Valentine’s Greetings, Impeachment Now Over and Done, Looking Back and Forward

   Valentine’s Day greetings to one and all. We need something to boost our         spirits!

Gone are the days when I first moved to Capitol Hill, back when visitors could just walk into the Capitol building or large groups could rally outside on the national mall without barriers. Many changes have occurred over the more than a half century since I moved into my present home. What was once a racially and economically mixed neighborhood has now become totally gentrified, along with soaring property taxes.

Those of us living near the Capitol bore personal witness to the events of January 6, 2021. By walking only a few blocks, we could see rowdy crowds gathering that same morning; we heard shouts and sirens for hours all day long and well into the night. Did Mr. Trump ever tell his followers to stop or stand down? No, he urged them on, urged them to “stop the steal.” He could not win re-election legitimately, so he wanted to cheat. In fact, he never enjoyed majority support among voters.

Future historians will have access to full video and audio of Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric, the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, and his subsequent impeachment trial, allowing them to readily reconstruct events. The Congressional impeachment hearings also have allowed voters and the American public to actually witness details of the attack and the extent of deaths, injuries, and destruction. Unfortunately, Mr. Trump could not be barred from future office without being finally impeached. He needed to be impeached first before the vote to bar him from future office could occur, that latter vote requiring only a simple majority, while impeachment required a 2/3rds majority. Barring Trump from future office was actually the most important part of the whole process. He could always be allowed to play golf and watch TV to his heart’s content, but it was most important for both major parties that he not be allowed to run for office again. His interference into the Republican Party had already impelled lawmakers to leave office and some voters to even leave the party altogether, sometimes to join what is pejoratively referred to as the “Democrat,” not Democratic, Party  

During his second impeachment, Mr. Trump’s legal defense team relied mostly on name-calling, describing the case against their client as “political theater,” “smoke and mirrors,” “a witch hunt,” “a brazen political act,” and “cancel culture,” motivated only by “Trump derangement syndrome” and “hatred” of Donald Trump, not very substantive or convincing arguments. Why would Trump particularly inspire “hatred”? It’s a question never addressed. Trump himself has often used name-calling in place of arguments. Were any facts actually presented? His lawyers bemoaned the lack of “due process,” but this was not a criminal trial, nor were there any criminal penalties. They played multiple clips of Democratic politicians urging followers to “fight,” used there only symbolically and without ensuing violence. In contrast, Mr. Trump was well aware of his cult-like hold on his followers, whom he had urged to come to Washington to fight the “stolen” election, and he knew they would take him literally. Granted, I was listening with a skeptical ear.

The former president, as our national leader needed to be held to a higher standard and not allowed to urge illegal activity and violence under the guise of free speech, but that seemed to be his main defense. His counsel also argued that he was already out of office, so not subject to impeachment any more. Trump was reportedly unhappy with his impeachment defenders at first, but his case had so little merit that he was lucky to get anyone at all to defend him. Later on, he apparently changed his mind about the job his counsel was doing, childishly enjoying clips of Democratic politicians calling on constituents to “fight.” In the end, especially after Senate Leader McConnell announced he would not vote to convict, the outcome was a foregone conclusion. Trump escaped a final verdict because of his hold on Republican primary voters, making party office holders leery of crossing him. He is already plotting payback to Republicans who voted against him. This was a partisan trial; Senate jurors were not impartial and did not vote according to the evidence or their conscience. Many Republicans had already decided to exonerate Trump before even hearing the evidence. But if there had been a secret ballot, Trump would have been barred from future office forever.

President Biden wisely mostly stayed out of the impeachment effort, though he reportedly watched some footage. As the impeachment hearings went on, both legislators and the public seemed to be growing weary and other Congressional activities were being put on hold. So, since the Senate vote was foreordained, it went forward as expected, not exonerating Trump but not convicting him either. The Senate needed two-thirds of the 100-member body to vote for conviction, but fell short of the 67-vote threshold with 57 members finding him guilty and 43 finding him not guilty, letting Trump off the hook once again, though his legacy had been further tarnished, not by impeachment itself, but by what the process had further revealed about him.   

Donald Trump, as our president, was certainly no hero on Jan. 6. Instead that honor goes to Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman, soon to be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, who is credited with steering Senator Mitch Romney and others away from danger.

