Hello Rock, meet Hard Place

It’s an odd political position to be in but I have a dilemma about #45.

I’m sure most of you have heard by now about the ‘postcard’ campaign.
It’s part of the Indivisible Resistance movement. 

The plan is to send #45 postcards from all over the country; 

all mailed on March 15th. 

The whole “Beware the Ides of March” reference for our illustrious leader.
The date is significant because it marks the date of the assassination of Julius Caesar. 

The assassination was a turning point in Roman history; 

one of the events that marked the transition from the Roman Republic to the Roman Empire.

 (BTW, not that this distinction really mattered or did them any good; 

they still crumbled and fell).

I’m not sure how much research folks who came up with this idea did before picking the date, 

but it was interesting to me to discover that the Ides of March 

was also the Feast of Anna Perenna,

a revered Roman deity, 

known as the Goddess of the Eternal Year. 

Her annual festival was enthusiastically celebrated by ‘the common people’

(you know, US) 

with picnics, drinking, and general mischief making. 

Yet another connection to the date was from even further back in antiquity - 

the observance of Mamuralia. 

This observance included a ‘scapegoat ritual’ 

which involved beating an old man dressed in animal skins 

and driving him from the city.
(OK, so I suspect the creators of the postcard movement DID know about that!) 

My point is there are several possible motives for this effort – 

and generally, 

I’m in favor with the symbolism of all of them.

The idea is that with several million postcards flooding the US Postal service,

arriving at the White House in waves, 

there’d be no way for the fake president to continue in his delusion 

that he’s loved and celebrated by the populous writ large – 

a condition his withered parched ego seems to demand.

I have said and written before - 

and entertained privately even more often than that -

that the current occupant of the White House is mentally ill;

not merely suffering from poor filters, 

dyslexia, 

functional illiteracy, 

short attention span 

or lack of social skills 

but certifiably nuts – 

as in with a diagnosis that has an ICD-10-CM code. 

The picture emerging from the leaks of WH staff would seem to confirm it. 

They paint a picture of an old man, living alone, 

sitting in his bathrobe watching endless hours of cable TV, 

seeking any sign of approval and adulation from complete strangers; 

wandering the halls, sleep deprived 

and untethered from the familiar and known.

The thought of pummeling a mentally ill person with the equivalent of hate mail

and forcing him to face the extent to which he is reviled and despised 

is bothersome to me.

I get that he’s a despot and a bully 

but at what point does our response become bullying as well?

I can’t tell you how often I’ve said 

“Do not become the evil you deplore” 

as ER staff was struggling with their visceral response 

to being in the presence of someone capable of inflicting terrible, 

even deadly, 

physical abuse on a child. 

Trust me, I get the reaction

to instinctively hit back.

I’m just not sure it’s the right thing to do.

When I decide what to do, I DO know two things: 

I’ve got the postcards. 

My mother was a world traveler and rather than trust her skills with a camera 

that wouldn’t capture what she wanted 

in the manner she wanted to remember it, 

she would simply buy and bring home postcards. 

When she died 5 years ago, I went through her collection and culled the herd. 

I still however have a select 2 dozen or so left – 

brand new, unused postcards, 

depicting scenes from all over the United States.

The other thing I know is that, if I choose to send the postcards, 

I will NOT be repeating the message I placed on a postcard 

during the Watergate scandal. 

In my 20 something naiveté, 

I wrote to a friend 

“Where are assassins when you really need them?”

Trust me on this, 

the FBI doesn’t think that’s funny. 

Wouldn’t surprise me if I’m not still on a list somewhere – 

and this time I wouldn’t have naiveté to fall back on as an excuse. 

Senility maybe, but not being naïve!

Lesson learned.

If YOU decide you're comfortable with it and want to join in:

 pick your topic -- 

demand he release his taxes, 

demand Steve Bannon gets kicked out of the NSC, 

if not the White House, 

that the EPA be left alone, 

that he comes clean on Russia, 

that he stops willfully and shamelessly lying about everything 

from voter "fraud" to "unreported" terrorist attacks -- 

so much to choose from.

Two address options:

Pres. Donald Trump

1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW,

Washington, DC 20500

Or

Pres. Steve Bannon

c/o Donald J. Trump

1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW,

Washington, DC 20500

 ~~~~~~~~

Now for 'balance' - 

and a reminder that there's still 

so much beauty in the world;

 

 some of which hasn't even unfolded yet!