America’s New Breed of Freedom Fighters: Law of Attraction Guide for Democrats, 3rd edition by Evelyn Roberts Brooks - HTML preview

THE HEART OF PROGRESS

"We are in the preliminary stage

of one of the greatest battles in history."

Winston Churchill, May 1940

 

1. CODE BLUE

The informal term for a situation in which a hospital patient is going into cardiac arrest and needs immediate help is "CODE BLUE!"

On November 9, 2016, the United States of America was jolted into a CODE BLUE condition.

And, oddly enough, the BLUE WAVE is the solution for bringing this patient back to a thriving state and on the road to recovery and greater health.

This may sound strange, but it's actually a good thing that the "urgent care" team needed to rush to the scene—because it's not just this patient's "heart" that needs help. The entire body is filled with issues that have grown cancerous.

Many social, financial, medical, and environmental issues have come to the forefront because of Trump's election. Millions of people who never felt the urge to become involved in petitions or marches are fired up and ready to do their part to resuscitate our beautiful country.

Following are just some of the national ailments and wounds that are now out in the open and being discussed. These can be seen as part of the bigger problem of a dying patient, who requires life support and healing in many areas in order to recover and thrive: --The ancient culture of patriarchy that allows men to fondle, grope, sexually assault women in the name of male entitlement, and then claim that either his victim is lying, or she invited the activity. #MeToo stories are busting this old culture wide open. We won't go back again.

-- Health care, Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare. As a wealthy, technologically advanced nation, we have the responsibility to help all our citizens obtain the five basic necessities of life: food, clothing, shelter, transportation and health care. And yet, Trump's Administrations and the Republicans in Congress are eager to rescind established support. Why? Because big business profits and kickbacks are more important to them than the citizens of the United States.

-- Freedom of speech. Did you know that, when Donald Trump found out about

the book Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House by Michael Wolff, he demanded that the publisher cease and desist publishing it? Macmillan refused. Score one for Freedom of Speech, but gag rules are the order of the day with Republicans, who scramble like crazy to undo what they were heard saying and try to refute words that are in writing.

-- Immigration and the Mexican Border Wall. I don't think anyone denies that we need sensible regulations related to immigration, work permits, student visas, etc. But Trump's "solution" is to build a $33 billion wall (estimated cost), and to deport thousands of people who have lived and worked in our country, and the DREAMERS, too. Indeed, the Republican Party's approach to immigration is a malignant growth that must be excised.

I'm sure you can add to this list. Just take a look at today's headlines and your Twitter feed to see the rampant destruction Trump and his team are enacting each day. Their actions are well documented by recordings in their own words, in newspaper, television and radio interviews, by Congressional records, and social media shares from their own thumbs.

 

2. THE GARDEN OF DEMOCRACY

Democracy is government by the common people. Voters elect their representatives, and those reps are supposed to pay attention to what their constituents want.

In a recent speech at the Economic Club of Chicago, Barack Obama cited Hitler's rise to power in Germany as a cautionary, chilling example of the direction the United States is heading under the Trump Administration.

The former president said, "I do think because we've been so wealthy and so successful that we get complacent and assume that things continue the way they have been, just automatically. And they don't. You have to tend to this garden of democracy, otherwise things can fall apart fairly quickly. And we've seen societies where that happens."

Moving away from the example of the Nazis and their Fascist regime which slaughtered millions of people, let's look to a more commonplace scene that is closer to home.

Imagine the worst bullies of the school yard have been given a hall pass and the keys to the office safe as well as the keys to the gate for the students' vegetable garden. What do you suppose they'll do? Will they stay true to their inner paradigm of contempt for everyone else, or magically become model students just because they've been given a responsibility they never trained for? Will they lovingly protect the rights of the students, or trample all over them?

Trump's staff members have admitted in the media that since they never expected him to win, no plan for administration of the nation was even drafted. While Trump was gleefully tweeting nuclear threats to North Korea, his underlings were vainly trying to find what the Trump Administration had set in place as a strategy for handling a nuclear threat if it came our way instead of being outgoing. They didn't find a plan. Because nothing had been done, other than moving into the White House and setting up their offices.

Incompetent is hardly a strong enough word to describe Trump and his team.

When we look at the words "common people" we shouldn't instantly think of red vs. blue states, or Republicans vs. Democrats. Party divisions have shifted and changed dramatically over the years, particularly since 1964. If you take a moment to search the history of the two main political parties of this country, you may be surprised to see Republican Party agendas in Abraham Lincoln's time that champion immigrant rights and abolition of slavery, and Democratic party agendas in the early 20th century that promote giving power to corporate entities.

Today, with the extremist right wing's having taken over the Republican Party, the line between Democrats and Republicans has become a sharp difference in two ideologies, and it seems that never the twain shall meet.

However, if sanity can prevail in the grassroots of the Republican Party, and they institute reform of their platform, and vote out the extremists who have given their party a vile reputation, then they will have a chance to restore a party of decent values.

Republicans, if you are disgusted by the actions of the Trump administration and the Republicans in Congress, consider taking a page from Theodore Roosevelt's book. He left the Republican Party in 1912 and founded the short-lived "Progressive Party" also known as the "Bull Moose Party."

John Avion, CNN Contributor, summarizes that reform party's agenda by saying, "[Theodore] Roosevelt's Progressive Party definitely did not shy away from taking fearless stands on the vital issues of the day. The party's platform backed giving women the right to vote, the abolition of child labor, minimum wages, social security, public health standards, wildlife conservation, workman's compensation, insurance against sickness and unemployment, lobbying reform, campaign finance reform and election reform."

