From Bad to Worse, Advice from the 17th Century, a Preacher's Passing and a Letter to Senators.

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Two Quotes from Baltasar Gracian

Gracian

Here are a couple of my occasional quotes from “The Art of Worldly Wisdom,” a “Pocket Oracle” of thoughts by the seventeenth century Spanish Jesuit scholar, Baltasar Gracian.  (The translation from the Spanish is by Chirstopher Maurer.)  Considering the political situation in our country, it offers wise guidance to all.  It appears that there were liars and untrustworthy people then, just as there are today.

 (Number 116) – “Always deal with people of principal.  Favor them and win their favor.  Their very rectitude ensures they will treat you well even when they oppose you, for they act like who they are, and it is better to fight with good-minded people than to conquer the bad.  There is no way to get along with villainy, for it feels no obligation to behave rightly.  This is why there is no true friendship among villains, and their fine words cannot be trusted; for they do not spring from honor. Avoid the person who has no honor, for if he esteems not honor, he esteems not virtue.  And honor is the throne of integrity.”

 And here is some really excellent advice for Donald J. Trump from Gracian. 

(Number 59) – End Well.  If you enter the house of Fortune through the door of pleasure, you will leave through the door of sorrow, and vice versa.  So be careful of the way you end things, and devote more attention to a successful exit than to a highly applauded entrance.  Fortunate people often have favorable beginnings and very tragic endings.  What matters isn’t being applauded when you arrive - - - for that is common - - - but being missed when you leave.  Rare are those who are still wanted.  Fortune seldom accompanies someone to the door.  She is as courteous to those who are coming as she is rude to those who are going.

 Having spent two years at Fordham University, a Jesuit school, it is conceivable that Trump was exposed to such ideas, if he ever showed up in class or did the assigned readings..

 JL

 

Write to your Senators 

Here is the text of an Email I sent to my two Senators, both Republicans. “Please stop lying about the results of the presidential election, misleading your constituents who deserve better.  Produce evidence (not merely announce hunting expeditions to find some) of sufficient election improprieties to change the results of the election, and if you cannot,  proceed to expedite the transition of power to the President-elect, and cease attacking the democratic process for selfish political reasons. Simply stated, "Put up or shut up." 

They may not read these Emails or listen to phone messages but they do count them, so keep sending them!

 

 

 

Will the Military Get Involved?

Ex-Defense Sec'y Esper - Cross the
President and get fired

Things are now turning from bad to worse.  We are witnessing a struggle for control of our armed forces.  Trump knows they will turn against him eventually in living up to their oath to defend the Constitution.  Esper, with all of his flaws, was not fired as Secretary of Defense without good reason, possibly the same reason Comey was canned, refusal to pledge his loyalty to Trump.  Trump is hurrying to cripple the Department of Defense as quickly as possible, recognizing that the armed forces may make a move against him in defense of the Constitution.  That is why he is appointing his loyalists (Gee, that's what they called Franco's fascists in Spain in 1938) to key roles in the DOD. 

This kind of behavior is common in African and Latin American nations which lack a robust democratic tradition.  Now, for the first time, it is happening in the United States. Trump is no better than Maduro in Venezuela.  Neither has any intention of leaving office.  Republicans, only interested in maintaining the support of the many mindless Trump voters, close their eyes to this scenario.  That is why Trump still has the support of many educated, knowledgeable Republicans who should know better.  They just don’t care.  Once these Republicans have killed and buried democracy in the United States, the progressive, but not necessarily democratic, government which will eventually take over, will have no problem in erasing the party of Abraham Lincoln from history.  They will have deserved it.

I would hope that Biden's people are already in contact with the Joint Chiefs. They will need them.  Soon. 

And here is a question which has to be answered sooner or later:

In the event of a threat to our national security before President-elect Biden is inaugurated, a threat of the dimensions of a Pearl Harbor or a 9/11 and one with which our lame-duck president and emasculated and politicized Department of Defense are unable to cope, how quickly will our armed forces step in and temporarily take charge of our government, despite General Milley’s saying that our military will not resolve a disputed election?

 

R.I.P.

Did you read about the Evangelical preacher, Rev. Irvin Baxter, who on TV a few months ago (on the Jim Bakker show, that of another tele-evangelist) claimed the Coronavirus pandemic was God’s punishment for our engaging in fornication outside of marriage.  He died this week from Covid19, the disease transmitted by the virus.  God works in mysterious ways. Read the story, featured in the New York Post, BY CLICKING HERE  or pasting this on your browser line.

https://nypost.com/2020/11/06/televangelist-who-blamed-covid-19-on-premarital-sex-dies-from-virus/  

It is odd that this story was given prominence by a Murdoch-owned newspaper which has not objected to Donald J. Trump’s downplaying of the pandemic, which contributes to the spreading of the Coronavirus and ultimately, deaths, like that of Rev. Baxter.   Anything to sell papers.                 

Time for Democrats to Play Hardball, like Republicans Do!