I wrote the poem while considering the oft repeated claim that the U.S. is a Christian Nation. The highlighted links refer to the documents that reveal the Christian faith and the principles of the Kingdom of God Jesus spent his life promoting. The principles are recorded in Bible verses which you can read when you click on the link. After reading the verses you can judge for yourself how the U.S. measures up to the standards of the Christian faith and decide whether or not it is a Christian Nation.
The State of Georgia may have made a serious blunder if Jesus turns out to be real. You may have heard, Georgia forbids helping hungry and thirsty people eat and drink on certain days of the year. A new law has been made in Georgia to penalize persons who give water and food to those who need to eat and drink on the days helping hungry and thirsty people is disallowed.
Now the problem for Georgia is that Jesus expressly condemns the behavior the State of Georgia has made into law. He does not mince his words. The punishment Jesus will mete out to those who engage in that behavior would make General Sherman or even George Bush blush. What did Jesus say would be the fate of those who do such things to those in need of food and water?
We don't have to wonder because it's in the Bible, in fact it is one of the Bible's central teachings. Jesus had already addressed, in the 1st century, what the lawmakers in Georgia in the 21st century decided to do. At that time Jesus prescribed the consequences of their decision revealing what the outcome would be. Matthew 25: 31- 46 is where Jesus lays down the law and the consequences for breaking His Law.
41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal
I'm surprised the lawmakers in Georgia are not up to respecting the opinion of Jesus on this matter. Do they doubt the words or the intent of Jesus? Times have changed and I guess I shouldn't be surprised. But I am. Those lawmakers in Georgia must feel as if they can take Jesus on and win.
A decade or two ago Georgia was in the Bible Belt where Jesus and the Bible were revered. But times have changed and the Georgia lawmakers are proving that they are not going to be buffaloed by old superstitions the way their forbears were. They've told Jesus what they think of His Law and now it's up to Jesus to keep his word.
The Georgia courts are very likely going to have to put Jesus in jail when he begins feeding the hungry and giving water to the thirsty on those days when it is illegal to do so. I understand he's used to being mistreated by secular governments and that he, like Henry Thoreau, never let that get in his way of doing the right thing. You might have imagined the State of Georgia would have thought twice about taking on Jesus, but that's just what the lawmakers there have done. Obviously Jesus and his teaching never entered into their considerations when they made their special law forbidding the feeding of the hungry and the thirsty. Have a nice day! And the next time someone says the U.S. is a Christian nation tell them about Georgia.
The last sentence of the four year dialogue Donald Trump has had with America came to an end with the words "Stop The Steal". Immediately afterward there was an assault on the Capitol with the intent of overturning the election by mob coercion.
If you're an American you may be thinking: 'No way, that can't be true. Not in the United States'. But it is! Under Trump's guiding hand it surely is true. I have to believe Donald Trump regards the constitution with complete contempt.
From the beginning of it's tenure the Trump Administration's dialogue was racist, and anti-environment. He was opposed to having non-white people from what he termed 'shithole' countries find refuge in America. His words gave his followers the liberty to allow their racist feelings to be given expression. His words made the entire world look at America and ask: "WTF"?
Even so he is still admired by his supporters, while others hate him more with every passing day. His juvenile resistance to face masks, science and common sense has made him a danger to every person living within the borders of the U.S. From my point of view, 2000 plus Americans are now dying daily as a direct result of Donald Trump's response at the advent of the COVID outbreak. I'm not the only American that feels this way. That's one of the reasons Donald Trump is being impeached yet again today, January 13, 2021.
I'd like to contrast Trump's way of relating to the American public during times of great national stress with the way Franklin Roosevelt did during the Great Depression and WW2.
It's too soon to have forgotten Trump's obvious attempts to radicalize his followers and divide the nation. He has used race-baiting to cause division. He has used the COVID outbreak to divide the nation into mask-less Trump supporters who deny there is a threat from the pandemic from those who believe the science and fear for their safety. Donald Trump's Presidency will be remembered for all those things.
I was born during the Truman Administration so I don't remember FDR's radio talks to the nation. But my parents were married during the roaring 20's and before a decade had passed saw all hope vanish overnight. There was a long slog through the Great Depression and then came the second world war in their lifetime. From the beginning of the Great Depression Americans were hung out to dry by the Republican Hoover Administration. Nothing has changed in that regard. Republicans ARE NOT the friends of Main Street America.
President Hoover was a true conservative Republican, so naturally he did absolutely nothing as the nation collapsed into a despairing hopeless condition. He just sat there in classic Republican fashion and looked on and did nothing. Roosevelt had the answer and that solution worked.
