Is This Treason?

Okay, so I am not sure what the legal definition of treason is for our country.  The Merriam - Webster Online Dictionary  http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/treason provides this definition:

1 :  the betrayal of a trust :  treachery

2 :  the offense of attempting by overt acts to overthrow the government of the state to which the offender owes allegiance or to kill or personally injure the sovereign or the sovereign's family

So, today, when I heard that Donald Trump, Republican Party nominee for the President of the United States, advocated for Russia to hack into and publish the "missing emails" of Hillary Clinton http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/28/us/politics/donald-trump-russia-clinton-emails.html, I had to ask myself if this was treason.  I am not hearing that in the news. So probably, it is not. 

But I find this kind of rhetoric not just offensive, but frightening, full of hate mongering, and bereft of the human rights values that the United States strives to achieve. Is this the face of the United States that I want to represent our country to the world?  Of course not!  Really, would any thinking, caring, compassionate human being want this man to represent us in the world?  Would anyone who cares about our place in the world want this man to represent us in the world?

I am frightened by the possibility that Donald Trump would be elected as President. I have visions of Nazi Germany with the hatred of the leaders of the country for those unlike them, their grasp for power and greed, and the way the citizens of the country did not revolt, no matter what they thought of the policies of the government. 

We have had those years in our country:  Witness the Jim Crow laws https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Crow_laws after the War Between the States. But we have learned, continue to learn, and are in conversation about continuing to need to learn that we are better than that. 

I have to believe that a hate mongering President would take us back 200 years or more in our human rights, civil rights, and moral rights. 

I am for peace. I am for human rights. I am for love.

Reach Out to France - Updated

We are saddened and shocked at the killings in Paris by ISIS http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/16/us-france-shooting-idUSKCN0T22IU20151116#aUdSsHG2hFY7YAcr.97.  The violence in the world is needless and insane.  That the world can be held at bay, as fear hostages, by ISIS is a little insane.  There have been so many terrorist attacks and to what end? The radicalized Muslims give the real religion of Islam a black eye.  Like "Christian radicals" who belong(ed) to the Klu Klux Klan, these radicals do not represent religion.  They represent bigotry, hate mongering, greed, lust for power, lust for domination over people who are unable to protect themselves.

That the world has not been able to eradicate ISIS demonstrates the weakness of the political position of failure to commit.  I do not believe in violence and war, but I am not sure how else ISIS can be fought.  My wish would be that Western and Middle Eastern Countries alike would unite for their own safety and security, demonstrate a united front and destroy ISIS.

Meanwhile, we must reach out to France. We must let the French people know that we stand with them, support them in their adversity, and support their efforts to take back their lives.  We do this with prayers, vigils, and support of their efforts to help the Syrian refugees and fight ISIS.

We must let the French people know that we will not forget their suffering on 11/13/15, that we will not forget the fatalities, the other victims, the survivors of the acts of terror on this date. Because the French people truly are survivors.

November 20, 2015 on the news, we learned that Parisians were in the streets en masse and at the exact time of the first shots of the disaster, a large noise was made, and lights came on, and the French people told ISIS that they will be STRONG!

Hurrah for the people of Paris!  Hurrah for the people of France!

The Confederate Flag Controversy

The shooting of 9 black people at Emanuel AME Church https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charleston_church_shooting last week has awoken a controversy about the Confederate Flag "Stars and Bars" flying at the Capitol in South Carolina. The history of the flag and its use at the state capitol in South Carolina is well documented by NPR http://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2015/06/22/416548613/the-complicated-political-history-of-the-confederate-flag.  Gov. Nikki Haley has changed her mind about removing the flag from the Capitol http://www.salon.com/2014/10/15/nikki_haley_its_ok_to_have_the
_confederate_flag_at_the_statehouse_because_not_a_single_ceo_has_complained/.

The symbolism of the flag is conflicting:  some see it as a symbol of history, heritage, ancestry and pride.  Many see it a symbol of hatred, racism, segregation, and discrimination. I saw a post on Facebook by someone who said he saw the flag as a symbol of bikers, country and western music, and rebellion. This may be his take on the flag, but for many more people it is a hurtful symbol associated with such things as the Ku Klux Klan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ku_Klux_Klan, white supremacy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_supremacy, and Jim Crow laws https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Crow_laws. 


I heard, loud and clear when Norman Brannon http://www.scstatehouse.gov/member.php?code=0184659069, a  representative of South Carolina, from a very conservative part of the state, say he would sponsor a bill to have the Confederate Flag removed from the state Capitol.  He said he did not do his job:  http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/21/politics/south-carolina-confederate-flag-debate/.

Wal-Mart has announced it will removed Confederate Flag products http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-23/wal-mart-to-remove-confederate-flag-products-in-wake-of-shooting.

Living in the South, loving people who have pride in their Southern Heritage, I understand the feelings of identity to the heritage.  But the flag is a lie, and only became widely celebrated as a symbol against the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s.  Its symbolism has been glorified, but the symbolism of hatred it portrays has been ignored or glossed over.

It is history.  On a private basis, we cannot ban the Confederate Flag. And if there are people out there who do believe it speaks of pride and glory, they can tout the flag. But I do not have to agree with that. And governments in the United States do not need to support that.

I choose Peace.  I choose the symbols of Peace.