Many of us remain anxious about the prospect of Trump’s return to public life. We still feel traumatized after four long years. My own shock and dismay first began back when he was declared the surprising and surprised winner around midnight on election evening, Nov. 8, 2016. How could that be when he had fallen behind by a record 3 million votes? Yes, he had won due to an unprecedented quirk of the Electoral College, which never before had given victory to a candidate with such huge vote deficit. The very next day, I was scheduled to give a talk on my Confessions book in Hillary Clinton’s hometown of Chappaqua, NY, a date set before anyone had expected Trump to win. The upbeat library announcement appears below. Dutifully, I set out early for Chappaqua via bus and train. Not unexpectedly, I found the planned celebration there had turned to gloom and only 8 people attended my talk. My whole book had been written expecting Hillary to win. Can we be selective about our memories, choosing to dwell mostly on pleasant memories and tamping down those causing distress? I would like to recall the few brave people who showed up to my talk and asked pertinent questions about Cuba and Latin America, topics far from the minds of most citizens on that day. Hillary's neighbors had put up a sign at her driveway that morning.  

[My library talk announcement] Looking into the Crystal Ball on U.S.-Cuba Relations.  What’s Next? 

Author and long-time human rights activist Barbara E. Joe (last name courtesy of late Korean father-in-law), a Spanish hospital interpreter in Washington, DC, and volunteer Caribbean coordinator for Amnesty International USA, will discuss her recent book, Confessions of a Secret Latina: How I Fell Out of Love with Castro & In Love with the Cuban People. The renewal of U.S.-Cuba diplomatic relations is a first step, but hardly the end of a longstanding fractious relationship, nor have the benefits trickled down to the Cuban people. Barbara will take a frank look at Cuba’s human rights record and the prospects for change. Her book is also a memoir of a life marked by challenges and tragedy. Signed copies will be for sale after her talk, along with those of her previous award winning book: Triumph & Hope: Golden Years with the Peace Corps in Honduras. Barbara, a mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, has traveled frequently to Cuba and volunteers yearly with medical brigades and other humanitarian projects in Honduras. Proceeds from the Cuba book go to human rights defenders there, with those from the Honduras book used for humanitarian projects in that country. 

Wed. Nov. 9. 2016, 7-8:30 pm, Chappaqua Public Library, 195 Greeley Ave., www.chappaqualibrary.org  

Melania Trump has announced plans to continue her “Be Best” campaign, whatever that means, from Florida. Her parents have reportedly now joined her at Mar-A-Lago. From confidential reports, it sounds like she is getting a bit bored. Who knows what legal arrangements she has with Donald? It’s hard to imagine she is “in love” with him, as he does not seem particularly attractive to women, actually rather repulsive, which is why he has to lure them either by force or economic enticement. Of course, some female cult followers probably would do anything he asked. Melania is not one of them. She looks like she is gritting her teeth whenever he grabs her hand or nudges her to smile for the cameras.

Trying to figure out a public person from afar is risky and colored by our own prejudices, but Donald Trump has acted so contrary to our usual expectations for a US president that it’s hard to avoid speculating about what ails him. Late night comics are flummoxed, unable to caricature his behavior because it’s already so extreme. Yet his base gleefully identifies with his blatant breeching of common norms. In private, might The Donald actually be generous and funny, inclined to self-deprecating humor? Not likely. No tell-all books have ever depicted him that way. Rather, he comes off in confidential firsthand accounts as someone who has never loved nor felt loved, someone striving constantly for the adoration of a crowd to compensate, always seeking fulsome praise, whether genuine or false, from anyone and everyone. He seems only to derive self-confidence, self-worth, from expressions of adulation from others.

With impeachment over for now, hope everyone has managed to have a happy Valentine’s Day, despite the pandemic.

New virus infections do finally seem to be on a downward trajectory, at least in the US. I’ve had the first Pfizer shot myself. Double-masking is recommended, but makes it hard to breathe. The virus must get under control worldwide before life can return to “normal,” not that life before the pandemic was ever easy. What actually is normal? We’ve acquired a new found appreciation for folks we took for granted: mail carriers, grocery clerks, transit drivers.

From the Washington Post, Feb, 10, 2021, A French nun survived the 1918 flu pandemic and both world wars. Now she’s beaten coronavirus days before she turns 117. Wow! She is definitely a survivor, but would any of us really want to live to age 117?