Not only did his solution work but his words had an inspiring, unifying effect that gave the nation hope. My mother and father both told me of the positive, unifying, comforting, uplifting effect of Roosevelt's radio speeches to the nation. No one can say that with a straight face about the conversation Donald Trump has been having with the nation over the past few years.
Did you listen to Roosevelt's talks to the nation? Do you see the difference between faithful leadership and a callous, uncaring mutiny by the head of state when you compare Roosevelt with Trump? That difference is the reason Americans will be Dancing In The Streetswhen Donald Trump is no longer President.
I've never been as surprised as I am now. All the kings horses and all the kings minions can't put Trumpty Dumpty together again. After this moment in American History anything that resembles Trumpty Dumpty will be considered anti American. It's been a wild 5 years from start to finish. We began with MAGA, 'Make America Great Again'. It's ending with LUDT, 'Lock Up Donald Trump'. The 'Tide of Democracy' has changed.
In case you've been recently awakened from a coma you KNOW the President took an unprecedented stand against the idea of democracy. He did this by encouraging crowds of angry, revolutionary-minded (for the most part) white people by instigating them to overthrow the decision of Congress to officiate in recognizing Joe Biden as the President Elect.
Those angry white people trashed the legislative center of the nation in support of Donald Trump's plan to make America Great again. They paraded through the nerve center of American freedom like Sherman through Georgia but they carried the Confederate Flag.
You don't need a news commentator to explain what that symbolism means and the kind of America Trump wants for us all.
Senator Romney was surprised to witness the President's most recent behavior as well myself and a good number of others. He shared his thoughts with his fellow Americans on the President's attempt to overthrow the legally elected government of the United States. There's video of him doing this provided by the Global News YouTube channel.
Americans have seen a failed attempted coup by Donald Trump and his revolutionary guard. His would be revolutionaries must feel as if he has made chumps of them all when he encouraged them to break Federal Laws.
Now they have to pay for what they ended up doing. He convinced them to commit acts of sedition and insurrection which they willingly and gleefully engaged in. Who's sorry now? "If the President said to do it, that makes it legal." That's the law in Trumplandia.
Some have compared this attempt at overthrowing the Government of the United States to the events of "9 / 11". I think they were referring to a renewed sense of patriotism which is expected at times like this.
When I witnessed the lack of response by the police charged with protecting democracy at its source (the Capitol) I was also reminded of 9 / 11 and the response of those we trusted in at that time.
On both instances there was a similar lack of response from those charged with protecting WE THE PEOPLE. On both occasions when WE THE PEOPLE needed it most we were let down by those we trusted most. Why do those we trust fail us when we need them most? We had better find an answer to that question if we know what's good for us.
This has been a coup attempt with a 'whiff of bullshit'. It looks as if Trump's Folly might have failed... for the time being. Let us pray that we will immediately recognize when the Trump Philosophy raises it's ugly head again in some other format so we can nip it in the bud instead of letting it grow and bear fruit as we have done. Trump and the Republican Party had 4 years to make America great. How would you rate the job they did?
Something to spend part of the day thinking about.
I wrote the poem below after thinking about what I had seen in the news about how President Trump rewards his faithful servants with the best possible healthcare THAT IS NOT MADE AVAILABLE to the general public.
In my poem I ask the obvious question: "Why do some get the good medicine and some don't?" The poem reveals the obvious answer is in two parts. 1. Political favoritism or 2. the lack of being politically favored become the obvious reasons a few get the treatment that works or the reason that many just suffer. This conclusion is justified on the basis the President knew from the beginning how dire the situation was and how high the stakes were. The rest is history "It is what it is".
The world is watching to see if the Trump / Republican Coup attempt will be successful. I personally hope it fails. Democracy and liberty are being weighed in the balances by American politicians right now. It is not something the Average American has ever considered could, or would, happen. But Trump changed everything and now we are seeing an attempted coup right before our very eyes. The Young Turks Cenk Uygur has some commentary that inspired the poem below.
The terrible problem Americans are facing is that those supporting President Trump are not fans of the Voting Class of Americans. The in your face facts have been that in this time of great trouble Republicans and Democrats have been less than useless and decidedly harmful to the wellbeing of the residents of Main Street America.
Politically powerful members of the Republican Party are doing all they can to subvert the voting process and pervert the outcome of the election. That is what an attempted coup looks like to outside observers. In the meantime Democrats have been as useless as the Republicans have been harmful.
