A recent January letter to advice columnist Carolyn Hax raised the following question: do people opposed to wearing masks deserve health care? Ms Hax’ nuanced response included a variety of reasons why we should provide healthcare to the anti-maskers, among them basic fairness, expectations of care, our social contract, and humans making possible biases denial decisions. In other words, a very moral and positive response – that no matter what they’d or who they were, in we were to deny care, we’d be embarking on the “slippery slope” of danger – where would it stop?

Ms Hax is a better person than I am. I think there should be – in this case – some accountability, IF we get to the point of rationing. There are many issues and angles in this – so let us begin.

1] The Trump administration issued a “Denial of Care Rule,” which authorized health care workers to decide who receives care and who doesn’t. Under the rule, health care workers can use their personal religious or moral beliefs to justify denying care – with no limits on what constitutes a refusal.
There are numerous public examples of this being done, from denial of prescriptions, refusal to follow end-of-life wishes, denial of health care to people in extreme health crises. and so on.
So – legally, denial of opponents of world wide standards of medical practice in a pandemic, would seem to be an easy fit. Health care workers, morally repulsed by these people, who are sabotaging them – should be entitled to denials, right?

2] Consider this. World wide, doctors and nurses have been literally begging people to wear masks and social distance. They have done this through many media outlets.
In a 11/29/20 statement, a nurse said: “We’re not the front line. We’re the last line. When we say the front line is failing, it’s our population, it’s our community.” In a 11/18/20 statement, s doctor said: “Right now we need more help. The honor code [“personal responsibility”] system is killing us.”

3] The effect on medical personnel. In late July, 2020, around 120,000 American health care workers had tested positive and 587 had died. That is only the beginning .

Consider this 11/16/20 article: “Pandemic-stressed doctors calling it quits:” 8% of doctors closed their offices recently; another 4% planned to close soon; other doctors and nurses are retiring early; 20% of primary care doctors say they knew of an impending retirement and 15% said they knew somebody who quit or planned to quit.
Consider this 12/25/20 article: “Already pushed to brink, nurses fear what’s ahead,” they’re “frightened by what people are doing, or not doing; one nurse is haunted by daily death counts. “These nurses are not only exhausted, they are angry with those who flout pleas to stay home, stay safe.”

Then there is this article: “Public health care workers face vitriol” [6/23/20}: “they’re being personally attacked for doing their job; there are ARMED protesters at their homes; at least one director had an armed escort. One result” there is “an exodus of public health officials” across America.

Then there is this article, 12/6/20: “COVID’ toll on mental health,” discussing how psychiatrists now have a vital role in treating MEDICAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS. A Wuhan , China, study found 70% of health care workers reported depression, anxiety, and insomnia. Multiple doctors, world wide have committed suicide.

Add this: the stress and strain on “first responders” is also intense. On veteran East Coast EMT person reported being in therapy for years. He also reported a recent suicide.

So – under the government’s official rules – do American medical personnel have valid grounds for refusing to treat people who’ve openly sabotaged them, have refused to listen to their professional advice, have helped cause the death of colleagues, and, often – sickness of themselves or people in their homes?

4] Consider this 10/24/20 article: “Study finds masks are easiest, cheapest way to save lives. Consider articles on how the “bubbles” used by some pro sports enabled them to finish the 2019-2020 seasons, and this: “..the thing that made it successful in the first place was the adherence to all those protocols that most people can follow most of the time in their lives.”

So – this is NOT “rocket science,” it is simply doing very basic health practices.

5] So – how much “freedom of speech, press, assembly, petition” should Americans expect to reasonably expect to have in a “war.” In this case, a war against a pandemic that has now killed over 400,000 Americans, sickened many more, bankrupted businesses, pushed millions into unemployment, drastically impaired the schooling and mental health of OUR children, K-college???

Consider this “letter” [8/31/20] from “P.P.:” “In a war, you follow orders or else:” “We have been told that we are in a war against COVID-19…I served in another war – as a combat medic in World War II. As a soldier you carry out your orders no matter how uncomfortable or even scary they are. Ignoring orders will win few wars….Aren’t we all soldiers in this war? Do we really want to win it?”

In other wars, people who went too far in protesting the war effort were jailed. A long-standing principle of “freedom of speech” is you can’t falsely yell ‘fire’ in theater. The January 6th invasion of the U.S. Capitol is not “freedom of speech, or assembly>” The Pentagon has called it an “insurrection,” which gets one into the territory of sedition at the very least. What “health rights” do these people have?

6] Travel, “gatherings” “superspreader ” events. Health officials warned against all of these. People did them anyway. And, predictably – people got sick with COVID-19.
So -are all of these merely ‘innocent” human activities? Or, during a pandemic – irresponsible even dangerous? Do all these people have equal “health rights” to the millions who listened and didn’t do them?

7] Anti-vaxxers. People have been openly appearing at anti-vaccine rallies, many of those with political intent. These people are often protesting any manifestation of vaccines. The medical truth is simple: the only way to begin to end the COVID-19 crisis is to vaccinate people – as was done with earlier mass diseases.
So, by definition – anti-vaxxers are sabotaging the only way out of the COVID-19 crisis. This too, is at least on the sedition continuum. If vaccination opponents are successful, we will NEVER end the COVID-19 crisis. If they were to eventually want to take a COVID-19 vaccine, where on the vaccine list do these people “belong?”

8] Political opponents. There have been hundreds/thousands of protest against medical advice like wearing masks, practicing social distancing, closing some forms of business.
Nobody wants to do this – but scientific and medical science says if we don’t do these things, we have little chance of ending COVID-19 destroying “normal” life.
If we are in a war – then are these people guilty of sabotage, sedition, etc.? They think and claim to be right – but world wide evidence says they’re wrong. Do they ‘pay a price” for sabotaging the war effort?

9] Purveyors of misinformation. Numerous people and groups have been circulating falsehoods about COVID-19 and treatments for it. Some in visible manners. Some on line. If we’re in a war against COVID-19, again, are these people engaging in sabotage and sedition? Putting forth propaganda in a war, or giving aid and comfort to an enemy – is usually sedition, sabotage, even treason. people have been executed for such offenses.

The war against COVID-19 has already cost more American lives then World War II combat. Just how serious is sabotaging America’s most deadly war?

10] We have pictures and other data on many of these people. Do these people, who at the very least, have made a united effort against COVID-19 more difficult, have equal health rights to the millions of Americans who did not, who did everything possible to NOT make COVID-19 worse?

So – considering all the above, do medical personnel have the “right” to refuse to treat the opponents of their advice?”