Doesn't that sound much more like the Democratic Party of today than the Republicans? That's why I feel it's dangerous to make sweeping statements that label "all" Republicans as being against social change and the rights of the individual. Many millions of Republican voters are simply hypnotized by Fox News and think they are learning the facts about Trump and his Administration.

While we tend to our Garden of Democracy, let's look to the words of the Dalai

Lama in his new book, An Appeal to the World: The Way to Peace in a Time of

Division

The book is the compilation of interviews between the Dalai Lama and his long-time co-author Franz Alt, primarily on the topics of world politics and the growing urgency to understand that no nation should put itself first. He suggests that America should follow the example of the European Union, whose members have been at peace with each other for the past 60 years—unheard of in the long history of Western European nations warring against each other.

The Dalai Lama specifically addresses the issue of Donald Trump's presidency. In what Franz Alt describes as an anti-Trump program, His Holiness outlines several ideas for what Trump should be doing differently and chastises Trump for withdrawing the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement, as well as Trump's anti-ecology, isolationist platform in a time of growing global unions among nations.

 

3. MARCHERS & PROTESTORS

The first political march I attended was in 1969 in Washington, D.C., protesting the Viet Nam War. Richard Nixon was President of the United States at that time. I still have the button I bought that day.

Fast forward a few decades…okay, stop at January 21, 2017 for my second political march: the Women’s March in NYC.

I have never thought of myself as a political activist, but when the need arises, I'm like so many other millions of Democrats: willing to stand up and be counted on the side of progress and human rights.

But why do we do this? Why do we set aside other tasks in our busy lives, and join together to march through the streets of our country?

Some of the reasons that come to mind are:

We individually march to speak up for a specific cause that is near and dear to us.

We collectively march to add our message to the voices of progress.

We march to inform the public and our government that we will not be passive observers of the destruction of civil liberties and our environment.

We march because we believe in the chant we call out while marching in public for all to see and hear: Show me what democracy looks like! THIS IS WHAT DEMOCRACY LOOKS LIKE!

And when we march, these wonderful things begin to happen:

We reinforce our commitment to democratic principles of liberty and justice, and freedom of speech.

We feel energized by taking physical action, and this action also reinforces our determination to succeed against all odds.

We make new friendships and renew old ones, as we join together in a growing coalition for progress.

In this era of instant communication, each time someone shares about the march in social media, our actions and protest signs are multiplied again and again on behalf of those who had to stay home.

When we have a big goal in mind, it is all too easy to feel discouraged and isolated, to falter in the action steps, and to feel confused about what we should do next. One of the great benefits of the resistance is that by joining together we bolster our individual strength. We create a synergy that is stronger than all of us separately.

Unlike a mindless group that is simply obeying a dictator's injunctions and marching as if hypnotized, we retain our individuality and our own preferences for what is important to us as we join the larger resistance and take action.

Let's time travel for a moment back to the morning of Wednesday, November 9, 2016, when we woke up to the stunned, heart-wrenching, unfathomable realization that Donald Trump was the President-elect of these United States.

All Democrats and Progressives can recall that awful feeling in the pit of your stomach. That sense of being in the Twilight Zone. Somebody please wake me from this terrible nightmare—it can't possibly be true!

But on that Wednesday, each one of us had the innate ability, however unskilled it might be from our lack of using it, to hold firm our innermost conviction that right will always win over might, and that liberty will prevail in the long run.

This planet is on an evolutionary path, and we humans are evolving to a higher level of being with a much broader awareness of who we are and of what we are capable.

The push-back from Trump and his buddies is our CALL TO ACTION.

Many millions of Americans have been slumbering in a placid state of complacency, with little caring for what goes on in Washington, D.C. because it seems to so many that their vote doesn't make a difference.

But with Trump's election, millions of people got jolted into awareness that it does indeed matter who is President.

Trump is the figurehead of the Republican Party. Out of all the presidential candidate hopefuls in the Republican Party, the party leaders chose Trump. A man with no political experience. No diplomatic experience. A man with an appalling record of racism, sexual assault, and assorted financial and ethical crimes. Without needing a peek into back-room meetings or secret documents, I can easily imagine they envisioned exactly what would happen in the coming months and years: The Trump Circus!

Trump has delivered the buffoon's performance to their precise expectations, while behind the scenes the Republicans in Congress and their wealthy backers proceeded with their plan to deconstruct the Constitution by putting unqualified people in each Cabinet position and tear apart the heart of our country's foundation.

Picture this scene: you are on a busy street in a big city, with people coming and going. You notice a crowd up ahead. You're curious to see what they are all looking at.

As you approach, you see a tall man with a suit and red tie, and a big red clown nose and big floppy shoes, and bright orange hair. He's ranting and raving and his thumbs are busy pushing buttons on an oversized smart phone. He strides back and forth, screaming that he's going to bomb North Korea because he's got a nuclear bomb "button" that actually works! He shouts snide remarks to the women in the crowd. You can hardly believe the vile language and snarls coming from this clown's mouth. He spots a woman wearing a hajib headscarf and yells out that she's a terrorist—he convinces a policeman to drag her away.

Meanwhile, the crowd is so stunned by all this, they start taking photos and videos and sharing this clown's antics. News vans and helicopters converge on the scene.

