I was going to write about chaos.

The chaos raining down upon us by a populist fearmonger and his pedestaled, unelected, too-rich-to-really-care sledgehammer-wielder.

The infantile shattering of all vestiges of American decency, a skulking retreat to shuddering isolationism and xenophobia paradoxically cast as a symbol of impending greatness.

The resounding dearth of humanity in the White House, smug ignorance shattering lives with the cast of a pen, not a care in the world.

The alienation of allies, castigation of friends, courting of enemies, praising of all we fought 249 years ago to cast in the dustbin of history (and many times since).

The absurdity of claiming deference to the Constitution, to Patriotic ideals, to Christian faith, when nearly every action, every word and deed, flies directly, offensively, in the face of those same documents, ideals, values.

I was going to. But I couldn’t. Because it’s there, in spades, one needs but to open eyes and ears to be overcome by the deluge. I need not add my insignificant voice to the cacophony.

But, alas, I find myself, my brain, my being, lost in the torrent, numbed and dumbed by the onslaught of idiocy, of inhumanity, of utter bastardization of our nation, our history, our ideals, our brothers and sisters who gave their lives for that nation, that history, those ideals, as imperfect as they always were and always will be.

So, today, my mind in the fog, some thoughts from others less clouded, more wizened, perhaps inspirational, thoughtful, provoking.

I have observed, that gentlemen suppose, that the general legislature will do every mischief they possibly can, and that they will omit to do every thing good which they are authorised to do. If this were a reasonable supposition, their objections would be good. I consider it reasonable to conclude, that they will as readily do their duty, as deviate from it: Nor do I go on the grounds mentioned by gentlemen on the other side--that we are to place unlimited confidence in them, and expect nothing but the most exalted integrity and sublime virtue. But I go on this great republican principle, that the people will have virtue and intelligence to select men of virtue and wisdom. Is there no virtue among us? If there be not, we are in a wretched situation. No theoretical checks--no form of government can render us secure. To suppose that any form of government will secure liberty or happiness without any virtue in the people, is a chimerical idea. If there be sufficient virtue and intelligence in the community, it will be exercised in the selection of these men. So that we do not depend on their virtue, or put confidence in our rulers, but in the people who are to choose them.
- James Madison, Virginia Ratifying Convention, June 20, 1788

The aim of every political Constitution is or ought to be first to obtain for rulers, men who possess most wisdom to discern, and most virtue to pursue the common good of the society; and in the next place, to take the most effectual precautions for keeping them virtuous, whilst they continue to hold their public trust.
- James Madison, The Federalist No. 57, February 19, 1788

Great minds have always seen it. That is why man has survived his journey this long. When we fail to wish any longer to be otherwise than what we are, we will have ceased to evolve. Evolution has to be lived forward. I say this as one who has stood above the bones of much that has vanished, and at midnight has examined his own face.
- Loren Eiseley, Darwin And The Mysterious Mr. X: New Light On The Evolutionists (Archive.org)

I believe in freedom with the same burning delight, the same faith, the same intense abandon which attended its birth on this continent more than a century and a half ago. I am writing my declaration rapidly, much as though I were shaving to catch a train. Events abroad give a man a feeling of being pressed for time. . . . I just want to tell, before I get slowed down, that I am in love with freedom and that it is an affair of long standing and that it is a fine state to be in, and that I am deeply suspicious of people who are beginning to adjust to fascism and dictators merely because they are succeeding in war. From such adaptable natures a smell arises. I pinch my nose.
- E.B. White, On Democracy (library)

We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant. Wherever men or women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must – at that moment – become the center of the universe.
- Elie Wiesel, Oslo, December 10, 1986, Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech

To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness.
What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places–and there are so many–where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction.

And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.
- Howard Zinn, You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train (Archive.org)