Emergency: Somebody Please Dial 9-1-1

Oh, please — Stop equivocating with this Trump nonsense. Remember, this is the Central Park Five non-apologist; the Obama birther liar; the monster who called Sen. John McCain “a loser” for becoming a Vietnam War POW (while he shirked the draft); the “Stand Back And Stand By” racist hate-monger; the Insurrection Leader; the former president who clearly — and illegally — took the USA’s top secrets (for no good earthly reason, to be sure). 

From the moment he descended on his Trump Tower golden escalator to decry Mexicans, the sorry media has given this guy a platinum pass. Let him hide his taxes. Let him keep making money and enriching deals as prez. Let him shake Putin’s hands while shoving aside NATO ally Montenegro’s leader in a photo op. Let him have extramarital affairs with hush money at hand. Watch him get impeached — TWICE.

Suffer as we watch him let hundreds of thousands of Americans die needlessly from COVID-19 because, he says, he didn’t think Americans could handle the awful truth. Let him declare, without any real pushback, that he does not believe in science when climate change is closing upon us. Let him toss paper towels in Puerto Rico as hundreds of Americans perish and billions get spent to enrich his cronies. See his daughter and son-in-law get rich in the White House (although they can’t get security clearances). Watch the Trump Hotel host lavish soirées, paid by the Saudis who dismembered an American journalist.

The list goes on, and on, and on, and…Just call 9-1-1, for the sake of democracy.

Legacies Made and Gone

Two sporting Joes, both famous and toughly knit from Pennsylvania, died this week. They died in different ways, one whose body fell to illness, the other whose body of work fell to the illness of winning at all costs.

Joe Frazier succumbed to kidney cancer at age 67. Now after his last breath, the son of Philadelphia is being fondly remembered as a champion. His iron will matched an iron determination. He was consistent. He could  be counted on in victory and defeat.

The same can’t be said for Joe Paterno, whose godlike, 46-year reign at Pennsylvania State University will live way beyond Paterno’s last moment on this earth.He won’t be so fondly remembered, no matter what various courts of law and public opinion come to conclude.

For decades, Paterno forged a football legacy of truth, honor, courage, commitment -- yes, sacrifice -- for the team. They won national championships and were bowl perennials. Penn State emulated the best of collegiate sports.

Now, way beyond the collegiate sports world, the globe has judged Paterno lacking, his legacy corrupt, the Penn State brand facing continued ignominy. Even Moody’s investments is considering a downgrade, considering untold court cases soon to make the school liable for millions of dollars in payments to the sex-abuse victims and their families.

It is the Penn State family that will face the ultimate test. But they already have the answers. Just follow the truth/honor/courage/commitment/sacrifice mantra from here on out.

Those are the best embers to be taken from these sorry ashes.