TRUTH IS OXYGEN

My fellow LinkedIn Travelers,?

?I really enjoy hearing about the energy and purpose with which you all are chasing your dreams. In the midst of the boasting, ingratiating and promoting there is an underlying, shared caring and the wisdom to realize that life can be hard and it makes sense to stay connected with those around you for support and insight.?

?For me it is a nice change from listening to my old colleagues and mentors recounting their endless stories of new hips and knees and pickleball triumphs ??

?Yes, I am old, OK very old ??, and I am worried for you, and I need your help.

Seventy-five years ago, I was born into a small WASP family where to be different was to be suspect ????

Today, I am part of a large extended family that is a tapestry of faiths, nationalities, races, lifestyles, occupations, political views, education... where to be different, is to be accepted. I'm not sure how I got here, but I find it amazing, tiring and freeing.?

?I am writing this article (my first and last), to the memory of the character of my great grandmother, Gertrude. ???

?My great grandmother was senile, in a sweet?way. We lived above her in her battered, two-family house that her father had built before the Civil War.?She spent her days happily talking to Jesus, the actors on her TV and her parakeet; but, in her moments of clarity, she said simple, powerful things that mean something to me to this day.?

?One of those things was the reality of shame.?When I was growing up and I lied to her or did something mean, disrespectful or just plain old stupid she wouldn't swear?or carry on, she would just lean her wiry?body against mine and slowly say, "You should be ashamed of yourself!" and somehow that said it all.??

?During my lifetime. I used to like to think that my generation made some progress towards the goals we aspire to as a country for society and the workplace, but I look around today and, well, maybe I was very wrong. It isn't so much that lies, sexism, prejudice?and hate still exist, it's the sheer, staggering amount of lying and hate and the unprecedented willingness and passion that "responsible" adults spend defending and repeating hateful lies they know to be false.

?When I went to school (yes, I walked both ways uphill with no shoes ??) we were taught that it is a great economic advantage if the citizens of a country shared a common language. I now realize that what is really most important for our society, businesses and careers to flourish is an unwavering devotion to the sanctity of the truth, and, yes Gertrude, publicly calling out liars as "shameful"!

?In London, near the west entrance of Westminster Abbey Cathedral, placed close to the grave of the Unknown Warrior, is a memorial stone that simply says, "Remember Winston Churchill". ?He courageously stood alone, against all odds, in the face of the fascist hate and tyranny of his time.?

?In these troubling times, I find myself constantly thinking of two of Churchill's most insightful quotes:

?“The truth is incontrovertible.?Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is.

?"Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities...?because it is the quality which guarantees all others."

?So here is where the “I need your help" comes in. I beg you to join me in fighting for the truth. It's a real, fragile thing and it needs uncompromising, tireless, passionate followers who don't turn their back on it by "agreeing to disagree" or "going along to get along" with liars. Truth needs citizens who defend it with the same passion and ferocity that fools and fanatics defend their lies.

?We need to tell Trump supporters or voters on the fence that a vote for Trump is not a vote for just tax cuts for the very rich, that they need to own that their vote is also for ?all of Trumps hate, racism, lies, fascism, sexism, etc. You will own it all!

?Have you noticed the number of respected, lifelong Republican leaders, military leaders and senior aids, who worked most closely with Trump are saying they are voting for Kamala Harris for President in this election? They say they are doing it because this whole election comes down to just one thing, voting for the only candidate they believe is dedicated to the continuation of American Democracy, the rule of law and defending the Constitution.

Based on what these former Trump leaders have personally seen, Trump only cares about what is good for Donald Trump!

?No one will know how you vote, but I am praying you will get out and vote for Harris & Walz.

?I am not a political person, just an American who is greatly alarmed and outraged! The following part of this article is for those who are still deciding on who to vote for or would like something to help convince a friend or loved on why Trump is unfit to be our President and it is so important to vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.

?Manliness:

Real men?know Trump is not a "real man"! ???

In my life, I have come to realize that a good deal of what I was taught to be "manliness" was wrongheaded and needed to change, but I also know that some of the things I was taught should be cherished (like calling your high school sweetheart "my girl" for your entire life). ??

.For me, many of those "manly" traits were instilled in me by the?women in my life, who embodied them all, from love and kindness to strength, courage and ferocity. I was taught?real men, don't put a sign on their front lawn or vehicle supporting someone who thinks it’s OK to grab your girl by her......, or calls your girl "born stupid", tells people she's?successful only because she slept around, makes fun of her race, body, nationality, lifestyle, name, etc.

I was taught real men have the courage to step in front of bullies, not behind?them. Tell the truth no matter who they are with or where they are at. To respect others, support the dreams of those we love, like they support ours, defend a woman's sacred right to make her own decisions about her own body, protect them as best we can and love them and,?Oh my god, yes,?vote?for them!

Finally,?Real men admit when they've lost!!

