Are You Ready For A New Party, With A New Vision, Supported By A New Platform?

At some point everyone is likely to ask themselves "What's the point of all this?"  By "all this" they mean how did their life get this way.  Henry Thoreau commented on this conundrum by saying: "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation."  The quotation is from his book Walden.

His statement was a commentary on participating in life with the value system of conventional society.  Reading it for the first time in 1969 it had an impact on me then and the comment stuck with me.  At first the outright questioning of the meaning of life and society itself attracted me.  Society caused a lot of people my age to reject it.  

All these decades later I see the original question being asked but this time there's a lot more implied in the question. A marriage has ended, the kids have grown up, the body has begun to fail and my persistent worry is about the welfare of my cats if I should drop dead because there's no one else.  The question asks itself; "What's the point of all this?"  Does life and existence imply anything but the present misery and uncertainty orchestrated and maintained by society? 

Anyone living during the second Trump Administration will be driven to ask that question of themselves, on the basis of their own predicament, with their own take on the situation. The world is watching in astonishment and rejection of the behavior of the United States as it rampages around the globe.  The Noontide of the Trump Administration has become the Midnight of the world. Just read the news.

We can do better than this can't we?  But if we expect to do better a different way of doing things is necessary,  To keep doing what has been done is madness unless you're happy with the way things are now and where their destination is headed.  Are you happy?

I keep thinking about one of the desires of those who created the United States was the vision of a government that promoted the general welfare.  We do not have such a government now even if government leaders say we do.  You know that by looking around you. You know that by watching the news, by talking to your neighbor and when you are in bed alone with your thoughts. 

You don't need any talking media head to tell you that 'you just don't understand' or that you 'must be patient' while the same people, Republicans and Democrats, with the same political philosophy that produced the present undesirable moment, the ones who created the mess, have the responsibility of correcting what they did not do by mistake. That cannot turn out good.

Is this your lucky day?  Do you really think Republicans and Democrats working together can produce a satisfactory solution to what they worked so hard to achieve? Do you really think they want to promote the general welfare or are they only interested in promoting the corporate welfare?  Come on now!

Have you come to the end of the Republican and Democratic rope you've been hung with?  Is it time to consider a New Party with a New Vision supported by a New Platform that has as it's prime directive the promotion of the general welfare?  If not now when?

What would this New Party do?  It would address working class concerns and correct what needs to be corrected.  What would this New Party NOT DO?  It would not polarize the electorate over personal issues such as abortion and guns and religion vs science.  That kind of political alienation would cease.

This New Vision would see the wealth of the world generated by human productivity redistributed to those who by their strength, sweat, brain power and dedication have produced the wealth.  Working class people are the reason the Filthy Rich are the Filthy Rich. Imagine if the profit you created and was given to someone who had nothing to do with producing the profit was instead given to you the working class who created the wealth in the form of social amenities for all.

This New Vision would see the government providing the means for every member of society to participate and pursue life and happiness.  That would certainly be a big change wouldn't it?  Republicans and Democrats don't want anything to do with such ideas and not paying attention to them anymore makes the most sense.

This New Party would see to it that you had gainful employment.  You would have your healthcare needs met, your educational aspirations will be met, your retirement needs all taken care of by a constitutional mandate to "promote the general welfare."

Could you imagine something like that?  Would you like something like that?  You can have it if you want it as long as Republicans and Democrats are remembered for what they have already done and no one votes for them. I'm betting you don't want more of what Trump and the Republicans and the Democrats have in store for tomorrow and the day after.

How about it?  Is it time for a New Party with a New Vision supported by a New Platform? No it isn't!  It's way past time.

The Working Class Flu: a poem about social ills. Adults Only

 While looking back over the decades remembering how I had worked night and day and being aware of those who are today, decades later and younger than me, working night and day until they get old and look back and write their own poem to warn a younger generation. 

I wrote the following poem, The Working Class Flu, after looking back and looking forward, For adults only.

I made a video of the poem and set it to music.  Take a look.  The music and the reading of the poem went together well.  Enjoy.

Democracy's Blues: Poetry and Commentary

So what are democracy's blues?  I define that status as existing when the People, the electorate, are divided against their own interests by the political elite. This condition is exemplified by the Republican and Democratic Parties and the issues that are used to cause division.  Issues like abortion, gun control, freedom of speech, police reform.  I'm sure there are more. These issues are used by the various Parties to divide the electorate. 

