He's Got the Whole World in His Hands

 So much is happening in the news right now and I want to process it but am overwhelmed and frustrated and sad.   Yet I want to remember the events of this week and hope at some point I can say that all is well.  I am saying to myself, " He's got the whole world in his hands."  "He's got Biden and Trump and Vance and Harris in his hands." 

 I had been hoping some traditional Republicans would be able to find a better man or woman to run for President than Donald Trump but that has not happened.  He gave his acceptance speech last night at the Republican National Convention and has become what I consider to be a cult figure with folks raising their fists and shouting "Fight!"  He survived a terrible assassination attempt last Saturday and speaks of God's sparing him.  God did spare him but another man who did nothing wrong but show up for a Trump rally was killed.  So was the shooter, a young man whose motive is not yet determined. People at the RNC were wearing white bandages on their ears in solidarity with Trump. 

Now I am hoping enough Democrats can convince Joe Biden that someone else is better qualified to take on Donald Trump in November.  But he is digging in hard to resist that scenario and I find myself very frustrated with him.  He is a good man and has done a good job as President, but he should have handed over the campaign to others months ago.  Is it such outsize egos in these men to think they are the only ones who can save our country from ruin?

 I fear it is not only our country that is in danger.  I despair when Trump says he will take us out of NATO and climate change is a hoax.  He admires Putin. Our European allies are concerned. Trump says immigrants have to be rounded up into camps and deported.  And oil men should give him money because he will save their companies.

 Trump says he will get revenge on those who have indicted him.  He was spared the trial in Florida because a judge he appointed has given him a break.  That may still be appealed.  Sentencing is yet to take place in the trial in NYC in which a jury of 12 found him guilty on 34 counts.  Even if elected president, he cannot pardon himself in that trial because it was a state charge not a Federal charge.  I don't know what has happened in Georgia where he was taped asking an election official to find him the necessary number of votes to call the state for him in 2020.  And then there is the terrible scene on January 6 in which he encouraged folks to march on the Capitol and did not call them off for hours.  The Supreme Court may give him immunity for his actions there--and immunity for anything he may do in the future. 

I hope and pray that this post may be outdated soon.  Maybe Biden will give up and there will be an open convention in August with capable, young men and women wanting to serve our country.  I don't wish bad health for either man but they are both too old to take on the duties of the Presidency.  All I can do is pray for our country. I can remember that there have been bad times before.  We weathered January 6 and there was a peaceful transition of power later that month.  The 60s were a time of great turmoil with protests and assassinations and a war that brought death to far too many.  May we survive again.

July 21  We just read the news that Joseph Biden has withdrawn from the race for President and endorsed Kamala Harris.  This is very good news.  I hope Harris can be a good candidate.  I think she can hold her own against Donald Trump and JD Vance.  CBS News broke into regular programming with Norah O'Donnell at the desk.  All her political reporters were on the job.  Now the big question is who will be the VP candidate?  

July 22 The NYT Editorial:  "Mr. Biden has done what Mr. Trump never will:  He has placed the national interest above his own pride and ambition....Mr. Trump is a felon who flouts the law and the Constitution, an inveterate liar beholden to no higher cause than his self-interest and a reckless policy maker indifferent to the well-being of the American people...In a second term he would operate with fewer restraints and more willing enablers, and he and his emboldened advisers have made clear they intend to exercise power ruthlessly."

August 7  Harris chose Governor Walz of Minnesota to be her VP candidate.  I think it was a good choice.  He has done good things in Minnesota--which Trump and Vance call radically liberal, but lunches for school children and better health care are not radical ideas!  We shall see.  There is a lot of enthusiasm for this pair.  More "radical" ideas come out from Vance's past like calling Simone Biles weak when she withdrew from the Olympics in 2020 for mental health issues and calling single women "cat ladies" who don't have a vested interest in the country's future.  Not good things to say and will hurt him I hope!

September 13 Trump and Harris debated a few nights ago.  If one can call it a debate!  Most pundits agree that Harris looked better than Trump who went off on his usual tangents--this time lies about Haitian refugees eating people's pets.  Trump however boasted of his victory--but is refusing to debate again. 

September 18  Schools in Springfield, Ohio--the place where Trump and Vance claim pets are being eaten has had to close schools and government buildings because of bomb threats.  There was a second assassination attempt on Trump at his golf course.  The political rhetoric increases the chance for violence.  It is frightening.  I pray nightly for it to stop.