As the top 1%, the corporations they own; right-wingers and their “think tanks”; and their Republican mouthpieces seek to blame Joe Biden for EVERYTHING happening during his first 10 months [they’d include disappearing polar bears, but “they’re not scientists], perspective is supplied by numerous newspaper articles.
REQUIREMENT: the Constitution’s Preamble states the purpose of American government is to “..promote the general Welfare..” What needs to be done – to solve inflation, vulnerable supply lines, “globalizing” the American economy – the benefits 100% of US? Have those opposing Biden offered ANYTHING [realistic] that will “promote the general Welfare? If not, they’re sabotaging America.

1] “Biden inherits economy damaged by pandemic” [Christopher Rugaber, 1/24/21, Assoc. Press]: “President Joe Biden has inherited a badly damaged economy pulverized by the pandemic, with 10 million fewer jobs than a year ago, and as many as one in 6 small businesses shut down.”

2] “Economic dip rattles Biden agenda” [J.Stein, R.Siegel, A.Van Dam; 5/16/21; Wash. Post Wkly]; “Price growth has accelerated every month starting in December..”

3] “Big ship in Suez is a very big problem” [David Lynch, 3/28/21, Wash. Post]: “What began in early 2020 with shortages of personal protective equipment..later morphed into semiconductor shortages that idled major General Motors and Ford plants..the canal incident..could cause global executives to rethink hyperefficient production strategies designed above all else to reduce costs. That “Just-in-Time” philosophy produced fatter profits but left companies vulnerable to unexpected events…”

4] “Just In Time Supplies Are Running Late” [P.Goodman, N.Chokshi; 6/3/21; N.Y. Times]: “..many businesses have combined a dedication to Just in Time with a reliance on suppliers in low-wage countries like China and India…No pandemic was required to reveal the risks of overreliance on Just in Time combined with global supply chains. Experts have warned about the consequences for decades.”

5] “Trade is Choking as U.S. Ports” [David Lynch, 9/25/21, Wash. Post]: “Trucking companies and warehouses complain they can’t find enough workers to keep freight moving…Analysts and industry executives said there is little chance the federal government can untangle the cargo snarl before the financially critical holiday shopping season…The mismatch between surging import volumes and an overwhelmed transport network id dogging the recovery.”

6] “Pandemic disrupts supply chain A to Z” [Peter Goodman, 10/24/21, N.Y. Times]: “The disruptions go back to early last year..Factories in parts of the world where a lot of the globe’s manufacturing capacity sits..China, South Korea..Taiwan..Vietnam..Germany – were hit by the spread of coronavirus cases…shipping companies cut their schedules…timing and quantity of consumer purchases swamped the system…finished products..piled up in warehouses and..ports throughout Asia…heavy influx of ships overwhelmed..availability of docks…came on top of decades of very lean inventories kept by companies to limit their costs…bonuses for executives…Monopolistic tendencies..help explain the shortages [meatpackers]..”

7]. “Annual consumer inflation hits 5%, highest since 2008” [Martin Crutsinger, 6/11/21, Assoc. Press]: “The increased consumer appetite is.. bumping up against a shortage of components, from lumber and steel to chemicals and semiconductors, that supply such key products as autos and computer equipment, all of which has forced up prices…a range of companies have been raising prices or plan to do so, in some cases to make up for higher wages they’re now paying to keep or attract workers.”

8]. “Inflation…The Hidden Meaning of hard-money politics” [Jacob Rosenberg, July/August, 2021, Mother Jones]: “For Michael O’Malley, a professor at George Mason University, the 19th-century arguments rhyme with the Reagan-era demagoguery about “welfare queens driving Cadillacs.” And they were used to similar effect…It was the project of 20th-century reactionaries to obscure the distributive struggles contained within inflation…Thus the austerity of the 1970s and beyond was offered as a technocratic fix..allowing bankers to make a killing…We are still living with the wreckage caused by the old consensus…It was never just about the money. Inflation hysteria is always class war of one kind or another, waged on behalf of the asset-holders against perceived forces of “social destabilization,” O’Malley said. “It’s about the wrong kind of people getting too much stuff.””

9] “Car prices expected to stay high” [Tom Krisher, 9/6/21, Assoc. Press]: “The global parts shortage involves not just computer chips,..beyond autos, vital components for goods ranging from farm equipment and industrial machinery to sportswear and kitchen accessories are also bottled up..”

10] “Worker Shortages Drive Up Food Costs” [E.Elkin, M.Ngoc Chau, A.De Sousa; 9/12/21; Blomberg News]: “Across the world, a dearth of workers is shaking up food supply chains…Shortages are hitting farms, processors and restaurants alike…the delta variant is spreading in places like Southeast Asia…the scramble for staff is compounded by local issues, such as difficult and dangerous farmwork conditions caused by a record U.S. heat wave…”

11] “Natural gas prices soar due to shortage” [John Kemp, 9/12/21, Reuters]: “Last year, volume-weighted global prices fell to their lowest annual level since 1995..the result was a sharp cutback in drilling and capital investment..leading to an unprecedented decline in worldwide output…in. an inevitable reaction, monthly prices have now climbed to their highest in real terms since mid-2014..:

12]. High oil prices are likely to remain” [John Kemp, 10/31/21, Reuters]: “Restrictive output policies from both OPEC Plus and U.S. shale producers have kept global production consistently below consumption since June, 2020. The result has been a sharp drawdown in global inventories, which has lifted prices…”

13] “Many industries Feel Chemical Shortage” [ P.Wiseman, T.Krisher; 10/1/21; Assoc. Press]: “As the economy sank into near-paralysis, manufacturers of all types, slashed production. So they were caught flat-footed..companies were scrambling..panic buying…In 2020, Hurricanes Laura and Zeta pounded Louisiana…Hurricane Ida struck…”The consumer is going to have to pay.”

14]. “Inflation hits economy in places we might not expect” [Neil Irwin, 10/12/21, N.Y. Times]: “Many types of businesses..have dealt with..problems..by taking steps that could give their customers a lesser experience..no daily room cleaning..limited restaurant service..receiving the wrong order or no drink at all..no hot breakfast…”

15] “Oat Shortage Looms” [M.Nicholson, M.Hirtzer; 10/12/21; Bloomberg]: bottom line: will YOU be able to buy your Cheerios?!?!?!?! “Wheat prices raise bread costs” [Megan Durison, 11/3/21, Bloomberg]: “Wheat prices are surging from the U.S. to Russia…The crop..was hit by droughts, frost, heavy rains this year..” Issues: dwindling stockpiles, protectionist measures, import needs, costlier fertilizer.

16] “Cost pressures for companies mean higher prices for consumers” [Thomas Mulier, 10/24/21, Bloomberg]: “Consumers around the world are about to get socked with even higher prices on everyday items…Companies are facing a dire mix of supply-chain challenges…”This is a story that’s consistent across the world..””

17]. “White House takes aim at supply chain” [David Lynch, 11/10/21, Wash. Post]: “..the private companies responsible for the ports, trucks, terminals and trains that make up the nation’s goods pipeline operate beyond easy federal direction…Mahir Rasheed of Oxford Economics: “The persistent mismatch between supply and demand will remain a principal driver of elevated inflation as capital and labor shortages improve only gradually heading into 2022″ he wrote in a client note.”

SO – if you want to blame Joe Biden for inflation and supply-chain problems, then you’re asking him to control the weather, asking him to force OPEC to pump more oil, blaming him for COVID-19, blaming him for the “Just-in-Time business model, blaming him for globalization [shifting U.S. jobs & manufacturing offshore since 1970], blaming him for rising world-wide commodity prices, blaming him for companies cutting back production during COVID, blaming him for workers getting paid living wages, blaming him for price increases that started in 2020

If you want President Biden to “do something.” The only thing he can do is nationalize the U.S. economy. – because it’s private companies that run the entire system. SO – if you want that – it means you’re advocating communism!!!

The real solution: bring back manufacturing and good union jobs to America. – like it was when our side won World War II, the Cold War, and built the greatest middle class prosperity in world history.

Sabotage…. The Founders attempted a “virtuous republic” a nation where people “did the right thing” because it was patriotic. Joe Biden, and America itself, are facing sabotage from the “right wing,” led by Republicans.
Think of America as a football team, with Biden the QB. No football team succeeds if all 11 players don’t work together. The “right wing,” financed by rogue billionaires, has grown increasingly radical, reactionary, and destructive since 1965.

Republican Senate leader mcConnell said in 2009, his major goal was to sabotage President Obama. He said the same thing about Joe Biden. He has, and is, doing everything to achieve that goal – even if it means sabotaging his own country. We all saw what Republicans did in justifying the January 6, 2021 insurrection.
Symbolic of recent America is resistance to rational, medically sound science on COVID-19 – again by the right wing. Their refusal to vaccinate, wear masks, etc. means the COVID pandemic will not be easily brought under control. Immense damage has been done to our health care workers. Some have quit. Immense damage has been done to our children. Some have committed suicide. COVID refusniks are modern day “Typhoid Marys” only this time their number is in the millions – having listened to demagogues, media morons, internet idiots.

Because America didn’t invest in itself, we have fallen behind in infrastructure, in public health, in education [is YOUR child’s school equipped with modern heating/AC?], in equitable economic reward distribution – we have not taken care of ALL 331 million Americans. Much of this occurs because of greed – by the top 1%.
There are reasons why America is NOT the happiest place on earth – like we used to be, 1947-1973. Our title now belongs to the people of northern Europe. What do they do that we do not?

This post is inspired by: “The Economist,” September ll, 2021, “why nations that fail women fail;” and “The Atlantic,” January/February, 2019, “The Global Backlash Against Women.” Other information also included.

“What Sani went through was forced marriage at..age..12: something not unusual in [XYZ], where 43% of girls are married off before their 18th birthday. Terrified of her 25-year-old husband, she managed to avoid him for the first two years of marriage. Eventually..he had his friends tie her to the bed and raped her so violently..she had to be admitted tro the hospital for days.” [Population Connection, September, 2017]

The Economist: “Societies that oppress women are far more likely to be violent and unstable..There are several possible reasons..In many places girls are selectively aborted or fatally neglected. This has led to skewed sex ratios..millions of young men..doomed to remain single..more likely to commit violent crimes or join rebel groups. Recruiters for Boko Haram and Islamic State..promise them ‘wives’ as..spoils of war. Polygamy also creates a surplus of single young men..all of the 20 most turbulent countries on the Fragile States index practice polygamy.”
“Outside rich democracies, the male kinship group is still the basic unit of many societies..Societies based on male bonding tend to subjugate women..Dowries or bride prices are common in half the world’s countries.”
“Researchers at Texas A&M and Brigham Young..compiled a global index of pre-modern attitudes to women, including sexist family laws, unequal property rights, early marriage for girls, patrilocal marriage, polygamy, bride prices, son preference, violence against women and legal indulgence of it.. It turned out..highly correlated with violent instability..”
“Oppressing women is not only bad for women; it hurts men too. It makes societies poorer and less stable…patriarchy and poverty go hand in hand.”

