The just-announced Pulitzer Prizes for 2016 included the award for Drama, which this year went to the smash hit Hamilton.
At Political Animal, the irony of that award was duly noted:
What’s so fascinating about all this is that – in the midst of a nativist Republican backlash to “take our country back” – the hottest thing in the country is a rap musical performed mostly by people of color that is all about our lily white founding fathers. Ain’t life grand?
At risk of reading too much into these particular “tea leaves,” I think the success of Hamilton does rest on more than the admitted brilliance of its music and staging (we were fortunate enough to see it a few months ago, and I can attest to that brilliance). I think it signals an embrace of the culture change that–among other things– is driving our contemporary toxic politics.
I have previously suggested that this is a time of paradigm shift–a time when our previous understandings of the world we inhabit are being challenged by globalization, scientific discovery and diversity.
A “paradigm” is a pattern of received beliefs that we use to make sense of the world. The term was popularized by Thomas Kuhn, a physicist who—in the course of research for his dissertation—picked up Aristotle’s Physics and found that it made no sense to him. Reasonably enough, Kuhn assumed that neither he nor Aristotle was stupid, so he concluded that they were operating from such different realities that communication was not possible. He subsequently wrote a book about the way science adapts to new discoveries, or “shifts” its paradigms.
It isn’t only science. Cultures shift in much the same way.
Our paradigms, or worldviews, are formed through a process of socialization into a particular culture–a constant transmittal of messages about the way the world works, about the reality we inhabit, about the “natural order” of things. Every so often, in human history, that “natural order” is challenged, and the result can be disorienting.
Most social change is incremental, evolutionary–and even then, it can be hard for people to navigate. But we seem to be at one of those junctures where the shift is both relatively sudden and massive. Long-held belief systems–religious and secular–are being called into question.People who can’t deal with the pace and scope of this change are understandably terrified.
Think how you’d feel if you awoke one morning in an unfamiliar environment–surrounded by people (including your own children and/or grandchildren) speaking a language you didn’t understand except for tantalizing bits and pieces, with customs that were both alien and familiar, and expectations you couldn’t fulfill.
As hard as it sometimes is to be sympathetic, we need to realize that for inhabitants of the “old” reality, the world really is ending. Same-sex marriage, empowered women, an African-American President, “press 1 for English,” drones, social media….We wake up every day to a million and one reminders that we inhabit a new and uncharted world; a rap-music, multicultural portrayal of America’s founding fathers is just one of them.
And for so many people, it’s a reality too hard to accept. Too hard to get one’s head around.
So..back to a (mythical) simpler past with Trump? Or an embrace of a different, fairer, more equal world? I guess we’ll see.
Is this the 1960s redux you are describing? I was in high school and college during the 1960s and civil rights, Vietnam, power to the people, etc. Maybe it’s just time for it to recycle and refresh our tired culture.
Maybe I am suffering from a paradigm shift but I don’t recognize much of the world I live in today; beginning with my home city and state. The Republicans are certainly speaking a language I do understand but don’t understand their current conclusions and blatant actions. Knowing nothing about the musical/drama, “Hamilton” performed by “people of color”, I cannot speak to that but as my 16 year old grandson questioned the current push to change pictures on our paper currency with so many other, more important, issues confronting us, is it the choice of Harriet Tubman causing the backlash? Why does it seem ironic that anything positive done by “people of color” is questioned?
Speaking to the issue of “people of color”; having Black friends and lived in predominantly Black neighborhoods I find myself questioning what is going on in their Indianapolis neighborhoods today? Too many of the young people seem to be out of control and I question if someone(s) is supplying the overabundance of weapons they have at their disposal. Almost daily there are are shootings; the majority of residents seem to live in fear and one of their greatest fears is to trust our police force. Many years ago Sam Jones, Director of Indianapolis Urban League, spoke publicly asking young Blacks to stop killing one another. That is more true today than it was at that time; where is Joe Slash? Is this current escalating crime rate a shift in Black paradigm and if so, why now and why here? I have questioned before, where are the groups of white and/or Hispanic ministers going into neighborhoods? Where are the groups of much needed mixed race ministers, working together to a common goal, to end this deadly crime wave? How much has Trump’s racist, bigoted campaign contributed to this…or has it? Is it the long buried, deep-seated hatred just coming to the fore?
