I’m happy to report that I believe we’re all done bickering about Trump’s stupid vanity wall.  His decision to declare a non-emergency National “Emergency” was, in effect, a surrender.  He never got the funding for his useless wall from his own party.  It finally penetrated his head that he REALLY wasn’t going to get it from the opposition party.  So he declares an “emergency” even while admitting it’s not an emergency and throws the whole thing into the courts – where, I suspect, he’ll lose based on his own words.  But he’ll have an “out.”  The thing can be adjudicated for years and when the rulings finally go against him, he can blame someone else.  It’s the only thing he’s really good at: blaming others for his own failures…

Trump is stubbornly wrongheaded.  He doesn’t admit defeat.  He is actually defeated on a fairly regular basis; he just doesn’t admit it.  I know, that sounds silly in view of the fact that, while declaring his “not-emergency”, he DID mention “defeats” in his stupid travel ban fight.  But that was a fight he ultimately “won”, meaning he didn’t suffer “defeat” so much as “setbacks.”  Talk of early “defeats” served only to make the outcome that much more “glorious” to himself and his base.  In this wall fight he got his ass handed to him – by a girl.  But he just did what he does – he pretends he won anyway – the TRUE ‘Delusional Trump Syndrome.’  Sadly, losing the wall fight doesn’t mean there won’t be more horror stories about his maladministration’s cruel treatment of human beings at the border…

I used to be surprised – really surprised – that so many people continue to stand with him despite all of the available evidence of his complete failure as a human being.  But I’ve been spending a LOT of time with history, lately, and I’ve recently become quite comfortable with a realization I probably should have made years ago: there are ALWAYS people on the wrong side of history – and there always will be.

Think of the worst atrocities of humanity throughout time and no matter what the subject, you’ll find people supporting the worst.  They’ll lie, they’ll scream, hell, they’ll fight wars in the name of the very worst of humanity – and they’ll do it with pride!  There’s just something…wrong…with some people.  They start wrong and stay wrong – and they’re still out there.  The US finally fought a war to end slavery but there are still plenty of people out there who would readily return to the slave system if the law allowed.

Think of the Walton family of Walmart infamy.  They have workers and managers because the law limits their options.  But if they could, I believe they would replace the workers and managers with slaves and overseers.  Sure, they would deny and feign outrage at such a suggestion but their actions have already exposed them.  Walmart could easily pay it’s employees a living wage and remain profitable but they steadfastly WILL NOT do one thing for the workers that made them so rich if not required by law – and even at that, they try to “trim the edges.”  Walmart’s shoddy treatment of employees is the poster child of greed in this once-great nation but they’re hardly alone…

It’s tempting to want to identify and name the “reason” but the reason doesn’t matter.  Stupid?  That’s the easiest one and it’s probably correct in some cases, but I know far too many smart people who support the wrong things for that to be a blanket explanation.  Greed?  To be sure.  Hate?  Sometimes.  Fear?  Absolutely.  Ignorance (not the same as stupid) is often in play.  The one thing I can say for certain is this: there are many possible adjectives to describe people on the wrong side of history but none of them are “nice.”  None of them – not one – reflect the best qualities of humanity.

So how does one know which side of history one occupies?  It’s quite simple, actually.  The moment your position includes harm to some innocent person trying only to do the things you, yourself, want to do, time for a re-think.  If you need a rule of thumb, try the so-called “Golden Rule”: Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.  In this case, it’s credited to Jesus but one can find that idea expressed in every major religion and/or philosophy in the history of mankind – because it’s so…obvious!

If YOU wouldn’t be a slave, don’t enslave.  If YOU wouldn’t be a victim of theft, don’t steal.  If you wouldn’t have your child taken from you for some…Trumped up reason, don’t take children away from others.  If YOU wouldn’t have yourself returned to the hands of your would-be killers, don’t return others to their would-be killers.  See how easy it is?  I hope you’ve paid attention and I hope I’ve helped.

I’ll tell you this: there IS a test…and it happens every day…