The effect of a divided electorate can be seen in the failures of society that populate our daily experience.  People, families without homes, people, families without enough to eat, people without lucrative employment, people, families without health insurance that actually pays their medical expenses, people who need education. These are things every member of the working class needs. 

Every working class family or person needs all of those things. But the Republicans and Democrats have artfully found a way to divide the working class and encourage them to vote in a way that denies themselves the very basic things they all need in common.  

This division is created and maintained by the Republican and Democratic Parties. It is this division that is keeping the American People from uniting along class lines and voting as a bloc.  As long as this blindness created by the two political parties remains the same old same old remains and the People are left hopeless without a vision. 

Democracy's Blues is a poem written about the way we the people are used by the Republican and Democratic Parties to keep us fighting each other and to keep us from having a just and equitable society for the working class.

Democracy's Blues

The nations are angry,

men run to and fro,

the People are feeling uneasy

as if waiting for something to blow.

While the President pontificates

holding in his hands our fate

legislators disingenuously debate

about who to save

and who to eliminate.

All the while the People despair,

their life has become a lamentation.

Their future is dark, 

cold and bleak;

as is that of the nation.

The People long for a leader to lead them,

but receive only knaves and fools.

who meet them with smiles 

and promises;

but smiling faces making promises not kept

are cruel.

Promises unkept

leave the People broken 

and bereft,

desperate for hope

when no hope is left.

The way out is closed

without a Vision that unites

making them see, 

how to set things right.

A nation divided

does not long endure,

or to the People be true;

until we see 

we all need the same things

we'll keep playing 

democracy's blues.

January 10, 2023

Mark 8:15 Update To Present

 

"Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod." Mark 8:15.

The Pharisees were the spiritual leaders of the day.  Herod, of course, represented the State of the day.  The two influences, Church and State, comprised the authorities of the day.  

Click

to see a video from the Academy of Ideas on the topic of mass media.  

Jesus warned about believing what they have to say.  So the message has been updated.

NASA Climate Scientist Has Had Enough

Noam Chomsky on manufacturing consent.  

The Spiritual Sides Of War And Peace: a poem

 

I was thinking of the goings on in the Ukraine and all the human suffering that has happened and how much more is yet to happen.  

I wrote the poem below with the thought there are two sides to war.  Enjoy the video reading of the poem.  Feel free to share it.  Peace is good, war is evil.  There are those who fight and create suffering that they themselves and others must endure.  

There are the good and there are the evil.  The evil make war and produce suffering that they themselves and other humans must endure.  Spiritually speaking all war dead die as a result of fratricide, such is the spiritual nature of war. If we are all one in God we are all brothers and sisters.

This is an anti-war, or perhaps more correctly, a pro-peace, poem.  I view war to be 'Evil' and peace to be 'Good'.  War is anti-human. To engage in anti-human activities is to be 'Evil'.

Life is Good Today (poetry)

Life Is Good Today

While Biden and Putin are deciding who gets to live and who gets to die is is good time to take stock of your ontological situation.

Who are you? And if Biden and Putin decide that you and your family have to die because of the guiding principles of statecraft and the requirements of capitalist expansion is that the end of you?

No one can give an answer to that question which will satisfy every questioner. But we can be faithful to the needs of life and the moment every day and there is not a more honorable way to live. 

Ready Or Not Change Is Coming To America

America is being destroyed from the inside out.  A lot of people know, or suspect, that it is so and are tiptoeing around the topic. The hard truth is that Americans have been left out in the cold by the two dominant political parties. Those would be the Republican Party and the Democratic Party. 

Both parties have behaved as if the welfare of the Voting Class was not associated with governing. As it turns out both the Republican Party and the Democratic Party have financial relationships that preclude taking anymore than a passing interest in the welfare of their constituents which I refer to as the Voting Class.

The financial relationships the Republican and Democratic Parties are involved with are the root cause for the present state American society finds itself in right now. This outcome turns out to be a real big assault on the concept of democratic forms of government. A democratic form of government is government where the citizens take care of their own welfare through processes they imagine, create and control. These financial relationships, to which the Republican and Democratic Parties willingly wed themselves, make a democratic form of government out of reach for Americans.