Last month, the Brookings Institution updated a June survey on American fertility, concluding that 2021 would see a sharp drop in US births. The pandemic and its attendant economic recession would result in 300,000 to 500,000 fewer births in 2021, Brookings estimated, threatening what the thinktank called a “baby bust.” Brookings also cited a study by the Guttmacher Institute, a group that tracks data related to reproduction and health. That study – based on an internet survey of roughly 2,000 straight women of childbearing age – found that a staggering 34% of respondents had chosen to wait to get pregnant, or to have fewer children, as a result of the pandemic. With pandemic deaths added to lower fertility is it possible that world population will not increase or even actually shrink? Will US average life expectancy go down?

Changes are occurring in our national governance, not only domestically, but also internationally. Canada’s and Mexico’s leaders have now heard from President Biden, also China’s Xi, but Israel and Saudi Arabia no longer find themselves in a warm presidential embrace.

Bravo to Colombia for giving a million Venezuelans TPS, allowing them to live and work there, setting an example for us in the United States. How Maduro manages to still hang on is a mystery. Maybe Venezuelans are just too hungry and feeling too desperate to fight. Years ago, I began volunteering to advise beleaguered Venezuelan asylum seekers in this country. They are still coming. Maduro has outlasted Trump.

Below are a few headlines of special interest to me and I hope to you.

From Newsday, the Small Kingdom that Has Kept Coronavirus at Bay https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p096shjd

Yes, that's what Bhutan folks tell me, that isolation has kept them safely

sealed off in their mountain kingdom, away from the rest of the world. Fortunately, they still have internet to communicate with the rest of us.  
One of my former Bhutan visitors just sent me this message today: Bhutan was lockdown twice as they detected community spreading COVID and me and my family were inside the house from December 20 to January 30. Now we are moving around and office and shops are opening. My son is going to school by March now. Well, I have been watching CNN news and had seen trump supporters protesting Capitol Hill and also watched the inauguration of joe Biden as 46th president of United States. Also watched the COVID death rate rising tremenously.
[Son's photo appears above.]

Here’s something from one of my former Peace Corps hometowns, La Esperanza.

The Guardian, Death of nurse detained over Covid curfew highlights violence faced by Honduran women, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/12/honduras-femicide-keyla-martinez-women-violence

This happened in La Esperanza, the “Hope” of my book title, Triumph & Hope. My first Peace Corps site, was El Triunfo, “The Triumph,” followed by La Esperanza, “The Hope,” where I moved when I extended my tour, which readers will already know if they've read my Honduras book. I've been back there many times since to volunteer with medical brigades in nearby villages. I've already asked friends there and elsewhere about this case. No replies yet. 

 Honduran president target of U.S. investigation, court filings show, https://www.yahoo.com/news/honduran-president-target-u-investigation-193129036.html

 

ABC News, US botched initial response to diplomats' brain injuries in Cuba: Declassified report, https://www.yahoo.com/gma/state-dept-botched-initial-response-200600862.html

Three Cubans survived for 33 days on deserted island eating coconuts and             rats, Associated Press, Wed, February 10, 2021,                                

https://www.yahoo.com/news/three-cubans-survived-33-days-                           015649832.html

Here’s what I told a friend who asked me about these 3 Cuban survivors: They are in medical treatment and detention right now. Since Obama ended Bill Clinton's "wet-foot/dry-foot" policy, most Cubans, like anyone else, now have to prove asylum claims, perhaps a little easier for Cubans because the Cuban government is especially harsh on suspected dissidents, though getting corroborating documents from Cuba is also pretty hard. However, deporting this trio would raise quite a ruckus, especially in south Florida. 

I know personally of a young couple who fled Cuba after the wife was allegedly attacked by the police and suffered a miscarriage. Her great uncle, now living in the US, was formerly a 22-year political prisoner, which would make her suspect in Cuba. She had evidence of the miscarriage, but no proof that the police had caused it, only that it was caused by a physical attack. A couple of years ago, the couple crossed the Texas border, asked for asylum, and were sent to detention in different states. At an asylum hearing, the husband was conditionally released, but the wife's subsequent claim was denied, so she remained in custody in Louisiana. (I’ve been an interpreter for asylum hearings whose outcomes seemed to depend a lot on the particular asylum officer.) The intervention of several Republican lawmakers finally won the wife’s release, but she had contracted Covid, so had to remain in detention. I believe now, after more than 2 years, she has finally been released, but the husband has changed his email and phone number, so I am unable to contact him to find out for sure. 

