ICE and snow, pro-life advocacy. Trump's triumphal arch

 

Berkeley Springs' predicted snow had not yet arrived, so very early on Saturday morning, January 24, we went out driving as usual, while the outdoor temperature gauge downtown registered only 7 * F. The Coofont pond was frozen solid. Even water bottes left overnight in the car were completely frozen. 

In Minneapolis, the temperture was well below zero F. 

Wash. Post, Thousands march in Minnesota and hundreds of businesses close to protest ICE

Braving subzero temperatures and skipping work and school, thousands in Minneapolis protested in Minnesota’s biggest show of opposition yet to the Trump administration’s immigration operations there.

Minneapolis wants ICE out right now. How many unauthorized immigrants might be found in that huge crowd below? 

Democratic

 Meanwhile, anti-abortion marchers were back in Washington, DC, again in January. Unlike perhaps most Democrats, I do support the pro-life movement and would like to see more pro-life Democrats being elected. But, so far, the Democratic Party has mostly failed to support them--in fact, has tried to prevent them from even running for office, making support for abortion a litmus test for their candidacy. 

This is quite unfortunate and perhaps if I were better organized and now, at age 87, had more energy, I could start a counter-movement within the Democratic Party as "Miss Barbara," a birth and an adoptive mother, and as a senior pro-life advocate. My son, with whom I live now, would probably support my position, but we do like our quiet private life out here in the rural countryside, so would be quite retuctant to give that up. Public life does take a toll on personal privacy. I will have to talk it over with my son and decide what to do next. The least I can do is write to my repreentatives, so then my letters will go into the pro-life column in their tally. And, of course, I still have this blog with its regular but modest readership. My readers may disagree, if so, I'd like to hear their arguments. 

So, as a life-long registered Democrat, I have never ever supported "abortion rights," as I believe that the rights of 2 individuals are actually involved, those of both the pregnant woman and the unborn, who is necessarily starting out as all human beings always have. As a mother, I have never understood the rationale for abortion. 

Most pregnancies throughout human history have been unexpected, a welcome or unwelcome surprise. With the US birthrate currently below replacement, with old people like me surviving longer, and Trump trying to seal off our borders and deporting folks willy-nilly, we really do need all those babies to be born right here. But my position must become more prominent within the Democratic Party so I need to think about the best way to promote that without risking harm from abortion advocates. Is it just my wishful thinking now, or is the anti-abortion movement actually gaining some strength? 

“I must address an elephant in the room,” Vice President JD Vance told Right to Life marchers in Washington DC. “A fear that some of you have that not enough progress has been made, that not enough has happened in the political arena, that we’re not going fast enough, that our politics have failed to answer the clarion call to life that this march represents.”

Vance's wife is expecting their 4th child, so he and his wife are now setting an example, but   as Republicans, not Democrats, and as folks with ample means. 

While pro-lifers have always been more closely associated with the Reublican Party, anti-abortion advocates like myself can also be found within the Democratic Party, so we need to make our views more widely known and we need to find each other.   

Henry Cuellar (D-TX) has a PhD and is a U.S. Representative for Texas's 28th congressional district, serving since 2005. He is also a rare outspoken pro-life Democrat and the father of 2 daughters. Most pro-life Democrats are being driven out of the Democratic Party or simply are keeping their views private.That needs to change, 

                        Here were the marchers just now in Washington, DC.                                        

Going on now to another subject, namely that Erika Kirk, Charlie's widow and the mother of his 2 childen, apparently is not pregnant after all. She denies actually ever saying that she was expecting after her husband had been killed. Apparently that idea was just wishful thinking on the part of a Charlie Kirk fan. 

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"Trump Goes on Manic 50-Post Rampage After World Leaders Humiliate Him" https://www.thedailybeast.com//trump-goes-on-manic-50-post-rampage-after-world-leaders-humiliate-him/?via=ios

Wash., Post, On Greenland, Europe stood up, Trump blinked, and the E.U. learned a lesson

Back again to our own president, likely to be with us for 3 more long years, now finding out that he won't win every battle. He has given up up on Greenland and is thinking instead about a erecting a triumphal arch right in Washington, DC. Kudos to those folks who took advantage of his childishly short attention span to divert him to the "Triumphal Arch."  (His family has apparently retreated to a more private life, seldom seen in public with him these days, though some may stil have presidential ambitions.) 

Wikipedia: Trump says construction of the ‘Triumphal Arch’ to begin in ‘2 months. This monument would be a centerpiece of White House plans for America’s 250th birthday, inspired by the ancient arch. seen below. 

The Triumphal Arch of Orange, France, the oldest surviving triple-arched Roman arch, probably built during the reign of Emperor Augustus (27 BC–14 AD), later reconstructed by Emperor Tiberius (c. 20–27 AD). So let's see what Trump comes up with now, a very smart diversion from Greenland.