Passing the E.R.A.

IN THE EARLY NINETEEN SEVENTIES much was made about the ERA (Equal rights amendment, not earned run average). It was a more progressive era, during which it was considered important by many to enshrine in the law gender equality by adding an amendment to the national constitution stating that discrimination based on gender is illegal. After much ado, and after thirty five states had approved the twenty eighth amendment, it died, because, according to the constitution, thirty eight states are required to ratify a new amendment. Congress in 1972 had expressed a willingness to pass it, which is also required. One can hardly imagine today's conservative congress passing it; these are less progressive, less expansive, less tolerant times. My father, who at the time was a retired tort lawyer, issued his opinion that the amendment was unnecessary, because gender equality was already inherent in the body of the existing constitution. I couldn't find it then, and cannot now. The equal protection clause, perhaps? Amendments thirteen through fifteen? Nowhere, not explicitly, is gender equality to be found in the constitution, unless one embraces a living, interpretative constitution, which my father certainly did not, he being a conservative. And even if an equal gender amendment turned out to be constitutionally redundant, what of it? What harm could it do? Better safe than sorry, eh? I always suspected, and still do, that daddy was opposed to legal gender equality because he was opposed to gender equality everywhere, that he considered women to be chattel property of their husbands, which in fact they were, legally, until the late nineteen seventies. We all use the great document to justify our own agendas. Now, two more states have ratified the ERA, Nevada and Maryland, bringing the total to thirty seven, one short of the necessary number. Could it be that we are on the verge of entering a more civilized modernity? Probably not; remember our conservative congress, which likes the constitution just the way it is, believing it to be perfect, even God given. And besides, most of our elected legislators most likely would, in a pinch, fall back on my father's lame excuse; that we do not need gender equality, because it is already there...somewhere.

Being An Expert - On Everything

ONE OF MY BEST FRIENDS is absolutely certain that human activity does not cause climate change, because, he says, the climate changes with or without our assistance, which proves that our assistance is unnecessary, and therefore is not being given. Also, he says, he is a geologist. Actually, he flips houses, but as an undergraduate he took a course in geology to fulfill a general science requirement, and what more can one have for climate change credentials? He spent five semester hours examining rocks from the ground, an activity intimately connected to the atmosphere. He has nothing against solar energy, but believes that the fossil fuel industry is without blame, and should be encouraged. Bring back coal. The fact that chemists, physicists, climate scientists, and every high school science teacher understands that putting thirty billion tons of carbon into the atmosphere every year cannot but help influence the amount of heat in the air and therefore the climate is immaterial. What do they know? They are, after all, merely ivory tower eggheads, divorced from reality.The pattern is this; people who deny climate change never have a resume which includes science education, but are absolutely certain that climate change is a liberal hoax. They are not merely skeptical of the overwhelming proof, they consider themselves qualified to dismiss it entirely. In modern America, everybody is an expert, on everything. We know more than our lawyers about the law, and more than our doctors about human health. If anyone in any country in the world wants expert advice on any conceivable topic, ask an American, any American.

