So Long, Farewell, Aufwiedersehn, Goodbye!

We've almost made it.  Four awful years with President Trump whittled down to barely three remaining days.  

Here are some of the people I won't miss:

De facto advisors like the MyPillow guy and the Fox and Friends team.

Pseudo-lawyers like Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell.

Nepotistic heirs, you know their names.

Deceitful press secretaries like Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Kayleigh McEnany.

Destructive cabinet secretaries like Betsy DeVos and Mike Pompeo.

Here are some of the qualities I won't miss:

A president who separated families.

A president who ignored science.

A president who lied.

A president who mocked his people.

A president who fostered white supremacy.

When Joe Biden takes the oath of office at noon on Wednesday, January 20, we get to start over.  Sort of.  We can't forget the last four years or banish these unfortunate characters and the values they espoused, but we can expect a new standard of governing.  And with it, a renewed pride in our country.

Delete Donald

When my mother Margaret George was running for office in Pennsylvania many years ago, the child of one of her volunteers grew weary of the campaign.  Riding in the back seat of her mother's car one day as they delivered flyers and yard signs, the little girl cried out, "No more Peggy George."

I know the feeling, not about my mom's campaigns, but about the one we've just been through.  "No more Donald Trump," I say.  He's taken us for a ride that's lasted too long and, like the little girl in the back seat, we've been mostly powerless to stop him.

Until now.  He's done, he's lost the election.  Lawsuits, protests, and bluster won't change the reality of the vote.

So what now?  Here's a proposal: stop talking about him, stop writing about him, stop analyzing him.  He's consumed our energy for four years.  As Michelle Goldberg writes in The New York Times, "The outrage Trump sparks leaves less room for many other things--joy, creativity, reflection. . . Living in Trump's panic-inducing eternal present is bad for art, but it's also bad for imagination more broadly."

Sidelining Donald Trump would mean that our leaders can focus on the challenges we face.  Consider the coronavirus as an example.  The drama of Trump's diagnosis and treatment last month shifted attention away from the pandemic's pernicious spread throughout the country.  Even now, we watch our president head to the golf course--wondering how he could be so irresponsible--as thousands more Americans die.  We'd all be better off if we didn't bother even to notice where he is.

Moving President Trump off the front page would have the added benefit of depriving a narcissist of the attention he craves.  We could all take this advice from Dan Neuharth of Psychology Today: "Recognizing that narcissists are caught in an endless quest for attention and approval can free you from false expectations and allow you to set healthy boundaries."  Imagine Trump-free days when we no longer fear his next dangerous move.  Imagine a president who won't intrude into our daily lives, who won't keep us awake at night.  Joe Biden will be that president.  By turning our attention to him, we deny Donald Trump the ongoing power that he doesn't deserve.  

Trump's a lame duck now.  It's time to treat him like one.

Those Damn Suburban Neighborhoods

Here's Donald Trump at a campaign rally earlier this month in Johnstown, Pennsylvania:

"Suburban women, will you please like me?  Please.  Please.  I saved your damn neighborhood, OK?"

I've been a suburban woman for most of my life, and I'm wondering what exactly Donald Trump has saved me from, or rather, what he's saved my DAMN neighborhood from.

The coronavirus?  No.

Climate change?  No.

Failing infrastructure?  No.

Expensive health care?  No.

Rising drug prices?  No.

Right wing terrorists?  No.

Oh, that's right.  He saved my DAMN neighborhood from all those scary people of color.  Except for the fact that my WONDERFUL neighborhood is filled with people of all races, and many of us reject Trump's racist appeals.  Apparently we're not alone.  The Guardian reports that "Biden leads by 23 points among suburban women in swing states. . . and by 19 points among suburban women overall."

Meanwhile, the campaign is sending Ivanka Trump out to convince us that her father is "the people's president."  The idea is to soften his corrosive personality and policies.  She doesn't mention, of course, the 545 migrant children whose parents are missing or the 225,000 Americans dead from COVID-19. Nothing about our 32.8 million fellow citizens who lack health insurance or that children remain the poorest age group in our country. 

No, the Trumps think we're all still watching Leave It to Beaver and Father Knows Best.  But we've grown and embraced change.  Most of us recoil at President Trump's racist insinuations; they degrade and insult our communities.

This man needs to go.  So does his family. 

Our country cannot tolerate such hate and division.