This leaves me wondering if Americans have accepted that this is the way it must be and will just give up and let it get worse and worse until all hope is a pleasant memory we once took comfort in.
The effects of the President refusing to accept the verdict of THE PEOPLE has left many Americans asking how they could have been bamboozled to the point of considering giving up the democratic republic created by the writers of the constitution to be ruled by the whims of a man like Donald Trump.
Having nearly 50 percent of the American electorate willing to dispose of the democratic process in favor of a big mouthed braggart has left the community of nations shaking it's collective head in disbelief. Whether the majority of Americans want a representative form of government is a question waiting to be answered.
How much of the last four years has been on the up and up? If we can take William Casey at his word, the words 'Mission Accomplished' fit the mood and mind of the Republican and Democratic created status quo. If you're not bewildered from trying to make sense of what's happening you have not been paying attention.
Americans have been run through the ringer and hung out to dry by the complicity of the Republican and Democratic Parties. Neither one of these Parties behaved as if the vitality of democracy was something that concerned them as they went about their duties during the Trump Administration.
Both the Republicans and the Democrats agreed to help the Wall Street class and dump on Main Street. The decision of Republicans and Democrats to turn their back on Main Street and let average Americans suffer in order to keep Wall Street profits high holds many lessons. Have the American People learned those lessons?
One lesson that can be garnered from the past four years is that Republican and Democratic lawmakers are not producing the help needed by the Average American during the COVID crisis. They have shown themselves to be good at lying and finger pointing and not much else when it comes to making life easier on Main Street.
Average Americans need living wage jobs, healthcare, education, a place to live, safe workplaces and a government of elected representatives that responds to the needs of the Voting Class without having to have their arms twisted.
We've seen, throughout this four year ordeal, that the Republican and Democratic Parties have acted in concert seeing to it that the suffering of the American People continued unabated. Escaping responsibility for the condition of American society is not possible for them because it has been Republican and Democratic lawmakers making ALL THE DECISIONS. Therefore they hold all the responsibility for the present condition Americans find themselves in.
With the consequences of the last four years of Republican and Democratic malfeasance there has arisen from the hearts of the American People the desire for a government that exists to benefit the Average American.
The American People have begun to question why they have a government that treats them this way. They are not content with what the Republicans and the Democrats have done to them. Americans are asking why their government is not responsive to their needs. The answer many arrive at is that Republicans and Democrats simply have another agenda and other more pressing concerns than the needs of average working class American voters.
The solution some Americans are considering is a THIRD PARTY. A Party with a pro-human agenda. A Party that would require that the resources of the nation serve the People of the nation. This Party would represent human beings rather than the non-voting Donor Class that is the special concern of Republican and Democratic lawmakers. This Third Party would make real the promises a democratic republic makes. This would be a truly revolutionary Party.
What do you think Americans will do? Will they keep things the way they are? Or will they decide they've had enough and make the necessary changes?
As a result of the President going around the nation encouraging the spread of COVID by the assembling of mass gatherings I made a video from art I made earlier. We are not suffering only from COVID. We are suffering as well from Trump's anti-human economic and social policies,
I put together a series of images I created that were impressed on me by the spectacle of the President's behavior. My thoughts were moderated by the thoughts in the Old Testament book of Job.
"Call now, if there be any that will answer thee; and to which of the saints wilt thou turn?
For wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the silly one.
I have seen the foolish taking root: but suddenly I cursed his habitation.
His children are far from safety, and they are crushed in the gate, neither is there any to deliver them.
Whose harvest the hungry eateth up, and taketh it even out of the thorns, and the robber swalloweth up their substance.
Although affliction cometh not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground;
Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.
I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause":Job Chapter 5: 1-8.
The book of Job fascinates me. I'm amazed at the literary quality of the story written long ago during the bronze age. The plot and the theme are worthy of current consideration. The dramatic work J.B. is an example of such a consideration from the near past.
The theme of Job presents a story that seeks to come to grips with existence in the face of existence seemingly seeking to exterminate Job. Since Job represents the human condition by that token the story of Job represents the condition of you and me as well.
You would not want to be in Job's shoes, but in a sense our condition is not much better. Job was left sitting in a pile of ashes scraping boils that covered his entire body. While he was doing this his 'friends' spent their time trying to convince him that his problems were his own damned fault and that he had better shape up or else!
On top of that Job had a wife who urged him to kill himself to avoid suffering.
Job's sentiments in all of this are summed up in the following words. Job 19:25-27
"For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:
And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:
Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me."