Sheila, “So..back to a (mythical) simpler past with Trump? Or an embrace of a different, fairer, more equal world? I guess we’ll see.”
Sheila’s right on the money again as usual. A paradigm is similar to a “core.” Trump has a ready made “core” movement with the Tea Party. It can be greatly expanded once he is nominated and the Republicans have no other viable choice than to join in and be cohesive.
Where is the corresponding paradigm or core within the Democratic Party? The answer is: There is none. Both Clinton and Sanders are operating within different paradigms. Neither of which can match up to the Tea Party’s ability to expand. The Democratic Party is headed toward conflict, not cohesiveness. They present no countervailing force against the likes of the Tea Party.
I’ve always been a person that questions why things are done the way they are done. This ability to question accepted ways of doing things has enabled me to welcome changes that I see as improvements. I consider myself lucky to have never been enslaved to maintaining current status quo.
The Tea Party doesn’t really want things to stay the way they are or to even return to a former way that things were. They want this country to allow them to create a government that puts them in a place of advantage over others. They blindly want others to pay taxes to support their way of life while they just reap the benefits. The problem is, the general public members of the tea party don’t seem to be capable of putting their own puzzle together well enough to be able to recognize that they too will suffer greatly if their leaders get what they want.
@ Marv – I don’t believe the Democratic party has a chance in Indiana until gerrymandering is stopped.
JoAnn,
“How much has Trump’s racist, bigoted campaign contributed to this…or has it? Is it the long buried, deep-seated hatred just coming to the fore?”
It’s the latter. Trump has just made the racism more fashionable as it rises exponentially with absolutely no countervailing force to maintain political equilibrium. God save America!
Nancy,
“The problem is, the general public members of the tea party don’t seem to be capable of putting their own puzzle together well enough to be able to recognize that they too will suffer greatly if their leaders get what they want.”
You’ve stated the problem perfectly. And within your statement is also the ONLY answer. The GENERAL PUBLIC MEMBERS OF THE TEA PARTY must be convinced by the facts THAT THEY TOO WLL SUFFER GREATLY IF THEIR LEADERS GET WHAT THEY WANT. That’s the only chance we have. The Democratic Party is impotent not just in Indiana. And their affliction has no “ready” cure.
Marv,
The tea party that I am surrounded by is made up of very angry people. They think Reagan’s ideas were perfect. They are the people that would/will never take the time or put forth the energy to investigate what has really been going on in our country for so many years. They are the ones that politicians can really get motivated to be angry and demand less taxes. If you try to give them factual evidence that proves their ideas or beliefs are not true, they don’t want to even hear it. They will publicly state that the people they are listening to would never have any reason to lie to or manipulate them. They have been suffering economically too and have fallen for the false prophets on the radio and tv. You get the picture.
I believe that “culture” is a very complex stew. It seems to me to be behaviors that we observe in others that we believe are like us.
So, for instance Americans are different culturally than Chinese. Men are different culturally than women. Hoosiers are distinct culturally from Washingtonians. Blacks from Latinos.
So we each are of many cultures and accept being like many groups.
One culture quite distinct today are progressives. We tend to see every era in history as both good and bad with the bad representing a challange, something that can be fixed – or very often an evolutionary challange; a change in environment that needs re-adaptation to.
Conservatives, another culture, look at us as threats to stability. We unnecessarily disturb their world in which stasis rules.
History then is in the biggest picture a competition between conservatives and progressives with each culture annoying the other. Now of course there are many other cultural rifts in play simultaneously but progressive/conservative is one prominent one.
As most of the people who post here think that they are alike by their support of progress we tend to agree more than disagree. Once in awhile a conservatives wanders in to our progressive “bar” and stands out like a sore thumb.
But, we progressives would argue, the environment needs us to adapt to it. Climate change, technology, extreme human population, the shrinking world, many more being born into the Muslim world than the Christian world, the relative increase in those not speaking our language, the arming of America all require us to change.
Conservatives react with a resounding no! If we don’t change the environment won’t. We’re in control. We can impose what we want on the environment not visa versa.
Unfortunately these times have turned what has been tension between those cultures into a full fledged rift, a distinct separation, sometimes what appear to be irreconcilable differences.
Perhaps they are but the continuance of civilization requires now all cultures to decide between those two. We can’t progress rapidly enough to continue adapting to environmental changes if too many of us are conservatives – especially in a country of democratic freedoms and rights.
