Why People Voted For Trump.

THERE ARE THREE BASIC, GENERAL REASONS why people voter for Trump, as explained recently by a conservative republican member of the Senate. For and foremost is hatred of Hillary Clinton. After a quarter century front and center, Hillary had become the ultimate Washington insider, and a liberal to boot. Secondly, Trump would certainly appoint conservative to the Supreme Court, who would overturn Roe v. Wade, and make Christianity the official religion of the United States. Third, Trump was seen as an outsider, a new gun slinger, free of Washington incestuous connections, who would shake up the establishment, drain the swamp. Each of these reason sis understandable, but each is entirely bogus, and taken together do not justify a vote for Trump. Like her or not, Hillary Clinton was the most qualified person in American history to run for president, including them all, from George Washington to George Bush. As Casey Stengal use to say: you could look it up. check their respective resumes, all of them, and compare. What other basis of comparison can there objectively be? Being shrill, cold, aloof, arrogant, or female, greedy, and ambitious, or whatever else one might think she is, does not disqualify her. And bear in mind that she has no criminal record, nary a parking ticket nor overdue library book. Again, look it up. Chanting "lock her up" in unison with a ranting demagogue, as a matter of fact, does not constitute due process. Senseless, hateful group ranting is not evidence, indictment, trial, and conviction. With regard to Supreme Court nominees, political ideology, whether liberal or conservative, is not an appropriate qualification for judicial service, although the conservative community seems to have long since forgotten that obvious fact. The appropriate qualification is a long, strong record of having dispensed wisdom and equal justice under law, independently of ideological considerations. Drain the swamp? Trump? Really? Surely you jest. With each passing day he digs it deeper, murkier, replacing the old swamp water with a new, more abundant supply. So long as political offices and policies are purchased by billionaires in America, the swamp shall remain full, regardless of who the president is. So go the reasons for voting for Trump. Reasons not to? The Access Hollywood tape, pathological dishonesty, persistent attacks against the FBI, the Justice Department, the media. Vicious slander of critics. Likely collusion with a foreign power to get elected. Numerous business conflicts of interest. (read Richard Painter). Illegal use of money to influence election outcome. Trade wars with traditional strong allies of the U.S.. Failure to order Putin in person to stop meddling in American politics. Refusal to fight climate change, listed by the Department of Defense as the single greatest to American national security...etc., etc....

Defending The Faith

THE REVEREND ROBERT JEFFERS, the pastor of big shot Baptist church in Dallas, in an appearance on national Public Radio, made clear several points. Christians, he reminded us,believe that faith in the resurrected Christ, who died to atone for our sins and was reborn, is the only way to enter into the kingdom of heaven. By not accepting this, all non Christians, including atheists, agnostics, Hindus, Muslims, Jews, and members of all other non Christian religions assure themselves of being excluded from heaven. Mormonism, he asserted,, is but a cult, not a part of the Christian faith. He made no mention of all the other modern made in American denominations; Jehovah's Witnesses, Christian scientists, Scientologists, and so forth. Presumably, they too are doomed to eternity in the dark, hot regions. The Christian faith, contends the reverend, is under attack and being marginalized in the United States. As evidence, public prayer, once a mainstay in civic life and public schools, has been banished, since 1962. Christian voices are being silenced across freedom's land, supplanted by the scourge of secular humanism, and the diabolical influence of diverse forms of unholy worship. encouragingly, the good reverend acknowledges that the United States was founded legally not as a purely Christian religion, but as a nation of religious freedom, and that the first amendment explicitly prohibits the instituting of any official state religion. Christian messages and symbols in public places, Jeffers asserts, are not a violation of law. The courts tend to differ, as did founders James Madison and Thomas Jefferson. In a letter to Jefferson, the principle author of the Constitution passionately implored that an impenetrable wall be erected between church and state, between sacred and secular. Jefferson, fearful lest the priesthood gain an undue influence over government and civic life, entirely agreed. The distinction that the reverend Jeffers and devout Christians in general is missing is between an alleged attack on their faith, and the actual voluntary secularization of American culture. there is still a church on every street corner in America, unmolested by any government encroachment. Its just that fewer people attend them. In fact, Madison's message about a big terrific wall (Trump wall?) goes largely unheeded; christian symbols, messages, and ceremonies occurred on public property everywhere in the U.S., illegally, without consequence. What the reverend actually objects to, without evidently knowing it, is not some imaginary war on his faith, but rather, the fact that it is becoming increasingly difficult, after decades of struggle of freedom from religion, for him and his ilk to shove their personal beliefs down our collective civic minded throats.

Waving Blue

ANDREW GILLUM, the African-American mayor of Tallahassee, Florida, is going to run for governor as a Democrat. If he wins. he will be the first Democratic governor of Florida in a very long time, and the first black governor ever in America. During the primaries, running against more moderate candidates, he was never ahead in the polls, and the fact that he is a Bernie Sanders progressive who pulled off a major upset is not only surprising, but possibly a portent of the forthcoming midterms. If Beto wins in Texas, Cortez in Brooklyn, and Gillum Florida, not to mention a few other left wing progressive candidates,, we'll have ourselves a real blue wave, bigly. it still seems unlikely that these people win win, but all across the fruited plain women and minorities are registering to vote in record numbers, and women, most of whom are Democrats, are running for office in record numbers. A progressive, as a point of fact, is what used to be called a "liberal", but no longer is, because the conservative community ruined the word by slandering it to death, much like they did the word "homosexual", and "black". A blue wave, a massive election of progressives, would raise the minimum wage, revive social spending for the poor, reinstitute progressive taxation by raising taxes on the corporate wealthy, reduce military spending encourage decent treatment for gays, transgenders, and minorities, and maybe, just maybe, rid the country of Trump. if nothing else, we could possibly, at long last, put an end forever to these infamous "bathroom bills", according to which transgender people must use public restrooms of the gender indicated on their birth certificate, which is pernicious right wing nonsense. What better way for sanctimonious, pernicious conservative Christians to punish sin, that to torture those who practice it, eh? had he not been chosen to run with Trump, Mike pence was fixin' to get run out of the great state of Indiana because of a bathroom bill. he promulgated one, as governor, the Indianans rose up in righteous rebellion, as just a a progressive posse honed in on his progressively Pence-ive self to force upon him penance, Trump saved his sanctimonious ass, so to speak. Progressively speaking, former hedge fun manager and current billionaire Tom Steyer has a petition on going, bless his lucrative heart, calling for the impeachment of President prevaricator. In the event of Trump's demise, guess what right wing extremist, bathroom billing Christian conservative assume the presidency? The lesson here is; be careful what you petition for.

Getting things done, the Chinese Way

THE CHINESE KNOW how to get things done. They don't play games. When they decided they needed defending against the Mongol hordes from the north, they built a wall that to this day stands, and can be seen from outer space. it worked, because it was well guarded. Eat your heart out, Donald Trump. When they decided that their population was increasing too rapidly, they limited families to one child per, and drowned an untold number of baby girls, like unwanted kittens. When MacArthur and the American invaders pushed a bit too far north into North Korea, they sent in their own massive army, drove the Yankee imperialist back, and turned the Korean War into a stalemate. They are willing to manipulate their own currency independently of the market, artificially totally abandoning market and international principles, inflating and deflating its value in accordance to their daily requirements, twisting it into bizarre shapes and values. They thus sacrifice economic stability to advance their ever changing agendas. And when they want technological knowledge or intellectual property from foreigners, and the price is too high, they simply steal it.T the Chinese, the end always justifies the means. and now, the coup de grace. For thousands of years Chinese culture has produced a rich variety of splendid art work, from magnificent ceramics pieces and sculpture, to bejeweled furniture, swords and armor inlaid with gold and silver, and an assortment of other forms of beauty. over the centuries, much of it has scattered all over the world, as wealthy individual collectors, institutions, and conquerors, through purchase, plunder, pilfer, or theft, took it far away. Now, they want it back. The cost of reaquiring it above board is prohibitive, even though there are now more billionaires in China than in America, and china is rapidly becoming the world's wealthiest nation. They especially want to snag back the art from their "century of humiliation", the period from the eighteen forties to nineteen forty five during which invaders, including the British Empire, the United States, and japan dominated, raped, exploited, and stole from the sacred kingdom. The century of humiliation ended only with the communist revolution of 1949, the beginning of the rule of Mao. they want their art back, and they are getting it back, one piece at a time. Perhaps you can imagine how. they are doing it like Jesse James. from galleries and museums all over the world, Chinese art is "mysteriously" vanishing Doors are jimmied, locks are picked. Shadowy figures dressed in black with Grouch Marc masks are moving stealthily in the night. Nearby buildings and cars are burning and exploding as a diversionary tactic. Nobody has been caught yet. They'rs good at it. A real life Agatha Christie James Bond scenario. And, truth be told, you sort of have to admire them and root them on, for their creativity, and for their pursuit of the sacred principle of justice, long delayed.