Some people think it is hilarious television show of some kind and they begin chanting white supremacist slogans along with the clown.

Others are worried and upset but feel helpless to do anything. The number of police protecting the clown increases.

A huge contingent of security people surround the clown and prevent anyone from getting closer, while the media give him full coverage – day after day, minute after minute.

Trying to get away from the crushing melee, you manage to skirt some bushes near the building and walk behind the clown. You notice that the doors of a massive old bank have opened to allow teams of hooded R-MoC's (Republican Member of Congress) to slip in and out of the bank, robbing it in open daylight.

How do you want this story to change?

Impeach the clown, and we simply have the R-MoC's methodically continue their Party agenda of pillaging and plundering, while they salute the flag and claim to be patriots of the finest caliber.

Until the day that the Republican Party undergoes a gut renovation, like when someone buys an old home and has to get rid of the garbage and stench that built up from neglect, the solution is to vote Republicans out of office.

I hope that you will make or renew a personal commitment that you will vote for Democratic candidates in upcoming elections, and that you will remind your friends to vote, too.

A sensible #swingleft will help this country immensely.

 

4. VOICES OF PROGRESS

Let us strengthen our ability to speak lovingly to each other, to speak with integrity, truth and compassion.

 

Abraham Lincoln

"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves."

"I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country... corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed."

 

Barack Obama

"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek."

"The best way to not feel hopeless is to get up and do something. Don't wait for good things to happen to you. If you go out and make some good things happen, you will fill the world with hope, you will fill yourself with hope."

"We are reminded that in the fleeting time we have on this Earth, what matters is not wealth or status or power or fame, but rather how well we have loved and what small part we have played in making the lives of other people better."

 

Bernie Sanders

"Now is the time to alter our government. Now is the time to stop the movement toward oligarchy. Now is the time to create a government which represents all Americans and not just the 1%... No more excuses. We must all become involved in the political process."

"If the environment were a bank, it would have been saved by now."

 

Earl Nightingale

"Discontent is the greatest motivator of all."

 

Eleanor Roosevelt

"Basically we could not have peace, or an atmosphere in which peace could grow, unless we recognized the rights of individual human beings... their importance, their dignity... and agreed that was the basic thing that had to be accepted throughout the world."

"We are given in our newspapers and on TV and radio exactly what we, the public, insist on having, and this very frequently is mediocre information and mediocre entertainment."

 

Elizabeth Warren "In a democracy, hostage tactics are the last resort for those who can't otherwise win their fights through elections, can't win their fights in Congress, can't win their fights for the Presidency, and can't win their fights in Courts, For this right-wing minority, hostage-taking is all they have left – a last gasp of those who cannot cope with the realities of our democracy."

"It's a simple idea: We all do better when we work together and invest in our future."

 

George Washington

"However [political parties] may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion."

"Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism."

"Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder."

"The harder the conflict, the greater the triumph."

 

Hillary Clinton

"It is often when night looks darkest, it is often before the fever breaks that one senses the gathering momentum for change, when one feels that resurrection of hope in the midst of despair and apathy."

"I'm sick and tired of people who say that if you debate and disagree with this [Trump] administration, somehow you're not patriotic. We need to stand up and say we're Americans, and we have the right to debate and disagree with any administration."

His Holiness the Dalai Lama

"The present President [Donald Trump], in the very beginning he mentioned 'America first.' That sounded in my ear not very nice."

"The US is still very powerful. The motto of the forefathers of modern Americans was democracy, freedom, and liberty. Totalitarian regimes don't have a future. As a leading power, the US should affiliate itself more closely with Europe."

"The new reality is that everyone is interdependent on everyone else. The United States is a leading nation of the free world. That's why the US president [Trump] should think more about global-level issues."

 

Joe Biden

"Don't tell me what you value. Show me your budget, and I'll tell you what you value."

"We must rekindle the fire of idealism in our society, for nothing suffocates the promise of America more than unbounded cynicism and indifference."

"If you do politics the right way, I believe, you can actually make people's lives better. And integrity is the minimum ante to get into the game."

"Our future cannot depend on the government alone. The ultimate solutions lie in the attitudes and the actions of the American people."

 

John F. Kennedy

"If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich."

"Our problems are man-made; therefore, they may be solved by man. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings."

"The ignorance of one voter in a democracy impairs the security of all."

"Peace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly process, gradually changing opinions, slowly eroding old barriers, quietly building new structures."

"In giving rights to others which belong to them, we give rights to ourselves and to our country."

"We are not here to curse the darkness, but to light the candle that can guide us thru that darkness to a safe and sane future."

 

Kamala Harris

"There is a lot of work to be done to make sure our leaders reflect the people they are supposed to represent. The more diverse a group of decision makers is, the more informed the decision will be. Until we achieve full representation, we all should understand we are falling short of the ideals of our country."

"Don't give up – our country needs you now more than ever. This is a pivotal moment in the history of our country: Our ideals are at stake, and we all have to fight for who we are."

 

Kirsten Gillibrand

"When we create hope and opportunity in the lives of others, we allow love, decency and promise to triumph over cowardice and hate."

"When a woman has the opportunity to speak truth to power, it's important that she does, even if it's just trying to get a crosswalk in her neighborhood. That's how social change happens!"

 

Theodore Roosevelt

"The most practical kind of politics is the politics of decency."

"To announce that there must be no criticism of the president... is morally treasonable to the American public."

"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."

 

Thomas Jefferson

"Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another as to remain always cool and unruffled under all circumstances."

