Slippery Slope!

Some definitions for your consideration:

Totalitarian:  A system of government that is centralized and dictatorial and requires complete subservience to the state.

Authoritarian:  Favoring or enforcing strict obedience to authority, especially that of the government, at the expense of personal freedom.

Fascism:  An authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization.  Tends to include a belief in the supremacy of one national or ethnic group, a contempt for democracy, an insistence on obedience to a powerful leader, and a strong demagogic approach.

Oh, you say, it can’t happen here.  Don’t kid yourself.  Not only can it happen here, it is already happening here.  Every day we see new moves to reverse the course of history and replace nearly 250 years of freedom with a totalitarian, authoritarian, fascist state.

One more definition:

Slippery Slope:  An idea or course of action which will lead to something unacceptable, wrong or disastrous.

Getting on a slippery slope isn’t something that may happen to us if we’re not careful.  We’re already on a slippery slope and gaining speed as we head downhill.

A certain group, not a majority, are wringing their hands in despair, bemoaning our fate.  Another group, not a majority, is cheering, applauding what is happening.  A third group is in the middle, wondering who to listen to, not knowing what, if anything, to do.  They will decide how this drama/trauma ends.

I’d like to think it will all turn out OK.  But I have doubts.  Serious doubts.  At the moment the bad guys seem to be winning.  Stay tuned . . .

In Case You Missed It!

A former Walmart store has been converted into a warehouse for 1,500 boys ages 10 to 17 who were caught crossing the border illegally.

The New York Philharmonic still requires female musicians to wear floor-length gowns or skirts.

The new Malaysian Prime Minister is 92 years old.

To create a good impression for World Cup visitors, the Russians are giving smile classes to railroad workers.

A new report by the U.S. Geological Survey says 39 high rise buildings in San Francisco are not built to withstand a big earthquake.

Italian prosecutors have dropped a sexual harassment case because they concluded the woman he allegedly groped was too old to be distressed by his advances.  The woman is 53.

As fighters backed by Saudi Arabia pushed toward the Yemeni port city of Al Hudaydah in what could be the bloodiest battle of the Yemen war, the Saudi Crown Prince was busy in Moscow attending the World Cup opening match with Vladimir Putin.  Russia beat Saudi Arabia 5-0.

In a travel diary he kept in 1922 on a trip to Asia, Albert Einstein wrote:

            “The Chinese are incapable of being trained to think logically.”

            “Chinese don’t sit on benches while eating but squat like Europeans do when they relieve themselves out in the leafy woods.”

            “The people in Ceylon do little and need little.”

            “The intellectual needs of Japan seem to be weaker than their artistic ones.”

Labels!

In San Francisco:

            Politically Moderate

Elsewhere:

            Flaming Liberal

In San Francisco:

            Progressive

Elsewhere:

            Left of Flaming Liberal/Dangerous Socialist

In San Francisco:

            Conservative

Elsewhere:

            Moderate

In San Francisco:

            Go Warriors

Elsewhere:

            Unfair Aggregation of Talent

In San Francisco:

            The Homeless have Rights

Elsewhere:

            Living on the Streets is not a Right

In San Francisco:

            The Undocumented Deserve Sanctuary

Elsewhere:

            Lock ‘Em Up

In San Francisco:

            Scooters are a Pedestrian Menace

Elsewhere:

            Scooters are Children’s Toys

In San Francisco:

            The 49ers Betrayed Us

Elsewhere:

            They are still the San Francisco 49ers

In San Francisco:

            Haight/Ashbury is a Neighborhood

Elsewhere:

            San Francisco Will Always be Home of the Summer of Love

Old Fashioned!

Call me Old Fashioned:

I’d rather compromise and get something done rather than hold on to rigid position and accomplish nothing.

I have no interest in listening to people whose opinions are inflexible and predictable.

Excusing speech and behavior that is hateful is a red line that should not be crossed.  As my old friend Bill Coffin once said, “Don’t be so broad minded that your brains are falling out.”

A bad childhood does not in and of itself make it all right to be an irresponsible adult.

Speaking of children, they should be held accountable for their behavior.  “Oh, he’s just a child,” is an unacceptable avoidance mechanism.

Prejudice either is or it isn’t.  You can’t be a little racist.  You aren’t homophobic once in a while.  If you are a misogynist you are a misogynist – period.  Ducking the issue doesn’t work.

At the risk of being trite – it is possible to disagree without being disagreeable.  Being civil, respecting the other, is not a sign of weakness.

Promises are powerful tools – if they are kept.  Don’t promise what you won’t do.