The Bitter and the Sweet

We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard… John F. Kennedy 1962

Artemis II lifted off April 1, 2026, from a spectator-packed Kennedy Space Center with millions more Americans glued to any visual source with real-time coverage of the first moon travel since 1972 – a 50-year hiatus.Those watching felt the same excitement, comradery as was experienced with the rise of Neil Armstrong fulfilling Kennedy’s challenge – walking on the moon within the decade. Hordes of watching children planned their Astronaut costumes for this fall’s Halloween. American ingenuity, innovation, success made the nation beam with pride then and now.

The sweetness of being an American was intense – being connected with most all other Americans – moments of massive achievement and true accomplishment. National sweetness – collaborative pride.Here is a diverse set of highly skilled astronauts:two American men – one white, one black - an American white woman, and a Canadian white male.NASA sent a highly DEI crew on its supreme mission with historic success – to the moon and back. The crew was an exuberant team.Their public comments were heartfelt for their crew, for their nation, for their planet– summed up by astronaut Christina Koch “Earth you are a Crew!”

In Lake Placid, NY,1980, an Olympics Miracle on Ice was brought home by 20 young American college hockey players defeating the highly professional, non-professional Soviets who had hither to owned the ice. Another prime instance of Americans – in unity - bolted to any communications device available to follow exquisite, fully-absorbing action.Anyone alive at the time can tell you where they were, what they were doing during this hockey match – regardless if they had ever before or since watched hockey.I was on a plane traveling from Houston to NYC, the Olympic commentors broadcasting on the plane’s speaker, every passenger riveted as the US team, surprisingly leading 4-3, in the final seconds of the game shut the Soviets out of a tying goal. Then, the famed “Do you believe in miracles? YES”.

American Sweetness – common pleasure – joint delight – extreme pride. We have in decades past enjoyed national delight – been bound by our sense of unity, our sense of being together joined for security, for extraordinary innovation, for massive wins, for marvelous accomplishment, for sweet celebration.We’ve not enough American sweetness in the past few years – rather trumped out with sharp, vigorous conflict, one side versus another, one party, one color despising another. Our previous sweet days/years were WOT – With Out Trump.

Currently a “non-war”, a major violent military clash with Iran has brought the nation stark, biting bitterness – the bitterness of soldiers killed, of costs in our nation skyrocketing, the President’s blatant screaming of war crime rhetoric, the use of religion in reporting national endeavors, the blasphemy of Trump depicted as Christ posted online in our secular state, the US at war with its faithful allies of 70 years, the negative battle with the Pope over theological matters, Orban throw out with other Hungarian trash.

Bitterness, corruption of Trump & sons raking in billions from cryptocurrency, Middle Eastern real estate deals all driving the net worth of their family from $2.5 Billion in 2024 to $10 Billion in 2026. Crime, corruption, lucrative deals with countries, billionaires, corporations are the trademark of Trump – a powerful force set to destroy a nation once lauded not for perfection of behavior but for leadership for liberty, for freedom. The United States, America, our nation unassailed as a pinnacle of performance, of altruism accompanied, of course, with righteous anger for loose bands of ugly Americans stuffed with greed and self-indulgence- taking and taking. The era since 2016 is WT – With Trump – he, Trump, an albatross of atrocities, promoter of hatred and division, role model of what-not-to-be, example supreme of who-to-scrub-his-mouth-out-with-soap.

Lincoln lead our nation, perhaps the most revered of our Presidents, warning the nation: “If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide”.We ought listen to Lincoln.We the People, owners of the Constitution, owners of our government must be authors of democracy and decency – all is in our hands.

Kathy Herald-Marlowe lives in Sharon.