Guilty of Being Black

IF A CRFACKAH IS HANGIN' in dah hood wiff his homies, cracker cop cruises by, without so much as honking. In the event that several young African-american gentlemen congregate for casual street corner conversation, the cop stops, demanding an explanation, suspicious of their intent, dispersing said citizens on suspicion of being darkly pigmented. the's the facts, jack. President Obama has talked about being followed by employees and security guards in brick and mortar retail stores, and he aint makin' it up. Every black friend I have, including the doctors, lawyers, and teachers, has told me of similar experiences. Being black in America is, and always has been, a crime. Whitie gets a warning, and perhaps a brief lecture, brothah gets a ticket. White man gets probation, black man does time.In the law enforcement and legal system the systemic racism is well documented, by every sociology department in America, and by the stats themselves. Conservatives deny all this, of course, just like many of them deny man made climate change, evolution, and the benefits of financial assistance to the poor. Whatever works, whatever is true, count on America's right wingers to discount it. We the American people remain what we have always been: the most racist society in human history. When i was in graduate school I lived i an apartment complex next door to a young, impressive African-american lady. We were good neighbors, but not good friends, which to work well for neighbors in America. One day I was desperate for a postage stamp, was willing to pay, and was unwilling to go anywhere to get one. So, I knocked on Vanessa's door. she answered, and behind her quite a party was in progress, without a white face. She summarily dismissed me, assuring me that a postage stamp was the least of her possessions. I thanked her, and left. Not long thereafter the party broke up, she knocked on my door, handed me a stamp, and refused payment. Apparently I had been forgiven for being white. I had been victimized not by racism, but by the residual effects of the manner in which Europeans have always, and still do treat Africans in America. Racism is a one way street, paved in white. The African-American community is resentful about their treatment, not about skin color. Being systemically mistreated for centuries is a much more serious matter than sharing a country with people with light skin pigmentation.

Looking For Our Missing Heroes

THE ROLLING THUNDER impromptu patriotic motorcycle gang rolls into Washington D.C. every memorial Day weekend, and, strangely enough, its purpose is not to honor America's verifiably war dead, but rather to call attention to and honor the over eighty thousand service people who have simply vanished during the many and various United States' wars. With a little luck or divine intervention, they are safely ensconced and prospering in places like Canada, having gladly gotten out of the fray. More likely, regrettably, they were killed in action, and lax accounting overlooked them, which is, at the least, alarming. one's first impulse is to assume that the bikers are doing what the rest of us are: rmmembering and paying tribute to all the million and a half or so counted war dead. Their creativity is to be admired. What better reason for thousands of motorcycles to come roaring into teh nation's capitol, adding carbon based exhaust to the fetid air, turning the already overheated atmosphere into a murky, malignant soupy haze. Nearly all of the eighty thousand missing in action lost their way during Viet Nam, Iraq, Afghanistan, Iraq again, or perhaps somewhere in Latin America, where american imperialism is much less publicized. Since the U.S. lost nearly four hundred thousand dead in world War Two, we may still be wondering where some of those brave souls ended up. The following is a list of american wars for which no true justification can be found, other than expanionistic, imperialistic, capitalistic greed: The Mexican War (1846-1848). the Spanish-American War (1898), Viet Nam (1964-1975), Iraq (1991), Iraq(2003), Afghanistan(2001-to the present, ongoing). Korea was questionable; it was, after all, a civil war, into which it can be argued the United States and the United nations ought never to have injected themselves. No matter which war, or under what circumstances the missing were lost; they remain brave heroes, and the politicians who sent them to their doom remain war criminals.

Replacing the Cross With A Compassionate God

AND SO IT CAME TO PASS that Ireland dragged itself, kicking and screaming, into the twenty first century, legalizing abortion by a huge margin in a national plebiscite. Secular civic society supplants superstitious obsession with sin. Women are being liberated from the tyranny of religious dogma to pursue their own relationship with their own God in their own way, casting off the shackles of outdated dogma. Abortion is the murder of an unborn child. Either God approves of murder, is powerless to prevent it, or simply chooses not to. He most certainly does not give humankind "free will; he, or she or it intervenes directly in human affairs early and often, according, at least, to the Christian and Hebrew bible. Free will, with limits and qualifications and boundaries, if you will. The biblical God intervenes directly in human affairs throughout the old and the new testament, not to prevent human slaughter, but to engage in it. The god who gave people free will does not hesitate to override free will. God never intervenes to prevent our modern wars of wholesale slaughter, and he often seems to prefer that women murder their unborn children, by refraining from causing them not to, as He/she/it is presumably capable. A well known insurance company, Blue cross blue Shield, uses as its slogan "the compassion of the cross, the protection of the shield." A perfect metaphor for a religion based upon torture, pain, a fear. Compassionate cross? Before Christ was crucified, thousands of people were put to death on crosses by the ancient Romans, who borrowed to technique from their vanquished enemy, Carthage, who themselves learned it from some dark, unknown place, possibly within themselves. If the cross is compassionate, so are torture and slow death, which are all that it ever provided. And so is abortion therefore compassionate, the murder of the unborn, a choice between a pregnant woman and her God, not somebody else's dogmatic God of an anachronistic, primitive religion. The unborn dead will never suffer from the insanity and viciousness of the post natal world of our creation, and of God's creation, and for that, they should perhaps be grateful.

