I’m confused.

I’m told the Founder of “Christian” religion told his followers what his #l principle was: “A new commandment I give you, that you love one another; as I have loved you.” [John 13: 34}

But, I’m confused, as we read the following:
– Robert Jeffress, pastor, First Baptist Church of Dallas, has called gays “miserable,” “Filthy,” “degrading.” “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, he called the Catholic Church a corrupt version of Christianity that sprang from ancient Babylonian cults.
– Reverend Pat Robertson: “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.” [700 Club]
– journalist Katherine Stewart attended a “conservative” Protestant conference, went to a seminar called “Understanding and Reaching Out to the Hispanic Child,” where the leader “Devotes the bulk of the seminar addressing the problem of how to subvert Catholic teachings and practices so subtly that Catholic-born students won’t alert their parents…”They call themselves Christians..being Catholics doesn’t mean they are the RIGHT kind of Christians..”
[“The Good News Club”; page 55]

So, I’m confused.

I’m told the Christian Bible has some 2-3,000 references to the poor and duty to help them.
But – we study the reverse Robin Hood tax cuts for the rich and corporations passed by a Party that claims to be upholding “Christian,” “family values.” The 2017 tax cut phased out middle class tax cuts, but those for the rich and corporations are permanent.
But – America has the #37 best “health care” system; medical bills are the #1 cause of ordinary people declaring bankruptcy. Many ordinary people are severely handicapped by college debts. We have a growing homeless problem. We have increasing numbers of people who are “food insecure.” Ordinary workers” income has dropped by about $10,000 annually compared to money earned before 1980.
But – we are told the 2022 Supreme Court. “Dobbs”. decision that removed Constitutional projections for women’s health consequences will fall disproportionally on the poor and powerless. Six “justices” who were all raised in one fundamentalist “Christian” church made that decision.

So, I’m confused.

Looking for guidance, I searched for books. In “What Jesus Meant,” Gary Wills stated: “..the key test for a disciple – treating the poor, the thirsty, the hungry, the naked as if. they were Jesus.” Inside book jacket: “Gary Wills argues that Jesus subscribed to no political program. He was far more radical than that..It is only by dodges and evasions, Wills reminds us, that people blunt what Jesus plainly had to say against power, the wealthy, and religion itself. Jesus came from the lower class, the working class, and he spoke to and for that class.”

So, I’m confused.

Because, some have made the claim America was founded aa “a Christian nation.” Research reveals”
– “Roger Williams, founder of Baptist tradition in America, was a dissident in Puritan Massachusetts who was expelled from the colony in 1636 and went to Rhode Island to form a religiously tolerant society..the notion of religious disestablishment, the absence of a state church.” [Randall Balmer; “Thy Kingdom Come”]
– “As colonists from several different religions and faiths arrived..the Baptist model of religious disestablishment and liberty of conscience looked increasingly attractive…Quakers, Presbyterians, Lutherans, Dutch Reformed, and others – took up Baptist arguments for religious liberty.” [Balmer]
– “James Madison wrote his famous 1785 ‘Memorial and Remonstrance’ to argue against any state endorsement of Christianity. “Who does not see that the same authority which can establish Christianity, in exclusion of all other religions, may establish with the same ease any particular sect of Christians, in exclusion of all other sects.” {Balmer]

So, I’m confused.

Other research led to Edwin Gaustad’s “Faith of the Founders.” Appendix B, pages 133-145, provides 1776-1800 state constitutions. One learns that 4 states prohibited a “religious test for office” [Article VI]; that 8 states banned an active minister from serving in their government; that virtually ALL had language that IS in Amendment One banning an “established church.” One can also learn 11 of the original 13 states HAD established churches; by 1830- ALL. are gone. The inescapable message: the Founding generations believed whatever YOUR faith was, or none at all, it was a PRIVATE affair.

So, I’m. confused.

More historical research leads to Stacy Schiff’s “The Witches,” about the events of 1692 Salem. 19 innocent people were executed for “witchcraft.” All but one of the prosecutors were ministers. O page 66, we learn the 1641 Massachusetts legal code was based on 3 books from the Christian Bible: Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy. The first capital crime was idolatry, the second witchcraft, the third blasphemy [murder was only #4]

We also learn some current “conservative’ fundamentalist groups envision a society where government posts would be reserved for the “righteous,” so long as they are male. There would be thousands of executions yearly, with stoning preferred because it would turn deaths into “community projects.” “Sinners” marked for death would include adulterous women, women who lied bout virginity, blasphemers, witches, children who struck parents, gay men. Eliminated: unions, Social Security, public schools, unemployment benefits, environmental laws, secular government.

So, I’m. confused.

It seems some “Christians” want to return to 1692. Does this mean they want to make the fictional kingdom of “Gilead” are reality?

I’m confused……….

The Founder of Christianity seems to be saying one thing. His 21st century “followers seem to be saying other things. Much of His message is based around love and compassion. Much of His current “followers” seemed to be concerned with hate and eliminating “enemies.”

So, I’m. confused.

One of the biggest groups of “Christians” is also THE most heavily armed with guns of all sorts. Guns kill people – that is their purpose. The “Christians’ claim they only own guns to “protect their family.” But – if we ALL lived up to the Founder of Christianity”s #1. principle – love. – there’d be no need for guns.

So, I’m. confused.

I do NOT know what it means to be a “Christian.”

Note: as always, what would a “reasonable person” think? A person not captive of a partisan “echo chamber’: a person from Western Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, south Korea; the “man from Mars”? A person who knew American basic principles, 1775 forward?

In their latest attack on the Constitution and basic American principles, “justices” Alito & Thomas pushed another reactionary- billionaire funded crackpot, made up “legal” theory”. rights not explicitly mentioned in the Constitution had to be “deeply rooted in this Nation’s history and tradition.”

Their first problem is Amendment IX: “The enumeration of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.”

The entire reason for the “Bill of Rights” was to guarantee basic rights implicit in human dignity beyond the reach of government. Future authoritarians like Alito & Thomas were NOT to be THE judges of what those rights are.
– Alexander Hamilton [1775]: “the sacred rights of mankind are not to be rummaged for among old parchments
or musty records. They are written as with a sunbeam, in the whole volume of human nature, by the hand of
the divinity itself.”
– James Madison, 1792 essay on “property”: the “larger and juster meaning of the term. It “embraces every thing
to which a man may attach value and have a right.”….in the broader sense it meant “a man has property, in his
opinions…property very dear to him in the safety and liberty of his person..in the free use of his faculties..In a
word..he may equally said to have a property in his rights.”

Alito & Thomas have selective, faulty, destructive, cruel, “historical” “memories” of “this Nation’s history and traditions.”

1] The first, and worst, is their concept of “religious freedom.” That American tradition goes back to Roger Williams being exiled from Puritan Massachusetts [1636], finding refuge among Narragansett Indians, founding the Rhode Island colony. That government was based on consent of settlers and complete freedom of religion.
Anne Hutchinson was ordered to leave Massachusetts in 1637, expelled by the church in 1638. Her crime: she interpreted church teachings in ways Puritan leaders considered “dangerous.”
Prior to 1787, numerous Baptist and Evangelical leaders and citizens petitioned governments and spoke in favor of NOT having an “established church.” State constitutions of 1776-1800 repeatedly said: “..nor, under any pretence [sic] whatsoever..” should citizens be compelled to attend a church they didn’t want to, nor support it with ANY fees, tithes, taxes.

“Deeply rooted” American history is that 6 Supreme Court “justices” cannot put their fundamentalist church”s religious dogma into American law – as they did with “Dobbs” and other 2005-2022 decisions. “Deeply rooted” American Constitutional LAW is that [Article VI], 6 “pro-life” judges DON’T get appointed to the Supreme Court.

