Enclosed below are some thoughts, tolerant and otherwise, on religious freedom..

Isaac Backus, Baptist [1781]: “As religion must always be a matter between God and individuals, no man can be made a member of a truly religious society by force and without his own consent, neither can any corporation that is not a religious society have a just right to govern in religious affairs…”

Louis Brandeis, “Olmstead”: “The makers of our constitution undertook..to protect Americans in their beliefs, their thought, their emotions, and their sensations. They conferred, as against the Government, the right to be let alone – the most comprehensive of rights and the right most valued by civilized men…The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in the insidious encroachment by men of zeal…”

Henry Clay [1818]: “All religions united with government are more or less inimical to liberty. All, separated from government, are compatible with liberty.”

Mary Baker Eddy [1906]: “I would no more quarrel with a man because of his religion than I would because of his art.”

Jerry Falwell [1976]: “The idea of religion and politics don’t mix was invented by the Devil to keep Christians from running their own country. If any place in the world we need Christianity, it’s in Washington. And that’s why preachers long since, need to get over the intimidation forced on us by liberals, that if we mention anything about politics, we are degrading our ministry.”

Harry Dudley Field [1893]: “If we had nothing else to boast of, we could claim with justice that the first among nations we of this country made it an article of organic law that the relations between man and his Maker were a private concern which other men had no right to intrude.”

Barry Goldwater [19810: “Religious factions will go on imposing their will on others unless the decent people connected with them recognize that religion has no place in public policy. They must learn to make their views known without trying to make their views the only alternatives.”

Thomas Jefferson [1784]: “Millions of innocent men, women, and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined, and imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch towards uniformity. What has been the effect of coercion? To make one half of the world fools and the other half hypocrites.”

Robert Jeffress, pastor, First Baptist Church of Dallas: “What a lot of people miss is, America is not a church where everyone should be welcome regardless of race and background.” “Islam is wrong. It is a heresy from the pit of hell. Judaism – you can’t be saved being a Jew.” In a 2011 sermon, called the Catholic Church a corrupt version of Christianity that sprang from ancient Babylonian cults.

Richard M. Johnson [1830]: “It is not the legitimate province of the legislature to determine what religion is true, or what is false.”

John F. Kennedy [9/12/60]: “I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute – where no Catholic prelate would tell the President [should he be a Catholic] how to act and no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote – where no church or church school is granted any public funds or political preference – and where no man is denied public office merely because his religion differs from the President who might appoint him or the people who might elect him.”

Thomas Kennedy [1823]: “There are a few Jews in the United States; in Maryland there are very few. But if there were only one – to that one, we ought to do justice.”

Martin Luther King, Jr. [1963]: “The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state. It must be the guide and the critic of the state, and never its tool. If the church does not recapture its prophetic zeal, it will become an irrelevant social club without moral or spiritual authority.”

Robert E. Lee [l1/27/56 letter]: “Is it not strange that the first descendants of those Pilgrim Fathers who crossed the Atlantic to preserve their own freedom of opinion have always proved themselves intolerant of the spiritual liberty of others?”

John Leland, great Baptist preacher – Rejected the idea America was a Christian nation; advocated a radical separation of government and religion; contended any sort of establishment of Christianity, including all state establishments, were “all of them, Anti-Christocracies; favored equality foe Deists, pagans, atheists, Jews, Turks, and Catholics; rejected “test oaths” for office; above all insisted “religion is a matter between God and individuals,” not subject to governmental jurisdiction. Leland was a contemporary, and influenced, James Madison.

Margaret Mead [1963]: “We will be a better country when each religious group can trust its members to obey the dictates of their own religious faith without assistance from the legal structure of the country.”

New Jersey Constitution [1776]: no person should “ever be obliged to pay tithes, taxes, or any other rates, for the purpose of building or re[pairing any other church or churches, place or places of worship, or for the maintenance of any minister or ministry, contrary to what he believes to be right, or has deliberately or voluntarily engaged himself to perform.”

North Carolina Constitution [17760: “neither shall any person, on any pretence 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…..”

Thomas Paine, The Rights of Man: “Persecution is not an original feature in nay religion; but it is always the strongly-marked feature of all law-religions, or religions established by law. Take away the law-establishment, and every religion re-assumes its original benignity.”

Pennsylvania Constitution [1776]: “…no man ought or of right can be compelled to attend any religious worship, or erect or support any place of worship, or maintain any ministry, contrary to or against, his own free will and consent,”

Pat Robertson [700 Club]: “You say you’re supposed to be nice to Episcopalians and the Presbyterians and the Methodists and this, that, and the other thing. Nonsense. I don’t have to be nice to the spirit of the Antichrist.”

Robert Simonds, president “Citizens for Excellence inEducation” and National Association of Christian Educators [1991[: ‘Our job is to evangelize..schools are the battle ground. The goal of 500,000 born-again Christians working inside the ‘system’ is to bring public education back under..control of the Christian community.”

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 equal time..don’t want pluralism,”

Alexis de Tocqueville, “democracy in America”: “..the religious atmosphere of the country was the first thing that struck me on my arrival in the United States”…the “faithful of all communities…agreed…the main reason for the quiet sway of religion over their country was the complete separation of church and state. I have no hesitation in stating that throughout my stay in America I met nobody, lay or cleric, who did not agree about that,”

Virginia fundamentalists, “Religious Petitions Presented to the General Assembly of Virginia, 1774-1802″ To require a person to support even the religion of his choice denied him his freedom of choice and his right to religious liberty.”

Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom [1785]: to compel anyone to support religious opinions he did not share was tyrannical and “that even the forcing of him to support this or that teacher of his own religious persuasion, is depriving him of the comfortable liberty” of giving his money as he pleased….that no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship place, or ministry whatsoever.”

George Washington, 17809 letter: “I have often expressed my sentiments, that every man, conducting himself as a good citizen, and being accountable to God alone for his religious opinions, ought to be protected in worshipping the Deity according to the dictates of his own conscience.”