"I know no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education. This is the true corrective of abuses of constitutional power."

"Shall we refuse to the unhappy fugitives from distress that hospitality which the savages of the wilderness extended to our fathers arriving in this land? Shall oppressed humanity find no asylum on this globe?"

 

5. VOICES OF DESTRUCTION

I refuse to sully the vibrant energy of this book by including quotations from Donald Trump or anyone who claims that he's a great president and is getting things done.

We know what sort of "things" he is doing and what he is getting done, in the name of a white supremacist, greed-first agenda. The list of threats to our civil liberties keeps growing—a list written and endorsed by the Trump Administration and Republicans in Congress.

We all know what he has to say (ad nauseam). And not one word of the Racist-in-Chief's rhetoric is worth repeating.

You might point out that thousands slavishly retweet whatever message he eagerly blasts to the world. But I'm talking about something that is "worthy," not just something that the deluded masses of Republican voters take as truth because they walk the party line and never look left even when crossing streets.

Have you ever noticed what happens when a situation is controlled by mob mentality?

We've seen it in real life and we've seen it in films and we've read about it in fiction and non-fiction accounts of people who, once they are anonymously part of a crowd, will abandon moral principles and shout for the sake of shouting, loot for the sake of looting, set fires and smash windows in the adrenaline-charged moment of feeling invincible.

I believe those millions who are still nodding and agreeing with whatever Trump spews are caught up in a not-care mode of refusing to look past the Republican Party rhetoric, because if they looked, they might have to change something in their lives. And it's far easier to just keep going, don't risk an argument with family and friends who are staunch Party members.

Think about the wife who sees all the signs that her husband is cheating, but if she looks away, she can pretend her marriage is okay, and she doesn't have to confront him. In taking the stance of looking honestly, she has a chance of either healing the marriage if it is salvageable or striking out on her own and creating a far better life for herself. But the very idea of having to break up the marriage, explain to friends and family what is going on, find a place to live, perhaps need to find a job or a higher paying one to allow for a single head of family lifestyle with children in her care—all of those ideas swarming through her mind like a nightmare picture coax her into saying, Oh it's nothing, maybe a little harmless flirtation at work, he still loves me.

The "marriage" a voter has with the person(s) they helped elect to a position of power needs that kind of honest look that we usually avoid due to dread at what we might discover. We as a society need to be willing to ask about situations that can be painful to unmask when you realize you've been deluded.

What about believing that guy on the stage who is foaming at the mouth as he rants about making the country great again? In case you don't know your history, Trump's election campaign promise was the same as Hitler's for Germany, a nation still reeling from poverty in the wake of their defeat in the Great War of 1914-1918 after their national resources were drained to pay for a war they expected to win in four months (the goal was to quickly crush their old enemy, France).

Adolf Hitler was elected in 1932 on the promise that he would make Germany great again, and the desperate population listened to his words and began nodding in agreement, wanting to believe someone would step in and fix all that was wrong in their country and in their impoverished lives.

It's been widely quoted that one of Trump's wives revealed Trump keeps Hitler's autobiography Mein Kampf (My Struggle) by his bedside. That book sets forth Hitler's anti-Semitic philosophy as well as his plans for the conquest of other nations in the name of a cleansed humanity.

When a populace allows itself to be mesmerized by the glorious image of a country where those pesky people you don't like magically vanish from sight (Deported, gassed, jailed, tortured--who cares! Just get rid of them!), they don't question what "great" actually means.

A similar populace in America didn't bother to look beneath the veneer of the Republican Platform to see how this supposed greatness would be put into effect.

If you were visiting from another planet, you might be fooled that the Republican Party promotes a fair plan for all citizens. They are skilled at double-talk, and soft-soap millions of Americans who keep voting Republican despite what the Republican leaders' true agenda is.

Speaking in a general way, those who look to the short run and what they can get out of a quick grab at raiding America for profits can be defined this way:

They behave as if their actions have no repercussions, and they are entitled to do what they want, when they want, and they won't get caught. And, if they do get caught, it will be a slap on the wrist, and they'll still have all the money.

They don't think about who they'll trample and destroy on their so-called righteous path to greatness.

They surrender their morality and their humanity in the name of greed for profits today no matter what devastation that means for others tomorrow.

Republicans are not squeamish about destroying lives as well as the environment. It's strange for a large group to call itself the "Conservative Party" and yet it apparently has little or no interest in conserving anything good. The policies of greed create environmental destruction, hardship for millions of women, children, infants and disabled people. And the list goes on.

Republicans in Congress, and Trump's Cabinet have a singular purpose: de-construction of the United States Constitution so they can create ever swelling profits for gigantic corporations and the super-wealthy.

Donald Trump has many nicknames in the press and social media around the world, including "Toddler-in-Chief." Of course, that term is referring to his habitual temper tantrums that at first glance are reminiscent of the fury during the stage of development called "the terrible twos."

When a toddler has been thwarted by a rule such as bedtime or no more dessert, the child might erupt in a boiling rage. But let's not belittle children, because the comparison is specious. Donald Trump chose the man he became, whereas a toddler is reacting to life with the only understanding he or she has at that young age, when even a small frustration can lead to shrieks before the child finally falls asleep and gets the much-needed respite from worldly cares over toys and television and treats.

