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Jamie Raskin and Cassidy Hutchinson in Conversation

Two of my favorite people in politics these days—ones whom we owe it to if democracy does prevail… Congressman Jamie Raskin (representing the 8th district in Maryland) and former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson. Raskin asks very compelling of questions of Hutchinson that give us a glimpse of what it was like for her to be on the inside of the Trump administration, realizing she was no longer comfortable with what was going on… Here is their conversation.

I've written about Cassidy Hutchinson before. I read her book Enough, highly recommended from this awesome young person who is wise way beyond her years. She was drawn to Washington DC since she was a little girl and I Wonder if she was in politics in a past life...

Birds of Paradise

Not much to say about these surreal creatures which have rendered me speechless (and that's saying a lot if you know me). Watch this video below that hopefully will provide some distraction from all the overwhelming man-made problems in the world. These birds of paradise are found in eastern Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and eastern Australia. The family has 45 species in 17 genera. Be prepared to drop your jaw in utter awe of mother nature…

If
by Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise;
If you can dream- -and not make dreams your master;
If you can think- -and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same:.
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build’em up with worn-out tools;
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings,
And never breathe a word about your loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on! ‘
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings- -nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And- -which is more- -you’ll be a Man, my son!

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About The Author

New York City based contemporary artist, Pam Smilow, began writing the creative lifestyle blog “things we love” in an effort to foster a sense of community during times of isolation and reflection. To read more about her and her art, visit her website and check out the essay written by the Hammond Museum's Frank Matheis entitled The Sophisticated Innocence of Pam Smilow.