Abortion and contraception are at least 2,000 years old in human history and tradition, practiced in virtually every human society. Abortion and contraception were practiced in America BEFORE 1776.
Laws criminalizing abortion in mid-19th century America were instigated by MALE doctors, trying to prohibit FEMALE midwives from their traditional practices. By mid-20th century, American medicine was moving to reconsider those laws – it affected their practices of reproductive health
Opposition to legalizing contraception and abortion was/is led by one fundamentalist religion: the Roman Catholic Church. They have been joined in this for admitted, documented, cynical political reasons by other fundamentalist churches and politicians.
Not only freedom from an “established church,” but also rights of “free exercise thereof” were, until June, 2022, considered bedrock American HISTORICAL rights. Several non-Christian leaders, other Christian leaders, have said THEIR. religious rights include THEIR people may choose contraception and abortion.

2] A second, egregious, twisting of American tradition and law is the McConnell/Trump/Roberts “court” legislation on guns. They have violated numerous 1787-2007 American traditions and laws.
– March, 2021: the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals: “restrictions on carrying guns in public except for hunting do not violate the Second Amendment.” Judge Jay Bybee, appointed by President G.W. Bush, wrote for the 7-4 majority. He said a review of more than 700 years of American and English law showed government has long had the power to regulate arms in public spaces. “We have never assumed..individuals have..unfettered right to carry weapons in public spaces..” [M.Dolan; 3/25/21; L.A. Times}
– ignorance of history and traditions of the “Old West.” Cowboys were required to check their guns with the town marshal at city limits. Town residents were tired of having their towns shot up by drunken cowboys>
– ignorance of 1792 Militia Acts [passed 5 months after Amendment II], May 8: REQUIRING every free able-bodied white male, 18-45, to be enrolled in the militia.
– ignorance of grammar rules. A sentence – the Second Amendment, divided by a comma, MUST include ALL. words considered for correct meaning. One CANOT ignore HALF the words for correct meaning.
– blissful, incredible, ignorance of what is now a weekly, if not daily occurrence, on American streets, in theaters, schools, malls, churches, businesses – mass murder by guns; often military grade weapons. No other nation, claiming to be civilized, allows this carnage and cruelty.
– ignorance of requirements of ANY American government in the Constitution’s Preamble: to ensure domestic Tranquility, to promote the general Welfare. their 2008, 2010, 2022 INVENTED. ‘rights”. have done NOTHING to accomplish Tranquility or promote the general Welfare. [not getting shot while walking, etc.]

3] A third, egregious, sinister, violation of American history and tradition is the McConnell/Trump/Roberts “court’s” WAR. against government regulations – the latest against the E.P.A.’s ability to fight climate crisis. By word parsing they’re reducing general principles to single words.
– Chief Justice Marshall [“Bank’]: “A Constitution, from its nature, deals in generals, not in detail. Its framers cannot perceive minute distinctions which arise in the progress of the nation, and therefore confine it to the establishment of broad and general principles.”
– James Wilson, 1787 Philadelphia: “..we are providing a Constitution for future generations, not merely for the peculiar circumstances of the moment.” [DIRECT refutation of whacko “originalism”!!!!!!!!!]

American legal history and tradition has long said government, to protect people, would enact restrictions on what businesses and citizen could do. We have criminal law, business law, environmental law to carry out basic governmental functions and duties.
American tradition, from the very beginning. The 1773 “Boston Tea Party” was a revolt against special treatment for an English corporation. “Corporation’ is not in the Constitution. Corporate “rights” have been manufactured and GIVEN corporations by various “business-friendly’ Supreme Courts
A major corporate, far-right, goal has been eliminate law restricting their profits. The 2022 “West Virginia” decision is a MAJOR win for big business, a MAJOR defeat for 331 million Americans. McConnell/Trump/Roberts “court’ history is they will build on this, using this faulty, fraudulent “scholarship” to justify what they WANT to do. This 2005-2022 “court” was already THE most “business-friendly” court since 1945. Worse will come.

4] A fourth, egregiously anti-democratic characteristic of the McConnell/Trump/Roberts “court’ is their attack on American democracy itself. The ultimate goal of the reactionary billionaires funding the “conservative judicial revolution” since 1970 is to create an American plutocratic theocracy.
– this “court’ has refused to prevent gerrymandering, which currently favors the political party that put them in office.
– this “court” has undermined bipartisan Voting Rights laws, some 60 years old. The sophomoric “reasoning” of the 2013 “Shelby County” violation is embarrassing. Texas made the Chief Justice look the fool within 24 hours, others followed [negating what he had just said]. Voter suppression laws now the “norm” in previously strained states.
– with “Citizens United” and similar rulings – this “court” has enabled legal money laundering; amounts of hidden “dark money” now double before. Tis ‘court’ says all forms of “election spending” are “free speech.” Ignoring the fact, in reality, some citizens – the rich – have more “free speech.”
– all levels of American government now subject to waves of political “free speech” dark money, often hidden behind shell companies. Lobbyists often write bills.
– numerous laws written by Congress were, until this “court,” part of American legal history and tradition to prevent corruption. Many after major scandals. This “court” thinks it is smarter, more knowledgable, than Congress.

For perspective on all this – please, do YOURSELF a favor – research [seriously] these 6 Republican “justices.” Their backgrounds, pre-court careers, public statements, the “reasoning’ of 2005-2022 decisions. Find out WHO these people REALLY are.
Then – mandatory – research [seriously] right-wing legal groups giving them crackpot, cooked-up, legal “theories. Especially, research the “Federalist Society” – which all 6 Repub “justices’ have been members. Find out how this network started, WHO funded it, WHY it was started.
Especially read Amanda Hollis-Brusky’s “Ideas With Consequences.” Find her discussion and diagrams of specific major ideological 2005-2015 decisions. YOU will find the Federalist Society is well represented in the conveyor belt of “justice’ that led to many 2005-2015 MAJOR decisions: lawyers bring cases, law clerks, “justices.”
Research the “law and economics’ movement, in universities and legal field. It ran various “institutes” for federal judges. About 40% of federal judges attended training sessions.
Research the “Foundation for Research on Economics and the Environment” which also ran “training programs” for judges, professors and others. “FREE’s effect on the judiciary is HUGE. Since the early 1990s, about 25% of federal court chief judges attended a program – which involves “free market solutions” and opposition to the “takings clause.” Ethical questions exist when corporations bring cases into courts of judges, who were “trained” at sessions they sponsored.
Research also penetration of universities by these far-right groups in funding programs and buildings to promote their reactionary anti-tax, anti-regulatory, anti-government “legal theories.” Many major top universities have been infected with these reactionary programs and theories

5] Fifth – do the serious research on recent, 1970-2022, “legal theories’ created by the far right to justify federal court decisions. How many of THESE. – will stand the test of Alito & Thomas: that they are “deeply rooted in this Nation’s history and tradition”??? How can theories cooked up since 1980 be “deeply rooted”??????????
As Justice Kagan pointed out, THIUS. “court” for the first time in all 1787-2022 history announces a major decision based on the “major questions doctrine.” Which far-right “think tank” cooked this up??? [ last month?]

The major “theory” of the far-right “constitutional” theorists for 40 years has been “originalism/textualism”: the PREPOSTEROUS theory ALL major American rights, doctrines, policies must be sen as if we were back in 1787-1791. Even more RIDICULOUS , anything not specifically. [word for word!!!!!] listed therein doesn’t exist [like sex, marriage, children, God]

As Justice Kagan also says, this too has been elastic; “The current Court is textualist only when being so suits it. When that method would frustrate broader goals, special canons like the “major questions doctrine” magically appear as get-out-of-text-free cards.”