Along the way, growing up, Donald Trump obviously aligned with the bullies, tyrants and abusers of the world. He no doubt felt stronger and bigger when he could make others jump when he said "frog," bow and scrape to earn his favors, and endure his temper. He brags about sexual exploits and harassment of women, whom he objectifies as yet another thing he's entitled to own and discard.

When people of a low level of awareness treat others with cruelty, they assume that if the tables were turned, they would be treated the same way. They can't distinguish their own viewpoint of grabbing at life's goodies from the reality of diversity in the world. They see themselves, and nothing else. And the vacancy in their eyes is all too revealing.

What can we do about people who are firmly convinced that Trump won the popular vote, that he was a "landslide" winner of the presidential election? What can we say to convince them to look at the facts about the tax law, about the Mexican wall, about all the problems Republicans in Congress are creating for our country?

Nothing.

We can't do anything to change their minds. When people are not willing to look beyond the pap fed to them by their favorite news source, Fox News, and the Tweeter-in-Chief himself, they are like the Germans who still supported Hitler on into year thirteen of his "reign," and even killed themselves and their children when they learned about Hitler's suicide in 1945.

The more you try to convince someone that they are "wrong," the more they dig in their heels and defend their position.

We know this. Because we all do the same thing. It takes a certain level of willingness to hear the truth when it doesn't align with what you've been taught all your life to believe.

That is why Trump and his clan had to do such outrageous things that even long-time Republicans are now waking up and saying, in essence, "Whoa, hold on a minute! I never knew he was actually accused of sexual assault! How come we didn't know about this before I voted for him! I didn't know his so-called tax cuts and big breaks for business were all about more relief for super-wealthy and corporations—my mom and pop store is going to be hurt by what he's doing. How come nobody told me! And why didn't anybody make it clear that his special ideas about health care reform mean I won't have coverage, and my sick kids are going to be at risk? What about Medicaid…Medicare…Social Security? I was told the Democrats are the ones who were going to make my life miserable—how come so many people lied and I'm just now finding out the truth about all this?"

As more and more Republicans realize what their elected officials are doing in Congress, I hope they will begin a much-needed party reformation at a deep level, and rid themselves of the sexual molesters, misogynists, racists and corrupt officials in their party ranks.

A first step for the Republican with a heart would be to stop watching Fox News and find out what is actually going on. Dig deeper into the real lives of those unqualified men and women whom Republicans keep voting into office in local and state elections, and who perpetuate the climate of sexual abuse and destroying civil liberties.

Let's shun Donald Trump. Narcissists thrive on attention, even when it is negative in nature. They can't tolerate being ignored. Let's turn our backs on him and keep our attention firmly focused on the results that we want to create for the good of our country and its citizens.

 

6. BOOMERANGS FOR THE GREATER GOOD

"Man receives only that which he gives.

The Game of Life is a game of boomerangs.

Man’s thoughts, deeds and words,

return to him sooner or later,

with astounding accuracy."

Florence Scovel Shinn

The law of attraction is a neutral energetic force that automatically draws together those elements that are matching or in harmony with each other.

The common expression "Birds of a feather flock together" was perhaps intended long ago as a lesson about the law of attraction.

The danger of not understanding this law is that we inadvertently misuse its power, and we attract into our lives all sorts of results that we are not happy about. We picture being alone and sad, and boom! –that is what happens.

We don't easily make the connection between thought pictures and what we experience because starting in early childhood we were taught to be practical, to set goals, to look at benchmarks along the way to be sure we are achieving what we want, and also to absorb a whole host of misconceptions about ourselves and why we are here.

In addition, there's often a time lag (thank goodness) between thinking about something and manifesting it. Otherwise, this planet would be a total mess, wouldn't it? You'd angrily notice the garbage a neighbor left on your yard, and wish they'd drop dead—and it would happen.

I feel it's of vital importance that we learn to work more harmoniously with our natural laws such as the law of attraction. Whatever we think about comes back to us—just like a boomerang.

Have you noticed times when you or a friend casually remark, perhaps with a groan of confusion, that the day started off badly and has gotten worse ever since? You can't wait for tomorrow, as if the setting and rising of the sun will create a magical difference in your life experience.

Until we learn that it is our own attitude that sets the emotional tone for our day, and thus our "point of attraction" as Esther Hicks identifies it, we will continue to be the willy-nilly victims of days that seem to run our lives instead of the other way around.

Each time you start to say something, remember that your words are boomerangs, and will come back to you.

 

7. PARADIGM OF PROGRESS

Let's look at a more vibrant approach to understanding the progressive paradigm, or mindset, and why it's critical to elevate our collective belief system and thus advance human evolution.

Since a paradigm is a collection of a multitude of beliefs, we all walk around with ideas in our mind that have varying degrees of effect on what we do in life. Some paradigms from childhood can be so tightly interwoven with our self-concept that they are difficult to shake loose—and that shaking can only be a voluntary action.

Have you ever been on the other end of an aggressive sales call, or someone you've just met at a party or networking event who is determined to make you change your mind about something? No matter how hard they try to convince you, if something is jarring about their message, you'll be more likely to resist, to dig in your heels and cling to your old belief, than you are to agree with them. The exception is, of course, if what they are telling you resonates with some misgivings you've been secretly having about that very belief.

Let's say you grew up believing that you will never be successful. Teachers and parents reinforced this idea, however unwittingly, with comments that you'd better play it safe and get the kind of job you can handle—don't dream too big or you'll be sorely disappointed.