Education 101

Saturday's editorial in The New York Times, "Reopening Schools Will Be a Huge Undertaking. It Must Be Done," elicited almost 2,000 largely oppositional comments.  In it, the editorial staff argued that public schools should open this fall with unprecedented federal funding and with imaginative use of outdoor space.  As one reader noted, the word "teachers" appeared only once, in the second-to-last paragraph.

This says it all to me and, at the same time, doesn't surprise me.  "What do our teachers think about re-opening?" seems like an obvious question.  Yet for too long our society has discounted the role and expertise of its teachers.  We don't pay them enough, we don't support them enough, and we don't consult them enough. . . but we ask them to solve society's problems that society fails to solve.

Consider for starters poverty, hunger, racial disparities, and economic inequality.  We expect our teachers to overcome these challenges and ensure that all of their students achieve at a defined level-- despite low salaries, marginal benefits, and often poor working conditions.   At a most basic level, the schools that my kids attended lacked soap in the bathroom dispensers, doors on stalls, sufficient cleaning supplies, working windows, and mold- and asbestos-free classrooms.  Even when there's no coronavirus circulating, many Durham schools are neither safe nor clean.

Just as the pandemic has exposed the failure of public health and elder care in the United States, so it exposes public education.  How did we get to the point where teachers buy their own paper?  Need subsidized housing?  Work second jobs?  Crowdfund surgeries and new equipment?  Why do we tolerate dilapidated buildings and aging school buses?  Why do we short-change our children and their teachers?

It's past time to ask these questions.  Covid-19 will eventually resolve, but the ills that plague our schools will not unless we demand something different.  As fellow citizens protest policing and racism, let's add public education to the conversation.  It's related, after all, and it serves our future and our national treasure: our children.

Random Thoughts, 4th of July Weekend

I've always wanted to see Mount Rushmore, in part because I like Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest.  But not anymore.  The land belongs to the Lakota, the sculptor was a white supremacist, and the carved faces (a quartet that's never made sense to me) insult the lives and history of native Americans.

If Donald Trump wants to call his opposition an angry mob whose behavior defines the word "totalitarianism," then he can very well learn how to pronounce it.

The Washington Redskins should have changed their name decades ago.  Given the recent outcry of protest across the country, FedEx and Nike have pulled their support, and it looks like the name will finally change.  Two of the team's main corporate sponsors, their money made the difference.  I guess we should celebrate this?

Mandy Cohen, North Carolina's Secretary of Health and Human Services, lamented our state's lack of chemical reagents to run more coronavirus tests, but we need help from the federal government to do so.  "We can't solve that problem from the state level," she said.  In the midst of this pandemic, do Trump's idolatrous crowds in Tulsa and the Black Hills have any idea how morally and criminally negligent his administration has been?

My mother and I watched two episodes of The Dick Van Dyke Show on Friday night in memory of Carl Reiner, who produced the show and occasionally appeared in it.  Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore are two of my favorite comedians, and we laughed and laughed.  It felt good.

Rebuilding

When I restarted this blog four months ago, I was excited to think that I'd be writing about the coming presidential election, starting with the Democratic primaries and moving into the general election.  I love national politics; I'm fascinated by the two parties, the candidates who emerge, the winnowing that takes place, the roll of pollsters and pundits, and the final call on a Tuesday night in November.

But this time it's different.  The Democratic primary yielded no single candidate who ever captured my whole-hearted enthusiasm, and the Republican party has tied itself to a president whose values upend the country I love.  Donald Trump's rally last night in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was so offensive and destructive that it's hard to see how we'll recover.

Still, Donald Trump didn't come out of nowhere.  He tapped into a hatred that has long haunted us, one that surrounds us every day but one that we choose not to see.  George Floyd's murder made it impossible for us to look away, finally, but the hard work ahead feels equally impossible.  I don't know where to begin.  I feel weary, not up to the challenge.

I know that it's time for younger voices, for younger leadership.  Kids and young adults are wiser than the rest of us, certainly when it comes to sensitivity surrounding race, gender, and culture.  Many in my generation grew up with Dick and Jane readers and Father Knows Best television shows.  Our worlds were white through and through and often still are.  How do we change?

All kinds of ways. . . books we must read, voices we must hear, organizations we must support, ideas we must consider. . . and votes we must take.  Here's what must happen as elections move forward:

Joe Biden hires and hears consultants much younger than he.

Donald Trump's supporters face their hatred; if and when they don't, the rest of us call them out.