The following excerpt is from the May l, 2015 “Washington Spectator,” by Rev. Dr. William J. Barber & Jonathon Wilson-Hartgrove.
“Many have pointed out the problem of laws purporting to protect the First Amendment right to religious freedom by creating the opportunity to violate another’s 14th Amendment right to equal protection under the law. But little attention has been paid to the struggle out of which the 14th Amendment was born – a struggle that continued to play out in Selma 50 years ago and is very much alive in America’s state houses today. We cannot understand the new “religious freedom” law in Indiana and others like it apart from the highly sexualized backlash against America’s first two Reconstructions……………..
Two features of resistance to America’s first Reconstruction are essential to note. First, it was deeply religious. White preachers led the charge, calling themselves “Redeemers” and framing equal justice for black Americans as a moral danger. At the same time, the threat was explicitly sexualized. Black men were portrayed in respectable newspapers as “ravishing beasts” eager to rape white women. In North Carolina, white vigilantes were armed and encouraged to defend their women, leading to the “Wilmington Race Riot” of 1898. Violent demonstrations of white men’s sexual fear led to lynchings throughout the South and Midwest in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Ida B. Wells, the courageous African-American journalist from Memphis, did dangerous investigative work to show that the great majority of these lynchings were not about sex but political power.
When the Civil Rights Movement – a Second Reconstruction – was finally able to draw national attention to vicious patterns of Jim Crow in the 1960s. the challenge to white power was again conflated with sexual fear. As Danielle L. McGuire chronicled in”At the Dark End of the Street,” civil-rights workers were consistently accused of wanting interracial sex and/or having homosexual tendencies. We remember Dr. King’s “How Long, Not Long” speech from the Alabama Capitol at the end of the Selma-to-Montgomery March. But we often forget that the members of the Alabama Legislature responded with Act 159, citing evidence of “much fornication” among marchers and claiming that “young women are returning to their respective states apparently as unwed expectant mothers.” When selma’s Sheriff Jim Clark published his popular memoir, he titled it “The Jim Clark Story: I Saw Selma Raped.”
The pattern is clear: whenever established power brokers have felt threatened in America’s history, they have responded by stirring up sexual fears. The widespread acceptance of interracial relationships makes “mongrelization” a moot point in 21sty century America. But one can see public expressions of concern about the “gay lifestyle” are not about religious freedom. They are about dividing an increasingly diverse electorate that has twice elected a black president. Fear of gay rights is a most effective strategy for extremists determined to take over America’s state houses…………..
In North Carolina, the proposed “religious freedom” bill goes so far as to say government employees may choose not to carry out their duties ****** because of a religious objection.******** While conservatives concern today may be a ******** religious objection****** to issuing a marriage license to gay couples, we remember well the religious reasons our neighbors in the South gave for segregation, the subjugation of women, and race-based slavery. Freedom of religion, a bedrock of American democracy, cannot mean license to condemn others.
Fifty years ago, thousands marched in Selma as part of a faith-rooted, moral campaign to secure an expansion of voting rights. Extremists who couldn’t deny their cause sought to distract and divide the country by using moral and religious language to stir up old sexual fears. The mystery money and secretive organizing behind today’s ******** “religious freedom” bills****** seek to do the same.”

This posting is done in memory of Bob Allen, a long time Milwaukee Braves loyal employee and future player agent. Bob gave me this card many years ago. We’ve since lost Bob to a higher place.

“The Measure Of A Man”
Not “How did he die?”
But “How did he live?”
Not “What did he gain?”
But “What did he give?”

These are the units to measure the worth of a man as a man, regardless of birth.

Not “What was his station?”
But “Had he a heart?”
And “How did he play his God-given part?”
Not “What was his church?”
Nor “What was his creed?”
But “Had he befriended those really in need?”
Not “What did the sketch in the newspaper say?”
But “How many were sorry he passed away?”

Author Unkown

The following is from an September-October, 2020 “Washington Monthly” article by Elizabeth Austin reviewing the book, “A Libertarian Walks Into A Bear” [Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling} “But today more than ever, there is nothing remotely amusing about a group of wrong-headed extremists plotting to take over a government and impose its own dangerously eccentric views on an unwitting and unprepared majority…With the story of Grafton, Hongoltz-Hetling was handed an American character in an ant farm. This New England hamlet twines together the most significant strands in our history: tax aversion, religious fervor, veneration of individual liberty, and a deep vein of cantankerousness. All counterbalanced by our equally powerful belief we are on a God-given mission to establish on this continent a shining City on the Hill. In Grafton, we find a microcosm of the constant American tension between “Don’t Tread on Me” and “E Pluribus Unum.”

………In the Grafton experience, we see clearly the chaos that can be created when a significant chunk of the community rejects the strictures of government, science, and the notion of community itself.

As i write this, more than l59,000 American lives have been sacrificed to failures of government at almost every level, and to the refusal of millions of Americans to curtail their sense of personal liberty and submit to relatively brief inconvenience to protect their neighbors and their communities……

This is what happens when massively funded propaganda campaigns lead large numbers of Americans to lose faith in our system of government. This is what happens when that loss of faith leads to blind opposition to taxation. This is what happens when public services and public infrastructure are systematically starved of resources in the name of “fiscal responsibility.” And this is what happens, shamefully, when those who are best able to recognize the threat and sound the alarm choose instead to treat local politics like some sort of low-stakes sporting event for out-of-shape people.

Today, we are all living in Grafton. Armies of rabid bears are wandering our streets….terrified, we beg our neighbors for help, only to be told the Lord will protect us, or that the cataclysm in the streets is just punishment for our moral failures or our political misdeeds.

And all of this is happening because a large disgruntled minority of Americans dutifully memorized the Declaration’s listing of our unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness without perceiving that these rights can exist only within the context of the social contract – an Enlightenment concept so deeply familiar to the Founding Fathers that, tragically, they didn’t consider it necessary to mention……..

We are separated today..because millions of my fellow Americans have been unwilling to sacrifice even a shred of their perceived personal liberty to the higher considerations of what we owe to each other.

There were hopes in the 2020 election that America would seek to promote “our better angels.” We managed to end the nightmarish reign of the cult leader; but we have not ended our nightmare. Over 72 million Americans voted for the cult leader. The did so knowing how despicable, dishonest, and destructive he has been. These same voters rewarded his congressional and state enablers to continue their Dark Side work of destroying everything that once made America great.

The motto of the Dark One was “make America great again.” He has not done that. He has embarrassed us around the world; has attacked the very essence of what once made America a beacon of hope around the world; attacked the post office, the census, and the electoral process itself to win an election; said he might not honor the election if he didn’t win – unprecedented in American history; misused the powers of his office to attack everyone and everything that dared question his actions; has placed “loyalty” to him as the most important qualification of jobs – like a Mafia boss/dictator.

Worst of all, he has attacked the concept of “truth.” itself. The very notion of facts, of numerical, historical and scientific facts. very early in his reign, a close advisor raised the concept of “alternative facts.” The Dark One went downhill from there, into a “1984” fantasy world of over 20,000 lies. Is anyone even counting his lies anymore??? Are we so numbed by the hourly barrage of lies??? Without an accepted body of what was once considered factual truth, we cannot have “democracy.”

In the Academy Award winning film, “Judgment At Nuremberg,” a once highly respected German judge is on trial for war crimes. His lawyer defends him as a good man trying to do his duty; in so doing cruelly berates a witness. To this point, the judge has said nothing. Now the accused man stands and says “are we going to do this again?” And in that speech, the once great judge approaches his former self when he says “we all knew.”As in, “we all knew” of the war crimes and the barbarity.

