Good morning,
I wrote this more than 4 years ago and present Cri der Coeur to you unedited from the July 16, 2016 writing. I hope that you will take a few minutes to read and think about what is written before voting tomorrow. -Zeny
July 30,
2016
Cri de Coeur
To My
Friends, Family and Artist Pals,
At an art
show yesterday, a fellow artist asked me a question about the upcoming
Presidential election. She expressed sadness and a lack of comprehension as to
why so many of our citizens have voted in the primaries, and would consider
voting in the general election for such a man. “What can we do”?, she asked me.
I replied
that recently I’ve asked myself the same question and have decided to act. I
told her that I would write to my friends, acquaintances and some collectors
that I know and for whom I have an e-mail address to state my point of view.
To many of
you who know me well, I’ll be preaching to the choir, to others, you may be
saying, “we like Zeny and/or his artwork, but he’s simply much too progressive
to have anything to say to me”, and there might one group that haven’t yet made
up their minds.
I hope that
all of you will spend a few minutes listening to what I am about to say.
I thought
that things he said at beginning of his campaign seem almost unbelievable,
statements that he surely wouldn’t continue expressing. At the start, he seemed more or less a side
show to the ‘serious’, ‘regular’ candidates of his party that he so railed
against, belittled and bullied. He gave some of us an injection of incredulity
as he continually made me, and others, exclaim…’can you believe what this guy said today! Or, we may have thought that a particularly onerous
statement would surely sink his campaign; but, amazingly, he persisted in
saying the most crude, hurtful, ignorant and dangerous statements imaginable;
seemingly unconcerned or perhaps unknowing of the impact. It didn’t negatively
affect his polling numbers or voters, however.
He
repeatedly seemed to me to be singularly uneducated in basic tenets of
international geopolitics or of any history at all. Nor, did he appear to be
interested in becoming schooled in the elementary points of diplomacy, domestic
policy or military history. In fact, he seemed to regale in know-nothing positions
or told those who asked for a position statement that ‘he’d look into that’.
One of the
most difficult things for me to understand was his ability to consistently lie
about almost everything and not even seem to care. When he would be questioned
about a false statement he made, he’d double and triple down on it and shout
louder while belittling the questioner. He said so many false things, made so
many false statements that for the average citizen, it was impossible to have a
normal life and still find the time it takes to fact-check his statements. It
was an unending, cascading waterfall of braggadocio, lies and bullying.
I think the
press finally just gave up in frustration, assuming that someone making such
outrageous, bullying statements would not be around much longer as the
primaries progressed. And, the thing is, his followers didn’t seem to care
about his false, outrageous statements, didn’t know the difference or, were so
disenchanted with their lives and the perceived direction of the country that
they were willing to disregard his skewed point of view or his crude, 5th
grade bullying. He bullied, made fun of and ridiculed all sorts of people, not
just his opponents. Of course, his opponents now became everyone who criticized
him in the slightest way… as well as the many who happened to be Mexican,
female, POW’s, disabled, Muslim and many others.
So, why
would people vote for someone who would say the things he said? His followers
simply didn’t seem to care, leading him to say "I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot
somebody and I wouldn't lose voters,"
What does that say about his supporters, what
does that say about the candidate and about America?
That statement was only about the
100th, any one of which that he has made that would destroy almost
any other candidacy; but he continued on his scorched-earth march to the White
House. And he will continue that march to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue unless we
all deeply consider what this would lead to…and then vote in November.
Perhaps the press should have some
blame in the rise of this person for not fact- checking and calling him out,
playing for sales and ratings; equating every bombastic quotation to more
viewers, listeners and eyeballs, resulting in greater profits. Perhaps it is
his party to blame, taken by surprise and unable to control their restive base.
At this point, it doesn’t matter because it’s up to all of the people in our
country to carefully consider what we are witnessing.
Some of the
things he touted in the beginning made some sense to me. I would comment to a
close friend that he seemed to have a few ideas that I could go along with such
as…NATO countries paying a greater share of their own defense or a closer look
at international trade agreements that were not good for our economy and
country. There always a caveat, however, for me when I said that. “But, he makes so many crazy, ignorant,
dangerous statements”.
I don’t want my children and
grandkids to ask me what I did to prevent this man from becoming our President
and have nothing to answer. I’m personally embarrassed and embarrassed for our country that we have
a candidate who seems to have no stable inner core of honest self-worth, sense
of empathy or understanding of basic tenets of humanity. He just doesn’t seem
to care what he says and when there is a heavy push back, he denies ever saying
what he said the day before. Words matter to me. I’m personally embarrassed and
saddened that we have a candidate for President that is so crude in his speech
and actions and so bereft of ideas to improve the life of all Americans. As a
country, as a people, we have never, ever countenanced such a person in our
public life attaining such a high level of politics or culture.
Looking
ahead 3-4 years, we may say…’Why did educated, church-going, kind Americans
embrace such a dangerous man? Perhaps it’s the long years of real economic
hardship and the war on terror begun after the 9/11 disaster? When people
become angry enough or desperate enough, sometimes they’ll support crazies who
would never even attract a crowd in normal circumstances let alone come to
power.
I ask you to
look into your heart and honestly ask yourself if you’d want your kids or
grandkids to act and be like him. What kind of country would we have…filled with
people who have so little empathy for his fellow citizens or sense of
intellectual curiosity for the sciences or for public policy and history? I ask
you, who among you constantly brags in public about your accomplishments? Who
among you lies and dissembles on a continuing basis? Who among you ridicules,
bullies and threatens those who are different or less fortunate than you?
I would not presume to tell you how
to vote, or even if to vote. I simply want to appeal to your sense of humanity
and dignity of the office of the President and ask yourself if this man is
really the person to lead our nation and by extension, all of the nations of
the world. Each person can make a difference in how our nation is to be
administered in the coming years.
Thanks for your
time.
Zeny
If you wish,
you may forward this on to your pals.