Playing Games, and Dealing

PRESIDENT TRUMP IS A MAN who knows ow to make a deal. As he instructs in his seminal work "The Art of the Deal", never appear to be overly eager to make a deal (whether or not, presumably, one actually is overly eager), because if you do, you'r dead. Gee, we hadn't even thought of that, had we? Accordingly, Trump nearly died recently, as he promised that we would protect the North Korean dictator, make North Korea filthy rich, and grace the country with an opportunity to became a beneficiary of the Trump brad, perhaps through real estate transactions, if only the RNK would immediately, unilaterally, and precipitously eliminate its entire nuclear arsenal, under strict American supervision, post haste. The U.S. would be allowed to retain its nuclear stockpile. Who wouldn't go for that? The don had spoken. A deal nobody could refuse. Then, after his excellency Kim Jong Un accused vice president Pence of being a "dummy" for mentioning on FOX network that the North Korean scenario would perhaps replicate the Libyan outcome, the one in which dictator agrees to eliminate his atomic bombs, and is then removed from power with American assistance, and murdered, the great wheeler dealer withdrew the carrot, and replaced it wit the stick, in a politely written letter to "his excellency" aka "little rocket man" which canceled the planned summit meeting between the two leaders, and reminded the little rocket man his excellency that he, the don, had in his possession the greatest nuclear bomb collection imaginable, and was not afraid to use it. Absolutely brilliant. A demonstration of supreme negotiational genius, New York mafia style. The don is as good as his word, however good that might be on any given day, but it only gets better. The next day, the White House, the world's most loquacious edifice, announced that a summit meeting and a bargain were still possible, even probably, but the big man tipped his hand a bit, reminding us that "everyone plays games". He should know. After all, he's the expert.

Carrying The Cross

FUNDAMENTAL CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY maintains that either God, the son of God, or both, depending upon one's particular brand, was tortured to death to atone for the mistakes of everyone, on the condition that those receiving atonement must worship him. Those who do not meet this requirement, no matter how otherwise virtuous, are simply out of luck. We pay a price for assistance, usually. Images of the instrument of torture and death became a defiant icon in an upstart religion, and eventually ubiquitous. People brandish crosses on necklaces, on bedroom walls, and on public property, illegally. The especially devout sometimes associate special powers with the cross, others report than wearing one is too painful, too great a reminder of the sacrifice Jesus made. The loftiest level of cross bearing, arguably, is reserved for those few, proud, intrepid souls who drag large wooden crosses, often as large as ten feet long, down the sidewalks and highways of the world, with shopping cart wheels attached, which saves much labor and the wear and tear sanding down. Presumably they wish to draw special attention to the sacrifice, to remind people that they should not forget. One man has being doing it for thirty years or more, on all continents except Antarctica. He's put in a reputed one hundred thousand miles, and is reportedly in great shape,which excellent lower body definition. A have a friend who does this, a seventy seven year old who has also been on the holy trail for decades, with less mileage but equal enthusiasm. He stores his cross in the back of his van, always ready for action. On his bumper is a sticker with the words "God bless America" crossed out, and the words "America bless God" adjacent to the incorrect version. My cross bearing friend has severe diabetes, and part of both his feet have been amputated, but that doesn't slow him down. Defiantly he wades with his symbol of death and redemption into crowds at motor cycle rallies, rock concerts, and other ostensibly unsuitable venues, immune to the verbal abuse and occasional threats handed out. He says he is willing to die for the cause. He could provide the ready made means, relieving Jesus of the burden of one, and only one soul.