Where on the lists of Americans lining up to get COVID-19 vaccinations should the opponents of these practices be?
Do they suffer any consequences at all? Or, as many of them demand – they are equal, because they were only practicing their “Constitutional rights?”

11] Rationing – ICU beds. Suppose there is only one ICU bed available. There are two claimants. One – YOUR relative, entirely innocent; and – one of the many classes of COVID-19 opponents. Is there a debate? Do medical personnel get to exercise their “moral opinions” as to whom thew bed should go?

12] Rationing – COVID-19 vaccinations. It has seemed there has been little opposition to the point that front line medical workers are #l. It has seemed that ‘first responders” should also be at the top of the list – because their jobs required them to work in hazardous conditions.
Behind these, it seems the public accepts vaccinating classroom teachers, to protect them – but also, so workers can go back to work. And – masks and social distancing will still be practiced.

13] Beyond the above, conflicts arise. There are many claimants – older people, most at risk; meat packing workers – at risk because of work stations and because they’re “essential workers; many “essential workers” in retail; etc.

14] Rationing – COVID-19 – the COVID-19 opponents – when do they get placed? Do they have a valid case? In this war, how much forgiveness do they deserve? Do the millions of Americans who’ve “played by the rules” need to offer those who made their lives more dangerous any concern?

If we are at war – and we are, then the “rights” one might have had in peacetime are reduced. Because – your RESPONSIBILITIES to the rest of us have been increased. Things you do that sabotage the well-being of ALL Americans, regardless of your personal beliefs, cannot – should not – be forgiven.
A favorite “conservative” mantra during the COVID-19 war has been “personal responsibility” [which, nurses and doctors have said Americans failed].

So, under the “conservative” mantra, the consequence of failed “personal responsibility” must include the possibility of being at the very end of the COVID-19 vaccination line.

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

Grandma Moses: “Life is what we make it, always has been, always will be.”

RedSmith: “Dying is easy; the least of us can do that. Living is the trick.”

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

A. Bronson Alcott: “One must have lived greatly whose record would bear the full light of day from beginning to its close.”

John Burroughs: “LIfe is a struggle, but not a warfare.”

Emily Dickinson: “That it will never come again Is what makes life so sweet.”

Ralph W. Emerson: “We are always getting ready to live, but never living>”

Ralph W. Emerson: “Life consists in what man is thinking of all day.”

Benjamin Franklin: “Wish not so much to live long as to live well>”

Katherine Hepburn: “Without discipline, there’s no life at all.”

Oliver W. Holmes,Sr.: “Life is a great bundle of little things>”

Oliver W. Holmes,Jr.: “To live is to function. That is all there is in living>”

Elbert Hubbard: “Life is a preparation for the future; and the best preparation for the future is to live as if there were none.”

Robert G. Ingersoll: “Life is a shadowy, strange, and winding road.”

Henry James: “Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living, and your belief will help create the fact.”

John Lennon, attributed: “Life is what happens while you are making other plans.”

Karl Menninger: “Unrest of spirit is a mark of life.”

Jerry Rubin: “A life without surrender is a life without commitment.”

George Santayana: “There is no cure for birth and death save to enjoy the interval.”

Logan P. Smith: “There are two things to aim at in life: first to get what you want; and after that, to enjoy it. Only the wisest of mankind achieve the second.”

Henry D. Thoreau: “My life is like a stroll on the beach, As near the ocean’s edge as I can go.”

Mark Twain: “Let us endeavour so to live that when we come to die, even the undertaker will be sorry.”

And, from my friend, Bob Allen, this: “The Measure of Man” [author unknown]:
“Not – “How did he die?” But – “How did he live?”
Not – “What did he gain?” But – “What did he give?”


[note, all but the first four and the last quote, were from “The Harper Book of American Quotations, Carruth and Ehrlich]

“Serenity is an inside job.”

[note: – courtesy of “Love Unlimited, Ventura, Ca.}

Actions and words of some people, 2016-2021, have raised doubts about the course and future of America. The incivility, cynicism, cruelty, hatred, and corruption reflected back on us is very demoralizing and unsettling.
From 1789 – 1980, there were some basic “American” principles we sought to achieve: “all men are created equal;” “if men were angels, no government would be necessary;” “We the People [not kings or church];” “promote the general Welfare;” “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Also the Christian Bible makes 2-3,000 references to the poor and obligation to them. Most major religions have a “thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself” clause.
WE thought certain things were understood and accepted.

The 2016-2021 mirror on America has revealed substantial numbers of Americans who not only do NOT accept and believe some of the above, but are openly hostile and seek to subvert the same. The antidemocratic actions and hateful words of the “doubters” have greatly alarmed and frightened many other Americans – even when they were not the “targeted” individuals. There is also the fear of to what extent the subversives intend to go to achieve their “vision” of a “real” America

Bad, ignorant, incompetent, cruel, corrupt “leadership” is one thing – dangerous as it is. The really unsettling thing is how many Americans appear not to believe in the 200 year old traditional American principles, ideals, and standards of conduct. In 2016-2021, they were given “signals” that it was acceptable for them to act out in public their antidemocratic beliefs. Ordinary Americans are seeing things reflected in the 2016-2021 mirror they didn’t think existed here. And – They are VERY frightened.