“Qualified women in tech dropping out of the industry” [Tracey Lien, 3/8/15, L.A. Times]: “A Harvard Business Review study from 2008 found…as many as 50% of women working in science, engineering and technology will..leave because of hostile work environments…Tracy Chou..a well-known engineer..said she faced an ‘undercurrent of sexism’..that included being bypassed for projects and treated ‘like I didn’t know what was going on.”

“Women may get harassed off STEM career path in academia” [Ethan Baron, 7/22/18, Mercury News]: “In the report from the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine..researchers lay out three categories of sexual harassment: actions that ‘convey hostility, objectification, exclusion, or second-class status about members of one gender; unwanted sexual attention; sexual coercion that involves favorable treatment in exchange for sexual activity’…higher ed is structured in a ‘patriarchal’ fashion…”Even when they remain, their ability to contribute and advance in their field can be limited as a consequence of sexual harassment..'”

“By the time she was 17, the Dutch teenager had written a harrowing memoir recounting repeated sexual assaults and her subsequent .. post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anorexia…when her sister announced the teenager..had died..’She had stopped eating and drinking,’ her relatives said..Her mother: ‘Noa doesn’t want this life anymore..She just longs for peace.'” [Iliana Magra, 6/7/19, N.Y. Times]

“Japanese medical school altered scores to limit women” [Mari Yamaguchi, 8/8/18, Associated Press]: “Tokyo Medical University manipulated all entrance exams starting in 2006 or even earlier..similar manipulations had occurred for years because the school wanted fewer female doctors since it anticipated they would shorten or halt their careers after becoming mothers..”

“Doctor says ‘women don’t work as hard’ [9/3/19 Associated Press]: “A Plano, Texas, doctor..told a medical publication..female physicians make less because: “Female physicians do not work as hard and do not see as many patients as male physicians..This is because they choose to, or they simply don’t want to be rushed, or they don’t want to work the long hours.”

“Women scientists get less funding” [4/14/19, Chicago Tribune]: “For many women, it will mean they don’t persist,” said Teresa Woodruff, professor of obstetrics and gynecology..and director of the Women’s Health Research Institute..”It’s impossible to measure what we’ve lost as a consequence of inequities.”

The Cost and Consequences of Sexism and Misogyny: We…will…NEVER…know…..

Consider what we DO. know:
-Margaret Kivelson, a physicist and planetary scientist transformed the course of space exploration, reshaping scientific understanding
-Marie Curie pioneered the study of radioactivity; winner of two Nobel Prizes: “Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood.”
-Rosalind Franklin played a pivotal role in one of scientific history’s greatest revolutions in genetics. Her work led to revealing the DNA mystery.
-Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring” forced rethinking of pesticide effects, which founded the environmental movement.

“I listen to feminists and all the radical gals – most of them failures. They’ve blown it. Some of them have been married, but they married some Casper Milquetoast who asked permission to go tom the bathroom. These women just need a man in the house. That’s all they need. Most of these feminists need a man to tell them what time of day it is and to lead them home. And they all blew it and they’re mad at all men. Feminists hate men. They’re sexist. They hate men – that’s their problem.” [Reverend Jerry Falwell]

The Atlantic: “besides their hostility to liberal democracy, the right-wing autocrats taking power across the world share one big thing…..to subordinate women…for most of human history, leaders and their male subjects forged a social contract: ‘Men agreed to be ruled by other men in return for all men ruling over women.’ Trump and his evangelical backers [share] a common desire to constrain the behavior of women..Bolsonaro linked this counterrevolution to a counterrevolution against uppity women..Duterte’s antifeminist crusade..featured the ritualized humiliation of powerful women..Poland’s autocratic government has run ads urging Poles to “bred like rabbits”..
“The first [gender] difference individuals notice,” Valerie Hudson told me, “is the difference between sexes in one’s own home. That establishers the first political order, the nature of how things should be in the country.”….authoritarians often succeed when women – especially feminist women – threaten male dominance of public life in counties where men still reign in private.”
“Compare the U.S., Philippines, Brazil, Hungary, Poland with the countries of northern Europe, where women’s political power has become more normal.” Consider this: virtually every year, polls show “then happiest people on earth” live in northern Europe. This is “just a coincidence”?????????

“Inequality, for women, today, is not an abstraction, but something understood directly through their bodies, through legislative and regulatory efforts to deny them reproductive freedom, through the fear of assault and through the inequities built into our system, from bathrooms to medical research, that makes female bodies – which outnumber male bodies in the United States by several millions – the exception to the male-dominated norms and rules.” [Phillip Kennicott, 1/22/20, Washington Post]

“! in 3 women worldwide has suffered from abuse” [Maria Cheng, 6/21/13, Assoc.Press]: “Among the findings: 40% of women killed worldwide were slain by an intimate partner..According to the United Nations, more than 600 million women live in countries where domestic, violence is not considered a crime.”

“The deadly devaluation of a gender” [The Economist, 3/6/10]: “It is no exaggeration to call this gendercide. Women are missing in the millions..In 1990 an Indian economist, Amartya Sen, put the number at 100 million…The destruction of baby girls is a product of three forces: the ancient preference for sons; a modern desire for smaller families; and technologies that identify the sex of a fetus.”

“Pooping woes, gender inequality: Yup it’s a real thing” [Jessica Bennett, Amanda McCall, 9/28/19, N.Y. Times]: “Poop shame is real..disproportionately affects women…the patriarchy has seeped into women’s intestinal tracts…One unpublished study..found that a woman who excused herself to go to the bathroom was evaluated more negatively than one who excused herself to tend to “paperwork” – while there was no difference in the way participants viewed the men.”

“Things protective daughters never told their dads” [Monica Hesse, 10/8/18, Wash. Post]: “Two of my daughters have told me stories that I had never heard before about things that happened to them in high school,” Fox News anchor Chris Wallace mused on air…To the father of the young woman..assaulted by the student athlete she was hired to tutor: She never told you because she didn’t want to break your heart…To the father of the junior high student who was pinned down and undressed at a gathering 30 years ago: She didn’t tell you because she didn’t want to see you cry…To the father of the teenager who was raped at a party: You don’t know about this, because she was certain if you knew, you would kill her attacker and go to jail, and it would be her fault….”

“The Price of Speaking UP” [Agata Boxe, August, Scientific American]: “..a 2018 report analyzed 46,210 Title VII sexual harassment discrimination charges filed..found..65% of women who filed such charges between 2012 and 2016 said they lost their jobs after making their complaints.”

“When it comes to sexual harassment, the courthouse doors slam shut” [Jean Boler, 11/21/17, Mpls. Trib.]: “…courts have put up more barriers to women seeking justice after harassment on the job…Conduct must be ‘extreme’ and ‘so intimidating, offensive or hostile that it poisoned the work environment’…three male judges dismissed the case of a woman who had experienced male coworkers standing extremely close tom her with obvious erections, blocking her exit from her cubicle and coming uninvited into her work station…the court acknowledged conduct was “vile or inappropriate,” the case was kicked out because it did not “rise to the level of actionable sexual harassment.”!!!!! The court justified the decision: they’d previously ruled asking a woman to watch porn flicks together and masturbate each other; suggesting a woman would professionally advance if she caused a male to orgasm, or if a male grabbed a woman’s body parts – none of this would be “actionable sexual harassment.” !!!!! What would ?????

“Character attack: Being Skyler White” [Anna Gunn, 8/27/13, N.Y. Times]: “My character..has become a flash point for many people’s feelings about strong, nonsubmissive, ill-treated women. As the hatred for Skyler White blurred into loathing for me as a person, I saw glimpses of anger that, at first, simply bewildered me…Could it be that they can’t stand a woman who won’t suffer silently or ‘stand by her man”? …It’s notable..viewers have expressed similar feelings feelings about other complex TV wives…I finally realized..most people’s hatred of Skyler had little tom do with me and a lot to do with their own perceptions of women and wives.”

“Female patients: It’s not ‘all in your head'” [Emily Dwass, 8/3/17, L.A. Times]: “In my case, it took four years and several doctors…Even after my diagnosis I had to contend with dismissive, condescending doctors…”We don’t know what’s wrong with you – but we think this problem is all in your head.” is still amazingly common…the number one concern among women with autoimmune disease is..doctors don’t listen to them…elderly women have to contend with ageism on top of sexism.”

Consider what we know, II:
-Lianne Russell, a refugee from Nazi Germany, changed what we know about X-rays, embryos, Y chromosomes. The benchmark for study of mutations and genetic risk assessment.”
-Florence Nightingale and Clara Barton: treatment of wounded soldiers, the Red Cross
-Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson: African-American NASA workers- the brains behind astronaut John Glenn’s orbit, and more. [“Hidden Figures”. DVD]
-Odette Sansom, World War II’s most highly decorated spy; captured by Germans – survived without divulging locations of other Allied spies
-the “Code Girls,” 10,000 American WW II women who worked to break German and Japanese codes [Liza Mundy’s book by the same title]

BUT. – we will. NEVER know what women have NOT. done – because they weren’t allowed to try……

THE. BIG. QUESTION: can the human race expect to EVER. reach 100% success potential, if we continue to oppress 50% of US? because they were born as a member of the “wrong” gender???????????????????

In early 1972, a former Brooklyn Dodger teammate of Captain Pee Wee Reese explained he would not attend the funeral of teammate Gil Hodges. Nor did he attend the funeral of legendary Jackie Robinson six months later. The man told Pee Wee he wanted to remember the men as they had been in life.

His memories of Jackie Robinson would would be those of the lion, a player feared and respected by all; a man with the courage of ten, saddled with carrying a n entire race; who literally unnerved opponents by his presence on base; who could single-handedly win games any number of ways; who said a life is worth living only if devoted to serving others; who ranks among greatest Americans.

His memories of Gil Hodges would remain those of a gentle giant; the strongest man in baseball who used that strength to break up fights, not start or win them as he easily could; who would calmly walk away from the plate having been called out on a bad call, his teammates raging, place his helmet and bat down and sit calmly on the bench as if nothing happened; a man so secure and serene in his faith nothing ever seemed to bother him; a player so revered by fans everywhere he was never booed.

My father was a great 3-sport college athlete; a leader of people in World War II and his various education jobs; a star in any gathering; a man who shot his age on a golf course late in life; a devoted fisherman; a devoted husband of 5l years; family man who raised three children that all went to college; the best man I’ve ever known. He died from a heart attack driving himself and Mom to the hospital for tests. I did view his body in a Florida funeral home. His three children delivered memorable speeches in his honor. My memories of him are those of a life lived with vigor, participation, and great success.

