General Discussion

And share, your fear of the issue being manipulated through media. Please let me try to provide my reasoning.

In my experience in conflict management, a pattern repeats in the midst of any conflict. The side that perceives it is losing in the negotiation shows an increased emotional response, and begins to abandon central tenets of it's core argument in favor of more loudly proclaiming it's general righteousness. Trying to raise the temperature of the conversation, in order to distract from the real issues.

That tactic is amazingly effective with folks who are not trained in conflict management (as we see with most of the maga and maga-adjacent). They buy into the hotter temps, and add their own to the mix. Doesn't solve any problem, but it lets off some steam.

To a trained ear, it just tells me that you fear you're losing.

I'm an African-American man, in an interracial marriage, with bi-racial adult children. Given those facts, the events of the past decade have been disconcerting, to say the least.

And yet, the human part of me (the part that is independent of my descrptors, and common to us all) simply will not allow me to exhibit fear in the face of intentional chaos and tyranny.

The magas make the most noise when they're most scared. We can't fall for the okey-doke. They can rage and froth while we are simultaneously fine. Our heart rates need not rise a beat. Raging and frothing will wear my ass out quick, but I can be fine for a long, long time. Think sprint, but don't forget about the marathon.

Mr. Obama and I were born 18 hours apart. As a fellow Leo, I have a sense of the fight in him. Defending an indictment wouldn't be fun, but it would be useful. Best of all, his defense would be grounded in facts, in the truth, and those work good in court.

I believe we must resolutely stand on truth. Sometimes it hurts, but there's no freedom like it.