Yet, over the years, you couldn't give up that tiny idea that maybe they were wrong about you. And along comes a book telling you about people who overcame all odds to live at a higher level, and succeed in sports, or business, or relationships. The experience of learning about others who were in your situation and triumphed over it, opens your mind to wondering where else in life you have shortchanged yourself because of unchallenged beliefs you've been carrying around.

Quantum physics opens the door for us to gain a more enlightened view of our ability and innate power to create our results by our own thought power. Thus, we have control over our lives and our destinies, but too often we abdicate that to old paradigms about our own worth.

When we expect hard times and disaster, those thoughts are not idle—they go to work, magnetically drawing together events and circumstances that answer our unwitting request. That is how the natural laws of this universe work, although we are just beginning to get a better understanding of these laws.

When we learn to be careful of what we ask for, we have a much better chance of attracting what we really want to experience for ourselves and others.

There are two ways in which we change our paradigm about a particular topic such as success, relationships, or life in general and our place in society.

1. By noticing where we are not getting the results we want and making a deliberate decision to change. This is a progressive changing of the paradigm by repetition of positive statements that affirm the direction we want to go in.

2. By a catastrophe that shocks us into a sudden change of heart or opinion about life. This could be a natural disaster, a horrible accident or fire that destroys your belongings, a sudden illness… or the election of a man such as Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States of America. When we look at the history of the world, we see that the wheels of change grind slowly—and one of the reasons for that is that we collectively believe that change can't be fast!

Looking at our own history, in the United States, freedom for the Colonials was not won overnight; even after the Declaration of Independence, it took nearly another hundred years for slavery to be declared illegal. The women of this nation did not get the right to vote until the country was 150 years old. Labor unions and social change began to benefit the common worker and lower/middle income families in the early part of the 20 th century. In the early 1960's, Martin Luther King and other civil rights leaders like James Farmer (founder of the Congress of Racial Equality) followed the example of Mahatma Gandhi and used the methods of nonviolent protest to free the Blacks in the South and in the ghettoes of Northern cities, a freedom they created for themselves by allowing themselves to be beaten, jailed and worse, which was then passed into law in the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

You probably have other stories about the changing of paradigms in your own life and those of your friends and neighbors. The shift away from the stigma of being an unmarried mother; the prevalence of romantic couples living together openly, without benefit of a civil or religious marriage ceremony.

Think about a positive change that you would like to create in your own life, and in your community, and in our country. Then tell yourself: I can do this…We can do this. And change will be quick!

It's vital that we remain willing to open our minds to new ideas and new ways of coming together in service of the greater good.

Ask yourself:

-- Why do I vote for Democratic candidates?

-- What is it about calling myself a "progressive" or "liberal" that aligns with who I really am?

-- Where else in my life do I want to see progress, and positive change? -- How can I be of greater service at home, at work, at school, in my community— in my everyday actions and the things I say to others? -- How can I help this world of ours evolve into a higher level of awareness?

For many if not most Republicans, they are stuck in their Paradigm of Entitlement, a mindset that tells them their party is always right, and that they deserve to take what they want no matter who or what it hurts. (Hey, drill the Arctic Refuge because I'm entitled to oil and I'll never go there anyway.) They march in lockstep with their leaders and don't question what is going on behind the scenes. They don't realize the part they are playing in this period of history.

From their viewpoint, I'm guessing, they believe that Trump is being demonized by the Democrats and they think he's actually doing a fine job, keeping his promises to cut taxes, to keep trying to get rid of Obamacare (even though it helps them!), to deport people of a different color or religion than they are.

All you have to do is take a glance in social media and you'll see the men and women who are enthusiastic supporters of Donald Trump. In other words, they drank the Kool-Aid and they're not looking for the antidote.

What we can see from the words and deeds of Republicans is that they have a certain belief set or paradigm deeply embedded in their minds, and it drives what they do.

When people run on automatic pilot in life, simply reacting to everything around them, and doing daily tasks according to established routine, unless something shocking happens, they don't challenge their paradigm and question whether they may have some old or even erroneous beliefs that are not useful to hold onto.

Most people live their entire lives at a level of awareness barely above the animalistic instinct. They react to everything. They don't strive for personal growth or reach out with a questioning mind to discover a higher way of living.

This is the fault of our centuries-old cultural focus on looking outside of ourselves for happiness, contentment, success and love. Throughout human history only a few students of the mind discovered the truth that we create our reality with our own thoughts.

But we are in an exciting point right now—the shock of Trump's election has catapulted millions of people into a more awake and aware state, and they are looking eagerly for ways to change not only what is going on in our government, but in their own lives.

In a sense, the boom of self-help books in the 1980s has led the way for us to seek new opportunities to assist our country's recovery from the devastation caused by Trump and the R-MoC's. So many of us have already gotten into the habit of meditating, using positive affirmations, opening our minds to new ideas and information about other cultures and religions around the world. We are more expansive in our thoughts, and this prepares us to keep going in our fight for liberty and justice for all.

When we live in a state of hypnotic adherence to the multitude of beliefs in our thoughts, and don't question the sanity or truthfulness of them, we are easy prey for the man who rants and raves and makes wild promises about making the nation great and prosperous.

Trump followed Hitler's example with the same kind of rants, and millions of people raised to believe that whatever the Republican Party leaders decided was correct, simply nodded and voted. Their paradigm automatically filtered out conflicting reports about Trump that exposed reality. It wasn't just that they got their "information" from Fox News, they were –and millions remain—cocooned in a false world where the truth of Arctic drilling and tax cuts for corporations who profit from destroying the environment, deportations, and more devastation are simply not believable.

