Monday

So much has been said. So much has been written – by me!!

Monday is a busy day. Most importantly, for me, it is the day to remember the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. I will be posting some of his immortal words from his speeches and sermons. We can never overlook the important strides he made in the civil rights movement and his constant message of peaceful change.

It is hard to believe that our young people only know of MLK Jr. now by what WE teach them. So, on Monday, the day to honor him, I hope that schools will continue teaching about him. I hope we flood social media with all we can about King and his profound words. We need to hear them.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day has also become a day of service. It’s a day to do something that can benefit a path to equality, to provide comfort, and to make a difference in another person’s life. Every Monday I am part of a group of ladies who meet and put together quilts that are given freely to those in need locally and around the world. I will be doing my part there THIS Monday.

Monday is also the final game for college football this season. It is the National Championship game, Ohio State taking on Notre Dame. Both schools are Midwest powerhouses. I will turn the TV on for the game in the evening, and I hope to see a close scoring game because that keeps it exciting to watch. I don’t have a favorite team (sorry Ohio family and friends) so I really want to watch the two best teams of the past year play each other closely.

Yes, I will turn the TV on for the game.

I will NOT turn it on earlier in the day. Monday is also the Inauguration Day of Donald Trump to become the president of the United States again. As I stated at the beginning of this musing, I have written much about how I feel about the man, and my disappointment in his re-election. So, I cannot watch Trump put his hand on a Bible and swear on it this oath:

“I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of the President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

It is not just my opinion, it is proven fact, that Donald Trump has lied more than any other president, and truly more than any other person in a leadership position. I do not believe he will take his oath to heart.

I googled and the oath can also include these words “I will administer justice without respect to persons, and do equal right to the poor and the rich.” Somehow I doubt this line will be said.

“So help me God” is also often included.

For me, words matter. It used to be that a ‘man’s word was his promise.’ A man of his word was a man to be trusted. A man of his word was careful in thought, aware of what he said because it had consequences. A man of his word was honorable.

Trusted. Careful. Aware. Honorable.

I was texting with a friend yesterday about the FACTS of Trump’s past and I listed many things he has done, both in business and personally, that do not fall into the words above. Trusted. Careful. Aware. Honorable. I was able to list failed businesses and bankruptcies, defaults on loans, banks that now reject him, and with all of that came loss of employment for thousands. There are FACTS that he approved the coverup of payoffs, and he was found guilty in a court of law. There are FACTS that he sexually molested a woman in a department store dressing room and was found guilty of it in a court of law.

Trump was impeached twice, once for his involvement of an insurrection against our government’s certification of an election. The other time for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. That one alone should have been enough to make him ineligible to run for office again. Read the oath for the Office of President. He was found guilty of NOT protecting and defending the Constitution.

My friend in our texting yesterday asked me to wait and see… that Trump will do good things. Well, I believe a man with his past should not even have been given the opportunity to be president again – but here he is. Here we are. Monday is coming. And due to the man that he is, unprecedented, first to be a felon, first to run again with impeachments, we have stepped in to something never thought about before – even by our founding fathers and the writers of the Constitution.

So, on Monday I will be disappointed. Not in Trump. He is who he is. But in America. In us. I am disappointed in our elected officials who should hold the words of our Constitution above everything else. I am saddened by the lies, the power plays, the thinking that victory is above righteousness. That winning any way you can is now acceptable.

I will not watch. I cannot watch. I truly have an emotional and physical reaction to the man. We have stooped so low. I worry about the days and years ahead. What will happen to women? Who will get judged for being unworthy? What will our children be seeing?

An interesting side note: This morning I watched a news piece on the “Today” show about the clean up work starting in the LA area in places where the wildfires decimated neighborhoods. The crews doing the work are made up of all kinds of Americans. Volunteers. Black, white, Hispanic, young, old. They are the ones not getting the glory – and their work is hard and it will go on for a long time. The same is happening with all those in the North Carolina mountains, and other places around our country hit with natural disasters. Think about who these wonderful people are.

Monday is a day of public service. A day to volunteer – and to thank a volunteer. A day to think about equality for all, and how we can move forward working on making this country wonderful for ALL AMERICANS.

And, it’s about watching a little football.