So, here we are at the start of another year. Perhaps 2026 will prove to be more agreeable for humankind than 2025 was. But that’s a major longshot, seeing that a propensity for violence is embedded in the genetic material of way too many people, males above all. Vladimir Putin is a perfect example of an individual filled with real nasty DNA. Male, and also a f*cking monster, he shows no inclination to end Russia’s attack on Ukraine. And let’s not forget Donald Trump. (Man, we can’t. He’s unforgettable! Right, Venezuela?) Like Putin, he is a hugely destabilizing figure. Duh! A megalomaniac, a bigot and a convicted felon, and contemptuous of all who dare to disagree with him, this guy is trying his damnedest to put a submission hold on democracy in the USA. I could cite dozens of other examples of horror shows being staged on our planet. But I’ll spare you the wordage.
As you might guess, based on the above paragraph, the negative aspects of the world’s state of affairs are on my mind a lot. They are in sharp contrast to teachings of the hippie movement of the 1960s, which shaped my outlook on life. Or maybe that outlook already was in place back then and merely wanted to be reinforced a bit. Whatever the case, I’m a sucker for peace, love and understanding, three key tenets of hippiedom. And for four of the others too: kindness, inclusion, fairness and open-mindedness. Alas, alas, alas, only in the dreamiest dreams will that septet become guiding principles of any nation, let alone all nations. There is far too much intolerance and greed throughout the world for that to happen. Still, it’s important to champion and manifest those virtues. The more inroads they make, the happier the future of our species, and of most other species on Earth, will be.
I’m an old guy, about one-quarter of the way through my 79th journey around the Sun, a reality I can’t fathom at all. How the hell did I become near-ancient? Anyway, I don’t know if it’s surprising or not, but I’ve always remained true to the societal and world views I held when I was in my 20s, a period during which I wouldn’t have guessed that, decades later, my face would decide to form more wrinkles than are found in a box of prunes. Political-spectrum-wise, I haven’t swung to the right, not even a little, and never will. And I’ll add, by the way, that I’m not a pacifist. Violence and warfare at times are just and necessary. And I’ll also add that I take comfort in the knowledge that a healthy number of readers of this publication have pretty much the same takes as me on the matters I touch upon in this article.
Nick Lowe, an astute British rocker, is the composer of the great song (What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding. He and the other members of his then-band Brinsley Schwarz recorded it and released it in 1974, with Lowe handling the lead vocals. Initially, it didn’t go anywhere. Since then, however, the song has gained an enormous amount of traction and been covered by numerous artists, most famously by Elvis Costello And The Attractions. Lowe’s opus has reached iconic status, a fact, I’ve read, that completely amazes Lowe, as he had no expectations whatsoever for his creation. There’s no doubt in my mind that the composition’s popularity has mushroomed because its message is the truth. There’s nothing funny about peace, love and understanding. They are where it’s at.
Without further ado, I present to you the Brinsley Schwarz version of a song that has its heart in the right places. Get ready to be rocked and inspired.
Yeah, Another Blogger 
Good thoughts, Neil, and clearly expressed.
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I appreciate it. Thanks, Audrey.
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I don’t think, Neil, any decent being could disagree with your wise words! I will listen to the music when everyone here is awake. Thank you!
Joanna
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Hi. Nick Lowe, the composer of the song, is still going strong. He tours quite a lot. And he probably plays that song at every one of his concerts.
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I wouldn’t be surprised, as it is a great song!
Joanna
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Heavy sigh. The world needs more Yeah, Another Blogger. Well said. #peace
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Thanks, Jim. Appreciated.
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Well said, Neil, and thanks for saying it and not just thinking it. Trump, Putin … such disgusting people. And now with the Venezuela mess people are worried that we’re probably next after Greenland. Ugh.
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Trump totally eats it. And huge numbers of my so-called fellow citizens voted for him, putting him in office. Twice. Which tells me all I need to know about their morals and mindsets.
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Who would ever have imagined that the Presidents of the USA and of Russia would be paired together as being of one and the same. They are now two rotten peas in the same rotten pod!
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Yes, they certainly are!
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Wonderfully worded, Neil. Thanks for having the balls to write what most of us just cringe at when viewing the news.
More peace and love, I say.
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Thumbs up to that. 👍
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We need an other epidemic, of moral and common sense this time
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Absolutely.
