I was going to write a piece about how disturbing it is that now it seems to be OK to follow a politician blindly, no matter what. I was going to write that until I watched the President of the United States this afternoon spew vitriol from the White House lawn. So, here are my views, the views of not a Republican, not a Democrat but the views of an American. So here goes…

Some of what he said out there made  sense, most of what he said was bigoted and hateful. It was like a Hollywood production and he played the part masterfully.  He defended and doubled down on his tweet telling Congresswomen to go back where they came from. Even though 3 of the 4 women he was talking about are from the US so (and I hope you’re sitting down) these statement are also inaccurate.

This concept he’s professing is simply a political strategy. Racist, bigoted, xenophobic, sexist and politically measured and targeted at a specific subset of people. Another term for all of this is Demagoguery. The people who back him or back away from commenting will be the ones who rise up to support him instead of condemn this sort of divisive action. The Republicans who choose not to speak out and say enough is enough, let’s talk about our policies and plans but not name calling and putting others in peril. If you’re a Democrat or an Independent it’s easy to see and SPEAK OUT about how autocratic this is becoming. If you’re a Republican it’s also easy to see how autocratic this is becoming but speaking out? “Naw…our base would never forgive me. Why would I stand up?”

The followers who refuse to see the danger here and say he went too far are much more dangerous than he is. All those who just love to post those pictures and memes will sit back and either back him or do nothing! It’s almost like I want to remind them of when we were kids and our parents would say “Well if Jimmy jumped off a cliff would you follow him?!?” Only this time it’s about the future of our country! Oh, and no, it’s not about conservative values vs liberal values. It’s not about Christian values vs those of any number of other religions in this country. It IS about not having the spine to stand up and say I will not support a hateful or bigoted statement or thought or demagogic action in the United States of America!

There are three ways you’ll hear these tweets combated…

What-About-ism

You know this one… they’ll bring up the past and insert names like Obama, Hillary, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Etc… and draw a comparison. Problem is it’s not then, it’s now and this argument is like saying “Well, lots of others in the past have gotten away with bank robbery so it’s ok for me to as well.”

Deflection

Don’t answer the question at all! The answer will have nothing to do with the subject, it’s just going to try and focus fear and hate somewhere else or on someone else.

I’m-Hateful-and-Racist-too-ism

“I agree with the hate and bigotry and xenophobia and sexism. Let’s go grab the torches like they did in Charlottesville!” You might think this is unlikely, sadly it wasn’t in Charlottesville was it?

There’s no church that would condone this kind of language or actions. How many of them will speak up? How many of you will call your priest or padre and ask why they haven’t? How many of you would allow your kids to say these things or act in this manner? Hell, how many of you even made it this far into my blog because you think I’m some liberal “snowflake?”

What season is it where you are? Here, it’s IF YOU’RE WITH ME THEN I CAN DO MO WRONG season. With the President in the White House, God help you if you’re a Democrat, Independent or moderate Republican who is willing to remember what this country is really all about and will speak out in support when it’s right and will speak out in opposition when it is right to do do.

These are my thoughts. Im not going to argue with you about whether the President of the United States of America is spouting Hateful, Racist, Xenophobic and Bigoted statements as a Demagog would do on Twitter then backed them up on the lawn of the White House. THE LAWN OF THE WHITE HOUSE. There is no arguing that. Policy, personality, ideas and plans can all be discussed and at times argued. These vile beliefs cannot.

dem·a·gogue also dem·a·gog (dĕm′ə-gôg′, -gŏg′)

n.

1. A leader who obtains power by means of impassioned appeals to the emotions and prejudices of the populace.

rac·ism  (rā′sĭz′əm)

n.

1. The belief that race accounts for differences in human character or ability and that a particular race is superior to others.

2. Discrimination or prejudice based on race

big•ot•ry (ˈbɪg ə tri)

n.

1. extreme intolerance of any creed, belief, or opinion that differs from one’s own

sex·ism  (sĕk′sĭz′əm)

n.

1. Discrimination based on gender, especially discrimination against women.

2. The belief that one gender is superior to the other, especially that men are superior to women.

sex′istadj. & n

hate (heɪt)

v. hat•ed, hat•ing,

n. v.t.

1. to dislike intensely or passionately; feel extreme aversion for or extreme hostility toward; detest.

2. to be unwilling; dislike: I hate to accept it.

v.i.

3. to feel hatred.

n.

4. intense dislike; extreme aversion or hostility.

5. the object of extreme aversion or hostility

We better begin to come together! We better begin to put more stock into Country over party that visa-Versa.

The time has come to stop normalizing hatred and divisiveness or else this country that so many have fought for, worked for, died for… won’t be anymore.

Now, it’s totally up to you.

Peace

     …..Gregg

(If you disagree, post your views on what’s happening on your own page, blog, Facebook, Twitter, etc.)

For a long time I’ve been thinking about, talking about and writing about achieving Mental Weightlessness. People always look at me like I’m nuts when I say it, so I thought I’d take another crack at it.