My Mother was one of the toughest human beings I’ve ever known. She survived losing her mother in very early childhood; losing her father in her twenties; theGreat Depression; living as a single World War II parent; losing his first child at birth; gave birth to three children, the last a difficult birth; breast cancer; losing her soul-mate; and Parkinson’s Disease. Through it all, she maintained her dignity; taught her three kids nothing but love – best illustrated by the “Betty Principle” – the kid who cut the cake got the last piece; stretched out Dad’s early meager earnings; was a great cook; ran an efficient home. My memories of Mom are colored by her demise from Parkinson’s. The last time I saw her, she was struggling along with a walker – refusing to quit, her head tilted to one side. She had earlier said: “old age isn’t for sissies,” and proved it. After she broke her hip trying to use the bathroom by herself, we could no longer talk to her on the phone.

Memories of Mom’s step-mom are colored by the last time we saw her, waving at us through the window of the hospital where she was dying from cancer. I remember her white hair and smile. Lost to me is the life of vigor she led. She traveled to places I’ve never visited. We visited her many times at her elegant giant white house on the hill with the hidden circular staircase, across the road from Fredies farm. Grandma “Dano” still had an icebox, serviced a couple of times weekly. My mind’s eye has her in that hospital window.

Memories of my favorite aunt, Georgia, are colored by the last time I saw her, in a hospital bed, trying to defeat cancer. She lost. I didn’t get to attend her funeral because of a business commitment. Georgia had run an elegant ladies fashion store for about 30 years; she made annual Paris trips to bring back special clothing. My wife bought her wedding gown from Georgia. We once asked her, then in her 70s, why didn’t she retire? She looked at us and said: “What would I do?” End of discussion. Georgia traveled to places other women didn’t. She, was a star of every gathering, by force of her free and only partially repressed spirit. Yet, for all this, my memories remain of her in the hospital bed, vulnerable and largely helpless – which the real Georgia never was.

My memories of Grandma Hilda are colored by the last time I saw her, lying on her side, curled up in a fetal position, saying over and over: “I want to die, I want to die, I want to die.” That poor, small, weak, helpless person lying there wasn’t the real Hilda. The real Hilda made trips downtown on the bus; planned something different to do each day; regularly visited “the old people” in the same Home earlier in her 70s-80s. The real Hilda cooked huge Thanksgiving and Christmas feasts; went fishing with Grandpa; to the Wisconsin cabin; served at church.

Our family had a wonder dog, Rex, a purebred Samoyed, the white haired emperor of HIS back yard. No adult, other than the trusted milk man [they had a thing going] was ever allowed into the hallowed space without immediate loud, and ferocious challenge from a fang-showing, wild-eyed white monster lunging at his chain – which sometimes broke. They were driven to hasty retreat, to meekly ring the front door bell. The same fate, with teethmarks, awaited any dog foolishly invading the kingdom. Size didn’t matter – they all lost, retreated in defeat, never to be seen again.
Little kids, on the other hand, were free to climb all over Rex, pull his long hairs, pull his tail, and otherwise molest his tolerant form. They had a free pass – to a point, which when exceeded, Rex would get up, shake himself free, and walk away.

Rex went swimming with us, got ice cream, and always – demanded the price of exit from the back door – a medium sized Milk Bone. We were “trained” to provide this tribute. If we forgot, he demanded to know why – loudly. Rex hated thunderstorms, the 4th of July and the State Fair fireworks. On those days he would seek refuge in his house and cry. Sometimes we brought him into the back porch with us to comfort him. On one such night, Rex was sitting on the porch, when a huge thunderbolt crashed nearby. Rex jumped up, ran into the living room, jumped onto the couch, right between my sister and brother – and looked at us with – “What do you mean, I can’t sit here? Why not?”

In the mid-1960s, it became apparent Rex was aging. He was getting weaker, having trouble with his stools, and one could sneak up behind him from the rear. Life was becoming a struggle. In 1966, after Rex’s 15th birthday, while I was away on a Canadian fishing trip, Dad took Rex to the vet’s, and had him put to sleep. WhenI came back, Rex was gone. In my mind, the white emperor still rules our back yard; still prances royally; still a wild free spirit, who pulled my 200 pound Dad down the street; the dog who stamped his feet, demanding his Milk Bone tribute – every time, no excuses; the dog who loved everybody except foreign adults and dogs – a memory that will never die.

A QUESTION: – why did we, in an act of mercy, decide Rex, a beloved family member, DESERVED to have his suffering end, that it was cruel to make him continue living. We all loved him, we wanted him to live another 15 years. Life wasn’t the same without him patrolling the empire.
On the other hand – why did we, decide that Hilda, a beloved Grandma, did not deserve to die? She would be compelled to live, and suffer. We ignored her stated wish to die.

Some would say, “But, he’s only a dog. She was a person. She had more rights.” Rex was NEVER “only a dog.” He was a dog by genetics. He probably got more hugs and attention than all of us combined – every day.
Because Hilda “had more rights,” she was expected to suffer. There would be no mercy for her. She had to live by the expectations of others, to the demands of “civilized society.” The memories of her life of vigor, her service to others, her arguing with Bert over cards, her shrieks of laughter. She would not die on her terms, but on others.
In the end – only Rex died with real dignity. Mom, Dano, Georgia, Hilda – they were all compelled to suffer. They had been people of great strength and dignity. They were not allowed to die that way.

Why can’t. YOU. decide terms on how. YOUR. life will end? Why should “the state” decide. YOUR life-ending terms? OR – need we look behind “the state?” What forces/groups put THEIR terms into law on how YOU. die?

In 1641, the Massachusetts legal code’s top three capital offenses were: idolatry, witchcraft, blasphemy. The code was based on “Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy>” The infamous 1692 Salem witchcraft trials were mostly prosecuted by ministers.
Since l973, religious war has been waged upon the American public by fundamentalist zealots, demanding THEIR interpretation of the Christian Bible be imposed on YOUo.

One aspect is refusal to honor people’s living wills/health care directives. Read Katherine Stewart’s “The Power Worshippers,” chapter 11 – “Controlling Bodies: What “Religious Liberty” Looks Like From the Stretcher.” Several women victimized by being patients in the wrong hospital. An elderly man dying from brain cancer. He repeatedly asked for information on medically assisted death, legal in his state.
He was repeatedly denied information. The reason: health care directive 61 of those running his hospice: “Patients experiencing suffering that cannot be alleviated should be helped to appreciate the Christian understanding of redemptive suffering.”
A religious group decided the man MUST endure “redemptive suffering.” He would not die on his terms, but theirs. But – “Somehow, John managed to get a gun into the hospice. On the last day of his life, he climbed into a bathtub, put the barrel into his mouth, and shot himself to death.”

Amendment One: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..” The background, THE. CONTEXT, for this statement is in 1776-99 state constitutions. Look them up.

From Edwin S. Gaustad’s “Faith of the Founders Religion and the New Nation, 1776-1826,” pages 133-145, relevant parts for this discussion: Delaware, 1776, Article 29: “There shall be no establishment of any one religious sect in this state in preference to another..”; Kentucky, 1791, Article XII, Section 3: “..that no human authority can in any case whatever control or interfere with the rights of conscience..”; North Carolina, 1776, Articles XXXIV: “..neither shall any person, on any pretense whatsoever, be compelled to attend any place of worship contrary to his own faith or judgment..”; Pennsylvania, 1776, Declaration of Rights, II: “That all men have a natural and unalienable right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences..”

If YOU. can’t control what happens to. YOUR. body, “according to the dictates of [YOUR] conscience” YOU have NO. RIGHTS.

If “the state,” pressured by certain fundamentalist churches, controls how. YOU die – then America has regressed back to the 1641 Massachusetts legal code, based on three books from a Christian Bible.
Amendment One was written – as per. the. CONTEXT. above – to prevent this. “no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..” MEANS; a church. YOU. don’t attend cannot tell. YOU on what terms YOU. WILL. DIE. That’s exactly what happened to John – in a state he was legally entitled to find means of death “according to [his] own conscience..”

Do. YOU “need”. “redemptive suffering?” Or – have YOU. the constitutional right to dignity in your death, like our family’s beloved dog? WHO. gets to decide for. YOU?

Thanks to the ethically challenged Roberts Supreme Court – America is on the verge of becoming, birth to death, a theocracy – enforced by “the established church” of far right zealots. Executions for witchcraft might soon occur.

Dante Alighieri: “The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis.” His message to YOU: act, or lose YOUR. rights to decide the terms of YOUR life, and death.

For some, this may be “controversial,” for others difficult to accept. My challenge: do fact-based research in mainstream sources.
Following are various insights from Greek-Roman days forward, headlines and book excerpts DOCUMENTING the charge. No “reasonable” person, no real “patriot” will be able to deny a simple truth ; the very rich have sought throughout human history to hide their wealth, pay no taxes on it [because they “earned it all by themself!”], use it corrupting government and justice.
Very important: evidence herein is an exceedingly small portion of the mountains of proven documents about the corrosive, amoral, immoral, selfish greed of those acquiring great wealth. Obviously, not every wealthy person fits this, but millions do.
Much of the obscene wealth could possibly be “forgiven,” even accepted – except for one thing: their arrogant refusal to share any of it through taxes, accompanied by their amoral sabotage of ANY attempt to restrain their selfish destructive behaviors in rigging economies and governments.

Adam Smith: Wherever there is great property, there is great inequality…For one rich man, there must be at least 500 poor.”

“Top 1% of wealthy hold more assets than the entire middle class” [10/11/21, Blomberg – A.Tanzi, M.Dorning]. The middle 60% saw their combined assets drop to 26.6%; the super rich owned 27%. The middle class” share dropped in one generation.”

Economics Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz: “American inequality didn’t just happen. It was created.” [“The Price of Inequality. page 35]

“Plutonomics’: ‘..in a 2006 memo to Citigroup’s wealthy clients, lead ‘strategist’ Ajay Kapur..’Our thesis is..the rich are the dominant drivers of demand’ in the U.S. and other ‘plutonomies.’ How does a country become a plutonomy? One essential factor.. is “favorable treatment by…market-friendly governments to allow the rich to prosper.’ Another is..have CEOs who ‘lead the charge’ on globalization and automation to transfer more of the nation’s wealth into corporate profits ‘at the expense of labor.’ {Mother Jones, March/April, 2011] [Note: this article, and others, calculated the ‘average’ 41-60% American family is ROBBED of $10-11,000 every year by the top 1%]

Abraham Lincoln: “I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country…corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working on the prejudices of the people until all the wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed.” [11/21/64 letter]

Kurt Andersen: “During the 20th century, America managed to make its economic and social systems both more and more fair and more prosperous. A huge, secure, and contented middle class emerged. Incomes rose in sync. But then the New Deal gave way to the Raw Deal. Beginning in early 1970s, by means of a long war conceived of and executed by a confederacy of big business CEOs, the superrich, and right-wing zealots, the rules and norms that made the American middle class possible were undermined and dismantled. The clock was turned back on a century of economic progress, making greed good, workers powerless, and the market all powerful while weaponizing nostalgia, lifting up an oligarchy that served only its own interests..” [“Evil Geniuses]

Jesus: “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of the needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven>” [Matthew 19: 24]
John D. Rockefeller: “God gave me my money.”
Plato: “Very rich and very good at the same time he cannot be.”

