This month I painted “The Tipping Point” showing Trump’s “throne” leg precipitously positioned to tip and destroy it’s flooring, freeing the trapped symbol of wisdom and common sense.
Personal freedom has always been considered a way of life in the US.
It was in this spirit of freedom that brave immigrants crossed the Atlantic. And later it propelled many to make their way West in covered wagons and on horseback.
Today their stories continue to contribute to the pride we feel for our country. But such freedom doesn’t come cheap. It is never a given. And it is easy to forget.
From the immigrants hard-earned freedom to today, we have stumbled into supporting a man who told us he would improve our lives and take care of us. And the reward has been indefensible cruelty.
The brutal truth is his fascist lingo is now so common, it’s beginning to feel normal.
The Democrats
It isn’t just the Trump and the Republicans that are at a tipping point.
The Democrats have to get past their self-righteous elitist mentality. They have bent so far back trying not to offend that they have lost their footing – as well as their base.
Let’s not forget Hillary’s “basket of deplorables” comment. It was a gift to Republican strategists and ultimately a banner to run on. And no one was happier about the Dem screw-ups than the Stephen Miller, 2025 Project authors, MAGA Evangelicals and Republican Congressmen who now present as part Jesus and part white-nationalists.
The question remains…
Do we go down with a psychological adolescent, comfortable with unlimited power, who:
- States he would be a dictator “on day one”
- Considers idolatry as appropriate response to his reign
- Punishes speech he doesn’t like
- Fires prosecutors who challenge him
- Calls those buried in Arlington losers and suckers
- Pulls stories of black and female service people from the Arlington National Cemetery website (some Medal of Honor recipients)
- Pulls books from school libraries and order textbook revision
- Denies Jan 6th was a riot; pardons 1500 people convicted by a juried justice system
- Pardons various convicted others, giving the finger to their presiding judges/juries
- Gives another middle finger to anyone who believes he shouldn’t be above the law
- Imposes tariffs like he playing a board game
- Fires head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics because he didn’t like their jobs data
- Proposes to drop national park designations in favor of development and drilling
- Claims to have settled 7 wars
- Considers limiting US immigration to only “whites”
- Falsifies city crime rates and employs ICE to harass, brutally attack US citizens
- Assumes and gets away with unilateral use of the military here and abroad
- Supports amending Section 2 of Voting Rights Act
- Demolishes the East Wing of the Capitol without Congressional dialogue
- Becomes so unhinged by peaceful demonstrations that he posts himself flying a plane that shits on Washington DC’s residents
The Supreme Court? Some of the legal conservatives contend the Supreme Court Justices fear Trump would try to strip their authority at the worst and undermine it at the very least… if there was a high profile fight between them.
And Fox News? I continue to be amazed that they still get away with “selective” reporting. But as Murdoch’s lawyer clearly stated in Jan 2019, the station’s accreditation was changed from news to entertainment.
And Trump’s mother? I often ask myself “where was Trump’s mother?” More importantly WHO was his mother to not prepare him to operate with a modicum of class? On the other hand, more of us might remain duped if she had done a better job.
Moving Forward
Wake up: We Americans have isolated ourselves from each other, based upon political beliefs, for too long. It has resulted in outright “us vs them” mentality. But none of it means we don’t need each other.
The ultimate tipping point comes when Democrats toughen up, step up and listen to the average American who struggles. And the small r-Republican congressmen admit they are afraid to step up because they or their family members could be shot.
All said, we can’t assume the system will right itself without our stepping up as well.
Do you think there is anything, not attached
by its unbreakable cord to everything else?
– Mary Oliver
(Note: AI did not write this post)