The Epstein Files Are Providing a Reality Check for Americans About the State of the Republic and For Conservative Evangelical Christians About the State of Their Church

The last time a scandal of the magnitude of the Epstein files rocked Washington, D.C., it was following the revelation of the break in at the Democratic headquarters in the Watergate Hotel.  I was in high school when that happened, and it provided a lot of current events material for us.  What I recall about it was the genuine sense of disgust and horror over the implications of having a corrupt President holding to the powers of the executive branch.  To me, things seemed to move glacially, with the televised hearings, but there was a sense of urgency and once the investigation got rolling, things actually moved pretty fast.  

Much has changed since then, including the length of time between knowledge of the extent of Epstein's crimes being revealed, along with who was directly involved, and the launching of investigations producing the documentation we now call the "Epstein Files."  Gone is the sense of urgency to complete an investigation and resolve the issues that surround it.  These are people with a lot of money and this is America in the 21st century.  The enforcement of laws and the power of investigations can be altered by enough money and influence.  These people can pay to make sure justice never happens, and we are seeing that unfold right before our very eyes.  

Will any of the perpetrators and conspirators involved in Epstein's highly illegal, despicable, and morally bankrupt enterprise ever be brought to justice?  I doubt it.  Epstein himself is dead and if there is a hell, I hope he is roasting in it.  No one else directly involved seems to be getting what they deserve.  

There Are Americans Seeking Justice for the Victims

I'm not sure that the attention this thing is getting is attracting the outrage it deserves.  Since we no longer have a free press in this country, it's hard to get accurate information anymore, especially not mixed with sensationalism or partisan tampering.  Compared to Watergate, if we were back in the 1970's, we'd already have seen the resignations of a good chunk of the cabinet, particularly Bondi, over the way the Justice Department has botched, and botched again, the handling of the files.  Howard Lutnik, who is apparently involved in a compromising manner, would also be gone.  The Speaker of the House, because of his attempts to shove everything under the rug, would have been ousted and Republican members of Congress would be pressuring the President to resign and leave the country.  

Kash Patel, the FBI director, would also be gone, and the list of associates at both the FBI and in the Justice Department who knowingly abetted the incompetence would already have been given their last check and sent on their way.  

The fact that none of this has happened,  these people, along with a long list of Epstein's other billionaire friends who happily posed for photos with him and engaged in his "business enterprise," are still walking around free, is a sign of the complete moral decay of the United States.  And while there is plenty of outrage, and there are people demanding accountability, there is too much apathy and way too much deliberate ignorance preventing these matters from being brought to justice.  Conservative partisanship is causing the rapid erosion of historic American values.  And what is happening with the Epstein files is an egregious example of the accuracy of this statement.. 

The Moment of Reckoning for Conservative Evangelicalism Has Arrived

We have seen the hypocrisy, the chase after worldly wealth and power, and the collapse of any claims to being a faithful, "Bible-believing, gospel preaching" church that has occurred among a good chunk of those who self-identify as conservative Evangelicals.  Leaders like Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson promoted monumental hypocrisy when they saw the beginning of decline set in to their movement, and so they abandoned their belief in the power of God's Holy Spirit to chase after political power and the power that comes with wealth while trying to disguise that as some kind of Christian "revival."  

In order to get what they are after, they have had to embrace a long, long,  long list of anti-Christian beliefs and practices and they've had to suck up to political leaders who didn't have a clue about the Christian gospel, or Christian doctrine and practice.  They have yet to embrace and support one of their own as a candidate for the Presidency, supporting Reagan, a new age cultist, over Jimmy Carter, a genuine conservative Evangelical and sincere believer and practicer of the gospel preached by Jesus.  They embraced George H. W. Bush, a liberal Episcopalian, over Bill Clinton, a card carrying, choir and orchestra member of a Southern Baptist church.  And they took Mitt Romney, a Mormon, whose church they believe is a cult, over Barack Obama, a member of a historically black congregation.  

And now, they've gone all out for a convicted rapist, misogynyst, morally bankrupt, accused child molester who is the most frequently mentioned name in all aspects of the Epstein files and who has openly rejected conservative Evangelical theology, doctrine and practice.  They are apparently going to continue to remain silent in the face of what will slowly be revealed as one of the most despicable, horrifically satanic things that has ever happened in the United States as it swallows up the President and everyone else mentioned as participants in Epstein's abuse, because they can't seem to come to grips with the fact that their endorsement and support was a gigantic mistake. 