Propublica: “Wealthy avoided most U.S. taxes” [6/19/21] The richest 25 Americans paid relatively little, and sometimes nothing, in 2014-2018 taxes. They used various accounting tricks and loopholes [“campaign contributions” at work!]; and because America emphasizes taxing labor income [lower 90%] versus wealth [top l%]. The “true tax rate” for the ultrarich: 3.4% !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oliver Goldsmith: “Laws grind the poor, and rich men rule the law.” [1728-1774]

Washington Monthly: “..years-long assault by Republicans on the. internal Revenue Service” [July-August, 2021]. George Bush hired private contractors, who “..ended up COSTING the federal government money.” Republicans “slashed 20% of the IRS’s budget and 22% of its staff from 2010-2018. For people making over $1 million…tax audits dropped by 72% – money the IRS collects from audits fell..40%…Biden’s new IRS commissioner..told Congress the agency is leaving on the table $l trillion a year in uncollected taxes because it doesn’t have enough staff.”

Grover Cleveland: “Communism is a hateful thing and a menace to peace and organized government; but the communism of combined wealth and capital, the outgrowth of overweening cupidity and selfishness, which insidiously undermines the justice and integrity of free institutions, is not less dangerous than the communism of oppressed poverty and toil.”

“Tax firms find way to write the rules their workers leave for fed jobs, craft favorable policies, then return” {NY Times, 9/20/21 – J.Drucker, D.Hakim] “The largest U.S. accounting firms have perfected a remarkably effective behind-the-scenes system to promote their interests in Washington. Their tax lawyers take senior jobs at the Treasury Department, where they write policies…favorable to their former corporate clients, often with the expectation they will soon return to their old employers.”

Adam Smith: “The interest of [businessmen] is always in some respect different from, and even opposite to, that of the public…The proposal of any new law or regulation which comes from this order…ought never be adopted, till after having been long and carefully examined..with the most suspicious attention…it comes from an order of men…who have generally an interest to deceive and even oppress the public.”

Forthose thinking the January 6, 2021 insurrection to overturn results of the 2020 election was the first of its kind – you’re WRONG!!! The first occurred in 1933.
Jules Archer’s “The Plot to Seize the White House” states: “The crucial events of the plot to seize the White House unfolded between July and November, 1933, with hearings before the McCormack-Dickstein Committee begun…on November 20, 1934…On February, 1935, the committee submitted to the House of Representatives its final report, verifying completely the testimony of General Butler.”
A group of wealthy industrialists in league with groups like the KKK and American Liberty League planned a fascist coup. They wanted to turn unhappy war veterans into American “Brown Shirts” to depose President Roosevelt and stop the New Deal. The hero was General Smedley Butler, who rejected his proposed “American Caesar” role and revealed the plot to journalists and Congress.”

For perspective on the above, read Charles Higham’s “Trading With the Enemy. An Expose of the Nazi-American Money Plot. 1933-1949.” Declassified WW II documents reveal a long list of prominent “American” corporations supporting the Nazis, even during the war. Edwin Black’s “IBM and the Holocaust” reveals how IBM helped the Nazi war effort. James and Suzanne Pool’s “Who Financed Hitler” documents how. “American” citizens funded Hitler’s rise to power.

Paul Krugman: “We are on a road not just to a highly unequal society, but to ..oligarchy. A society of inherited wealth. When you have a few people who are so wealthy they can effectively buy the political system, the political system is going to tend to serve their interests…” [Dark Money”, page 10}
“…Jeffrey Winters, a professor..specializing in..comparative study of oligarchies, was one of a growing number of voices..beginning to argue..America was a ‘civil oligarchy’ in which a tiny and extremely wealthy slice of the population was able to use its vastly superior economic position to promote a brand of politics that served first and foremost itself.” [“Dark Money”, page 10]
“Let’s call the system..”Citizens United’ and other rulings and laws have created what it is: an oligarchy,’ declared McKinnon. “The system ids controlled by a handful of ultra-wealthy people, most of whom got rich from the system and who will get richer from the system.” [“Dark Money,” page 371]

Gaius Petronis Arbiter [27-66 AD]: “What power has law where only money rules?”

“Trump’s taxes illustrate how the game is rigged” [Jared Bernstein, 10/4/16] “If billionaires..don’t pay what they owe in taxes, there are only three unfortunate consequences: Those of us with less means make up the difference, we lack the revenue to meet challenges we face, or we borrow and run up the deficit.”

Abraham Lincoln: “These capitalists generally act harmoniously, and in concert, to fleece the people.” [1837]

CORRUPTION – I – “Leaked records show vast hidden wealth” [4/5/13 – R.Goldstein]. The files show how offshore financial secrecy has spread aggressively around the globe, allowing the wealthy to avoid taxes, fueling corruption and economic woes.”
CORRUPTION II – April-June, 2016 – “Panama Papers show how U.S. citizens hid millions” [6/6/16. NY Times, E.Lipton, J.Cresell] “..Federal officials estimate..the government loses between $40 billion and $70 billion a year on unpaid taxes on offshore holdings.”
“Tax reform advocates say U.S. is a haven for evaders” [4/7/16 – P.Wiseman, M.Gordon] “The banking lobby has resisted changes in the law that would allow more sharing of data,” says Peter Cotorceanu, a Zurich-based lawyer who specializes in private banking.”
CORRUPTION III – “‘Pandora opens up calls for reform. Cache of documents shows how rich and famous hide wealth”[10/5/21 – P,\.Wiseman, M.Gordon]. “Hundreds of politicians, celebrities, religious leaders and drug dealers have used shell companies or other tactics to hide their wealth and investments…according to a review of nearly 12 million files obtained from 14 firms located around the world.”

Adam Smith: “It is not very unreasonable that the rich should contribute to the public expenses, not only in proportion to their revenue, but something more than in that proportion.”

“Free Lunch” [David Cay Johnston]: “The rich and their lobbyists have taken firm control of the levers of power in Washington, and the state capitals while remaking the rules in their own interests…These same people also happen to be the primary source of campaign donations that put politicians in office and keep them there…Rules define a civilization…For more than a quarter century..our government has been adopting rules that tilt the playing field in favor of the rich, the powerful, and the politically connected.”

“Woe to them that make unjust laws.” Isaiah 10:1

CORRUPTION – Issues above discussed America as a “plutonomy” and an “oligarchy.” What must be stressed: this is all planned and organized. This is a documented 50-year project. Some recent studies documented corruption occurring. Several have witnessed foreign corruption, see it in America. If you care, read any/all below:
– Nancy MacLean – “Democracy in Chains. The Deep History of Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America” [2017]
– Jane Mayer – “Dark Money The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right” [2016]
– Anne Applebaum – “Twilight of Democracy The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism” [2020]
– Zephyr Teachout – “Corruption in America From Benjamin Franklin’s Snuff Box to Citizens United” [2014]
– Eric Weiner – “The Shadow Network How a Group of Wealthy Nations and Powerful Investors Secretly Dominates the World” [2010]
– Anne Nelson – “Shadow Network. Media, Money, and the Secret Hub of the Radical Right” [20190
– Sarah Chayes – “On Corruption in America. and What is at Stake” [2020]

Chayes, pages 95-112, describes “the development of a U.S. integrated kleptocratic network like the ones that dominate so many developing countries. It is the most sophisticated, powerful, and threatening such organism to anchor itself in the United States since the Gilded Age.” Leaders of lucrative industries – fossil fuels, private investment firms, tobacco, Amway, HomeDepot, Coors are there. At the HYDRA’s center: Charles Koch. The Koch network includes “dozens” of non-profits, the Federalist Society, universities such as George Mason and many “law and economics” departments; “thousands” of public officials.

THE OBJECT OF MUCH OF THIS; CHANGING THE RULES by which America runs. The Koch network did this at state levels. Lobbyists do it in Washington. Nancy MacLean: “They want to protect their infinite wealth-accumulation from democracy. They WANT PERMANENT,, RADICAL RULES CHANGES that would shackle the majority’s ability to chart our collective future. Up to and INCLUDING CHANGING THE CONSTITUTION.”
The network wants to change HOW YOUNG AMERICANS THINK – at high school and university levels. An insider: “They want to imbue kids with MARKET-BASED MORALITY.” The notion that everything is worth, in moral terms, the price it can bring, that there is nom such thing as a sacred moral value.”

We end asking how a “reasonable person” would judge the Roberts Supreme Court. Examine the entire 2005-20xx. PATTERN. Look past sensational, emotional, threats to the Constitution. Mitch McConnell and the billionaire donors stress issues affecting how government and economy run. The Roberts Court is VERY BIG ON RULES CHANGES. They’ve defined away a number of restraints on business – probably WHY the Roberts Court is ranked THE MOST BUSINESS-FRIENDLY Court since 1945. [remember things discussed above – WHO wants the rules changed]
Look for cases about forced arbitration, limiting class action suits, impedes unions abilities, “free speech’ rulings giving rights to business, multiple rulings sharply reducing or eliminating limits of “free speech” spending of political campaign contributions. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has a 70% win rate in the Roberts Court.

If you do things suggested above, you’ll have learned why Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz said: “American inequality didn’t just happen. It was created.” and – most importantly, WHO the creators were.
You’ll have learned what Wendell Phillips meant: “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty – power is ever stealing from the many to the few.”

YOU need to ACT – because as Dante Alighieri Said: “The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis.”

Those of us whom lived during the peak of American civilization, the great 1947-73 middle class golden age, are now dying. Those of you younger have no clue – and you’re “not supposed to” – of what America was like then. Nothing is ever perfect, but this was as close to it as America has ever come.
As all the above has illustrated, for then very rich – 1947-73 America was “too good a deal” for the “undeserving’ lower 90%. The empire struck back – IT CHANGED THE RULES. The result is 2021 America: the planned DELIBERATE destruction conducted during then Reagan, Bush II, Trump years.

A massive campaign, 1865-2021, using fear and violence, divide-and-conquer, sophisticated propaganda and lies, has been conducted by then top 1% defending their obscene wealth and power. They’ve used religion, perverted economic “theories,’ twisted legal “theories” defending this. 1890s workers were threatened with if “the wrong man ” became president. 1970 forward its “campaign contributions” buying off elected officials, obtaining FAVORABLE RULES. They own a propaganda TV station, numerous reactionary talk radio and internet mouth pieces. They’ve succeeded in dividing a confused, often gullible, public – and laugh all the way to their banks.

Those of us who lived in 1947-73 America have memories of simple things – working over a summer for tuition money at a good private college; people with “just” a high school education supporting 2-3-4 kids on one salary; a government that actually car ed about ordinary people. This – and MUCH MORE – is what has been STOLEN from ordinary Americans, DELIBERATELY, starting in the 1970s, escalating in the 1980s.