Some of the disturbing acts and words included these:
– anti-government – throughout the 1980-2021 era, we’ve had politicians telling us that “the problem is government” and running in opposition to the same government they want to serve under. In 2016-2021, groups backing this have appeared saying and acting out some very extreme things.
– anti-modern life – from votes and comments, apparently, a large number of Americans want to regress in time back to some supposed “perfect” age. The question is when – 1950?, 1919?, 1880?
– anti-sciencers – what, in other, civilized nations is only a medical issue, has in America been politicized, with tragic results. So – we have people refusing to wear masks, practice social distancing, etc. World-wide medical-scientific evidence shows this has made the American COVID-19 outbreak the deadliest, by far. The deniers, having been “informed” by a trusted media or political person say they “know the truth” – and nothing, especially facts, can change this.
Beyond this – we have climate crisis deniers, theory of evolution deniers [the basis for modern medicine 7 science], and on and on. Facts be damned.
– authoritarians – serious long-time comparative studies, plus 2016-2021 words and actions indicate about 14% of American adults are high “Right-Wing Authoritarians,” waiting for a supposed “strong man” to come along and lead them. From 1930 forward, we’ve seen the tragic results of this.
– cult-like followers – seeking to explain some of this recent behavior, analysis of some Americans, in comparison to previous known cults has revealed striking things. Lemming-like behavior in taking “medicine” that killed them, the January 6th insurrection, and more leads to a personality cult.
– fact-free acceptance – 2016-2021 was an era of “alternative facts,” tens of thousands of lies, conspiracy theories, political quackery, destructive propaganda distributed by government and right-wing media. “Kool-Aid” drinkers were much in evidence.
– hatred – perhaps most unsettling of all. The sheer ferocity of hatred seen on streets and on the internet was symbolized by Charlottesville and several church bombings and shootings. A man traveled to El Paso to kill people he didn’t like.
– “militias” and “patriots” – numerous times we saw angry, well-fed, armed with military style weapons white men seeking to intimidate citizens and governments into doing what these groups wanted done. January 6th, maybe, the culmination. The “maybe” is what frightens the rest of America.
– religious fundamentalism – religious zealots continued attempts to create an American theocracy, run by them. No tactic has been out-of-bounds in their “holy war,” including bombing and murder. Recent Supreme Court decisions, made possible by fundamentalists on the bench, have made this an increasing threat. Their slogan has been “religious liberty” – for them, not YOU.
– voters – the disgraced Dark One who presided over the recent years of all this received 74 million votes; has a reported 88 million Twitter followers; some who support him adamantly believe “he was sent by God;” millions took every word he said as the absolute truth {from a man known throughout his life as a liar] – & nothing could convince them otherwise. Foreign observers were/are stunned, some saying we were the laughing stock of the world; a Japanese talked of a “Voldemort presidency;” a Canadian asked why we hadn’t gotten rid of him – “he’s insane.”

Everyone has their opinions – BUT – everyone can’t have their own “facts:” nor be taken seriously when – based on world-wide evidence, including pictures & quotes – they’e been egregiously lied to and misinformed.
THIS is THE driver of much American division; THE driver of the bogus 2020 election being “stolen: the ENTIRE 2016-2021 period.
THE disheartening tragedy of 1980-2021 American lies in the millions of good Americans having been lied to and deliberately misinformed – as part of a political strategy. That strategy has produced 2021 America – a shadow of the middle class 1947-1973 golden age – indeed, a shadow of what America once stood for.

Some of the latest from the right wing “echo chamber,” a prominent “talking head”said this: Democrats want to put supporters of the Dark One into “re-education camps.” A colleague said: Democrats put on MAGA hats and infiltrated the January 6th rioters.
Ask yourself” why would they say such unbelievable things? They’re going to be proven wrong. Why the e3ver-escalating barrage of these type of lies? What is the goal of this? Did they do this – KNOWING their faithful listeners would accept it on face value? If so, America is in very big trouble

Consider the following from Professor Philip Zimbardo’s “The Lucifer Effect {Understanding How Good People Turn Evil}:” “Good people can be induced, seduced, and initiated into behaving in evil ways. They can also be led to act in irrational, stupid, self-destructive, antisocial, and mindless ways when they are immersed in “total situations” that impact human nature in ways that challenge our sense of stability and consistency of individual personality, of character, and of morality.”

John Dean and Bob Altemeyer, in their “Authoritarian Nightmare,” backed by much research over decades, go into much detail trying to explain the “why” of what happened in 2016-2021 America. Former cult member, Steven Hassan, wrote “The Cult of Trump” because of patterns he saw personally, and then researched.

We don’t know where all the money came from financing the January 6th insurrection – but some evidence has surfaced. We don’t yet know in somebody in Congress aided the rioters. We don’t know how the rioters obtained detailed information about the Capitol Complex, including how to identify unmarked doors. We don’t know the complete story on how much planning and coordination went into January 6th.
BUT – we DO know one significant thing. We KNOW the identity of the person who spoke to, and directed the rioters. We KNOW what he said – and HOW he said it. It is all recorded, live, on numerous sources.

We also know something else. A mob of insurrectionists assaulted multiple police. A “law and order” rioter deliberately killed a policeman. The mob was looking for two very high ranking government officials. We SAW a noose hanging in front of the Capitol.

We have a new president, a new federal government. BUT – we DON’T have a new American population. Much hope and relief has been expressed, here and abroad, that the 5-year nightmare is over.

This nightmare only disappears if several million Americans begin to reassess their beliefs, and more importantly – what is in their hearts. Do they want to?

When good Americans, radicalized by the 2016-2021 events, look into the mirror, what do they see?

William F. Buckley [1951]: “The most casual student of history knows that, as a matter of truth, truth does not necessarily vanquish. What is more, truth can never win unless it is promulgated. Truth does not carry within itself an antitoxin to falsehood. The cause of truth must be championed, and it must be championed dynamically.”

Eugene V. Debs [1918]: “The truth has always been dangerous to the rule of the rogue, the exploiter, the robber. So the truth must be ruthlessly suppressed.”

Ralph W. Emerson [1841]: “Every violation of truth is not only a sort of suicide in the liar, but is a stab at the health of human society.”

Benjamin Franklin [1758]: “Half the Truth is often a great Lie.”

Henry George [1881]: “He who sees the truth, let him proclaim it, without asking who is for it or who is against it.”

Elbert Hubbard [19230: “Truth, in its struggles for recognition, passes through four distinct stages. First, we say it is damnable, dangerous, disorderly, and will surely disrupt society. Second, we declare it is heretical, infidelic and contrary to the Bible. Third, we say it is really a matter of no importance either one way or the other. Fourth, we aver that we have always upheld and believed it.”

Thomas Jefferson [1784]: “Ignorance is preferable to error; and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing, than he who believes what is wrong.”

Victor Klemperer, “The Language of The Third Reich,” tells how the Nazis used words as “tiny doses of arsenic” to poison Germany as they weaponized language to subvert truth. He describes “the Nazi cast of mind..the fear of thinking man and;;the hatred of the intellect..” Words, idioms and sentence structures were imposed “in a million repetitions.” And, of course, the euphemisms and code talk: “untermensch,” “racial defilement,” “taken into safe keeping,” “collected,” “final solution.”

Henry W. Longfellow [1868]: “Who dares To say that he alone has found the truth?”

Frank Norris [1903]: “The people have right to the Truth as they have a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It is not right that they be exploited and deceived with false views of life, false characters, false sentiment, false morality, false history, false philosophy, false emotions, false heroism, false notions of self-sacrifice, false views of religion, of duty, of conduct and manners.”

Wendell Phillips [10/4/1859]: “Truth is one forever, absolute, but opinion is truth filtered through the moods, the blood, the disposition of the spectator.”