I've known for a long time that the theology, doctrine and practice that falls under self-described conservative Evangelicalism is false.  We've had our attention focused on the long running Catholic scandals of clergy sexual abuse of children while several conservative Evangelical denominations, along with numerous non-denominational megachurches, have been going to great lengths to try and hide massive sexual abuse scandals by their own clergy.  Their ranks are riddled by financial scandals, tax cheating and money-grabbing schemes that have reached right inside many of the empires of televangelists and megachurch television stars.  And they have kept their silence when it comes to their involvement with right wing politicians who have dubios morals at best.  

This one is already having a long term effect.  People are walking away from many of these churches and denominations in droves, leaving behind a shrinking base of the deluded and deceived.  

I don't want to paint with a broad brush.  There are many pastors, ministers and church leaders among the Evangelical churches and denominations in the United States who are calling out the evil that has crept inside.  There are those who understand that the Constitution's principles of freedom of conscience and separation of church and state are core American values, and they are joining with the significant majority of mainline "woke, liberal" Protestants, and many Catholics, in resisting and opposing this attack on their values and on their churches.  

Defending Epstein and those who went along with him is something that undermines American values and speaks directly to who this country is.  Conservative Evangelicals love to criticize mainline Protestants for being woke and liberal, but look at where most of them stand by comparison.  They may be woke and liberal, but they are standing up for what is right, and against this President and his MAGA constituency and calling it out for the evil cult that it is.  Political conservatives, Republicans mostly, love to tout their "family values" perspective, and criticize their liberal counterparts, mainly Democrats, with slurs like "socialist," and claiming they are not for "law and Order, but it is the liberal Democrats who are standing up for Democracy and who are demanding that everything in the Epstein files be brought to light.  

Those liberal, "godless", Europeans are observing what's going on here with a much different perspective than they once did.  They were affected by Epstein's scandal too.  Look what they're doing about it.  When there's evidence of someone's involvement, they're gone. Out.  Justice seems to be moving a lot faster over there than it is here, because of their liberal perspective.  We're being held back by our conservatives, who are trying to change the definition of law and order, and right and wrong.

 

Democrats May Owe a Debt of Gratitude to Pam Bondi and Kristi Noem

After this weeks congressional hearings featuring Attorney General Pam Bondi, Democrats may find themselves in the unusual position of having to thank her for all of the help she is providing to them as the midterm elections approach.  Her appearance, in front of the cameras, was a disgusting display of political ugliness that clearly helped the chances of Democrats in gaining control of Congress in November.  Millions of dollars worth of flashy television ads and months of campaigning can not do, for Democratic candidates' election chances, what those few hours in front of the camera in Congressional hearings by Bondi did.  

Starting with the obvious, Bondi just looked bad.  Her face seems to be contorted into a perpetual scowl, tense, furrowed eyebrows, beady eyes sliding to the left and right, wrinkle lines that seem to push her lips together and while I'm sure they get a professional makeup job for the cameras, in her case that didn't help.  Her posture is defensive, hunched, and if it is possible for the combination of facial expressions and posture to send non-verbal messages, she's telling us that she's lying.  

Beyond that, her testimony is a mother lode of sound bytes that will be used in campaign ads by multiple Democrats running for office who are trying to convince voters that Republicans are corrupt, not keeping their promises, and more interested in what they can get out of their billionaire supprorters than in doing anything beneficial for the American people.  She made some critical errors, including showing up with information about research done by members of Congress into her botched handling of the Epstein files.  

But the critical mistake she made was her refusal to acknowledge the victims of Epstein, not even looking at them, never mentioning them and essentially behaving like a cold, heartless bitch.  That's clearly something that will have some far reaching political effects ultimately benefitting Democrats in the midterms.  

So, when the midterms are over, and Democrats have reclaimed Congress, will Democrats turn to the attorney general and say, "Thanks, Pam, for your help!"  

Democrats will also wind up getting a lot of help from Kristi Noem.  Thrust from the relative obscurity of being an ineffective governor of a tiny state to the spotlight of the Department of Homeland Security, this poor, unfortunate, hopelessly ignorant, and apparently corrupt woman has been helping Democrats gain support for their midterm blue wave from the first day she ever stepped into the department.   