It isn’t only memories. As this post has tried to show – it’s in the NUMBERS, the real, UNSPUN NUMBERS. IT’s NUMBERS that led people quoted above to say what they did. It’s NUMBERS that prove the eternal enemy is the GREEDY RICH.

Following are some samples from “What Does It Mean To Be Human,” compiled and edited by Fredrick Franck, Janis Roze, and Richard Connolly:

“Prologue:” “Albert Schweitzer’s life motto..Reverence for Life is the one principle on which a viable ethic can be founded. I saw him apply it in practice while serving on his medical staff in Lambarene..the guiding principle in everything he did. It was totally free from sentimentality. It was simply the avoidance of inflicting unnecessary suffering on any living being and the alleviation of suffering with all the medical and human means at his disposal. Reverence for the mystery of life was for him the basis not only of an ethic but also of all truly human relationships, not only with our fellow humans, but also with all that lives.”

Elie Wiesel: “To the homeless, the poor, the beggar, the victims of AIDS and Alzheimers, the old and the humble, the prisoners..the wanderers in their dreams, it is our sacred duty to stretch out a hand and say: “In spite of what separates us, what we have in common is our humanity. We cannot and must not live isolated from one another…God alone is alone. Our humanity is measured not by our solitude but by our attitude toward someone else’s.”

Mary Evelyn Tucker: “To be human means to take off the headphones and unplug virtual reality. We need to listen again and to relearn the multiple voices of the universe. From these voices will come the songs of healing and renewal…If we are to survive as humans, it is crucial that we learn once again to sing.”

Donella Meadows: “To be human is to be born with an enormous package of potentials, for hatred and suspicion, for love and trust, for greed, generosity, passion, apathy…born into a world that pulls out and pushes back the potentials inside us.. We do a dance, the world and I. Sometimes the world supports part of me. Sometimes it crushes part of me…So I need other people, who have sampled other parts of the world. Together we can make a more complete picture…and remember that the bit of truth I know is not anywhere near all the truth there is.”

Seyyed Hossein Nasr: “To be human means for of all to possess an intelligence which can know the truth and falsehood, beauty and ugliness, goodness and evil…to have free will to choose and, more specifically, the will to choose the true, the real, the beautiful, and the good and attach oneself to them…A human being can be a saint and a seer, a light onto the world, with goodness and charity which knows no bounds. He cab also be so evil that no creature can be compared to him in the degree of destruction and subversion that he brings about.”

Anne Wilson Schaef: “We are all one human family. All members are worthy of respect. We should never trod over others or their property just because we can. We are responsible for our behavior and our actions no matter how young we are or how innocent the motive. It is our responsibility to see how our actions affect others and to do what we can to right a wrong we have created. We are part of a larger whole..When we destroy or damage any part of God’s creation, we abuse and destroy ourselves. Being fully human means accepting the responsibility of knowing we are one with all things.”

Wilma Mankiller; “To be human is to understand our own insignificance in the totality of things. We are interdependent with plants, animals, waters, stars, the Moon, the sun to sustain our lives..To be human is to be concerned with spirituality, whether one expresses it through orthodox religion, ancient ceremonies, or simply by the way we live our lives.”

David Krieger: “To be human is to break the ties of cultural conformity and group-think and to use one’s own mind…to recognize good and evil and to choose good..to consider with the heart..to act with conscience..to be courageous..to choose the path of compassion…recognize our kinship with all forms of life..appreciate every drop of water..to open our eyes to the simple and extraordinary beauty all around us…to love.”

From You don’t Say,” by L.K. Hanson comes this from Frederick Douglass: “Mr. Lincoln was not only a great President, but a great man – too great to be small in anything. In his company I was never in any way reminded of my humble origin, or of my unpopular color.”

From Paul Morgan’s “Impact Images,” comes “The Ten Indian Commandments;”
“Treat the earth and all that dwell thereon with respect. Remain close to the Great Spirit. Show respect for your fellow beings. Work together for the benefit of all mankind. Give assistance and kindness wherever needed. Do what you know to be right. Look after the well-being of mind and body. Dedicate a share of your efforts to the greater good. Be truthful and honest at all times. Take full responsibility for your actions.”

From Will Durant’s “The Story of Philosophy” comes a description of Aristotle’s ideal man:
“He does not expose himself needlessly to danger, since there are few things for which he cares sufficiently; but he is willing, in great crises, to give even his life – knowing that under certain conditions it is not worth while to live. He is of a disposition to do men service, though he is ashamed to have a service done to him. To confer a kindness is a mark of superiority; to receive one is a mark of subordination…. He does not take part in public displays….He is open in his dislikes and preferences; he talks and acts frankly, because of his contempt for man and things….He is never fired with admiration, since there is nothing great in his eyes. He cannot live in complaisance with others, except it be a friend; complaisance is the characteristic of a slave… He never feels malice, and always forgets and passes over injuries… He is not fond of talking….It is of no concern of his that he should be praised, or that others should be blamed. He does not speak evil of others, even of his enemies, unless it be to themselves. His carriage is sedate, his voice deep, his speech measured; he is not given to hurry, for he is concerned about only a few things; he is not prone to vehemence, for he things nothing very important. A shrill voice and hasty steps come to a man through care…He bears the accidents of life with dignity and grace, making the best of his circumstances, like a skillful general who marshals his limited forces with all the strategy of war….He is his own best friend, and takes delight in privacy whereas the man of no virtue or ability is his own worst enemy, and is afraid of solitude>”

The inscription on Jackie Robinson’s tombstone: “A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.”

“Who is a wise man and endowed with knowledge among you? Let him show it with good conduct, in deeds done in meekness that comes from wisdom. If you have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, do not boast of it, and do not deny the truth. This so-called wisdom descends not from heaven, but is earthly, sensual, delish. For where envying and strife are, there is disorder and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.”
James 3: 13-17

Albert Einstein: “Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.”

The United States of America, once “the light of the world,” began death throes in 1980, not then appreciated. Warnings were ignored. The first, ironically, appeared in 1776: Gibbons” “The Decline and Fall of the Roman. Empire.” Tuchman’s “The March of Folly” ignored. Diamond’s “Collapse. How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed” obviously ignored.

In 1935, Sinclair Lewis’ novel, “It Can’t Happen Here” had demagogue “Buzz” Windrip elected president. His campaign created fear; promised drastic reform; promoted patriotism and “traditional values.” In 2016, the outdated Electoral College allowed a Windrip clone to become president. He promoted fear with a divide-and-conquer campaign claiming America undermined by “others” not legitimate “Americans.” His kleptocracy enriched family and close associates, ran up national debt.

Windrip II significantly weakened unwritten “soft” rules underlying American democracy; corrupted language, engaging in word salad pronouncements saying nothing. He corrupted the very purpose of “democratic” government, appointing a cabinet of the rich hating departments they ran; ruled with openly authoritarian practices.

Windrip II capped this refusing to accept his 7 million vote defeat; plotted with inner circle to subvert the 2020 election. Some of this in plain sight, most infamously, January 6, 2021 insurrection. Other revelations became public in 2021, documenting the depth, breadth, depravity of his treason

Windrip II had help. Like Hitler, Stalin, Mao, he had enablers. “A Warning” by a senior administration official, described democratic “guardrails” systematically dismantled. Chapters included “Assault on Democracy.”
Truth-telling books about Windrip II continue being written, by award-winning authors, corroborating Windrip II’s amoral kleptocracy. His “true believers” refuse accepting overwhelming evidence.

There were earlier warnings. Former Nixon lawyer, John Dean’s “Broken Government..How Republican Rule Destroyed the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial Branches” described and predicted what would happen if a Windrip II was elected. Highly respected Thomas Mann and Norman Ornstein’s “It’s Even Worse Than It Looks..How the American Constitutional System Collided with the New Politics of Extremism”‘s conclusion: “The Republican Party..is an insurgent outlier..ideologically extreme; contemptuous of inherited social and economic policy regime; scornful of compromise; unpersuaded by conventional understanding of facts, evidence, and science;..dismissive of the legitimacy of its political opposition, all but declaring war on government.”
There were “confessionals by ex-Republican staffers. Stuart Stevens” “It Was All A Lie” said what was needed was “Burn it [Repub Party] to the ground..{Windrip II] didn’t hijack the GOP..the party had already become [Windrip II], and he or his like was inevitable.”

Windrip II primary victims are truth and language. Read Victor Klemperer’s “The Language of the Third Reich;” Michiko Kakutani’s “The Death of Truth;” Adam Hodges’ “When words Trump Politics..Resisting a Hostile Regime of Language;” “Language in the [Windrip II] Era.. Scandals and Emergencies,” edited by Janet McIntosh and Norma Mendoza-Denton.

1980-2021 pronouncements by authoritarians are word salad and code words. A “yes-no” question results in a 5 minute word barrage, spoken arrogantly and rapidly, at high volume, that says nothing. As Stevens said, most 1980-2021 far right positions and policies are “Al A Lie.” They have to cover up lies, otherwise never win elections. Their weapons: fear and anger, divide and conquer. Their messages delivered by extensive “alternative universe” of media propaganda outlets: one TV station, “talk radio” liars, and internet idiots. The coordinated conveyor belt pushes propaganda lies upward; repeat the lies often.

The propaganda is directed at vulnerable people. We were previously warned. Eric Hoffer’s “The True Believer” analyzed the fanatic, compelled to join a cause. Hoffer: “Who is the True Believer? “He’s a guilt-ridden hitchhiker who thumbs a ride on every cause from Christianity to Communism. He’s a fanatic, needing a Stalin [or Christ] to worship and die for. He’s the mortal enemy of things-as-they-are, and he insists on sacrificing himself for a dream impossible to attain.”
Neil Postman’s “Amusing Ourselves to Death” analyzed effects of electronic media. His premise: “The form in which ideas are expressed affects what those ideas will be.” We’ve paid a heavy price for printed ideas demise.

