Good Morning.
So let's discuss the subject of maturity, not the kind that grays the hair and creases the skin, but the ability to behave with a reasonable amount of dignity and respectfulness for one's fellow humans, even to empathize with them, imagine such a thing.
At the CPAC convention this past Friday, the conservatives once again tainted their already tarnished image with boorish conduct encouraged by a president who seems to do that at his rallies. I think of the more elegant commentators who embrace the conservative philosophy and wonder how they sleep at night - people like George F. Will, Bill Kristol, and Peggy Noonan. The CPAC attendees on Friday were not like them. They booed when the president mentioned that Senator John McCain had voted against one of the many tax reform bills up for consideration, obviously unmoved by the fact that the man has terminal brain cancer. Dear God, even small children don't do stuff like that.
The president also threw out, for the millionth time, a barb about his opponent during the 2016 general election and the
audience immediately started yelling "Lock her up! Lock her up!" Apart from the fact that it has overtones of Lord of the Flies, it's getting really old. Hey, General Mike Flynn led the chant during the Republican convention and look what happened
to him. The thing about conduct unbecoming an officer comes to mind.
The president touted the wonders of the coal industry, blamed everyone on earth but the NRA for the school shootings, and expressed his delight at withdrawing the United States from the Paris Climate Accord. He rambled on and on, hopping from
topic to topic guaranteed to get him cheers and applause, but then he told his famous story about a woman who befriends a
snake and is eventually bitten by it. The snake tells the woman that she knew he was a snake before she took him in. And then the president compared the snake to the immigrants wanting to come to the United States. That flat out offends my spiritual sensibilities, such as they are.
There also was the comment by Ian Walters, CPAC communications director, about Michael Steele, former chairman of the Republican National Committee. "We elected Michael Steele RNC chair because he was a black guy. That was the wrong thing to do," Walters said at a dinner and apparently there were a few gasps in the room, probably because at least a handful of people knew the remark was just plain crummy.
Let's see. Steele, a Catholic, is a graduate of Johns Hopkins and Villanova. He got his law degree from Georgetown and was lieutenant governor of Maryland. His views are clearly in the conservative column, but he isn't like the mouthy types that were at the CPAC convention; he's a class act, always thoughtful in his commentary when he appears on a variety of news shows. When asked to respond to Walters' remarks, Steele said the words were "disappointing" and "immature". My sentiments exactly.
And finally, the response to my positive blog this past Friday was, well, so positive that I'll include something pleasant
today. My cousin has adopted a rescue dog whose owner had to go into hospice. The dog's name is Charlotte and I wish them well. I also wish the president would change his perceptions about immigrants from creatures that bite to ones who are grateful.
Best regards,
Elisabeth
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