What does all this mean? In simple terms; the current McConnell/Trump/Roberts “court’ is LYING; the major ideological goals-become-decisions are FRAUDULENT INVENTIONS; this reactionary 6-“justice” majority is REWRITING HISTORY. – the same “history” they CLAIM to be following.
Legal professors are now also saying what Justice Kagan said – some decisions look more like Republican Party platforms than the Constitution. Many are now saying this “court” may have dealt a fatal blow, forever, in how the American people view the Court in terms of equal justice for all.

The Founding Fathers had four major fears: corruption, slavery, religion, mobs. Look very closely at the McConnell/Trump/Roberts “court,” 2005-2022, PATTERN of “winners” and “losers.” YOU’ll see why the Founders had these fears.

Consider also these statements:
“It is an inadmissibly narrow conception of American constitutional law to confine it to the words of the Constitution
and to disregard the gloss which life has written on them.” [Justice Felix Frankfurter]

“Power corrupts, and unrestricted power will tempt Supreme Court justices just as history tells us it has tempted
other judges. For, unfortunately, judges have not ben immune to the seductive influences of power, and given
absolute or near absolute power, judges may exercise it to bring about changes that are inimical to freedom and
good government.” {Justice Hugo Black]

Samuel Alito – January 9, 2006 – opening statement of his senate confirmation hearing ;
“A judge can’t have any agenda. A judge can’t have any preferred outcome
in any particular case. And a judge certainly doesn’t have a client.”

– June, 2022: “For decades, Alito Had a Goal to Overturn Roe” [Charlie Savage; New York Times}: in l985. Mr. Alito applied for another position in the Justice Department, citing his role in devising a strategy for those cases. “I personally believe very strongly,” he wrote in an application, that “the Constitution does not protect a right to abortion.”…how he slowly and patiently sought to chip away at abortion rights throughout his career before demolishing them in the majority opinion on Friday.”

Chief Justice John Roberts, from “Justice on the Brink” [Linda Greenhouse], page 4: “The loss of a reliable conservative majority would have doomed two projects which Roberts, with Scalia as a reliable ally, was making steady progress. One involved race, the other religion. Roberts’s long term plan was to change how the Constitution understood both, and now, with Donald Trump having filled the Scalia and Kennedy vacancies, he was in a position to achieve his goal.”

Amy Coney Barrett, 2017 essay in “Constitutional Commentary” journal:
“..the measure of a court is its fair-minded application of the rule of law,
which means going where the law leads. By this measure, it is illegiti-
mate for the court to distort either the Constitution or a statute to
achieve what it deems a preferable result.”
– September 26, 2020, at her introduction as Trump’s Supreme Court nominee:
A judge must apply the law as written. Judges are not policy-makers,
and they must be resolute in setting any policy views they might have.”

– “What was unusual was the public dimension to Barrett’s Catholicism..her willingness during her pre-judicial career to attest to her adherence to Catholic doctrine on matters of public concern, abortion prominently among them.” In 20l3, she signed a “pro-life” University Faculty for Life statement. In 2012, she signed a statement criticizing the Obama administration’s inclusion of contraception coverage in employer-sponsored health plans. She signed a 2015 letter of “fidelity to and gratitude for the doctrines of the Catholic church.” In 2016, she was part of a unanimous condemnation of Joe Biden getting the Laetare Medal. [Greenhouse; “Justice on the Brink”]

Clarence Thomas….”At the EEOC, he eased the pressure on corporations to comply with Court orders…ended use of class action suits…[AARP] accused Thomas of neglecting to stop discrimination against the elderly…Although Roe v. Wade was decided while Thomas was a law student..he knew one of the primary reasons for his appointment was his opposition to it, when asked..whether he had ever had a discussion of the Roe decision..”the answer to that is no, Senator..He denied to having an opinion on Roe “this day.” Long after the hearings, it came out he had extensive discussions about the case long before the hearing and stated flatly he was against it.” [Martin Garbus; “Courting Disaster”]

Brett Kavanaugh… “Kavanaugh repeatedly told the senators under grilling from Democrats and Republicans that the women’s right to an abortion has been affirmed…Yet during this week’s court hearing Kavanaugh read from a long list of court cases that have upturned past precedents and questioned why the court couldn’t now do the same with abortion.” [Lisa Mascaro; “Justices’ assurances on “Roe” now look doubtful”; 12/4/21; Assoc. Press]

Professor Erwin Chemerinsky: “The draft of Alito’s majority opinion overturning Roe..is right-wing Republican politics masquerading as law…Unless the court is going to repudiate all of the other privacy rights, it is impossible to deny that laws prohibiting abortion also intrude on a woman’s liberty.” [5/8/22; “Brazenly political court shows it will strike down abortion rights”]

Justice William Brennan: “I took an oath to obey and enforce the Constitution…therefore, when there is a conflict between a principle of my faith and the constitutional principle, I have to decide the case as the Constitution requires.”

Chief Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.: “It is a misfortune if a judge reads his conscious or unconscious sympathy with one side of the other prematurely into the law, and forgets that what seems to him to be first principles are believe3d by half his fellow men to be wrong.”

Amendment One: “Congress shall make no law respecting n establishment of religion…”

Justice Hugo Black: “Power corrupts, and unrestricted power will tempt Supreme Court justices just as history tells us it tempted other judges. For, unfortunately, judges have not been immune to the seductive influences of power, and given the absolute or near absolute power, judges may exercise it to bring changes that are inimical to freedom and good government.”

New Jersey Constitution, 1776, Article XVIII: “That no person shall ever..be deprived of the inestimable privilege of worshipping Almighty God in a manner agreeable to the dictates of his own conscience; nor, under any pretense whatsoever, be compelled to attend any place of worship, contrary to his own faith and judgment; nor shall any person..ever be obliged to pay tithes, taxes, or other rates, for the purpose of building or repairing any church or churches..or for the maintenance of any minister or ministry, contrary to what he believes to be right..” Article XIX: “that there be no establishment of any one religious sect..in preference to another.”

“The true hypocrite is the one who ceases to perceive his deception, the one who lies
with sincerity.” [Andre Gide]

“Sex” isn’t in the Constitution, according to Alito & Thomas: YOU can’t have it.

Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis: “If we desire respect for the law, we must first make the aw respectable.”

“Marriage” isn’t in the Constitution, according to Alito & Thomas: YOU can’t have it.

St. Augustine: “An unjust law is no law at all.”

“Children” are not in the Constitution, according to Alito & Thomas: YOU cannot have any.

Roy Cohn: “I don’t want to know what the law is. I want to know who the judge is.”

“God” is not in the Constitution, according to Alito & Thomas” God doesn’t exist.

Chief Justice John Marshall {Bank}: “A Constitution, from its nature, deals in generals, not in detail. Its framers cannot conceive minute distinctions which arise in the progress of the nation, and therefore confine it to the establishment of broad and general principles.”

The internet, TV, A/C, cares, jet planes, flush toilets, YOUR smartphone, etc. are NOT in the Constitution, according to Alito & Thomas, therefore they don’t exist – and if they did – YOU can’t have them.

REAL historian Gary Wills [“A Necessary Evil”]: “We interpret the Constitution in terms of concepts and words..not in the document. Nowhere does the Constitution mention checks, or balances, or separation of powers, or co-equal branches [or even branches] of government, or states rights [or any rights in the original, unamended document].”

Question: IF the Founders intended the Constitution to be inscribed in stone, never to be changed or modified, WHY did they include an amendment process???

