I have wanted to steer clear of
politics and negative blogging but I feel I must speak out about the recent
turn of events in the United States. I
am talking about Trump’s banning of certain media from his White House
briefings; The New York Times and other respectable media outlets are being banned because Trump perceives them to be against
him. He calls their reporting “fake news” among
other things.
No matter what your political
leaning may be or whether you are American, Canadian, Western European or any other nationality, I
think you MUST see that not having Free Press is a terrible blow to Democracy. This move of Trump's may only be the tip of the iceberg which
this government is rolling out so it is vital for everyone to stand up and
protest. This is no time for anyone to
poo poo about what is going on here. This is
no time to be lazy, oblivious, ignorant or “above it all”.
Just reflect back on any of the
books or films you may have seen with respect to what went on in Germany in the
1930’s. Perhaps you may have heard stories from your parents or grandparents who lived in these times, even as I have. This wasn’t pretend, these
things really happened and the really alarming part about how the Nazis and Hitler came to power was that middle class
Germans never dreamed that their society would take such a horrendous
turn. They thought they could get rid of
Hitler and the Nazis, that it was just a momentary blip in the political
stream. Suddenly though Germans were
afraid of THEMSELVES. If you read no
other book this year, read “Every Man Dies Alone” by Hans Fallalda. If you can, then read “Countrymen” by Bo
Lidegaard.
I know social media currently is an avenue
to have your say but this too may be shut down.
Perhaps not a literal shutting down but if a person writes something and one or
two days later uniformed men come to take you away . . . you see what I
mean? These things can happen, may even be happening now. A better way to voice your concerns is to
write or call your elected representatives. All of them.
And when you vote be really sure that you know who you are voting
for. Don’t be fooled by those who tickle
your ears. Don’t go down the slippery
slope of hate and fear.
Make a stand for what is
right. We may not all believe in the
same things but surely we all believe that vilifying people who are different
from us is wrong. And most of all surely
we believe that killing is wrong.
Whether we are in Canada, the United States, Europe or elsewhere, right
minded people must be strong and must speak up for democratic rights. Free speech and freedom of the press are
unalienable rights in the Western world.
Make a stand for what is right,
please.
“Those who do not learn from
history are doomed to repeat it.” George
Santayana
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