Thomas B. Reed[1914]: “The truth survives, the untruth perishes. Men have but little capacity for the recognition of truth at first sight, and of a hundred things which seem plausible, it is fortunate if one be true. Hence it is well that all things should be held at arms length and stand the scrutiny of our prejudices and interests, of our religion and our skepticism.”

Adlai Stevenson [ll/9/1952]: “Man may burn his brother at the stake, but he cannot reduce truth to ashes; he may murder his fellow man with a shot in the back, but he does not murder justice; he may slay armies of men, but as it is written, ‘Truth beareth off the victory.”

Henry D. Thoreau [1849]: “It takes two to speak the truth – one to speak, and another to hear.”

Mark Twain [1894]: “One of the most striking differences between a cat and a lie is that the cat has only nine lives.”

[note” credit for the above: The Harper Book of American Quotes]

A dictionary definition of truth: “..actual state of a matter; conformity with fact or reality; a verified or indisputable fact; actuality or actual existence; honesty or integrity”

In these days of “alternative facts,” “fake news,” “hoax,” “enemies of the people,” ‘hating America,” “reform” [ANY change], “religious freedom,” “trickle-down” tax cuts,” “death tax,’ “socialism,” “very fine people on both sides,” “law and order,” etc, etc, etc – a most helpful and necessary book is Michiko Kakutani’s “The Death of Truth” [2018]. Listed below are some of her thoughts.

From Hannah Arendt’s “The Origins of Totalitarianism: “The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced Communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction…and the distinction between true and false…no longer exist.”

“The term “TRUTH DECAY” [used by the Rand Corporation to describe the “diminishing role of facts and analysis” in American public life} has joined the post-truth lexicon that includes such now familiar phrases as “fake news” and “alternative facts.” And it’s not just fake news either; it’s also fake science [manufactured by climate change deniers and anti-vaxxers], fake history [promoted by Holocaust revisionists and white supremacists], fake Americans on Facebook [crated by Russian trolls], and fake followers and “likes” on social media [generated by bots].”

“Pope Francis reminded us, “There is no such thing as harmless disinformation; trusting in falsehood can have dire consequences.””

“..polarization..has been going on since a solar system of right-wing news sites orbiting around Fox News and Breitbart News consolidated its gravitational hold over the Republican base, and it’s been exponentially accelerated by social media, which connects like-minded members and supplies them with customized news feeds that reinforce their preconceptions, allowing them to live in ever narrower, windowless silos.”

‘..former acting attorney general Sally Yates has observed, truth is one of those things that separates us from autocracy…[and if] we look the other way and normalize an indifference to truth.” {we have aided downfall of democracy]

“..in the words of Alexander Hamilton, “of a man unprincipled in private life” and “bold in his temper” one day arising who might “mount the hobby horse of popularity” and “flatter and fall in with all the non sense of the zealots of the day”…”and throw things into confusion that he may ‘ride the storm and direct the whirlwind.'”

Page 73 discusses the “both sides” argument – trying “to equate things that cannot be equated.” {This is also used to spread responsibility, as in look at the other side]

“Doubt is our product,” read an infamous memo written by a tobacco industry executive in 1969, “since it is the best means of competing with the ‘body of fact’ that exists in the minds of the general public.” {needless to say – this “tobacco strategy” has been used ever since, not only by corporations, but by numerous lying politicians – muddy the waters}

Page lll – discusses how the ending of the “Fairness Doctrine” {in1987 by the Reagan Admin.} has contributed much to the waves of lies and misinformation ever since… and how “..the right-wing media has grown into a sprawling, solipsistic network that endlessly repeats its own tropes..” She lists some of the components of the empire, and “In an Orwellian move, Sinclair has even forced local news anchors to read a scripted message about “false news” that echoes President Trump’s own rhetoric undermining real reporting.”

Page 138, an interesting note: “Steve Bannon..once described himself to a journalist as “a Lenninist..Lennon wanted to destroy the state, and that’s my goal, too.”

“A Rand Corporation report called this the Putin method of propaganda “the firehose of falsehood” – an unremitting, high intensity stream of lies, partial truths, and complete fictions spewed forth with tireless aggression to obfuscate the truth and overwhelm and confuse anyone trying to pay attention.”

“Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance.”

“Jefferson wrote that because the young republic was predicated on the proposition “that man may be governed by reason and truth,” our “first object should be, to leave open to him all the avenues of the truth.”

A recent poll showed 81% of Republicans believe “socialists” have taken over the Democratic Party. On what basis did they arrive at this conclusion? Did they do research [in legitimate mainstream books, paper, sites]? Did they do historical analysis, especially of those countries, accused of, or actually practicing some form of “socialism?” OR – did they buy into another bumper sticker slogan? OR – did their favorite politician[s] say this, and therefore they “must” believe this?

The Preamble of the U.S. Constitution states the purpose of the American government is: “..to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity…”
What does that government have to do to “form a perfect Union?” To “establish Justice?” To Insure domestic Tranquility?” To “promote the general Welfare?”

Any government required to do these things MUST have much concern for the welfare of its citizens. It MUST be required to do certain things to achieve “justice,” “tranquility,” and “promote the general Welfare [greatest good for the greatest number].”

“..promote the general Welfare..” A dictionary definition of “welfare:” “the good fortune, health, happiness, prosperity, etc. of a person, group, or organization; well-being..” A dictionary definition of “well-being:” “a good or satisfactory condition of existence; a state characterized by health, happiness, and prosperity.”

SO – what does a “constitutional” American government to to “insure..the good fortune, health, happiness, prosperity..the satisfactory..existence..” of the American people?

The Declaration of Independence: “We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that amoung these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness – That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted…”

SO – one of the unalienable Rights” of Americans is “the Pursuit of Happiness,” and, it is the DUTY of any American government to “secure” this Right.
SO – what does it take to foment Happiness” for Americans?

If one were to look for possible answers, one example would be that recent multi-year polls have shown that the “happiest” people on earth usually live in “Scandinavia>” If this is true, year after year, what are those societies doing to “pursue Happiness?” What are they doing “to promote the general Welfare?” What are the philosophies that “insure..the good fortune, health, happiness, prosperity” of Scandinavians, year after year?
AND – if this is THE recipe – WHY isn’t America doing these same things?

An encyclopedia definition of “socialism:” “is an economic system, a political movement, and a social theory…Socialism calls for public ownership of land, factories, and other basic means of production…socialists believe that a nation’s wealth must be distributed more equally and justly. They strongly oppose social inequality and discrimination. Socialists aim for a society based on cooperation and brotherhood rather than competition and self-interest.”

