America's Post Mortem

 Here we are. In the final days of the United States of America as we have all understood it to be. Most people still do not believe, and do not want to believe, the days of any freedom are gone. In just a short amount of time I will probably be arrested or harassed in some way that is nasty because of the things that I write.

I will still write them. Until I am no longer able.

And everyone is talking about Trump and Elon. And, while I agree, they are a massive problem, they are not the real problem. They are the Result of The Problem.

The problem started in the very beginning of "Colonial" days as we separated the European people from the Native people and declared them to be Not Human. And so the Genocide of the Native Peoples began.

Then, in 1619, the "settlers" in Jamestown Virginia, bought the first load of Africans from a Dutch "Trader". AKA a Slaver. And the treatment of these "Indentured Servants" was, from the beginning, different from European Indentured Servants. European people could work out their contract and become settlers. Very rarely was an African person able to do the same. And soon it became never.

Thru various "Legal" tricks their "Contract" time would get extended. Until it just became a Life Sentence.

And the White People defined People as White European Descended people only. Native, African, Asian, any "Others", were NOT People.

We also defined varying grades of People by Religion. White, Anglo Saxon, Protestants, Men, were people. White Non Anglo Saxon Not Protestants, were not quite people. Catholics were not people. Orthodox were not people. Jews were not people. And Woman were not people. And on down the line.

During the 1680's and 90's the White Planter Class in Virginia, the Slave Holders, began to see that the White Working Class had begun to see that they had much more in common with the Black Slaves and Free Blacks than they had with the White Planter Class. They got worried. They then found a couple of obscure things in the Old Testament and, taking them completely out of context, weaponized an already existing racism and created the extremely violent racism of America.

Thus, they Divided and Conquered. And had the First two parts of Fascism/Naziism in place.

Then came the Revolution and creating a Nation.

And from the beginning, into the very DNA of the United States of America, we have a distinction between People and Not People.

And People of African descent, which we all are, and that is a topic for a different day, Black People, were Absolutely Excluded from the classification of People. And everything in the Social and Legal system was geared to keep things that way.

In created the United States Constitution there were many "Compromises" made with the Southern Slave States in order to convince them to sign on to this thing, this experiment.

One of them was the "Three Fifths Compromise" which made Black Slave People in the Southern Slave States count as Three Fifths of a Person for the Census Count. The Southern States, recognizing that the White People count in the Northern States was bigger already, and only going to get bigger, than the Southern States, demanded this. Because, among other things, the members of Congress by State was set by Population. And they were, by hook and by crook, going to keep the power to protect keeping Black People as Not People and thus, able to be Property,

Please recognize as well, from Colonial times up thru the American Civil War, when Southern white People talked about protecting Property, they were talking about Black People. Slaves. They considered Human Beings, Black People, as Not People, as Property.

And, in the beginning, the White People in the Northern States, while recognizing that Slavery was not really a good idea, also did not really see Black People as Equals and deserving of the same rights as they. If they had truly considered Black People as Human then they would never, in my opinion, have gone thru the contortions needed to get the Slave States to sign onto the Constitution.

The next great "compromise" was the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution in the, so called, Bill of Rights. The modern interpretation of the 2nd Amendment is that it was about a Personal Right. However, if you go back and read the arguments about the Amendment you will see that it was NEVER about a Personal Right.

The 2nd Amendment reads: "A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed".

So let us take it apart and examine it. Especially in the context of the time that it was written.

"A well regulated militia," This part is almost completely ignored by the people who want unfettered gun access in order to promote profits for the Arms Industry. If you look at the original debates what you see is in the Slave States the Militia was the Slave Patrols. This was the well armed and mobile task force made up of local White Men, who were a Terrorist Force designed to keep the Black Population, Slaves specifically, cowed so that they would not revolt.

"being necessary to the security of a free state". In the context of the times, each and every State in the United States was essentially a separate Country. In this context when talking about the "security of a free state" they are talking about Virginia, North Carolina, Delaware, New York, etc. Not as a combined whole, as each an Individual Country.

"the right of the people to keep and bear arms," Again, context of the people who wrote this matters. And the context of the time for this is the Government of the State was the People. Even to this day the ancient language is still in use. As when a Prosecutor says "NAME for the People". It was a reference to the State from the beginning. The State Government was the reference to be able to keep and bear arms.

