Guns and us

By LISA BAUER
Posted 8/21/19

Here it is, a power outage. I don’t know, maybe it’s for the best not to know what’s going on in the world. Just the other week, the police were down the street from our house …

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Guns and us

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Here it is, a power outage. I don’t know, maybe it’s for the best not to know what’s going on in the world. Just the other week, the police were down the street from our house investigating the swastika painted in the street in front of the playground—this, after a weekend of two mass shootings. And then on television, the cries of children for their parents ripped away from them by ICE in Mississippi. How much more can we take as a nation with this perfidious president, head of the swampiest of swamps? And then there is Moscow Mitch sitting on legislation on behalf of the gun lobby. How can we as a nation put the rights of guns before the rights of our children’s and our own well-being? I suppose the Wild West this country was known for continues.

What’s with these white supremacists? They idealize a movement that was badly defeated in World War II, and for good reason. I was born into post-World War II Germany and saw the grim faces of widowed women, women who were the victims of rape and starvation, and of men savaged by two world wars. I played in those ruins that held the ghosts of dead prisoners of war and officers of that inhumane deadly Nazi regime; I saw the shamefulness of the German people for what they had participated in.

For years, I felt shame and guilt for being German. There is no way to glorify that past. In the end, Hitler did not care about his people or what he had gotten them into. Same as Trump, he was only out for himself and the power he wielded. Like Trump, he used Jews and others as scapegoats. As long as he could point to the other and put the blame on them, he held grip on his powers. I feel badly for those people who unthinkingly follow Trump. They have no idea of what they are doing to themselves.

In this vast universe, we, all of us, share this one little spaceship called earth. The way we disrespect each other and the world we live in will surely lead to our untimely extinction. It’s difficult for me to believe that here on earth we do not have the resources to take care of one another—to ensure that we all have the basics required to maintain a healthy, fulfilling life without destroying our planet and each other…

I can’t imagine putting up with five more years of Trump. We must oust this shyster, or history will surely repeat itself, and our children will be the ones playing in the ruins. I don’t know the origins of this saying but I believe we must all attempt to “live simply so others can simply live.” No one is above the law, nor is anyone superior to another being. We’re all unique individuals sharing common bonds. We must all do our part to end this madness we are living in in this country.

P.S. I asked my Irish-American husband if “president” should be capitalized. He responded not for this one.

Lisa was born and raised in Ingolstadt, West Germany. She moved to New York City and became a U.S. citizen at age 19. Arriving in Narrowsburg 30 years ago, she worked for The River Reporter and Linda’s Flower Shop before opening Lisa’s place, a coffee shop and hangout on Main Street. She eventually moved to Key West, FL where she worked for the Monroe County juvenile program before retiring three years ago.

swastikas, hate crimes, World War II, Trump

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