Earthquakes are the name that we gave to the response of the geologic earth to unbearable tectonic tension. The name that we give to civilization responding to unbearable cultural tension is revolution.
Welcome to the revolution.
This blog could have been written at any time in the history of mankind. We have always feared change. We have always decried the way the world is moving. We have always feared that our children are doomed. Remember this tune from “Bye Bye, Birdie”? “Why can’t they be like we were, perfect in every way?”
Most people and I suspect most Americans, are like the peasant in the ricefield. His life doesn’t change much, no matter who’s in charge. People don’t engage in policy discussions or debates. Many of them don’t even bother to vote. Many more just go and vote the way they always voted. For those remaining, fear is the main driver of their political decision making.
The biggest fault in the Democratic Party over the past thirty years was that they feared standing up for their beliefs and their principles. The last guy who did was Walter Mondale, and when he said we must have new taxes to fix what needed to be fixed, he was metaphorically crucified. He lost big.
Now, it seems the Dems are shaking off a bit of that fear. If they come to terms with who they really are, we will all benefit.
As individuals, we have to be ready to counter the Koch Machine and its rhetoric. Call out the lies. Demand proof. If we don’t, maybe we deserve the Donald.
Nancy,
“The tea party that I am surrounded by is made up of very angry people.”
As I mentioned before, I practiced law in East Texas. I grew up in Jacksonville which was a “Rural City” and still is, even if it has an NFL franchise. I know “rural city” sounds like an oxymoron. Consequently, the fact is below the surface, I’m much more rural than urban. And an important additional fact is that I never lost a jury trial in East Texas because I realized, early on, that they like you and me want to have a nice worry-free sleep.
I’m confident that a significant portion of the Tea Party can be convinced, for example through sophisticated visualization, i.e. a state of the art video, that they have no future like the rest of us if they propel the likes of a Donald Trump into the White House. That’s why I purchased the domain: TrumpCard.vidio a few days after Trump announced he was going to run for the presidency.
I’ve successfully used this method before on my Tea Party friends. But you must have “all the dots” available in order that they can make the “connection” or your efforts will be in vain. There can be no “holes” in your story.
Sorry, “vidio” should read video. My first step is to organize a production team. FUTURCIDE is the “Trump card.”
Both parties will change soon, the Republican before the Democrat. The Republican Party will move to the middle since there is no more room to maneuver on the right, will kick out their tea partiers and embrace Eisenhower Republicanism. They have no choice given the demographics where their voters are old and dying (as are their ideas) while new voters are overwhelmingly voting Democratic. Democrat will move to the left more slowly because there is more room on the left to maneuver. Ultimately, and in spite of rural gerrymandering, Democrat will control the White House, most statehouses and legislatures both rural and federal. The Republicans would be well-advised to make their move to the middle as soon as possible, but it’s their nickel.
Gerald,
“Both parties will change soon, the Republican before the Democrat. The Republican Party will move to the middle since there is no more room to maneuver on the right, will kick out their tea partiers and embrace Eisenhower Republicanism.”
I wish someone had told George Bush, “there is no more room to maneuver” before he played his “race card” and won the election.
Sheila — I was with you until you called today’s world “uncharted.” It’s not perfect and it’s often surprising, but it looks to me much like what so many of us fought and planned for all these years. Technology, diversity, equal rights — all planned. What wasn’t mapped out in advance is the widespread bigotry that has thrived, and the isolation and violence that have resulted. We didn’t chart the persistence of ignorance because we could not imagine that so many people would not embrace change from which they would personally benefit — that they would actually even reject adaptation. In my opinion, that problem, where it persists, is directly and irrefutably tied to organized religion, which continues to provide a litany of invented excuses for bias and separatism.
Revolutions always are the extremes of passion and this one will certainly follow suit. Hopefully though we can start a new trend in revolution and make this one no more bloody than it’s already been.
Pete,
That’s a real good idea.
You’re discussing a false equivalency. You just wrote about the contrast between city dwellers with more formal education and small town or rural people with less education. It’s the city dwellers or those interested in traveling to NYC who are seeing Hamilton. It’s not going to become a school play in a tiny town in a rural area.. The people who can afford to live in or visit NYC and afford to see anything on Broadway are relatively rich, ticket prices are enormous, not within most people’s budget as they struggle to survive NYC’s cost of living.
