Tag: Ukraine

In The Midst Of The Storm

~ Cheryle Johnson ~ Leave a comment

First, I must give credit to historian Jon Meacham for the title of this day’s blog.

It was his answer on an MSNBC show where he was asked where the country is “at” following the GOP acquittal of President Donald J. Trump.

It also seems like a great title for the last year of my life.

I have endured the deaths of a sister and a friend of 46-years standing; a feeling of not knowing my place within my immediate family structure; a deep depressive cycle and a recent surgery.

It feels very much like the storm has been raging, and, like the Disciples in the boat, I have clung to the boat’s timber instead of my Lord’s presence.

So the hearings, trial and the acquittal of Trump added a layer of oppression on top of everything else; the outcome seemed to be a given, but there was always a faint hope that GOP Senators would see how dangerous what Trump did was and vote conscience over party.

Only one among them did; for this Mitt Romney has cemented his place in the history books beyond a footnote.

I watched the majority of the proceedings of Trump’s impeachment. I viewed 11 days of hearings with 17 witnesses.  I watched opening and closing arguments from both sides in the impeachment trial. I watched the roll call votes of the Senate regarding the introduction of witnesses like John Bolton and Mick Mulvaney, as well as documents Trump would tweet brazenly that Democrats didn’t have, because they were in White House possession in defiance of Congressionally issued subpoenas.

I watched the Senate cast votes of guilty or not guilty to both Articles of Impeachment.

I listened as Chief Justice Roberts announced Trump’s acquittal because a 2/3 vote of the Senate could not be had, was never going to be had, was gleefully, defiantly announced in advance would not be had by people like Senate Majority Leader McConnell (R-KY), Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Senator Ted Cruz ( R-TX).

I had heard McConnell talk of coordinating with Trump on impeachment strategy.

I read about Senator Rand Paul’s (R-KY) defiance of the Chief Justice in going on the Senate floor to read a question the Justice deemed inappropriate because it named the whistleblower of Trump’s Ukraine quid pro quo scheme.

And I wondered what would become of my country.

I did not watch the State of the Union address, because I knew it would be filled with the usual Trump grandiosity and deliberately false information designed to mislead.  All the post SOTU analysis I heard and read confirmed the wisdom of watching a movie rather than another episode of The Trump Show.

Now that impeachment is over, I am starting to feel renewed. Now there is a clarity for what comes next:

Do all that I can to help turn out the Democratic vote.

The storm is still raging, but I know whose hand to grasp as I attempt to be a disciple for democracy.

woman raising her hands
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Seeing Red

~ Cheryle Johnson ~ Leave a comment

For those few people who regularly read my blogs, my apologies for an illness related absence.  My body just wouldn’t giddy up and go for the past several weeks. Autoimmune sufferers will understand. I was at 1/2 a spoon.

I started feeling better last week, but kept it low-key to be sure I had energy for family Thanksgiving.  It was delightful and I am grateful for another year.

I also managed (on purpose) a fairly Trump free holiday. I continued binge watching certain series (sorry Liev Schreiber – I made it up to half-way through Season Five of “Ray Donovan” and had to give up.  The Abby story line just got too depressing.)

I caught up on “Versailles” on Ovation and watched some docudramas on the Bourbon dynasty of Louis XIV, XV and XVI.  I think the GOP should have watched how over-taxing the lower classes and not taxing the “nobility” (aka the 1 percent) cost them their throne.

Of course, “Gladiator” is always a good movie choice and another cautionary political tale for our times. The first two episodes of “Escape from Dannemora” were interesting.  (Paul Dano, you look so different from Bezukhov in “War and Peace!”  Patricia Arquette, I hardly knew ye!)

Ooh, and “Dirty John” on Bravo is a very, very bad boy, Eric Bana.

And I don’t know why, but I can always count on “Black Rain” to take me to dream land, despite my decades long crush on Andy Garcia.  Or maybe because of it. (Who knew a violent movie about the Yakuza could be sleep inducing?)

Then today there were the nightmarish pictures of the shoeless, diapered migrant children being tear gassed on Mexican soil. No, the babies were not storming the gates, and those adults who did reportedly did not touch U.S. soil.

Thank God it was not our soldiers having to decide if Trump’s lethal force order was in order.

What is our sovereign right to tear gas people on Mexican land any way?  Hello?  Any international law expert available?

And tonight it is all about Trump’s efforts to subvert our legal system to jail his “political enemies” ( Clinton and Comey). Again, a not legally cool move.  How many dubious legal and policy decisions is one President allowed to make?

This leaves out Russia’s ramming a Ukrainian cargo ship, firing upon it and taking crew as prisoners, or the climate change report just issued, a damning report about the fire and ice that will destroy us.

In fact, the world seems to be spinning faster on its news axis than ever before. Is it a combination of the advancing Christmas shopping rush along with Democrats taking power in the House come January?  Anticipation for Mueller to do something, anything, that shows his investigation is still on target after Manafort has trashed his plea deal?

It seems like I have come down with Trump Tizziness just as I was feeling better.

I even fantasized Melania took Elmo’s fur and created red cone Christmas trees to decorate the White House.  Somebody please tell me I was indeed hallucinating.

Lord, I pray I make it to the New Year.  And please hurry up the schedule for the rest of the “Vikings” season on History Channel.  Ivar the Boneless looks good to me as a 2020 candidate about now.

Elmo would be even better.  Hopefully his fur grows back by then.

red bauble attached on a pre lit tree
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