And so, the truth is rejected as being merely a sign of Democrats acting out their anger about losing, as those pesky progressives trying to stir up trouble, those bleeding heart liberals chanting to give away the country to every hard luck case.

The Republicans are deeply entrenched in a paradigm of regression, of divisiveness and isolation. As the Dalai Lama commented, Trump's championing "America First" has no place in the world community of today, and neither does Trump's totalitarianism.

Democrats do know. We know we are here at this time to advance progress, to protect human rights, and to protect our beautiful planet.

Surely this must be a nightmare we will awaken from. And yet each day when we get up, there are even more devastating results of his blatantly egoistic presidency as he gleefully allows the far-right Republicans to rape our nation and destroy our liberties.

I'm sure you've seen his daily rants, his tweeted nuclear threats to other countries, his blatant lies and twists of reality, his frankly insane behavior. The list goes on and on. Oddly enough, whatever Trump declares as "fake news" keeps turning out to be a recording of his own words, verified events, and true reportage.

Even as their own rights are abrogated by the tax scam, threats about Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and other benefits, Republicans tweet their undying loyalty to der fuhrer (German for the leader). It seems incomprehensible that many millions of United States citizens actually believe Trump is doing a terrific job.

In the following passage from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis (the second book in The Chronicles of Narnia), we find an analogy to Donald Trump (Witch) and his cabinet members and voters (Edmund) which may help in understanding the Republican Party Paradigm of "me-first":

You mustn’t think that even now Edmund was quite so bad that he actually wanted his brother and sisters to be turned into stone. He did want Turkish Delight and to be a Prince (and later a King) and to pay Peter [his older brother] out for calling him a beast. As for what the Witch would do with the others [Peter and their two sisters, Susan and Lucy], he didn’t want her to be particularly nice to them—certainly not to put them on the same level as himself; but he managed to believe, or to pretend he believed, that she wouldn’t do anything very bad to them, “Because,” he said to himself, “all these people who say nasty things about her [the White Witch] are her enemies and probably half of it isn’t true. She was jolly nice to me, anyway, much nicer than they are. I expect she is the rightful Queen really. Anyway, she’ll be better than that awful Aslan!” At least, that was the excuse he made in his own mind for what he was doing. It wasn’t a very good excuse, however, for deep down inside him he really knew that the White Witch was bad and cruel.

Later in the book, when Edmund has been shocked into awareness about the cruelty of the White Witch, he realizes, "All the things he had said to make himself believe that she was good and kind and that her side was really the right side sounded to him silly now." And still later in the story, as Edmund's misery increases, he tries to comfort himself with the idea that it was all just a bad dream, and he'd wake up soon.

In the words of a recent Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) survey: "Trump's administration is tearing proud American families apart. Are you prepared to fight back?"

Here's a recent comment about the Trump Administration's assault on the environment from Robert Redford, a Trustee of the Natural Resources Defense Council [NRDC]: "Forty-seven years ago, none other than Richard Nixon established the Environmental Protection Agency. And in the decades since, Republican and Democratic administrations alike have affirmed that environmental issues transcend politics. Now, we're watching the man charged with heading the EPA — Scott Pruitt — break from that tradition and tear down our most basic environmental safeguards left and right. I cannot understand how he will explain himself to his own children."

 

8. TAKE BACK OUR FLAG

I invite Democrats to start displaying the US Flag at home and include it in your social media images.

Why?

I'm the kind of person that people call sweet and quiet. But let me tell you something, the Republican Party has gotten my back up.

I'm particularly outraged to see that if you wave the American flag people assume you're a Republican!

It's my flag. It's your flag. It doesn't belong to one party or group. It is OUR FLAG.

We the people of these United States have a beautiful flag that is renowned throughout the world as a symbol of hope and freedom. Or at least it used to have that symbolism.

Donald Trump's election destroyed a lot of that image, but he can't take it away completely, and we will repair the damage and move forward.

But it takes all of us…. #bluewave #humanrights #indivisible #swingleft #womensmarch … and many more… to come together as Freedom Fighters and defeat the Republican agenda of divisiveness and corruption.

So, please start the process of making the Stars and Stripes the flag for all of us, red and blue.

9. FORTUNE COOKIES FOR FREEDOM FIGHTERS

While writing this second edition of America's New Breed of Freedom Fighters, I took a break to eat stir fry veggies and rice from a Chinese restaurant around the corner. I cracked open the fortune cookie included in my takeout bag, and read the slip of paper folded inside, which said: "Today, you should spent some time to search in yourself." Grand advice, albeit phrased a bit oddly.

But when I thought about the message, I decided to include in this book Good Fortune affirmations to uplift and inspire all of us during the challenging times ahead.

Each time we repeat a positive concept, we diminish the power of old beliefs that we are not worthy of success, or that life is a hard struggle and then you die.

As you read, imagine you have just opened a fortune cookie and this is the message within, fortuitously meant to give you a personal message that is meaningful to you in this moment. Open your heart and mind to receive blessings each day from every aspect of your life experience.

Look for the good in others, instead of their faults.

Challenge yourself to be more positive each day.

Remember that Fortune favors the brave.

Don't worry, be happy!

Expect miracles.

Believe in your ability to create change.

Let discontent motivate you to expand upward.

Grow, grow, grow.

Each day, align with your higher purpose.

Calm down and speed up—you'll get there faster.

Your life is getting better and better every day.