Appearances are important, and Noem doesn't help herself in this regard, especially not in her parroting of conspiracy theories devoid of any factual proof, to defend indefensible actions.  Her handling of events which transpire in Minnesota directly corresponds with the recent free-falling approval ratings of Trump, and of the growing gap between those planning to vote Democratic in the midterms, and backing away from the Republicans.  Noem's name is a big part of the reason for the recent Democratic surge.  

She, too, provides Democratic campaigns with a lot of sound bytes and video clips which proclaim inept handling of her job, and which underlines the kind of incompetence that comes out of her political inexperience and lack of Constitutional knowledge.  She has a blank, unfocused stare as she recites falsehood after falsehood, without any corroborating evidence.  And she is also a coldblooded, heartless bitch, evidence by her calloused and false characterizations of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, and her indifference to their deaths which she helped cause.

So, will we hear, on election night, a Democratic winner actually give heartfelt thanks to Bondi and Noem for their election?  Probably not.  But it is clear that both of these women are major contributors to the surge of support for Democratic candidates from independents, and even from a few Republicans.  

We should feel good about seeing Republicans become their own worst enemy, though, whether we admit it or not. 

If We're Honest, There's Plenty of Evidence We've Been an "Oligarchy of the Rich" for a Long Time

Are we really all that surprised that the slowly releasing Epstein files contains so many recognizeable names of politicians and millionaires and billionaires who all apparently thought that the law doesn't apply to them and that they could buy their way out of difficulty with contributions to just the right politicians or judges or influence peddlers?  Some of it did make its way into the media, though increasingly, it seems that the price paid by the wealthy in America to enjoy flaunting the law and indulging in personal debauchery also includes owning pieces of the media for control and editing purposes.  

This has been a gradual process.  The origination point came somewhere during the Reagan Administration.  It was more of an enforcement issue back then, in the justice department, when it seemed that regulations designed to protect Americans from what I call exploitation were relaxes in favor of profit margins and unrestrained business practices.  But of course, money flows into politics when that becomes the primary means of keeping the flow going.  During the Dubya Bush Administration, the invitation was laid out for the rich to buy the government's favor and its been downhill ever since then.  

The deceptive ways of keeping the cash flow moving through politics, like the unconstitutional Citizens United ruling which came from a bought-and-paid-for Supreme Court, the PACs, the lack of supervision or prosecution of violations when it comes to corrupt campaign contributions aren't signs that we are moving in this direction, they are signs that it has been achieved and is already here.  And I doubt whether a Democratic party sweep in the mid-terms, or a Democratic presidency with both houses under party control after 2028 will change it.  

 A Justice System Built to Sustain an Oligarchy of the Rich

We have layers of a legal system that is designed to perpetuate this oligarchy of the rich.  Money moves its wheels.  Lawyers, courts, judges, the training they get seems almost specifically directed at how to make the machine operate in a desired manner by using cash flow to achieve that purpose.  Those who have money get what they want out of the system.  They can delay, obfuscate, postpone, and make it go away.  It has not always been this way.  There have been times in our history when the best interests of justice drove the courts, even in the federal government.  But, money and influence have, over time, been able to buy the rules they want and fix the system to the benefit of the rich.  

The quality of legal services available to those who are working class and even middle class is poor.  The system makes it so.  Frankly, even high priced lawyers can be lazy and ineffective, since it's not really a profession that has any real moral guidelines.  Even though it is money driven, there are no guarantees.  As a result, there are ways to pay one's way through the system.  

The Effects of This Oligarchy Can Be Seen on Both Political Parties

Let's be honest here.  There is no such thing as a party of the people.  The reaction and response of Democrats to the worst abuses of Trump's Presidency is moderated by cash flow in campaign contributions to Democratic members of Congress.  There have been several periods of time in recent Democratic political administrations, Clinton, Obama, Biden, when we had control of the White House and both houses of Congress and the difference between what was accomplished and what should have been accomplished by Democrats is sitting in the White House right now.  It occupies the Speaker's chair and the Vice-Presidency.  

It's the dividing line between what is truly the political partisanship of America, the line between those who have and those who have not.  Liberal politics, as progressive as they may have been, will never be progressive enough to succeed in delivering on its promises as long as money is allowed to flow so freely into the bank accounts of those who are running for office.  Even now, as it has become clear that Trump, in the words of just about every Democrat sitting in public office, is the greatest threat to American Democracy that we have ever faced, the lengths most politicians are willing to go to stop him are limited by their need to act in a way that pleases their donors, rather than a way that protects the American people.  

