HCR: Tonight was the first debate between President Joe Biden and presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, and by far the most striking thing about the debate was the overwhelming focus among pundits immediately afterward about Biden’s appearance and soft, hoarse voice as he rattled off statistics and events. Virtually unmentioned was the fact that Trump lied and rambled incoherently, ignored questions to say whatever he wanted; refused to acknowledge the events of January 6, 2021; and refused to commit to accepting the result of the 2024 presidential election, finally saying he would accept it only if it met his standards for fairness.
I was by the marsh today before an eye appointment. A Snowy White Egret, Golden Slippers, circled about drumming up food in the water and mud.How does each of us focus and interpret what we see?
I watched the debate last night, all of it. What I saw is one man who lies and lies and lies and doesn’t answer questions about what he would do about child care, and who claims he is an environmentalist. If the world blew up with lies, it would have blown up last night.
Yes, President Biden stumbles. He let Trump’s lies get to him but that shows he is human, and we want someone with a heart in the White House. Having spent years in Toastmasters, I would have coached Biden differently, and wondered why he wasn’t told to slow down, and make one, two, or three points. I also would have said “my administration has done” to take the focus off of him, and onto the many people who support the running of the government.
A good quarterback thanks the team. This is not a one-man operation though we like to pretend it is. We want a frontman, someone who supposedly does it all but Ronald Reagan had Alzheimers and yet the country ran. I wish we could look at the content of what the Biden administration has done, and not a man who is rattled by a bully who lies. How many of us could stay cool amidst outright lies? Trump has made it clear he’ll put those who oppose him in jail if he wins. He almost makes it clear he won’t respect the vote count and system. He’ll try a coup again. This is frightening stuff, so let’s hope we can stay with the facts, and elect someone who cares.
I recommend you read all of Robert Hubbell today but I offer a taste.
Robert Hubbell: The hypocrisy and double standard is sickening. One candidate on the stage lied from start to finish. And no one is suggesting that he drop out.
Here’s my takeaway: Joe Biden learned a lot tonight. Every statement Biden makes from this point forward should include “convicted felon,” adjudicated sexual abuser, “hush money to porn star,” stolen classified documents, and Trump believing veterans are suckers and losers. Those statements are all true and they are what is necessary for Joe Biden to break through the constant stream of lies that spew from Trump’s mouth.
It is also clear that the debate format is broken. It is silly. It is unfair. But that is a topic for another night, not an excuse for tonight. In many ways, this is the start of the fight, not the end. Trump lied every moment he opened his mouth. We can deal with that when we are not constrained by two-minute alternative sound bites.
Hubbell suggests we donate to Biden’s campaign to show support, any amount shows support.Here’s a link to Hubbell’s Substack.
This week my friend and colleague Karen Roeper gave an inspiring speech to the graduating class at the Roeper School in Michigan. The school was founded by her parents in 1941 when they were forced to leave Nazi Germany. Already involved in education, they came to America in 1939 vowing to establish a school that would educate children to participate in the world as caring, humane adults.
Karen’s theme in her speech is love.
She shares an excerpt from an interview with the US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy. He was asked, “If you could change one thing as Surgeon General that would be immutable for the long haul, whatwould it be?”
He responded: “If I could change one thing, it would be: I would want us to veryexplicitly, and unapologetically place love at the center of our lives as agalvanizing force in our society.”
He continued on to talk about how our current society is locked in a struggle between love and fear.
Karen quotes her mother from her 2007 commencement speech: “If you really love yourself, then you will love life itself and you won’t want to hurt or harm others.”
BuddhistJack Kornfield offers a practice: “When you are walking around the world, see every person as once having been a newborn child.”
Yesterday I spent time in my neighbor’s beautiful yard which is an offering to serenity for all who come, plants, animals, birds. I share a taste.
Woodpecker enjoying suet in the garden.Looking down into the summer creekHanging fruitBloomingSharingClusteringIntricacy of Hydrangea flowersScent and beauty of a Rose
In the last few months I’ve been in the desert area of Phoenix, the redwoods of Woodside, passed through the golden grasses of California hills and settled by the bay and ocean in Marin to watch the waves and tides move in and out.
