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ResQgeek

May 2024

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After walking along the banks of the Rhone river to our bus, we left Arles behind and drove north through the countryside of southern France. The endless vineyards were still in their winter dormancy, with the vines all pruned back and little green to be seen. Our guide continued to entertain us with her ongoing dialog about the region as we drank in the scenery around us.

Our next destination was the city of Orange, north of Avignon. It is because of this city that the Dutch sports fans all were orange when cheering for their national teams. The Dutch royal family belong to the House of Orange, which has its roots here in southern France. And so it is a connection between a city in southern France and the reigning royalty of the Netherlands that results in the color choice for patriotic Dutch.

Orange, like Arles, dates to the Roman period, and boasts of a Roman triumphal arch. The plan was for our bus to park so we could get out to take pictures, but when we arrived, the traffic circle around the arch was under construction and there was no where for the bus to stop. We had to settle for our driver going around the circle a couple of times, while we tried to snap photos through the windows.

After we were all satisfied with our views of the arch, we headed back through the city to our next stop, the Roman theater. As with the arena in Arles, the theater in Orange has been restored and is currently used for music and theatrical performances. In fact, upon our arrival, we couldn't miss the posters advertising the upcoming production of "Phantom of the Opera" that was soon to take the stage.
Once we were inside the theater, our guide spoke at length about the history of the theater and its restoration. We then were given a little time to explore the grounds before we headed back to the bus.



By now it was past mid-afternoon, but we had one more destination before we returned to our hotel. Between Orange and Avignon is a famous wine appellation, Chateauneuf-du-pape. The name comes from the castle that was built here as a vacation residence for the Popes when they lived in Avignon in the fourteenth century. Little remains of the castle itself, which was heavily damaged by Allied bombs during World War II. However, we did stop briefly to explore the ruins that remain, before we headed into the village. Our tour guide had arranged for us to have a wine tasting at the Musee du vin Brotte, where we sampled three very nice Chateauneuf-du-pape wines, and learned a little bit about how the wines of that region are produced.

Finally, it was time to call it a day. We piled back into the bus for the final time and headed back to our hotel. As we approached Avignon, we found ourselves trapped in the late afternoon traffic, as we crawled past the city walls towards the hotel, but soon enough we were back and it was time to make plans for dinner.
We assembled here today are issuing a new decree to be heard in every city, in every foreign capital and in every hall of power. From this day forward, a new vision will govern our land. From this doy forward, it's going to be only America first, America first.

Every decision on trade, on taxes, on immigration, on foreign affairs will be made to benefit American workers and American families.


-Inaugural Address, President Donald Trump


I must confess that I did not watch the inauguration of the 45th President of the United States of America. I did not watch, in part, because I did not expect any surprises from the man who will now lead our country. But, really, I didn't watch for the same reasons I have never watched a Presidential inauguration. I find the pomp and ceremony of these political occasions boring. While I do appreciate the significance of the way we hand over the reigns of power in a peaceful fashion and acknowledge how truly rare that peaceful transition has been in history, I simply do not find ceremony of it compelling.

But normally I have enough interest in the proceedings to follow them through the news and social media. Not this time. I have grave reservations about the qualifications, character, and abilities of the newly inaugurated President. I find his personality, attitude, and manner abrasive, and I was more than a little afraid of what he might say, or what might be done by his supporters, or his opponents.

Thus it was Sunday morning before I actually read the text of his inaugural address. There are many things that can be said about the speech, and many points that I find troubling. But the one that sends shivers down my spine is the language about "America first." I don't know if the President was intentionally invoking the isolationist movement of the late 1930s, but my immediate reaction when reading these words was to link them to the pro-appeasement isolationist who were sympathetic to the fascist regimes of Europe. I thought about the strong images drawn by a young Dr. Seuss early in his career, including this one:



I think that history has, properly, judged this isolationist movement harshly for ignoring the brutality and inhumanity of the axis alliance and the evil that was being committed in the territories they controlled. And I think that if we do, in fact, undertake a true policy that always and only puts American interests first, regardless of what that means to the rest of the world, then history will judge us just as harshly.

And while I wonder if the new President is sufficiently well-versed in history to appreciate the full historical context of his words, I see evidence that they may be rooted in a similar worldview. There is already a bill pending in the House of Representatives to withdraw the US from the United Nations. A year ago, I would have thought that such a bill would have had exactly zero chance of actually passing, a product of the extreme political fringes. But in light of the words of the President, I can't help but wonder if we aren't about to try and follow a path we have already walked.

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