Never Knowing Ourselves

J.P. MORGAN, a Wall Street financier who at the turn of the twentieth century was America's wealthiest and thus most powerful man, and who almost singlehandedly bailed out the American economy during the financial crash of 1907, said that there are two reasons why we do what we do: the good reason, and the real reason. J.W. Goethe, the undisputed prince of European literature, and estimated by many reverse psychologists to have been the smartest human who ever lived, said that if he knew himself, as Socrates admonished, he would probably run away. Goethe also said that we resist the truth only because we fear we would perish if we accepted it. But he didn't leave it at that. He further said that we are never deceived, we only deceive ourselves. Generally, successful people understand human nature, human nature being predicated largely upon self deception. Our self deception is the means by which we conceal from ourselves the true extent of our own morally questionable, "real" motives, and enable ourselves to deceive others while believing that we are in fact doing something more noble. Natural selection tends to reward competitive, selfish behavior. In order to constrain its destructive effects, we cooperate, and we invent socially acceptable behavior, hence, civilization. But, we're still competitive, each person seeking survival advantages. Individually and collectively, we push the envelope, cheating as much as we can to gain a survival advantage. Everyone tells lies, behaves hypocritically, and pretends, both to ourselves and to others, to be "better" than we actually are. An excellent description of how all this works is contained in the excellent study "The elephant In the Brain", by Simler and Hanson, who, by their own admission, coauthored the book as much for the purpose of enhancing their self esteem as to elucidate the topic. Two very honest dudes indeed; but only up to a certain point.

Seeking Answers, As Usual

THE REFLEXIVE AMERICAN RESPONSE to mass murder is prayer and thoughts. They both seem to have marginal efficacy. Pronouncements of outrage and round table discussions don't seem to help mitigate the national slaughter either. There is speculation that withholding publicity from mass murderers might serve to alleviate the madness. Nice try. One hundred Americans are shot to death every day, sixty one of which are self inflicted. Over the past fifty years, more Americans have shot themselves and each other than have been killed in all the wars the United states has ever fought. People who kill themselves with guns have a ninety five percent success rate. Those who use pills and razor blades succeed at a rate of three percent. To most Americans, the very thought of removing firearms from private hands is too abhorrent to even contemplate, because the second amendment is sacrosanct, and without privately owned weapons America would no longer be free or well defended, the military evidently being inadequate to the task. There are more privately owned firearms than Americans in America. James Madison was skeptical about the bill of rights. He thought, or so he said, that it would likely be ignored. When the second amendment was adopted, firearms were useless for personal defense and their ownership was strongly regulated. Men of military age required to own and maintain a musket, but were prohibited from using it except on the field of battle. The new nation rejected the idea of a professionally, permanently standing military; a well regulated militia was considered necessary to the security of a free state. The United States started getting serious about gun control when repeating revolvers and long guns were invented, and more serious still when the infamous tommy gun appeared at the end of World War One. Most late nineteenth century gun registration was intended to keep guns away from freed blacks and working class whites, who must not be allowed to have political power of any sort. The National Rifle Association, like the Ku Klux Klan, was formed to help achieve this end, and the NRA was intended to encourage gun safety and good marksmanship, which had been sorely lacking among union soldiers during the war. This remained the NRA's purpose until 1977, when an extremist faction seized control of the organization, and politicized it, a disease from which it has never recovered. The wild west was never very wild; gun fatalities were relatively rare on the American frontier; nobody but the law was allowed to carry guns in frontier towns. Only lately has the U.S. become the wild west, since people, not guns, kill people. When England and Australia gave up guns, their rate of gun deaths declined precipitously; in America, to do so would be unthinkable. The founders never intended the second amendment to encourage Americans to arm themselves to the hilt for self defense. Those who defend an originalist interpretation of the constitution reinvent the document when it suits their agenda. An originalist constitution would have us all keeping muskets in our homes, for militia duty only. Thus proceeds our great American massacre, and no matter how devoutly we pray for deliverance or blame it on abortion or too few guns in too few hands or blame it on the expulsion of god from public schools, God himself seems content to leave well enough alone.

