My Box of Crayons – DEMAND DECENCY!!

By Will Snesrud

What has happened to our grand country, a country that was built to the point of being a world leader for peace, prosperity, and moral decency for all!!

That final word – DECENCY – when looked up in the online Cambridge Dictionary defines it as ‘behavior that is good, moral, and acceptable in society’, and when looked up in the online Merriam-Webster Dictionary is defined as ‘the quality or state of being decent, conformity to standards of taste, propriety, or quality’.

I for one see decency as something that brings out positive moral and ethical standards not only in our own lives, but also when dealing with others in any sort of public or business atmosphere.

Since the primaries for the 2016 election I have been absolutely embarrassed by how our political and/or government officials have acted – and overall, I am not talking about just one side of the political spectrum over the other.

It began with the embarrassing attitude that Donald Trump treated others during his run for the White House, and we are talking everyone from fellow republicans, democrats, reporters, men, women, children and foreign dignitaries.

When he openly made fun of a reporter with a physical and long-term disability, I knew that our country was in huge trouble not only on the local political stage, but also on the world stage.

I grew up having a sense of proper dignity of how to treat others both morally and ethically. Now it appears that it has been thrown out the window and the whole world is watching and in many cases moving away from what may have been hundreds of years of diplomatic decency with the United States – all due to the embarrassing and un-decent actions, words and expressions proclaimed from our White House, once the bastion of moral and ethical decency.

In a piece written by the faith leaders at the Washington National Cathedral, we are reminded once again of a man similar to Trump in Senator Joseph McCarthy during the late 1940’s and early 1950’s when he ran rampant over any and every one during his rage toward any possible concept of communism. McCarthy, like Trump, seemed to think he had ultimate powers to do whatever and however he felt, but like Trump – he did not.

We are reminded of a comment directed at Senator McCarthy on June 9, 1954 before a live television audience when then U.S. Army Attorney Joseph Welch took McCarthy head on and stated – “Until this moment, Senator, I think I never really gauged your cruelty or your recklessness. You have done enough. Have you no sense of decency?”

Like Trump, McCarthy’s words and actions were very decisive and cruel, with many causing friends and family to even turn on each other without remembering our country was built on differences in color of the skin, a variety of religious faith or followings and a variance in pathways politically – while all the while remembering we still have to have a sense of moral and ethical decency toward each other in order to work for the people of our country.

Does anyone remember the words on the Statue of Liberty that awaits new arrivals from the east as they enter the harbors around New York City –  “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore.”

In watching the first of the two second-round of debates for those seeking the Democratic nomination to run for president in 2020 – I was appalled by the lack of decency so many had toward the others by the way they kept interrupting just for the opportunity to get the final word in, sometimes with words they had already shared during ‘their time’. But then again, at least none of them got so low as to call names or make fun of others – so apparently, they did have a line of decency somewhere within the verbal barrage happening as the moderators did their best to keep the whole debate on its proper course.

My crayon for today is a very bright red one, one that wants to spell out in capital letters words similar to those which Welch used some 65 years ago – ‘STOP THE CRUELTY AND RECKLESSNESS TOWARD OTHERS, OUR COUNTRY AND THE WORLD ITSELF!! BRING BACK THE MORAL AND ETHICAL DECENCY THIS COUNTRY WAS BUILT ON!!’.

I’m afraid that too many have been drinking the water of words, actions and ignorance that the current administration has been directing our country the past two-and-one-half years. I’m afraid the recklessness they have been allowed to go about our countries business has put us many steps backwards both on the country and foreign stage – steps backwards that may take several years to repair and undo.

What I do know is that we ALL MUST STEP UP and say STOP THE RECKLESSNESS AND CRUELTY TOWARD OUR COUNTRY, ITS NATURAL ASSESTS AND ITS PEOPLE AS WELL AS THOSE PEOPLE WANTING TO COME HERE TO ESCAPE EVEN WORSE RECKLESSNESS. STOP BEFORE WE CROSS A LINE THAT TAKES US DOWN A PATH, WE WILL ALL REGRET!!

WE ALL MUST get involved in order to save a country that is already great but slipping down a path that leaves moral and ethical decency behind.

That my friend is, for today at least, my box of crayons talking about life and the world around us. What does your box of crayons say about your life and the daily adventures you are willing to travel?

With that, I simply say thanx for letting me share – – – Good Day!

(My Box of Crayons is copyrighted@2019 by CrossDove Writers – no part of this writing can be reprinted or used without written permission by CrossDove Writers and/or Will Snesrud.)