Part of Hamilton’s message is that Hamilton was not lily-white, since his mother was of mixed ancestry. He was an immigrant who could not go that far in government today, who would be hounded and mocked for his ancestry and accent by the right wing.
The Trump followers, as explained by a couple of responses here, are being manipulated by politicians, who are funded by a fraction of the one percent to further their own greed. What those voters would believe without the constant messages designed to fool them into thinking their plight is the fault of someone else who is somehow different is something we’ll never know.
Judy: “What those voters would believe without the constant messages designed to fool them into thinking their plight is the fault of someone else who is somehow different is something we’ll never know.”
Right, exactly, on.
While there are conservative people who naturally and honestly are reluctant to leave the present, what gets called conservatism today is a product made in oligarchy factories and marketed in big media as news.
It’s not a political belief as much as a cult meme with the purpose of convincing us to surrender American freedom.
As witnessed in a recent Trump rally in Indianapolis, the racial divide is wide and deep. There were only a handful of whites among the majority black and hispanic protesters. Even more interesting was that the protesters self-sorted by those identities.
The almost 100% of white rally attendees were, for the most part, white males, a surprising number of whom were late teens and early twenties, older white males and fewer white females. Many of the younger members of that group seemed to treat the whole experience as entertainment if their demeanor was any indicator. The older crowd was more angry.
The police presence was very heavily pointed toward the protestors (almost more of them than of us). They acted as a real and intimidating barrier between the two obviously opposed groups. They pretty much have a thankless job, IMO. I do think the number deployed was excessive and meant to provoke and intimidate the protestors as we were tightly controlled while the rally attendees were given much more freedom of movement, even walking in among the protesters as they left the building. No protesters were allowed the same ability to mingle with those leaving the event.
Seismic tensions along racial and political edges were very much in evidence in this one small example of the underlying causes of profoundly different paradigms. It was a flashback to the 60’s for me. I think the overt reasons may appear to be different but the truth is that the struggle is not about freedom for all but more power to the few.
If this time is indeed a revolution, we need to remember that revolutions can lead to authoritarian oppression as well as bloody revenge, all the name of change meant to be for the good of all.
JD – You gave a better report on the Trump rally than any of the news media. Thank you.
Sheila – thank you for deepening our understanding of each other.
I’m not into reading tea leaves, not given to making wild prognostications, but I am into sharing ‘my truth’ from my place in the current political argument, or as I call it the current political mess.
Let’s begin from today, right now at 12:05 PM on April 22, 2016. Find me at home chatting in person with a repairman from Precision Comfort, INC, out of Westfield, IN, the company that installed the two geothermal heating/cooling units (aka Water Furnace) in our residence here in rural Westfield, here in Hamilton County back in 2004.
Oh, yes, we are energy efficient people, folks looking to make the smallest possible carbon footprint possible in our heating and cooling attempts. Yes, we will gladly pay $800 to replace some little computer like chip to get the 2nd-floor geothermal unit working to capacity, but while I’m writing here in my home office, I’m wondering how many of you, the folks who participate regularly on this blog are doing as much? Are you putting your money behind your big words? Are you?
Peggy, I totally agree with your statement >> The biggest fault in the Democratic Party over the past thirty years was that they feared standing up for their beliefs and their principles. The last guy who did was Walter Mondale, and when he said we must have new taxes to fix what needed to be fixed, he was metaphorically crucified. He lost big.
I agree fear of being a Democrat in the old sense, building on the New Deal and an alliance with Unions has been sacrificed to Wall Street IMHO. The Republicans and Democrats have a sharp divide on social issues, but on economic issues they are hand in glove. NAFTA is a good example.
Glenda Ritz would have been a good candidate for Governor, but she was swatted away by establishment in favor the completely uninspiring John Gregg.
@Louie, Glenda Ritz has no more business being considered a candidate for Governor than does my chocolate lab, Bailey.
Glenda was and basically still is an elementary school librarian.
BHS, You make an assumption about whether we are putting our money behind our big words. That assumption is that we all have $800 to “gladly” spend on an a little computer like chip. I don’t know about the rest, but we try to keep our expenses at a minimum out of need, not convenience. We have had an energy assessment very recently and are currently saving to replace a major appliance for several reasons, not the least is cost of use.
Energy efficiency is a luxury that is out of the financial reach of many, even those with the best of intentions. Perhaps you should be less judgemental and more curious about how others may be forced to live.