"shall not be infringed." The wrap. The State, whether Virginia, New York, North Carolina, Massachusetts, etc, shall not have it's rights and ability to store arms for the "common defense" against a strong national government infringed upon.

And we actually have two things happening here. The Slave States wanting to keep their Terrorist Force armed and effective, and their fear that the Non Slave States would get powerful enough to be able to enforce a Mobilization and Nationalization of the "Militia" to be used as a tool to Suppress Slavery.

As you can see, in the context of "the Founders Intent", the 2nd Amendment was NEVER about a Personal Right. It was, and always has been, and still is, a Tool to suppress Black People in these United States using Terrorist methods by White Terrorists.

After all, Historically and to this moment, the 2nd Amendment seems to never apply to People of Color. Ever.

Another was the Electoral Collage. Using this it was and is possible for those in power to create ways their chosen votes to count for more and their not chosen votes to count for less. And for less populous states, at that time the Southern Slave States, to count more Politically than was merited by the facts on the ground.

There is more. I could go on for a long time. And the result of all of these "compromises" was the codification into Law and Custom the system of White Supremacy, Privilege, and Grievance, that plague us right down to this day.

At the same time a nascent Anti Slavery movement was growing in the Northern States. And, while most of them did not recognize Black People as equals yet, they did recognize them as Humans. A big step in the right direction. And recognized that Slavery, the owning of Humans by other Humans, was wrong, and bad for both the Owner and the Owned.

Much worse for the Owned.

And time goes by. Events happen. And the discord between the Slave States and the Non Slave States gets louder.

And in 1832-33 came the Nullification Crisis.

The basis for the Nullification Crisis came because of Tariffs. The Federal Government, to protect the nascent and burgeoning Manufacturing Industry, located primarily in the Northern States, was using Tariffs to protect those Industries from Overseas competition. Primarily English and not limited to England. The Slave Holders in the South, who were primarily Cotton Growers by now, sold their product on the International Market and wanted cheaper access to Foreign goods.

Because of the differing economic systems, Industry versus Slave Powered Agricultural, the two sections of the country needed different ways of relating to the rest of the world. And thus, the argument between "Big Government" and "Small Government" was ramped up.

After a series of Tariffs in 1828 John C. Calhoun of South Carolina, at the time the Vice President of the United States, wrote a series of pamphlets called "The South Carolina Exposition and Protest" which argued that the United States was a Voluntary Compact of States which gave each state the power to Nullify Laws that it did not like.

The President, Andrew Jackson, being a Slave Holder and Cotton Farmer, was thought a supporter of this. It turns out that he was not. In a public toast he made clear that he was a supporter of preserving the Union of the States, AKA the United States.

In 1832 the Governor of South Carolina, a former United States Senator named Robert Y. Hayne, began forming an armed resistance to the collection of the Tariff. In response the US Congress passed the Force Bill which authorized the President to send armed troops to facilitate the collection of the Tariffs.

President Jackson began calling on the other states to send troops. At this point several members of Congress, the Senate, and Supreme Court, from across the Political Spectrum, got together and negotiated a Compromise. The troops went home and South Carolina repealed it's Nullification Act.

From 1846 to 1848 we had a massive Land Grab called the Mexican American War. Stripped of all the pretense and excuses it was, in my opinion, an effort to expand territory in the Southern part of the Country in order to expand the base of Slavery.

Over the next years, until 1860, there were many other times of trouble in the United States where the Non Slave States made various "compromises", IE Appeasements, with Slave States in order to "Preserve the Union". In each of these acts the Non Slave States surrendered their Power to Act towards Slavery to the Slave Holding States.

And then, 1860. The Republican Party, then the Liberal Party, put up Abraham Lincoln to run for President running on a platform of just keeping Slavery where it already existed without interference while keeping it from growing anywhere else.

Starting with South Carolina the majority of the Slave States, using their interoperation of the United States Constitution, filed Ordinances of Succession from the United States and quickly formed the Confederate States of America.

And, just to be clear, the reason given to secede from the United States, in every single state, as given in their own documentation, was to Protect the Institution of Race Based Slavery for all time.

The Civil War happened from 1861 to 1865.

The 13th Amendment to the Constitution, abolishing Slavery, was passed and ratified in 1865.