 

AP, Biden administration to allow 25,000 asylum-seekers into US, https://apnews.com/article/biden-25000-asylum-seekers-782c8495f29d9d73f2ffc80d5b2a2aef

Reuters, Haitian envoy to U.S. calls for international support to                 resolve crisis, https://www.yahoo.com/news/haitian- envoy-u-calls-                international-224131069.html

 NYTimes, Feb, 7, 2021, Haiti Braces for Unrest as President Refuses to Step Down, Constitutional Crisis Looms, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/07/world/americas/haiti-protests-President-Jovenel-Mois.html

The issue is whether President Jovenel Moïse’s presidential term ended on February 7th, 2021--or, as he claims, one year later.

Outcry as more than 20 babies and children deported by US to Haiti, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/feb/08/us-ice-immigration-customs-enforcement-haiti-deportations?CMP=share_btn_link

Mexican leader says Biden offers $4B for Central America, Wall Street Journal, January 23, 2021
https://wjla.com/news/nation-world/mexican-leader-says-biden-offers-4b-for-central-america

Thanks in part to a boost by Tesla entrepreneur Elon Musk, Bitcoin’s popularity has been soaring. Like any currency, its value depends on the trust people give it. Any form of money depends on what human beings collectively decide it’s worth. Eons ago, barter involved the exchange of tangible goods. That gave way to representative forms, maybe sticks and stones at first, then metal coins, then paper bills. In cash-strapped countries like Cuba, actual US dollar bills are carefully hidden at home. There is nothing intrinsically valuable about a $100 bill; you cannot eat or wear it, but you can exchange it for something useful. Yet an almost identical counterfeit is worthless. Now we have bank balances only on paper or even just in cyberspace, but still exchanged for goods and services. So moving on to the even more abstract bitcoin is not a stretch, though its use and value are still evolving.

I’ve been asked to repost my Central America photo collages in a larger format for better viewing, so here they are again. Believe me, these maneuvers are not so easy, as what looks right when I post it may turn out appearing quite different on the actual blog. 

       

National Recovery is Underway, Both from Trump and the Virus

  

This winter seems a little colder than last, but still no appreciable snow here in DC. I’m not complaining, mind you. Still dawn and dusk have their own wintry beauty.

 

While the fence now encircling the Capitol may be necessary in the short-term, I hope it can be removed in the near future, welcoming visitors back into the building. Donald Trump has seriously damaged our country and our government and eroded the basic trust that citizens have in each other. The sooner he can be removed from public life, the better. As a serial liar, no wonder he doesn’t want to testify under oath at his second impeachment trial. Republicans in Congress are in a bind. They would like to take back their party by keeping Trump from running again, but they don’t dare face Trump-endorsed primary candidates.

Trump's DC hotel is hiking prices for March 4 - the day QAnon followers think the former president will be sworn-in again.

According to a recent poll, 56% of Americans say Trump should be convicted and barred from holding future office, and 43% say he should not be. (Poll was conducted by Ipsos in partnership with ABC News.) February 7, 2021, Business Insider

          

Apparently, even if Trump’s impeachment does not go through this second time, he can still be barred from future office by majority vote, which is important both for our country and the Republican Party.

This year, 2021, marks the 60^th anniversary of the Peace Corps. For now, all volunteers have been called home, though plans are in the works to send volunteers with previous service to short-term stints by the middle or end of 2021. The return date for regular first-time volunteers is uncertain.

 In Burma or Myanmar, folks are beating pots and pans, calling for the return of Aung San Suu Kyi, who reportedly has been jailed after being accused of importing unauthorized Walkie-Talkies. Pot banging in protest is more common than in celebration, as I was doing on inauguration day. AP, Hundreds protest coup in Myanmar as resistance spreads, https://apnews.com/article/aung-san-suu-kyi-myanmar-civil-disobedience-arrests-yangon-a576dcd73070070877e8d567ec5e8a5c

         

      

Via various internet sources, more than 100 friends around the world have told me that they "heard" my unorthodox pot-banging in celebration, so here I am again.

Pope Francis has appointed women to two Vatican posts previously held only by men. One of the appointments is to a high position in the bishop's synod, which helps decide Catholic rules. This is progress, but arduously slow progress.

