The first and only indigenous leader on the American continent was forced from office by a consortium of economic interests and the Cold War mentality of the Central Intelligence Agency. Evo Morales was the great hope of his people. He raised the standard of living and reduced levels of poverty by unprecedented margins. His reward should have been a Nobel Prize for leadership and economics. Instead his government was toppled by a CIA coup and remains under siege to this day. Anyone who naively thought that Donald Trump, who scorns so much of what our intelligence community does, would give pause to the policies of regime change and empire building can officially abandon hope. Upon hearing the news of Morales' fall, Trump warned Venezuela and Nicaragua that they were next.
5. The Rise of the LGBT Community.
Despite the powerful influence of our fundamentalist Christian culture, the LGBT movement has made phenomenal progress both legally and politically. While the anti-abortion forces have made inroads on the legal front, placing Roe V. Wade squarely in the firing line, gay rights have marched steadily forward. The presidential candidacy of openly gay mayor Pete Buttigieg gives testament to an unstoppable wave of progress in tolerance. Of course there are still battles to be won and there are regions in the world where all civil rights are imperiled. Still, the LGBT community has achieved a great deal and there is every reason to believe the march will continue and spread.
4. The Mueller Coverup Report.
Former FBI director Robert Mueller spent two years gathering evidence of the conspiracy to defraud the 2016 election only to toss it all away in deference to an obscure Justice Department memo holding that a president cannot be indicted while in office. Over a hundred contacts between the Trump campaign and known Russian agents with no other possible explanation except collusion and conspiracy yet the Mueller finds it less than compelling. He builds a compelling case for obstruction of justice but fails to deliver the critical finding: Trump is guilty as hell. Instead, he punts. He wants congress to find the guts he lacks.
3. Global Climate Crisis.
There once was a town called Paradise. It was nestled in the pines of the northern Sierra Nevada mountains. The people there were down to earth, hard-working people. To be honest it was the kind of town that chose not to believe in global climate change. I suspect they believe now.
In so many ways Paradise Burning is the perfect image for the climate crisis the entire world is facing and has been facing for over a decade. We were warned and yet, like the procrastinating Prince of Denmark, we pushed it back for another day. Along comes the young environmental activist, Greta Thunberg, to remind us that the day of reckoning is upon us. How dare we continue to ignore it.
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