Discipline is making a promise to yourself and keeping it.

Bloom where you are planted.

Smile until you feel a happy vibe in your toes.

Choose to feel peace in every cell of your body.

Your inner vibration predicts the results you'll see.

Guard the portal of your mind against negative thinking.

How you feel inside is more important than words and actions.

Your seemingly impossible good now comes to pass.

Keep your focus on freedom and hope.

We are all immigrants from a higher realm.

Forgiveness starts in the mirror.

Feel the feeling of your wish fulfilled.

Seize the day—be your best!

You become what you think about the most.

Choose self-assurance instead of fear.

Let go of the past—it can't touch you unless you drag it along. You radiate joy wherever you go.

Know that you are on the side of progress.

Focus only on what you want to manifest.

The Divine Plan for your Life is now speeded up!

 

10. FIVE FREEDOMS

In listing my personal "Five Freedoms," I hope you will feel inspired to enumerate your own goals and dreams for progress.

When we have a vague sense of wanting "democracy," there is no real picture or vision that goes with that nebulous idea. General wishes don't have any fire under them, they don't have the molecular energy to actually create change.

We have to go deeper. We have to get clearer. We need to be very precise about what we are moving towards.

Knowing exactly what our dreams are is a tool to help us stay motivated to march and be involved in our government…of the people, by the people, and for the people.

When we allow ourselves to indulge in the temporary satisfaction of being outraged, resentful, angry and bitter, we inadvertently slide down into the emotional level where the narcissistic Trump and his ilk reside.

We can do better than that. Much better.

Big change is on the way. If you haven't already joined in, please consider doing so—join the worldwide movement to stand up and fight back against tyranny, corporate greed, and the suppression of human rights.

As we have learned from stories, both true and fictional, of heroes who are imprisoned and yet do not allow themselves to fall into permanent depression over their seeming lack of freedom, all of us are free to think and to feel our own thoughts and emotions.

No one can take away the power of thought from us (with the obvious exceptions of hypnotic drugs, brain surgery, torture, and so on).

Following are five freedoms that came to mind while writing this second edition of "America's New Breed of Freedom Fighters."

I know there are many more, but I'd like to invite you to think about the concept of FREEDOM and start making your own list:

FREEDOM to decide our own behavior and outlook.

FREEDOM to speak to others, and to communicate our thoughts and ideas.

FREEDOM to learn from the past and look to the future.

FREEDOM to declare: "I will never give up!"

FREEDOM to define what is meaningful to us.

An intrinsic joy of these freedoms is that each individual has the full freedom to be unique.

Freedom to decide for ourselves means that even though we are loosely organized under a banner of "Democrats," we have our own stories. Each person gets to choose what is important for him or her.

Because of the many liberties that are under attack by Congressional Republicans, we marchers and protestors are coming into political activism for a wide variety of reasons. One person might be personally motivated to focus on health care for all, while her friend or neighbor picks up the banner to fight for automatic voter enrollment and other issues related to helping eligible voters get counted in each election.

QUOTE TO EXPLORE: "He who has a why to live for can bear with almost any how." Friedrich Nietzsche

We are fortunate today that Trump's election did not lead to an outbreak of actual Civil War with weapons of killing.

Our resistance weapons are of a higher order: we march, we protest, we sign petitions, we raise funds to help elect progressive candidates who are more interested in serving the Constitution than in raping the country to fill their own pockets.

When we collectively have a "why" to live for, we can define it as our mission statement. Think about this for a moment: why do you vote for Democrats? What is it about the Democratic Platform, in general, that appeals to you? Is it the idea that we are all citizens together and we should help each other, and also help those who are unable to help themselves (children, elderly, poverty-stricken, those who are sick and suffering)? Are you outraged at the long history of diminished rights for women, minorities, the LGBT community, and you want to do something about it?

We come together from many different streams and creeks into a great ocean of possibilities.

What did Nietzsche mean by saying that with that "why" solidly motivating and inspiring our lives, we can bear with, or put up with, any "how"? What is that "how" all about?

For me, I see it as relating to the steps we have to take in order to create change. Those "how" steps are usually what bogs us down in life. In fact, most of the time, the word "how" is a dream killer.

We get a bright idea to do something, and we're so excited about it—we feel more alive just thinking about it! And then our logical or reasoning mind leaps in with the laundry list of objections we were trained to focus on starting in early childhood (because that's our generational DNA as far as thinking habits go, passed down from one generation to the next): how can I do this? I must be crazy even thinking I can—where will I get the money, the training, the________?

Fill in the blank with all the practical reasons that come to mind and bring us to a screeching halt, as we reluctantly put aside the big idea and settle for something easier to achieve.

However, with all of us coming together by the millions in a growing community across the land—and with support pouring in from our friends around the world-- that seemingly impossible HOW becomes much more doable.

Starting November 9, 2016, when Trump's election was announced, we Democrats knew that we had tough times ahead that would challenge us every day to bring our best game to the forefront.

We knew that a single women’s march on January 21, 2016 was not going to make Donald Trump and his pals vanish from the scene.

We knew we had a road of challenges ahead of us.

We knew that we needed to speak up with the voice of progress and fight back. Our weapons: words of truth, words of #MeToo, words of justice for the oppressed and deported and Dreamers, words of support for what we want our government to stop doing, and what we want our government to start doing.

With our WHY firmly in place—to champion the principles of liberty and justice for all—we can bear the ups and downs of this path we are on.

And we won't give up.