And the Northern winners, the Non Slave Holding States, began a program to rehabilitate the Southern formerly Slave Holding States. This effort never had enough money or resources to be successful. Good things happened. Not enough nor long enough.

Right after the war was over the former Slave Patrols, AKA the Militia, began their life as the Klu Klux Klan and other secret Terrorist Organizations.

And, because they were White People, they NEVER faced the push back, either legally or in use of force, that other organizations, like Native Tribes for example, faced. Or, much later, the Black Panthers.

In 1868 the 14th Amendment to the Constitution was passed. In it is granted Citizenship to all People born in the United States or Naturalized Under law. It also Prohibits States from Infringing on Citizens Rights and Guarantees Equal Protection Under the Law.

And now began all of the Legal Tricks to dis-enfranchise Voters. Cuz if you cannot vote then you cannot get Your People in positions of power.

In 1876, in one of the most disgraceful sellout in our History, the election was, thru a series of dirty tricks on both sides of the political spectrum, thrown into the House of Representatives. Convening a Joint Committee from the Senate, Congress, and the Supreme Court, they worked out a deal for the election to go to Republican Rutherford B. Hayes thus defeating Democrat Samuel Tilden. Two days later Hayes was sworn in. He then ended what was left of Reconstruction.

Abandoning Black People and leaving the White Power Structure unhindered.

And the formerly Slave Holding states began to pass a series of Laws, called Jim Crow Laws, to restrict the Freedom of all People of Color. Thus rolling back all of the things that Reconstruction tried to do.

And, while Black Americans were no longer Slaves, thru the Law and Custom they were very close to it. They had no say in the Society that Governed their lives and no where to turn to for redress of grievances. Of which they had plenty.

Remember also, the rest of the country was not much more welcoming to people of color either. The Country was, in Law and Custom, still very racist over all. So there was not a lot of places for them to go still.

And a pogrom of Lynching ramped up. These became "Social" events. Picnics. People took pictures of themselves and the crowds. Postcards were made of them. White Terrorism of Black People was not just acceptable, it was considered Normal.

For the next several decades White Society did everything it possibly could to exclude Black Americans from any power and control of life in America. Made sure that Freedom Never applied to them. And made sure they were always afraid thru Lynching and other Terrorist activities.

During this time Black People were trying, and succeeding, to create ways forward for their Civil Rights. AKA Human Rights.

After thoroughly defeating and locking into reservations, AKA Camps, what was left after Genocide of the Native Population, the next thing was a landgrab and stab at Imperialism called the Spanish American War. In that War we began the next stage of Imperialism. We gained an overseas Empire. The Philippines, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and some other odds and ends.

And, again, People, White Americans, versus Not People, the existing Population of these places.

And then the Election of 1912. Where Teddy Roosevelt split the Republican vote with his 3rd Party, the Bull Moose Party, officially known as The Progressive Party. The result was the election of Woodrow Wilson.

Unpopular to admit these days, Woodrow Wilson was a deeply Racist Individual and believed whole heartedly in White Supremacy.

He very quickly reversed several things that were slowly unwinding the Institutional Racism in this country. Among them was the Segregation of the Federal Service. Prior to his election Black People had been working at every level of Federal Civil Service. This act decimated the Black Civil Service Workforce thru reduced income and reducing chances at promotion and hiring.

He also appointed Southern Racist to key Cabinet Positions to further cement his Racist Policies.

The Post Office and the Treasury Department, two of the biggest employers of Black People in the Federal Government, were Segregated.

This struck Black Careers and Finances deeply. And the effects lasted for Generations.

In the upcoming war, now known as World War 1, the Military was still deeply segregated. Black troops were usually assigned to any menial role, anything except a Combat role. There were a few exceptions. One of them was known as the Harlem Hellfighters, AKA the 369th Infantry Regiment. The German's gave them the nickname Hellfighters. They were denied the right to march in the Farewell Parade for the New York National Guard Division, known as the Rainbow Division, before leaving for Europe as "Black is not a color of the Rainbow". They served with the French Army's 16th Division because many, most, White American Soldiers refused to serve with Black Troops.

They served a stretch of 191 days on the front lines, more than any other American Combat Unit. They suffered 1,400 casualties, more than any other American Unit. They were individually decorated 171 times. As a unit they received the many decorations.

When they got back to New York they were given a parade. And rightfully so.