In 2020 America, “we all knew.” We all knew of the cruelties and corruptions of the Dark One; and of the guilt of his enablers. They were in plain, public, sight for 5 years – just like the Holocaust and other Nazi cruelties and crimes were in plain sight. “We all knew,” but 72 million of us still voted for the Dark One. Millions “all knew” yet voted for the accomplices, his enablers. Why did they?

Supporters of the Dark One stated publicly their rationale was false propaganda talking points of the Dark Side: “doing a good job, doing a good job on the economy, doing a good job on COVID-19 [incredibly!!!], kept his promises [which ones???], not backing down,” etc. In extended comments, the Dark One’s voters gave as “facts” things proven wrong. They had drunk the cult’c Kool-Aid.

And there were dark reasons too. Some proudly admitted prejudice and bigotry. One poll showed 19% of the Dark One’s voters had refused to admit voting for him.

The Dark One didn’t drive into a crowd intentionally; didn’t vandalize Minneapolis – “Umbrella Man” did; didn’t drive across several states to commit arson and incite violence; didn’t assault and shoot protesters; didn’t burn churches; didn’t massacre worshippers; didn’t conspire on the internet to commit violence and start a civil war; didn’t try [again!!!] intimidating vote counters; didn’t issues death threats to anyone not supporting the Dark One; didn’t suggest that America’s leading pandemic health doctor should be beheaded. BUT – his supporters did

The Dark One has denied COVID-19’s seriousness, saying it will all go away, like the flu. His supporters have responded in defiance to all world-wide medical science. Their refusal to wear masks and practice social distancing accelerated the plague. We, the innocents following science, are now at the mercy of the stupid, the reckless, the Kool-Aid drinkers – as daily, hourly cases rise and more die.

Doctors and nurses are pleading, begging, for help. They are stressed out, physically and mentally exhausted, some have committed suicide, others in counseling, many considering quitting. Teachers are breaking under the strain of 15 hour days, about 1/4 – 1/3 considering retirement. First responders are wearing down, many getting sick and dying, some in counseling, some committing suicide. Low-wage “essential workers” have died doing their jobs. A girls’ tennis team in a small rural Minnesota town made a video pleading with their neighbors “to do the right thing” so they could play tennis. Supporters of the Dark One dismiss all this with “I have rights.”

Early in the Dark One’s rule, a Japanese comment discussed America”s leader in terms of a “Voldemort” presidency. Destructive science fiction villainy brought tragically to life.

hitler, Stalin, Mao didn’t murder millions alone – they had help. The Dark One didn’t, can’t, drag America down – unless he has help. “We all know.” There remains a chance America can live up to the hopes of the Founders [“all men are created equal”] and the wisdom of Lincoln [“with malice toward none” and “with charity for all”}. A chance.

BUT – America will not be redeemed, saved, restored, healed – if “we the people” don’t overcome the Dark Side – so often, so cruelly, revealed in 20l6-2020

We can choose to live, vote with love and tolerance. Or – we can choose to live, vote in fear and hatred. Our enemies may try, but only /americans can subvert us.

Over a million Americans have died in combat defending this country. Millions more seriously wounded. Thousands serve at this moment. They took an oath to defend the Constitution. They felt a calling – to protect us.

Theodore Roosevelt’s Mount Rushmore plaque states: “We, here in America, hold in our hands the hope of the world, the fate of the coming years; and shame and disgrace will be ours if in our eyes the light of high resolve is dimmed, if we trail in the dust the golden hopes of man.” Shame, disgrace, trail in the dust, golden hopes of men…………….

We are at Teddy’s tipping point, have in some ways crossed the Rubicon. It is not too late to honor what America once stood for, 1789 – 2015. We have another chance – to redeem ourselves, and the hope of the world.

Whether we succeed my friends – is in YOUR hands. We, collectively, can pull back from the “1984” abyss. OR – we can continue to drink the Dark One’s Kool-Aid, and cross over the Rubicon completely to the Dark Side. What’s it gonna be??? Love and tolerance, or, fear and hatred?

Are “WE” going to be the same country that three times saved the world from autocratic rule – OR _ are “WE” going to allow a plutocratic theocracy to be completed in what was once “the home of the brave?”

The Dark Side is very strong, very seductive, very powerful, extremely rich, has absolutely no scruples. Their messages are very clever – appealing to your fears, rarely your hopes [and then with lies].

Will we do Vladimir Putin’s work {for him] – or, Abraham Lincoln’s?

YOUR choice America – your choice.

When a person/group says they are “people of faith,” what exactly does this mean? A dictionary definition of “faith:” “confidence or trust in a person, or thing; belief that is not based on proof; belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion; belief in anything, as a code of ethics, or the occurrence of a future event; a system of religious belief; the obligation of loyalty or fidelity to a person, promise, engagement, etc.; the observation of this obligation…to act in good faith…”
An encyclopedia defines “Religion:” No simple definition can describe the numerous religions in the world. For many people, religion is an organized system of beliefs, ceremonies, practices, and worship that center on one supreme God, or the Deity. For many others, religion involves a number of gods, or deities. Some people have a religion in which no specific God or gods are worshipped. There are also people who practice their own religious beliefs in their own personal way, largely independent of organized religion.”

When a person states he/she is “a person of faith,” what exactly is that person telling us? Is this a ‘2 plus 2 equals 4’ declaration? Are they asking us to regard them in a certain way? Are they asking us for special privileges? Are they telling us they are so inspired by their beliefs they’ll BE special persons? Are they warning us they intend to act on their beliefs?
How does a society work with “people of faith?” What track record do “people of faith” have? Is it “good” or “bad?” Positive, or, destructive?

American society has seen “religion” a generally “good” thing. We have allowed “religions” special tax privileges because we assumed they’d work for a better society. Religious leaders, especially of major “religions,” have generally been regarded as people working for the general “good>” How have these assumptions been born out in fact?

An encyclopedia discusses “Law” as: “..the set of enforced rules under which a society is governed..No society could exist if all the people did just as they pleased, without regard for the rights of others. Nor could a society exist if its members did not recognize that they also have certain obligations toward one another.”

The Founders who created the American Constitution had four major fears: abuse of power, slavery, religion, and mobs. They intended to prevent these from injuring America.

Why did the Founders have a fear of religion? As students of history they knew of Europe’s 1517-1648 “religious wars. Some of their ancestors had been refugees from religious persecution. Religious persecutions had occurred in America.