Jay Lifton’s “Losing Reality..On Cults, Cultism, and the Mindset of Political and Religious Zealotry” discusses “..the cooperation between Cambridge Analytica and Facebook. C.A. ..was largely the creation of Steve Bannon and his billionaire sponsor, Robert Mercer. One former co-executive referred to C.A. as “Bannon’s arsenal of weaponry to wage a culture war on America using military strategies.'”
John Dean and Bob Altemeyer’s “Authoritarian Nightmare” studied why some people are vulnerable to a Windrip II. Altemeyer’s decades-long research, combined with current polling: an estimated 14% of American adults were double risk authoritarians, waiting for the next Windrip, Hitler, Stalin. Some were visible on January 6, 2021
For food for thought: Allen Frances’ 2017 “twilight of american sanity,” and Public Affairs Report’s “What Orwell Didn’t Know,” edited by Andras Szanto

Many believe America is an oligarchy. Start with the easy stuff: from 1947-73, America achieved its peak broad-based middle class golden age; top marginal tax rates averaged 81%; most rich restrained by social mores. Some didn’t like this. High taxes on them “HAD” to go – they did.
Oft-mentioned about the top 1%/corporate revolt, Lewis Powell’s 1970 speech and infamous 1971 “Memo.” Corporate lobbyists multiplied like rabbits. After 1980, election costs exploded. Those who had the play money – top 1% – wanted something; tax lobbying is 50% of D.C. activity; others eliminate labor rights and regulations – both protect the lower 95% – which explains why 2021 America is an oligarchy.
Gone from greatest mass prosperity to: hundreds of thousands of homeless; massive drug overdosing; extensive job “offshoring;” 50% struggling to survive; pervasive hunger; child care crisis….. This DID NOT. happen “naturally.” It was planned.

Beginning of post-1980 theft and inequality comes from unspun IRS income data; March-April, 2011 “Mother Jones;” double Pulitzers Bartlett and Steele’s “The Betrayal of the American. Dream;” Pulitzer winner Hedrick Smith’s “Who Stole the American Dream?:” “The Cheating of America” by Charles Lewis, Bill Allison and the Center for Public Integrity; the “Panama” and “Pandora” Papers; Charles Ferguson”s Academy Award winner “Inside Job” and “Predator Nation;” Sept-Oct, 2021, stories of top 1% cheating America by $160 billion every year.

Further documentation: Nancy MacLean’s “Democracy in Chains..The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America:” Jane Mayer’s “Dark Money…the Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right;” Anne Nelson’s “Shadow Network…Media, Money, and the Secret Hub of the Radical Right>”

Quotes from top 1% employee: “Only governments and..courts remained as sources of authority, if enacted Charles’ libertarian policies would eliminate these. “He was driven..to smash the one thing left in the world that could discipline him: the government.: Betsy DeVos [1997]: “Soft money was..hard-earned..dollars..Big Brother has yet to control…I have decided to stop taking offense at the suggestion we are buying influence. Now, I simply concede the point..We do expect something in return.” [IS THERE ANY DOUBT??????] Warren Buffett: “There’s class warfare, all right, but it is my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.” Republican Representative Fred Heineman: “WhenI see someone..making anywhere from $300-750,000 a year, that’s middle class.” [10/25/96]

The Founders’ #1 fear: corruption. Madison’s notes show “corruption” written 54 times in the 100 days of 1787. America now #24th best in honesty. Money decides elections; foreigners have DC lobbyists; white collar criminals rarely held accountable
Basic info: Teachout’s “Corruption in America.” Sarah Chayes’ foreign service experiences developed her corruption senses for “Corruption in America and What’s At Stake”‘s major message: 3rd world corruption IS. IN. AMERICA. Pulitzer winner Anne Applebaum’s “Twilight of Democracy,” discusses “the seductive lure of authoritarianism,” relating East European tendencies occurring in America.
1995-2021 Congressional corruption now so bad, issues formerly easily discussed and dealt with become “wedges” and “bargaining chips.” Major industries have people they “own” by “campaign contributions” and future jobs. [this from confessions]. Lobbyists write laws, infest Congress, pressure regulators, file lawsuits – whatever “necessary.”

Another major Founders’ fear: religion. Article VI and Amendment One were to prevent corruption – they’ve failed, because of Supreme Court rulings. The Rhenquist and Roberts Courts attacked then “establishment” clause with the “freedom of religion” clause; they’ve made the First Amendment say what Founders explicitly DID NOT say.
Documentation of this corruption can be found examining 1776-1799 state constitutions>. In great detail, those constitutions express an ABSOLUTE AND TOTAL “separation of church and state.” North Carolina, 1776: “..neither shall any person, ON. ANY. PRETENSE WHATSOEVER, be COMPELLED..” to support any church, attend any church, “..contrary to what he believes right.” [ ANY. DOUBT?]
Words from state constitutions, 1776-1799, appear in Article VI and Amendment one: no religious test, no “established [state, official] church., no person compelled to do anything against his will. My challenge to any doubter: look up the original state constitutions, 1776-1799. They have ENTIRE PARAGRAPHS. describing what the First Amendment has in a short phrase. – those constitutions are what Amendment One means
Reactionary religious zealots have very clear goals. “Schools are the battle grounds. The goal of 500,000 born-again Christians working inside the ‘system is to bring public education back under..control of the Christian community.” [Robert Simonds, 1991] Randall Terry: “Our goal is a Christian nation. We have a biblical duty…are called by God to conquer this country…We don’t..want..pluralism.”

Evidence cited herein, a minute part of 50 years’ evidence, leads a “reasonable person” in one direction: some “AmericanS are planning to end 1787-1980 America. Their goal”. theocratic plutocracy

The plutocratic part has already largely been created. The top 1% and corporations [they own] control the economy; since 1980, a hugely disproportionate share of national income goes to them. Major problems, like the cost and failures of American “health care” are maintained. Fossil fuel powers prevented meaningful action on global warming. There are two sets of”justice:” one for the rich, one for the bottom 95%.
The theocratic part – the voters the plutocrats need – might get their wishes fulfilled by the 2021 Supreme Court. Then far right wing legal “conveyor belt”shoveled Constitution altering cases for decision. Your health choices could be controlled by a church YOU. DON’T. attend. “Sincerely held religious beliefs” getting close to total “get out of jail free” cards for anything. We may have guns for all with little restraint.
One major party supports this – the Republicans. their own people admitted the crazies have taken over; once fringe fantasies now gospel. their 50 year attack on government legitimacy accepted by most Republican voters.

If “Buzz” Windrip II, or III, wins a future election, death of the American democratic republic will be complete – and final. A death allowed to occur; victims watched it happen, did little; some even cheered.
When everybody has “rights,” but no “responsibilities;” when everybody can march to their own drummer because of “rights”. – we have anarchy. When we have anarchy, ground is ripe for “Buzz” Windrip, II or III.

Then, government of the people, by the people, for the people – SHALL have perished from the earth – in the name of “rights.” The American democracy. SHALL. have ended – resulting in a royalty of the rich, a state church, a corporate economy – EVERYTHING the Founders tried to prevent. Madison, Lincoln, Lewis proved very, very, wrong.

This has been said many times: “more people are killed in the name of religion than anything else.”

Europe had religious wars, 1517-1648. The Indian subcontinent divided between Hindus and Muslims – often at war.
“Crusades” attempted to “take back” the “Holy Land” from muslims – committed many atrocities en route.
Muslims divided between Shiite and Sunni. Various “Inquisitions” occurred in Europe over centuries. Jews and Muslims argue over who should be there, in possessions of Palestinian holy sites. “Witch hunts” occurred in Europe over centuries – people accused of working with the Devil. Buddhists expelled Muslims from Myanmar. Anti-Semitism, centuries old, led to Nazi Holocaust. Genocide occurred in the Americas, often in the name of “Christianizing savages.” In World War I, Germans and their opponents both claimed “God is on our side.” Religion justified slavery, then segregation, now discrimination. 1692’s Salem “witch scare” occurred in an atmosphere dominated by fundamentalist religious outlook.

Professor of religion and Middle East religion expert, Charles Kimball’s 2002 “When Religion Becomes Evil” stated “The Five Warning Signs of Corruption in Religion.” They are”. absolute truth claims, blind obedience, establishing the ‘Ideal Time,” the end justifies any means, declaring holy war. “..One or more of these five signs always precedes any instance of religiously sanctioned evil.”
Kimball put the American “religious right” and the Taliban on a continuum; condemns religious extremists of all kinds. He noted, in many ways, Osama bin Laden and Jerry Falwell “seemed to agree” on interpreting 9/11 events.
Kimball”. “Christians who say they take the Bible literally are either ignorant or self-deluded. No one takes the Bible literally.”

Stacy Schiff’s “The Witches” details the 1692 Salem witch scare. “When the colonists established a legal code, the first capital crime was idolatry. the second was witchcraft. ‘If any man or woman be a witch, that is, hath or consulteth with a familiar spirit, they shall be put to death,’ read the 1641 body of laws, citing Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy. Blasphemy came next, followed by murder, poisoning, and bestiality.”

Founders were students of European and English history – well aware of destructive religious events. Some ancestors were refugees from religious persecution.
Founders had four major fears: abuse of power [corruption], slavery, religion, and mobs. The Constitution and Bill of Rights were to prevent these causing trouble.
England’s 1573 law required people in government taking an oath supporting the Church of England. Article VI of the Constitution: “..but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public trust under the United States.” To a “reasonable person” this is rather obvious and clear, right?????

Considerable effort has been made to distort the First Amendment; have it “say” what Founders explicitly denied. The most egregious of efforts to twist “freedom of speech” into an excuse for many things, including political corruption [the number one Founders concern]. The other most egregious falsehood: deny the Founders intended “separation of church and state.”

First Amendment language is very brief. Too brief to state what many Founding generations. DEMANDED. – TOTAL “separation of church and state.”

We have much the Founders said recorded on documents, speeches, letters, etc. Among the best summaries is Edwin S. Gaustad’s. “Faith of the Founders…Religion and the New Nation, 1776-1826.” On pages 134-145 Gaustad has excerpts from 1776-1799 state constitutions. Every American who questions “separation of church and state” needs to read the very exacting language. These state constitutions are THE explanation what the Founders meant by: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..”

Consider: 8 of 13 original states prohibited ministers serving in their government. Delaware, 1776, Article 29: “There shall be no establishment of any one religious sect in this State in preference to another; and no clergyman or preacher of the gospel, of any denomination, shall be capable of holding any civil office in this State, or being a member of either of the branches of the legislature, while they continue in the exercise of the pastoral function.”

Some religious zealots want YOU to pay for their beliefs and churches. Consider North Carolina constitution, 1776, Article XXXIV: “That there shall be no establishment of anyone religious church or denomination in this State, in preference to any other; NEITHER SHALL ANY PERSON, ON ANY PRETENSE WHATSOEVER, be compelled to attend any place of worship CONTRARY. TO. HIS OWN FAITH. OR JUDGMENT, NOR BE OBLIGED. TO PAY, for the purchase of any glebe, or the building of any house of worship, or for the maintenance of. ANY. minister or ministry, CONTRARY. TO. WHAT HE. BELIEVES. RIGHT, or has. VOLUNTARILY any personally engaged to perform; but all persons shall be at liberty to exercise THEIR. OWN. MODE. OF. WORSHIP.” [my capitalizations]
Madison and others in the Founding Generations believed to require a person to support THE CHURCH HE HIMSELF attended – violated his religious freedom.

There is NO. doubt “whatsoever” Founders believed any and all recent “voucher” or “scholarship” schemes to get taxpayer support for churches and religious schools are all unConstitutional. All tax exemptions are also unConstitutional – why should YOU pay for a church YOU don’t attend, a church which might be violating YOUR religious rights?
The Founders didn’t believe you should – as above. If requiring YOU to support the church YOU attend was wrong, why should YOUR taxes go to a church possibly hostile to everything YOU believe in?????

