Message to Do-Gooders

Don't scare the Republicans. Their handlers will make up stuff to get them even more scared. They will see darker, hidden meanings in every good thing you do. How do I know this? I'm 1/4 of the way through Nixonland. This is the story of Richard Nixon from the beginning of his political life to his downfall (I hope, I hope, I hope.) Everyone must read history - ancient, midevil (sorry, never knew how to spell that, but I am in the middle of a book about Nixon,) and current. You have to know what happened and why. Don't trust anyone to tell you. Don't trust just one book. Read. Read a lot.

Does anyone remember how I thought that Manchester book about US history from 1932 to 1972 did a disservice to us lovely flower children? Rick Perlstein does a much better job. We weren't too lovely. We were what was scaring all the coots. Why was it that when America was at its peak did we decide (we being the young, blacks and women) to turn everything upside down? Because we could. I don't mean that in a bad way, I mean it in a good way. There weren't many places in the world where you could change things so drastically by speaking up. We just did it too loud and too all at once.

Which brings me to now. They are scared again because things are changing. We are feeling unsteady because of the market collapse and people losing their jobs. And we have a type of person in the White House that we've never seen before. No wonder Obama is leary about making all the changes at once. Let's wait on the things we can wait on. Life is long, he'll get to them. But uprighting the economy and getting healthcare to all people is really important. And look what the Reps are doing with those two things. I'm going to be 62 tomorrow. That means I'll soon be the age where I'll be euthanized and my parts shipped to poor black kids in Harlem.

All I've got to say is breath and read. Inhale, read, exhale, read. Oh, and think. Let's not forget that.