It troubles me when troublemakers falsely characterize other people as dangerous troublemakers in order to make trouble and try holding on to power.
I love this 2018 tweet the late U.S. Representative John Lewis made about trouble:
“Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year, it is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.”
What kinds of troublemakers do you see in my latest photos?
I hope I didn’t make trouble by presenting so many pictures together in that photo montage. To see any of those more clearly, you need to go to the trouble of clicking on them.
These are my favorite photos from yesterday, so I’m taking the trouble of enlarging them for you:
That was actually no trouble at all.
Because so many people are making trouble for each other on Facebook, I reposted this message there recently:
Reposted from a friend.
Just a note for my right leaning family and friends from my left leaning self as we near voting day:
They say we want to disband police departments (and that we hate the police): we don’t, that’s a lie. We want to weed out racism and unnecessary police brutality and for those who abuse their power to be held accountable.
They say we want to release all prisoners: we don’t, that’s a lie. We want to weed out racism and ensure the punishments match the crimes and to deprivatize prisons.
They say we want open borders: we don’t, that’s a lie. We want asylum seekers to be given their chance to seek asylum. We want to help people who are coming from unimaginable terror and poverty help to give them the chances we have. We want to ensure children aren’t separated from their parents and that nobody is kept in cages. But we do want proper vetting.
They say we want to take away your guns: we don’t, that’s a lie. We want logical gun control to help prevent mass shootings.
They say we want to wage a war on Christianity and Christian values: we don’t, that’s a lie. We want people of all religions to be able to practice and worship freely.
They say we want to get everything for free: we don’t, that’s a lie. We want to work hard and make sure that healthcare and education are affordable for all.
They say we want a war against traditional marriage: we don’t, that’s a lie. We want people of all sexual orientations to be able to love freely, no matter whom you love.
They say we want to destroy or rewrite history: we don’t, that’s a lie. We want to recognize the ugly parts of our past and do everything we can to say “that’s not okay, let’s not honor those aggressors, let’s not let those things happen again”.
They say we want to take away your constitutional rights: we don’t, that’s a lie. We choose to believe science and wear masks and try to prevent the spread of this disease.
They say we hate America: we don’t, that’s a lie. We just recognize our faults and want us to do better, be better.
Please stop with the us vs. them. Stop with the straw man arguments. Our position is one of empathy, compassion and logic. Stop believing the hype. Stop with the division. Just because we want equality for all doesn’t mean we want to take anything away from you.
***Please copy and paste***
If there are any troublemakers from my high school who insist on talking politics at our upcoming Zoom reunion, I’m going to the trouble of making breakout rooms for them to do so. I’m hoping that, for one night, we can focus on easing each other’s minds, not further troubling them.
Ranker has made a list of the best songs with word “Trouble” in the title. Here is #1 …
and here is #5:
No matter what kind of trouble I’ve made in these blog posts, I always make room for gratitude at the end, so thanks to all who helped me create this “Troublemakers” post and thanks to YOU for taking the trouble to be here!
The Year(s) of Living Non-Judgmentally 