THE GREAT LISTENER

• Last known photograph of Abraham Lincoln

The other day, when the British Parliament convened to discuss WHAT TO DO WITH some UGLY AMERICAN, i was so compelled to write an apology to them for my fellow New Yorker.

i am equally compelled today to add a postscript.

This comes on the heels of just one more example of Mr. Trump’s “style of politic.” i am not a Conservative myself, nor am i a Republican, but i do know of Glenn Beck. i have read his opinions or listened to him for many years. He says countless BRILLIANT things! So, when Mr. Beck announced yesterday that he was not on the Donald’s side, Trump could do nothing more, nothing better, than to call Glenn a few nasty names. THIS, WE ALL KNOW ALL TOO WELL, IS PAR FOR THE COURSE for the man who should just stick to golfing.

This time i could only think back to so many times i stood and wept in the Peterson House across the street from Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. i have made sure to take all of my children there, though it is far from our home. i have made sure that they stood in silent reverence by the bed, taking it all in, even to imagining THE GREAT ONE’S FEET dangling off the end!

If Mr. Trump cannot learn from the FIRST and the GREATEST REPUBLICAN, Mr. Lincoln, that you can’t just call people who have a different opinion than you TERRIBLE TERRIBLE NAMES; if the Donald cannot listen to his opponents; if – God forbid! – enough of my fellow Americans show up blind on November 8 and elect this man, the USA will be the laughingstock of the world, and i can only say, GOODBYE, USA! The Greatness, far from returning, will be Gone!

Interesting, how so many other Republicans at the time called ABE LINCOLN every hideous name they could muster up! And in the end HE SHUT THEM ALL UP – by his uncanny ability (call it humility and a lifetime of studying George Washington, George’s Biography being Abe’s second Bible) to LISTEN to them and TO EVERY ONE!!!

Secretary of War Edwin Stanton was one of the biggest name-callers of them all. And it was he who stayed by the President’s side, in the highest and most sincere respect, from the hour he was shot…all night long…in the Peterson house…until the FIRST & GREATEST REPUBLICAN breathed his last breath.

Shame on Republicans if they do not learn from history at least this simple little point that a man who cannot listen is a dangerous man. Yes, Yes, SUPER-YES, this country of ours needs MAJOR CHANGES!!! But RIGHT CHANGES will never come about through those who cannot LISTEN.

Pray for us, please, Mr. President.

Author: friardad

what's it like having a wife and six kids after having been a friar for many years and being still married to St. Francis' Lady Poverty? View all posts by friardad