Question: IF the Founders intended the Constitution to be final, to have listed ALL “rights,” WHY did the Ninth Amendment read: “The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.”????? This ALONE destroys Alito’s preposterous argument.

“Corporation” is not in the Constitution, but, beginning with “Santa Clara” the Supreme Court has. GIVEN corporations “rights” – including declaring them to be “people,” GIVING them “free speech” rights [to launder money & corrupt gov’t], GIVEN them “religious rights” [violating corporate principles!], etc. So, the Supreme Court itself, by its own fraudulent conduct, has illustrated it CAN “find” “Constitutional rights” IF it WANTS TO.

The Alito-Thomas “court” has now said abortion has no Constitutional rights. “Dobbs’. will now stand with “Dred Scott” in Supreme Court INFAMY. Both were decided for “originalism” reasons. Both will prove destructive. One part of a chain of events leading to civil political war; one could be part of a chain of events leading to civil religious war.

Chief Justice Roger Taney, in “Dred Scott”: The Framers did not intend for Blacks to be citizens, and the Constitution “must be construed now as it was understood at the time of its adoption.” [the “not-in-the-Constitution theory]

“Justice’ Barrett famously said her Court was not a bunch of partisan political hacks. YOU decide, on the basis of the 2022 “supreme court’s” decisions, on the basis of the McConnell/Trump/Roberts “court’s” 2005-2022. PATTERN. The corporate “win” rate, before 2022 was 70%. The “religious right” “win” rate was 90% BEFORE 2022. Are they “partisan political hacks”? YOU. decide – on the basis of their own track record.

Anti-abortionism, the “pro-life” agenda is RELIGIOUS DOGMA. Putting RELIGIOUS DOGMA into American law is un-Constitutional.: “Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion..” An “established religion” is an official or state church – on which YOU are compelled to support financially and legally.

The appointing of “pro-life” judges in un-Constitutional. Article VI: “no religious Test shall ever be required as aQualification to any Office or Public Trust under the United States.”
It has been Republican policy since 1980 to appoint “pro-life” judges. Republican judicial nominees are “screened” by “social conservatives” to make SURE they are “pro-life.” ALL six current Republican Supreme Court “justices” were raised in one specific fundamentalist church. YOU decide – was this an “accident”?

Criminalizing abortion attacks a century of Supreme Court rulings on privacy, marriage, child bearing.

Justice Brandeis [“Olmstead”]; the most important 4th Amendment point was the spirit behind theAmendment, which was to ensure privacy: “The makers of our Constitution undertook..to protect Americans in their beliefs, their thoughts, 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 encroachments by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding.”
“…the right to be let alone.. most valued by civilized men…. insidious encroachments by men of zeal…”

Amendment IV: “The right of the people to be secure i their persons…” Would a ‘reasonable person” interpret this to mean the he or she had 100% control over their body – and NOT some government , or some church ?

Amendment XIII: “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States..”
Would a person, sentenced to mandatory motherhood, be considered a slave – of the state? Are “we” in 2lst century America going to sentence pregnant persons to, first, 9 months of pregnancy, then l8 years of child care against their wishes?

Can a church YOU don’t attend, may even despise, make laws over YOUR life and YOUR body? Is ANYTHING more cruel, more arrogant, more un-American, more un-Constitutional. than THIS????? If a church, or a group of churches, USING. “government”, can control YOUR. life, control. YOUR. sex and reproductive life – what “rights” do. YOU. have???

If THIS. “supreme court”. can do this to YOU, what else will they do?????

• 6/24/2022, “The Guardian” [P. Olterman]: “Germany has abolished a Nazi-era law that criminalizes doctors who provide information about abortion procedures…Paragraph 219a which dates to May, 1933, shortly after Adolf Hitler assumed fll powers of Nazi Germany..”
  
  – Peter Padfield, “Himmler,” page 185: “Abortion and homosexuality concerned him particularly; in a speech over the radio in January, 1937, he put these two topics high on the list of his ‘tasks for the future’.. “We have already set out to tackle these abominations rigorously and with deep seriousness, in the bitter knowledge that a growth or even just a continuance of these two epidemics must bring any Volk to the abyss.”
  
  – Padfield, page 196: describes some badges required in Nazi concentration camps: “pink for homosexuals..”
  
  – Padfield, page 185: Himmler: “There were homosexuals..who considered what they did was their private affair..This was not so. Nothing in the sphere of sex was a private affair..but concerned the life and death of a Volk and its prospects for world mastery.”
  
  – Claudia Koonz: “Mothers in the Fatherland,” page 3: “From the earliest beginnings of his Party, Hitler promised to..expel women from public influence…Nazi social policy..relegated women to becoming bearers of children and poorly paid workers in the lowest jobs..Nazi contempt for women was so blatant from the beginning..[6]..deprived them of birth control..[196] “The BDM prepared girls for a lifetime membership in the second sex.”
  
  – “14 Points common to previous fascist governments”: disdain for human rights; rampant sexism; religion and the ruling class tied together. ALL of this is apparent and rampant in 1980-2022 Republican and right-wing rhetoric, actions, and policies.
  
  – May, 2021: Texas Governor Greg Abbott signs Texas anti-abortion law. It authorizes “any private citizen” to enforce the law. Parallels between Nazi “Brown Shirts” and Texas vigilantes are obvious.
  
  – Republican-led anti-abortion states are working on censoring YOUR mail to see if YOU’RE getting legal medical prescriptions; are working on preventing YOU from traveling to another state “for the wrong reasons”; are working on how to sue YOU for these things. This is exactly the kind of intense surveillance and control the Nazi Gestapo secret police performed – over people’s private lives.
  
  – the Nazis had laws for marriages. YOU could be in trouble if YOU married “the wrong person.” “Pro-lifers” want to prevent YOU from marrying “the wrong person.”
  
  – Ingo Muller, “Hitler’s Justice,’ chapter 9: “Nazi Jurisprudence”: “An essential role in the decline of law during the Third Reich was played by law professors at German universities. They provided a philosophical cloak…’certain limits must be imposed’ on the autonomy of the courts..we seek an obligation which is more reliable’…A judger should therefore approach a case with ‘healthy prejudice’ and ‘make value judgments which correspond to the National Socialist legal order and the will of the political leadership.” For comparisons, consider the following:
  – in post-1980 Republican/right-wing circles this means the appointment of “pro-life” judges who’ve been screened by reactionary legal groups and “social conservatives
  – the current McConnell/Roberts “court” had a 90% “win” rate for cases brought by “religious rights” plaintiffs BEFORE the infamous 2022 “decisions’; a 70% “win” rate for big business
  – given the fact current Republican/right-wing t. mantra on “their” judges is “no ore Souters,” “no more “O’Connors” – would a “reasonable person” – given the McConnell/Roberts “court” track record – conclude a very open attempt had been made to “fix” the Court???
  
  – there is one difference between Nazis and modern “pro-lifers.” The Nazis enforced political doctrine. American “pro=lifers” seek to enforce RELIGIOUS DOGMA, which by 1789-2000 Founder intent and language of state and federal documents was subsequently seen as un-Constitutional.
  
  for perspective, read Charles Kimball’s “When Religion Becomes Evil.” Think on his “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.
  Elementary knowledge of post-1973 “pro-life” rhetoric and actions makes one aware “pro-lifers” have done these things – and may more, like murder and arson – to carry out their “holy war.”
  
  The McConnell/Roberts “court” has now re-written the Constitution – just like Nazi judges re-wrote German law. Many legal experts have commented on this, some even saying the McConnell/Roberts “court” wasn’t following the Constitution, but WAS following the Republican Party platform.
  