Training And Fighting

MY FATHER, who was born in 1918, graduated from law school in 1940, precociously, and had barely begun entering into practice with my grandfather when Pearl Harbor was attacked. Hoping to avoid military service, he sought employment with the FBI, but the Bureau saw through the scam, and directed him to the nearest navel recruiting station. He did basic training in Livermore, CA, and enlisted in the aviation corps. he swore that he learned to fly using a Stearman bi-plane, and that bombing practice consisted of dropping sacks of flour on African-American regiments drilling in teh desert below. While stationed at the U.S. navel base in panama, hew was flying over the Caribbean one day, training another sailor in flying. suddenly he felt a jolt, and looked out at the wing, which had a smoking hole in it. In the water below sat flat black U Boat. The trainee urged that they attack the sub and engage it in combat, but my father, a lieutenant junior grade, pointed out that the plane was equipped with an automatic .22 caliber gun on each wing, sufficient only to put very small dents in a submarine. As cockpit scuffle ensued, during which the trainee sustained a bloody nose. My father swore that the young man put i for a purple heart, and received it. to this day I believe every word of it. Hence the term "military intelligence."...My mother, at the time of pearl harbor, was a twenty one year one nursing graduate, and she was determined to enlist. My father, who was at the time engaged to her, forbade it, saying that nurses were needed on the home front to keep the country healthy enough to fight and die for. To this day I wonder which of my parents is the greater hero. Its a toss up.

Giving Pruitt the Boot

WHETHER HE KNOWS IT OR NOT, whether he happens to be in denial, Scott Pruitt is going to lose his job as director of the Environmental Protection Agency, and probably soon. The lesson is: if you do not like a particular government agency, and believe that it shouldn't exist, you probably shouldn't be offered its directorship, and if offered, probably shouldn't accept. It is well known that before taking over the EPA, Pruitt developed a tiresome habit of trying to immolate the agency by repeatedly filling lawsuits against it, trying to prevent it from doing its job. That's why Trump nominated him for the job; the president believes that environmental protection is all well and good, as long as it doesn't in any way interfere with corporate profit. Problem is, protecting the environment, either by cleaning it up or by reforming corporate behavior to prevent further environmental damage costs money And since most environmental destruction is the result of corporate enterprise, it is widely believed that the expense of protecting the environment should be born or at the very least shared by the corporate community. Instead, Pruitt's EPA seems intent on making it easier for big business to ignore the environmental consequences of its behavior, most notably by eliminating regulations installed by previous administrations. but none of that is the reason for Pruitt's impending departure. the reason is financial corruption, which has been much in the news recently. The American people, much to their credit, have a limited tolerance for soundproof rooms and first class travel at public expense. Consider Pruitt's lack of concern for the health of the ecosystem a n ancillary concern, and his forthcoming departure an unintended positive benefit for us all, and for the Earth.