The following items relate to my volunteer work as Caribbean coordinator for Amnesty Int’l USA:

Reuters, Cuba opens door to most small business initiatives, https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/cuba-opens-door-most-small-165840421.html

Miami Herald, Biden’s redo of Obama’s historic Cuba policy shouldn’t ignore Cuban Americans in Miami | Opinion, https://www.yahoo.com/news/biden-redo-obama-historic-cuba-144405871.html

AP, Taiwan opens trade office in Guyana in diplomatic win

Haiti Braces for Unrest as President Refuses to Step Down, NY Times, Feb. 7, 20201, Haiti is “on the verge of explosion,” the country’s Episcopal bishops say. Many accuse the government of supporting gangs to stay in power as a constitutional crisis looms.

Here’s a little known historical observation about Haiti and the Dominican Republic, which share the island of Hispaniola, two countries that I’ve often visited and which fall under my volunteer jurisdiction as Caribbean coordinator for Amnesty International USA. The Dominican Republic is one of the only countries in Latin America that celebrates its independence not from its European colonizer but from its neighbor, Haiti, on February 27th, 1844. What is not celebrated or even discussed in Dominican history is that on February 9th, 1822, Haiti also abolished slavery in the Dominican Republic. This abolition was followed by a 22-year period in which the entire island was under Haitian rule that has defined Dominican identity and nationalism.

US immigration Exclusive: Ice cancels deportation flight to Africa after claims of brutality, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/feb/04/ice-cancels-deportation-flight-african-asylum-seekers-brutality

President Biden has needed to sign a flurry executive orders just to roll back the many harmful directives of the Trump administration. Already, the virus is coming under better control and initiatives to tackle the economic fallout are underway. Next, Biden will have to establish more positive initiatives of his own. Democrats need to take advantage of the next 2 years to get things done. Our country is slowly starting to return to “normal” after Donald Trump’s onslaught.

Joe Biden is already age 78, just a few years my junior. Hope he has the intellect and energy to continue for the next 4 years and to be reelected in 2024, when he would be 82. If he is reelected and serves out a second term, he’d be 86 at the end. When referencing “four score and seven years,” Abraham Lincoln was referring back to the Declaration of Independence 87 years prior but since then, 87 has sometimes become shorthand for a desired lifespan, so let’s hope President Biden lives at least to that age. My friend Jimmy Carter, now age 96, has survived far beyond. Age may be only a number, but none of us immortal and years do take their toll. I pray for Mr. Biden’s continued good health and stamina.

Mitt Romney Proposes $350 Monthly Child Allowance Bravo to Republican Senator Romney for his proposal. Such a monthly payment would be very helpful to families. However, apparently some of the cost would be offset by eliminating other perks.

Members of my own family barely scraping by right now would certainly benefit from a child allowance. Only too well do I remember being a single mother trying to get by on my earnings while needing childcare and receiving inadequate support from my kids’ father. Since too few babies are now being born in our country to support future retirees, a child allowance might be an incentive to produce more workers for the future. Otherwise, unless immigration is opened up, our country will go the way of Japan and Europe, becoming top-heavy with senior citizens.  At the same time, as a senior myself and someone who has faced age discrimination, I’d like to see more job opportunities open up for our age group to help fill the employment gap.

People are eating out more now and just going out anywhere because they’re simply tired of staying home. Gambling with the future and the possibility of contagion is a little scary, but also a little exciting, which is partly why folks are taking the risk.

 A bilingual friend, born in Cuba, rails against the “anglicization” of Spanish in the United States and with the use of Spanglish, an amalgamation of English and Spanish. Literal translation of English-language ads and news story items into Spanish does lead to strange and awkward configurations. However, his attempt to convert the millions of Spanish speakers in this country into grammarians is doomed to failure in my view. No language remains pure and unchanging over time, it evolves, like any human endeavor. It’s only natural that Spanish speakers immersed in a mostly English language milieu will adapt their language usage accordingly.

Now, with so many folks working from home, I think back to the days in the 1980’s and ‘90’s when I commuted daily from my home on Capitol Hill to work, first out to Shady Grove, then to Bethesda, always having to rush back to care for my kids as a single mother. Of course, that was before computers had evolved and I might have been distracted by my kids if working from home, but I’d have gladly given up the daily commute.

Daughter Stephanie, who visited recently, discovered some photos I took in Central America which am sharing here. I hope they convey some of the nostalgia I feel for that part of the world and why I

consider myself bicultural as well as bilingual. I’ve posted them with a copyright sign just in case someone copies them, which is fine, but I’d like to get credit and also not have someone else possibly profit from their use.