Being a Patriot:

I literally cringe every time I hear Trump, and his supporters, claim that they are the?real?patriots!

Patriots do not mock prisoners of war as being losers but revere them.

Patriots accept election results when they lose, reach out to the new president and offer their support and participate in the peaceful transition of power. Something that was done by every losing president for the past 245 years because they knew what it was to be a patriot.

Traitors, not patriots, incited a violent attack on the Capital of this country to overturn an election they lost and then Trump described it as "a day of love!"

Faith:

I am deeply confused and troubled when I hear that?numerous?Evangelical?Christians?support Trump.

At this point in my life, my principal religious practice is continually wrestling with my soul. However, when I was young, my deeply religious mother sent my brother and me to Harmony Heart Evangelical Bible Camp in the summers. The evangelical leaders at Harmony Heart would have been horrified any Christian could find it in their heart to vote for Trump. They taught us campers to pattern our lives after one of my mom's favorite bible verses, Philippians 2:3-4

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others"

Compassion for Others:

Empathy

When I was 9 years old, my family went to a party where the host's much older children asked my brother and me to come downstairs to "play a game". The game was they called parents of classmates they didn't like and when the parents answered the phone they screamed, "Oh my god, your child was just in a terrible car accident, help!"????

I had forgotten about that night until the night I heard Trump lying to families devastated by Hurricane Helene. During their unbelievable nightmare, Trump? chose to reach out to them and lie, saying "all the aid money intended to help you is being given to "illegal immigrants!" by the government!"

Guns

When Trump was President he bragged, "there was great pressure on me to do something about controlling guns. I did nothing!" He did nothing!!??Nothing, even though, the #1 cause of death for young people ages 1-19 is from guns and over 80% of Americans support universal background checks and 65% a ban on assault weapons.

The Border

After conservative Republicans and Democrats crafted the toughest border protection bill in 40 years, Trump told his followers in Congress not to pass it?because he would get no credit.

A bill that would help control the flow of illegal immigrants and fentanyl into our country!

Immigrants

My mother's family came to America generations ago with the Dutch and my father's parents were first generation immigrants. All immigrants!

Unless you are an American Indian,?you are an immigrant even if you came here?250 years ago!.

Sadly, Trump and his supporters forget this basic fact and take a twisted, hateful joy in demonizing?all immigrant asylum seekers even though the reality is the greater majority are simply hardworking individuals, trying to flee the same hardships our?ancestors did.

Woke

Recently someone sneered and called me "woke". I laughed.

The Oxford dictionary definition of "woke" is "being aware of social and political issues and concerned that some groups in society are treated less fairly than others". If that's it, I am!

Listen, I do believe that nothing is truer than "All lives matter". But I also recognize that during my 75 years our country has acted like my white, male, straight "life" seems to have "mattered" more.

I also believe that to be "woke" is not to risk your son going to school a boy and coming back a girl!?Is it really possible anyone could think that is happening???Dear God!?

The Economy:

In 2020, Trump said that if he lost the election to Biden, "the stock market will crash, you will have a depression, the Democrats will terminate religious freedom and destroy your suburbs". Has that been really been your experience or just Trump's hateful, lunatic ravings?

?President Bush handed President Obama the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression and Obama handed President Trump a restored economy; then, President Trump handed President Biden a country being ravaged by a global pandemic (that he promised we didn't need to worry about, "It will just disappear") and today the economy of the United States is factually recognized as the envy of the world. And Donald had nothing to do with it, zero!

?Yes, inflation rose and was painful, but now is coming down, but wouldn't you spend a trillion dollars keeping citizens and cities alive during a pandemic and rebuilding our country's infrastructure? If you are worried about the national debt, what did you think when Trump gave away a trillion dollars to corporations and the very rich and promises to do it again if he is elected?

?Finally, his mindless ramblings about 20% across the board tariffs will be nothing more than a price increase back to onto US citizens and mass deportation of all legal and illegal immigrants, rather than working towards a sensible immigration policy. This will have a staggering effect on many US companies' ability to get the workers they need.

?If you are not a multi-millionaire or a billionaire, Harris's economic proposals are proposals are aimed to grow the middle class. The Wall Street Journal just reported that they polled over 20 distinguished economists, and they all said Trump's planned actions would be terrible for the economy versus Harris' plan.

?

Strength and Competence:

Harris is no lightweight when it comes to defending the laws of the land. She was raised by her single mother who was a cancer researcher. She began her working career as the district attorney - or top prosecutor rising to district attorney for the city of San Francisco. She then became California's attorney general, becoming the first woman and first black person elected to serve as the top lawyer in America's most populous state. In 2016 she was elected California's US senator, only the second black woman to become a senator.

?Compare Trump's constantly spreading fear by describing living in the United States as a dark, violent, enemy filled, zombie like, hate filled place to live in to the vision of Harris and Walz of our county as a great nation which is thriving and one of the greatest nations in the world!