Picking winners, And Sticking With Them

PEOPLE PREFER WINNERS. Experiments reveal that by the age of two people are starting to differentiate between successful people, sorting them out for admiration and emulation. The stronger parent, and so forth. By success is meant social status. To be associated with high status people is to achieve a kind of social status one's self, to rise higher on the great pyramid of life, if only vicariously, which seems to be good enough for most of us. In America, we are especially accomplished at venerated "achievers",or people perceived as such. And although little tend to sort out the legitimate achievers from earned respect honestly from the imposter, or those who did not come about it through fair play, as adults we don't always do this. Hence the continuing popularity of Paris Hilton, famous for being famous, Ohio State and U. of Maryland football, the enduring loyalty of Catholics to their faith, and ongoing, seemingly unshakable support of Donald Trump's political base. A winner, after all, is a winner. Some of our greatest heroes are gangsters and criminals. America has always admired successful criminals, those who spurned the system and got away with it, from Jesse James to John Dillinger to Billy the Kid. WE have a special fondness for those who dare challenge the powerful elite, a reverence for Robin Hood types. We also tend to worship the powerful elite, captivated by the big guys, and above all, by celebrity. We turn more people into celebrities than political life turns into criminals, and that's goin' some. Being famous for being famous is a uniquely American phenomenon, we give away fame for no reason, other than to have somebody to whom to look up. When given out, our loyalties are difficult to dislodge, no matter how compelling the reason for doing so. We really shouldn't admire Jesse James and Al Capone, but we do. The football coach at Ohio State should be fired, not retained because he wins national championships. Instead, he got a perfunctory slap on the wrist. The entire coaching staff at the University of Maryland should be sent to prison, for torture and abuse of human rights. Instead, their fans continue to support them. The Catholic church has forfeited all claim to to credibility, and deserves neither the respect nor the loyalty of its votaries. and yet, the faithful remain faithful. Above all, Donald J. Trump, demonstrably, massively corrupt, should be removed form office. Instead his supporter, though a shrinking minority, only entrench themselves deeper within his swamp. As Thomas Jefferson said, paraphrased, in the Declaration of Independence, history hath shown that we are more inclined to suffer under traditional forms of leadership than to change forms, and stop tolerating the intolerable. The Ohio State football coach and Donald Trump still have their jobs, but that will change, albeit belatedly.

Getting To Know Bernie Madoff

WHEN I RETIRED I decided to invest half of my life savings in a somewhat high risk, high return venture, contrary to conventional wisdom. My money vanished into the pocket of a scam artist investment broker, half my retirement savings, gone forever. I filed a complaint with the local police, the FBI, and the District Attorney, for good measure. Walking into an FBI office is an adventure in its own right; all black, silver, and glass, foot thick doors, no smiles. The person who stole my money is currently under criminal indictment, after months of awaiting this development. it turns out that while posing as a legitimate investment broker,, this person has been "making a living" by simply walking off with the hard earned money of small investors, usually to the tune of several thousand dollars per duped investor. his method, of course, is to sweet talk the mark, luring in investors with promises of guaranteed rich returns; he give a very convincing presentation, well rehearsed. You just cannot afford to miss out on this wonderful opportunity, the whole speel. After the fact, when you realize you've been had, you feel humiliated as well as impoverished. He's facing felony raps in double figures, numerous victims, and, assuming justice is served, will do significant time in the pen. obviously, this criminal began his career with an opportunity to make a good, honest living in the financial services industry, then went bad. he got impatient, and greedy, and saw an opportunity for get rich quick wealth, evidently. When his first scams worked easily, why not keep going? Then, it must have become addictive. he'll have ample opportunity to conquer his addiction behind bars. Does this remind you of anybody in particular? Remember the name "Bernie Madoff", the king of Wall Street? He stole more money than anybody in American history, with the possible exception of teh U.S. government itself. Bernie has been behind bars for several years now. to this day he says he does not know why he did it, why he ran his massive ponzi scheme over several decades. he says he knew he would eventually get caught. he already had more than enough money legitimately earned. He's in therapy, trying to figure himself out, and from the sake of the societal learning curve, let's hope he does. It should be interesting, and informative. I hope my man does the same thing, figures himself out behind bars. He could have had nice income,nice house, nice car, nice girl, nice kids by staying legal. Unlike Bernie, my man'll be free someday, free to choose between helping or hurting people, including himself. I wish him all the luck in toe world.

Dividing Ourselves

IN EAST PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA, one in three school children is homeless. Poverty is pervasive. next door, in Palo Alto, the epicenter of silicon valley and home of Stanford University, tech industry millionaires live comfortably in gated communities. It is a two tiered society, the very rich and the very poor, and never the twain shall meet, a microcosm of the nation and indeed the world. the nine wealthiest digital tech billionaires in silicon valley have more combined wealth than nearly two billion of the world's poorest citizens, a quarter of the world's population. Will a single person eventually own all the wealth in the world? Crazy as that may seem, we are headed in precisely that direction, and unless current trends and economic systems are reversed, the already staggeringly polarized inequality will only worsen. The digital revolution, like the various industrial revolutions before, in which the steam engine and the railroad herded people in factories in slum ridden cities, is generating vast new wealth, but, like before, is concentrating it in the hands of the few, primarily due to the fact that economic systems have traditionally, and still do, permit the exploitation of labor and refrain from taxing the wealthy. digitally generated wealth, like before, is failing to "trickle down" to the rest of us. Whether this is fair, or natural is irrelevant to the fact that is is harmful to society because it sharply limits economic growth. What is relevant is that this arrangement, the traditional and the current arrangement, simply does not work for a healthy, capitalistic economy. The "fab five', Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, and Microsoft have outspent Wall Street two to one in lobbying over the past ten years. this means that the digital revolution, like all other economic revolutions, is concentrating not only wealth but political power in the hands of an elite few. In a democratic society, regardless of disparity of wealth, political power should be equally distributed among we the people. The corporate rich have the power, and they use the political system to legislate economic policies which favor themselves, unsurprisingly. Economically, the more numerous the poor, the less the aggregate demand for the goods and services produced by the corporate producers like the fab five. Job creation and economic growth occur only when increased demand results, as it always does, in increased production. Demand precedes supply. Demand side economics, not supply side, is what works. getting money into the hands of the previously non consuming poor through progressive taxation is the catalyst to prosperity, not tax cuts for the corporations, which are already sitting on record amounts of cash. more money in the hands of the already wealthy does nothing to create new consumers, to expand the market. Trickle down economics is a sham, as all economists well know. the politicians know it too, but they prefer to legislate for their own good, not ours.

Comparing Trump And McCain

FORMER PRESIDENT OBAMA will deliver a eulogy at the funeral for Senator John McCain in Washington D.C.. President Trump has not been invited, and presumably will not crash the event. When one behaves like a gentleman, one receives invitations. When one does not, one does not. Shortly after McCain's death, Trump issued a statement expressing condolences to the family. He said nothing about the Senator himself, in typical low class Trump fashion.to paraphrase Joseph P. Kennedy, who was talking about Robert F. Kennedy, when Trump hates you, you stay hated. In typical mafia don fashion, our gangster like president pays the minimum courtesy to his hated opponent, withholding true respect. McCain was a war hero. Trump was a draft dodger. McCain's father, like his son, was a high ranking naval officer who served his country with honor. Trump's father, like his son, was a high rolling investment gambler, a real estate flipper who built his wealth upon speculation rather than the hard, sustained work required in most business building, and who was twice nailed by the feds for discriminating against minorities in accepting applications for rental properties. John McCain spent his life serving the United States in congress, always seeking conciliatory compromise on seminal legislation, always respecting and listening to those with whom he honestly disagreed. Trump ran for president on a lark, with no prior political experience in service to America, enjoyed the grand adventure and attention of his angry, bombastic campaign rallies, and by all accounts did not really care whether he won or lost, did not really want the actual work and responsibility of national leadership, but basked in the fame and attention his campaign brought. he succeeded in getting elected by appealing to the least attractive instincts of the electorate, luring into his fold the angry, disenchanted, ill informed people who were looking for a great leader to save them from their unsatisfactory circumstances, and instead got a demagogic billionaire who cares nothing for them, nor anyone or anything but the satisfaction of his own vanity. Trump, who has never been tortured but tends to torture others, is highly in favor of torture as an interrogation technique. McCain, who has been tortured and understands the uselessness of it, was steadfastly against it, and tried to remind Trump that it is illegal, but was ignored and vilified by the president. The contrast between McCain and Trump is stark. And really, Donald J. Trump would be as out of place at Senator McCain's funeral as he would be in church, among honest men, or at any event designed to generate assistance for those in need.

Repairing The Faith

POPE FRANCIS is asking for forgiveness for what he essentially referred to as the open, festering wound within the Catholic church. he has little choice, since the festering sore is being fully exposed to the world's scrutiny, and the buck stops there, in the Vatican. If the Pope were a corporate CEO, or an athletic director his resignation would be requested. Confession and repentance are but the beginning of the redemptive process. The next step towards absolution, if memory serves, is the process by which corrective action is taken. What about penance? And what about victims compensation? No, that is impossible, beyond even the capability of the vast resources of the Holy church; to repair the damage done to thousands of people. The sexually abuse children will suffer psychologically until they die. One can only hope they will be made whole in heaven. What about reform within the church? Powerful, traditional institutions, institutions such as Wall Street, the Russian government, and the Holy Roman church, are highly resistant to change of any sort, let alone fundamental reform, which the church obviously desperately needs. The very resistance of ancient, powerful entities to reform is precisely what renders such reform urgently necessary, as the accumulation of corruption, unredressed, becomes an intolerable burden upon the entity will at length drags them down to their doom, if left untended. The Catholic church, like most of Christendom, is intolerant of homosexuality, driving it underground. that must change. "Loved the sinner, hate the sin" is insufficient, self righteously hollow, and thus pernicious. The sin and the sinner are one and the same; a person's sexual orientation cannot be separated from the person; its too inherent. Required priestly celibacy serves no useful purpose, and serves only to inflict needless frustration and misery on those who seek to serve God. Service to God should be rewarded, not punished. The world is full of married people whose commitment to their faith, and to their God, within the constraints of holy matrimony, is unflagging. Sexual intercourse, whether heterosexual or homosexual, whether within or outside marriage, is a celebration of life, and of God's creation, not a sin. The 'christian religion is no longer growing in membership, and is in fact shrinking, as Europe turns secular and the North American follows suit. Only in Africa and Latin America is there growth, and this cannot continue in a church riddled by scandal. The end of religion may well be inevitable, but without fundamental reform, Roman Catholicism is doomed to extinction, crushed by the burden of self inflicted corruption.