The American Constitution mentions religion three times, all to LIMIT how a religion treated other people, prevent it from being politicized. There was to be no religious oath for office [Article VI]. Amendment One provided both freedom FOR, and freedom FROM, religion. Because “an establishment of religion” is forbidden, people have the RIGHT to practice any, or no, religious belief – as long as they don’t injure others. Freedom “FROM” protects them from having others religious beliefs imposed on them.

Professor, ordained Baptist minister, Charles Kimball’s 2002 book, “When Religion Becomes Evil,” laid out “The Five Warning Signs of Corruption of Religion:” absolute truth claims; blind obedience; establishing the ‘ideal’ time; the end justifies any means; declaring holy war.” Kimball: “Whatever religious people may say about their lover of God or the mandates of their religion, when their behavior toward others is violent and destructive, when it causes suffering among their neighbors, you can be sure the religion has been corrupted..” Later: “..sadly true, to say that more wars have been waged, more people killed, and these days more evil perpetrated in the name of religion than by any other institutional force in human history.”

In America, religion justified slavery, later segregation, currently discrimination. Doctors murdered, people terrorized, health clinics blown up by “people of faith.” “People of faith” demand only ‘pro-life’ judges be appointed [seemingly a “religious test”]. “People of faith” have/are attempting to rewrite American history and science to support their false claims. “People of faith” have/are writing their religious views into American domestic laws and foreign policies [seemingly a violation of “no established church”}. “People of faith” have/are pressuring ALL Americans to financially support their churches and schools [Constitutional violation], but claim “religious right” to run those institutions on THEIR [tax free] terms. Would a reasonable person, with this beginning list of evidence, say that “people of faith” have respected the rights of others?

“People of faith” demand special “rights” to practice their religious beliefs in the public square, demand ALL Americans follow THEIR particular religious interpretations – whether YOU like it or not. Things they oppose, as “People of faith.” WE are not entitled to use/do/practice. “People of faith” seek to control the behavior of ALL 330 million Americans – whether YOU attend their church or not, whether YOU accept their beliefs or not. “People of faith” have pursued this ‘holy mission” to “save” us – on their terms – ruthlessly – “the end justifiers any means.”

“People of faith” proclaim their absolute horror at Muslim “Sharia law,” a fundamentalist interpretation of that faith. Yet, American “people of faith” intend to impose their fundamentalist ‘Christian’ Sharia law on YOU.
Professor Kimball recognized this. He placed the Taliban and the American ‘religious right’ on a continuum.

Ask yourself this simple question: why is it in 1970-2020 America do we see almost exclusively people on the fundamentalist far right religious spectrum that proclaim they are “people of faith?” Meaning, as they have repeatedly demonstrated, they want to remake America on THEIR terms?

Note the arrogance of this. They infer the rest of America has no religious faith, no morality, no code of ethics, no righteous conduct.

Consider the following “people of faith” quotes
-Jay Grimstead, National Director, “Coalition on Revival:” “God has given us the Bible as a rule book for all society – Christian and nonChristian alike.”
-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 equal time..don’t want pluralism.”
-Robert Jeffress, pastor, First Baptist Church of Dallas’,: “Islam is wrong. It is a heresy from the pit of hell. Judaism – you can’t be saved being a Jew.”
-Pat Robertson, 700 Club: “You say you’re supposed to be nice to Episcopalians and the Presbyterians and the Methodists and this, that, and the other thing. Nonsense. I don’t have to be nice to the spirit of the Antichrist.”
-Gary nOrth: “Let us be blunt about it: we must use the doctrine of religious liberty to gain independence for Christian schools until we train up a generation of people who know..there is no religious neutrality, no neutral law, no neutral education, and no neutral civil government. Then they will get busy..constructing a Bible-based social, political, and religious order which finally denies the religious liberty of the enemies of God.”

From this very small sampling of People of faith” leaders – is there any rational person willing to deny that “people of faith” have a very unConstitutional plan to totally, in a very authoritarian and dictatorial manner – RUN YOUR LIFE????????? And. use YOUR tax dollars to do it???????

Many “people of faith,” being single issue voters, have followed THEIR fundamentalist views to elect numerous ‘pro-life’ politicians and judges.
The last two Republican-dominatedU.S. Supreme Courts have begun the process of rewriting the Constitution – to give special privileges to “people of faith” [incredibly giving ‘religious rights’ to corporations]. They are deliberately tearing down the 1789-2000 “separation of church and state” principle.
The last 4 Republican presidents have funneled YOUR tax dollars into “faith-based” organizations, which often practice discrimination against people “of the wrong religion.”

The 1980-2020 Republican Party has become the political arm of fundamentalist churches – unprecedented in American history.
The l975-2020 “cultural war” is solely the creation of the far right fundamentalist “religious right” and their Republican enablers.
The Republican/religious right DOUBLE STANDARD of “we can violate the Constitution by appointing candidates picking for their “pro-life” fundamentalist records/views – BUT -YOU are forbidden to mention this, to criticize this, because…… THAT….. would be religious bigotry!!!!!!!!!!! In your face, America, we make the rules.

The “cultural war” didn’t begin with “Roe-v-Wade.” It began in 1965 with the “Griswold” decision. “Griswold” ended the attempt by one fundamentalist church to prohibit, by criminal law, the use on contraceptives by ANY married Connecticut couple. In your face America, WE make the rules.

As seen by recent Supreme Court decisions, the “religious right” has not abandoned efforts to undermine contraception use in America.
As seen by the 2016 and 2020 efforts, the Republican Party believes “the end justifies any means.” Getting two “pro-life” Justices on the Supreme Court justifies ANYTHING, including undermining the Court’s credibility. In your face, America, WE make the rules.

Everything above is but a very SMALL sample of what “people of faith” have done, have planned for YOU, your children, your grandchildren. They have said, are working toward, an American theocracy – run by THEM. They piously claim, as “people of faith,” to have YOUR best interests in mind. Do they?

This post contains material from “Church & State” magazine, September, 2020 issue, pages 16-17. The article is a review of Steve Suit’s new book, “Overturning Brown: The Segregationist Legacy Of The Modern School Choice Movement” [NewSouth Books].

Suits: “The book races the history of school vouchers since they were first used widely in Southern States in attempting to defeat school desegregation in the 1950s and 1960s and explains how that legacy continues to shape perceptions, practices and policies today.”

Suits: “It’s simply really. Today most white students attending private schools remain in virtually segregated schools – schools where students of color represent only a token portion..usually less than 10 percent…”
“..As desegregation slowly moved across the South, private schools in the region accepted a token number of students of color IN ORDER TO SAVE THEIR FEDERAL TAX EXEMPTIONS.
“Over time, the same school patterns have persisted…Once only a Southern problem, NOW IT IS A NATIONAL PROBLEM.
“It is also worth noting that the arguments today are largely the SAME ARGUMENTS that the SEGREGATIONISTS used to DEFEND AND PROMOTE SCHOOL VOUCHERS IN THE PAST.”