Why do I love this part of the world? Little Guatemalan sisters are sitting together on the city sidewalk making avocado sales completely on their own. Mom is nowhere to be seen. The older one looks especially self-assured. Another sidewalk vendor sells her goods while she works. A young man makes a living with his homemade boat. If some of these folks should want to come here to live, our country would be enriched by their enterprising spirit.

I’ve lived quite a few years already, glad to have friends of various ethnicities and nationalities around the world, who, thanks to the internet, have been concerned about me lately, given the proximity of my home to the Capitol. Though I carry a US passport, I do feel like a world citizen and have felt welcome everywhere, even in rural Thailand and the remote deserts of South Sudan. In Latin America, I often “pass” as a native of the region, not immediately identified as a gringa. Being completely bilingual and bicultural, I began working as a Spanish interpreter and translator in my later years. All other bilingual interpreters encountered in my interpretation work have been native Spanish speakers, I alone the native English speaker. 

In spite of extraordinary challenges and tragedies, I feel privileged to have had so much variety in my life and to have had experiences that few native-born neighbors and other older ladies of my acquaintance share. At age 21, as a recent college graduate, I married a man who was blind and of Korean descent who had never held a job but who, with my help and support, went on to greater things. I’ve had children by both birth and adoption, including one adopted from Colombia and a foster son from Cuba. Various ethnicities and races are represented in my family. Tragedy has also visited us. Losing a young person, like my son and foster son, has been especially hard and unexpected, leaving a big hole in my heart. My brother, who died recently at age 80, had already lived a full life and died still at the peak of his success, so while I do miss him, his loss is a little easier to bear. No one really wants to die, but neither would we want to live forever. 

I’ve lived in or traveled to more than 45 countries, almost never to a tourist destination, usually on a humanitarian mission. I joined the Peace Corps in Honduras at age 62 and stayed more than a year beyond the usual term, returning yearly ever since on volunteer assignments. As mentioned in my Confessions book, one of my Honduran neighbors called me “a gringa with a Latina’s heart.” In my quiet way, I do feel able to connect with other people of all types and ages, including visitors from other countries with whom I’m still in touch. If I had a chance to visit them, I know they would receive me. Most of my neighbors have followed a more traditional trajectory, but I appreciate the scope and variety of my own path. I cannot imagine ever going into assisted living or a nursing home or even in a senior complex. I’d rather take my chances staying in my own venerable 3-story home, stairs and all. None of us will live forever, but we should live as much as possible as we like. 

 

 

What’s Next? For the First Time in 4 Years, Someone Is Actually in Charge; Most Americans Now See a Light at the End of the Tunnel

              We finally had real snow in DC after 2 years without it, not a whole lot, not as much as farther north, but enough! Very exciting in these quarantined times.   [Apologies for all alinement failures; I've tried to no avail.]

                                  

A further comment here on my pot banging when Biden was taking the oath of office. While most of the time, collective pot banging is used as a protest, sometimes it’s just used to call attention to an event, as I was trying to do on inauguration day.

Who needs fiction when real life is so much more interesting? Sometimes, I conjure up a novel in my imagination and try out different plot twists and turns. But nothing compares to actual life as we are living it in the here and now. How could we ever have anticipated having a buffoon like Donald Trump in the presidency? (On this blog, I’ve never actually paired his name with the word “President.”) It would be the stuff of TV comedy if it weren’t so tragic. Nor could we have predicted the worldwide rise of the pandemic, probably after a wild animal was slaughtered in Hunan, China, a daily occurrence there, leading to hundreds of thousands of deaths in our country in just one year and a plunge into recession. (Talk about the flap of a butterfly’s wing triggering a tsunami across the sea!)

All the time, Trump had been asserting that the virus was no big deal, even after he got sick. And while vaccines are now on a fast track, the virus seems to be mutating even faster. I did finally get my first Pfizer shot after missing out right after the Capitol invasion.

Yet, too many Americans still actually believe Mr. Trump when he insists that he actually won the last election, which was “stolen” by a top-secret cabal that even he, as our nation’s commander-in-chief, could not fathom or control. Zero evidence has been presented to support such a claim. It’s just Trump’s word and his words have so very often been false. Worse yet, millions still believe him. Folks is my son’s small West Va. town are still angry about the “stolen” election.