Past gifts by American governments to churches have been done on the. ASSUMPTION all churches are “good” for the community. American churches have a long list of exemptions from laws others are required to obey – on the. ASSUMPTION all churches are positive forces for “good.” This is demonstrably untrue.

Note Founders’ language on many documents indicating without doubt – religion was a. PRIVATE. not. COLLECTIVE right. Part of the 1765-1800 American Revolution was against the Church of England – why replace that with another?
The American experiment was the first governed by the people – not royalty, not an official church.

The 1797 Treaty with the Barbary pirates stated America was not a Christian nation. Negotiated by the Washington Administration, signed by the Adams Administration, it sailed through a Congress full of Founders virtually without dissent.

II. The consequences of violating “separation of church and state>”

In 1980-2021 America, we’ve seen the Founders’ wisdom repeatedly proven – by violations of it; by constant attempts to blur the line between church and state.

The American Taliban, the “religious right,” has conducted religious war against mainstream America. They’ve murdered doctors, vandalized and blown ip medical facilities. They’ve conducted a war of suppression against women – demanding women run their reproductive lives according to fundamentalist demands.

In 2021 Texas, we have, so far, the ultimate in “the state” controlling people’s bodies. Texas law allows “private citizens” to become “bounty hunters” of other Americans. Texas now on par with Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia in creating an atmosphere of fear and suspicion, of neighbors turning in neighbors. Texas is on the continuum with Afghan Taliban thugs.

Much of 1980-2021 America is the result of violation of the Constitution’s Article VI, prohibiting a “religious test” for public offices. Republican governors and presidents repeatedly promised “pro-life judges.” The result is thenRoberts Supreme Court. All 6 Republican appointees were raised in one “conservative” church, vigorously anti-abortion.

Much of American politics is determined by candidate’s position on abortion and/or homosexuality. These are. RELIGIOUS DOCTRINES, supposedly forbidden from being enacted American laws.

Why should a church YOU DON’T. BELONG TO. control. YOOUR. life??? Why should this church have. ANY. SAY. on how. YOU run. YOUR. life???? The Constitutions says they can’t. The Founding generations were very clear. NO. NEVER. NOT. AT ALL, UNDER. NO. CIRCUMSTANCES. WHATSOEVER. would this happen. Yet it has.

Without full control over YOUR. body – YOU. have. no rights. If the government, pushed by a church, can dictate YOUR. SEX. and. REPRODUCTIVE. life. – YOU. have. no. privacy. The Puritans own YOU.

Welcome to 1621. – or is it. 1692. – ‘AMERICA”??????????????

One of the most dismaying, bewildering, and demoralizing phenomenons of 2016-2021 events is the unthinking cruelty, bigotry, and stupidity unleashed against innocent people.
First, we had opportunistic demagoguery. This led to street brutalities including people being run over, attacks on churches, attacks on the people in them. Some were said to be attending “the wrong church.”
In addition to walls some built around themselves, “we” also built walls to keep “the homeland” free from undesirables.
Groups of people were labeled “unAmerican,” or “criminal;” others parasites undeservingly getting into line “too early” – in front of “real Americans” who has “earned” their place in line.
Some “patriotic” vigilantes were inspired to travel, often long distances, to “cleanse the “real” America of the “undesirables” infecting and afflicting “the homeland.” This often required application of AR-15 “justice.”

It was often easy to spot the “patriotic” vigilantes – they frequently displayed American flags. Displaying flags was was the cover for what was being done; this made the actions “legal” and “patriotic.” But – there were times observers got confused: during some of these “patriotic” events there were two flags: the Stars and Stripes, and the Stars and Bars. We saw this during the “patriotic” insurrection of January 6, 2021.

Then – came COVID-19. 2020 and 2021 rank with any time as the most irrational, often cruel and stupid. The 1918-19 flu pandemic didn’t produce this lunacy – even though it killed far more people in relative comparison. Then, people refusing masks were called “mask slackers.” That was before disease [incredibly] got politicized; before doctors and nurses were denigrated, attacked, laughed at.

Trevor-Roper’s “The European Witch-Craze of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries” provides perspective. Witch paranoia largely began in mountain and rural areas. Roper discusses rural superstitions; documents how religious leaders were a major casual factor, later extended by lawyers. He shows once “the fever” hits, it has momentum of its own; how denial of irrationality is seen as “proof;” how irrationality carried all before it; the necessity of scapegoats.

Since COVID-19 was labeled “the Chinese disease,” some felt compelled to attack anyone “Chines” looking. So “Brown Shirts” have beaten up numerous people not Chinese Chinese; vandalized a Hmong Cultural Center.
America is fighting foreign Islamic terrorism – so its “OK” to deface and bomb an American mosque; for good measure attack a Jewish temple; and, of course, shoe anyone who looks like a person of Middle Eastern ethnicity some vigilante street “justice.”

Having personal issues wearing a mask means it”s OK to murder a supermarket employee asking you to wear one; you”re “entitled” to punch them out for similar requests. Airline cabin attendants are “approved” targets if they ask you to mask up. The other passengers have “no rights” to protest your contagious behavior.

Ballistic gear is now standard firefighters gear – to protect them from thrown rocks, bottlers and bricks – while they’re trying to put out the fire near your house!. The police are already “approved” targets for assault and assassination.
Gun buying accelerated during COVID – we need to protect ourselves from “them,” whoever “them” might be.

Across America – school board members, public health officials, elections officials, first responders, teachers, nurses and doctors – have one thing in common. They’re all quitting their jobs – no longer wishing to deal with an increasingly anger, misinformed, and irrational public.

Some of the key people who make America run – have “had enough.” Concerns already expressed”. where do this leave American “civilization.” Who will want to do those jobs – if part of the jobs is dealing with misinformed crazies?

We’re awash in “conspiracy” theories. One prompted a pharmacist to attempt sabotaging “dozens of vials” of COVID vaccine. Others refuse to accept free COVID shots, but are apparently willing to pay $1500 for a bogus “vaccination” card. – in a world were billions are pleading for those same COVID shots.

If 35% of “adults” don’t accept COVID shots, all medical science says the pandemic will go on…and on…and on…and on…

Which means – we’ll again see [real] small businesses stressed; our favorite restaurants and entertainment venues stressed; school kids forced to wear masks [because the “adults” around them won’t].

Attendance at one of America’s premier state fairs was about 50% normal, many vendors refused to set up; some attendees got COVID.

We’ve just begun allowing 1200% football game attendance. Any bets on how long this will last??? Want to take a bet on whether we go through the 2021 season like this??? How many NFL and NHL teams are going to lose a game, or a key player, to new COVID rules?

Why do we have to ask these questions? Because a few million “adults” believe their own definition of their “rights” doesn’t include ay responsibilities. These “refuseniks”. hold America hostage. Why are they allowed to do this???

Refuseniks should be given three choices: get shots; quarantine yourselves; leave the country – pick one.

Worst fo all: refuseniks, YOU are traumatizing children and young people. Books and studies will be written in the future about what American “adults” have done to children. Think back to your own “normal” childhoods – now, think about all these things denied to current k-college, l8-30-year-olds.
Then – reflect on the young who’ve already committed suicide; think about all the young right now, already in mental health programs; the ones who should be there, but aren’t.

All you anti-vaxxers and masks refusers – think on this: YOU and YOU ALONE. have and continue to make all this happen. You have. NO. excuses – absolutely none, except for legitimate medical reasons.

All of you deniers, who listened to discredited demagogues, media morons, internet idiots, discredited doctors……..
YOU will go to your graves knowing your anti-social behavior not only killed people, but worst of all, YOU. are guilty of increasing trauma inflicted on America’s children.

At this point, we don’t know the extent of this damage. What we already know paints a very grim picture. Adult first responders and military personnel suffer PTSD when they see things humans aren’t supposed to see. This is adults…children aren’t meant to acquire PTSD. Refuseniks – this is on you.
Right now, late September, 2021, we are already scrambling a 3rd school year in a row. Record numbers of children getting infected, some will carry COVID ‘long haul’ burdens – perhaps forever. – this is on you.

You refuseniks – antis and deniers, may try to convince yourselves – “I have a right to do this.” BUT. you can never forget what you have done – NEVER. At the end of your lives, it will always be there – the burden of this GUILT.

Yes – the absolute savagery…the bewildering irrationality…the demoralizing arrogance…of those prolonging this pandemic, absolutely without reason. So many normal people are speechless; in conversations just look at other rational people – without words; they cannot understand WHY???

If you’re claiming “sincerely held religious beliefs,” fine – go live in a dedicated “religious” community, they’re all over America. If not – do the moral thing – quarantine yourself, please.
For those thinking you’re “patriots” – in reality, you’re doing the work of America’s enemies, sabotaging health. TheRussians and Chinese are laughing at you; using several things you’ve done i their propaganda.

Refuseniks – know this – there are people who are cheering when they hear 100 or so unvaccinated Americans died. As cruel as this is – it is happening. Sorry to tell you this, they feel good riddance. Yes, your behavior has produced this.

Unfortunately, you’re taking innocents with you. You are sabotaging children. You are burning out doctors and nurses. Many have quit, others thinking of it.
Your final “gift” to America will be a massive shortage of America’s “glue” – doctors and nurses, first responders, public health workers, school board members, elections officials, teachers, school bus drivers, city council members………..

Refuseniks – you are going to die with much GUILT.

The Founders of the American experiment were students of the Enlightenment, Rome, European and English history, religious wars, and human behavior.

Their goal: build a system that could promote “democracy.” The Founding generations, 1760s-1800, revolted against unrepresentative government, a privileged corporation, a royal government, and a state church. The Constitution was intended to solve these problems. A weak central government – the Articles of Confederation – had been tried. It came close to losing the Revolutionary War, was largely unable to run a proper government.

The Founders had four main fears: abuse of power [corruption], slavery, religion, mobs. Unfortunately, America has witnessed these fears, 1980-2021. Alexander Hamilton said the Constitutional Convention’s number one concern was corruption. James Madison’ incomplete notes reveal the word “corruption” written 54 times during the l00 days.

The Founders sought to build a system encouraging men of “civic virtue” to seek office. They recognized human failings, but hoped to build a system that allowed for greed and ambition – thus “checks and balances.” They also sought to encourage “civic virtue” in the public. The hope was a virtuous country.