There's no need to prove the notion that corporate money is adverse to democracy.  IT IS ADVERSE TO dEMOCRACY BECAUSE IT INFLUENCES THE GOVERNMENT'S DECISIONS. The financial relationships that define and inform the Republican and Democratic Parties I summarize as "The Corporate Donor Class".  The Corporate Donor Class are 'people' who are not citizens, not human, and who are disallowed by law from voting themselves. 

Even though the Corporate Donor Class cannot vote those that comprise the Corporate Donor Class control most if not all of what Republicans and Democrats decide to do. The influence of the Corporate Donor Class  is the one major impediment Americans face when wondering why it is so difficult to fully realize the dream of a democratic republic. It is hard for most Americans to conclude that the Corporate Donor Class is at fault when the Republicans and the Democrats treat them like royalty. The time is upon us when it will not be such a hard conclusion to reach.

In a genuine democratic republic the citizens, which I refer to as the Voting Class, direct their own future without the financial burden of having to increase the profits of the non-human, non-voting, non-citizen Corporate Donor Class first. Americans are in the sad condition they find themselves in today because of the financial relationships of the Republican and Democratic Parties with the Corporate Donor Class. The condition of Americans cannot substantially improve until the Corporate Donor Class no longer has an influence on the political decisions of American lawmakers.

That is the problem Americans find themselves awash in. The Republicans and Democrats have left Americans at the proverbial station and now have declared them homeless, worthless and a public nuisance worthy of contempt and not much more. 

The solution to this is a political Party that addresses the bedrock needs of every human family on the proverbial Main Street of  America. This Party would NEVER form a financial relationship with the non-human, non-citizen, non-voting Corporate Donor Class and therefore it would never be indebted to them. 

Americans are ready to make a change. The Corporate Donor Class is more than willing to assist in making that change. If Americans fall for that again they deserve what they get because they are living in the society the Corporate Donor Class and the Republicans and the Democrats decided should be everyday life for the average wage earner in America. If you want more of what the Republican and Democratic Platforms will allow you to have just keep on voting for one of them. Either one will see to it that you end up in the poor house.

But you don't want that. You're sick of endless war, you're sick of your dollar being worth less and less and goods and services costing more and more. You work hard and can't rent a decent room to sleep in.  You get sick and can't afford to go to the doctor. You'd love to work more but you need to take care of your child and there is no childcare provided by society when Republicans and Democrats are in charge. You'll look around yourself at all the others in the same condition and shake your head thinking there's no way your kids or theirs can go to college and escape the poverty trap the Republicans and Democrats and the Corporate Donor Class have set for them. 

You are right to despair if you can only imagine a government that the Corporate Donor Class and the Republicans and the Democrats preside over.  You are wrong if you cannot imagine a Political Party that does not let the non-human Donor Class intrude into the business of The People and still feel that way. The People can, by their vote, disallow that behavior. That's the beauty of small 'd' democracy. The People are in charge of the government's decisions when there is a democracy. The bankers don't call the shots and neither does the Corporate Donor Class. The People themselves, the Voting Class, run the show and the show is for them, The People.

When a democratic government exists The People themselves make the choices that affect their lives and the lives of their neighbors. They would decide whether or not they want to pay for their own healthcare or if they want their taxes to pay for it. The People who work, unlike today, would have workplaces that paid enough for the laborer to enjoy life in society. The People in retirement would have no worries because taxes would insure that their 'Golden Years' were not their 'Garbage Years'. In a small 'd' democracy The People can live for today while planning for the future by educating all who wish to be educated. Like all the other blessings this too would be paid for by the taxes we The People, the Voting Class contribute.  Ain't democracy grand? We could have it if we wanted it bad enough to give up on Republican and Democratic solutions.

The Donor Class rarely pays its share of taxes and rarely is told 'No!' by either a Republican or a Democratic lawmaker. The only democratic way to change this is if there is a political Party made up by members of the Voting Class that will produce a Platform that will  make the improvements that will improve their lives. That Party will have as it's Platform the policies that nourish the working tax paying class as well as those unable to work. We know intuitively what these things are that society at present is lacking and we know how to provide them democratically. We can do it.

In summation we know what the problem is. It's Republicans, Democrats and the non-human, non-voting, non-citizen Corporate Donor Class that have soiled our democratic aspirations. Replacing them with People friendly lawmakers is the only viable way Americans can save themselves.

