Caution: bumpy political post ahead

Sharing this on my Facebook wall as well:

Folks, I wish I could ignore what's going on with America and just post funny stuff all the time. But the truth is, like so many others, I am alarmed by the things I'm witnessing on a daily basis. I will NOT be silent, ignore, or dismiss it. Because when you do those things, we know what happens, don't we? Refer to Hitler and the Holocaust if you're unsure.

Before I move forward, let's get a few things straight:

To quote my friend Traci D.: "...my timeline is not a democracy. It is where I post my feelings, funny memes and videos, outrage, encouragement, and anecdotes about my pets. If you don’t agree with something I’ve posted, that’s fine. Keep scrolling."

Yes, this is my Queendom. Not a democracy. I post what I want, when I want, and use the words I want. Your approval is neither asked for nor needed. You are not welcome to tell me what to say, how to say it, to shame me, or guilt me for speaking my mind (especially if you are MALE!).

Don't send me private messages addressing me as 'little lady' or anything of that nature while upbraiding me for using curse words, either. I will fucking scorch your ass (and the area around you) using what my husband terms my 'verbal napalm.'

If my mother(s), father(s), brother(s), and two husband(s) couldn't contain my outspoken and blunt nature, there is ZERO chance you will succeed. So don't even go there. Shut your trap and scroll on by for your own sake.

To be blunt, I DON'T CARE IF YOU AGREE WITH ME. If you do, great; if you don't, so be it. This is my personal space and it's for MY thoughts/opinions/posts. Your approval is NOT needed. Use your own wall (or blog) to post how you feel. That's what it's there for.

If you support Trump, time and hindsight will be your strict teachers and demonstrate how you were on the wrong side of history anyway, so I need only to wait to prove how I was correct and you were not. It's a given.

Now that I've gotten those things out of the way:

My country is not perfect by any means. But it is my home country and I love it. I am NOT OKAY with a foreign power having their hands in our election process and influencing it, and I'm NOT OKAY with a president who treats our allies like shit while giving aid and comfort to Putin and Russia.

And may I remind you that we are NOW talking about TRUMP. Not Hillary, not Obama, not Benghazi, or any of the other talking points used to curve the narrative to other subjects besides the most important one RIGHT NOW, which is the CURRENT TRUMP PRESIDENCY. Hillary lost, Obama is out of office, the Benghazi investigation turned up a Nothing Burger. STAY WITH THE CURRENT ISSUE AT HAND, which is the hydra of evil known as the TRUMP presidency.

I no longer see the GOP as what I used to recognize as the Republican Party. Instead, it's Trump's Party. It's a festering boil fed by too many members engaging in xenophobia, racism, white supremacy, misogyny, and homophobia. I've seen a lot of friends who used to be Republicans leave the GOP and become Libertarians or unaffiliated because they, too, no longer recognize what used to be their own political party. They're not okay with the shady shit that's going on. In other words, they put America before Trump's Party, which is how it should be.

I care too much about this country to remain oblivious, silent, or dismissive of what's going on with 45 and his administration. I will not be one of those people who turns away and pretends not to see the outrageous events that are occurring on a daily basis. So, while I'll still post funny stuff and the usual banter, you can also expect that I won't ignore issues that have a huge impact on this country and my fellow/sister Americans.

You can choose to: ignore what I post, unfollow me, or unfriend me. Do what you must. But in the scheme of things, what YOU do is of little concern to me when compared to the larger, more important issues of how the United States is being torn apart and gutted from the inside by an insidious, traitorous administration, all the while being aided by the GOP, who are inarguably complicit in this entire fiasco.

We are the lucky ones. For now.

I'm getting ready to make dinner and I can't stop thinking about Aleppo. To paraphrase my daughter, she said she's in her comfy apartment, watching movies with her fiance, and these horrific things are happening in Aleppo (and elsewhere, I might add).

You know, Paul and I live in a 30-ft RV. We don't have a permanent home and we don't know what the future holds for us. And right now, it's pretty damned scary for some of us in the United States of America, and on a global scale. Any of us could be part of what's happening in Aleppo in the near future.

Things can and do change in an instant, and big, holy-shit! events can happen when you least expect it -- or even when you do. This is not news, as it's always been that way. But lately, I've had a lot of things on my mind. And lately I've been thinking how it's best to appreciate the small things, the good things, the hopeful things as much as you can because nothing is guaranteed and nothing is set in stone.

This, again, is nothing new. But sometimes you have to have your country, your world, and your mind rocked out of its sockets to remind yourself of that. To remind yourself that one night you could be making dinner and watching Netflix, and a year from now you may have no dinner at all -- and you sure as hell won't have Netflix, because that would be the last thing on your mind.

I don't know what the future holds for any of us. But I do know that it's up to all of us to bring about a country -- and a world -- we all want to live in TOGETHER. And I don't know where any of this is going because this is a stream-of-consciousness post. Except that maybe I wanted to tell you all that, no matter what does happen to any of us, I want to thank you for your presence in my life, even if it's been through Facebook. Maybe you've made me laugh, cry, get pissed off, or whatever...but you affected me in some way, and that has made me grow as a person.

I don't know about you, but I have more life to live and more goals, ambitions, and dreams to pursue. Like you, I want to spend more time with my kids and I am looking forward to holding my first grandbaby. I'm not done here yet, you're not done here yet, this country isn't done yet, and this world damn sure isn't.

So this is a reminder that it's up to us to make the world a better place, in whatever way we can, and even if it's a small daily thing...because small acts add up and influence events and people. There is no 'us' and 'them.' The truth is there's only *us*, and we've gotta find a way to make all of this work out for the present and the future. If we don't, there's no going back.

Now I'm going to walk into my small kitchenette and make dinner. And my thoughts won't be on dinner, but many other things instead. I don't have a big home, a huge kitchen, or any property to call my own save for this RV, but tonight I am in a relatively safe place with food and shelter, which is a lot more than others can say.

Paul and our family are not being massacred by Assad's forces or burned alive, as some reports are saying. The feeling of helplessness is overwhelming. Women and children are NOT being spared in Aleppo. And all for what? For what, I ask you? I KNOW the so-called reasons...but ALL FOR WHAT?

Life is short and precious. All of this -- THIS -- goes away. Your big house, your food, your possessions, your...THINGS, countries, ideologies. Your body ceases to exist. As for your soul...well, we all know we can't or don't agree on that. But the pain, suffering, horror...it's too much to wrap one's head around. And it seems so needless in the end. Doesn't it? It does, at least for me.

And here we will sit, eating dinner soon, but there will be a lump in my throat and tears welling in my eyes because we are the lucky ones. At least for now.