The Founders had faith that if people were informed and discussed issues, a democratic republic could succeed. The lesson of Rome was ever constant. They saw England a failed country: good structure, corrupted by people. A major British problem was “placemen,” who got government jobs without being “men of virtue.” These “placemen” were loyal to the King would appointed them, but not loyal to England. The rest of Europe was worse.
“Civic virtue” hopes were made possible by First Amendment freedoms: speech [to make dissent possible], press [to provide information], assembly [to encourage discussions]’ petition [to allow written protests]. The Post Office was an important institution. Eventually, free public schools and libraries

The Constitution was, is a flawed document. Compromise necessary to obtain support of all 13 colonies contained fatal cancers. The slave-holding South was the major problem [even thought northern banks and businesses prospered from slavery]. To protect slavery, the infamous “3/5 compromise was accepted. The Electoral College was supposed to be a group of ‘”wise men” who would not allow an inferior person [somebody less than George Washington] to become president. To ease the fears of “smaller” states, a Senate of 2 people per state was created – again, a supposed body of ‘wise men’ who would restrain the “passions” of the the branch closest to the people – the House.
The Electoral College and Senate now give disproportionate power to a minority of the population. Under the original Constitution, women were second class citizens for 130 years.

The American experiment continues. A major problem always – one of exclusion rather than inclusion. America is still unique; still a beacon of hope and inspiration – that intoxicating and liberating concept of personal worth and “freedom.”
At one time, America was called “the last, best hope of man.” Now, America is not the home of “the happiest people.” That honor belongs to “Scandinavia>”. The answer to “why?” Is crucial.

America faces two dangers: one, that Pogo will be proven correct [we have met the enemy, and he is us}; two.\, that she will be sabotaged by numerous “humans” who have places reserved for them in the 8th and 9th Circles of Dante’s Inferno.

The concept of the Founders remains unique, remains the highest achievement of man to responsibly govern himself. The question is the same challenge Benjamin Franklin issued to an inquisitive woman on a mid-September day in 1787 Philadelphia: “…a republic, if you can keep it.”

The other main fears – slavery, religion, mobs – will be discussed in more detail later. Slavery by race was largely an American practice. Indentured servants had been found wanting. It led to segregation after the North “won” the Civil War. The modern problem is race-based discrimination.
Religion was to be a private issue. Everyone went to their church [or none at all], worshipped their faith – and, critically – allowed others to do the same. Allowing others freedom to worship in.their own way has proven difficult to accept for some.
Mobs have created problems, death, for much American history. The most recent, dramatic, example – January 6, 2021 – rattled our foreign friends and most Americans. It threatened everything the Founders planned.

The Founders corruption concerns have been proven. Spectacular excesses occurred during the “Gilded Age’s “Robber Baron” era of 1865-1901; the 1920s, the 1980s. Few of the worst offenders were prosecuted – a major American flaw. Additional [real] reforms were attempted – but often forces of corruption succeeded in having them neutralized by corrupt Congresspeople or Supreme Court “Justices.”
The theory of a “virtuous republic” based on wide availability of valid [true] information has been continually tested. Disinformation has always existed – but has accelerated since 1945 – is now an epidemic. Entire disinformation industries and media exist to, deliberately, confuse the public.

Despite numerous flaws and corruption, the Founder’s vision of America as a land of opportunity has been realized. Generation after generation did better than their parents – until the 1970s. Americans still have more “stuff” than most of the world – they just have to work harder for that. Beginning around 1970, “the empire” [rich and corporations] struck back]. Their greed told them these “lesser’ Americans didn’t “deserve” what they – the masters of the universe – had “earned all by themselves.” So they rewrote the rules [Congress and Supreme Court].

The biggest immorality: it has become difficult for a person with “only” a high school education to support a family, and to thrive. This was not the case during “the middle class golden age” of 1947-1973. Result: for many, even those better off, have fewer children [or none at all]. This too, has consequences.

Factors and truths for the. DELIBERATE. 1970-2021 decline in quality of life for the bottom 90% will be discussed later.

As always – this site’s challenge: do responsible research – in world-wide respected mainstream sources. This does NOT. mean beginning and ending with the internet!!!!! It means doing real – gasp! – reading of unspun and NON-cherry picked data. It means asking questions. What would a “reasonable person” think? It means NOT giving credence to works written by hacks [secretly supported by greedy rogue billionaires] – who are often trying to pound square pegs into round holes; and knocking down their own “straw men.” Even the Supreme Court has been guilty of this. How plausible are their conclusions and conspiracy theories? Would a reasonable person from Canada, England, Australia, New Zealand accept this? If you accept their theories – who are the winners and losers?
Are these people trying to rewrite history. This has BEEN done already – especially on emotional topics. Both the First and Second Amendments are being twisted to say what original documents show was the intent.

Fellow Americans, democracy, America, are not guaranteed to continue. They will continue only if YOU want them to. Enemies of both – domestic and foreign – hope you won’t. You can search for truth or not. You can have “confirmation bias” – or not. You can vote for people who are interested in creating a real democracy – or you can vote for demagogues that tell you what you want to hear. The choice is yours.

After twin Republican assaults on the Constitution [Texas anti-abortion law; Sup. Court overturn refusal], and on American’s right to run their own lives without fascist quasi-government interference, questions exist.
Some people are talking in terms of “Lord of the Flies,’ where non-gov’t vigilantes enforce compliance.
Some people are talking in terms of a new witch burning; groups of citizens crazed by religious zealotry
enforcing compliance.
Some people are talking in terms of a new Inquisition; private citizens carrying out the wishes of The Church
against “heretics.”
Some people are talking in terms of a new Ku Klux Klan, private citizens enforce street “justice” on subhumans
by dragging them into kangaroo courts.
Some people are talking in terms of a new “Scarlet Letter,” worn by abortion assisters.
Some suggest, this being Texas, this is the result of too many concussions under Friday night lights.

Texas, too cleverly, says it has the un-American mandatory motherhood plan insulated from challenge,
because the “state” isn’t doing any of the dirty work.
WRONG!!!
The vigilante suits will be filed in a Texas [government!!!] state court. Then – if the rigged court says “evil-doers” are “guilt,” exactly. WHO enforces the $10,000 penalties??? The police [government!!!]? Private “law enforcement?”
KKK-brown shirts-witch burners-vigilantes-Inquisition?
Suppose the “guilty” resist? Suppose a gun fight – in a state where anybody can carry guns – occurs? Who is “defending themselves? Suppose innocent bystanders are killed – exactly who is guilt of murder: the accused abortion assisters, or the KKK-brown shirts-witch burners-Inquisition-vigilantes???

Texas panderers [circle Eight, Dante’s Inferno] have created yet another attempt at authoritarian America. Like Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia, Communist China – authoritarian Texas declares that it, and it alone, controls any pre-pregnant female’s reproductive system [for the good of “the state’]. The state of Texas owns you.

If one does not control their own body – YOU – have no rights.

All this is unnecessary, unConstitutional. Amendment One has two religious freedoms: freedom for and freedom from. Freedom from: “Congress shall make NO law respecting an establishment of religion..” An “established” church is an official state church – like Sweden, England, etc. had. An “established” church requires all paying taxes, all following official church dogma as law. The Founders were very clear – they did NOT want this.

North Carolina, 1776 constitution, Article XXXIV: ‘..no establishment of anyone religious church..in this state, in preference to any other; neither shall any person ON ANY PRETENSE WHATSOEVER. , be compelled to attend any place of worship contrary to his own faith..be obliged to pay, for..the building of any house of worship, or for the maintenance of ANY. minister or ministry, contrary to what he believes is right…”

Texas’ mandatory motherhood law is plainly unConstitutional, unAmerican in the worst way, cruelty personified, a violation of individual religious and personal rights, fascist.

All this compounded by actions of 5 “conservative” Supreme Court members, all raised in one of the fundamentalist churches behind this law. They by this reckless action, have now raised terrible possibilities for America.
The Court’s decision invites the possibility of “Nullification” again. Various “red” and “blue” states outlawing things they don’t like – leading to vigilante-brown shirt-KKK-witch burning everywhere. Law made by zealots [we’ve seen them in action, January 6, 2021].
Women protested against similar laws in Poland. Courageous Afghan women taking to the streets. Mexico has just decriminalized abortion. What can we expect in “our” Supreme Court denies American women rights?

In this, like January 6 events, we have seen what Republicans really mean by “law & order.” “Law & order” for them has never been more than a “code word” to get elected. Their 1980-2021 in-office actions have often been repressive “laws” enacting authoritarian ideas – political, economic, religious.

In 2002, internationally respected religion expert, Charles Kimball, published “When Religion Becomes Evil,” listing “The Five Warning Signs of Corruption in Religion: absolute truth claims, blind obedience, establishing the ‘Ideal” Time, the end justifies any means, declaring holy war.”
Kimball put the Taliban and American ‘religious right’ on a continuum. Page 121: “Christian reconstructionists in America are only one step removed from their counterparts with a concrete, divinely ordained plan for an Islamic state…”

Republican presidents put reactionary justices on the Supreme Court – a well known Republican plan since 1968; then the “conservative” game plan is running “test cases” up to the Court so it can make these law. This gave America “Citizens United” and “Shelby County;” previously “Bush-Gore.”
There was already a Mississippi anti-abortion case accepted for 2021-2022, and – SURPRISE111 – another “gun rights” case [America doesn’t have enough murders, we need more gun”rights”].

These are only the most visible Court decisions. For 35 years, an increasingly reactionary Supreme Court has sided with corporations and the rich [“Citizens United” in real life payoff action]. The Roberts Court is the most “business friendly” since 1945. They have made it very difficult to restrain the greed and power of corporations.

Texas added more antidemocratic legislation by making it harder to vote, and insulting intelligence claiming these were “voting reforms.” Changes yes, reforms no. Several other Republican states also made it more difficult to vote [their gift from “Selby County”] – they don’t want “the wrong people” people to vote.

In 1935, Sinclair Lewis wrote “It Can’t Happen Here”. – but it “did.” A fascist dictatorship ran America, reducing women’s rights, and also many others. Texas has now made fiction real life.

Welcome to “law & order” – Republican style. America has now joined Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia, Communist China in “owning” women’s bodies [for the “good’ of the state].

If the Supreme Court allows this Texas law – you can throw out the Constitution. You can forget about “freedom” on your terms. “Freedom” will be what Republicans [Texas, Supreme Court, other reactionary states] say it is.

If. YOU. don’t control. YOUR. body – YOU. have no rights.

There is.a fever burning on this land. For 50 years it has burned, and tormented. Now we will burn “witches” in Texas. Previously “heretics” who performed abortions were murdered and medical facilities destroyed. For 50 years the laws and judicial system have been perverted because “the end justifies the means.” Now the Texas Brown Shirts will enact “justice.” We await Spring, 2022, to see if the Inquisition court will bless Texas vigilantes, and all the other brown shirts in various Republican klaverns. And, the fever will continue.

The fever will go on, until the good people, after many burnings, rediscover our humanity, put an end to this Republican madness. Only then, will we be entitled to call ourselves “Americans” – and not the fools of Salem.
Only then, will we discover why a 25-year top Republican political operative, Stuart Stevens, confessed in a 2020 book. – “It Was All A Lie.”i