Lies (poetry inspired by the news)

 So I wrote this poem after learning that not only have the President and Congress been lying to us but the military as well is lying to us. Many of us were already suspicious of the President and Congress. But now we know the military is lying to us as well.

Under these circumstances democracy with a small 'd' cannot function as intended. This is true because The People are given falsehoods in place of accurate information on which to make their decisions. This will inevitably lead them to make choices they had not intended to make. On the basis of false information provided by liars The People are deceived and make choices they think are the right choices that will be good for them. But in the end they discover they've been fooled again.

So the question arises. If the U.S. does not have a society functioning as a democratic republic, (which it claims to be) what kind of government do the American People find themselves with? Another question arises. Are the American People going to do anything about it?

Those are some of the thoughts that inspired the poem.  What do you think? The American People were lied into Vietnam, lied into Kuwait and lied into Iraq. What do you think, are you still being lied to now?

So here's the poem.

The Reason Americans Need A Third Political Party: among other things

 

America is sick and the entire world knows it. A quick look around at the events happening on a daily basis confirm this assessment. Social dysfunction is normative. 

A partial list of social ills follows. Mass shootings, road rage, the 'Karen' phenomenon, gangs of robbers operating with impunity.  If that isn't bad enough the corporate Donor Class has promoted public corruption from top to bottom. 

Obviously all is far from being well in the U.S. and it seems right that The People tell the Republicans and Democrats to take a hike while 'we the People' fix America up the way we want it. Why don't we do that?

That being said, to criticize Biden (Democratic Party) or to criticize Trump (Republican Party) and vote accordingly is what the American electorate is expected to do. Unfortunately, as it turns out, the Republicans and the Democrats are in large part the cause of the utter chaos American society finds itself in RIGHT NOW. 

The history of Americans allowing themselves to be polarized by the Republican and Democratic Parties is manifested in this one brutal statistic. This statistic reveals the actual status of democracy in the U.S. and unfortunately the information exposes the great difference between what American Government says and what it actually does. Most didn't need to be told that something ain't right. Every American should be alarmed at that report.

Are Americans just stuck in a rut? All they have been able to think of is having either the Republicans or the Democrats address the social problems. No one seems to remember at election time that it was Republicans and Democrats that ran America into the ground in the first place.

 Republicans and Democrats broke it and, so far, they have demonstrated they are incapable of producing a remedy. The tragic part of this is that they might not even know what it was they did that broke America. 

Don't you think it's time to get wise to their inability to manage the economy? If we want to improve the lot of wage earning and other low income or otherwise socially disenfranchised Americans radical changes must be envisioned and carried out by the electorate. 

Only Republicans and Democrats had a hand in creating the present situation and they spend their time blaming one another for the current status of society. This results in the voting Citizen suffering the consequences of the Republican and Democrat loyalty to the corporate non-citizen, non-voting Donor Class.

Replacing Republican and Democratic lawmakers with socially responsible lawmakers is the only sensible option. This would require a third Party with completely different characteristics than possessed by either Republicans or Democrats.

Lo and behold there is such a Party! It's name is The People's Party. The People's Party would be the only real alternative to a future of more of the same failures which Republicans and Democrats have produced since the days of Harry Truman.

This dismal moment in American life and the arduous path to this moment portend a future no one wants to face. The majority of inequity in American society is the result of the relationship between our lawmakers and the non-citizen, non-voting corporate Donor Class.  Neither the Republicans or the Democrats will stop taking money from these sources and that is why Republicans and Democrats can only be a thorn in the side of those who desire a representative democracy. 

An elected representative cannot serve the non-citizen, non-voting corporate Donor Class and the Citizen Voter faithfully at the same time. The State religion, Christianity agrees. It simply cannot be done. The representative will favor one over the other meaning one (corporate donor or voting Citizen) will have an advantage over the other. In America the way it works out is that the non-citizen, non-voting corporate Donor Class is first in line and  gets the lion's share of government handouts. That practice is the root of societies biggest injustice.

The voting Citizen is now obligated to live in a society that is self destructing as I type and you read. That is not the way it should be, it's not the way we want it to be.  It is an example of Republicans and Democrats governing.

Heads up. A worthwhile government promotes the general welfare. But Republicans and Democrats are not onboard with that agenda, neither can they be. The reason is that it would require the corporate Donor Class to pay taxes in lieu of donating to elected representatives of the American People.