With the chaos in the U.S caused by Donald Trump's policies, asking "what the hell is going on, why is existence doing this to us?" is a question everyone should find an answer to.
When compared with what we've seen so far between Trump and Biden, Presidential debates in the past reveal vast differences in decorum and candidate behavior between then until now.
I took a look back at the Kennedy / Nixon debate and then the current election years Trump / Biden 'debate'. Both debates are complete. The difference between the two is astonishing isn't it? (Both debates at highlighted links.)
What happened between the time of Kennedy and Trump to transform the Presidential debates from a serious production with serious contestants discussing solutions to world problems into a side show? We saw something very different in the so called Trump /Biden 'debate' than what we saw in the Kennedy / Nixon debate.
The Trump / Biden 'debate' resembled an argument between two senile residents in a geriatric community confronting one another over an old dispute from high school. I was sickened at the sight. And then the President and his staff come down with COVID...or so they want you to believe.
What differences did you make note of between the two debates and the four contestants? Which debate seemed more appropriate to a debate between two men seeking the office of President of the United States? Which one made you ask yourself: "What the hell is going on?" In the Trump / Biden 'debate' I thought the President behaved like an unruly high school student who needed to be sent to the principal's office.
Kennedy inspired the creation of the Peace Corps and introduced the nation to the space age following the Soviet Union's lead. The Soviet Union was the first in space and the space race was on. History flowing from the Kennedy Administration reminds us of those things.
From Trump's history we know of one business failure after another from Mr. Trump. If his Administration has inspired anyone it is not the current generation which is facing a collapsing, polluted and unhealthy eco-system in which to reproduce and raise their young. Who has Trump inspired?Oh yeah he inspired the Michigan 13. What kind of a future does that inspiration portend?
Questions for the reader:
1. What do you think America will be like if Trump remains President?
During the contentious period of the 1960's America was involved in losing a long protracted war with the small nation of Vietnam far away from American shores. The period was contentious because the war was an illegal war and American teenagers were being forced against their will to fight the war.
In the end over 58,000 Americans, average age close to 19, died waging this war. During that period Pete Seeger sang a song the censors didn't like. "Waist Deep In The Big Muddy" finally made it to TV on a popular socially conscious variety program, The Smothers Brothers. that was subsequently canceled because of its social commentary.
So now that you've listened to the song you can see Americans in the 21st century are waist deep, neck deep, almost over our head in another 'Big Muddy' and once again the Big Fool is saying "push on."
If all we are being told about the President's health and those around him is true we're in deep trouble. It means the President, as demonstrated by his behavior and rhetoric, doesn't care if WE THE PEOPLE live or die. He is fully aware of the deadliness of the virus and yet his public behavior is telling people to ignore the proper health precautions.
The heads of the military are all in quarantine meaning our military response is in one way or another restricted. The President is responsible for this. The President is denying reality as the second wave of the COVID pandemic sweeps across the states. America is in deep trouble if this trajectory is not altered. Why is the President behaving so dangerously and erratically?
If the internal threat to domestic welfare and tranquility poised by the virus and the President were not enough there is the threat of White Supremacist violence. The Trump Administration has embraced this ideology and has emboldened his base to accept violence and heavy handedness as the proper way to govern. Trump has done this while denying a White Supremacist threat is real. In doing so he's, in effect, calling the investigators liars or dummies. He's ignoring the warning the way Bush did.
I am reminded of the G.W. Bush Administration which also ignored intelligence about national security issues. By doing so Bush allowed the WTC Buildings to be demolished by Saudi Arabian funded criminals. We still haven't won the war he started over that, but we're still providing him his pension and healthcare.
My question for you is this. Will Trump's refusal to acknowledge a national security threat from his White Supremacist base as well as the COVID virus lead to an all out race war and societal devastation in the same way as the willingness of George Bush to do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING lead to the demolition of the WTC by foreign nationals and a war still going on in one way or another to this very day?
The reader may have noticed that America has been acting more strangely than ever during the Administration of Donald Trump. I think this is because the Republican Party in partnership with Donald Trump has sold us out to the highest bidders and the Democratic Party has stood there saying 'Yes sir, yes sir,' like a eunuch in the court of the king.
The madcap display of a COVID infected President riding the crest of a steroid high telling the American people to stay strong and beat the virus is about the greatest insult to decency this Administration has committed. SO FAR.
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By the time the debate had ended 7 beers had been consumed. I was numb, not from the beer. I was numb from thinking about the consequences of the spectacle I had just witnessed. Watch it in full here.