  Mussolini: “Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power.”
  
  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.”
  
  Nothing is more un-American, more un-Constitutional, more cruel, more arrogant, more destructive, than the “pro-life” agenda.
  Why should a church YOU don’t attend have ANY say on how YOU run YOUR life???
  
  ALL this, and much more is why: “pro-life” is Nazism. – Nazism resurrected in a nation that worked to defeat it with blood and treason, worked to eradicate it with war crimes trials. /

The “right wing” [R-Ws] justify their cruelty, corruption, lies in many ways. Some claim they are “Christians,” and therefore this ends discussion. They are “proven” “correct” by THEIR [often selective] reading of a particular holy book. Since their “mission” is to “save” the “sinners,” the end justifies ANY means – which includes, force and violence, either physical or legal.

Others offer selective interps of “classical” economic theories, often Adam Smith. They forget, ignore, “Wealth of Nations” was Smith’s SECOND major work. Smith himself believed his first, “The Theory of Moral Sentiments,” was THE superior work.
“Moral Sentiments” discussed achieving “mutual sympathy of sentiments” – that one developed a conscience by observing others, which enabled him to develop habits, principles, behaviors – which became his conscience.

It is said the “Christian Bible” has 2-3000 references to the poor and duties to them. It is also said the founder of Christianity offered his #l principle as: You shall love your neighbor as you love yourself.
It can be observed that many “Christians” seem to have not heard these things – because policies politicians have enacted, as self-proclaimed “Christians,” many times show no love for anybody outside their circles. Example #l – the Republican reverse Robin Hood 1980s, 2000s, 2017 tax cuts for the rich and corporations.
The public theory of justification was; the “trickle down effect.” Showering reduced tax benefits on the richest people and most powerful corporations would “trickle down” to the lower classes. Something did trickle down, but it wasn’t green – it was a foul yellow.

Those justifying tax cuts for the most economically blessed didn’t want to talk about what Adam Smith said about taxes: “The subjects of every state ought to contribute towards the support of government, as nearly as possible, in proportion to their respective abilities; that is in proportion to the revenue which they respectively enjoy under the protection of the state.”

The LIES of the R-Ws never cease – they have much to lie about.

The first, most important LIE; they are “conservatives.” This is false – they are rapidly moving to “reactionaries.” Some observers go further – to “fascists.” “Conservatives” would embrace the Founder’s principles: “all Men are created equal,” the Pursuit of Happiness” [for all]; the REQUIREMENT to “establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility..promote the general Welfare..”
They have NOT done this, increasingly since 1980. They DON’T want to do this – there are far too many Americans who are “undeserving” and “sinners.” The top 1% sincerely believe they have “earned their riches all by themselves.” To share THEIR wealth with the “undeserving” is an “unfair” request, a “burden on their freedom.” They have funded reactionary “think tanks” to create plausible LIES to justify their greed. They’ve also funded “training sessions” for judges by “The Foundation for Research on Economics and the Environment” [“FREE”].
Since 1992, 1/4 of federal court chief judges have attended a program – which involves “free market solutions” and opposition to the “takings clause.” Ethical questions have been raised about when corporations bring cases into the courts of these very same “trained” judges.

The second, equally important, BIG. LIE. is the post-1968 American system of “justice.” Many have said it isn’t. It has been said often there are two systems of “justice”; one for the rich and connected [who never go to jail, plead not guilty while paying big fines]; and the judicial system for the rest. From the Nixon Administration forward, the Repubs/R-Ws have emphasized CONTROLLING THE JUDICIARY. Many/most of their nominees characterized by being young and R-W ideologues [who occasionally surprise with fair decisions]. Some of the recent nominees have been spectacularly unqualified.

Nixon set the tone when he told an aide his nominee would make Repubs happy because he was “a reactionary bastard.” The judge spent years honoring that label. Judicial Republican hopefuls must clear vetting by a reactionary legal group and “social conservatives.”
Once on the bench, they are “expected” to deliver the “correct” ideological decisions [which is WHY they are there – on the Repubs/R-W “conveyor belt” of “justice’] If these carefully screened “judges” fail to deliver, they’ll be met with a firestorm of criticism for their “treachery.” They risk falling to the depths of ex-Repub favorites, like Justices O’Connor and Souter. The Repub/R-W mantra is now “no more Souters, no more O’Connors.

The third, always-in-the-news. BIG LIE is the Repubs/R-W “grievance”list, an ever-expanding claim of things R-Ws assert have “gone wrong” in America. This list includes:
– guns – R-Ws claim we don’t have enough of them, they aren’t free enough to carry them wherever they want; the rest of America has falsely interpreted the Second Amendment in a diabolical pinko-commie-lib plot cheating them of their “2nd Amendment rights”
– abortion – R-Ws claim the “Christian Bible” justifies eliminating ALL abortions; they are profoundly angered that 2/3 of Americans don’t accept this; angered that other Christians disagree with them; angered that leaders of non-Christian faiths explain THEIR faith allow an abortion choice
– gays – R-Ws claim gays, about 3-10% of the population, should not have full American rights; justification for this is supposedly found in the Christian Bible; R-Ws are angered these “sub-humans” are allowed to marry and adopt kids
– elections – R-Ws are convinced the 2020 election was “stolen” from their champion [a 7 million vote loser!]; are disbelieving their champion lost 60 court cases; disbelieving ALL recounts show he lost fairly
– COVID – R-Ws were/are adamant forcing them to wear face masks in a PANDEMIC was a “violation of their Constitutional rights”; to prove this point they beat up airline personnel and store clerks; getting a vaccine in a PANDEMIC was also a “violation of their rights’; to prove that they died; R-Ws dying of COVID in hospitals refused to believe it
– evolution – R-Ws often don’t accept the BASIS for modern medicine and science; their schools often teach against it, or they offer caveats in public school curriculum; that COVID is EVOLVING – and more dangerous – is irrelevant
– taxes – the default position for R-Ws is “tax cuts.” Tax cuts will solve ALL problems, including COVID. That the bottom 90-95% has been victimized by these is irrelevant – it is an article of faith; that Reagan HAD to raise taxes ignored
– corruption – R-Ws believed their champion would “Drain the Swamp” – that he INCREASED the size of the swamp ignored; ALL the most corrupt presidential administrations were Republican [Grant, Harding, Nixon, Reagan, Bush II, Trump]; Repubs have defunded government so it CAN’T work; Repubs are BIG on cutting regulations on big business
– religious rights – “supreme court” support for R-W “religious rights” has increased in recent Repub-dominated “supreme courts”; Repub “justices” are rewriting the Constitution and Bill of Rights to give fundamentalist churches virtually ANYTHING they ask for: “get-out-of-jail cards to discriminate, dodge rules, get taxpayer money
-environment – R-Ws don’t like environmental regulations – because it often imposes burdens on Big Business [their DONORS111]; creative [manufactured] “cases” are run up the Repub’s “conveyor belt” of “trained” judges [who are EXPECTED to deliver the “correct” “market-based” decisions
– immigration – R-Ws believe America is “full”; they’ve been trained to believe recent immigrants [NOT them!!!] are criminals, drug dealers, free loaders; they’ve forgotten ALL except Native-Americans are immigrants
– “school indoctrination” – R-Ws are exceedingly upset THEIR innocent children are being corrupted by left wing/liberal/commie/pinko teachers seeking to subvert the parent’s beliefs [whether false or not!!!]; they demand parent VETO over curriculum “that might upset” their kids [truth is irrelevant]
– book censorship – R-Ws believe too many “disruptive” books are in schools, pubic libraries – available for their innocent kids to read/hear about; the content of the books is irrelevant – if THEY don’t like it, then it must go, because only THEY know the truth
– how YOU die – R-Ws are upset some people don’t suffer enough before they die; they demand that “God” has decided people should suffer at the end; that we put our pets to death so they won’t suffer is irrelevant; that YOU have legal “living wills” is irrelevant; THEY know best!!!
– control YOUR conduct – R-Ws, in their crusade to “purify” America demand YOUR mail might require censorship; that YOU be prohibited from traveling for “The wrong reasons’; that YOU not be allowed legal medication; that YOU listen to/read the “wrong” things; that YOU marry “the wrong person”. They’re anger YOU refuse to accept their “wisdom” about how YOU should conduct YOUR life; anger YOU refuse to accept things “for your own good” so that YOU can be “saved”

The fourth BIG LIE – You should elect Republicans – because they’ll “solve” all of America’s problems and many more “problems” you don’t even know about; YOU should elect Republicans because they are “The obviously more moral and righteous” candidates.