Elections officials do everything they can to ensure a fair vote.

Candidates at every level make clear where they stand on institutional redesign--from police departments to prisons to public schools to health care to immigration to climate change to banking--and we elect those who will follow through.

We, the people, start to rebuild our country.

Overwhelmed

It was enough to deal with Donald Trump.  Day after day, since his inauguration in 2017, many of us have feared what he'd do next--who he would insult, what dangerous position he'd take, what ignorance he'd reveal.  The lies, the nastiness, and the stupidity all at our expense.  We wondered what catastrophe would develop under his watch.

We found out.

First, the coronavirus--scary and unknown--still out of control in much of the country.  Alarming in itself, the disease also strained our economy and put millions out of work.  We're still reeling and have no idea what lies ahead.

Next came George Floyd, murdered by Minneapolis police on May 25. The same story of white police officers killing black people, the blight that rots America every day.  When will it end, we ask, only to learn of the death of Rayshard Brooks on Friday night in Atlanta.

Finally, the protests.  All across the country, understandably angry protesters have generated a movement and a voice for change.  Rioting and violence, yes, but mostly huge, peaceful crowds weekend after weekend, all in the midst of a pernicious pandemic that feeds on people massed together.

All of this, and no leadership in Washington.  No wonder we're on edge.

But now is not the time to retreat from the tension.  We can't afford to slide into complacency.  We're called upon, each of us, to take our part in creating a more just and fair America.  Whether it's through our vote, our advocacy, our faith, or all of these combined, we need to act.

The fate of America rests with all of us.

Protests That Matter

Watching people march this weekend across the country and around the world brought to mind the protests in April against coronavirus restrictions.  Remember those?  Angry, white, gun-toting Americans descended on state capitols carrying signs that read "End the Tyranny" and "Land of the Free," wearing MAGA hats and waving Confederate flags.  Their macho display sought to intimidate as they demanded their rights to work, to get a haircut, and to buy grass seed as the country reeled from a dangerous pandemic.

Now, barely a month later, a tidal wave of revolt has unmasked those feeble protesters--for theirs were the protests of white privilege, of people who stroll through city streets with AK47s and know they won't be arrested.  Theirs were the protests of men long accustomed to swagger and violence, met with little or no consequence.  And theirs were the protests of people who know police officers won't step on their necks until they die.

The protests sparked by George Floyd's murder are the protests of voices long denied, of injustice and inequality.  Theirs are the protests of people demanding an America that fulfills its promise.  Theirs are the protests of fundamental human rights and not of temporary inconveniences.

I take heart in the fact that one of these protests has swelled into an international movement and that the other has petered out, its impotence clear for everyone to see.

Wish List

Here are ten things I wish I could do right now:

1. Take a road trip with Mark.

2. Shop at a thrift store.

3. Exercise at my gym.

4. Eat indoors at Toast.

5. Watch a movie at the Carolina Theatre.

6. See fewer people on beaches.

7. Read political-free advice about church re-openings.

8. Take comfort that Americans are wearing masks.

9. Learn that Congress is supporting state and local governments.

10. Watch a responsible president take charge.

Goofus and Gallant

Remember the comic strip "Goofus and Gallant?"  Reading it in Highlights magazine was the only redeeming feature of visits to my childhood dentist.  I loved the contrast between the two brothers, the black-and-white 1960s version of slovenly dressed Goofus and his meticulous brother Gallant.  Goofus played games while Gallant helped their mother.  Goofus butted in line while Gallant waited his turn.  Goofus grabbed toys while Gallant offered to share.  Donald promoted himself while Barack promoted others.

Oops!

Goofus and Gallant are back.  Goofus barged into our lives almost four years ago with his rude and crude power, while Gallant returned this weekend with his trademark thoughtful wisdom.

In his virtual commencement speech Saturday to the 2020 high school graduating class, President Obama encouraged the students to "do what you think is right . . . I hope you decide to ground yourselves in values that last, like honesty, hard work, responsibility, fairness, generosity, respect for others."

Donald Trump?  Here's a sample:

"Why do we want all these people from s-hole countries coming here?"

"You're so disgraceful . . . you're a fake [to White House reporter]."

"Puerto Rico is one of the most corrupt places on earth."

"Another low IQ individual [on Joe Biden]."

"I don't take responsibility at all [for coronavirus testing failures]."

While Goofus has an excuse for his behavior because he's a kid, Donald Trump has none.  His immoral presidency stains us all.