Stepping Up

WHEN JOHN McCAIN RAN FOR PRESIDENT against Barack Obama, I considered supporting McCain. Then, my liberal Democratic roots reasserted themselves. McCain, I think, would have been an excellent president. When Donald Trump excluded McCain from the status of war hero by virtue of McCain's having been a prisoner of war, I lost what little if any respect I had for Trump, and never regained it. When the republicans seemed unconcerned, my disrespect for them grew. I hope John McCain wasn't the last open minded, bipartisan person to ever serve in the United States Senate, but by all appearances, he may have been. Interestingly, his fellow Arizona Senator Jeff Flake, who will soon leave the Senate in disgust, is remindful of McCain in his willingness as a principled conservative to listen to and respect his political opponents. McCain-Feingold, McCain-Kennedy; seminal bipartisan legislation of this sort seems extinct in today's toxic legislative environment. Civility, the hallmark of Senator McCain's career in politics, seems missing in action. There was a time when I did not not despise conservative republicans generally, a time when I did not consider the Christian conservative community hypocritical and morally bankrupt. That was forty years ago. The memory of Ronald Reagan's willingness to to sit down and have a drink with Tip O'Neil will hammering out compromises makes me long for a return to the Reagan era, only because I compare it to the Trump era. My chances for gaining some measure of respect for the Christian conservative community, other than by their dumping Trump, acknowledging and pledging to fight climate change, and renouncing neo-liberal supply side economics, would be for large numbers of people like John McCain to enter politics and to succeed with Christian conservative support. At this point, that hardly seems likely. Civility in American politics is a myth. There has never been a time in American history when political discourse was characterized by civility. in that sense, John McCain was a ground breaker, a true maverick.

Having Hate, Having Hope

A RIGHT WING talking radio head, of whom there are seemingly trillions, challenged an African-American caller on the air to tell how his life had been better when Obama was president. The man was nonplussed, as most people are when speaking on air to sanctimonious, aggressive talk show hosts on their turf, their petty electromagnetic empires. The caller mumbled something about having had a job when Obama was president, and not having one now. This answer technically filled the bill, but of course had, in actuality, nothing to do with the President of the united States or presidential policy. Easy for an experienced talking hatchet man to crumble, as the host did, although I can't remember exactly how. Probably used insults. I recall wishing that I could jump in and replace the caller. The man should have talked about hope, and how important it is to have it, and how the president of the United States, by his words and actions, can either inspire it or kill it. He should have talked about the difference between a president who told us "yes we can", and one who tells us that america was once great, but no longer is, and that he can "make America great again." he should have talked about climate change, and the difference between a leader who acknowledges its reality, and sets in motion a realistic, achievable plan to fight it, compared to a president who dismisses it, and claims its hoax, and not only does nothing to fight it, but instead destroys all initiatives to reverse it. Or what about he difference between a president who engages in serial marriages to trophy wives, has numerous affairs on the side, and is a self proclaimed sexual predator, compared to one who get married, raises successful children, and remains faithful and married to his first and only wife? Obama never responded to criticism of himself with vicious, slanderous insults; he preferred to behave like a gentleman, a decent human being. Obama didn't lie every time he spoke, even though the people who hate him accused him of it, the very people who ignore , justify, or support Trump's avalanche of daily lies. The African-American an who dared call a right wing radio hit man could have said that when Obama was president, he was inspired and ennobled by a leader who knew the value of all people, all minorities, rather than a leader who has consistently revealed himself to be a racist and misogynist. Under Obama, the nation was divided by those who hated him; under Trump it is divided by those who scream "lock her up!" about a woman who has never been convicted of even a minor violation of the law, divided by a president who viciously separated immigrants parents from their children, and by the followers of Trump who seem to regard extreme economic inequality as explainable by poor people being lazy and stupid and wealthy people being smart and hard working.the difference between Obama and trump and the reason why life was better under Obama, is that there is a difference between hope and hate.

Sorting Bias

HAND THE SUBJECT a deck of cards. Ask her to sort them into suits, red together and black together. Then ask her to resort, hearts and spades together, clubs and diamonds. This time, she slows down, just a wee bit. Mixing colors is a tad harder, takes more thought, more effort, more time. Now, substitute a stack of photos of white men and a stack of photos of black men for the cards. make a stack of cards with words on them, one stack with positive words like "love" "peace" "fun" and "beauty". Form a stack of bad word cards: "kill", "dirt", "bad", "crap". You know where I'm going with this by now. She'll sort and stack good words with white people faster, just a bit faster, but faster, than she will combing black faces with good words. This happens every time, in the Harvard psychology lab, and everywhere else. its been repeated too many times to ignore the pattern, which is how science works. In video games, white guys shoot the black guys faster than they shoot the honkies. This experiment has been conducted tens of thousand of times, just for good measure. It happens every time.its just a game, you say, and means nothing in the real world. lay people are good at making such objections, but so are trained scientists. They control for all factors, and it turns out that the cards games do indeed predict human behavior in the real world. We are, all of us, trained and conditioned by our traditionally racist country's culture to be racists, even those who don't think of themselves as racists. Actually, the very fact of dividing the human race into a few distinct colors "racist" in a sense. In reality, skin color is a vast continuum; we all have a unique skin color, even if we seem to be the same, there are more colors in the rainbow than we can conceive of. Just like we are trained to like certain foods and to wear certain clothing and hair style, so we are trained to harbor certain attitudes about other people, about everything. fortunate are those who escape their training, who rebel against social indoctrination, and dress however in hell they want.

The Many Faces Of Facebook

MY GIRLFRIEND WANTED ME to see her Facebook page, so I suggested that she bring it over to the house. That aint the way it works, she said. Deflated, I got a page, and still have it, although its blank, will likely remain blank. I have only a dozen friends listed, folks I have known fifty years. I have ambivalent feelings about Facebook in particular and social media in general. Its a great way to communicate and to stay in touch people, to blurt one's thoughts, and to share pictures of one's pretty house, pretty children, pretty dogs. Facebook, Google, Apple, and Amazon are monopolies, which used to be illegal, according to the Sherman anti-trust Act of 1890 and the Clayton anti-trust Act of 1914, but these are seldom enforced in this ear in which big business buys it ways out of enforcement by purchasing office for neo-liberal free market politicians. Social media has kidnapped journalism, and it feeds every consumer only and exactly what she wants to absorb. Social media dispenses and spreads news, insulate us all in our personal ideological bubbles, keeping divergent thinking at bay, far away. Social media ruins our minds, but only if we allow it, which we do. Eighty five percent of all online advertising revenue goes to Facebook and Google, which thrive off the mountains of personal information about us the user which they sell to corporations. When one joins Facebook, one is not a customer; big corporations are the customers, we are the voluntary merchandise. For me, that's a problem, a downside. Facebook is a media company which refuses to call itself that because if it did, it would have to hire many actual people as curators, and would be also be legally liable for its advertising, a prospect deplorable to the company. Because of the four horsemen of the apocalypse named above, we no longer trust the media. Mainstream traditional media is actually highly reliable and accurate, but it our bubbles of anger we perceive it to be fake, and our president fuels this perception by calling anything critical of himself "fake news". The internet and electronic screens are addictive. Drug abuse must be dealt with head on.

Letting Trump Go

I'M NOT SAYING DONALD TRUMP IS A bad person. he certainly looks the part, but what do I know? Only what I am told, and what I see. His actions speak louder than his words, which speak volumes, and reveal much.They reveal a pathologically dishonest person obsessed with a need for attention, a person unable to control his anger when reasonably criticized, a narcissist, a racist, and misogynist, a slinger of vicious slander who hits back twice as hard. Everyone in the United States of a certain age and intelligence sees this, including his supporters, who see it though they don't want to. That his supporters remain his supporters is shockingly frightening, and says much about their character and judgment. As an aside, two of trump's earliest supporters in Congress, Chris Collins and Duncan Hunter, are no under indictment for various financial crimes; birds of a feather. Can you imagine teh hue and cry among conservatives if Obama or Hillary Clinton behaved exactly as Trump behaves, and were in exactly the same situation? you can, and it aint pretty. What Trump and his supporters lack in character and integrity they compensate for with dishonesty, denial, and anger. Trump may be a bit rough around the edges, they say, but at least he has made America great again, somehow or other, and at least he aint Hillary Clinton. Nor is he half black with African roots and an affinity to the Islamic faith. Trump supporters are pathetic, laughable, to be pitied for their continued folly. But they have a way otu, if they would only take it. We made a mistake. WE conservative Christian republicans love this country as deeply as anyone, so much that we make passionate decisions, not always rooted in fact and reason. We should have supported Ted Cruz, a fine Christian conservative. Let's make the change now, before the noose around Trump tightens more, tightens so much that it strangles the political process, adn let us move on, with renewal and pure hearts and minds. Then Mike Pence, a solid Christian conservative, would become president, and all would be well in the land of the right wing. It would be that simple. If only they would.

Killing The Insects, and Ourselves

SEVENTY FIVE PERCENT OF THE INSECTS which buzzed about Europe a quarter century ago are missing inaction, victims of man made insecticides and climate change. Likewise, tree species in North America, like armadillos, are migrating north,toward the migrating warmth. The farther north you go, the more rapidly the Earth is warming. for decades we have known of the decline of butterflies, bumble bees, and frogs, all of which are delicate bellwether species. They die first, the rest of the natural world follows. if we lose the flying insects, as we are currently doing with alarming rapidity, we lose all plant life on earth, and, ultimately, our lives. Best we put our mosquito zappers, Round Up, DDT, and all manner of insecticides and herbicides in cold storage, and start giving the little buggers half a chance. Corporate agriculture giants grow huge mono crops, laced with insecticides, inimical to all wildlife, including human. Mono crops attract far fewer insect species.Archer Midland Daniels, Dow Dupont, Monsanto Bayer, ow however in the hell they are incestuously, monopolistically conjoined, would be well advised to invest for the long term, for sustained future profit. For that, human survival is mandatory. It would help to stop reducing earth's tree population by ten billion per year, and instead to plant one trillion new trees, to bring the world's total up to close to five trillion, which would be only two trillion fewer than at the dawn of human history. E.O. Wilson, famed Harvard biologist, tells us that if we lose our red ants, and nothing else, we are doomed. We should listen to him; he's an expert, and experts still know more than the rest of us, though we Americans seem reluctant to acknowledge that. We must produce less meat, and less inefficiently. Why not eat the grain we currently feed to cattle ourselves? We long for the days of the small family farms with multiple crops, and bemoan the advent of sterile corporate ag. Nature, and insects, like diversity. Suburban backyards need not be manicured to the point of sterility. A few weeds, and a little wildlife enhances life for all. Slower population growth, less greed, more human humility, less destruction of nature, and more solar energy are needed. The sooner we start healing the planet and stop exploiting it for profit, the better our chances of raising our great grand children. the fly in the ointment is that it may already be too late.

