The late, great President John F. Kennedy once said; “The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie – deliberate, contrived and dishonest, but the myth, persistent persuasive, and unrealistic. Belief in myths allows the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.” As Mr. Trump continues to move forward relentlessly through all of the adversity and rightful pounding that he is taking and convince far too many people that he and his campaign were in no way involved with Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election, I could not prevent myself from reflecting on the poem ‘Invictus’ by William Ernest Henley; it follows:
“Out of the night that covers me, black as the pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be for my unconquerable soul,
In the fell clutch of circumstance I have not winced nor cried aloud. Under the bludgeonings of chance my head is bloody but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears looms but the horror of the shade, and yet the menace of the years finds, and will find me, unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate, how charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.”
Invoking this poem is not meant in any way, directly or implicitly, to state that I believe that the way that Mr. Trump is comporting himself as the leader of America is honorable or warranted and that he is being treated unfairly by the press and the public. As a matter of fact, I find his behavior deplorable. That notwithstanding, over time, famous and infamous people and honorable and dishonorable people have quoted this poem or have quoted portions of it. Among those people were; Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandela, President Barrack Obama and even American domestic terrorist Timothy McVeigh.
However, what it is meant to state is that Mr. Trump is an extremely tough and determined man who is extremely dangerous and just happens to be the most powerful man in the world! And since the way that he is conducting himself has obviously gained traction with our Republican led congress and they are blindly supporting him, it is extremely important that all of the American people take notice of what is happening, remain vigilant – and in November, take action to replace Mr. Trump and those elected officials who are supporting him.
Of course, Mr. Trump and his supporters have the right to express their feelings about how they believe America should be run and fight for those beliefs. But it has been shown via polls many times already that they are in the minority; that their way of thinking is not who Americans are. To be able to effectively address this problem is only one among many of the reasons why all Americans, especially those who are of voting-age, must get informed, stay informed about politics and vote. We must be made to realize that all elections, from local level to federal level, are important. You should determine right now that whether or not you agree with and support Mr. Trump, you are going to get informed, stay informed and always fulfill your civic responsibility.
America has always been great, is great now, and will continue to be great as long as all of us do our part to assure that those whom we elect to be our leaders will be true statesmen and will uphold their oath to the Constitution and carry out their sworn duty to protect America against all enemies foreign and domestic. That is not what they are doing now. Instead, it is as if they have sworn an oath to Mr. Trump and the Republican party rather than to the Constitution. And we can rest assured that If we refuse to do our part by failing to perform our civic duty, we will inevitably end up in Trump’s America or a mirror image of it just under a different name.
So whether you are a Democrat, Republican or Independent, always remember, your vote is the most important one of all…unless you don’t use it! Help keep America great; be sure that you get informed, stay informed, and vote from this point forward!
Eulus Dennis – author, Operation Rubik’s Cube and Living Between The Line