As President Obama concluded his remarks, though, he said, "Be alive to one another's struggles, stand up for one another's rights, leave behind all the old ways of thinking that divide us--sexism, racial prejudice, status, greed--and set the world on a different path."

May this new generation coming of age heed his words, not those of his successor, and chart a more fair and just course for all Americans.

Rugged Individualists

One of the hallmarks of America is our mythical pride in individualism.  We tout so-called "self-made millionaires" and those who "pull themselves up by their bootstraps."  We profess freedoms at the expense of others and consider ourselves "exceptional."

Interestingly enough, Herbert Hoover cited America's "rugged individualism" in his closing campaign speech in 1928.  By contrasting American principles with European "doctrines of paternalism and state socialism," he heralded the American way of self-reliance and limited government, portending his disastrous handling of the Great Depression.  His failure to authorize the federal government to help ordinary Americans made a terrible situation worse.

So what happens, almost 100 years later, when another crisis collides with American individualism, a new disease that's communal in nature?  A disease that puts my life in the hands of others, even those I don't know and those who choose not to wash their hands or wear masks or distance themselves.

We get protest signs like these:

"Give me liberty or give me COVID-19"
"Sacrifice the weak"
"Tyranny is Spreading Faster than the China Virus"

And we get behavior like these:

Stormed state capitols
Heckled health care workers
Gun-toting intimidators

To make matters worse, our president encourages these attitudes, inciting anger and protests.  He clearly values the rights of the individual--as he pushes states to re-open--over the collective health of Americans.  In tweeting states to "LIBERATE," he implicitly instructs Americans to disregard their responsibility to each other and look out only for themselves.  It's a selfish way forward.

Donald Trump, like Herbert Hoover, gets it wrong.  Echoing his predecessor who vetoed major aid legislation in 1930 by saying it would "bring far more distress than it will cure," Trump said in March that "we cannot let the cure be worse than the problem itself."  For in the case of COVID-19 the cure means a collective response, a shared responsibility for each other's lives.

Such responsibility confounds Donald Trump.  I'm not sure he knows what it means.  But without it, we lose people unnecessarily.  Fellow Americans.  Human lives. 

What could be more important?

Disaster in Chief

President Trump's son-in-law appeared on Fox News on Wednesday to declare victory over the coronavirus:  "We're on the other side of the medical aspect of this," Jared Kushner said.  "We've achieved all of the different milestones that are needed.  The federal government rose to the challenge, and this is a great success story."  Really?

Over 65,000 Americans dead and the number climbing.  States, hospitals, and nursing homes desperate for equipment.  Testing widely unavailable.  No cure, no vaccine.

If we're truly on the other side of this, let's give the Disaster in Chief credit for his accomplishments:

1. He ignored the warnings contained in the President's Daily Brief as early as January, failing in his fundamental duty to protect the American people.

2. He downplayed the danger, saying on February 26, "You have 15 people, and the 15 within a couple of days is going to be down close to zero."  We currently have over one million cases.

3. He failed to manage testing for Americans.  When asked about this on March 13 he said, "I don't take responsibility at all."  Instead Trump blamed--you know who--Barack Obama.  We still don't have enough tests today.

4. He fomented xenophobia and racism, calling the virus the "China virus" and continued to defend his use of the term.

5. He failed to coordinate the purchasing of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for the states, leaving them to compete with each other and with the federal government, driving up prices more than 1,000%.

6. He attacked, and continues to attack, the press, calling them "horrid," "nasty," and "third-rate."  His belittling, abusive language demeans us all.

7. He promoted unproven and dangerous treatments: think bleach, UV light, and hydroxychloroquine.

8. He criticized governors as they attempted to manage the crisis on their own.  "She doesn't get it done," he said of Michigan's Gretchen Whitmer, and Jay Inslee of Washington "shouldn't be relying on the federal government."

9. He incited, and continues to incite, violent protests against state stay-at-home orders.  Calling on protesters to liberate Michigan, Virginia, and Minnesota on April 17, he also defended the mob in Lansing on Friday as "very good people."

10. He communicated clearly about the danger that lies ahead, saying on April 29, "If it does come back--it's not going to come back--and I've spoken to 10 different people, it's not going to be like it was . .  . If we have embers of corona coupled with the flu, that's not going to be pleasant, but it's not going to be what we've gone through in any way, shape or form . . . You may not even have corona coming back, just so you understand."  Huh?