-The fifth BIG LIE: R-W Repubs SAY they’ll “govern for all Americans” – they won’t because if they actually did govern for all Americans, they’d not be concerned with most of their “grievance” list; real American leaders would be solving REAL American problems: economic inequality and injustice; hunger and homelessness; adequately funded PUBLIC schools; enforcing anti-corruption laws on Big Business; enforcing environmental laws; creating an HONEST tax system [by eliminating all the top 1% loopholes!!!]; eliminating gerrymandering; enacting REAL gun control laws; getting religion out of government and out of YOUR face [like the Founders intended]; improving America’s #37 “health care system”; restricting money in politics and government.

As long as Republicans/R-Ws. are allowed to get away with their destructive BIG LIES, America will NOT be the country YOU want, YOU and your children deserve.i

The January 6, 2021, “tourists” who trashed the Capitol, injured 140 law enforcement personnel, and tried ending American democracy – wanted to hang Mike Pence and Nancy Pelosi.

The British, in 1775-1781, wanted to hang the 56 signers of TheDeclaration of Independence, were actively seeking to capture them – and hang them all, including Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Benjamin Rush, James Wilson; and most likely, the commanding general of the rebel army – George Washington.

Those 57 men, and many others, were designated as “traitors.” Had the British won, they’d have been prosecuted as such. Like Nathan Hale.

There is little difference between what the British wanted to do in 1776 and what the “tourists” wanted to do January 6, 2021 – end American democracy.

What is the difference between Benedict Arnold and the January 6 planners?????

Calling the January 6 rioters and planners “patriots” is an insult to all true Americans. It is an even bigger insult to the one million plus Americans who lost their lives defending America; and the many millions who’ve been wounded; and the many other millions who serve3d in this nation’s military services.

“These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it NOW, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.”
[Thomas Paine]

Following World War II, war crimes trials were held. The “crimes against humanity” that were documented to have been perpetrated were punished – so THAT SOMETHING LIKE THIS WOULD NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN.

We are now [June 19, 2022] only part way through the documentation of the many crimes against America, American democracy, American elections, American citizens, the TRUTH itself, that have been perpetrated by one EVIL CON MAN, his enablers, his “true believer” supporters.

The purpose of the four, so far, major investigations of the EVIL CON MAN, is THAT NEVER AGAIN WILL AMERICAN DEMOCRACY BE THREATENED BY SUCH AN EVIL FORCE.

America survived the “Watergate Crisis.” America. MIGHT have survived the treason around the January 6 insurrection. WE. MIGHT…… have…….survived…..

The “Watergate crisis” was ended by the BIPARTISAN efforts of PRINCIPLED people. The January 6 insurrection has NOT. YET. BEEN. ENDED; crucially, it is only minimally a bipartisan effort.

Therein lies the danger of January 6. In 1972-74, PRINCIPLED people in both major parties acted to end it; BUT – it was the action by PRINCIPLED people in the perpetrator’s party that convinced him to resign.
The DANGER of the January 6 treason is that most major figures in the perpetrator’s party are not stepping forward as did their 1972-74 counterparts. In so doing, they become ACCOMPLICES to potential future damage. The CON MAN’s “true believers” accept the incredible lies. – indeed, many are running for election ON THE LIES.

People who deny documented reality [like global warming] will eventually die in the fantasyland they’ve created.

If the Russians and Chinese are smart, they’ll just let “us’ kill each other.

A house divided against itself cannot stand.

“We must all hang together or assuredly we shall all hang separately.” [Benjamin Franklin, 1776]

After the Democratic Party led treason of the 1861-65 Civil War, only one Democrat was elected president until 1912. After Republican incompetence and greed of the 1920s, which produced the world-wide 1929-4l Great Depression, Adolf Hitler, World War II, the Holocaust, and led to the 1945-89 Cold War, no Republican was elected president until 1952.

This post is being written after the sobering June 16 hearing on the treason of January 6, 2021 – or, more accurately, the treason that had existed for some time.
Numerous witnesses, many Republican, testified in chilling detail about how close the “United States of America” came to losing its democracy in a deliberately planned violent coup.

At this early point, with much ,ore evidence yet to come – there can be ABSOLUTELY. NO. DOUBT WHATSOEVER – ex-president Donald Trump and his enablers/followers intended, for the. FIRST. TIME. in American history, to remain in power by. ANY MEANS. NECESSARY.

By dictionary definition alone, for treason and sedition, The Trump camp is. GUILTY.

The January 6 committee has now repeatedly shown, with video evidence and testimony, those dictionary definitions have been fulfilled by the Trump camp.

As conservative judge J. Michael Luttig testified – much evidence continues to become visible that various people all over America, some running for office, some creating armed gangs, some creating incredible LIES, some accepting those LIES – intend to act on the fiction of the “stolen 2020 election.”
Those who witnessed Judge Luttig’s testimony will forever remember how emotional and difficult it was for him to say the things he was saying: that American democracy was in great peril.

Those running for office as “republicans” are often doing so in order to ensure “election integrity” – which for them means “Republican” victories only. They have passed many laws rigging elections already. They have issued kangaroo “court” decisions allowing this rigging to continue

All this, as Judge Luttig said, IN. PLAIN. SIGHT. They have announced their plans; they are campaigning on ‘election integrity.” If elected they aim to make sure nobody but “the right” “Republicans” win – by any means necessary.

Over the last 15 years, many former Republican officials and campaign operatives have tried to warn America, written books, made speeches. Some have written that, in order to save American democracy, the current “Republican” Party “needs to be burned to the ground” and documented why.

Many have said the current “Republican” Party is now a CULT. An evil con man, with a long history of playing by his own rules, of numerous bankruptcies and legal issues, of several thousand lawsuits, has told several millions what they want to hear, promised to give them a miracle. It was he who created the circumstances of January 6, 2021.
The Committee has produced evidence that this con man has scammed his followers out of over $250 million to supposedly “prove” his own lies>

It isn’t just the evil, the greed, the cruel selfishness of Donald Trump that scares patriots who’ve testified against him several times. It is the gullibility of so many good Americans who’ve trusted him, accepted his obviously false lies.
No historical villain has ever done his crimes alone. They’ve all had enablers and accomplices; had followers who became “true believers.”

A democracy is built on truth, must have truth to operate and survive. One of Trump’s biggest crimes is he’s brought the very concept of “truth” into doubt. The other BIG crime is he’s trashed the very idea of “democracy,” made a mockery of it.

Donald Trump is a cancer. He’s infected America with a fatal disease – one that not eradicated will kill us. He’s not Hitler, yet. But he is like Hitler. 37 psychiatrists and mental health experts contributed to “The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump.” Trump failed the Army leadership test. He’s exhibited what some label “sociopathy.” White House personnel sought to limit the damage he could inflict. Some believed he was mentally deficient. Otherfs in his presence said they were scared by him.