The “Boutwell Committee in Alabama…was the first segregationist strategy group in the South…Their segregationist plan proposed ‘FREEDOM OF CHOICE’ without regard to race. It had four basic components:
-eliminate any reference to segregation in schools..Alabama laws would “concede the right of white and negro families to send their children to mixed public schools
-remove ANY language from the state constitution GUARANTEEING A RIGHT OF EDUCATION OR ANY OBLIGATION OF THE STATE TO FUND PUBLIC SCHOOL-CHILDREN AT ANY LEVEL.
-enable LOCAL school officials to DETERMINE ‘ELIGIBILITY, ADMISSION, AND ALLOCATION OF PUPILS, INCLUDING THE POWER TO REFUSE ADMISSION….
-provide vouchers and OTHER TAX FUNDS for private schools to operate on THEIR OWN ADMISSION STANDARDS,”

Suits: “When Friedman [economist, Milton] wrote his first paper on school vouchers..he admitted he knew..Southern segregationists were proposing the same thing..admitted he..vouchers could help them maintain and advance school segregation. But..segregation was the NECESSARY COST OF FREEDOM OF CHOICE….’freedom of choice’ was more important than desegregation and was NECESSARY TO DISMANTLE WHAT HE CALLED “government schools” – a term President Trump has adopted.”

Suits: “They are using the language of civil rights to defeat the goals of civil rights”

Suits: “Yes, the U.S. Supreme Court has ESSENTIALLY ABANDONED JEFFERSON’S ‘WALL OF SEPARATION on matters of church and state.”

Suits: “U.S. Rep. John Lewis’ last words….”when you see something that is not right, you must say something. You must do something. DEMOCRACY IS NOT A STATE. IT IS AN ACT.”

Please consider the following scoreboard:
– Nixon: 76 criminal indictments; 55 criminal convictions; 15 prison sentences
– Reagan: 26 criminal indictments; l6 criminal convictions; 8 prison sentences
– [Democrat Clinton]: 2 criminal indictments; 1 criminal conviction; 1 prison sentence
– Bush II: 16 criminal indictments; 16 criminal convictions; 9 prison sentences
– [Democrat Obama]: 0 indictments; 0 convictions
– Trump [as of 11/19/19]: 37 criminal indictments; 7 criminal convictions; 6 prison sentences

This is only the beginning. So much of the total Republican criminal story lies in plain sight – just connect the dots. Also – consider basic American principles: all men are created equal; “promote the general Welfare;” love thy neighbor as thyself.

1] National Debt. When Reagan took office, the debt was under $1 trillion. His tac cuts for the rich began the debt blow up. Trillions in debt increase occurred under Bush II, plus his immoral Iraq war [estimates of $3 trillion cost]. Trump’s 2017 tax cut for the rich was KNOWN to increase the debt – Repub”s passed it anyway.
As America edges toward a $30 trillion debt, Repub’s now say: A] “We can’t afford aid to starving/unemployed Americans; B] it’ll be “necessary” to cut Social Security & Medicare.

2] Republicans 40-Year War Against Gov’t. They’ve attempted to “starve the beast” by cutting taxes[on the rich]; to hamstring the gov’t so it can’t work [ a goal of the ultra far right billionaires funding them]; appointed people hostile to the idea of their dep’t; co-opted gov’t by writing regulations & laws that are “business-friendly”[consumer-worker-environment-gov’t-taxpayer hostile].

3] “Packing the Courts” Repub’s have conducted a 50-year war to pack courts with “business-friendly judges; judges that favor the important single-issues voters they need. It began with Nixon engineering a Supreme Court retirement & the appointment of ethics-challenged W. Rehnquist [ accused of double perjury].
Since then, Repub’s have violated the Constitution’s Article VI [no religious test] by announcing and appointing “pro-life’ judges. They have a reactionary screening system to insure “correct” votes [and become angry when they don’t get them].
In doubt? Consider the Harriet Miers far-right pressure campaign that forced Bush II to cancel his own Supreme Court nomination. Consider “No more Souters.” Justice David Souter was labeled a “mistake” because he was a moderate centrist.

4] Crime in the streets – vs – Crime in the SUITES. Repub’s are big on street crime; fits well in their fear campaigns. “Law & Order” is a good bumper sticker – the simplistic slogans Repub’s love – lots of emotion, no thinking. [Repubs don’t like too much thinking]
Repub’s are NOT big on “crime in the Suites;” they could be big Repub donors!!!. Prosecutions for “white collar crimes” often drop in Repub administrations; often near-total refusal to examine anti-trust violations.
Not enough space here to list ALL the corporate crimes in my “Corporate Greed & Criminal” files!!!
For perspective, read Charles Higham’s “Trading With The Enemy An Expose of the Nazi-American Money Plot of 1933-1949” or Edwin Black’s “IBM and The Holocaust The Strategic Alliance Between Nazi Germany and America’s Most Powerful Corporation.” Even the world’s most evil gov’t ever wasn’t enough to prevent “American” corporate profiteering. Or, Ralph Nader’s “Corporate Crime & Violence.” Or, if you still have a home after the Wall Street-created 2008 Crash……..

5] Sweetheart Contracts. Repub’s used the 9/11 bill to blow up the original 15 page package into a 300 page corporate benefit. Then all the immoral [& war crimes filled] Iraq War no-bid contracts; then the 2008 bank bailouts [“necessary to save America”] with no strings attached preventing your tax dollars given away as Wall Street Christmas bonuses {the U.K. & Sweden didn’t do this].
To bail out America from Trump’s incompetence, a $3 trillion aid package was enacted. Mysteriously, “small business” aid went to BIG corporations & CONNECTED people [private schools]; money for several million REAL Mom & Pop’s never got there’ 6-time bankruptcy “business genius” Trump said he’d be the accountability judge!!!!!

6] Major Scandals. The Repub Grant Admin. during the 1865-1901 “Robber Baron” era of almost all Repub presidents; the Repub Harding Admin. in the Repub-controlled “Roaring Twenties<” which ended in the Great 1930’s Depression – Hitler – WW II – the Holocaust; Repub Nixon’s Watergate Scandal – the only forced presidential resignation; Repub Reagan’s “Iran-Conra Scandal” – for which many feel he could/should have been impeached; Bush II’s immoral Iraq War followed by his 2008 crash; Repub Trump – 4 years of continual crimes, cruelty, and coruption. “Drain the swamp” he didn’t!

