Lifting Only One Boat

The abuse of power vs. using it for good

Oh my god, it’s exhausting. The relentlessness of it all.

The latest started with a lawsuit filed by Trump and his bonehead sons against the government for leaking his taxes (taxes he promised to provide, by the way). Nobody took this lawsuit seriously. Trump was asking for ten billion dollars, and it was just assumed the suit would be thrown out of court. But yesterday the Justice Department announced that they have come to an agreement that provides a settlement of over one billion dollars that the department will be able to use at their discretion, and dole out to whomever they choose. The understanding is that this money is going to provide payouts to all the insurrectionists who have been looking for a settlement for the pain and suffering they went through because they were actually held accountable for their treasonist actions. It’s an asonishingly cynical and diabolical twist in the plot. And my immediate thought was ‘What if these people devoted half of the energy and brainpower that they devote to grifting the American people to actually solving the problems we are facing right now?’ But of course that’s not who they are, nor is it who they aspire to be.

I had the opportunity to interview an outstanding composer a few days ago for my podcast. Eric Funk has been composing, teaching and conducting for about fifty years, and recently retired from Montana State University, which bestowed him with an honorary doctorate upon his retirement. He has also been hosting a television show, ‘11th and Grant with Eric Funk,” on the local PBS station for more than twenty years. The show features musical talent from all over Montana, and in many different styles. Toward the end of our interview, Funk, who is 77, talked about leaving bridges behind for those who are following to cross, much as people before him built bridges for him.

How can you not love someone who approaches life with this attitude? Who shows such gratitude for the opporunities they’ve been given, and wants to spend as much time as possible providing those same opportunities for others. Because I’ve been in recovery for over 40 years, this idea of giving back has been hammered into my soul, and I always feel as if I’m coming up short in that department, but I do aspire to always improve.

It’s pretty much the opposite of the Trump administration. It was clear that Trump was on the verge of losing everything if he lost this last election, and now it is equally clear that he is determined to suck as much out of the world as he can before his time is up. But what is even more clear is how all of this grift and manipulation will never be enough. Not enough to satisfy him. Not enough to protect him. Not enough to guarantee anything other than momentary satisfaction for ‘winning.’ But it’s such a hollow kind of victory. The kind that only raises one boat, rather than creating positive ripples that lift others. Trump has never been interested in that, and unfortunately, he has surrounded himself with people who are just as greedy and devious as he is. People who will spend months planning a scam like this rather than finding a solution to the Iran War, or actually investigating the perpetrators in the Epstein files. We are prisoners to the worst corruption our country has ever seen, and it’s frighteningly clear that it’s not going to stop until he’s gone.