I had seen two adults wishing to be President behaving like a couple of high school punks in a school yard arguing. Sophomores at that. This display was their attempt to win votes. It's experiences like this that turn the American mind into silly putty.
Donald Trump and his White Christian Nationalist agenda has a real chance of being the direction the U.S. chooses. Democracy Now report. If that happens the entire world is imminently imperiled.
The other candidate, Joe Biden is not the solution to the problems of Americans on Main Street. Biden is the solution to the problems facing the Wall Street status quo. Biden, however, can be a 'plug' in the hole Trump has drilled in the Ship of State. Biden can put out the fires Trump has started, but he WILL sell us out in the long term because of his loyalties to corporate profits. For now Biden is America's life boat that we need to get to shore.
Being allowed to have only these two candidates to choose from is hardly able to be called self-determination when there are so many different points of view which are not included. For instance economic ideas like Socialism and Marxism are anathema in current political discussion. However the problems of Americans trying to scratch out a living on Main Street are an indication that there needs to be new managers in charge of the economy and we have only thought in Capitalist terms up to the present moment when it comes to managing the economy.
Teachers like Richard Wolff have proven that Americans are ready to re-consider whether or not they want to change how the economy is managed. I'm ready, how about you?
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This summer I decided to grow hollyhocks. An entire package of seeds was planted and one plant resulted.
Planted in May it wasn't until July that one plant appeared. When it did I wasn't sure it was a hollyhock but, or so, I let it grow. Despite the frustration of not knowing what it was that was growing until mid-summer I really enjoyed growing this flower.
I was utterly dumbfounded at the size, strength and vigor of the plant. The number of large, showy, vibrant pink flower blossoms was mind-blowing.
Growing the flower garden this summer was spiritually beneficial in a time of COVID stress. The genuineness of the law of 'Karma' is evident every day you do or do not weed and water. Gardening is a genuine life lesson, you reap what you sow. Or as The Buddha said:
I enjoyed growing the hollyhock and was impressed with how big it got. The plant in the picture is not as big as it had been destined to become. Fate intervened, a wind came up and ripped off 4 large blossom laden stalks leaving only the center stalk which was impressive in it's own right.
As a public service with the President racing the length and breadth of the nation hosting disease spreading events there is something you need to remember. Voting this November is a MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH.
The social unrest in the United States under the supervision of Donald Trump is increasing. Social conditions involving lack of employment, lack of healthcare, environmental devastation caused by global warming and police reform are foremost in the social discussion which the Trump Administration is seeking to stifle. In short living conditions are dire for tens of millions of Americans who are concluding they have been, since the revelations of Donald Trump about COVID contagiousness, hung out to dry.
They are, as a result, raising their voices in dissent. The electorate is coming to understand that their elected lawmakers have abandoned them and subordinated the requirements of their lives and the lives of their families to the profits of Wall Street Profiteers.
Social justice can only exist in an environment in which the institutions of society are free from corruption. Such a condition requires every aspect of society be on the up and up from the king to the bedroom of the shepherd. We know for certain that is not a description of the United States form of government under Donald Trump and AG Barr.
The irony of this is that the US claims to be a Christian Nation. That may be. But it does not deserve the claim to be a nation that applies the principles of Jesus to it's decision making. Christians can be cruel and autocratic. The record of the 4 gospels is that Jesus was never that way.
The principles of the Kingdom Of Heaven will promote social harmony. Abandoning those principles involves embracing a specific type of decision making. In the U S that type of decision making is characterized by prioritizing Wall Street profiteers over ordinary citizens.
Now the problem with this is that Jesus anticipated malefactors making laws and provided the following insight at the link to encourage those of us less fortunate than Wall Street profiteers.
The paragraph below is from a book written by a woman who was acclaimed as a prophet by some and proven to be a plagiarist by others. Her name was Ellen G. White. The author provides a bleak depiction of a future America. Read the words below and ask yourself if these words do not reflect reality.
"In the plague that follows, power is given to the sun “to scorch
men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat.”
1076 The
prophets thus describe the condition of the earth at this fearful
time: “The land mourneth; ... because the harvest of the field
is perished.” “All the trees of the field are withered: because
joy is withered away from the sons of men.” “The seed is rotten
under their clods, the garners are laid desolate.” “How do the
beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they
have no pasture.... The rivers of waters are dried up, and the fire
hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness.” “The songs of the
temple shall be howlings in that day, saith the Lord God: there
shall be many dead bodies in every place; they shall cast them
forth with silence.”
1077 The Great Controversy
A question. If you don't speak up and present the government with your grievances how do you think the trajectory of the present course will end up?