Unrelenting

A FAVORITE MEME of the right wing is that Hillary Clinton, not Donald Trump, conspired with the Russians during the election, which seems strange, considering that the Russians, by all accounts, wanted Trump to win, and also, that there is no investigation into the Clinton campaign on this matter, as there famously is of the Trump campaign. The right wing never lets simple facts interfere with a good conspiracy theory which supports their interests. Sean Hannity, of FOX sexual predators, Inc.,swears to God almighty that Hillary is soon going to get what's coming to her, and that she'll end up in jail. Hasn't the right been saying that for, oh, twenty five years now? Trump, according to the right, will soon be on his way to Stockholm to pick up his Nobel Peace prize, as North Korea smilingly disarms, entranced by Trump's deal making charm. We'll hold our breath. That's how crazy these people are, crazy with blind, unrelenting hatred. Alarmingly, there are literally millions of hate crazed right wingers in the U.S.; they're all white, and they all voted for Trump. Even more alarmingly, they still support him, and would likely vote for him again, if he is allowed to run. Evidently they haven't yet had time to listen to the famous Access Hollywood tape, or, if they have, consider it inconsequential. Trump's supporters can hardly bring themselves to even roll their eyes at the president's behavior, the constant lies, and so forth. Conservative America will doubtless continue dogging Bill. Hillary, and Obama, and will continue to be disappointed with the results, even as they (the right wingers and the Clintons and Obama) fade away into history.

Meeting Little Rocket Man

IF NORTH KOREA gets rid of all its nuclear weapons, of which there are about fifty or so, and begins feeding all its people instead of only the military, and becomes a kinder, gentler, freer place, give all the credit to Donald J. Trump. Hell, why not? He certainly wants credit, for denuclearizing the Democratic People's Republic of North Korea, even though it hasn't happened, and may never happen, until the end times. Believe it or not, Trump and his merry Trumpsters are angling for the Nobel Peace Prize. Since Obama won it, you would think they wouldn't want it. South Korea's corrupt conservative lady president was recently ousted, and replaced with a forward looking liberal, which is in large part responsible for recent improvement in North-South relations. The North Koreans have always wanted to meet with the American president alone; but the U.S. has never been willing to do so; until now. Maybe Trump's famous deal making abilities will carry the day, and bring permanent peace to the Korean peninsula. Onn the other hand, you worry that the two men won't get along, will end up calling each other names like "little rocket man" or whatever little rocket man used to call Trump, which, if memory serves, wasn't very pleasant. What will little rocket man want in exchange for giving up his nuclear weapons? Much more than a mere American promise to not attack, we can assume. It is well known that such promises are nearly worthless. What id, in Singapore June 12, little rocket man demands that in return for getting rid of his nuclear arsenal, the United States must rid itself of its, remove its troops from South Korea, and its navy from Asian waters? Whatever else we the people of planet earth agree or disagree on, we can all agree that want to and need to eliminate all nuclear weapons, not just North Korea's. There are no benevolent nuclear powers. Little rocket man is going to want a bundle of money, full economic intercourse will all American trading partners and corporations, and probably much else to boot. Little rocket man wants, in essence, love, recognition, and respect. To the extent that the American president is even capable of providing those things, may he knock himself out, and win that Nobel Peace Prize.

Favoring Impeachment, Finally

ALTHOUGH MY CAR WEARS an "impeach Trump" bumper sticker, I have never actually been in favor of impeachment - until now. Enough, after all, is quite enough. The bumper sticker was offered free of charge from some online radical organization, and I just couldn't say no. In the small town where I live, smack in the middle of Trump country, most of the tail gaiters seem to frown when they follow too closely and read, which I regard humorously. Now, my car is beginning to mean what it says...I'm starting to change my mind, to lean towards impeachment, and perhaps removal. Much will depend on how the Muller investigation turns out, of course, and how Stormi blows over, and things like conflict of interests in business, and all that. Since the Defense Department lists climate change as the greatest threat to national security, any president who ignores it is committing treason, it could be argued. And so forth. I don't take impeachment lightly. Bill Clinton was impeached for lying to a grand jury under oath about sex. Should Trump therefore be impeached for lying to us the American people, about everything, deliberately, on a daily basis? Surely. Surely this is far worse than Clinton's lying. Trump lies about climate change, which threatens us all. its hared to fight an enemy when the president refuses to believe the enemy exists, even as the enemy begins its assault on the nation.

