" won't change your point of view but it might make you feel a tad better, a smidge more hopeful, give you an an inkling there are better times ahead.   If you like Westerns (I love them) this one checks most of the boxes: Desert thirst scene, cliff gunfight, close-calls, bad guys, Death everywhere and, wait for it, decency.  Tom Hanks reliably charts the true course, does the right thing, saves a cute little girl and, in doing so, saves himself.  He's not John Wayne, but maybe he's better.  This character is a little slow to figure out the right path, but after a couple of ill-fated tries figures out the perfect solution.  How great, how American is that?

The character Hanks portrayed is a little bit like this country; Well-intentioned, dependable yet curiously  self-destructive.  We are good people, we can give everybody an apology, a coupon for something or a check!  We can overcome racial inequality, an insurrection that's coming, the riot that took place.  We will  face future challenges with generosity, honor and openness to respect all ideas.

Read the Constitution, it's what we do.

We are decent and compassionate people that support each other in hard times.  We are a nation of immigrants.  Assimilating foreigners into our society is in our DNA.  We put equality and the law above all else. So I don't have any patience for people whining about borders or immigrants, let's shut up and share! Something as simple as a film can remind us of our shared values and concerns, they're pretty much the same everywhere - safety, food, housing and medical care.  Oh yeah, and we have to save the planet, - So there's that.  Arguing who did what to whom is an argument for another day for someone  else who is petty enough to keep score.  

Every day is a new beginning.  The world is increasingly hostile, polarized and unfamiliar.  Doing seemingly ordinary tasks requires more planning, strategizing and the execution of said task has to be flawless.  I will.  I'm an American!