Coming Clean, Doing Time In Trumpland

PRESIDENT TRUMP'S former campaign manager and former attorney, the one who once said he'd take a bullet for Donald J. Trump, are now convicted felons, joining Trump's former national security adviser, former assistant campaign director, et al, on the black and white stripe brigade. To paraphrase Trump supporters: "lock 'em up!" The president's next move will probably be to claim that he never heard of any of these people, and that if he did, he never knew them well, and if he knew them well, they did not work for him long, and if they worked for him long, they didn't commit crimes, but if they did commit crimes, they were not serious crimes...the old Rudy Giuliani approach. he may even include Stormi Daniels in the never heard of list, but, wow, did he ever "hear her". Musta been a good time. According to Cohen, Trump instructed him to pay Stormi hush money, for the purpose of influencing the election which gave Trump the presidency, a definite no no, which directly implicates the president in a crime. The time is fast approaching when will be forced between resigning,, or facing impeachment and removal.For Trump to issue pardons to Manafort, Cohen, and all others who committed crimes on his behalf would not only cause the American people to pitch a conniption, but would also create a new set of legal difficulties for the current president, especially if such pardons occurred before the November elections. if they occurred after the elections, it may be too late. Mueller is basically done with the substantive part of his investigation; if Trump fire shim now, the cat is already out of the bag, so to speak, or soon will be. will trump;s allies in congress abandon him, or will they be too bush dealing with their own criminal indictments? What about his right wing Christian supporters? When will they give up the ghost, as it were, admit that they made a terrible mistake, and move on? probably not before they scream "witch hunt" a few more times, and accuse the left wing and the biased liberal media of concocting a massive conspiracy to force Trump's son to meet with Russian operatives, and inventing the very existence of Stormi Daniels and the army of women who have accused the president of sexual misconduct. The talking heads, people like Sean Hannity, will probably keep talking about Hillary Clinton's emails, Barack Obama's African birth, or anything else, other than their dear leader who has already made American great again.

Trump, Parading

TRUMP'S MILITARY PARADE EXTRAVAGANZA will cost an estimated ninety two million dollars, and will be postponed until next year, at the earliest, maybe forever. We can hope. The mayor of Washington, An African-American lady who supplied the estimate, was accused by the demagogue of cooking the numbers, price gouging, and of being a slut and a looser. He did not, to his credit, accuse her of being black. If you give the president bad news, he'll come after you. Images of the old Soviet Union, May Day in Moscow, come to mind. The birds are sweetly twittering, the flowers are just coming into bloom in the north, and the tanks, artillery pieces, and intercontinental ballistic missiles on wheels are rolling slowly along, surrounded by the Gothic-Romanesque-medieval architecture that are the government buildings in mother Russia's capitol. On the elevated, boxy reviewing stand, at attention, stand stern, grim men in uniform, Stalin, Khrushchev, Putin, interchangeable, gang leaders surrounded by their sycophantic gangsters. That, evidently, is what Trump wants to imitate. For him, it should be easy. Will his hair radiate the usual burnt orange, or will he tone it down just a bit? Will the men be goose stepping? The Stars and Stripes will adorn every building along Pennsylvania Avenue, just as the hammer and sickle once did in Red Square, and if Putin has his wish, will again. Recall that Trump avoided military service because of flat feet, fallen arches, a blister, a hangnail, or something severe, and that his feet fell at exactly at that point in American history when it was time to go defend America's freedom in Viet Nam. Its a shame, because he'd be a natural in green military attire, saber at his side, and perhaps jackboots just for effect.

Playing the Game

THE RUSSIANS are at it again, according to Microsoft, trying to influence American politics, probably for the purpose of trying to elect extremist demagogues, much of which they have already done. It appears their targets now are conservative think tanks which are mad at Trump over tariffs and other issues. They may may be trying to get them back on board the Trump bandwagon. But, who knows. really, who cares? The fact of their interference is sufficiently egregious, without knowing the intent. It can be argued that the American public needs to be influenced, but benignly, with education, not malignly, with propaganda. it surely has occurred to us that the Russians are not alone in the opportunity and motive to influence American elections. anyone can give it a try. The Chinese, the French, the Estonians (who are particularly internet savvy), and about one hundred and eighty five other nation-states have internet access, special agent operatives, and dark ops. One can scarcely imagine the ingenius methods other than digital schemes employed by the U.S. to influence politics in foreign lands, methods other than the usual threats, sanctions, invasion, conquests, occupation, regime changes, the installation of puppet governments, and so forth. Democrats and republicans are far more accomplished than any foreigners at manipulating the political process with fake news and misinformation, but since they operate within American borders and formerly, overtly sponsor the candidates, we forgive them. There are several possible remedies to the brainwashing, foreign and domestic. We've tried economic sanctions, against Russia, without apparent effect. short of nuclear war, the American government seems powerless to prevent foreign intervention and must confine its efforts to domestic players.Here, we know the answer, but seem unwilling to implement it. Overturn Citizens United, and pass a law which says: "the sale and purpose of political advertising is prohibited". Let the billionaires distribute their money as they please; politicians will still be purchased as usual, not their election, but only their legislative behavior. We can never prevent anyone from influencing an elected official's legislative agenda, so we the people must all try to do it. Foreign intervention is best remedied by ignoring it. One way of doing this is by turning off one's computer, crazy as that sounds. Another way is to learn to discern the difference between facts, opinions, and lies.As Goethe said: we are never deceived, we only deceive ourselves.

Privatizing War, For Profit

PRESIDENT TRUMP wants to privatize the seventeen year old war in Afghanistan, America's longest, if not finest. And why not? Our publicly owned government operated socialized military doesn't seem able to close out the ninth inning; the enemy keeps getting people on base, and stealing at will. Like the right winders like to say, socialism just plain don't work. the public streets and highways are no good, our fire and police departments never put out fires or catch criminals, and social security recipients never get paid. When the American socialistic military fights a conventional war, using tanks, B52s, and massed infantry, all goes well. its guerrilla war against small groups of enemy fighters fought in rugged terrain with which the U.S. has the most trouble. We learned that in Viet Nam. Or did we? Trump's for profit scheme would involve involving the infamous Blackwater corporation, mercenaries incorporated. Now is the time to invest. Get in early, before Trump and the big boys swoop in and scoop up all the shares, drive up the share price, and get even richer. And consider this; under private ownership, any war which goes bad, or fails to turn a profit, is likely to be cancelled by the board, without the messy complications associated with the political process. if you think the U.S. will lose in Afghanistan which it apparently already has, sell short. I'd bet against america, since nobody, including the ancient Romans, Napoleon, the Russians, among others has ever invaded, conquered, and maintained control over the fragmented tribal groups which adhere there. Invest at your own risk.

Celebrating Survival, Iranian Style

IRAN IS "CELEBRATING" the 65th anniversary of the C.I.A.'s (U.S.A.) overthrow of its government. Speeches, parades, ceremonies, the whole bit. Celebrating, presumably, not the actual american intrusion by the Americans, but their survival of it, and indeed their ability to survive in the same world as the great Satan to the west. They should. They say it will never happen again, but they cannot be too sure; Trump lurks, twitter account in hand. The English controlled the most of the middle east until the end of World War One, and to some extent beyond the great war. The French and the Americans helped them. When Iran gained some measure of independence and duly democratically elected its government, and nationalized its oil industry, the western powers and their fuel companies, whose resources the western powers had theretofore controlled and plundered at will, Standard Oil, British Petroleum, and the rest, were displeased. Generally, when American corporations are prevented from exploiting foreign resources by legitimate governments, they become displeased, and the american government and its dark ops folks spring into action. Its happened dozens of times around the world. It happened in 1953 in Iran. the shah took power, which he held as an American puppet until 1979. During his reign, the U.S. incessantly encouraged Iran to develop its own nuclear weapons, and brought Iranian nuclear physics students to study at M.I.T.. (you couldn't make this up). Now, of course,, the United States, aka Donald Trump threatened to punish Iran for even thinking about splitting the atom. He has formed on his "special commissions" to formulate policy towards Iran )formally called "Persia") meaning that Trump thinks the U.S. needs a plan of attack to back up the threats he makes twitter tweeting. Wouldn't it be special if the United States used nuclear weapons to prevent Iran from having atomic bombs? Therein lies the big white elephant in the middle of the room.The greatest threat to global security is not the extreme unlikelyhood of Iran having a nuclear bomb. Rather, it is the fact that the United States already ahs many, and h as already used them in anger, which was unnecessary, and a war crime. when asked recently w hy the U.s. encouraged Iran to develop nuclear bombs during the Shah's reign, Henry Kissinger responded: "back then, they were our friends". you can't make this stuff up.

