I Ran Into God This Morning

This morning, the idea of writing something positive and unpolitical came tumbling down like a glass chandelier.

I ran into God.

He was standing right there, and I was dum de dum turning on my computer so I could write a blog for tomorrow when an announcement from a Facebook friend dinged at my side.

I turned, and that's when I ran into God. Or rather, it was someone on his site who had posted the link to a Steven Colbert show where he interviewed Congressman Adam Schiff.

When Colbert asked Schiff how this Presidential term was different from the first, Schiff answered.

Within six months, he has created a climate of fear.

(That wasn’t true the first time.)

This time, he has made everyone afraid: citizens, judges, law enforcers, immigrants, the media, CBS, ABC, Universities, Publishers, and even the Republicans. He's gone after Medicaid, threatens Medicare and Social Security, which people have paid into, and threatens to take away the citizenship of people born in this country who have opposed him.

And there are death threats. Schiff said that in 20 years as a congressman, if he received three threats in those 20 years, it was a lot; now people, even Republicans, are being threatened with harm to themselves, their wives, and their children.

And then Adam Schiff—the Congressman who ran the first impeachment process against our President, turned, faced the camera and said, "Donald, Piss Off."

He made my day.

The only trouble is a few days later Colbert received the news that he had been canceled by CBS for "financial reasons."

Financial reasons?

CBS is the Public Broadcasting Company, paid for by subscribers.

Oh, there’s more to the story:

"Earlier this month, Paramount Global—CBS's parent company—decided to settle with Donald Trump for $16 million over Trump's lawsuit over the editing of a 60 Minutes interview. The New York Times called it an "extraordinary concession to a sitting president by a major media organization."

Earlier this week, Colbert criticized the decision in his monologue, saying, "As someone who has always been a proud employee of this network, I am offended."

Hum.

(His dismissal doesn't take effect until May 2026. That gives pause—don’t you hate working for someone who doesn’t want you? But then consider the possibilities, he could go after whomever he chooses without fear of being fired—he already is. He has a sharp wit. They can't top him.)

In the meantime, His Majesty is spending enormous amounts of money on himself, taking Air Force One to golf tournaments and games—flying Air Force One costs $200,000 per hour, considering all the security necessary for the President of the United States.

I suppose His Majesty doesn't consider that if he eliminates all his opponents--the taxpayers who are filling the coffers--all that will be left are the rich, to whom he is giving tax breaks.

Humm.

Waste of the day: From the Guardian:

Force One, which costs $200,000 per hour to operate.

Topline: President Donald Trump has already visited his Mar-a-Lago resort and golf course six times since taking office in January. The trips have cost taxpayers roughly $6 million in travel costs and forced Palm Beach County to approve $45 million in security costs.

Key facts: The two-hour flight from Washington, D.C. to Mar-a-Lago costs roughly $1 million round trip, the Associated Press previously estimated. Most of the bill is from Air Force One, which costs $200,000 per hour to operate. An additional plane carrying the presidential motorcade adds to the cost. Trump also takes a helicopter from the White House to Joint Base Andrews, where Air Force One departs.

 

Link to The Steven Colbert Show with Adam Schiff:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E76-v7D7LPI

 You can bet that the Epstein files will not be released until they are expunged of an mention of you know who.

 

God blessed Jeff Daniels:

“Jeff Daniels has spoken the truth. He said Trump represents everything wrong with not just America, but with being a human being. He called out the loss of decency, civility, and respect for the rule of law. And he said what needed to be said: “we’re supposed to elect the best of us, not the worst.”

Bless him for using his voice while so many stay silent.

https://www.thegodpodcast.com/

 

 

 

I found this, and it somewhat lowered my blood pressure:

 

One definition of a friend: “We agree to grow together.”

I will be there for you. You will be there for me.

And this applies to communities and countries.

Distractions

 

I drove to the drive-up window of Dari Mart this morning for a half gallon of half and half creamer for my coffee (Not all in one cup). A drive-up window is so handy when you aren't presentable for a grocery store, you want your cup of Jo, and you used the last of the cream last night. (No fake creamer, it has to be half and half. Well, in a pinch, I'll use whipping cream.)

Long ago, when I worked for a dentist, 8 am to 1 pm Monday through Friday, a long morning, I would be starving around 10 o'clock, so I resorted to coffee and powdered creamer. One day, my boss filled my cup with a heap of dental plaster that was the same color as the creamer, stuck a tongue depressor in it with a sign attached: "Coffee gone bad."

I miss that guy.

Back to the drive-up window:  The servers at the window give out doggie treats, and on an auspicious day it might be a piece of bacon or a sausage link—those days renew hope for Sweetpea, as most windows give out dry, stick in the throat dog biscuits that she buries under her blanket.

I gave the lady a five-dollar bill, and she handed me one penny.

I stroked the penny with my thumb and forefinger, and thought of Marie Forleo, who said she always picks up a penny from the sidewalk—to honor money—so it won't be treated as something to throw away.

As I rolled the penny around, I thought, if every person who has clicked on my website paid a penny for it, I would have $10,000. Wish on white Horses hit one million page views last week. And I have all you guys to thank for that. Thank you, thank you for sticking with me.

Of course, that doesn't mean one million people have checked in; it means I have kept at it long enough to chalk up page views.  

No matter—I love my readers.

I try to give you something of worth—we'll see what happens today. 

 

I would like to know how you guys are faring out there. People are perking along, while off in the distance, I hear the sound of freedoms crashing against the sidewalks of the United States.

I want to go on with my life, to believe in the goodness of people, that we care about our fellow men and women ("Red and yellow black and white they are precious in His sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world. We used to sing that in Sunday School.)

The stalwart souls I'm talking about knew that people came to this country in search of a better life.  ("Send us your tired, your poor, your hungry masses yearning to breathe free"). Those stalwart souls fought hard to give Immigrants—yes we can use the word Immigrants, it isn't a bad word, the freedoms they wanted for themselves.

 I remember seeing an ad containing a picture of a beautiful little girl. The caption read: "A brain is a terrible thing to waste."

So, we fought for women's right to read, to be educated, to vote. We fought for Women's right to have equal pay for equal work. Lo and behold, we found that women made good doctors and other professionals. We fought for Birth control and the right of a female to own her own body when men were laughing and answering the question, "Do you have any children?" with a "I don't think so."

“Ha ha, boys will be boys.”

We knew that people came to this country so they could practice their preferred religion without incrimination. Some said, "There are many roads to God. You don't have to be a Christian to love God." Some said that the Almighty Spirit that give us breath is a loving God with no ego problem. He doesn't require adoration or sacrifice. Would He be offended if you didn't believe in Him? The same source that knows about atoms, and Quarks, and how to sling the stars in the sky.

We saw that some of our fellows were mistreated, so we marched, we lobbied, we formed a Civil Liberties Union, we kept on until we had an integrated society.

We had opposition all along, but we kept going. We saw that the immigrants were doing our hard labor, bringing food to our table, and we supported their cause.

We saw that there were Gays among us—as it has been since the dawn of humanity (read the Iliad), and we said, "Let them be how God made them."

We fought against wars we thought were unjust. We fought for animal rights, we fought against the slaughter of wild herds, and for humane animal handling.

We are good people.

And then we forgot.

 

P.S.

You see, how hard it is to go on when there is crashing and banging in the background?

Don't let them do that to you—Don't let them fill your brain with so much noise that you lose heart. And then you forget that there is joy in the world.

When that happens, they’ve got you.

I was going to talk about being an entrepreneur, doing what you want, and getting paid for it. We do need money to live after all.

That will have to wait for another day.