Trump’s rise was based on lies from the start, never on anything substantive. In his official capacity, though it’s hard to keep track, he told more than 30,000 lies, including a whopping 504 the day before the election. He seems unable to tell the truth. Even his initial impeachment defense team resigned after he insisted on arguing that he had won the election. 
According to the Washington Post, Trump made 30,573 false or misleading claims as president. Nearly half came in his final year.
Analysis: The longer Trump was president the more frequently he made false or misleading claim

If Mr. Trump actually ever spoke the truth, we wouldn’t believe him. With his twitter account now silenced, the news cycle has been mercifully free of his voice. It’s amazing to again have a president whose words we largely can trust, very refreshing.

Trump did enjoy unprecedented support in terms of sheer voter turnout for a losing candidate, over 74 million votes. But unfortunately for him, Biden voters were even more fervent and more numerous, totaling over 81 million. Was there never a wayward or ambiguous vote? There may have been a handful, but not 7 million.

Never before has a presidential winner enjoyed a 7-million-vote plurality, truly astounding. Even Hillary Clinton, though losing in the Electoral College, had a record-breaking 3-million-vote advantage. Those millions represent the degree of reprehension that Donald Trump has aroused in so many citizens. He will become a major threat to the survival of the Republican Party going forward unless the party disassociates from him, even if Republicans endure some losses in the short term. It’s important to both Republicans and Democrats that Trump be barred from ever running for office again.

Unfortunately, whether or not Trump heads up a new Patriot Party, as he has threatened to do, he can run primary challengers against those he feels have thwarted him. Trump has vowed retribution on turncoat Republicans. His followers may not be buying any pillows from the pillow guy, but they’ll still be buying MAGA hats. And poor Melania is trapped. Trump cannot allow her to go free, except maybe via a face-saving return with her son to NYC and his former school. Or maybe she really enjoys being tethered to a guy like Trump?

If you were a faithful Trump supporter and he, as president, told you to go to the Capitol and “stop the steal,” you’d eagerly heed his call. While Donald Trump may now disavow his role in the Capitol invasion, a lawyer for one of the marauders argued, “[O]n Jan. 6 my client, who had been fueled by an ongoing dialogue with other like-minded individuals, appeared to heed the call of the president to help him save our country.” Many of Trump’s followers still expect him to take office again on March 4, so the conspiracy lives on. That is why it’s important to muzzle Trump now, as some media and communication outlets have done. Because of his cult-like hold on so many of his followers, as has been amply demonstrated, he needs to be prevented for inciting further harm. Freedom of speech deserves wide latitude, but not if Donald Trump is yelling “fire” in a crowded theater.

So many problems occur naturally; it’s not as though life was ever a breeze before the advent of Trump and the pandemic. His rise only showed the importance of every vote, since his margin was so narrow in states he won in 2016. This time around, many voters knew they had to completely overwhelm him to get him out.

It’s a further travesty that the Trump administration, after deliberately inflicting harm and suffering for 4 long years, is continuing to make trouble. Most Americans and citizens of other nations are now breathing easier, but knowing we’re not out of the woods yet. We must remain vigilant. Trump’s star may be fading, at least with some Republican office holders, but his grip on his base is as firm as ever. Yet once again, he won’t deliver on March 4. What the Republican Party needs now is a competing charismatic spokesperson expressing less extreme views, though no-one has emerged.

The Guardian, ‘This path is untenable’: can the Republican party split with Trumpism? https://www.yahoo.com/news/path-untenable-republican-party-split-080001928.html

            

            Virginia Senator Tim Kaine has made a bipartisan suggestion: just                     censure Trump instead of impeaching him. But that may not prevent him             from running for office again, which is crucial. It is in the interests of both             Democrats and Republicans that he be barred from future office. If enough          Republicans would dare join this effort, they would curb his future power.

President Joe Biden is not wasting any time during his honeymoon period, issuing executive orders right and left, also making changes in White House decor. Glad to see that Cesar Chavez’s bust now adorns the Oval Office. I knew him back in the day and joined some of his California marches with my late ex-husband. His sidekick, Dolores Huerta, is still with us. She used to sleep on our living room couch when lobbying in Sacramento. 

Janet Yellen was put on a fast track and confirmed as Treasury Secretary after being dismissed unceremoniously from the Federal Reserve by Mr. Trump. There is even a rap song out extolling her virtues. Likewise, Senator Bernie Sanders has become a media sensation because of mittens he wore to the inauguration. And inaugural poet Amanda Gorman, with her red headband and bright yellow jacket, may soon inspire a look-alike doll. A Bernie doll and sweatshirt are already selling. Such is the power of the internet.

However, ever faithful Mike Pence seems to have faded into the woodwork back in his home state of Indiana, now needing secret service protection more than ever after failing to overturn the election certification of Biden’s electoral victory.