You know all those people in your life that are always angry at someone for some reason or they are holding a grudge from 10 years ago or they are SUPREMELY pissed about something…but if you really ask, they don’t quite remember all the details anymore? Well they are hanging on to all of the anger and hate and resentment and vitriol and bigotry every second of every minute of every hour of every day. THAT is why they are like they are.

We all do this in one way or another. Some of us are more successful and getting rid of those fragments than others are. They are the people who are closer to Mental Weightlessness!

When I talk about achieving Mental Weightlessness, I’m talking about leaving behind all of the completely useless emotions and negativity that always “wants to go for a ride with us, but never pays for gas!”

Look, in life there is SO much noise continually buzzing around us that it makes it hard to walk a path of honesty! We need to be honest to ourselves. Instead, we end up playing games instead of living life.

Instead of walking that honest path and considering what it means to be honest to ourselves and appreciating our lives and being grateful for each fleeting second, we turn to games.

We play the “My Friends Don’t Like It So I Don’t Either Game!”

We play the “What About Them Game!”

We play the “ Yea, But They Did It” game.

We play the “You Hurt Me So I’ll Hurt You (even if I or you might not remember it) Game” and so many others.

So as a result, somewhere along the line in our lives, we’ve made the decision to carry these little bits, these fragmentations of negativity with us.

We carry our negativity with us and use it as a shield against all things in our world. We use it against our boss, our politicians, things we don’t like, our obligations, our partners, our children, our friends and ourselves. The truly sad part is that the negativity doesn’t shield us at all. All it does is attract more and more and more.Pretty soon you just can’t understand why this happened or why that person said this or why you feel so alone and isolated. Your Negativity Shield has done its real job!

Unless you want to spiral down, just slowly enough so as you don’t realize it, your walk towards Mental Weightlessness needs to begin now! You must get rid of those fragments of negativity. You must overpower the hatred, anger, bigotry and negative aura that is surrounding you. (You know, all those things you’d swear  you don’t do and aren’t part of you!) The only way to do that is with the help of Negativity’s arch enemy, Positivity.

Pay attention to what you think, say and write. Facebook and Twitter are a virtual petri dish for negative energy. Pay attention to the negative words and ideas you hear from others, then turn it around and ask yourself “IS THAT ME? DO I SAY OR CONDONE THESE KIND’S OF THINGS?” Simply by being aware of the negativity around you, you are already beginning to clean up the “neighborhood.” Soon you’ll be asking yourself why you said this or that, why that thought popped into your head, why a certain person hasn’t called for a while, etc…  Soon you’ll be telling yourself how much better you feel for seemingly no reason at all. Oh, there’s a reason. Believe me, there is a reason, and you are in the process of changing it!

I’m not nuts when I want my friends to achieve Mental Weightlessness. I’m not even nuts when I want those I “don’t get along with” to achieve Mental Weightlessness. I’m not nuts when I want those I love to achieve Mental Weightlessness. And I’m certainly not nuts when I want to achieve Mental Weightlessness myself. I’m just somebody who wants his neighborhood, his social media, his country and his world to be filled with people who are acting like the human beings that we were created to be. I’m just someone who wants to feel gratitude not only for the things I know about, but for the things I have no idea about. I want to feel how incredible it feels to be Mentally Weightless and I want you to come along for the ride! (I’ll pay for the gas!)

Peace

     ….Gregg

I spent some time last night with a friend who was not happy at all with their life. They talked for some time about all the things they needed to stop in order for their life to get better. They needed to stop smoking, stop spending too much money, stop eating too much, stop being lonely, stop feeling sorry for themselves, etc… After a while they asked me what I thought. I thought about what I just heard and said I thought they were 180° wrong. As I was listening to them I heard so many of the same things that come out of my mouth from time to time. It was eye opening for me. Here’s my advice for them…

We need to start thinking about the things we want to START in our lives instead of only focusing on what we want to stop. Look, it’s going to work a lot better if you focus on “starting your life” than if you only focus on “stopping your life.”

Here’s that list that they rattled off earlier in the conversation…

Stop smoking…..

(START adding the things into your life that will help you be more healthy, including asking the question why! Pay attention to the your honest answers.)

Stop spending too much money…..

(START thinking about what you really want, including some fun stuff for you too, and make a budget to get there.)

Stop eating too much…..

(START keeping a food diary and use a highlighter  to highlight  the good things you eat, not the bad. Allow yourself to try some new things. It’s ok not to like some but it’s also ok to like some!)

Stop being lonely

(START looking at your life and identify anyone you might like to spend time with, then let them know you’d like to spend some time with them and don’t run away when they say yes.)

Stop feeling sorry for themselves…..

(START keeping a daily list of the things they’re happy about, grateful for, thankful for.)

Hope it helps them.

Hope it helps me.

Really hope it helps you too.

PEACE

     …..Gregg