After getting a good, close look at the garden, I decided it was perhaps past time to engage in some pruning.
This is what it looked like before
And this is what it looks like now
It still looks a little on the wild side, but trust me,
it's definitely more under control.
Since it's the 4th of July, I chose the All-American Vibes playlist from Amazon music, which, to my ears, includes a pretty eclectic selection of songs. Lee Greenwood's God Bless the USA. Jimi Hendrix's National Anthem from Woodstock. Gene Autry's Yankee Doodle Boy. Toby Keith's Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue, subtitled The Angry American. Simon and Garfunkle's and also Neil Diamond's America.
Back to pruning. I'm always hesitant to get out the shears and remove a vine or a spent blossom. Every year, without fail, I check Google (this year utilized Chat GPT!) to ensure that it's okay to prune, then what and how to snip off. I've made mistakes--pulling out what looks like a tomato vine without blossom only to watch the yellow bloom come away in what I hear it say, "No! Not me!" But the plants need the oxygen and space in order to grow and produce. (Info from Chat GPT).
Probably like many of you, I've been ruminating about the passage of the Big Beautiful Bill and its impact on the nation. I couldn't help but consider the BBB as a massive pruner, and one done without benefit of the Google or Chat GPT or the CBO or past history, because if it had, I just can't imagine it would be pruning so many of the proven necessary structures to make this the country Lee Greenwood sings about in God Bless the USA. How did we come to a place where people don't care? That when the massive pruning shears come out, they applaud wildly?
Key Cuts & Rollbacks
🔢 Impact Summary
| Program | Estimated Cuts / Losses |
|---|
| Medicaid | ~$1 trillion; 7.8–12 million more uninsured by 2034 thetimes.co.uk+6vox.com+6kff.org+6 |
| SNAP | ~3 million households lose benefits |
| ACA Marketplace | ~3.1 million uninsured due to rules |
| ACA Tax Credits | ~4.2 million uninsured from credit expiration |
| Clean Energy Credits | Entirely repealed |
| Student Loan Forgive | Replaced with stricter repayment standards |
In short, while the bill permanently extends and enhances many tax cuts (for tips, overtime, estates, SALT, etc.), it compensates by slashing funding to Medicaid, food aid, marketplace coverage, clean energy, and student loan relief, with tens of millions of Americans expected to lose benefits or protections.
I think the MAGA crowd sincerely believes that those of us who aren't wearing this...
or this...
...that we don't love America. Our country. We, the People, all of us. Loving our country is not a competition. We have lost our way if we believe that America only belongs to MAGA and MAHA loving folk, and those who eschew the beliefs embraced by this segment of the country should just pack our bags and get out. I try to listen to the Republicans and members of the Trump Administration when they state, with all sincerity and belief, that the BBB is going to make life better for everybody. But once anyone examines what the bill is pruning from the American public, all I hear is hypocrisy and hubris. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, attributed to Lord Acton, a 19th century British historian and moralist, and boy, has that been on full display in Congress. We've entered a place where our politicians care first, and foremost, about being re-elected and maintaining their power base. If you don't believe that, look how quickly any Republican falls into line as soon as the President threatens to primary them.
And to which I say--you chickens, take the primary challenge! Have a little more faith in the American people. If you had voted the way allegedly many of you said you wanted to vote because you thought this was a shitty bill, then perhaps voters would look at you as someone with integrity as opposed to being a spineless weasel.
When I go outside via our downstairs patio door, I get to see these folks looking at me.
From l to r: photo of my maternal grandparents wedding: Rose Laura Dach and John Walter Piekielko. Photo of my paternal grandparents wedding: Antionette Pankiewicz and John Parys. Photo of my great aunts: Mary (Manya); Rose (Rozia); Zoe (Zosia); Emily; Charlotte; Annie.
Tom Holman, about one of my least favorite people in the world.
Everytime he rails against immigrants, I immediately think of my immigrant grandparents. My siblings, cousins and I are uncertain as to where they entered the United States, although we recall stories of how my grandmothers came over "on the boat." What little exploration I've done does not show them coming in through Ellis Island with the great migration of immigrants who passed through there. None of us are sure if my paternal grandparents were citizens. I'm fairly positive my maternal grandmother was. They did what the majority of immigrants have always done--worked hard to make a better life for their children. It was because of them that I am who and where I am today, and that awareness has only increased as I've grown older and, in particular, as the MAGA folk blare their horns against the immigrant population.
So, here we are on the 4th of July, and it appears that pruning will continue at least until the MAGA folk feel the effects of the shears in their own backyards. In the interim, I will be taking to the streets with my sign that says, "2nd Generation Immigrant. Deport Me," as well as the sign that reads, "Here for the Children and Grandchildren." Doing nothing is not an option. I may not be able to knock the pruning shears out of the current administration's hands, but I'll be damned if I'm going to sit back and watch while they cut. Because I believe that like the tomato vine with the blossom on it that I've removed, we cannot stand idly by while someone says, "No! Not me!"
God Bless America.
Comments
Post a Comment