Katharine Lee Bates asks: "America - Are You Still Beautiful?"

No Bob Dylan but just as Uplifting 

Sometimes when you are really down the words of a great song can lift you up. In fact there is a great example - "Up Where We Belong" (Jack Nitzsche, Buffy Sainte-Marie and Will Jennings) as performed by Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes.

There are many of them if you spend time looking. Just today I reviewed all the words to American Pie (Don McLean) which is deliberately open to interpretation but really makes you think.

So here is another inspiring classic written by Katherine Lee Bates - "America The Beautiful" (music by Samuel A. Ward .) I had never seen all of the verses and include them below. Perhaps the warring parties - yes plural as in the two of them - in America today should all read them. They are a bit lengthy for Donald J. Trump and some of his minions, but the sincere leaders should think long and hard about what they are currently doing.

Are they preserving the beautiful country or destroying it? It seems more the latter to most of us. What a shame.

(Bold Italics are MINE)

O beautiful for spacious skies,

For amber waves of grain
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern impassioned stress
A thoroughfare of freedom beat
Across the wilderness!

America! America!
God mend thine every flaw

Confirm thy soul in self-control

Thy liberty in law!

O beautiful for heroes proved
In liberating strife
Who more than self their country loved
And mercy more than life!

America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness
And every gain divine!

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for halcyon skies
For amber waves of grain
For purple mountain majesties
Above the enameled plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till souls wax fair as earth and air
And music-hearted sea!

O beautiful for pilgrims feet
Whose stem impassioned stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till paths be wrought through
Wilds of thought
By pilgrim foot and knee!

O beautiful for glory-tale
Of liberating strife
When once and twice
For man's avail
Men lavished precious life!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till selfish gain no longer stain
The banner of the free!

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till nobler men keep once again
Thy whiter jubilee!

I suspect Ms. Bates is not resting in peace.

#thebrewsterblock

Biden Embarrasses Trump

Daffy Duck Trump. Elmer Fudd Trump. Take your Pick.

Biden just embarrassed Trump without even trying. What a difference! Trump sounds like a cartoon character by comparison.

I just heard Biden on Memorial Day. What a great speech. He hit all the right notes in all the right places. Was he reading it? It didn't look like it and there were only a couple of minor verbal slips, instantly corrected. It was right up there with Obama.

THAT was a Presidential speech. Trump couldn't possibly have done it. Even if someone whispered it into his ear as it progressed, he couldn't have done it.

After four years of staged, monotone, nonsense, and lies, it is great to see and hear a passionate, caring, and eloquent leader in charge of the USA once again.

Congratulations Joe and congratulations to all the Warriors lost, still serving, and their families. Biden meant every word and you should all be proud. You deserve it.

All lives matter especially after they are lost defending the country so other Americans can make the most of theirs. So go ahead and enjoy it - but be grateful, not hateful.

Words matter too. Thanks for your wise ones Mr. President.

#thebrewsterblock

Republicans Guilty by Disassociation

New GOP Symbol is Three Monkeys

The Republicans should change their symbol from an elephant to three monkeys: Mizaru - See No evil; Kikazaru - Hear No Evil; Iwazaru - Speak No Evil.

It seems appropriate today since most of the Trump lemmings want to ignore and forget January 6, 2021. The problem is they don't really want to forget it. What they want is a second but successful insurrection.

Most people including me thought the monkeys simply represent turning a blind eye; looking the other way; or feigning ignorance of something we know is wrong. In the article below by Richard Cassaro, the true meaning of the famous monkeys and what they symbolize is examined. It is very interesting.

The Secret Occult Meaning of the "Three Wise Monkeys" Hidden by the Elite - Richard Cassaro

I mention it in passing because it is also applicable. Apparently the real significance of the monkeys has been known since their origin by those elite people who run various societies. In brief you should never allow yourself to either see or hear true evil because it will enter you and become part of your person, affecting your behaviour - like violence on the news and in video games. If you speak evil it shows that it is now part of you and what you say.

As examples, the elitists who control the stock market and media, are happy to perpetuate the secret. It keeps us subdued and we never really see what is going on. Bad news sells and preoccupies us so we don't fight back.

The point of today's post however is something else. I am trying to understand why the GOP members who still support the Big Lie voted against an investigation into January 6th to give Americans a chance to prevent another attack in the future.

I am taking a layperson's approach and these are the only possibilities I come up with:

1. Some in Congress or the Senate are real accessories and legally liable
2. They think that whatever the conclusions, it will hurt the GOP party and therefore their own jobs and careers
3. They think that Trump still has influence over those same jobs and careers and will do and say anything to avoid offending him
4. They might not be accessories but in their minds they wish the vote had indeed been overturned through violence or by any means
5. Some know it was wrong and has to be avoided in future at all costs but they are still Republicans at heart and as yet there is no alternative party to call home
6. They are mere puppets of their constituents who wanted the insurrection to succeed. To protect their jobs they are doing what their electors want rather than resign or try to convince those electors to change beliefs
7. They are verifiable dingbats. Several names come to mind
8. They somehow think it is their job to oppose anything which the Democrats initiate even if they will have equal representation on any committee

Perhaps I could squeak out a couple more but here is the major point:

Not one of the above demonstrates love of country or respect for their oath to defend her and the constitution. They are all about politics and selfishness.

Any other suggestions? Please comment.

#thebrewsterblock