Governing The Masses For Them

JAMES MADISON made it perfectly clear that the American people could not be trusted to govern themselves. He divided society into two classes: the "better sort", as he put it, and the "lesser sort". In the better sort he included himself, and all other land owning men of wealth, the American aristocracy. The lesser encompassed everyone else. Madison considered the lesser sort inherently incapable of self governance by virtue of their intellectual, social, cultural, and moral inferiority. He had faith in the willingness of superior men such as himself to govern the masses in a wise and just manner, beneficial to their own best interests. Was not the aristocracy of superior morality? Evidently not. By 1795 it had become obvious that the privileged few were in fact looking out only for their own interests, and Madison spent the rest of his life disillusioned with the system he had invented. What Madison and others like him, like George Washington, feared most was democracy, which to them was mob rule and would result in chaos. Madison's masterpiece, the United States constitution, perfectly embodies his ideals of elite governance. Today's better sort are the billionaires, epitomized by people like Donald J. Trump, whose intellectual, social, cultural, and moral superiority are self evident, if only to himself. Just as america's teeming masses once idolized and looked to the haughty, aloof, and superior George Washington for leadership, so do they now; Harley riding blue collar minions elevate Trump with uncompromising veneration. There are some circumstantial similarities between the two men, notwithstanding their opposing view on honesty and integrity. Washington owned thousands of acres of prime Virginia real estate, upon which homeless impoverished lesser sorts often squatted. He routinely ordered his slaves to drive them away, saying that the trespassers were no better than dogs and cats. The slaves willingly complied. Trump owns casinos, dollars, debt, and the name "Trump", which he leases. He drives out immigrants, and for him the lesser sorts are his critics, of which there are millions, the "shit hole" countries in Africa (he prefers Norwegians), and plain looking, outspoken women, whom he often describes as "dogs", "sluts", and "losers". History does not repeat itself, but it follows patterns. If the election of Donald J. Trump proves anything, it is this: James Madison was wrong all along. The American people can be counted on to govern themselves wisely, to choose their own leaders, and to do so better than the better sort. Hillary Clinton won the election, but Madison's electoral college, which he created to keep power away from the people, chose Trump, functioning exactly as the founders intended.

Tolerating Scari Shari, Barley

SHARI HARIDAN, I HAD NEGLECT4D TO MENTION, (see essay below) is a votary of the most corrupt international organization in modernity, and perhaps human history, the Holy Roman Catholic church. I suspect she would minimize, marginalize, excuse-icize, and grossly understate the extent and degree of the pervasive priestly pedophilia within y, or it is daddy church. After all, how likely is it that a a scandal involving hundreds of priests and thousands of children is limited to several dioceses in Pennsylvania? She's like that. heavily biased towards herself, against the rest of humanity, who are inferior. You might recall from the previous essay below, "Scary Sherrie" that she once unabashedly declared that had the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hanoi, which Nixon contemplated, she wouldn't have been the least bit bothered. That's evil. That's right wing catholic extremism run amok. Thus I speculate that clerical behavior of the depraved, reprehensible sort troubles her not a bit. We can rationalize whatever we wish. She crosses herself at lunch, conspicuously, and all is well, the symbol of torture outlined against her heaving chest. One fine day I sat with a group of Christian conservatives, for lack of a better alternative. Nice people, in fact. A lady suddenly asked me what I thought of Trump. Oh boy. she said that she herself thinks he is an idiot. I was on the verge of agreeing, and I began by admitting that I, as a liberal Democrat, am naturally prone to political anti-Trump bias. At that precise moment Shari Harridan walked by, and overheard me......she couldn't resist a chance to wax petty. From her spewed a single word: "intolerant". My table companion started: "what"? Shari said" "he was bragging about being a liberal democrat, and I pointed out their intolerance." I mentioned that I wasn't bragging, just fact checking. I guess she thought I had something to brag about, and that she would intrude and be rude. Progressive envy, or penis envy? but she was right. We democrats are intolerant. Intolerant of right wing racism, misogyny, contempt for the poor disguised as compassion, their love of money (capitalism) and contempt for sharing (socialism), contempt for a woman's right to choose her own reproduction, and their vicious accusations that pro choice people are in favor of abortion. Liberals also tend to be intolerant of sexual predation rackets disguised as religion. someday maybe I'll mumble the word "vicious" or "intolerant" in her presence. revenge, it is said, is a dish best served cold. But I had better not wait long, lest Shari Haridan brings an AR15 to the senior center, looking for intolerant Democrats.

Giving Up Driving, Unselfishly, for Society's Sake

THE A.A.R.P. started sending me propaganda when I was forty nine years old, urging me to join, and hasn't stopped. A literalist, I declined, and still decline; I wasn't retired, except for a brief two year period when I turned sixty. I later consequently reentered the work force, where I remain. I like the organization because of its progressive values, but with minor reservations. As a senior citizen, I am comforted to know that there exists a large and influential organization advocating on my behalf. My reservation is that by so doing, the A.A.R.P. is a special interest group, albeit a huge one,. I prefer people and organizations which advocate for everyone, for cause like clean air, clean water, eradication of poverty, ending war, ending right wing extremism, and so forth. IN a world of divergent interests, special groups serve a purpose I realize. Another reservation is that by representing the interests of a particular group, the A.A.R.P. advocates for causes which might not be in the best interests of the larger society. For example, unless I'm dreaming, the A.A.R.P. advocates for the privilege of senior citizens to retain driver's licenses and continue driving no matter how old they are, as long as they are capable of driving. For societal safety, limiting the privilege of driving to within age limits, such as eighteen and ninety, would reduce traffic congestion, greatly reduce injuries and fatalities. No matter who one is one's reflexes and senses are not as acute at ninety; its time to let someone else do the driving. Sixteen year olds have auto accidents at an alarming rate. The imminent advent of computer driven cars will render this a moot point, fortunately, since the number of automotive fatalities will drop in the U>S from over thirty five thousand a year to near zero, and worldwide fatalities will drop from over a million annually to near zero. (My mother once said that we already have too many people; I gently redirected her off base thinking.) Someone pointed out that since everyone eventually gets old, the A.a.R.P. is actually not a special interest group. I disagree. Tragically, many folks don't live long. Twenty percent of American children live in poverty, a national disgrace. childhood poverty dramatically shortens the human life span. The elderly have had a lifetime during to prepare for their needs in old age. Impoverished children have not. the a.A.R.P. does nothing for them. It can be argued that all philanthropic activity should benefit children, since everyone is a child, and that by serving children we are investing in the future, which benefits everyone.

Loving Davy Crockett

ON AUGUST 17, 1786 David Crockett was born in a log cabin in a river bottom, not a mountaintop, in Eastern Tennessee, near Nashville. His autobiography "A narrative of the Life of David Crockett of the state of Tennessee' is a wonderful read, has been in print ever since its original publication in 1835, and was not ghost written, contrary to accusations. he spoke the book, and his friend, a fellow congressperson, transcribed it. he hated being called "Davy", considered it childish, and always signed his name "David". he was able to read and write on an eighth grade level, because he taught the skill to himself, which is difficult to imagine. His Hero was Daniel Boone, who was fifty years older than Crockett, and a legend during Crockett's lifetime. The two men were remarkably similar. both were prodigious hunters, and killed bear mainly because if they hadn't, human settlement would have been impossible where they lived. Bot loved Indians, and were always careful to keep moving west, to where Indians lived, who they preferred to whites. They both had large families, nine children for Crocket, seven for Boone. each has many descendants today, who congregate for family reunions. Boone claimed he never killed anybody, which is hard to believe, considering the bloody battle of Boonesboro, in which several hundred Indians and British regulars laid siege to the stockade community during the American revolution. On at least two occasions Crockett was saved by Indians. he had malaria, and while on his back, in the wilderness, a passing Indian told him that if he didn't get up and walk, he would die. they got him to a frontier home, where for two weeks David lay semi-conscious, while the lady of the cabin plied him with the infamous "Batesman's Drops". In congress, where he served three terms, he opposed Andrew Jackson's "Indian Removal" bill, the only western representative to do so. He reasoned that since the government he promised the Indians they could stay in Georgia forever, the government "arter keep its promises." Andrew Jackson and Davy Crockett despised each other, though they both came from Tennessee, and Crockett began his career as a supporter of Jackson. they split over the Indian issue, among others. Crockett taught himself to play the fiddle, which he used to entertain the teenagers who followed him all over Washington City. he could imitate the sound of any bird. he began to wear a coonskin cap only because people expected the famous frontiersman to; the idea came from a popular Broadway play "the Lion of the West", based on Crockett's life. The show came to Washington for a performance to raise money for charity, and Crockett was in attendance. Before the play began, the lone actor in the one man show introduced himself, then bowed to Crockett, who bowed right back. The crowd went ballistic. When David was defeated for a fourth term in congress, he told his constituents: "you all can go straight to hell. I'm going to Texas." At the Alamo, where Americans had gathered to form a new government in the revolt against Mexico, Crockett was trapped by his own fame, and could not leave, though he could have. as the Mexican army gathered strength for the final, inevitable assault, Crockett kept up spirits with his fiddle and tall tales. he stood a the top of the stockade and railed at the enemy. he was capture at the end, and executed on the orders of the petty Mexican general, president, and tyrant in command. After his death, Crockett became even more famous, a national hero, far more popular than president Jackson, who must have been displeased. David Crockett was one of the few American heroes to truly deserve his status. happy birthday, beloved. Your delightful, loving funny personality lives on, as does your spirit.

Cannibalizing The Presidency

PRESIDENT TRUMP HAS REPEATEDLY used his bully pulpit to behave like a bully. He has repeatedly, gratuitously attacked three great pillars of American democracy: the judiciary, the news media, and the electoral system. His seminal assault on the on the judiciary occurred when he explicitly questioned whether a Hispanic magistrate would render justice in a case involving a president who seems hostile to minorities, but feared that he might not be treated fairly by "one of them". Trump kills two birds with one stone; bonus points for racism, for good measure. With regard to the electoral process, Donald Trump may be the oly elected politician in American history to win an election, then claim that the election was rigged. Go figure. To lend some semblance of credibility to his typically laughable allegations, Trump assembled an ad hoc commission to "investigate", which found nothing, did nothing, and quietly dispersed into the undrained swamp of Trump whence it came. But it is for the news media that the great prevaricator reserved his most vicious, least coherent diatribe. When Trump accuses the media of disseminating "fake news", he is merely being obnoxious and dishonest. he is also looking into the mirror, and seeing himself without recognizing it. The fake news comes from the darkness of his own soul, his lies are numerous and well documented, as he looks into the abyss of himself. he can't stop talking about himself, but thinks he is talking about other people. But when he accuses the news media of being "the enemy of the people", he is doing the same thing, but now he enters deadly dangerous territory. At this point, it becomes fair and proper to suggest that the president, elected under dubious circumstances at best (meaning that is is questionable whether he was elected without foreign assistance), might consider taking a long look into the mirror, into the dismal abyss of his dark soul, take aim, and fire.