The American government owns land. It doesn’t own factories [so even in a pandemic, it must require private factories to produce necessary medicines for public benefit]. The American “safety net” includes Social Security, Medicare, unemployment and disability pay, veteran’s benefits. Which of these would anybody like to eliminate? According to one study, the “average”American family receives $10,000 annually in government “transfers.” Subsidies to industry and agriculture are “normal” budget items.

When industries – auto, etc. – received government “bailouts” was this considered “socialism?” When the government bailed out 1980’s S & L’s, was this considered “socialism?” When the government bailed out Wall Street [crooks] after it caused the 2008- “Crash” – was this called “socialism?”
Are free K-12 public schools “socialism?” Free libraries? Toll-free roads? Free parks and playgrounds? Free public restrooms [visit another country!!!]?

“to promote the general Welfare.” Does giving away reverse Robin Hood tax cuts for the top 1% [“campaign contributions buy a lot!] “promote the general Welfare [as they blow up the national debt]?

The Christian Bible has 2,000 plus references to the poor and obligations to the poor, including: “The righteous considers the cause of the poor, but the wicked close his eyes to them.” [Proverbs 28:27] “Jesus said to him, “If you will be perfect, go and sell what you have, and give it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven, and come and follow me.” [Matthew 19:21] “You have despised the poor. Is it not the rich men who oppress you, and drag you before the judgment seats?” [James 2:6]

Does economic inequality represent “a good and satisfactory condition of existence?” Does massive post-1980 economic inequality “promote the general Welfare?” Does it “insure domestic Tranquility?” Does it “secure the Blessings of Liberty?”
Does it satisfy a ‘socialist” goal “that a nation’s wealth must be distributed more equally and justly?”

Please read Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett’s “The Spirit Level [Why Greater Equality makes Societies Stronger]” or Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz” “The Price of Inequality [How Today’s Divided Society Endangers Our Future]” for specific data and analysis on this unsustainable wealth division; and what the top 1% income share is, and the 400 richest Americans making $97,000 an HOUR; the true source of “capital gains” income; the cost of financializing the American economy [YOU didn’t benefit].

Stuart Stevens, a 25-year top Republican Party campaign operative, wrote “It Was All A Lie,” meaning the last 50 years of Republican policies. He said: “..but I do know that i feel enormous sorrow and personal shame” about what the Party had become and his role in what happened

The statement or belief that “socialists” have taken over the Democratic Party is also “All A Lie.” They’re simply honoring the principles of the Declaration and the Constitution. And – also the wishes of Jesus Christ – they we love our neighbor, not despise him.

Sam Adams, attributed: “The truth is, all might be free if they valued freedom, and defended it as they ought>”

Hugo Black [1964]: “An unconditional right to say what one pleases about public affairs is what I consider to be the minimum guarantee of the First Amendment.”

Louis D. Brandeis [1927]: “Fear of serious injury cannot alone justify suppression of free speech and assembly. Men feared witches and burned women. It is the function of speech to free men from the bondage of irrational fears.”

Henry S. Commager {1966]: “We cannot have a society half slave and half free; nor can we have thought half slave and half free. If we create an atmosphere in which men fear to think independently, inquire fearlessly, express themselves freely, we will in the end create the kind of society in which men no longer care to think independently or to inquire fearlessly. If we put a premium on conformity we will, in the end, get conformity.”

Conference for Progressive Political Action [1924]: “Every generation must wage a new war for freedom against new forces that seek through new devices to enslave mankind.”

Helen G. Davis [1945]: “It is not easy to be free men, for to be free you must afford freedom to your neighbor, regardless of race, color, creed, or national origin, and that sometimes, for some, is very difficult.”

William Faulkner [1956]: “We cannot choose freedom established on a hierarchy of degrees of freedom, on a caste system of equality like military rank. We must be free not because we claim freedom, but because we practice it>”

Oliver W. Holmes[1919]: “The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man falsely shouting fire in a theater and causing a panic.”

Elbert Hubbard [1923]: “There is no freedom on earth or in any star for those who deny freedom to others.”

Thomas Jefferson [1784]: “Subject opinion to coercion: whom will you make your inquisitors? Fallible men; men governed by bad passions, by private as well as public reasons.”

Jeane J. Kirkpatrick[1982]: “The defense of freedom is finally grounded in an appreciation of its value. No government, no foreign policy, is more important to the defense of freedom than are the writers, teachers, communication specialists, researchers – whose responsibility it is to document, illustrate, and explain the human consequences of freedom and unfreedom.”

Archibald MacLeish: “What is freedom? Freedom is the right to choose: the right to create for oneself the alternatives of choice. Without the possibility of choice and exercise of that choice a man is not a man but a member, an instrument, a thing>”

James Madison [1788]: “Since the general civilization of mankind, I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.”

Edward R. Murrow {3/7/1954 report on Sen. J. McCarthy]: “We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty.”

J. Robert Oppenheimer [10/10/1949 ‘Life”]: “As long as men are free to ask what they must, free to say what they think, free to think what they will, freedom can never be lost, and science can never regress.”

Thomas Paine [9/12/1777}: “Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it>”

Benno C. Schmidt, Jr [l2/5/1986]: “Privacy is absolutely essential to maintaining a free society. The idea that is at the foundation of the notion of privacy is that the citizen is not the tool or the instrument of government – but the reverse….If you have no privacy, it will tend to follow that you have no political freedom, no religious freedom, no freedom of families to make their own decisions [regarding having children]. All these freedoms tend to reinforce one another.”

Hazel Scott [1974]: “Who ever walked behind anyone to freedom? If we can’t go hand in hand, I don’t want to go.”

Adlai E. Stevenson [9/6/1952]: “A hungry man is not a free man.”

Woodrow Wilson [9/4/1912]: “Freedom exists only where the people take care of the government.”

[note: the above quotes are from “The Harper Book of American Quotations,” by Gorton Carruth and Eugene Ehrlich}

Why is America a divided nation? Did this happen accidentally? Or, have some been planning this? What contributes to the sabotage of American society and government? Where on the continuum of “dissent,” “protest,” “civil disobedience,” sedition, treason are we in January, 2021? What are the limits of “free speech,” “free press,” “petition,” and “assembly?” When does Constitutionally protected conduct cross the line into sabotage, sedition, treason? Major question: WHO benefits from this? WHO?

“Fifth column” [encyclopedia definition]: “refers to undercover agents operating within the ranks of an enemy to undermine its cause…They may work in an army, political party, or industry. Their activities include spying, sabotage, economic subversion, propaganda, agitation, infiltration, or even assassination, terror, and revolt.”

