Yes, We Can! Or, "Can we?"

We have never been just a collection of individuals, or a collection of red state or blue state, we are and always will be the United States of America.  Its the answer that led those who have been told for so long to be cynical, fearful, and doubtful about what we could achieve to put their hands on the arch of history and bend it once more towards the hope of a better day. It's been a long time coming, but tonight because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment... change has come to America.

Even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime, two wars, a planet in parallel, the worst financial crises in a century...We can not have a thriving Wall Street, while Main Street suffers. Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long.

To those who would tear this world down: We will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security: We support you. And to all those who have wondered if America's beacon still burns as bright: Tonight, we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope.

- President Barack Obama 2008 Acceptance Speech 

Yes, We Can! Or, Can We?

Yes, we can! Or, can we? My how things have changed! From what seemed like an incredible turning point for America to finally be on track to work towards equality and prosperity for all (not just the 1%),  to the exceedingly dark morning we are in as we face a global pandemic while under the isolationist and xenophobic dictatorship of a President that seeks, once again, to leverage wealth to buy (hostile takeover) the cure for a global pandemic in yet another departure from humanitarian goodness and generosity that America was once known for around the world. No longer respected by global leaders, gone are the days of any semblance of hope, as we're now facing the unprecedented downward spiral, quite literally into death and destruction!  Void of factual information grounded in reality, Trump again tries to take over and hoard the potential COVID-19 cure while selling the American public a bill-of-goods about our readiness to manage the crises.

Where Obama once inspired hope - Trump speaks only of/for himself. With lies and deceptive tactics, this administration sews only seeds of fear. When will the GOP grow a spine? What will it take for ordinary citizens to wake-up and smell the elixir? Trump is the 21st-century snake oil salesman and expert of all things. His knowledge and understanding of the pandemic is beyond the reproach of CDC, WHO, and even the best of globally-recognized scientists.

While the focus of this blog is about the unjust deportation of a U.S. citizen spouse Harlon J. Wilson and his El Salvadoran husband Luis Enrique Gonzalez-Ortiz, it is the snake oil salesman that is responsible not just for the heinous crimes and domestic terrorism unleashed on immigrant families in America, but who will also have (more) blood on his hands for his inability to protect the public at a time of our greatest need - a global pandemic. 
From family tearing children from their parents at the southern border to the many innocent deaths we're predicted to face in his ineptitude in heeding the warnings of the pandemic. This is a man who deserves removal from office and a lifetime of incarceration as he demonstrates time-and-again his loyalties lie in the mighty dollar over we the people.   Unlike the Obama years that inspired and unified a nation, the Trump presidency has left this author with a loss of hope and a lack of faith that conditions of our lives in America could ever get better. The nation has fallen from a "Yes we can" mentality to a spineless day in our history where "What's mine is mine! What's yours is mine," is the mantra.  
From equality and inclusion of the melting pot that is America, to the building of isolationist walls and turning within towards a nationalist agenda, the Trump presidency has brought out the worst in humanity. "You're going to have a wall like no other. It's going to be a powerful, terrific wall," President Trump said at a rally in Milwaukee last week. "A very big and very powerful border wall is going up at record speed, and we are fully financed now, isn't that nice?" And yet, just a few years hence, the Obama administration demolished walls that divide society by embracing as opposed to outcasting human differences. 

Lighting up the White House as a symbol of unity and equality, President Obama cast a bright light of hope in many hearts. Where once we believed, "Yes, we can!" Americans must now endure fear, doubt, anger, division, and potentially unprecedented loss of life as we face the inhumane deportation force that is sweeping the land while in the midst of the Coronavirus pandemic of which experts have laid the blame squarely on snake-oil salesman Trump!  Caring more for the digits on Wall Street than the numbers of lives that will suffer on Main Street, once again Trump, the GOP and cronies, and their supporters, have looked the other way towards profits over people. This is not going to end well. Facing deportation and fatal pandemic, I ponder, is the U.S. ready for what's about to happen? "Yes, we can... or Can we?"

A reminder of our past when we were  better humans who cared for others...

 Haiti Relief 10-Years Ago

Africa Relief 25-Years Ago