Time to make changes

by Toddy Perryman, Hamilton

There is a classic old saying that reads like a prayer. ‘May I find the heart to accept those things I cannot change, the courage to change those that I can change, and the wisdom to know the difference.’ Angela Davis altered my thinking about this when she said: I do not want to accept those things I cannot change. I want to change those things I cannot accept. 

Right now, one of the things I cannot accept is that the U.S. must attack and kill suspected “narco-terrorists” in the Caribbean. Firstly, there has been no evidence shown that leads me to believe that this claim is true. Even if true, the punishment for drug trafficking is not death, but imprisonment. Secondly, no due process. Thirdly, this was not done in U.S. waters by the Coast Guard (which is the correct branch of the military to deal with this kind of thing,) but by the Navy. Those small boats could not have made it to the U.S.

On a related note, it is clear from the statements made about the interception (basically hijacking) of oil tankers off the coast of Venezuela by the U.S. Navy that President Trump thinks that the oil found under the soil of Venezuela belongs to the U.S. He claimed it to be “our oil.” He seems to think we should go to war with Venezuela if they do not give us all of their oil and depose their president. This is not presidential, it is dictatorial. This is not normal. I cannot accept this and will work to change it.

We used to have a democracy, but now I think that we have lost it, hopefully just temporarily. I think it was Benjamin Franklin that said “democracy is a good thing if you can keep it.” We clearly need to work to protect and defend our democracy. Right now, it looks like the U.S. government is a terrorist organization. I do not accept this and will work to change it.  

Congress has been asleep at the wheel, it seems. They have failed to assert their constitutional powers to control the budget, or to impose tariffs, or to constrain the president from declaring war with Venezuela or invading many U.S. cities. This too must change.

Meanwhile, Trump is still polling well with working-class pedophiles, according to The Onion.