Watching The Gangster lead His Gang To Ingominious Dismissal

PRESIDENT TRUMP, ensconced within his protective cocoon of unreality, surrounded by sycophants who echo his dishonest drivel, is nevertheless besieged by reality, and by the media which he seeks to discredit because it tells the truth about him. He levels increasingly vicious attacks against those who expose him, as the noose around his ignominious administration seems to tighten. His millions of members gang of supporters hardens like excrement in sunlight, as their mafia style leader shines and stinks like dead mackerel by moonlight, to quote an American founding father.The circumstances of the don's imminent demise reduce them to ever more fatuous denials and justifications. As the forces of truth, justice, and the American way (whatever that is) encircle the Trump mob like the allies breaching Hitler's bunker, the junta delays the inevitable by firing vain salvos of diversionary tripe, and we are again reminded of Hillary Clinton's missing emails and Barack Obama's imaginary African birth and Islamic faith, all long since irrelevant and forgotten by discerning citizens as the lunatic drivel it was from the beginning. Its pathetic, and you almost pity them for their hopeless folly. Almost. Trump is currently involved in over four thousand lawsuits, for and against. The most cursory examination of the validity of their respective claims of fact evinces a pattern; the suits against him have strong, fact based merit, those filed on his behalf are nothing more than poorly disguised malicious attacks, gratuitous, employing the age old tired strategy of striking first, obfuscating, distracting, killing the messenger before the message can be delivered. "Me Too" women are tired of a self proclaimed sexual predator president who responds to credible allegations of misbehavior with vicious slander and attempted character assassination. Women are seeking office in record numbers. The noose is tightening.

Coming Clean, Crushing the Infamous Thing

THE JUST RELEASED grand jury investigation of sexual abuse of children within the Catholic church in several Pennsylvania dioceses is yet more evidence that the sickness is endemic and systemic, not merely sporadically incidental. At what point do mountains of sworn testimony become irrefutable proof? In this case, long since. Priestly pedophilia and predation is, and doubtless has been endemic within the mother church for centuries, millennia. Can one imagine medieval clerics behaving any better than our modern ones? Who knows? Tragically, in the current well publicized cases, involving dozens of clerics and thousand of children, the statute of limitations has expired. People are usually incapable of coming forth with accusations of until long after the fact. They are scarred for life. A legal spokesperson for the church dares not deny any of it; the compiled report is too believable, too shocking, too much beyond question or even the slightest doubt. Instead, he offers the limp purgative that, oh well, the church of this century is not the church of the last century. In other words, the billion member Catholic institution has, since the year 2000, purged itself of all evil, and all is well. the problem lies in the past, and should probably be relegated, along with the inquisition, the burnings of witches, the persecution of homosexuals, the casting out of demons, and all the other forms of primitive superstitious nonsense we know so well. to the distant, murky past. the previous century is relatively recent, and is easy to remember. the church would have us believe that it is ancient history. many are the clever means by which the guilty assuage their souls. In eighteenth century Catholic France Voltaire wrote and spoke out against the abuses of clerical power, and was much maligned for it. But he may have had the best idea, when, referring to the church of Peter, who was no saint himself, said: "crush the infamous thing."

Rebranding Rodeo

RODEO IS MORE POPULAR among the deeply red state red neck demographic of the American south than NASCAR, shooting animals, throwing horseshoes, and driving pick up trucks with peeling paint rapidly on dusty dirt roads while guzzling beer, combined. The artful allure of watching beautiful, spirited horses, crazed with panic, desperately to remove a human from its back is irresistible to those who never darkened the doors or a college campus, art gallery, or concert hall. that said, I don't like rodeo. I think its cruelty to animals. I concluded this long ago when I surmised, perhaps presumptuously, that calves don't enjoy being chased, roped, and wrestled to the ground, and that horses that don't want to be ridden do not enjoy being ridden. Then one day at the style shop, what to rodeo folk might still be called a barber shop, a young African-american lady and i began chatting. She mentioned that she had attended the rodeo the previous evening in the small southern town where I live. the first thing I learned is that an African-american lady not only can attend a rodeo but can do so and enjoy it. My education proceeded with contention that when a bucking bronco is bucking, it is responding not to the human presence atop it, but rather, to a belt on its back which is tickling it, an itch which it is trying to scratch. since she was at that moment trimming my eyebrows, and had been nice enough to offer the service, I decided to take her somewhat seriously.Still, it still didn't sound like too awful much fun to me, from the horses perspective, but I held my tongue. so, I'm calling it a draw. My eyebrows look great. A retired barrel racer once told me that a barrel racing horse, even without a rider, will run the course. and, I confess I've always found cowboy poker amusing and entertaining. I cannot imagine being the last to leave the table. Then too, I remember the time, in 1971, when I was sixteen and a friend and I stood outside a rodeo, penniless and forlorn. The cowboy at the gate waved us on through> I have no memory of the actual rodeo, which is telling, on so many levels.

Defending Torture, Sickly

OVER THE PAST FIFTY YEARS, the University of Maryland football program has only infrequently been successful, a big university in a conference of big football football programs. it may be that administrative pressure to gain some measure of success has driven the shocking abuse of football players recently exposed. The sickness within the program is cultural, and even widespread among football programs across freedom's land, but it is not incidental. In June, a Maryland football player dropped dead of heat exhaustion, having shown all the symptoms, but having been neglected, deprived of the necessary treatment which could have saved him. This is now well known, well documented. Another player, overweight, was forced to cram candy bars down his throat until he vomited, in front of the team. surely that taught him a lesson. Humiliation of players became part of the culture. Gone, or so we thought, are the days when high school and college players, were deprived of water to toughen them, when coaches slapped players silly on helmets on human heads. But not at the University of Maryland, an excellent school academically, but gone far astray of decency footballistically. In a winner take all culture, the team has won little, and over the past few years, since joining the prestigious Big Ten conference, the coaching and training staff has humiliated and tortured athletes, and has killed one of them, in a desperate attempt to kick start success. The president of the university has acknowledged all this, and accepted institutional responsibility for it. presumably the entire coaching staff will be dismissed - the head trainer all has been - and the family of the dead young offensive lineman will receive millions of dollars in compensatory damages. The most remarkably insane aspect of all this is the shockingly large number of vicarious violence addicts, football fans, who are showing support for the coaching staff and their brutality. Gotta be tough in this man's world, and all that tripe. Make the team win by making it miserable, and hopeful that by surviving the young men might be spared further misery.if american society were a horse, it would be shot. We elected a reprobate president, and we find support for a torture chamber college football program. We are bad asses, if a bit psychotic. You can bet your bottom dollar those that the idiots who support Maryland's football coach are the ones who elected the great prevaricator to the presidency.

Manipulating the Market

THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE sells season ticket packages, expensively.The purchaser is required to pay full price for four meaningless pre season practice games as part of the package, games in which third and fourth string players replace the stars. it would be as if hit shows on Broadway required ticket purchasers to pay full price for a dress rehearsal is order to see the show. As if patrons of symphony concerts were required to pay for the concert but only if they pay for another ticket to listen to the orchestra tune up. It would be, and is as if professional baseball charged separate admissions for batting practice, fielding practice, and the actual game. which indeed it now does. senior citizen baseball fans recall the halcyon days in which fans could arrive two hours before game time and watch pregame warm up and practice free of charge. Capitalism ceaselessly seeks to squeeze ever more revenue from the product without any improvement in product quality or quality, what economists call "rent seeking". There was a time when the NFL played six preseason games and fourteen regular season games, the tickets for preseason games were relatively inexpensive, and the working class could indulge. Now its sixteen regular season games and four preseason games. Are we soon going to see eighteen and two? It would enhance revenue, and player injuries. Rent seeking has limits, imposed by the market. Eventually the well runs dry, the patrons wander away. In America, however, nearly every form of entertainment has nine lives, as creative rent seeking entrepreneurs reinvent and repackage the merchandise. it costs over a thousand dollars to sit behind the Yankee dugout. The seats are sold, but often empty, as the unconcerned corporate wealthy walk the concourse, staring at smart phones and catching glimpses of the game on flat screens overlooking concession stands. The first Super Bowl sold tickets for eleven dollars, and the game was not close to being a sell out. Now, scalpers get thousands of dollars for resales. the masters of market manipulation manipulate supply to correspond to ever higher demand, and are conferencing to manipulate the future, and us.

Walking About Racism

THIS PAST WEEKEND an extremely small, disappointingly for its organizers small group of white skinned people gathered together in Washington D.C. and took a short walk. They were greatly outnumbered by another group who opposed their walk. Since this small group was of the "white" race, and since a fair number of them allegedly sported crosses, swastikas, and white underwear, it became tempting to describe the group as 'white supremacists". Contributing to this impression, the event occurred on the first anniversary of a more impressive and violent event in Charlottesville, Virginia, which if fact was a self described white power white supremacist rally, in which the symbols of bigotry were worn exterior to the underwear, in more emboldened times. but not so fast. Grand high dragon Jason Kessler was adamantly insisted that white supremacy had nothing to do with it, that in fact the gathering's purpose was not to assert any sort of supremacy, but instead to issue a plea for white equality, to highlight the need for white people in America to cast of their chains of oppression, and to gain equal social status with African-Americans, Hispanics, and other privileged minorities. Yes, he really said all that. The whit folk in America, in this paradigm, are suffering lower status as blacks, browns, gays, and maybe even transgenders dominate them. The Christian faith, accordingly, is under attack by the thirty percent of American who practice other beliefs. it is remarkably easy to spin a ludicrously false narrative and to make it sound, fleetingly, credible, as climate change deniers, neo-liberal free marketeers,, and hard core right winders well know. Good try, Jason Kessler, but not quite good enough. In a traditionally, indisputably white-Christian dominated America, only very recently have minorities begun to gain some semblance of equality, and this is what the right wing seems to find so disturbing; the loss of white privilege. Pretending to demonstrate for equality for whites is more palatable than honestly complaining about the loss of superior statue for whites, so, repackage. regrettably for the white supremacists bigots, we the sane of America are not so easily deceived, and you might think the bigots would realize that their juvenile machinations are transparent, but, evidently not.