Harris and Walz demonstrate competence, intelligence, energy, humor hope and compassion. If all her choices are as sound as picking Tim Waltz as her vice president, I feel the country is in good hands.

?Trump truly is unhinged, unstable and unfocused! Watch any of his rallies or interviews and he can't focus on any topic or question without launching into a rant filled with his grievances and enemies, movies, genitals, how much white supremacists and dictators love him, lying about doing things everyone knows he never did, lying about his dissillusionall amazingness, crowd size, not getting his ass kicked by Kamala in the debate, the enemies within, using the army against US citizens.

?Meanwhile his MAGA republicans in Congress and the Senate sit on their hands as he tells hateful lie after monstrous lie about not losing the election, voter fraud, children going to school as boys and being sent home as girls, babies being killed after they are born, cities being taken over and pets being stolen and eaten by Haitians and describes our country as third world country.

?Don't Poop In The Pool

To Friends I have, or had??, who will be voting for Trump, help me with my last post, ever. So here is my problem.

No one I know tells me why I should feel good about voting for Trump other than the rich and corporations will gain more tax advantages and immigrants will be "handled".

If we are honest with ourselves, reasons to vote for Trump are not his competence, mental sharpness, age, character, honesty, empathy, his respect for veterans, the law, the Constitution, his handling of the pandemic or his proposed economic policies or his refusal to be fact checked.

So as I was thinking what might be the "unspoken" reasons someone votes for Trump I saw a Trump bumper sticker that said, "Trump Revenge Tour".

It made me think of the last conversation I had with my godfather. My godfather was my Mom's first cousin and best friend. He was a framer (he built houses), tough as nails and my first boss. He stood by my Mom when she was alone trying to raise two boys. I loved him very much.

We were talking about our hometown, where he had lived for 92 years. When I asked him how things were, he said, "The damn "WOPS" now control everything, I can't stand it, you know what I mean?" (Because my English Mom and Italian Dad had divorced, there were only two "WOPS" in my family, me and my brother.)

My godfather, who loved me, realized what he had said, his face softened, he smiled and said, "I'm sorry. There's no sense in pooping in the pool" (he used an "s" word for pooping!)

At that moment, I understood how the world had changed for him. During most of his life everyone in town looked like him and there were few "outsiders", few people who were "different". He felt his town and opportunities had been taken away from him by Italians. It wasn't rational to me, but the experience was very real for him.

My godfather was a wise and kind man which was evident in the wisdom of that last comment he made. When I was young he often said, "when you're mad, don't poop in the pool because we are all going to be swimming in it!" Our country is like that pool.

I just can't help but think Trump's Revenge Tour is pooping in our pool. His supporters feel that something is being unfairly taken from them and given to “others". They are willing to defend all of Trumps lies, fascist and violent rhetoric, mindlessness and hatefulness because he promises to punish all those "others" that you can blame for all your pain and anger. To hell that their children and grandchildren and mine and yours will be swimming in the pool they pooped in.

Here's my last thought. I was at a high school sporting event and a neighbor who supports Trump was furious that the referee did not call an obvious foul. My neighbor was right, but what I found interesting were his words...?"Be honest ref, that was a foul; don't you know the rules, be fair, same rules for everyone!!" If only we could have the same standards for President as we do for a high school ref!

God Bless

Carl Ferrara

PS- A GIFT. - Listen to that old Beatles' song "The End" before you vote.

?

PSS - A note to Jamie Dimon.

I had a conversation with a friend, where I said them, "It is a disgrace that Jeff Bezos stopped his editors from publishing their papers support for Harris & Walz after the paper has endorsed a presidential candidate for the past 50 years.

How can you be worth over $200 billion, say you want to own a newspaper and be such a coward!"

The person I was talking to looked at me and said,?"He's no worse than your old boss!"

That statement really angered and shocked me!

For 30 years, I worked at JP Morgan and Chase, the last 12 years with Jamie Dimon as our CEO. During those 12 years, I grew to have an unqualified admiration for his tireless energy, candor, intelligence,?attention to detail, banking brilliance, professional values, and personal character.

I could have directed this note to numerous other CEO's, but I never worked at their firms, respected any of them as much as I respect Jamie or spent countless hours attending town halls and manager meetings listening to them stress their vision, priorities and values.

Over the years, Jamie has often described himself as a "full throated" patriot and declared that his non-negotiable core values were character, speaking the truth and inclusion for all men and women.

I remember how proud I was when, during the financial crisis, Jamie said, "Taking money from the US government isn’t the right thing to do for JP Morgan, but it’s the right thing to do for the country." So that is what he did.

President Lincoln's counsel for extremely difficult times was, "Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm."

It is really hard to understand how someone as principled as Jamie Dimon can reconcile his stated "full throated"?patriotism and core values with his unwillingness to openly support Harris & Walz.

Sadly, the friend I spoke to this morning might be right. I truly hope not. Jamie, there's still time.

.