7] Deliberate Destruction of 1947-73 Middle Class Golden Age. The statistical high water mark of America’s middle class had a featured “kitchen debate” in which then-Vice President Nixon bests Russian dictator Khrushchev in a Moscow model American kitchen with stove, refrigerator, etc. – that most Americans already had.
Otherwise known as “the great leveling,” the era featured top marginal tax rates of 70-90%, averaging 8l%. This was “too good a deal” for the top 1% to stomach – “giving” their “hard-earned” money to “undeserving” commoners. They revolted; began to attack unions {which still continues] and government
The top 1% got their taxes cut {top marginal rate 39%, if they pay it]; corporate tax cut [was already competitive in real taxes paid]; continuous attacks on inheritance taxes [only paid by 2% – with $5 million per person estates!!!]; numerous other loopholes {see Trump’s taxes!!!] used here & abroad [tax haven P.O. boxes!!!]; and – bonus – they get primarily paid in stock shares [given to them] at 15%!!!!!!!!!!!!!

8] Read Pulitzer Prize winners and others: Headrick Smith’s “Who Stole the American Dream?,” Bartlett & STeele’s “The Betrayal of the American Dream.” Paul Krugman”s “The Great Unraveling,” Jane Mayer’s “Dark Money,” David C. Johnston’s “Perfectly Legal,” John Ehrenberg’s “$ervants of Wealth,” Naomi Klein’s “The Shock Doctrine,” Joseph Stiglitz’ “The Price of Inequality,” Charles Ferguson’s “Predator Nation,” Charles Lewis-Bill Allison’s “The Cheating of America,” Anne Nelson’s “Shadow Network,” Levitsky-Ziblatt”s “How Democracies Die,” Nancy MacLean’s “Democracy in Chains,” Stuart Steven’s It Was All A Lie,” Alissa Quart’s “Squeezed.”
Get yourself pre-1980 and post-1980 unspun IRS data on American incomes. If you’re in the bottom 90-95%, you”re being ROBBED of $l0-ll,000 every year.

9] GUNS. You feel safe – anywhere, in 2020 America? Who does? YOU can be shot anywhere, at any time, by anyone. Just be “in the wrong place” – a church, school, shopping, a movie, a concert…….
Thanks to the Constitutionally challenged Roberts Court, which contrary to 5 [FIVE] previous Supreme Courts [19th century-1939] decisions, used “originalism/textualism” [intellectual garbage] to make up {“judicial activism”!!!!!] new 2nd Amendment rules in “Heller” & “McDonald.” The Roberts Court theory was “self-defense ” in your home [missing in original 1792 text}, and carry weapons in public. The4se have become further loopholes for unhappy people to murder YOU.
The 2nd Amendment is one sentence, with a comma in the middle. The creative Roberts Court, inventing also new grammar rules, decided to ignore half that sentence.
America, with 4% of the world’s population, has 50% of weapons – and not surprisingly, we are #1 !!! [in murders].
In civilized nations in Europe and Asia – You don’t have to worry about this.
In Repub-run America, doing the N.R.A.’s bidding, we have a “Wild West’ form of “Law & Order>” It is what Repub’s say it is. In your face, America.

10] Political Corruption. In 2010, the ethically challenged Roberts Court decided, reading the Constitutional tea leaves as “only they” can, “freedom of speech” was ow to include spending money!!! – as in buying your very own Congress critter. The only limit on this form of “freedom of speech” is your wealth – the more money you have, the more “free speech” you have!!! Is this a great capitalist nation, or not!!!!!!
Congress critters have repeatedly, heatedly, denied this reality. YOU can decide for yourself. Check the votes, the contracts, the favorable decisions; follow the money – fund raisers, private $100,00 a plate dinners, junkets, future jobs, etc.
Congressional/Senate seats that used to cost $500 in pre-1980 America, soon were costing $1-2 million. Now we have some costing $50 million [who really knows in post-“Citizens United” America of countless “dark money.”
The despised “Citizens United” decision didn’t do this alone, just put elections on steroids. Since most Americans can’t afford a$400 emergency, the obvious [only] candidates to donate millions are the top 1%. If you’re really trusting, really gullible, you’ll believe this rich “patriots” don’t want anything in return for their “investment.” If so, call me, I have several bridges for sale in choice deserts to sell.

11] Voting suppression. If YOU are the “wrong” kind of voter, Republicans don’t want you to vote; have created a long, creative, list of measures to prevent YOU from subverting the reactionary plutocratic theocracy they want America to become.
They’ve immensely aided by the ethics challenged Roberts Court’s “Shelby County” decision in 2013. The Roberts Court decided [on what evidence???] that racism had disappeared from America. Previous perp states, mostly in the old Confederacy [surprise!!!] were now to be relieved of this “unfair” burden of 250 years of documented practice of racism. They were hereby free!!! [ what some victimized people thought had occurred in 1863]. Perp states were no free to discriminate again – and they did!
Within hours, Texas implemented [previously illegal!] strict voter I.D. laws; other states [usually in the old Confederacy [surprise!!!] followed. Also, eventually 1,688 polling places had been closed.
Repub’s perfected numerous obstructions: more difficult to register & vote; limit union rights; control voting process; purging voters [ a BIG Repub 2010-2020 tactic]; gerrymandering; defective machines in Democratic areas [classic 2000 Florida]; claims of “voter fraud” [ right-wing Heritage Foundation examined 36 years of mail-in ballots, finding 1,285 voter fraud cases in nearly 2 billion ballots – a rate of .0000007% – same probability of being hit by an asteroid]; opposing any measures expanding voting time or convenience; finding creative ways to disqualify ballots.
Apparently, in 2020, we’re going to see massive Repub voter intimidation. this could be a repeat of past Highway Patrol cars with flashing lights in certain Democratic-leaning areas. Also, from current news – Repubs are recruiting a 50,000 man “Brown Shirt” army of ex-military special forces personnel to patrol America’s polling places – to prevent any “violence,” cheating and any other activities “our” Attorney General might see as threatening a Trump enators – if Clinton won, they’d keep open the Supreme Court vacancy for 4 years!!!.

Article VI of the Constitution: “..but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or Trust under these United States.”

Amendment One: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..”

The Republican Party, in order to satisfy its main political support base, religious “conservatives,” otherwise often known as “pro-life” supporters, has violated the Constitutional requirements above for over 40 years.
This is no secret. Republicans have made it very public. They have announced that they will only appoint “pro-life” judges. Their party platforms contain “pro-life” planks. Republicans proudly announce they favor “pro-life” legislation. Election literature often announces this Republican candidate is “pro-life” [except when they want to conceal that!], sometimes listing church membership.

Republican Party political officials will piously say,”I didn’t ask him/her whether he/she was “pro-life.” Or – “That never came up.” They don’t have to. The “TEST” has already been conducted in the very well known Republican Party vetting process. It is extremely unlikely any candidate will get on a Republican “short list” unless their “pro-life” record is already known.