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Well said, my friend. As a fellow child of the sixties who despairs at the state of the world today, I’m with you all the way. Incidentally, I would add one more “key tenet of hippiedom” – for me, compassion, by which I mean sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings and misfortunes of others, is what it’s all about. Sadly, compassion is something that those in power today mostly seem to lack. Peace, man!
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You have touched the thought which has come to me as I have read the responses to Neil’s post. As we age we experience more and more the difficulties of life, the friends and family lost, the occasions of sickness and infirmity and begin to realise that life is not always full of roses and that many/most people have trouble in their lives that we might not know about and we learn with the passing years to be less judgmental and to realise, as we say here in Waterford, that you never know what goes on behind somebody’s door.
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Hi. The world is such a mess in many ways. Always has been, I suppose. Humans have always had a hard time getting along with one another.
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Hi Neil. the song really chugs along. Hey ! we are of the same generation. I was a hippy too. I still am. I still have its ideals. Love and Peace . Yes. For the whole planet —
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You rock!
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yeh, my grandkids reckon that too 🙂
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Your second sentence induced deep sighs. If only! I couldn’t agree more with everything you say, in fact I think I move leftwards with age. I can’t remember the world being this scary since the 1980s when I expected nuclear annihilation at any moment. I first came to that song via Elvis Costello then discovered later it was by Nick Lowe. I have both versions in my collection, on CD so properly in my collection, not hovering in a cloud somewhere.
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The state of affairs is frightening today. Bigoted, power-crazed jerks are in power in governments and corporations in many nations. Ours is a very flawed species.
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With you all the way with these tenets of hippiedom. I was in my twenties in the 60s. We thought “all we need is love…” and peace, understanding, kindness, compassion. It all seems to have gone to hell in a hand basket. But I’m not giving up. I still believe we can make the world a better place — for everyone. Still believe we can heal our beautiful planet.
Thanks for the reminder. Keep the faith.
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Hi. And many thanks for adding your thoughts. I’m nowhere near as optimistic as you, but I hope you’re right.
Who is this, by the way? You’re listed as Anonymous.
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Great piece, Neil – it really resonated. Perhaps we could sell peace, love and kindness to a***holes as something that’s selfish. “Folks, be kind – and people will look at you with stars in their eyes and love you! Imagine how gratifying that is, and how good it makes you feel!”
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Hi. Maybe it would work! Maybe.
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A thoughtful post for the start of the year Neil and I agree with your thinking. Sadly, 99.9999% of the worlds population just want to get up in the morning, work hard, feed their families and provide a home. It’s that pesky 0.0001% that puts a spanner in the works. How have we developed systems where that is even possible?
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Hi. Actually, I don’t agree with you. My feeling is that most Trump supporters, for instance, have the same bigoted outlook on things that he does. His views always have been apparent. These people know his views, and they voted for him.
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And they continue to worship him, even as he shows complete disregard for his constituents.
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I agree with you there Neil, I was talking more globally about all the world leaders who get into post and then make their citizens and citizens of other countries a misery. There are exceptions but I wish more leaders of countries were women as I really don’t think they would send all their young men into battle for no good reason and subsequently lose their lives. They were sons, husbands and fathers.
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Neil, I share your thoughts and beliefs on the world situation. I find it a time of great fear and anxiety, a shocking time when the USA, long considered a stronghold of democracy, has become instead an authoritarian regime with an absolute disregard for the precepts of law or morality, a country which has destabilised the world’s economy, is not only no longer willing to rebuff the warring advances of Putin but engages in the same illegal actions itself, attacking and threatening to attack other countries simply to gain economic advantage. The USA we have known for decades has been blown aside. It is now a rogue nation, a lawless presence in the world, a threat to peace and to peaceful people. In my childhood, many Irish people emigrated to the USA, my uncles and aunts among them, with dreams and hopes of a more promising life but nowadays many Irish people would not even visit the USA simply out of fear of what might happen to them there. What a dreadful turnabout.
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You’re absolutely right. Trump is a greedy, uncaring megalomaniac. And my so-called fellow citizens put this prick in office twice.
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I have read repeatedly the defensive comment of “Of course, we didn’t vote for him! It’s just a few nutcases”. The hugely distressing fact, viewed from across the Atlantic, is that a majority of USA citizens voted for him…a majority! You, and those of your views, are very unfortunately in a minority. And, normal law and order, constitution and courts, respect for other countries and their rights, have been thrown out the window. I fear you are one in a repressed and prosecuted minority.
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You have no idea how distressing it is to know that half of our friends, neighbors, and family members support this regime. Admittedly, Harris didn’t have much time to wage an effective campaign, but even if she had, there are too many misogynists and racists in this country to have given her fair consideration. We will all suffer the consequences together.