Scary Shari, the Uncaring Harridan

AT MY LOCAL SMALL TOWN senior center, in which belief in Darwinian evolution and climate change are accepted heresy, and the human intellect is deemed suitable exclusively for the appreciation of gospel played on a fiddle, there abides Shary harridan the Acidic. osteoporosis and a cholostomy bag conspire to twist her mind, one might speculate, into a configuration of evil worthy of the devilish old testament deity they all worship, the one who slaughtered fifty thousand innocent souls as punishment for someone taking a peek into a forbidden box full of law. I tried to talk to her several times, why not befriend the wicked, foolishly hoping to be spared her biblical wrath. One time I offered: "I recently found out, by listening to a tape, that when we were in high school, President Nixon considered dropping a nuclear bomb on Hanoi. thank the dear lord Henry Kissinger talked him out of it. Its on audio tape." Dismissively the harridan replied: "it wouldn't have bothered me a bit." The harridan, unsurprisingly, is an extreme right winger and an extreme Christian - the two seem to often go hand in hand - who seems to respond to her lack of formal education by disliking anyone who has one, and selecting her friends carefully to avoid befriending anyone as intelligent as she, an imposing task. The ceaselessly negative and abrasive person must truly be miserable. My shock and outrage were ill considered. I said nothing. What are five million dead babies to an untamed shrew? Now, I pray that the infirm be healed.. People are beautiful, and I love them, preferably from a distance, Goethe said: "noble be man, compassionate, and good." And he was right. But hatred is not an inherent side effect of personal health related misfortune. To be of cancerous personality is a choice, and a poor one. May the harridan heal her soul, if not her intellect.

Stealing And Saving Sand

THE ANCIENT ROMANS invented concrete, and they rebuilt wooden Rome with it, much of which remains today in the form of ruins. The ancient Egyptians passed up a great opportunity there in the sandy desert, and instead carved blocks from limestone, and hauled them with slave labor from quarry to unpragmatic monuments, monuments which obviously had great symbolic value. If only they had known of concrete. Concrete is the magical mixture of sand, which is silicon dioxide, and cement, which is fine, feathery gray powder, essentially desiccated dirt. Add water, wait, let harden in desired shape. while hardening, scratch initials or press palm into, leaving lasting legacy. if apprehended, claim momentary lapse of judgment, ignorance of vandalism laws, or urgent necessity of leaving legacy. Offer to use trowel to repair damage. Post bail, Cop plea. Pay fine. Our modern world is made more of concrete than ancient Rome. we use fifty billion tones of it a year, dredging sand from ocean bottoms, river bottoms, luckless beaches. it takes longer for nature to make sand than for humans to steal it, and, in short, we are running out of sand, a fact which might seem surprising. Recycling concrete is possible, but not an option, for three reasons. Most modern concrete is lace with chemicals which impede separation, the amount of energy needed to pound int back into sand and start over in expensively prohibitive, and besides, concrete structures are built to last, and there is a very limited supply of it available for recycling. The encroaching scarcity of sand is such that its becoming expensive, so much so that people steal it from beaches, and from the piles of it which lay in waiting along highways under construction. A black market for sand has emerged, incredibly. In India, there is actually a "sand mafia" which controls the market, darkening the economy with such deadly intent and to such great effect as would make Al Capone proud. Many have died in service to black market sand. Whatever is valuable is illegally transferred, understandably. Concrete and glass are the primary products of sand, which also serves well for sun bathing on towels at beaches, barefoot jogging (beware the submerged glass shard or carelessly discarded beer tab), and the trapping of golf balls in hazards. The day may come when people fight wars over sand, as they long have over land and the minerals which lie beneath, and might someday over water, helium, phosphorous, and water, which are other vanishing resources. Much new land is being built around the world, using huge amounts of sand. the more land, the less remaining sand. The trade off might not be worth the effort. And, in any event, we humans can always find reason to fight, over almost anything.

Putting I.C.E. On Ice

THE IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT AGENCY (I.C.E.) was founded in 2003 in the wake of the Great American Terrified of Terrorism (GATT) epidemic. This fear of an almost non existent threat precipitated the various Wars of Oil and American Aggression (WOAA), and presaged Trumpian Republican Authoritarian Mob Psychology (TRAMP). I.C.E., in its current behavior, fits in perfectly with America's xenophobic right wing racist Hitleresque agenda. Conservatives, who normally stridently espouse limited government, especially when government seeks to assist the working poor and various minorities, miraculously transubstantiates, like wafers and wine into bod and blood, into big government expellers of refugees, refugees from poverty, who are seeking opportunity and hope. All immigrants are ultimately refugees, refugees from poverty, seeking aforementioned opportunity and hope. Conservative Republican American Christian Klansmen Encouraging Refugee Removal (CRACKERR), seem quite concerned with legalities, but not with opportunity, hope, nor with welcoming the proverbial stranger. A growing movement among bleeding heart liberal limited government types seek to put I.C.E. on ice, just as surely as the refugee dies parched in the Arizona desert, just as surely as the African-american teenaged boy lies chilled in the morgue, his body riddled with official law enforcement bullets. The agency is redundant, its functions already being implemented by other organizations, and, under Trump and his mob,= is neo-NAZI-like, but could be reformed, rather than abandoned, which might placate big government republican conservative types. Eisenhower gave the jack boot to one million Mexicans, Obama chipped in with two point five million deportees this credit, and who knows the lofty numbers to which don the don can spire, with or without I.C.E.? Only Ronald Reagan had the good sense to grant immunity to the illegal downtrodden, in a rare fit of inexplicable compassion. sometimes the old blind squirrel finds an acorn, as the country folk say.One rare but good G.O.P. deed deserves another; may the great prevaricator find it within his toupee the uncharacteristic impulse to emulate the rare republican fit of compassion of the great communicator.

Seeking Scientific Sense

WHEN I WAS ELEVEN OR TWELVE years old, in 1966 or 1967, I read "The Interrupted Journey", one of the seminal UFO abduction tales to emerge after the Roswell incident. The monograph details the 1961 alleged abduction of Berry and Barney Hill, a New Hampshire couple who, under hypnosis, presented a fascinating account of being abducted, examined, and released by extraterrestrials, and suffering psychological after effects. The book was quite a sensation in the mid sixties, and it thoroughly entranced me. It would probably do the same today. Born was my lifelong interest in UFOs and the question of life on other planets, a question which remains unanswered, although progress is being made, in the form of numerous planets recently found orbiting other stars. My interest expanded to include other areas of research in what is commonly termed "the paranormal": mental telepathy, reincarnation, ghosts, among others. I coupled this with a love of science fiction. Asimov, Clarke, Bradbury, Heinlein, Silverberg were, and are, my favorite authors. Since the passing of those literary greats science fiction has regrettably devolved into pseudo science fantasy. Clark's dictum that the known laws of nature should never be violated in writing has long since been consigned to the dry eraser. To quote Goethe, it is the limitations which make the master. In Clarke's novels, nobody never traveled faster than the speed of light, and nobody ever fought multi-dimensional dragons with magic wands enchanted by spell casting sorcerers. Much the same has happened in the paranormal, realm, which has devolved from potential research science into imaginative fantasy. It has become an industry, a highly lucrative one, in which the shareholder devotees are shielded from, and do not seek accountability. The money is too good. Radio talk show hosts, podcasters, and writers serve it up, and it is lapped up, without serious scrutiny or skepticism. UFO research, abnormal psychology, past life regression, telepathy, ghosts of the deceased are all topics worthy of sustained scientific scrutiny. To a degree, they have all been given and are still getting attention from credentialed scholars. The results thus far are inconclusive. We have only anecdotal evidence, which is insufficient until repeatedly verified independently. Tragically, science has been drowned out by fantastic speculative imaginings; science has been popularly supplanted by sorcery which, unfortunately, sells better than science. Money mongering entertainers advertisers, and charlatans prey on the hopeful gullibility of those who dream without restraint. The ministers of alternative realities minister to their legions of votaries. Extraterrestrial emerge from unemotional unsatisfying scientific research, and dwell on the ocean floor, in earth's hollow interior, and insinuated within human power structures, disguised as human. They dwell within our imaginative longing for unfounded intellectual inquiry. it plays well, it sells well. it assumes the characteristics of a religion; devotion without evidence. Opportunists like Alex Jones , the promulgator of innumerable incredible conspiracy fantasies, "pushes the envelope", to quote Tom wolf. The Sandyhook massacre was no hoax. Twenty seven souls were murdered. Because of Jones' absurd, pernicious claim that it was, surviving family members have received death threats. Alex Jones belongs in jail, or an institution for the intellectually and socially malign. We do not yet know whether there exists a galactic federation, whether the Federal reserve is controlled by a secretive cabal of alien beings and European trillionaires, or whether advanced lifeforms dwell beneath the earth's surface. In each case, perhaps not. but unless we approach such questions with skepticism, critical thinking, and intellectual honesty, we never will. Our only hope is science, which, when studied closely, reveals itself to be far more interesting than sorcerers wielding magic wands.