If in doubt about the above, please consider two recent incidents. First, the Harriet Miers example. Republican president George W. Bush nominated Miers to the Supreme Court. The Republican “base” exploded in anger. Miers wasn’t sufficiently “solid” on a number of critical issues. Bush was forced to withdraw her nomination. Second, the slogan, “No more Souters.” Souter was seen as a “failure” by “social conservatives” because he wasn’t dependably far right doctrinaire. Actually worse, Souter was a moderate who supported privacy, equality, and separation of church and state. Republicans vowed to never again make this “mistake”

Don’t forget the Republican rule-twisting hypocrisy of 2016. They denied holding hearings for moderate Obama pick, Merrick Garland, on the false reason it was “too late” in Obama’s term. Then – they said if Clinton won, they’d not allow her to make a Supreme Court appointment for the next 4 years!!!!! Now, of course, we’re told those rules are off the table – fulfilling McConnell’s cynical promise to fill a seat at the end of Trump’s term – the Republican definition of “law & order.” In your face, America. WE decide what is and isn’t “law & order.”

One of the Founders’ deepest fears was four factors might divide the country: abuse of power, slavery, religion, mobs. They determined to prevent this. Their remedy for America divided by religion was Article VI and Amendment One – strict “separation of church and state.”
We have extensive quotes, letters, speeches, etc. from the Founders indicating they wished a complete “separation of church and state.” The early American general public also voiced this. We have testimony during the process of adopting the “Bill of Rights” explicitly stating support for “separation of church and state.”

The “religious right” and Republicans have attempted to rewrite history explaining all this away. They have concocted numerous “legal theories” attempting the same. The current ones are “originalism” and “textualism.” Republican nominated judges/Justices often claim to be able [alone!!!] to read the Constitutional “tea leaves” discovering what the Founders meant – which other historians and Justices have – amazingly – been unable to do!!!!! They have issued some remarkable, often plausible, explanations of the Constitution that everybody has missed for over 200 years!!!!!. And, in another amazing coincidence – the Republican judges/Justices’ explanations are usually identical with a previously expressed [either in private, or publicly] Republican/”religious right” goal!
Ironically, the truth is right there in the printed words above: no religious test, no established church, all 330 million Americans have their own personal religious beliefs.

There were “established churches” in 1789-92 when the Constitution and “Bill of Rights” were written. ll of the l3 original states had one. Nations like England and Sweden and others had one. England had gone through religious warfare determining a successor to Henry VIII. Europe had fought religious wars from 1517-1648. By 1830, all ll original states had eliminated their “official” church. Some Founders even believed requiring a person to financially support the church he himself attended was unconstitutional. Their “separation of church & state” is very clear.

What is an “established church?” It is the official state-backed church that puts its religious dogma into law. All people are required to obey. The “established church” tells you what to think – and historically punished those who didn’t. The scientist Galileo was confine3d to house arrest for correctly describing the solar system. Our own Puritan theocracy punished people with “the scarlet letter.” Dissidents, like Roger Williams, were driven out of the colony.

The U.S. government has recognized at least 200 different churches. They all, under the Constitution, have equal rights. Under an “established church” this cannot happen.

The American Constitution guarantees two religious rights: freedom for; and freedom from. YOU have YOUR own religion, or no religion. YOU are also free from others trying to impose THEIR interpretation on a sacred text on YOU.

The American “religious right” only respects half of those rights. THEIR interpretation of “religious liberty” is THEY, as the owners of “the truth,” have a “biblical right” to impose THEIR religious values on YOU, whether you want it, like it, or not. THEY feel they’re doing this for your own good – because they “know” the truth you don’t.

Here are some religious right quotes from recent years:
-Pat Buchanan, 1992 Republican convention: “There is a religious war going on in this country. It is a cultural war..for the soul of America.”
-Jay Grimstead, National Director, “Coalition on Revival”: “God has given us the Bible as a rule book for all society, Christian and non-Christian alike.”
-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 equal time..don’t want pluralism.”
-Robert Jeffress, pastor, First Baptist Church of Dallas: “Islam is wrong. It is a heresy from the pit of hell. Judaism – you can’t be saved being a Jew.” In a 2011 sermon he called the Catholic Church a corrupt version of Christianity that sprang from Ancient Babylonian cults.
-Pat Robertson{700 Club]: “You say you’re supposed to be nice to the Episcopalians and the Presbyterians and the Methodists and this, that, and the other thing. Nonsense. I don’t have to be nice to the spirit of the antichrist.”

Here are some Republicans on rape:
-Clayton Williams [TX}: “Rape is kinda like the weather. If it’s inevitable, relax and enjoy it.”
-Todd Akin [MO]: “If it is a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to shut that thing down.”
-Rick Santorum [PA]: “Rape victims should make the best of a bad situation.”
-Richard Mourdock {IN]: “Even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that is something that God intended to happen.”
-Jodie Laubenberg [T x]: “In an emergency room they have what’s called rape kits., where a woman can get cleaned out.”
-Lawrence Lockman [ME]: “If a woman has [the right to an abortion], why shouldn’t a man be free to use his superior strength to force himself on a woman? At least the rapist’s pursuit of sexual freedom doesn’t [in most cases] result in anyone’s death.”

The Founders were very clear. They believed that YOU should not be dictated to by any church. The “religious right” doesn’t accept this. Do YOU?

The Roberts Supreme Court, dominated by 5 men all raised in one fundamentalist church, ruled in 2020, in “Espinoza” – YOU can be forced to pay YOUR tax dollars to support a church YOU don’t don’t attend, may even strongly disagree with. This overturned 231 years of American legal precedent [ the prejudicial word was “any”!!!!!].

The next question, according to Republican Party and “religious right” plans – is to determine WHO controls her own body – a woman – or the state? This is dictatorship. If you don’ control YOUR own body, then what other rights do YOU really have??????????

wait111 There’s another Republican/religious right double standard:

Since the Republican Party and the “religious right” are on a sacred self-proclaimed “holy mission” – they bare allowed special treatment.

Remember all the details above, the vetting, etc.?

Republicans are allowed to search for candidates who’ll give them a near-100% voting record on courts. There have been 15 members of one fundamentalist church on the Supreme Court. Republicans have put nearly half them on the Court since 1980. This church says abortion is a sin, and wants that in American law. This church is also against contraception, and wants that in American law.

BUT…..

YOU are not allowed to raise questions about this.

because, in their view, THAT would be unfair, would make YOU a religious bigot, an anti-XYZ Church zealot, prejudiced, etc. Any Senate vote against these carefully selected potential Justices/judges is supposed to IGNORE all the reasons WHY the person was nominated [a sure vote on several key issues]


Got that??? They get to do things you can’t – because…. In Your face, America.
WE make the rules.

