I knew what is about to happen was going to take place, but I wasn’t sure how it would manifest. Now, that’s the beginning of a Stephen King story, but I am sorry to say it just another post from yours truly. I put up my last one on Friday and wondered what I’d do today, the Sunday afternoon, following my motorcycle ride with the Sons of Kauai. I seem to creatively have devolved to the point, when I have a bunch of hours with nothing much to do, the first thought is writing, even if I have no idea what to write about.

I woke up this morning with the dilemma intact. I had no idea what the hell I was going to do after the ride and then two things happened that made my mind up for me. I read what our President tweeted, you should excuse the expression, about the handful of newly elected Democratic congresswomen, who are pretty damn bold, whether you agree with them or not. This last part is important, because differences between people is not reason enough to hate, something many of us have lost sight of.

The leader of this country told those women to go back to the countries they came from and fix them, before they start trying to change this one. Here is where Popeye comes into the story. Sometimes, when I feel like I am at my wits end, I think of Popeye, grabbing for that can of spinach, which I think he puts in his pipe and smokes, an act I will leave alone for purposes of this piece. Then, he would say something like, “Olive, that’s all I can stands, I can’t stands no more”.

I read what he said and I reached out with my pencil thin forearms for that can of spinach, in utter disbelief that this man, who is supposed to represent what is best about this country, would come from a place lower than the gutter of ugly.

The motorcycle ride intervened and it was all I could think about on the ride. God, I love riding a motorcycle on this island, especially how it gracefully transports me in the direction I am already traveling. I immediately thought of the title, the umbrella I rode under all the way over to the west side and back.

I knew I would get home and find this story had fallen way down on the list of our fickle attention cycle and it had. Nothing seems to stick anymore when it comes to determining what is important or not. I just interrupted the Stones, singing “Honky Tonk Woman” to see the headline and it certainly wasn’t hours old news of one of the worst things any American in his right mind would say.

We no longer seem to give a shit about each other and spinach is not the cure. Your politics is of no interest to me, because this is about far more important issues than the trivialization of Right versus Left. ……………………….I’m sorry, I just started crying and I swear it’s not for effect.

We are a fractured nation and every single one of us is being taken advantage of and I could care less about your politics. We are busy making fun of each other and many of us think white is the only color that matters. The signs of environmental collapse are overwhelming, so bad that thirteen year old children are staying out of school to protest our selfish blindness. Our global strategy is all about inflicting suffering on innocent citizens in order to get their governments to acquiesce to our selfish demands. Policy making in this country is being set by people from the industries they are supposed to be safeguarding us from.

We have trivialized our humanity and compassion for others. Every one of us has come from somewhere else and that is the magic of America. There has never been a country like this in the entire history of the world. However, greed has made us ugly and mean spirited, an affliction that has been the undoing of every Empire before ours.

Today, in my mind and my heart, this President has finally crossed the line and there is no coming back. The Menehune would be the only people living on Kauai if we all went back where we came from. I know many of you support the man in office, but you need to look into your heart and let that be the only voice you hear. I want all of us to be better than that.

“Olive, let’s call and write everyone we know and tell them this is not who we are.”

Thank you and God Bless.