These different landscapes are openings, portals, twined in diversity, offering expanded and different ways to participate, create and breathe.
Today I read Robert Hubbel. Timothy Mellon, who inherited a fortune of $14 billion “donated $50 million to Trump the day after Trump was convicted of 34 felonies for interfering in the 2020 election by falsifying documents to conceal his sexual encounter with Stormy Daniels”.
Mellon wants Trump to be president so he doesn’t have to pay taxes to support the network that connects us. I find myself feeling compassion for him. How sad and tragic to be so isolated and deluded.
Maybe if we unite our hearts in sending warmth, love, and care to him, the ice floe on which he lives will melt and he’ll dissolve into the waters of this planet we share.
Igniting the rise and fall of breath with wingsBridgingReflecting
We spent the night in Inverness in West Marin. Watching the tides and changing light, my brain tunes into vibration and movement, soft tones.
I’m reading Vision: A Memoir of Blindness and Justice by David S. Tatel. Thumbs up!
Nick’s CoveLooking south across Tomales BayLooking northeast from the Inverness side – afternoon tide coming inMorning tide coming in – looking north from InvernessLooking west toward the ocean in early morning light Boats caught in the mud at low tide Morning bloom
I’m up in the night with the moonlight and critters who explore in the dark, though this almost full Strawberry moon offers light.
The last few days I’ve spent time with my neighbor’s mother who is suffering from memory loss, or is she suffering? It’s her experience, yes, but there is an immediacy to it, a presence. Perhaps it is that she’s been through the anger stage of losing control, of not being able to live on her own, or drive, and so now there is a settling into gentleness, a tender rhythm.
I feel embraced in a softening sea as I lose fear around one more thing I might fear. Yes, it requires the help and patience of others, but perhaps there is a gift in it, too, a gift for the neighborhood as we absorb memories flickering like stars.
Steve and I were married 53 years ago on this day, June 19th. Now, it’s a legal holiday, Juneteenth, honoring the end of slavery in the United States. May we continue to honor and cultivate the interconnectedness that brings peace.
As we approach the excitement and celebration of the summer solstice, I’m with these words of D.H. Lawrence:
We must get back into relation: vivid and nourishing relation to the cosmos and the universe … We must once more practice the ritual of dawn and noon and sunset, the ritual of kindling fire and pouring water, the ritual of the first breath and the last.
Honoring the ritual movement of sun, moon, and tides
Yesterday a friend and I took the ferry from Larkspur Landing to the city. We enjoyed lunch with our book group at MOMA and walking back to the ferry I was struck by a sculpture that I wanted to find the name of which led me to an on-line exploration of sculpture in San Francisco. Check it out:
We went up to the gardens at the SalesForce building, rather an eyesore from where I see it in Marin, but up close, it rises beautifully, and the gardens are amazing, so I offer a taste.
A Planetary JourneyBamboo Fuchsia flowers claim their nameBeauty beckonsSink into the center and expandBuildings reflect buildingsAnd so we wait for a bus to passAlong the street As we walk, I spy the sculpture called Standing Man. Color and unity abound.
It’s worth reading all of Heather Cox Richardson today but tears come as I read the conclusion.
President Biden spoke yesterday when world leaders and more than two dozen U.S. veterans of D-Day gathered to commemorate D-Day. They met above Omaha Beach at the Normandy American Cemetery, where the remains of 9,388 Americans, many of whom were killed on D-Day, are buried.
Biden: “Let us be the generation that when history is written about our time—in 10, 20, 30, 50, 80 years from now—it will be said: When the moment came, we met the moment. We stood strong. Our alliances were made stronger. And we saved democracy in our time as well.”
During the ceremony, the past and the present came together. Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky shook the hand of a U.S. veteran in a wheelchair. When the man tried to kiss Zelensky’s hand, the Ukraine president instead stooped and hugged him. “You’re the savior of the people,” the man said. Zelensky answered, “You saved Europe.” The exchange continued: “You’re my hero.” “No, you are our hero.”
As the crowd cheered, the old man turned to look at the younger one and said, “I pray for you.”
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