Even now, with much more damning evidence to be heard – the task for people who care about American democracy should be very simple. Do what your ancestors did after the Civil War, what they did after the Great Depression – vote against the party that led America into those tragedies.
No “Republican” who supports Donald Trump, or his ideology and lies – should ever again be elected to ANY office in these United States. People in Congress, who ran for their lives and then voted in favor of the CON MAN – should be retired. Same for any “Republican” who spouts his lies, supports his DELUSIONS.

For 40 years, the “Republican” Party has become more reactionary, more destructive, more anti-democratic, more cruel, more corrupt. As long as this group has. ANY. power, America can not, will not, be a “democracy.”

The evidence is right in front of YOU, has been there, ‘IN. PLAIN. SIGHT. o

Note: before anger – my challenge to YOU: do REAL research on everything I say – that means beyond the I-net, beyond bumper sticker slogans, beyond your “echo chamber” comfort zone.

America 2022 is NOT an accident. Deliberate planning created this. Winners are well known ; the top 1% and corporations [note: do extensive income research from un-spun IRS stats, pre- & post-1980; WHO got the income, the shift in tax burdens]

But greed is only part of 2022 America. Fear, misplaced anger, misinformation are as well.

America, 1789-1980, has been DELIBERATELY poisoned: changed rules, massive misinformation, sabotage of the political, judicial, and economic systems.

Those over age 60 lived during what is now the statistical and actual lived experience of America’s peak society, 1947-73. We can tell you stories – but you won’t believe them. Because it was an age of innocence, when anything was thought possible, when people trusted others and government, when people worked together, when “average” people thrived and succeeded.

There have been two major “modern” American eras: 1933-65 Roosevelt progressive era; 1980-2022 Reagan reactionary counter-revolution. Judge by INTENT. The intent of the Roosevelt era was to help “the forgotten man” – and it did. The intent [we have the quotes!] of the Reagan era has been to destroy the Roosevelt era improvements – considered to be “too good a deal” for the “undeserving” lower 90%.

Judge by “signature’ policies. The Roosevelt era produced Social Security, keeping people alive during the Great Depression, labor rights, G.I. Bill, civil rights, Medicare, creating the U.N. for world peace.
The Reagan era has produced attacks on labor, reverse Robin Hood tax cuts for the rich, blowing up the national debt, attempts to “privatize” Social Security, the Iran-contra scandal, the immoral Iraq war, corruption of the judiciary, gutting civil rights, “financialization” of the economy, not enforcing anti-trust laws, ending broadcast neutrality, and much more anti-democratic laws and works.

From 1789 to 1980, each generation of Americans almost always did better than their parents. Since 1980, that is in doubt. It is NOT an accident.

1] the economy. The signature reactionary right-wing [R-Ws] achievement and their Republican MOUTHPIECES is shifting the bulk of American wealth from the equitable 1947-73 “great compression” to the “winner-take-all” post-1980 “America.”
The first step was attacking labor unions, which reduced the incomes for ALL Americans. Then came the “outsourcing” of jobs anywhere ‘south” [which has now also created the supply chain crisis]. this also weakened national security, because “American” industry ISN’T – its in China [which wants to destroy America].
Reverse Robin Hood tax cuts for the rich [1980s, 2000s, 2017] cut taxes for the rich and – shifted the burden onto YOU – either in reduced services or regressive taxes like sales and property. Then there are the “Panama Papers,” the “Pandora Papers,” Swiss banking revelations, anonymous shell companies – all showing how the rich hide wealth so it can’t be taxed [do REAL research here, plus other nation’s research – a world-wide problem]
Then there are “private equity” firms LOOTING America. See “Mother Jones,” May & June, 2022 issue: “Looted.” There is much beyond this. YOU are paying more for housing and almost EVERYTHING because of the legal PIRATES.

2]. information. R-Ws have succeeded transferring blame for 2022 America unto others because of their alternative universe of misinformation: media morons and internet idiots., some making $10-30 million annually to LIE to YOU. They’re very good: the proof is how divided America is on basic FACTS, some of which have been photographed!!! R-Ws have mastered the “divide-and-conquer” strategy.
LIES111 Almost ALL R-Ws “information” to YOU is LIES, twisted and manipulated semi-truths, cherry-picked events. They HAVE TO LIE – if they told you the truth – nobody would support them. They have ADMITTED this [we have the quotes] Their #1 job: create FEAR in YOU, manufactured anger at “them” [the “other”] – all of whom are “out-to -get-you.” The “only’ way to “save” yourself is to “vote Republican.”

3] changing the rules. Rules of 1947-73 were increasingly fair, more equitable. That allowed “average people” to live decently. This could not be allowed to continue – so the rich and corporations changed the rules. They attacked labor in every way possible to cut wages. they bribed Congress [“campaign contributions”]. They created their own federal judiciary [“business-friendly’ judges]. Most of all, they got their very own “supreme court – the McConnell/Roberts “court” has given them a 70% win rate. Anti-trust laws not enforced; major retailers allowed disproportionate market shares; most industries controlled by 2-3-4 players; entire American economy “financialized” – to satisfy Wall Street.

4] FEAR. “Normal” 1947-73 people didn’t live with the fear YOU do in 2022. We weren’t constantly bombed with “fear” propaganda about “them” who were “out-to-get-us.” There were fights – with fists. Guns didn’t outnumber people. We didn’t have the mass shooting of the day. We actually walked and biked without fear!!! Almost everywhere. Many places people didn’t lock their doors. Nobody had military style rapid fire guns that mutilated little kids. People didn’t “need” guns to “defend their family” because there was nothing to defend against Thus – we didn’t have a generation of school kids TRAUMATIZED by school shootings.

5] weaponizing religion. Since the mid-1970s, reactionary “religious right” has declared war on America. [Randall Terry: “Our goal is a Christian nation. We have a biblical duty..are called by God to conquer this country.”] These new Puritans are determined to “save” America – whether America wants it or not. They are VERY SERIOUS about creating a theocracy. They’ve voted Republican to achieve that. Republicans promised them “pro-life” judges [un-Constitutional]. The McConnell/Roberts “supreme court” is their reward. “Religious beliefs [by “supreme court” dictate] have become [for them] a “get-out-of-jail” card for virtually EVERYTHING, most especially discrimination and special carve-outs giving them above-the-law privileges. That all this violates not only Amendment One, but also the entire Founding Fathers generation’s principles and stated beliefs – means nothing to them – because the McConnell/Roberts “court” is busy destroying the principles of the Constitution [and lying about that too].

America has NEVER been perfect – it is after all, a magnificent experiment in human liberties – but strides were made, 1789-1980. Since 1980, America has been DELIBERATELY poisoned – by R-W forces determined to change America into what they want it to be: a PLUTOCRATIC. THEOCRACY.

Numerous people on the reactionary “right” have said, in public, in plain English, they intend to achieve this. Billionaire Warren Buffett: “There’s class warfare, all right, but its my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.” Pat Buchanan: 1992 Republican National Convention: “There’s a religious war going on in this country. It is a cultural war..for the soul of America.”

These two forces: top 1% GREED and R-W religion, have done the most poisoning. They’ve created a society, an atmosphere, of uncertainty, conflict, insecurity. They’ve worked together to destroy the American dream [Pulitzer winner, Hedrick Smith’s “Who Stole the American Dream?”; Pulitzer winners Barlett & Steeles’ “The Betrayal of the American Dream”; Wilkinson & Pickett”s international bestseller, “The Spirit Level’}

For a graphic difference between 1947-73 and 1980-2022: during the “Watergate” scandal, Republican Senators played a key role in Nixon resigning; during various Trump era impeachment and investigations of corruption, Republican Congress Critters have played a key role in defending an obviously guilty “man.”

