The Birther Movement Is Alive And Well In the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP)

Trump got lots of mileage claiming that Obama wasn't born in the United States and thus wasn't eligible to be president.  He knew, all along, that his accusation was false.  But it played well to the sizable racist population that was smarting at the idea of a Black president.  It also got Trump lots of attention and Obama's team had to use up resources (emotional, creative, financial) and time fighting the lies, time that could have been spent constructively.

Well, it's clear now that the Birther Movement is alive and well in the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), as they question the birth locations of United States citizens who live along the Mexican border.  And it has the same effect of playing to Trump's anti-immigration and racist die-hard fans as well as distracting attention and resources and time from other issues (I don't think I need to list them, though some, I'm sure we don't even know about.)

As the noose around the Trump administration tightens, Trump actions are only going to get meaner and more destructive.  We need to brace ourselves and hang tough until this poison is out of our system - or at least down to a much less toxic level.  (Am I engaging in progressive hate speech here?  I am using a strongly negative metaphor, but I think it's backed up by the example of Trump's administration trying to strip US citizens of their citizenship.  We can argue endlessly about whether there actually are some people whose midwife falsified their place of birth 30 or 40 years ago, but there's a reason we have statute of limitation rules, and it only applies, if at all, to a tiny fraction of the people being harassed.   And these 'crimes' are nothing compared to all the ways that ICE and CBP are treating asylum seekers.)

And to help keep up your spirits, here are some signs of change  as summer prepares to hand over our lives to autumn.

The mountain ash berries seem particularly abundant and large this year.  The Bohemian waxwings will be happy when they come to harvest them during the winter.


















The rose hips are also big and red and abundant.  They're still hard, but before long they will be soft and sweet and full of vitamin C.












And this mushroom has also joined the party in our yard.  I first thought I'd just post the picture without looking it up.  I've got things to do while the sun is out.  But I decided that's not me on this blog.  So I looked for my field guide to mushrooms.  But in all the moving stuff round this summer it's not where it used to be.  So after 15 minutes I gave up and made a feeble attempt online to identify it.  I give up for now.  If anyone knows, please leave a comment.  But it's a handsome mushroom.