And then those Combat Veterans went back to the same Racism and Exclusion as before and the incredible record they had achieved was pretty much forgotten.

For Shame America.

During the 1920's life continued on as usual for America. The Rich got richer and the poor got poorer. Especially poor people of color. Which was well over 95% of the people of color. By design.

And the Klu Klux Klan, a White Terrorist Organization, had unprecedented Political Power. It had reached it's height at this time and looked unstoppable. If you look at the White Robed Terrorist KKK and the Brown Shirted Terrorist SA you cannot help but see that they are the same. Just in different countries and dressed differently.

Then came the Stock Market Crash of October 1929. When the Stock Market Bubble burst and the economy of the United States, and the World, began to crash. The beginning of the Great Depression.

And while the whole country was hit hard by this Economic Catastrophe, marginalized communities were hit even harder. Members of these communities were the First to lose their jobs.

In the Presidential Election of 1932 Franklin Delano Roosevelt ran on the Platform of A New Deal for America. These were a series of Programs for Public Works Projects and Financial Reforms and Regulations to combat Unemployment and make it harder for the Financial Sector to ruin the economy.

When working with Congress to pass these acts the Southern Democrats, AKA the Dixiecrats, blocked everything until they could force a series of Amendments to the bills which would exclude Black People and other People of Color from the benefits of these acts.

Again, by Law, people of Color were excluded from the full benefits and participation in American Society.

Next came the Second World War. And again, the Military was Segregated. And most Black Men and Woman were excluded from Meaningfully Serving.

There were exceptions. The All Black 92nd Infantry Division fought the Germans in Italy. The All Black 93rd Infantry Division fought the Japanese in the Pacific. Black Marines saw combat as well.

After the war all of these Veterans went home to the same Racism and Exclusion as before. And they were, again, at the insistence of the Dixiecrats, excluded from the GI Bill granting benefits to Veterans after the War.

Again, for Shame America.

In July 1948 President Harry Truman signed an Executive Order, 9981, creating the "President's Commission on Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed Forces" which mandated the Integration of the Armed Forces. It took a while after this, well after the Korean War, for this to be accomplished. And a large part of White America went nuts.

As the Democratic Party moved, very slowly, away from Racism and Exclusion and more towards Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, a move which they still have not completed, the Dixiecrats began looking around for a new home. In the 1948 Presidential Election they ran Strom Thurmond of South Carolina for President under the States Rights Party, AKA the Dixiecrats.

Truman won narrowly defeating the heavily favored Republican Thomas Dewey and the third party Dixiecrat Strom Thurmond.

In 1952 the Victor of Europe, Dwight David Eisenhower, was elected President. The two parties, Democrats and Republicans, both let it be known that they would gladly accept him into their ranks. He chose the Republican party.

It was during his Presidency that the Republican party started moving towards extremism. The House Un-American Activities Committee got really going. It was "hunting Communists" within the Government. And they seemed to find them to. Although it was usually among Union Members, People of Color, and Jewish Immigrants that they seemed to find them.

And then the 1960's, AKA The Sixties, came along. And, after the assassination of President Kennedy, which some people to this day feel was a Coup D'etat, a deep mistrust of the Government began to set in. It deepened when it was discovered how badly the Government was lying to America about the war in Vietnam. That cost the President, Lyndon Baines Johnson, enough that he declined to run for another term in office.

And the Vietnam war began the Generational Divide of the Baby Boomers from everyone else. They began to see themselves as Special and unlike others. And we began the practice of Labelling generations. Gen X etc. All so they could be denigrated.

In 1968 Republican Presidential Candidate Richard Nixon used the Southern Swing Strategy to convince the Dixiecrats, AKA Racist Southern Democrats, to become Republican. And it worked Extremist Racist began to be Republican. Thus further driving the Republican party towards extremism. And Nixon got elected.

In the summer of 1973 his Vice President, Spiro Agnew, was being pressured hard in the press brought about by a series of charges involving Extortion, Bribery, and Income Tax Evasion while the Governor of Maryland. And he started calling all of the press the "Liberal Press". His interpretation being any press that told the truth about him. He eventually resigned in a deal to avoid charges and going to jail.

In 1973 to1974 the Watergate scandal happened. This resulted in the Resignation of President Richard Nixon. And this further eroded the trust of the American people in Government.