The “happiest people on earth”, 1947-73, lived in America. The “happiest people on earth,” 2022 an for some time previously – live in “Scandinavia.” WHY??? WHY are Western Europe, Canada, Japan, New Zealand & Australia now more “civilized,” more caring about their people ///
WHY is America #37 in health care? WHY has America recently slid to #24 most honest??? WHY are ordinary people, with “only” a high school education, struggling??? What “civilization” sentences 2/3 of its people to struggle???

When YOU have correct, factual, answers to these and many more questions – you’ll have the answers WHY America, since 1980, has been DELIBERATELY POISONED. i

Second-graders are real. They actually exist – so do kindergarteners, fourth-graders, eight-graders, sophomores, seniors, college students
The claimed “Second Amendment rights” DO NOT EXIST. Before any outrage – look up the actual Founders’ words

When murdering innocent children in schools, murdering people praying in churches, becomes “the cost of doing business” what do caring, RATIONAL people say of this “civilization”??? IS this a “civilization”???

“Hannah C. is only 7, but she is tired of cowering in closets in her classroom: “I have to hide in closets. It”s so crowded and scary. I don’t wanna have to do them anymore.” [3/25/18; USA Today; Hayes & Kaplan]

Articles of Confederation, Article VI: “..every state shall always keep up a well regulated and disciplined militia..shall provide..in public stores, a due number of field pieces and tents, and a proper quantity of arms, ammunition, and camp equipage.”

“Ivanna P. has slept next to her mom every night in the month since the school shooting claimed the lives of classmates and teachers she saw every day.” [3/19/18; USA Today; Cardona]

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.”

Demitri H., Parkland senior: “none of us will ever be OK.” [6/3/18; Sun Sentinal; Mayo]


The Senate changed Madison’s word order to what it is now: “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 the reversal???]

“everywhere I travel, I hear from parents and educators about active shooter drills terrifying students, leaving them unable to concentrate in the classroom and unable to sleep at night.” [

The 1792 Militia Acts: May 3: “An Act to provide for the calling forth the Militia to execute the laws of the Union, and suppress insurrections..” May 8: requiring every free able-bodies white male, 18-45, to be enrolled in the Militia..provide himself with a “good musket” and equipment; Section 3: military organization and rankings; Section 5: state and regimental colors; Section 7: “rules of discipline..to be observed by the Militia..”; Section 9: wounded and disabled taken care of and provided for at public expense. [ men REQUIRED to enroll in militia, care for injured Militia men}

3/26/19 – the Parkland community is worried that more survivors will kill themselves after two Marjorie Stoneman Douglas high school students committed suicide.

U.S. Constitution, Article II, Section 8: “To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions..and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States..” [ “calling forth the Militia in the Service of the USA” }

12/31/19 – “..antidepressant use among child survivors soared more than 21% in the two years after a fatal incident..an indicator of the toll that school shootings have on young survivors.” [Was. Post; Ingraham}

Requirements of the Constitution’s Preamble: “We the People..in order to have a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility..promote the general Welfare..” Does a REQUIREMENT to “insure domestic Tranquility..and promote the general Welfare..” allow for individuals to around around shooting innocent people “because they have “Second Amendment rights””??? How can this be in a rational “civilized” nation???

2/18/18: “Leonardo O. just wants the images out of his head..I saw..so many people dead..literally in the hallway. I just want to forget the scenes.” [USA Today; Daprile & Holsman]

Virginia Declaration of Rights, June 12, 1776; Section 13: :That a well-regulated militia, composed of the body of the people..” [ “..composed of the BODY of the PEOPLE..”]

2/25/18 – “They can’t get the vision of the gunman out of their heads..do not want to talk to the therapists..going back to school is out of the question..they watched their friends die next to them.” [Palm Beach Post; Pacenti]

Former Republican U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Burger, on a national broadcast, said the idea of an individual right to bear arms was “a fraud.” He repeated the word ‘FRAUD’ again for emphasis. He also said if he was able to write the Bill of Rights, “there wouldn’t be any such thing as the Second Amendment.”

3/22/18 – “The threat of mass shootings is the defining fear for the generation that has grown up in the shadow of Columbine..” [USA Today; Page & Icsman]. [ THE “defining fear” of a generation}

English grammar rules: since when does one get the FULL meaning of a sentence [the Second Amendment] by using only HALF. of it???????????

1/5/19 – “Therapy for the therapists. Professionals helping Parkland victims are urged to seek care for themselves, too” [Palm Beach Post; Ramadan] [ So – exactly what would require this; what have they been hearing?]

The 2008 “Heller” ruling: “Like most rights, the right secured by the Second Amendment [which after 210 years was a new interp itself] is not unlimited. From Blackstone through the 19th-century, commentators and courts routinely explained that the right was not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose…”

3/31/19 – a national network of mass shooting survivors are driving all over America, meeting with surviving relatives; they are trying to set up groups all over America, so people can be close to future shootings; survivors get crank calls and threats. [“60 Minutes”] Planning for “future shootings”??? Crank calls & death threats – for acts of mercy?

Of historical note: in the “old West,” cowboys were required to check their guns with the town marshal at the city limits. Town residents were tired of drunken cowboys shooting their towns up.

12/23/12 – a teacher who survived the 2005 Red Lake shooting quit her job; 7 years later still in therapy; she’d been 5 weeks in an Arizona therapy program after the shooting. [Grand Forks Herald; Haga]

March 25, 2021, Los Angeles Times article reports the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals z’said restrictions on carrying guns in public except for hunting do not violate the Second Amendment…Judge Jay Bybee, appointed by [Republican] President G.W. Bush, wrote for the [7-4] majority. He said a review of more than 700 years of American and English law showed that government has long had the power to regulate arms in public places. We have never assumed..individuals have..unfettered right to carry weapons in public spaces..” {“NEVER”}

May, 2022 – Uvalde, Texas: multiple reports from first responders indicate the children were so mutilated, DNA identification was required – because of the horrific effects on their little bodies from AR-15 rounds.

America DOES NOT. care about its children. No nation that did would allow the mass shooting of the day – knowing that children – since 1999 – have been traumatized, some so much they committed suicide; would accept COMIC BOOK bogus “solutions” which are non-solutions from “adults”; would put more value in a false belief than the actual well being of its children; would continue to elect politicians more afraid for their jobs then DOING THEIR JOBS; would say “nothing can be done”. in the face of civilized nations doing something; would spit in the face of traumatized teens asking for the gun controls the American public overwhelmingly supports; would continue to be the only “civilized” nation tolerating routine savagery in a country where NO PLACE IS SAFE.

Some of the bogus non-solutions offered as “solutions”: “a good man with a gun”; arming teachers; it is all mental heath; it is violent videos; “personal responsibility’: armed guards [everywhere?]; victimizing law-abiding gun owners means do nothing; active shooter drills; “Second Amendment rights”; “bullet-resistant backpacks”; “hardening schools.” Etc. etc…..
“Hardening schools”???? Since shootings occur EVERYWHERE in America – doesn’t “equal justice” require that EVERYWHERE be “hardened”? Don’t YOU have a Constitutional right to “domestic Tranquility”. everywhere, not just in a “hardened school”? This should mean the government will pay for body armor for ALL citizens – RIGHT???

Parkland senior, survivor, Demitri H.: “None of us will ever be OK.”