Upgrading

SINCE THE U.S. CONSTITUTION fails to protect the poor teeming working proletarian masses from the tyranny of the wealthy corporate plutocracy, which ruthlessly exploits them, decade after decade, the American working class, and therefore the entire country needs a new constitution. In a country where all good citizens regard the established constitution as a sacred and perfect document, the suggestion that it is outdated is a radical notion.The fact is, however, that we could and should improve our constitution, even if we use the current one as a model. For starters, let's add the right to privacy to the Bill of Rights. Everyone agrees that it should be there, whether or not is already is, which is debatable. Also, let's remove the clause about certain people being three fifths of a person for purposes of representational apportionment. Remove prohibition, and repeal of prohibition. That would save space. Above all, we need a better written version of the second amendment, with more specificity. If nothing else, let's quit predicating the right to bear arms on the necessity of maintaining a well regulated militia. In twenty first century America, we bear arms for self defense and personal protection. Most Americans would prefer to eliminate the electoral college, so, let's. Line item presidential veto, anyone? Also, perhaps we should make it easier to amend the constitution; keep it hard, but not as hard as it is now. The constitution should be stable and enduring, but changeable. Overriding a presidential veto under the current system is extremely difficult; and it might be better to allow congress to more easily reverse presidential decisions with an override. Jefferson and the other founders would be quite surprised to discover that we are still using an eighteenth century form of government. They probably should be. In a country which elevates its constitution to sanctification, replacing it, changing it, even looking at it sideways will require courage, because the opposition will be vehement and vociferous. It would be worth it, to have a better version of our beloved law. removed from the ark of the covenant, upgraded a bit to fit the twenty first century, better than ever.

Blaming Madison

CONSTITUTIONAL SCHOLARS, and maybe a few other Americans, understand that the U.S. Constitution has two basic purposes; to limit government, and to ensure that the masses of commoners have no political power. Madison, its author, expected the "better sort" to protect the "lesser sort" by ruling over them benevolently. And so it has always been; the wealthy elite in control of the poor, and the country. Madison's noble intent was that superior wisdom and intelligence of the white male land owning aristocracy, who had far more at stake and far more to lose in the new republic, would govern the United State to the benefit of everyone, rich and poor. Within ten years of ratification of his system, Madison realized that he had made a huge mistake, a huge miscalculation, hugely exaggerating the wisdom and benevolence of the elite., men such as himself. With in few years of constitutional government,it had become obvious to Madison that Americas' rulers were not at all concerned with the welfare of the poor teeming masses, and that, if the poor were to be protected, they would have to protect themselves. Madison, of course, became president, and was forced to contend with other issues, most notably fleeing from the British and leaving the white House at their mercy, while saving his own skin. But his initial confidence in plutocracy never returned, with good reason. and so, even as we toil today,we toil under teh same plutocratic system, with rule by teh land owning gentry having long since been supplanted by rule of the corporate wealthy. Were Madison alive today, he might well be appalled that we the people have made such little progress in gaining anything approaching true self governance, true mastery of our own fates. same sheep, different shepherds, so to speak, to speak in a truly Madisonian manner.

Hoping they See The Light

OUR POLITICALLY CONSERVATIVE evangelical community often asserts that certain nefarious elements within American society, usual suspects such as academia, the media, the progressive community, and so forth, is conducting an anti-christian 'war on religion" they like to call it. This, of course, is pure nonsense, an outright lie, with a smidge of paranoia thrown in to boot. What is happening in this country (America), what the secular culture is doing, in reality, is struggling to be free of teh suffocating tyranny which superstition and religion has traditionally, and continues to, inflict on civilization. There is indeed a ciltiral being waged in America, but not against religion. rather, it is being by conservative Christianity, waged against science. Hence, for instance, our their never ending but pointless battle to include creationism alongside evolution. Sheesh. The war against is being cleverly waged by the very people who cleverly claim victimhood as a way to disguise their attack on reason: the religious right. This is not surprising, and in a certain sense is justifiable, since modern, proven scientific reality directly refutes and disproves much conservative christian ideology. Climate change, evolution by natural selection, and genetic homosexuality are scientific of life, but since they contradict sacred conservative sacred christian ideology, the truth is denied and attacked by the far right.The American Christian right wants a Bible based theocracy in America. This makes sense, because they want to convert all non Christians to their one true religion. Well, let them believe whatever they want, no matter how nonsensical. if only they would start supporting science and helping the rest of us fight climate change, before its too late.