Curbing Violence In Football, And Society

THE NFL (National Football League, USA) has a new rule prohibiting the use of the helmet when blocking or tackling, newly required restraint which once upon less violent times was assumed, not mandated. A current player with the Minnesota Vikings, doubtless a Trump supporter, sported a ball cap which read: "make football violent again". The message is as misleading as Trump's campaign slogan. Both football and America have been great, and violent, for a very long time. The two cultural icons are going in opposite directions. The United States has always been violent, but over the recent few decades has become somewhat less so, domestically, according to statistics, although it doesn't often seem so. Violent crime rates are way down, compared to the nineteen seventies, although vicarious violence in mainstream entertainment is way, way up. Football has also always been violent, but much more so in recent years, with bigger, stronger, faster players, and an enhanced appreciation for the sport's inherent violence among its fans. The popularity of violence in sports may be viewed in concert with our appetite for vicarious violence, apart from America's long history of military aggression. NFL players now feign confusion about the new rule, which really isn't new, because it was already against the law, and called "spearing". Head first. its that simple. why the feigned confusion? well, maybe to impugn the validity of requiring football players to play the game with original, gentlemanly intent. What they mean is that they do not like the rule. Or, they have already sustained a few too many concussions. keep the head up, and out of the way. Simple. If they, and we the people do not like the curbing of violence, we'll all have to adjust, just like we might some day have to adjust, one can hope, to a decrease in America violence, foreign, domestic, and vicarious.

Being Honest About american Racism Past and Present

IT IS PERFECTLY OBVIOUS to anyone conversant with American history and willing to be honest about today's American culture that the United States always has been, but remains, a surpassingly racist nation, arguably the most racist nation in history. Racism is neither inherent in human thought nor ancient in origins. There are no references to it in any work of literature or written document before the year fourteen fifty, when it appeared a biography of Prince Henry the Navigator, a fact which many might find surprising. It was invented in the fifteenth century as justification for the Portuguese conquest of Africa, and in the sixteenth century European North and south America refined, elevated, and institutionalized skin pigmentation discrimination, where it remains today. The federal government, under intense, sustained pressure from liberal interests, has only within the past half century begun trying to force racial equality down the American throat. President LBJ alienated his entire southern constituency by forcing the Civil rights Act through congress, over the strenuous objections of conservatives in both parties. The considerable yet obviously insufficient progress we have made is entirely the product of legislation, prodding by meddling liberals, and penalties for non compliance. At no point during the late twentieth century has there existed a majority of Americans willing to take the necessary steps to eradicate the scourge of race based hatred. And yet, the very promulgators of racist ideology incessantly claim that, since slavery and Jim Crow are no more, neither is racism. They are deceiving nobody, including themselves. America's founding "fathers" were all racist, and so is our current president, who was indicted by the federal government in 1974 for housing discrimination, refusing to rent to African-Americans his father's properties. They settled out of court. The recent manifestations of Trump's racist attitudes are well documented. The United States will never be free of the racist curse as long as there exists a conservative white plurality which believes that social engineering is unacceptable, because without social engineering, we have no hope of attaining true equality.

Witnessing Poor Stweardship

ACROSS THE STREET from me lives a family of Jehovah's witnesses, which is one of those made in America varieties of Christianity, along with, let's see...Mormonism, Christian Science, Scientology, among others. are the Witnesses the ones who do not celebrate secular holidays, and do not stand for the national anthem? If they indeed do not stand, they not only should not be allowed to play football, their entire faith should be impugned for lacking respect for flag, anthem, and country. for, as GHW Bush once said: "this is the greatest nation in the entire country". They're nice people, if a bit weird. A mother, late fifties, who works in a nursing home, and three grown, big, strong, strapping sones, all in their twenties, all of whom wear overalls daily, none of whom ever seem to leave the house, nor have employment. Another feature, perhaps, of their faith: the female brings home the bacon. they don't have to bring home much of it; I get so much throw away food at the senior center that I can't possibly use it, so I give it to them. In appreciation, they ply me with boxes of Little Debbie delights, which I try to transport to the senior center as soon as possible, before they go to my waistline and hasten me towards diabetes. IN a wooded area in their backyard lives a colony of feral cats, some of whom sometimes venture across the street, where I feed them. among these is a female who recently gave birth, in Jehovah's yard, beneath one of their innumerable knick knack lawn decorations. She brought the litter across the street, adorably ,and I increased the mother kitten's food supply; she looked underweight, and I was afraid the litter was going to suck the life out of her. when the babes were fully weaned, the momma kitty ushered them back across the street, out of my garage, and back into the wooded area, possibly preferring the better protective cover. I explained to the Witnesses that it was incumbent them, to try to find homes for all the feral cats, particularly the kittens, with all the spaying, neutering, and vaccinating associated. I said I would help. What I got in return was a flat denial of any and all responsibility, and the implication that since the litter had spent two weeks on my property, I would have to take charge. Then a "No Trespassing sign went up on their door, which I thought a bit unfriendly, and a bit incredible? I think I'll start giving the leftover meatloaf and mashed potatoes to the feral cats, and I don't think I'll risk knocking the Witnesses front door. we live in precarious, contentious times. meanwhile, presumably the colony in the backyard woods will grow, and a day or reckoning will ensue. Is that part of Jehovah's plan?

Transforming Ourselves Nationally

THE UNITED STATES is transforming itself from a white Christian culture into a multi ethnic culture of religious diversity, partly through immigration, and conservatives, who by definition embrace traditional values and resist sweeping change, don't like it. You can bet your bank account that there is neither a conservative nor a trump supporter within the confines of freedom's land who believes that the change is happening, nor that if it is, that they oppose it. To them, American remains a white majority Christian nation, and likely always will, regardless of facts. The republican party, which is the white Christian conservative party, considers itself open, available, inclusive, and without fear or prejudice towards ethnic minorities, and can't seem to understand why the minorities and the poor flock in overwhelming numbers to the Democratic party To them its a total mystery. Don't republicans offer them everything, far more than the democrats, don't republicans offer everyone the freedom to and the golden opportunity to fend for themselves and to succeed on their own merits by their own hard work without interference from meddling government regulations or the crippling dependency of government economic assistance? The democrats reduce the poor to virtual helplessness by sending them money; republicans would set them free of the debilitating effects of handouts. Why can't the poor see that the help the democrats offer does nothing for them but stymie their upward mobility? The millennials are rejecting the christian faith and embracing socialism in large numbers. there are five million Muslims in America, potential terrorists all. Homosexuality is no longer illegal, and gays and transgenders flaunt their lifestyles as if they had a right to. The sooner the Lord returns, the better the outcome for the enraptured republican party, unless, of course, blacks, gays, lesbians, and immigrant Latin Americans wake up and begin to realize the bountiful fruits of prosperity to be gained by embracing republican values of the free market and less government, where people can advance through competing with the rest of us for jobs and upward mobility, with the same chance to win as everyone else.

Leaving Unsaid

THE LADY CAME FROM MEXICO twenty years ago, illegally. She married a naturalized American citizen, also from Mexico, and stayed home to raise a family of two daughters, while her husband pursued a career in the U.S. Marine Corps. he did three tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. Her illegal entry preclude, she feared, any hope of obtaining legal status. Then came a traffic stop, exposure, and summary Trumpian deportation, and a broken, bereaved family. She chose to accept rather than fight deportation, thus sparing her family a useless, stressful struggle. The children, ages eight and sixteen, are or course naturally American citizens, fully assimilated into American Floridian culture. A thorough canvass of the American public would doubtless produce not a single supporter of Donald trump who finds these circumstances repugnant. According to our president, children torn from their parents at the border "are not innocent", and "aren't people", but rather, are "animals". They are therefore locked in cages in abandoned Wal Mart buildings in southern Texas, while a federal judge in San Diego admonishes the government go get about the business of reuniting families. Left unsaid is that poverty and political chaos in Mexico and Central America is largely the by product of several decades of American foreign policy, the central component of which is enforced economic neo-liberalism, coupled with a policy of 'facilitating" the overthrow of duly elected governments which seek to redistribute national wealth and which reject American corporate exploitation. One of many examples is the collaboration of the CIA and the American Fruit company in the overthrow of the left wing Arbenz government if Guatemala in 1954, which, like all other American interventions in Latin America during the past two centuries, produced thousands of dislocated peasants, poverty, violence, and chaos. Left unsaid is that Texas, California, new Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado were stolen from Mexico in President's Polk's great imperialistic adventure, the Mexican War of 1846-1848. Traditionally, this region has been referred to in Mexico as "the occupied territories". In the United States of America, much is left unsaid.

Making Trouble On Twitter

ONNA COUNTA having twitter tweeted bigly that Attorney Generah Jeff Davis sessions immediately cease and desist in all witch hunting activities, president Donald "witch" Trump has either committed obstruction of justice, attempted obstruction of justice, or plain ole down home rudeness, which will not bother him one iota. Sessions, calling off the dogs? Ainta gonna happen. Sessions, Der Trumpmeister might not recall, has long since recused himself of the whole affair, washing his hands, removing from the realm of possibility any interference in the ongoing and increasingly interesting Mueller investigation. And yes, twitter tweets are, it turns out, admissible under a wide range of legal circumstances, contrary to what Rudy Giuliani mistakenly asserts. Then too, in another acrimonious event, the mafia don-like chief executive has angered the Koch brothers, Charles and David, who purchase political office for free market anti regulatory republicans and purchase the forgiveness of trailer park residents whose families members have died from cancer precipitated by chemical runoffs from nearby Koch owned oil refineries. It is not wise to anger the big boys, but Trump himself is a big boy, a billionaire whose passion is the elevation of the working poor, somehow or other. So Charles and David are clowns, former FBI director James Comey is in the pocket of Hillary Clinton, and Putin is a man whose word is to be taken at face value, in the presumably deluded universe of the great narcissist. Under normal circumstances, an innocent citizens welcomes the opportunity to clear her name by being duly investigated. So why all the wailing and gnashing? we all know why, and the only question remaining is how long is takes for the Nixonian drama to play itself out, and for the nation to heal itslef,, difficult though it is to imagine Mr. Pence playing the role he might have to play, that of Gerald r. Ford the reconciler.