Let me say a couple of things about the horrific situation in Charlottesville.

No more using the benign term ‘alt-right’ for those who are white supremacists/nationalists, racists and Nazis. Call it for what it truly is. Yesterday’s incident was an act of domestic terrorism. And that disgusting excuse for a human being has done everything he can to whip up that base, to incite violence, to pander to them. No surprise that the man who pushed ‘birtherism’ has no morality. Or that Bannon, Miller and Gorka – all on the White House staff – are known White Nationalists.

We have someone occupying the Oval Office who will denounce anyone and freely does just that via his speeches and his tweets, but will not, WILL NOT, denounce Putin or White Nationalists or American Nazis. There are not ‘many sides’ to the violence in Charlottesville. There is only one, that of denouncing and repudiating the evil actions by those who marched yesterday.

He is a traitor to every ideal this country holds dear.

I am so heartsick over what happened yesterday, in America, in 2017. I don’t recognize my country. But clearly this was here, under the surface, all along.

There is either love or fear. Hate is fueled by fear.

We are better than this. And make no mistake, though I choose love, I will not tolerate hate. Tolerance implies a tacit approval or a willingness to accept diverse opinions. All well and good and laudable when it comes to things like religious tolerance, political differences, sexual orientation. I cannot and will not tolerate hate. And hate was on full display yesterday.

My father fought in WWII to defeat Hitler and the Nazis. He would be horrified by what happened yesterday.

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My nephew, Meredith’s son, Mr. 20, is in the hospital. He is in great pain as he fights a virus that has inflamed his intestines and lymph nodes. He is on morphine for the pain. We are very worried about him. They’ve called in a Gastroenterologist and we hope to know more soon.

Say a prayer for him, please.

Say a prayer for our country.

We had a huge, scary storm come through yesterday and I have some cleanup to do before I leave for the city. Lots of catalpa leaves are all over the yard and if you’ve seen a catalpa you know the leaves are heart-shaped and large in size. We won’t even talk about all the blossoms that are everywhere.

Mostly, though, I can’t really write today. I am so disheartened by what is going on in Washington DC; the lack of transparency as Mitch McConnell engineers yet another swindle on the American people because he’s spiteful and power-hungry and he wants to give a huge tax cut to the rich by taking money away from Medicaid, the lack of transparency in the White House as press briefings are now private with no recordings allowed, the ongoing investigations, which are vital, while this sorry excuse for a human being undoes everything that made us good and compassionate and powerful and respectable.

I’m simply overwhelmed by it all today. And heartsick.

I’ve got news: governing is not slashing and undoing everything someone else has done just for the sake of doing it, for spite. Governing is listening to the people. Governing is working for the good of all Americans not just the rich. You work for us. We pay your salaries.

2018 can’t come soon enough.

I’ll stop there.

I have to go to Manhattan later today and I’ll be back home tomorrow.

Happy Tuesday.