@JD, I hear you loud and clear. I’ve also heard a loud and clear message that we should all do our dead level best to use less energy, as in less carbon footprint type energy, and believe me, I am trying to do that.
My question to you is, are you trying to reduce the amount of energy that you personally consume or use? I’ve about exhausted all measures of reducing my carbon footprint short of committing suicide and disappearing from Earth.
@JD, like you, I arranged for one of those Duke Energy ‘how to save energy’ in-home visits. I suppose I was thinking the guy would identify areas in my home where energy was being wasted as in ‘leaks’ through windows or through doors or through other areas; however, boy, was I wrong! The Duke Energy guy entered my house with one apparent reason, to look for recessed ceiling light bulbs that he could replace with those ugly curly bulbs.
The Duke guy wanted to remove perfectly good and current ceiling bulbs with his cheap curly bulbs. After about 10 minutes, I asked the man to leave.
I drive a hybrid car and honestly don’t understand why anybody who bought a car in the last decade didn’t buy a hybrid – half the gasoline used for every mile driven.
I also do what I can to counteract the pseudoscience liberally distributed by the fossil fuel industry by teaching real energy science to almost anyone who will pay attention.
I also invest time here selling progressive political ideas which are the only reliable path to a viable future.
I have two homes both of which are occupied during the least energy intensive part of the year for their location.
My energy up north is delivered from Niagra Falls, the first huge sustainable power plant in the world. Down south my energy comes some from nuclear but mostly from natural gas. I wish more here came from solar but because we live in a condo and our power company is only interested in today’s costs not tomorrow’s that is not an option open to me.
We all have a different story. The only essential thing is that we’re paying attention, we’re progressive and we accept our responsibility for creating a viable future for other humans.
@Pete, first, your story is lessened because you admit to having 2 homes, one in New York and one in Florida. Just how many people relate to your old white male entitlement? Your goose is cooked. There is no need for a second story.
BSH, the bulbs that you prefer, but are no longer limited to, use about 80% of the energy that they consume to make heat and 20% to make light. That may (or may not) be useful in the winter but decidedly not in the summer.
BSH, sorry that your preferred exclusive world will always be denied you.
You have the control freak soul of a conservative.
BSH, Greetings! I am an old man who grew up on a farm in southeastern Indiana. There was no electricity, no running water nor any of the things that made life easy. We worked that farm with horses and broiled to death (not really) during the summer months and froze to death (not really) in the winter. There were some nice days and nights in between. I swore that when I got out of there in the late 40’s I would not live like that again if I could help it. Now I can afford to stay warm in the winter and cool in the summer and carbon-foot prints are not a part of my vocabulary. 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 Have a pleasant day Irvin BAA
BHS, Our energy assessment identified several ways to decrease our energy consumption that we were able to find the resources to change ourselves, doors and windows, faucets, as well as light bulbs which, by the way were free to us, much more efficient and will last many years longer. I have a rain barrel for watering and replace appliances as we can afford to do so. We also remodeled our pluming with low flow and wiring with the best we could afford. By the way, we do the labor ourselves as we have to make hard choices about how to pay for any of this. Maybe if you hadn’t shown the guy to the door after 10 minutes, since you obviously know so much more than he did, you might have surprised at what he could suggest. You need to get off your high horse and stop making assumptions that are based solely on your limited view from above.
Plumbing
@Pete, no, you have the clueless soul of an old white man who believes he has the privilege of claiming his right to owning two homes, one in New York and one in Florida. Aside from that, you expect the readership of this blog to believe that you alone are exempt from such entitlements.
Your words are lost in the cyber winds.
I do not think you relate to those who maintain a single residency. Not one bit do I or others relate to your maintaining two residences, one in New York and one in Florida, and then simultaneously offering your ideas to those who do not share your New York retiree entitlements.
Pete, you’re offering cheap advice from a viewpoint of one who does not live in Indiana, who has no plans ever to live in Indiana, and of one who is parlaying his advice in the wrong place.