The list of things Trump has not debased, defaced, or destroyed shrinks daily.

On Tuesday, September 29th, America and the world saw the real Donald Trump.  Saw him exhibit typical top 1% arrogant, brutish rule-breaking.

In the 1950’s famous “McCarthy-Army” hearings, attorney Joseph Welch asked demagogue Joseph McCarthy:  “At long last, Sir, have you no sense of decency.”  This is one question, YOU, as an ordinary American citizen are entitled to ask Trump: “At long last, Sir, have you no sense of decency?”

YOU might also ask “your” president: “Are you a Russian agent – a ‘Manchurian candidate?”  Because – Trump in 4 years has done more damage to America, democracy, the world than any ‘normal’ Russian agent could possibly have done.

YOU are now also entitled to begin entertaining this question:  are we entering  territory where we think of Donald Trump as  “evil?”   Reflecting on Trump’s 4 year record of 20,000 lies, his rhetoric encouraging extremism and racism, his overall ‘presidential’ pattern of action – does this add up to “evil” more than just plain stupidity, ignorance, and incompetence?

Trump has debased, defaced, destroyed the concept of “truth,” the ideal of competence, the American public’s trust, the democratic integrity of elections, the American justice system, the tax system basic fairness, individuals in contact with him, the public health system, and most of all –      the American “brand” at home and abroad.

The first, most tragic Trump casualty, was the very concept of “truth.”  Very early we were introduced to “alternative facts – said with a straight face.  Then, during the 20,000 lies barrage, a daily demonstration.  Slowly, the drip…drip…drip of lies drained away that basic element of democracy.  Now, the the emphatic assist of September 29th’s “debate,’ we find the emperor has no clothes and feet of clay.  BUT – it might be too late.                                                       The length of any democracy is not guaranteed.   Famously, Ben Franklin answered a 1787 question: “A republic, if you can keep it.”   IF.

On of the great tragedies of the Trump era is willing suspension of disbelief by millions of otherwise decent Americans.  Some have been lazy searching for truth.  Some willingly drank “the Kool-Aid.”  Some have been taken in by poisonous propaganda spewed from the infamous far right “echo chamber” of one TV station, right-wing talk radio and far right internet.  The result5: millions misinformed – yet so far gone, they angrily say: ‘you’re wrong, I KNOW the truth, YOU are the misinformed one.”

Another Trump casualty is competence.  Government needs to display  competence, to solve problems.  The Trump regime has displayed incompetence on a scale seldom seen.  It started with high-level appointees “leading” departments they opposed, even hated.  This is the 40-year Republican plan of sabotaging government.  America muddled through the first 3 Trump years, her basic strength carrying through.

Then – COVID-19.  This crisis required a Washington, Lincoln, FDR, Eisenhower.  Instead, we are cursed with an ignorant, incompetent, immature child.  South Korea and America first identified COVID-19 cases on the same January day.  Since then, Korea applied   serious science, serious government-led effort safeguarding their people.  America did not.  Now ,like “our” president, America is in chaos, people and businesses suffering.

Our “leader” from the very beginning denied it was serious;  said it would all magically go away;  said his government had “everything under control.”               Later Trump passed all responsibility off to states – like FDR telling Hawaii after December 7, 1941 – fighting off Japan was Hawaii’s responsibility.

Trump compounded this by attacking his own medical staff; and saying only he [without medical training] knew the answers.  Then worsened things by not taking advantage of federal buying power – and – told states they were on their own for medical supplies!!!!!  Their competition then drove up YOUR tax cost.
9 months later, medical personnel still short critical supplies; America doesn’t have the testing program other advanced nations do; and – because Congressional Republicans say “we can’t afford it” {but COULD afford top 1% tax cuts] – no financial relief for bankrupt states-cities-schools-small businesses-workers.

Another casualty of the Trump cult’s reign is trust.  Because of the war on truth, and its own incompetence – theAmerican people have no trust in Trump.  Trust is another vital democratic ingredient.  Good leaders inspire trust.  FDR inspired 1930’s Americans by proving he’d try anything to help them.  Churchill inspired the British to resist Hitler..
Since Trump doesn’t know truth – which most Americans have figured out – he can’t inspire trust.  Without trust we’ll not successfully work together.

Tragically, some Americans distrust other Americans.  We’ve seen some in streets, under various names, in pickup trucks, often armed, claiming to be “helping supply law and order.  Their concept of “law and order” is suppression of those they don’t like.
History has shown us this many times, often in nations that end up with dictatorships.  The “brownshirts” don’t always wear brown shirts.
“Our” president has refused several times, the latest on September 29th, to criticize these armed vigilantes, saying infamously, “there were fine people on both sides>  One of these “fine people” is now charged with murdering two people – recorded on film.

Another Trump casualty is the integrity of America’s electoral system.  Trump has denied his own government’s repeated reports of Russian interference; and has tried to obstruct any investigation.
To win the 2020 election – Trump has sabotaged the U>S, Post Office; sabotaged the census; sabotaged the election itself by claiming if he doesn’t win it will have happened because he was cheated {with no evidence].

Trump has also suggested it might be “necessary” for bully-boy supporters to act as “poll watchers” to prevent massive “fraud” designed to cheat him.  Apparently, Republicans are right now mobilizing and training an army of 50,000 “poll watchers>”  Normal people see this for what it is: a repeat of previous Republican efforts to intimidate voters
Trump has suggested he might refuse to honor the 2020 election results.  Other than his previous threat in 2016 – this is unprecedented since 1789.  The American military is now discussing how to respond.

Another Trump casualty is justice.  The only justice in 2020 America is what Trump, his ethics-challenged Attorney General, and the ethics-challenged Roberts Supreme Court define it to be.  American 1789-2016 norms, values, laws are of no consequence.  Legal reasoning and laws have been radically twisted to do what the Republican economic-political-religious-social “base” wants.  In your face, America, WE decide what ‘legal’ is.

Another Trump casualty is corrupt use of the tax laws.  Wouldn’t you like to pay $0 or $750 per year on your federal taxes?  Sorry – YOU don’t have a corrupt Congress critter writing loopholes, or creative lawyers and accountants.  This privilege is reserved for the top 1%.

Another Trump casualty is people.  The dead and sick from Trump’s COVID-19 incompetence;  people debased by having anything to do with him.  “As many people are saying” you cross over a moralRubicon working for Trump.  “Few people come back normal.”  But many are debased.

The last Trump casualty might be America.  As many foreign observers have stated, 2020 America is a mere shadow of what it used to be in world opinion.  There are serious doubts American democracy, let alone civility, will ever fully recover.  YOU should have no doubts why Putin   wants Trump as “our” leader.  Toxic Trump has done more damage to America in 4 years than any nation or person – EVER.   Not even close.