Uncivil Warring, Again

THE GREAT AMERICAN political divide, or cultural divide, or whatever, seems either to be getting worse, by which is meant more extreme, or, at the very least, failing to get better. A young extremist conservative, trying to organize conservative college students to "fight back" against a perceived liberal dominance and tyrannical oppression of all conservative thought and speech, with evident sincerity expressed his wish that our little domestic dispute never turns violent, and, to ensure it doesn't, he invoked god's name. He did not sound confident in the result. America's institutions of higher education are dominated by liberals, as is well known, both professorially, and among the young scholars. its a massive liberal conspiracy has seized control by overthrowing legitimate authority in an insidious coup, as conservatives suspect, or, colleges and universities are merely, as they have always been, place where smart people hang out, and the smart people tend to lean left. take your pick. hence, fifty eight percent of republicans consider American higher education to be harmful to America. they do not specify whether the harm comes from math, chemistry, computer studies, or football. Again, take your pick. We can comfort ourselves by reflecting that the country has been more divided than it is now several times, especially during the civil War, that Lincoln was a far more divisive republican than Trump, and last, but not least, trump is not the only dumb ass narcissistic bully to ever lead the republic. that honor goes to Andrew Johnson, a barely literate pro union politician from Tennessee whom Lincoln chose as his running mate to gain support in border states. Johnson, admirably, taught himself to read, but, regrettably, not well enough. he gave speeches in which is indulged in self pity, self aggrandizement, and he incessantly berated his political enemies. sound familiar? it should. As Mark Twain may have but might as well have said: history does not repeat itself, but it sure as hell rhymes.

Harming Ourselves Through Denial and Invention of Reality

CARL SAGAN ONCE SAID that there is no shortage of intelligence in America, but there is a shortage of knowledge, by which he meant, a shortage of people with a good, fundamentally sound scientific education. And when you consider the number of Americans who don't believe in climate change, evolution, or modern medicine, you begin to understand what the late planetary astronomer meant. Recent polls indicate that the percentage of people who do not believe in scientific, factual reality is decreasing over the years; but only gradually. Too gradually. close to half of republicans still deny climate change, decades after it s reality became obvious, years after the scientific community began to uniformly tell us that the research is in, the tests have been done, and climate change, tragically, stands up under the closets possible scrutiny. This widespread, societal-wide refusal to accept the truth, while inventing false "truths" with which to replace the facts, is alarming at best, suicidal at worst. According to Noam Chomsky, the republican party is the single most dangerous organization in human history, precisely because their policies, based on its members beliefs, are leading humanity directly down the road to destruction. One survey revealed that fifty eight percent of republicans consider higher education to be harmful to the United States. Their contempt for education shows in their values and values and beliefs, and, ironically, it is this very contempt for knowledge and education which results in large scale benightedness among American conservatives. The same people tend to form a distinguishable class of people who refuse to believe in reality, and instead replace reality with their own brand of fiction. Thus, they embrace beliefs like" climate change is a deliberate liberal hoax. Humans did not evolved in Earth in the process of natural selection, but were created quickly by an all powerful human -like living being. Giving tax advantages to the wealthy helps poor people. Our mistakes are forgiven by this harsh biblical deity only when people who make mistakes worship a person who was tortured to death in payment for these mistakes. Like Sagan said, a little education, or maybe a lot of education, in basic, verifiable reality never hurt anyone.