“Sedition” [dictionary definition]: “incitement of public disorder or rebellion against a government; any action, especially in speech or writing promoting such disorder or rebellion.”

“Treason” [dictionary definition}: “violation by a subject of his allegiance to his sovereign or state…any attempt to overthrow the government or impair the well-being of a state to which one owes allegiance; the crime of giving aid or comfort to the enemies of one’s government. SEDITION is any act, writing , speech, etc. directed unlawfully against state authority, the government, or the constitution or calculated to bring it into contempt or to incite others to hostility, ill will, or disaffection…”

The events of January 6, 2021 in Washington, D.C. did NOT happen by accident. But – they do reveal a CANCER that has been growing within our midst. The only question for loyal Americans is how far back, and to WHOM they trace the roots of this.

Consider the terms defined above: “undermine its cause,”” sabotage, propaganda, agitation, terror, revolt, incitement to disorder or rebellion, speech & writing promoting such disorder or rebellion, attempt to overthrow the government OR “impair the well-being of the state<” giving aid or COMFORT to enemies, ANY ACT against the Constitution, actions CALCULATED to bring it [the government] into CONTEMPT, incite others to HOSTILITY, ILL WILL, or DISAFFECTION.”

Look at this list very, very carefully, with historic memory. For the years 2015-2021, WHO did this? For the years 1975-2021 WHO did this???

Exactly WHO undermined America – in words and action? WHO has issued destructive, divisive anti-democratic propaganda? WHO has “agitated” against American democracy? WHO has engaged in terror – bombings, assassinations, intimidation? Who – speech [often in broadcast form] or writing has “incited” to disorder or rebellion [often in”patriotic terms]? Who has “impaired the well-being” of the state [as “patriots]? WHO, by their conduct, has given aid or “comfort” to enemies? WHO, in the name of “patriotism” has acted against the Constitution? WHO has calculated to bring the government “into contempt?” WHO has “incited others” to “hostility, ill will, or disaffection” with government or America? WHO profited? Exactly, WHO did this???

The answer is obvious. The many people and groups who HAVE done this made many public statements, speeches, broadcasts, and acts. THEY have done it on all forms of media, which have been RECORDED. They have done it in party platforms. They have done it in the way they spend money. For some, the acts of propaganda, “agitation,” inciting “hostility, ill will and disaffection” have been THEIR ENTIRE CAREER. For some politicians, “impairing the well-being of the state” has been THEIR ENTIRE CAREER. For some groups sabotage, agitation, terror and assassination were among the weapons they used, often in terms of “purifying” and bringing “morality.”

January l3th, the Pentagon’s senior leadership issued a statement calling the January 6th Capitol riot “sedition and insurrection…We witnessed actions inside the Capitol building that were inconsistent with the rule of law. The rights of freedom of speech and assembly do not give anyone the right to resort to violence. sedition, and insurrection…The violent riot in Washington, D.C. on January 6, 2021 was a direct assault on the U.S. Congress, the Capitol building, and our Constitutional processes.”

January 14th, 34 House members asked for an inquiry into some House members who appear to have given special tours to some Capitol visitors on January 5th, labeled by one House member as “reconnaissance.” She further stated: “Members of the group that attacked the Capitol seemed to have unusually detailed knowledge of the layout of the Capitol Complex.” Concern over the January 5th tours was reported to the Sergeant at Arms on the 5th. A senior House member asked why rioters knew of the most hidden and obscure places, how rioters knew how to find an UNMARKED office of a top House member. Exactly WHO would be on the list of suspects? Which House members – by their own words, their own actions – would be the leading suspects?

Many on the “terror watch list” were in Washington January 6th. Now – would a reasonable person choose to believe this was a “coincidence?” January 15th Washington Post article: “Several law enforcement officials said they are shocked by the backgrounds of some individuals under investigation…a pool of suspects that includes current and former law enforcement and military personnel, senior business executives, and middle-aged business owners. “I can’t believe some of the people I’m seeing [investigated] one official said.” WHAT are we learning? WHO wanted this?

A January 17th New York Times article, “Capitol Attack Could Fuel Years of Extremist Recruitment” began with this: “overthrowing the government. Igniting a second Civil War. Banishing racial minorities, immigrants, and Jews. Or simply sowing chaos in the streets. The ragged camps of far-right groups and white nationalists emboldened under President Donald Trump have long nursed an overlapping list of hatreds and goals. But now they have been galvanized by the outgoing president’s false claims that the election was stolen from him – and by the violent attack on the nation’s Capitol that hundreds of them led in his name.” Exactly WHO spread this disinformation?

A Washington Post-ABC News poll found 90% of Americans oppose the Capitol storming. 2 to 1, Americans say Trump acted irresponsibly in post-election words and actions. Over 50% say Trump should be criminally prosecuted, but only 13% of Republicans agree.
30% are “optimistic” about the overall government; 48% uncertain; 20% “generally pessimistic.” Democrats are twice as optimistic as Republicans.

So – with current issues in mind, we continue to backtrack the long chain of events and words that led to January 6th’s sedition. There are many strands creating the ideological justification There are many forces and groups that have sought to undermine the 1789-1980 trajectory of more people enjoying freedom and benefits of America. One very important key: some DON’T want more people enjoying more freedoms.

For a century these groups on the political – economic – religious – social “right” have sought to create an America of THEIR definition. In many ways, they’ve DECLARED WAR not only on the “original intent” of the Founders, but they entire trajectory of more people being included in “the American Dream.”
The Founders created a revolutionary concept – the PEOPLE, not kings and nobility, not an official state church, were the source of government power. The PEOPLE, as in “all men are created equal,” were supposed to benefit. Some don’t want this.

The top 1% resent ANY of “their” money [which they “earned,” all by themselves] being taxed. In 1933 they attempted coup [Jules Archer: “The Plot to Seize the White House”]. Before, and incredibly, during World War II, major “American” corporations actively aided the Nazis [Charles Higham: “Trading With the Enemy,” and Edwin Black: “IBM and the Holocaust”]. During WW II and subsequent 1947-73 STATISTICAL middle class , their taxes ranged between 70-90% top marginal rates. Beginning with Reagan, Republican presidents have cut those taxes in half [and the U.S.national debt has exploded].
In 1929 and 2008, Wall Street greed led to major economic crashes. Those most hurt weren’t the top 1% perps who caused the crisis. Restraints were applied to Wall Street, but they worked for 60 years, got them removed – and 2008 occurred.

