“You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.”
—-C.S. Lewis
I started this blog on January 21, 2021, and like the other fifteen blogs I started last year, I got halfway through and filed it away. I decided to bring it back out and finish it today, because it is time to get back to business as the “new usual.” So, if this reads a bit disjointedly, it is because it took me 365 days to finish it, but the sentiment that was there then, continues now.
I woke up on January 21, 2021, with a feeling I was unfamiliar with these past few years...hope. If nothing else, I know that kindness and civility will be brought back into our government. I know that the things that are important to me; equality for all, clean environment, health care and education will all be priorities with this administration. I believe that there will be more transparency these next four years, and science and truth will both be respected.
I also am aware that many people woke up this morning with the same feeling in the pit of their stomach that I had four years ago today. Republicans and Democrats have different priorities, and neither party is more “correct” than the other. I am uncompromisingly, radically left as far as equal rights (and justice) for all go, but in most other areas I lean towards the middle. Although I would like to live in a country that leans towards liberal in all areas, I understand that our country is populated with an equal amount of conservative thinking people, and we must find a level of comfort for all.
In order to better understand what is going on, I did a great deal of channel hopping these last few months, and it helped me understand the confusion our country is feeling. We are shown totally different slants on all events when we watch the liberal leaning news or the conservative leaning news (oh Walter Cronkite, where are you when we need you most?), and each side is spinning a different tale. Most of us seem to be watching the news to validate our beliefs though, so these media outlets can get away with spouting opinion rather than fact. Sean Hannity fans will listen to his take on the news and believe they are facts while Don Lemon fans will see the world events through his liberal set of facts. I get it.
What I don’t understand is the people who can dismiss the sights I witnessed on our Capitol steps on January 6, 2021. No matter which side you lean towards, no matter what issue you believe is most important, no matter how much you want your “team” to win, when you see thousands of people adorned in Nazi like uniforms storming the Capitol, breaking its windows, defecating on its floors and searching for the Vice President of our country so they can lynch him, it is time to take a good look at who you are listening to and believing.
I do understand that the majority of people who went to Washington last year had noble intentions. They believed that their president had been wronged and that democracy was in danger. They wanted to stand up for what they thought was right. They turned and left when violence broke out. They, however, cannot be so blind as to believe that those who violently attacked all that America stands for, should be let go with a pat on the back. They cannot believe that supporting the politicians who support the insurrectionists is what our forefathers would have wanted. We must come together, Democrats, Republicans and Independents, and bring us back to one country…indivisible…with liberty and justice for ALL. You are right Mr. Lewis, we can’t change what did happen, but we can make sure it never happens again.
Now, if you want to know what I was doing during the year between the start and finish of this blog, it is not a secret. I was reading great books from great authors.
One book that got my heart was After Anna by Lisa Scottoline. This mystery wrapped around a family story kept my interest from page one.
As always, a complete review of this book follows my blog.
Happy reading,
-Beverly
—-C.S. Lewis
I started this blog on January 21, 2021, and like the other fifteen blogs I started last year, I got halfway through and filed it away. I decided to bring it back out and finish it today, because it is time to get back to business as the “new usual.” So, if this reads a bit disjointedly, it is because it took me 365 days to finish it, but the sentiment that was there then, continues now.
I woke up on January 21, 2021, with a feeling I was unfamiliar with these past few years...hope. If nothing else, I know that kindness and civility will be brought back into our government. I know that the things that are important to me; equality for all, clean environment, health care and education will all be priorities with this administration. I believe that there will be more transparency these next four years, and science and truth will both be respected.
I also am aware that many people woke up this morning with the same feeling in the pit of their stomach that I had four years ago today. Republicans and Democrats have different priorities, and neither party is more “correct” than the other. I am uncompromisingly, radically left as far as equal rights (and justice) for all go, but in most other areas I lean towards the middle. Although I would like to live in a country that leans towards liberal in all areas, I understand that our country is populated with an equal amount of conservative thinking people, and we must find a level of comfort for all.
In order to better understand what is going on, I did a great deal of channel hopping these last few months, and it helped me understand the confusion our country is feeling. We are shown totally different slants on all events when we watch the liberal leaning news or the conservative leaning news (oh Walter Cronkite, where are you when we need you most?), and each side is spinning a different tale. Most of us seem to be watching the news to validate our beliefs though, so these media outlets can get away with spouting opinion rather than fact. Sean Hannity fans will listen to his take on the news and believe they are facts while Don Lemon fans will see the world events through his liberal set of facts. I get it.
What I don’t understand is the people who can dismiss the sights I witnessed on our Capitol steps on January 6, 2021. No matter which side you lean towards, no matter what issue you believe is most important, no matter how much you want your “team” to win, when you see thousands of people adorned in Nazi like uniforms storming the Capitol, breaking its windows, defecating on its floors and searching for the Vice President of our country so they can lynch him, it is time to take a good look at who you are listening to and believing.
I do understand that the majority of people who went to Washington last year had noble intentions. They believed that their president had been wronged and that democracy was in danger. They wanted to stand up for what they thought was right. They turned and left when violence broke out. They, however, cannot be so blind as to believe that those who violently attacked all that America stands for, should be let go with a pat on the back. They cannot believe that supporting the politicians who support the insurrectionists is what our forefathers would have wanted. We must come together, Democrats, Republicans and Independents, and bring us back to one country…indivisible…with liberty and justice for ALL. You are right Mr. Lewis, we can’t change what did happen, but we can make sure it never happens again.
Now, if you want to know what I was doing during the year between the start and finish of this blog, it is not a secret. I was reading great books from great authors.
One book that got my heart was After Anna by Lisa Scottoline. This mystery wrapped around a family story kept my interest from page one.
As always, a complete review of this book follows my blog.
Happy reading,
-Beverly
Click on the book cover to order the title mentioned in today's blog