In 1976 a little known Democratic Governor of Georgia, Jimmy Carter, got elected president running as a Washington Outsider, which he was. He did some incredible things, the Camp David accords brokering Peace between Israel and Egypt, giving the Panama Canal back to Panama, etc. He also did some not so great things. And had the bad luck to oversee the Iranian Revolution and Iran Hostage Crisis.

In 1980 Governor Ronald Reagan of California ran for the Republican Nomination for President on the platform of Reducing Government and racially coded language about Welfare Queens. He also began the idea of Trickle Down Economics. In that he posited Tax Cuts for the Rich in order to allow them to acquire so much that it would "trickle down" to the rest of society. He won.

Many years later it came out that his campaign people, they claim without Reagan's knowledge, negotiated with the Iranians to keep the hostages until after the election. Thus making Carter look weak. They were released on the day of Inauguration.

And so began the unending Tax Cuts for the Wealthy and Powerful and Deregulation of any effective Oversite of the Economy.

So began the never ending Budget Deficits that Republicans said we must cut Services, the Social Safety Net, to pay for.

And that has been the plan for Republicans ever since. Cut taxes for the Wealthy. Run up the Deficit. Blame people who are collecting somehow, imply they are all People of Color. Cut Services. Repeat.

They also began destroying Government. After all, when you run for office on the claim that Government does not work then you had better make sure that is true.

How do you destroy Government? First, you cut the funding and justify it as a Deficit Reduction. Then wait for the complaints. Then cut their effectiveness and/or eliminate them completely.

Except for the Military. Because, being strongly Nationalistic, which is not Patriotic, you must have an Overwhelming military. So you keep throwing more and more money at the Military/Industrial/Security complex.

Another way that one makes sure that things continue to go the way you want is anything that can help lower and middle income People must have an expiration date. Must have a Sunset Clause. Anything that will help the rich and powerful People must continue on forever with no end date.

Reagan did two other things that help drive extremism. In 1985 he ramrodded Rupert Murdoch's United States Citizenship. This allowed Murdoch to do something he always wanted to do, own a Network in the United States. In 1986 he launched the Fox Network.

In 1989 he repealed the Fairness Doctrine. And what the Fairness Doctrine did was make sure that Broadcast News Organizations, the Media, had to give apposing opinions fair and equal access to the airwaves. Have an opinion, and give the apposing opinion equal time.

And thus we got Right Wing Talk Radio, and it's first beneficiary Rush Limbaugh. He began to pollute the airwaves on July 4th 1988. And Fox "News" began ruining Journalism right after repeal.

And life went on Thru Reagan and George Bush Senior. And then came the Clinton Years.

William Jefferson Clinton, then Governor of Arkansas, ran for President in the 1992 election. He ran as a Washington outsider who could work across party lines. He narrowly won the Democratic nomination and then the Presidency.

During the campaign and his time in office, January 20th 1993 to January 20th 2001, he was rocked by a series of scandals. All involving his decisions around woman. As a Husband and partner he was, at times, execrable and made some really dumb ass choices. As President he was very effective, even though I feel that some of his policies were really good and some of his policies really heinous.

In 1995 Republican Newt Gingrich became Speaker of the House of Representatives. He began the ongoing Republican legislative Policy of complete and total Opposition to everything a Democratic Administration might want. And the Senate Republicans quickly signed on to this.

And the Republican Parties march to extremism was complete. And they lost their ability to actually Govern when they had the Majority and/or the White House.

Although that took a while to show out.

During the Bush Junior years, January 20th 2001 to January20th 2009, they actually did "effectively" govern. By passing a massive Tax Cut for the wealthy.

And then September 11th happened.

It was a heinous act. And the nation cheered as our elected representatives massively over reacted. They passed the USA Patriot Act which severely circumscribed our Liberties in the name of Security. Later on they passed the Homeland Security Act which created an even more Massive "Security" apparatus.

And the war in Afghanistan happened. This war has sucked the life and soul out of America for years. This war lasted longer, far longer, that any other war in American history. When President Bidon finally called a halt to it and withdrew, an act which everyone knew was overdue, the right went crazy and eviscerated him for what they knew needed to be done.

In 2003 the Iraq war began. Begun under false pretenses it also sucked the life and soul out of America. It damaged America badly both in Foreign Relations and in the Domestic Front.

In the 2008 Presidential Election a charismatic man named Barack Obama ran for President. And he won. The Right Wing in the United States went Crazy. A Black Man was in the White House.