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I can only imagine the distress but will say that the world as I know it – Ireland and Europe – looks on aghast at the situation in the USA and at the actions of the President. It is an unfortunate fact that extremists are more likely to be active, to organise themselves, to get out and vote while the reasonable people in the population are more inclined to sit back in the presumption that all will be well but this may change in light of the experiences of recent years. We can, at present, but hope.
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It’s unbelievable that there’s something fundamentally and seriously wrong with so many Americans. The human race is highly flawed.
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https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=122195874566537163&set=a.122094215486537163
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And, I suppose, I have now scuppered any chance I might have had of entering the USA as border control now demands access to all online accounts etc. I think I can live without the experience.
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When I first started my job at the Norfolk, Nebraska radio station, the old, arch-conservative general manager knew of my liberal leanings. He confidently predicted that as I grow older, I will become as conservative as him. Funny thing that that did not occur. I’m more liberal now than at any time in the past. I wonder if he’s spinning in his grave.
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On a related note: I don’t know if Trump supporters qualify as conservatives. I think they are a different breed. Like Trump, they are highly bigoted and intolerant. Traditional conservatives aren’t like that.
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Neo-fascist is a closer category.
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Thanks, Jerry!
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Thanks Niel for all your wise words. I couldn’t agree more.
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We think and feel alike!
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Thank you for writing this Neil. I feel the same. I know there are many, many others who also agree but the levels of hate are what get attention and it’s overwhelming.
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We’re living in the Dark Ages right now.
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I love Nick Lowe. And I love that song. Years ago I shared both his and Elvis’s versions on my blog. As for everything else you mention, I could not agree more, Neil. What a world we live in.
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Hi. Your country is pretty normal. Mine isn’t.
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Well, it is mostly normal I think. But I hear you. The US doesn’t seem like the same country anymore. Hopefully you’ll get relief soon!
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Funny that when I saw the title of your post pop up in my inbox, my first thought was Elvis Costello (that’s the version of the song I’m most familiar with). And man, it’s so appropriate for these times. The greed, insanity, and fear seem to be at a tipping point…we’re either going to correct course soon or watch the decline of civilization as we know it.
I appreciate the thoughtfulness of your post, and I feel the same way about things. I may be a bit behind you in age, but I still feel the importance of the message.
I’ll check out the original Lowe version (for some reason, I don’t think I’ve heard it before!). Cheers, mate.
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Hi. I wish the values and nature of the hippie movement somehow would re-develop. They were humane.
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Good piece Neil! I remember a few years ago, we had the pleasure to see Costello and Lowe perform this classic together live at the Met.
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Hi Mike. That was a terrific show. We were lucky to be there.
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As with others here, thank you for being bold enough to speak truth to power and indifference on your blog. Too many bastards like Trump, and too many sheeple who just want to bury their heads, “be nice,” and pretend nothing is happening.
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Yeah, lots is happening. Democracy is the USA and elsewhere is under threat. And global balances are becoming shakier and shakier. Etcetera.
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Great post! I agree with you 100%.
you also always come up with an interesting song choice!
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Thanks, Joyce. I know that you despise Trump, just as I do.
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Good song! One I hadn’t heard. I am a decade younger than you are, and I am with you all the way. Amen, Amen.
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Hi, and thanks. Who is this, by the way? You’re listed as Anonymous.
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A great post from a great writer. Sigh. Peace, love, and understanding. We can hope and dream …
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What a world.
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I am a decade younger than you, and I feel exactly the same way. Haven’t swing at all to the right as I’ve aged. I would put myself firmly in Bernie Sanders territory. Anyway, good piece and good song. Onward, ho to 2026! It certainly has begun with a bang, hasn’t it? (And not in a good way.)
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Hi Laurie. I went to college in Vermont. So, I sort of automatically like Bernie.
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Yes, yes!
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Great post & I agree with you. I’m a little over ten years younger than you, but I also grew up in an era when it seemed we were at least making progress on things like equality, etc. Also, when the Berlin wall came down; everyone celebrated that the cold war ended—maybe. Progress was not perfect, but it seemed like progress. Or at least, that is what I felt. I am very worried that our country (and world at large) is moving ever faster and ever further into a dark era. I guess I am neither a far left or far right person, in a political sense. I tend to lean more to the left, however. I also feel it is best when people meet in the middle. But politicians don’t even try to do that. But I refuse to let our times rob me of hope. And I hope this year brings changes for the better.