So go ahead, Jared.  Declare victory and see what happens.  Wasn't it George W. Bush who famously said, "Mission Accomplished?"  Now how'd that turn out . . .

A Tale of Two Governors

It was the best of governors, it was the worst of presidents. . .

To watch the coronavirus briefings of Roy Cooper and Andrew Cuomo, governors of North Carolina and New York respectively, is to watch two men with contrasting styles.  Where Governor Cooper is reserved and gentle, Governor Cuomo is open and aggressive.  Where Governor Cooper's briefings are controlled and organized, Governor Cuomo's are freewheeling and unconventional.  Where reporters in North Carolina phone in questions with deference to the Governor, reporters in New York compete and shout each other down.  But here the differences end and the similarities begin. 

Each of these distinguished, intelligent men knows how to lead in this crisis:

They thank their citizens--particularly those working for the public--for their hard and selfless work.

They express sadness for the loss of life and sympathy to families in mourning.

They present facts based on science and medicine.

They refer questions to their staff so that clear, precise information is conveyed.

They treat reporters with respect and answer questions carefully.

They seek to unify rather than divide.

Their president, however, does the opposite.  His briefings are all about him.  He brags, he lies, and he blames others.  He answers questions directed at staff despite his ignorance.  He demeans reporters and political opponents.  He calls his citizens names.

That great opening sentence from A Tale of Two Cities continues, "it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity. . . "

We're fortunate in these two wise, believable governors and in many of their peers. . . but could we be cursed with a more foolish, incredible character sitting in the White House?  Not a chance.

Why Aren't You Listening?

A joint post between Marjorie and her daughter, Miranda

This week's events have reminded us of an old parable, "The Man by the River."  In this story, a man hears a warning over the radio about a coming flood but does nothing, insisting that God loves him and will save him.  Meanwhile, most of his neighbors clear out.  Then a rescuer comes along in a boat, offering to row the man to safety.  He insists, once again, that God will save him.  Finally, a helicopter hovering above is another avenue to safety.  When the man refuses help again, he drowns.  In heaven, he asks God, "Why didn't you save me?  I prayed, and I thought you loved me."  God responds, "I sent you a radio message, a rowboat, and a helicopter.  What were you waiting for?"

(This story is told brilliantly by Karl Malden on the television show The West Wing.  Link to the Youtube clip here.)

Many of our fellow citizens have spent their time this past week protesting stay-at-home orders around the country.  In Michigan, they sat in their cars, blocking access to a hospital.  Their reasons for protesting include a desire to visit a hair salon, purchase grass seed and lawn fertilizer (it's snowing in Michigan, folks!), and the theory that staying at home is allowing the virus to win.  Our top scientists insist that stay-at-home orders and the continuing closure of non-essential businesses and schools are the best strategies to manage this pandemic.

We believe that, as in the parable, God has sent us the best scientists and researchers, government warnings and press conferences (thank you, Governor Cuomo, etc.), and plenty of news.  God doesn't save us but asks us to save ourselves.

Donald Cottontail

A reworking of a popular Easter song, "Here Comes Peter Cottontail," composed by Steve Nelson and Jack Rollins.

Governors Trumping Trump

Despite Donald Trump's insistence that he's managing the coronavirus crisis, our state's governors are the ones who've been in charge.  Many of them--like Andrew Cuomo of New York, Gavin Newsom of California, and J. B. Pritzker of Illinois--communicate facts, explain trends and patterns, take responsibility, and support each other.  They are refreshingly honest, and they speak with intelligence.

What does President Trump do to support their efforts?  If you hoped for encouragement, helpful advice, and thoughtful cooperation, you hoped in vain.

We had an early clue about this when Jay Inslee, Governor of Washington, faced the first onslaught of COVID-19 in a nursing home near Seattle.  Other states weren't facing the crisis yet, and Inslee was largely on his own.  As reported by Politico, Inslee told Vice President Pence the efforts to combat coronavirus would be more successful "if the Trump administration stuck to the science and told the truth."  Trump's response: "That governor is a snake."

Since then, Trump has admonished Gretchen Witmer of Michigan, saying, "Failing Michigan Governor must work harder and be more proactive."  Last month he tweeted that Governor Pritzker "and a very small group of certain other Governors. . . shouldn't be blaming the Federal Government for their own shortcomings."  And just yesterday Trump said that Governor Cuomo wasn't being "gracious" for the aid he's received.