Beginning in 1980, the Republican mantra is “government is the problem.” So, they’ve sabotaged it, tried to weaken it so it couldn’t work [John Dean: “Broken Government,” Mann and Ornstein: “It’s Even Worse Than It Looks,” Stuart Stevens: “It Was All A Lie”].
The logical conclusion: the incompetent and ignorant Trump reign. Trump’s lies, incompetence, ignorance, corruption, cruelty are unlikely [hopefully] ever to be matched. His COVID-19 ignorance and incompetence [by medical testimonies] led to 400,000 deaths; schools and businesses being closed, massive unemployment, millions of sick. Proof: just compare to other “civilized” nations [So. Korea, Australia, New Zealand, etc] for comparison s of population and pro-rated deaths.

Another factor in our division is the “religious right>” Their activities to sabotage the First Amendment are so egregious, an organization [Americans United For Separation of Church and State] exists almost solely to combat its transgressions. With the help of “pro-life” Justices, the Supreme Court has almost neutered YOUR protection from having a church YOU DON’T ATTEND running YOUR private life by it’s dogma. Is there ANYTHING more un-American then this? They created a “culture war” to achieve this

The there is the right-wing media assault. Major right-wing media organizations and personalities have engaged in a 24/7 barrage of anti-democratic, anti-government propaganda seeking to subvert American society and government. An “echo chamber” exists endlessly repeating lies, mistruths, rumors, conspiracy theories, “alternative facts,” various bumper sticker “talking points.” They’ve exceeded anything Dr. Goebbels ever dreamed of doing, or did. Millions of good Americans have been fed a 24/7 diet of fear and hatred – for decades. Words have consequences.

Another factor is armed groups of reactionary rebels calling themselves “patriotic” militias [‘proven” by open display of Confederate flags]. They’ve been terrorizing parts of America for years. This has steadily increased since l980, accelerated since 2017. Armed with military style weapons, they’re trying to intimidate local and state governments, civilians – and – on January 6, 2021 – the federal government.
Not only fueled by hate and fear, they’ve been aided by the Supreme Court’s “Heller” and “McDonald” decisions, reversing 216 years of ESTABLISHED Second Amendment interpretation that it was a collective, not individual, “right.” See Articles of Confederation, Article VI, and the two 1792 Militia Acts for real “original intent.”
Do bands of angry, well-fed, white men with military style weapons on American streets make YOU feel more safe?

Is it “only a coincidence” that all the most corrupt American presidencies have been Republican- measured by scandals, depressions enabled, war crimes, immoral wars, criminal indictments, and jail time. We’re talking Grant, Harding, Nixon, Reagan, Bush II, Trump. Is it “only a coincidence” the 3 most recent economic disasters – 1930’s Great Depression, 2008 Great Recession, COVID-19 recession/depression all happened because of Republican policies?
NO, it isn’t. The types of people attracted to the Republican philosophies are “authoritarians,” many of whom are rigid in several beliefs. [many studies of this, most recently John Dean & Bob Altemeyer’s “Authoritarian Nightmare”] Most are also “business friendly” [meaning corporate & top 1% tax cuts, eliminate regulations, oppose labor 7 consumer rights].


Their followers and enablers share, often rigid, anti-democratic beliefs. 2016-2021 illustrated followers “going over the cliff” in absolute faith, despite mountains of evidence.

January 6, 2021 was not an accident. It is the tip of the last century’s iceberg brought to fruition. We’re divided because the total “right wing” Of America has CREATED this. The ultimate goal is a plutocratic, authoritarian American theocracy – a return to pre-1920, when women, non-whites, the lower 95% knew “their place” and stayed there.

Connect ALL the dots – the evidence is in plain sight, recorded in many forms. The above points are only the very tip of this iceberg. These people are serious. The recent Republican maneuverings on Supreme Court seats is a prime example, including the righteous arrogance as they pulled it off – they laughed at YOU in absolute contempt.

Consider January 6, 2021 a warning.

John Adams [1770]: “Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.” [in defense of British soldiers, Boston Massacre trial{

Clarence Darrow [1920}: “As long as the world shall last there will be wrongs, and if no man objected and no man rebelled, those wrongs would last forever.”

Ralph W. Emerson [1860]: “The judge weighs the arguments and puts a brave face on the matter, and since there must be a decision, decides as he can, and hopes he has done justice and given satisfaction to the community.”

Henry Ford, attributed: “Capital punishment is as fundamentally wrong as a cure for crime as charity is wrong as a cure for poverty.”

Henry George [1884]: “That justice is the highest quality in the moral hierarchy I do not say, but that it is the first. That which is above justice must be based on justice, and include justice, and be reached through justice.”

Learned Hand, “Giuseppi-Walling opinion [1944]: “There is no surer way to misread any document than to read it literally…As nearly as we can, we must put ourselves in the place of those who uttered the words, and try to divine how they would have dealt with the unforeseen situation; and, although their words are by far the most decisive evidence of what they would have done, they are by no means final.”

Nathaniel Hawthorne [1850}: “Generosity is the flower of justice.”

Robert G. Ingersoll [1883]: “We must remember then, that we have to make judges out of men, and that by being made judges their prejudices are not diminished and their intelligence is not increased.”

John Jay, attributed: “Justice is always the same, whether it be due from one man to a million, or from a million to one man.”

Thomas Jefferson [1816]: “I believe ….that [justice] is instinct and innate, that the moral sense is as much a part of our constitution as that of feeling, seeing, or hearing.”

Martin Luther King, Jr. [1963]: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

Abraham Lincoln, attributed: “He reminds me of the man who murdered both his parents, and then, when sentence was about to be pronounced, pleaded for mercy on the grounds that he was an orphan.” [also expressed by Artemus Ward]

James R. Lowell [1876]: “Exact justice is commonly more merciful in the long run than pity, for it tends to foster in men those stronger qualities which make them good citizens.”

James Madison [The Federalist, #5l]: “Justice is the end of government. It is the end of civil society. It ever has been and ever will be pursued until it be obtained, or until liberty be lost in the pursuit.”

Reinhold Niebuhr [1944]: “Man’s capacity for justice makes democracy possible, but man’s inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary.”

Theodore Roosevelt [1913]: “Our judges have been, on the whole, both able and upright public servants….But their whole training and the aloofness of their position on the bench prevent their having, as a rule, any real knowledge of, or understanding sympathy with, the lives and needs of the ordinary hard-working toiler.”

William H. Seward [1850]: “There is a higher law than the Constitution.”

Henry D. Thoreau [1849]: “Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also prison.”

George Washington [1789}: “The administration of justice is the firmest pillar of government.”

