History tells us over and over that freedom is never free, that it must be fought for, maintained and renewed ever and again, in all the circumstances that a particular epoch requires. Lulled half to sleep by two oceans, the abundance of our lands, the enduring vision of our Founders, and the sacrifices of our forebears, we came to think of our country as impervious to ruin, a citadel of freedom and prosperity that would always fend off invaders from without and nefarious forces from within.

That no matter our external challenges or inner turmoil, we would, in the end, aright ourselves with the strength of our institutions and the can-do goodness of our people.

After yesterday’s Oval Office disgrace with an American president and vice-president taking the side of our arch-enemy and its evil dictator against a country and its people who have endured invasion, rape, torture, the abduction of its children and destruction of its cities, its very right to exist as a free nation...

Sometime words fail, and only your stomach can fully inform you about the revulsion you’re feeling when confronted with imagery and words that are contrary to the most basic human decency and every good intention humankind has nurtured over the eons. Not to mention the wisdom of all the world’s religions warning forevermore about the sin of making idols of either fallible human beings or money.

Such was the case yet again for me earlier today when coming across the latest media offering that President Trump himself shared on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday. I will try not to say too much here as the imagery speaks so powerfully and revoltingly on its own.

The barely half-minute, AI-generated video opens with imagery from war-torn Gaza streets, but quickly morphs into a fantasy of children romping on beaches, towering golden statues of Trump gazing down at a city center, buildings emblazoned with “Trump Gaza,” Trump dancing with an Arab woman whose ass shows clearly th...

The assaults, the responses, the anguish, the questions, the cruelty, the concern, the reprisals, the relentless tsunami of invective and resultant anxiety.

The anger and exhaustion, which is largely the intent.

The despair which creeps in quietly underneath, simmering…

And still, with Maya Angelou, we must rise.

But not today. Not this moment.

We must protect ourselves, too, by tending regularly to our zones of joy.

Today, beauty, for beauty’s sake. (And our own.)

Though with a loop back into history near the end.

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Leoš Janáček (pronounced “Lowsh Yun-ahh-check”) was a Czech classical composer who made abundant use of his country’s traditional folk music to craft a body of work with a distinct homegrown, nationalist flavor...