Republican Leadership in Congress did every piece of obstruction they could possibly think of to try and stop him from Governing. They became a Permanent Obstruction Party and totally forgot how to Govern.

The Birtherism movement, designed to make the President a Not Person to White People, began, and Donald Trump jumped on board. And the Hatred that spewed out of them, and their mouthpiece Trump, was beyond belief. This was never abut Governance or just opposition to the other party. This was, and is, about Racist Hatred of a person who is Black, Intelligent, Moral, and just plain a good person. They hated him and his family for it.

For the 2016 Presidential election Donald Trump steam rolled his opposition to the Republican nomination. He did this by spewing vile hatred of Latinos'. Especially Immigrant Latinos'. He showed his true Racist, Misogynistic, Nazi colors. And Republicans cheered him enthusiastically. And all of his Republican opponents began to gather around and kiss the ring.

Hilary Clinton had, thru a pretty decent campaign, gathered the Democratic nomination for President. And then ran an awful campaign in the General Election, I think that she saw who Donald Trump is, she did know him personally as well, and misjudged the amount of Racism and Hatred in this country, and lost in a squeaker. Donald Trump became President.

And began four years of the Idiocracy. And, of course, the first thing he does is pass a Massive Tax Cut for the Obscenely Wealthy. He also made the United States irrelevant on the World Stage. And his followers started dropping away. They began so see what the rest of us knew. This is a small narrow person with absolutely no redeeming characteristics what so ever. And his hard core of support kept laughing gleefully and chanting about "owning the libs".

After four years of disaster we had the 2020 election. Former Vice President Joe Biden won. And, on January 6th 2021, Donald Trump incited an Insurrection to try to overturn the results. He and his followers began the never ending bogus claim that the election had been stolen. They still, despite a monumental amount of evidence saying otherwise, believe that to be true.

On January 20th 2021 Joe Biden was sworn in. And normalcy came back to the Executive Branch of Government. And the Right hated him for it. And tried to savage him unendingly. 

What I liked about Joe Biden was there was no drama. He was the personification of the Blue Collar worker. He went to work, did his job, and went home to his wife. No bullshit. No drama. No scandals. Just doing his job.

And, because of the right wing attacks on him, which he never felt like he had to defend against in my opinion, and in a Reality Based World he would not have, he eventually dropped out of the nomination process for re-election as President. I feel that this was a mistake. On his part and the Democratic Party.

And his Vice President, Kamala Harris stepped up to the plate. A Black Woman, of Indian decent. Should have been a shoo in. And, in a Reality Based world, she would have been. And, she is a Woman with Dark Skin and a funny name. Racism and Misogyny are alive and well in America.

So, for the second time, a very qualified Woman was beaten by a Racist, Misogynistic, Mentally Failing, White Male.

And in the few weeks that he has been in office again he has shown that he is a Racist Nazi. Everything that he does says that.

And, if you have read this, you can see that he is the end result of the History of America. That Racism is Built in to the American DNA. IE, The Constitution.

And all that Donald Trump did was take things that already existed in the Republican Party, which has existed in different parties thru out our History, the Race Based Hatred, the twisted American form of Christianity, the marriage to Big Industry, and put it out in the open.

He has harnessed an Anger and Hate that was always there and weaponized them to the point where his followers will do whatever he tells them to do.

They are Good Little Nazis.

So yes, Trump and Musk are a huge problem right now. And, they are not the real problem. They are the result of the real problem.

And the Real Problem is Race Based Hate and Fear. Fear of the Other. And Fear for Ourselves. White Supremacy and Christian Nationalism. These are the real problems.

So, our job is to be Good Human Beings. And that means making noise. A lot of noise. Calling out behaviors when you see it. Do Not let your neighbors get taken away in silence. Nazis depend on silence.

We, as Americans, must become Fearless. And, for those of you who are confused as to what that means, we must walk thru our Fear and be Loud. Even when we are shaking in Fear, we must have Faith, Faith in ourselves and what America can be when we listen to "the better angels of our nature".

Because my Dears, Faith is the Only thing that will conquer Fear.

Because, even those whom we despise right now for what they are going, we must have Faith in Us that we can Overcome this.

And Love those that we are afraid of.

We Must love Each Other or Die.

Because Love is the Only rational Act.