Hour 1 – Barb Adams and John J. Higgins, Secrets and Lies (Part 1)
Hour 2 – Barb Adams and John J. Higgins, Secrets and Lies (Part 2)
NOTE: The following piece does not reflect the opinions of my co-host, John J. Higgins, nor my network, Genesis Communications.
I want to begin by discussing something that is affecting all of us here throughout the West…the wildfires. From the bottom of my heart, thank you to all the brave men and women who are putting their lives at risk to protect the rest of us and our properties. What we are experiencing is unprecedented. The level of rapid intensification of these fires is surreal. The toll it’s already taken and yet to take is unfathomable at this point in terms of lives and properties lost.
For me, though, what’s even more devastating is that there are those who continue to claim climate change and global warming are a hoax, including our own president, who has actually claimed these wildfires are, in part, our fault because we “…didn’t rake our forests.” As idiotic as that comment was, though, the rumors being put forth by QAnon currently that are spreading like wildfire are absolutely gut-wrenching.
Authorities in Oregon and elsewhere are pleading with the public to only trust and share information about the fires verified by official sources. Emergency 9-1-1 dispatchers are being overwhelmed with calls about a false online rumor that Antifa members have been arrested for setting the fires–a claim promoted by QAnon, the far right-wing conspiracy cult. Why anyone would believe such BS is beyond me. I know what it’s like to live under the black/orange skies sucking in that smoke day and night, wondering if and when it will end and if you or your friends and loved ones will be okay.
I read something yesterday that said that for those of us breathing this wildfire smoke, it’s like smoking 25 cigarettes a day! I’m not a smoker, never have been, but now my lungs are being damaged like I’m some cigarette junkie and all some people can do is see this as an opportunity to take advantage of other peoples’ pain. Americans are losing lives because of these infernos and there are those seeking to politicize and use these tragedies for their own sick gain.
Worse yet, Trump refuses to refute or question the motives behind the QAnon conspiracy theorists, actually aiding them in gaining traction by saying they’re “…people who love their country.” Which country would that be, Trump, Russia?, because they certainly aren’t working on behalf of this nation to unite us.
This week we also learned of yet more secrets and lies from Trump, as veteran journalist Bob Woodward released his new book, Rage, which is based in part on a series of interviews Woodward conducted with Trump. One of the more explosive revelations is that Trump knew in early February that the coronavirus was deadlier than the flu and that he was fully aware of the danger it posed to Americans. “This is deadly stuff,” Trump told Woodward on February 7th. Then, in a subsequent interview on March 19, Trump confirmed he deliberately misled the public about the gravity of what was to come, stating “I wanted to always play it down. I still like playing it down, because I don’t want to create a panic.” While Trump may have had have incentive to tamp down panic, his motives were purely political, not health-related.
Trump today still doesn’t wear a mask, mocking Joe Biden and all those who do wear masks as though it’s a sign of weakness, signaling his followers to do the same while they gather, en masse, at his campaign rallies, furthering the spread of this pandemic. Trump is intentionally negligent, causing needless numbers of Americans to lose their lives. How is this not murder?
And Trump’s “no panic” spin would be a bit easier to swallow if his entire campaign wasn’t about panic. With fewer than two months until the election, Trump is laser focused nearly completely now on his opponent, Joe Biden. In the last few weeks Trump has claimed Biden is controlled by “people that are in the dark shadows,” that Biden’s okay with children being “slaughtered,” and that “…if you live in suburbia, you’ll never be safe there again if Biden’s elected, that you’ll have to flee your home in the middle of the night.” Trump’s even gone so far as to do a skit about it…“Say darling, who moved in next door? Oh, it’s a resident of Antifa. Let’s get the hell out of here darling, let’s leave our suburbs. Ugh, I wish Trump was president.”
Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who’s the greatest of them all…Trump! He only sees himself. Can you not see that he’s really talking to himself when he speaks? It’s all about him, and it’s revealing everything we need to know about Trump, which is frightening.
Trump’s also making fun of how Biden speaks, which is priceless, because Trump’s the one who can’t speak or write…from “cofeve” to “hamberder” to “Yos-a-mite.” Just this week Trump pronounced the words “from among” as “frug amon,” not once, but repeatedly. And now he’s taking it to another level, claiming that Biden has gained an edge in the polls by using “performance-enhancing drugs.” Trump is actually accusing Joe Biden of doping. What next? That Biden’s selling drugs outside the Lincoln Memorial in the dark of night? And Trump’s supporters still follow him!
Trump isn’t alone in being the problem in this country, though. He’s been enabled all along by the Republican Party, and he’s revealed a whole litany of issues that need to be dealt with, including systemic racism, kleptocracy, white supremacism, and just how many Americans are stupid and easily led.
I know people who continue to claim that the coronavirus is a hoax. How can you continue to think this way when Trump, is on tape saying it’s no hoax and just how deadly it is? How do you view these wildfires happening to other Americans and think that far left-wing antifascists set them when the fires are occurring in blue, Democrat, states for the most part? How do you reconcile that in your own head? How is it you laugh when Trump makes fun of people who aren’t up to his standards of “perfection,” when you’re the butt of his words?
As much as Trump is a huge problem for this Republic of ours, so are you, dear followers of Trump! How dare you call yourselves patriots when you’re unable to even recognize real patriots like Alexander Vindman and countless other Americans who are risking it all to not only save this country, our Republic, but you as well. That’s what real Americans do, real patriots. Real Americans love their country and that includes all their fellow Americans, regardless of race, gender identity, where they came from, religion, political affiliation or lack thereof. They seek something better beyond the hatred and division, something greater for all of us as Americans and all of humanity.
Wake up! There is so little time left to choose our collective fate. This isn’t about a “win” as you’ve been led to believe. There is no “win” if that win comes at the ultimate cost of our country, democracy, and humanity. Choose Wisely!!
JOIN Barb and John as they discuss Secrets and Lies.
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