The Republican and Democratic Parties on behalf of the corporate Donor Class have tag teamed the U.S. electorate for as long as I've been alive. In that time society has been in continual decline as a result.  The New Deal was a good deal as long as it lasted. 

But the rejuvenating effects lasted at most from it's beginning in the Great Depression until the 70's.  In the early 70's the oil producing nations joined together to hold the U.S. hostage by refusing to deliver oil on demand. 

For one reason or another the U.S. governed by Republicans and Democrats agreed and caved in to them. Today price for gasoline is as high as $4 a gallon in the U.S. instead of .36 cents a gallon. The oil embargo ruined our economy and the Republicans and the Democrats cooperated and let them get away with it without so much as sending a fleet of ships with a message.

The bottom line is Republicans and Democrats are not able to do more than make things worse.  That's about all they've done so far! The present moment in the U.S. is the result of all their labors on behalf of the American People. 

Don't you think it is time to say "Thanks, but no thanks" and check out what The People's Party has in mind? I bet if 'we the People put our heads together we could come up with some much needed improvements right away. 

How does a living wage that allows you to enjoy society sound to you? How about paid healthcare? How does free higher education and affordable comfortable housing as a mainstay of a political platform sound? 

Is such a platform worth supporting? How many Republicans and Democrats are promoting those programs?  Why would you support a political Party that is indebted to the non-voting, non-citizen corporate Donor Class instead of you? 

According to the rules of democratic movements 'we the people' can make the kind of society we choose for ourselves.  Take a look around, is this what you hope to achieve? Probably not, but it is the result of electing Republicans and Democrats to do a job they are ideologically unable to perform. I bet 'we the People' can do a lot better than Republicans and Democrats have managed so far.

(Editor's note.  I am not associated with The People's Party other than finding their agenda to be 'just what the doctor ordered' for what ails American society today. I mention them only as an alternative I myself would choose if I were attempting to set American society on the right path.)

If America Is A Christian Nation (poetry)

 If America Is A Christian Nation

If America is a Christian nation 

when will it open it's doors to strangers in need?

If America is a Christian nation

when will it heal the sick

and give it's wealth to the poor?

If America is a Christian nation

why is there so much anger?

If America is a Christian nation

when will the world see our love for one another?

If America is a Christian nation

when will it cease to do evil and learn to do good?

-----------------------------------------------------------

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 Oatmeal Budget Diet: poetry and social commentary with a sense of humor

The Oatmeal Budget Diet

household budget management tips for life in 21st century America

I'm on a diet,

I eat only oatmeal now.

It's working well, 

here's the secret, I wait

until the thought of oatmeal is appealing before I eat.

I've been dieting only four weeks

and I've lost a lot of weight already.

But I'm beginning to hate the very thought of oatmeal

and now I need to buy new jeans,

the ones I have don't fit anymore!

Thanks to the diet I've saved enough,

and I'll donate the old ones, 

they're practically new and

someone will get good use from them

unless they go on an oatmeal diet.

Sometimes it seems you just can't win

and now as it turns out I've discovered 

I don't really like oatmeal all that much so

I've decided when I save enough money I'll buy

a hamburger, fries and shake.

Jesus Went Down To Georgia... And Met The Devil There

 

Jesus Went Down To Georgia...

And Met The Devil There

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.  

Dancing In The Streets (Anticipating Trump's 2nd Impeachment)

 

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"?

Donald Trump's response to the COVID pandemic labels him as callous and uncaring as we see the loss of life and economic devastation resulting from his failure to respond in a meaningful way and the bodies piling up. 

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.

"Stop The Steal" is Donald Trump's confession of his regard for the constitution of the United States. As a result he is being impeached again. Maybe it will mean something this time.

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 Streets when Donald Trump is no longer President.

Have A Nice Day

Coup With A Whiff of BULLSH*T (commentary on Donald Trump's failed coup)

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. 

Major American news media are telling the President in one way or another that it's time to get his fat ass and bullshit out of the White House.  

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. 

Have a nice day.

Daddy, Oh Daddy (poetry and social commentary)

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".

Daddy, Oh Daddy

Daddy oh daddy,

please tell me why

Rudy got the medicine

and mommy had to die.

My daughter and my son, 

the truth is hard to hear

but I will tell no lies,

the reason Rudy lives 

is that the rich make the rules 

and THAT'S WHY MOMMY DIED!

Have a nice day.