Woodrow Wilson [1916]: “Justice has nothing to do with expediency. Justice has nothing to do with any temporary standard whatever. It is rooted and grounded in the fundamental instincts of humanity>”

note: again we’ve provided the thoughts from “The Harper Book of American Quotations,” by Carruth and Ehrlich.

In recent decades, the radical reactionary “right” has sought to politicize the Second Amendment, and to change to change the original meaning. With the help of the U.S. Supreme Court they’ been successful on the second part. With the help of the Republican Party, they’ve been successful on the first part. They’ve both been pushed by the National Rifle Association. If you want the “original intent, please consider the following.

Here is the text of Article VI of the Articles of Confederation [which preceded the Constitution]: “..every state shall always keep up a well regulated and disciplined militia, sufficiently armed and accoutered, and shall provide and constantly have ready for use, in public stores, a due number of field pieces and tents, and a proper quantity of arms, ammunition and camp equipage.” [from Wills: “A Necessary Evil”]

So, what would a reasonable person deduce from this? It would appear we now know where the phrase “well regulated” militia came from. In plain language, at least some of the militia’s weaponry is kept in “public stores< indicating a communal use principle. The community is also maintaining tents and “camp equipage.”

Further “original intent” is supplied by the May, 1792 Militia Acts. May 2nd: An Act to provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the laws of the Union, and suppress insurrections…” May 8th: requiring every free able-bodied white male, 18-45, to be enrolled in the militia – and within 6 months, provide himself with a “good musket” and equipment. Section 3: militia arranged in divisions, brigades, etc; numbered.. “take rank”…officers and staff specified. Section 5: state and regimental colors provided. Section 7: “rules of discipline..to be observed by the Militia throughout the United States.” Section 9: wounded and disabled taken care of and provided for at public expense.

Now, most reasonable people would think that this sounds an awful lot like what states currently have. Is is called “The National Guard.” A collective, state-sponsored “militia” unit, “well regulated” and supplied by the citizens of each state. The Second Amendment was ratified on December 15, 1791. The 1792 “Militia Acts 5 months later. TOGETHER they clearly express what “the Second Amendment” means.

And – wouldn’t you know it, due to the January 6, 2021, Washington D.C. “insurrection” by various crazed and reactionary forces – the various governments are/have been sending to Washington and mobilizing in their own state capitals – the National Guard. Under the exact terms of the 1792 Militia Act, the Guard called out to “execute the laws of the Union, and to suppress insurrections…” A collective act to defend the American democracy from domestic terrorists [who like to call themselves “patriots” merely exercising their “rights.”}

In various parts of “A Necessary Evil,” Gary Wills hammers home the “original intent” of the Second Amendment, destroying the false “gun rights” arguments put forth by zealots claiming a literal interpretation that isn’t there. Chapter 20 is especially educating, it eviscerates false Second Amendment lies.
One popular attempt has been to go to Pennsylvania’s Founding era constitution. Section 43: “The inhabitants of this state shall have the liberty to fowl and hunt in seasonable times on the lands they hold, and on all other lands therein not enclosed; and in like manner to fish in boatable waters, and others not private property.: Wills: “This is not a gun-freedom act, but a restriction meant to protect private property.” Also – gun use is to occur in “seasonable times.”

Madison’s original Second Amendment draft: “THe right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed; a well armed and well regulated militia being the best security of a free country; but no person religiously scrupulous of bearing arms shall be compelled to render military service.”

If that were a “gun rights” proposal, then why worry about people with “religious scruples” rendering “military service?” If this were for individual use – that consideration would not exist. And, most important – and most obvious is “render military service.” “Military service is done collectively, not privately.
And – especially in light of January 6th – who would trust the “security of a free country” to, mostly politically-inspired irate white men, in an out-of-control mob who illegally occupied the U.S. Capitol in violation of numerous laws. Would a “lawful” protest, or a “well-regulated” militia do that? Would a lawful “militia” assault police and intentionally kill a policeman defending the Capitol?

And – note the Senate changed Madison’s original wording to what exists: “A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” Why change the order? Obviously, to the Senate, the first part was THE reason for the Second Amendment. Further, Wills states: “That last clause [religious exemption in Madison] equates “bear arms” and “military service.””

Former Republican appointed U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice, Warren Berger was famously recorded as saying the NRA’s argument was a major fraud, repeating the word “fraud” a second time for emphasis. Fraud.

For 216 years, the official interpretation of the Second Amendment was that it was a collective right. This was reinforced by several Supreme Court decisions, the last in 1939. Then, the historically ignorant and ethically challenged Roberts Court, with a 5 “Justice” majority of Republican appointees decided to change the law. “Heller” created an interpretation never seriously considered – individual “gun rights.” Even here, the Court’s official explanation said the government regulation could occur, and that people didn’t have a “right” to own any weapon they might want.

So, here we are in January, 2021. No place in America is safe, except maybe inside the U. S. Supreme Court. A person can, and has been, shot everywhere. American gun deaths annually resemble small war totals. Armed militias are found in virtually every state. Armed men, mostly well-fed white men, are often visible in public- something that doesn’t occur in civilized nations. These armed men are quite often angry.

And, now on January 6th and following days, people exercising what they claim to be “Second Amendment rights” are confronting various governments about a falsely claimed “stolen election.” Many, including the Pentagon, are calling this an “insurrection.” Also. the word “sedition” has been applied – meaning sabotage of a nation.

The “Heller” decision didn’t “cause” January 6th. But – it didn’t prevent it either. For several years recently, we’ve seen increasing numbers of mostly large, well-fed white men appearing in public with, often, military style weapons. And – angry.

This leaves us with some basic questions. Can a nation call itself “civilized” if a common occurrence is well-armed, angry, men appearing in public with military grade weapons? Does a “protest” by “civilians” require they be armed to be taken seriously – or just to be feared? When the First Amendment said freedom of speech, and press, and petition, and assembly – would a reasonable person imply that such “civilians” had to be armed with military style weapons? Do we truly have “law and order” if some feel compelled to appear in public with military grade weapons [or any weapons]? Is one reason police fear for their lives the existence of millions of guns in America?
One irony in all this – during the “Wild West” of 1865-1900, the citizens of “western’ cow towns got tired of drunken cowboys shooting up their towns – so they instituted strict “gun control” laws. The price for entering such towns was the cowboys surrendered their guns to the local officials – and got them back when they left town. Our myth of the “Wild West” covers this up, and so does NRA-style propaganda.

All of this trouble and apprehension over Second Amendment lies.