Donald Trump has called himself a "wartime president," invoking World War II and saying, "Now's our time. . . We must sacrifice together, because we are all in this together."  But don't wartime presidents support their generals in the field?  Undermining one's own staff is a sure path to defeat. 

Whether or not the wartime metaphor is apt for the coronavirus onslaught, the need for cooperation between our federal and state governments couldn't be greater.  For this to work, leadership needs to come from the top.  Since it hasn't, governors have stepped into this void, and I for one am grateful.

Leadership Matters

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's daily press conferences put Donald Trump to shame.  The governor is everything that Trump is not: intelligent, informative, and inspiring.  Watching Cuomo each day leads me to reflect on the traits of leadership, something I never questioned when Barack Obama was president:

Leadership is honest.  Someone who leads tells the truth.  All of Cuomo's press conferences begin with an overview of the facts.  We get the numbers, the projections, and the honest assessment of deaths, as hard as these are to hear.  What about Trump?  "I felt it was a pandemic long before it was called a pandemic.  I've always viewed it as very serious."

Leadership is responsible.  Cuomo told us one day last week that people were angry at him for closing businesses.  His response?  "I take full responsibility," he said.  Trump, on the other hand, blamed Obama for the slow testing rate in America and said, "No, I don't take responsibility at all."

Leadership acts decisively.  Governor Cuomo closed the schools and nonessential workforce, deployed the National Guard, selected new hospital sites, and secured volunteer services from retired medical professionals.  Each day he announces new measures and new ideas.  Trump?  Not so much.  His contradictory remarks sow confusion and fear.  On Friday he announced the possibility of a quarantine for New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey, and by Sunday he'd canceled it. 

Leadership is empathic.  When Andrew Cuomo talks about the loss of life, the bravery of healthcare workers and first responders, and the generosity of people all over the country, he shows that he understands the feelings of others.  Donald Trump, on the other hand, seems not to care.  He doesn't speak movingly about the sacrifices of Americans or about our dying citizens.  He speaks only in platitudes: "It's going to disappear," he says, "We're going to be hopefully a best case, not a worst case," scenario. 

Finally, leadership believes in something larger than self.  In today's press conference, Governor Cuomo talked about two paramount concepts: Excelsior and E pluribus unum.  In Latin these mean respectively "ever upward" and "out of many, one."  Cuomo believes in aspiration and unity, inspiring listeners to something higher than themselves.  President Trump?  He's made it clear that he cares more about financial markets and wealth than about American lives.  It wasn't until the stock market crashed repeatedly that he demanded action.  His personal interests are his highest calling.

Governor Cuomo has stepped into the leadership vacancy that exists at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and I couldn't be more grateful.

2020 Election$

I'm sure I'm not the only person who noticed that President Trump acted with speed and deliberation once the coronavirus threatened the nation's economy, but with zero speed and deliberation when it threatened the nation's health.  We've learned this week what we surely sensed: that federal officials received intelligence reports in January and February, alerting them to the potential medical disaster that lay ahead.  What did Trump do with this information to protect the American people, WHICH IS HIS JOB?  Nothing.  Denial.  Lies.  Braggadocio.  Slurs.

Meanwhile, we learned this week that some of our senators apparently used the information from these intelligence reports to enhance their portfolios.  According to The Washington Post, Senator Kelly Loeffler of Georgia sold millions of dollars in stock shortly after she attended a private briefing about the dangerous virus and later purchased holdings in a teleworking software company.  How prescient!  Her colleague Senator Richard Burr, never one to care much about constituents here in North Carolina, sold holdings in hotels and restaurants, shipping, pharmaceuticals, and healthcare, all of which have suffered in the pandemic.

The election before us on November 3 couldn't be more important for many reasons, and one of the main ones is this: do we want to be a country where money matters more than people, or where people matter more than money?  The America we live in today values the dollar more than the person.  It's the dollar that determines the care and medications we get when we're sick, the quality of our children's education, the purity of our water and air, and the safety net (that's full of holes) when things go wrong.

While the Democratic party has participated in creating this situation, the Republicans under Donald Trump have taken it to an entirely new level.  The cronies surrounding the president represent corporate rather than human interests, and this administration's response to the emergency we now face lays bare the disastrous consequences of valuing money over people. 

One way out of this national tragedy is to vote Democratic on November 3: Make America Humane Again.