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Hi. I like your thoughts a lot. For sure, sadly, our country is anything but progressive these days. The Republican Party is seeing to that.
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How did you guess 😂🤣😂he is a disgusting human being…no not even a human being. 🤮🤮🤮
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Trump is vile. He sickens me.
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The state of the world is terrifying and it’s so sad how quickly we seem to be moving in the wrong direction. I very much hope 2026 will be more agreeable than last year (although it hasn’t exactly started well…).
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Hi. We shall see. But I’m not optimistic.
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Great post and tune, Neil. Peace, love, and understanding are vital components of my life. This tune made me feel even better about having that outlook.
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You’re A-OK in my book!
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You’ve pretty much summed up what we’re up against. We’re watching this country turn into 1930s Germany with the help of spineless, greedy men. And women. No longer is there the question of how could the holocaust have happened in a country of supposed Christians. We know.
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There’s a significantly high percentage of immoral, uncaring and bigoted people in the USA. That’s why right-wing jerks like Trump are in all levels of government in the States. That is, the citizenry voted them into office.
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Very well said, Neil. I agree with every word.
As regards the excellent song, I’ve just finished ‘Hope I Get Old Before I Die,’ by David Hepworth, about rock stars in their third age, and he tells the story of how Curtis Stigers’ version ended up on the soundtrack album of The Bodyguard almost by chance, thereby giving Nick his biggest royalty cheque ever. Incidentally, he recommends Lowe’s albums from ‘The Impossible Bird’ on as rock music dealing with grown up topics.
I saw him a couple of years ago here in Edinburgh – he was great!
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I’ll check out some Lowe albums on Apple Music. I’ve never heard any of his solo albums. Last night I listened to the brand new album by St. Paul And The Broken Bones. They play soul music. On first listen, it sounded terrific.
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Neil, I’m also “a sucker for peace, love and understanding, three key tenets of hippiedom. And for four of the others too: kindness, inclusion, fairness and open-mindedness.” I wasn’t familiar with the featured song.
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Somehow recently, I guess that song popped into my head, finding a way to inspire me to write this essay. The writing process always has been pretty mysterious to me.
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I’m right there with you; Give Peace a Chance.
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It needs to happen a lot more!
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Yeah, remembering the ’60s: a time of really intense political turmoil and lots of evil people to hate, but I don’t remember waking up most mornings hoping that the guy in the White House had collapsed of a heart attack.
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Trump is like a Marvel-movie super-villain. Bad things sometimes happen to him. But he shrugs them off and keeps on doing his thing. He’ll bite the dust eventually, a day that can’t come soon enough.
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Never has the world needed peace, love and understanding more! It’s scary when so many of the world leaders are truly nuts……
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You’re not kidding. What a terrible situation.
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If we want decency in those leading our countries, we need to break the entrenched electoral stranglehold of the major political parties.
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Maybe you’re right. It might help. But, in the USA anyway, a major part of the problem is that millions and millions of people are intolerant/bigoted/etc. — that’s why they voted for Trump and continue to support him.
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Like you, I am frequently overwhelmed and disgusted by the steady onslaught of bad news and worse behavior among so-called leaders. I try to remember Michelle Obama’s claim that ‘You can’t hate up close,’ meaning the real way to change minds and behaviors is locally and one-to-one. That, I can do. Or at least try.
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There are a lot of minds that need changing in the USA, that’s for sure.
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Somehow I missed the song for decades, until I bumped into this creative way of presenting it on YouTube. Until someone truly stands up to the bully, the bully will keep right on having his way with the world around him. It’s a lesson many of us learned in grade school, but apparently most in Congress, etc., never got the message.
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June 14, 1946 was a dark day in history, for Donnie entered the world on that date.
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Thank you for reminding me about this song, Neil. It brings me comfort, as many tunes do. I consider myself a political centrist, but I think what feeds my loathing for Trump is less political than it is moral. He’s the most morally flawed President of my lifetime, and the fact that half the country is either 1) blind to his immorality or 2) willing to overlook it baffles me to no end. My in-laws are all Trumpers, and they’re good people, but they’ve been brainwashed through their allegiance to Fox News. Some of the things they’ve told me (e.g., Ilhan Omar spit on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, classrooms have litterboxes for students who identify as cats) are astonishing. We can only sigh and carry on with our meaningful lives.
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So true
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Agreed, Neil! Thanks for sharing these thoughts and the song. Appreciate you and your fervor ❤
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