A few items of interest appear below.

AP, Strikes, violence overwhelm Haiti's crumbling judiciary, https://www.yahoo.com/news/strikes-violence-overwhelm-haitis-crumbling-135610148.html

[Miami Herald] In rare move, Haiti president acknowledges uptick in kidnappings, asks for help, https://www.yahoo.com/news/rare-move-haiti-president-acknowledges-005204488.html

         Why isn’t Rubio helping confirm the first Cuban American to lead             Homeland Security? | Opinion, https://news.yahoo.com/

Cuba detects South African COVID-19 variant amid virus uptick,                 https://www.yahoo.com/news/cuba-detects-south-african-                                covid-011122174.html

[Reuters] After caravan blocked, Honduran migrants turn anger on president, https://www.yahoo.com/news/caravan-blocked-honduran-migrants-turn-003157282.html

 

Fauci: Trump Admin’s Handling of COVID-19 ‘Likely Did’ Cause Deaths, https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/fauci-trump-admin-handling-covid-142618175.html

 

From Peace Corp volunteer to Capitol insurrectionist: How Thomas Baranyi went from being a quiet, troubled kid to a man who felt betrayed by politics, https://www.yahoo.com/news/peace-corp-volunteer-capitol-insurrectionist-144256869.html

Baranyi was sent to Albania by the Peace Corps and reportedly left in 2020 when all volunteers worldwide were called home because of the pandemic. He had joined the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol.

 

Another recent article in the NY Times highlighting risks to deep-dive fishermen (For Nicaragua’s Lobstermen, Deadly Dives Are All Too Common) reminded me of my work as a Peace Corps health volunteer with Honduran divers paralyzed after similar dives. These were “free divers” who plunged down without any equipment to bring up seafood to sell. A young man’s daily plunges would suddenly be interrupted when, one fateful day, he experienced paralysis after coming up, usually affecting his legs and lower body. Efforts to regain mobility in such cases proved fruitless and we had to help him adapt to life using a wheelchair (if we could even get one) and to the abrupt end of his diving life. One former diver told me he had completely lost his taste for seafood. (Because of the wheelchair shortage in Honduras, I always take at least one with me on my annual return visits.)

 

From the Washington Post, Feb. 1, 2021 In Myanmar coup, Suu Kyi’s ouster heralds a return to military rule

As members of Amnesty Int’l, we were pleased when Aung San Suu Kyi was accepted into Myanmar’s (Burma’s) leadership, though she didn’t seem to make a difference when the Rohingya were being deported.  Now she has apparently been ousted altogether.

 

        Here is the most recent school photo for my great-grandson living with his            mother in Florida. I last saw him in Oct. at his 13^th birthday; he’s growing            up so fast! 

 

Just heard from a friend in California that his 91-year-old neighbor, who had stopped over for coffee the day before, had died, perhaps in her sleep. Although she had mild Alzheimer’s, she lived alone, refusing to enter congregate living. She lived and died on her own terms.

A shout-out here to William (Bill) D’Antonio, PhD, on celebrating his 95^th birthday. Bill is a longtime DC resident, professor emeritus of sociology at Catholic University, prolific author, husband and father, and just all-around good guy. I first met him at Communitas, a progressive Catholic community that used to meet regularly in my neighborhood. He has lived a productive, full, and generous life and still continues to do so.

I was not wrong in my previous statement that Roe is not the last word on abortion, in that most Americans still support some restrictions, especially after the first 3 months.

New Poll: Most Americans Support Abortion Restrictions, https://www.yahoo.com/news/poll-most-americans-support-abortion-183744024.html

 

Although I’m a fan of NPR, I find their use of the term “anti-prochoice” awkward and annoying. What is really meant is “anti-abortion.” The term “prochoice” infers helping a woman make a choice about whether or not to continue with a pregnancy when, in fact, prochoice advocates only offer her help to terminate it. Would we label gun rights advocates “anti-pro-gun control”?

 

So why do I continue to write this blog? Partly to communicate with others, who sometimes respond via email, also to clarify my own thinking and get things “off my chest.” It allows me to look back on aspects of our collective and my own life, as well as offer something for my kids to review after I’m gone. It’s the modern-day equivalent of a diary, not with daily entries, not with what I ate for lunch or my household chores, but just one person’s expression of the world and our times. Perhaps future historians will discover it and find it informative.