@irvin, as you wrote so eloquently, “BSH, Greetings! I am an old man who grew up on a farm in southeastern Indiana. There was no electricity, no running water nor any of the things that made life easy. We worked that farm with horses and broiled to death (not really) during the summer months and froze to death (not really) in the winter. There were some nice days and nights in between. I swore that when I got out of there in the late 40’s I would not live like that again if I could help it. Now I can afford to stay warm in the winter and cool in the summer and carbon foot prints are not a part of my vocabulary. 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 Have a pleasant day Irvin BAA”
Irvin, you wrote what many will never undertand, but, Irvin, I understand your words which are the same words I heard as a youngster growing up from my grandfather and my father. These are words I will never forget, never ever forget. Thanks for sharing your truth and my truth. You made me smile, Irvin. 🙂
The future will be created by, and optimized for, progressives who adapt to what is today.
Conservatives whose sole focus is to stop progress will never achieve their goal which is power, control over others. Why? That’s simple. Democracy. The governed choosing who governs. The only path to freedom. Freedom at all is freedom for all. No permanent power for anyone.
Conservatives hate that. If they follow the fascist proven path to power the first freedom, right, to be compromised is speech. Censorship. Only what they believe in the public domain.
Insidious but proven.
@Pete, surely there must be blogs where you can post your insidious messages, maybe somewhere in Florida or New York.
Frankly, your messages have absolutely no resonance with folks in Indiana. Since we all know you have claimed residences in New York and in Florida (per your documented Online admissions), any further posts on a decidedly Indiana blog seem presumptuous on your part.
BSH, I’m sure that all Hoosiers appreciate you speaking for them. I guess that us New Yorkers and Floridians are more independent than that.
That might explain a lot.
@Pete, if you want a committed audience, then get your stuff together in New York or in Florida. Don’t try to piggy-back your stuff on folks in Indiana.
BSH Greetings again. I had to back track on my swear while in Korea. I both froze (not really) and broiled (not really) again. but I got thru it and then I got to where I am now. Comfortable and happy. Warm and Cool as needed. Thanks for your response. It made me 🙂 Irvin
Pete, let’s put it this way. All your prognostications, all your guesses into the future whether in New York or basically wherever you ever lived, Pete, have amounted to nothing more than a fart in a broader whirlwind.
So, now, Pete, you’re taking your record of failures to the Internet as if you’re some misunderstood guru from the Midwest. You are not misunderstood, we are being kind, we simply want you to admit that you are more than dumb, that you are totally clueless.
BSH, here’s how non-Hoosiers operate.
We don’t believe in censorship. We each choose what we read and what we write. If we choose to read someone’s opinion we decide on the degree that we believe it’s valid. To whatever degree we have an opposing opinion we argue our perspective and engage in debate.
That’s called learning.
You have me confused about Hoosiers. Sheila, who’s a Hoosier, offers profound opinions very well defended. You on the other hand seem like the kind of person who would live in a state only slightly better than Mississippi in most measures of progress.
Which is it? Who represents the average Hoosier?
@Pete, censorship of your New York and your Florida ideas are the last things I’d wish; however, I ‘d hope you realize that your out-of-state wishes are simply nothing more than the wishes from someone from afar.
Seriously, Pete, are there no blogs, no current Internet outlets where you, as a dual citizen of New York and Florida, can post your relevant thoughts about the New York and the Florida decisions that impact your life?
I’m left a bit aghast that you, Pete, believe that your comments on a decidedly Indiana blog make a good rat’s patoot of difference. Are there no blogs in Florida or in New York where you might make a larger difference?
I learn a great deal from Sheila and many others who post here. I assume that people like you who disagree with me would either not read my posts or offer a well supported counter opinion.
I’ll probably never understand why that expectation doesn’t work for you.
BSH–and to a lesser extent, Pete–I think it is time I stepped in and suggested that you both “cool it.” I have no problem with spirited disagreements over the subject-matter being discussed, but your back-and-forths are getting close to personal invective, and that is a no-no on this particular platform. Please desist.
Sheila, I’ve no problem with backing off.
“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.”
~~~ T. S. Eliot
Good call Sheila.
@Louie, yes, Sheila made a good call. She saved me just in time. And, I appreciate her call.
@Joanne you are so right on! I could not have hoped to articulate my perspective more accurately! So, thanks for that. In addition I would like to add, that despite the 7 month ‘made for TV series’: “America Today, and It’s Future, Caught on Tape!” this is now no longer an entertaining, or fascinating puzzle to view as it develops, but now a horror film. Today, one of the commentators on MSNBC said that there was a very real possibility that Trump could beat Hillary. I’m terrified. …I never thought that anyone with solid experience in this mileau, educated. and informed could ever say such a possibility could become real?! Help me here! !!