Can we be honest, and say this out loud?  

The Failure of Cultural Institutions That Once Protected Us 

There were those, even prior to the Second World War, who had doubts about this country's ability to take on facist dictatorships because of its bowing of the knee to the dollar.  The circumstances of having weathered the worst financial depression in the country's history allowed the election of a progressive Democrat to the White House, and his policy, to fight against depression, and then change circumstances to prevent another one, along with having to marshall the commercial resources of the nation to win a major world war reversed the trends of big money interests buying the government piece by piece.  

But the prosperity that followed allowed the rich to become richer, and that accellerated the switch from being influenced by American idealism to being influenced by whoever could pay to buy the interest. 

Protestant Christianity, including conservative Evangelicalism, is the first institution to fall victim to the takeover of the wealthy.  They haven't even hidden how obvious it has become that the values of the Christian gospel have been completely underminded and totally distorted by the billionaire class.  There's one group that has simply allowed money interests to distort the Christian gospel, ignoring the parts of it that don't support their perspective, and turning money into the only kind of blessing provided by God.  The end result of successful prayer in conservative Evangelicalism is how many dollars it generates.  Dollars translate in to God's blessings.  Values, like humility, integrity and peace, are thrown out the window with Jesus. 

The kind of Christianity that is visible in America, especially that which self describes as Fundamentalist, Conservative, Evangelical, Charismatic or Pentecostal, isn't Christian, and, in fact, has underlined its lack of faith by placing it in an adulterous, lying, immoral, worldly man who has openly declared himself to be antichrist by his denial of his own sinful nature.  Their worldly worship of money and the lust for the power that comes with it has turned them away from Jesus, and toward Trump, who they proclaim as savior, if not openly and literally, by virtually everything they do.  

And if the kind of Christianity that has been created by these abberations of the Christian gospel were true, then they would work like the salt and light which Jesus used as an example, in resolving those problems of humanity which hold us back from true enlightenment, free of bigotry, bias and prejudice, and the hatred that accompanies it, and would have resolved war and violence, economic inequity and poverty.  The fact that these human problems seem to be worse in areas where this kind of Christianity is predominant is a testimony to its ineffectiveness and its false nature.   

Our education system may be the most egregious victim of money interests.  Conservatives have tried, at every opportunity they get, to cut the budgets and destroy the public education system.  As a result, what we have is no longer an asset in the preservation of the democratic principles that created the Constitution.  Public education, in many places in the United States, is woefully underfunded, and the ability it once may have had to attract the brightest and best professionals to teach in its classrooms has long since disappeared.  Colleges and universities are becoming victims of bribes and threats of funding cuts, rather than institutions that stand on their principles.  Money is the reason.  

And money has caused the free press to be a thing of the past.  For profit, corporate-owned media is not a free press.  It promotes its own self interest.  Not only that, but like cash strapped public education, it cannot attract the brightest and the best when it comes to those who have the kind of mind and independent thinking ability necessary to keep government accountable.  Most journalists today can't even read a script without mispronouncing words and not having enough understanding about what they are reading to make it sound like something not being read.  

What Can Be Done About It? 

At the risk of sounding cynical, I don't think there is anything that can be done about it.  The Roman Empire lasted a thousand years, before interior rot caused its demise.  The United States of America may not last 250 years.  And when it comes to being a people capable of defending our principles, well, I don't think the will is there.  We've been spoiled by prosperity, and the nagging problems of humanity, which seems to always act on its worst instincts and the lowest part of human nature, are hard to overcome. 

Even the most progressive elements of liberal democracy do not seem to be able to bring about the kind of reform that will be neccessary to keep this country together, and able to sustain itself in an uncertain future.  We seem to be using wealth to perpetuate the wealthy, and to build technological tools capable of utter destruction for a profit.  For all it has created, our democratic republic and its idealism has lasted for just a tiny slice of world history.  If it is no longer sustainable, then what, really, have we achieved?  

 

Remnants of America's Free Press: Stephanie Miller, Thom Hartmann, Late Night Comedy and the Pacifica Network

Freedom of the press, along with an educated and informed electorate, is the cornerstone of the American Republic.  With newspapers, radio, television and internet outlets being the domain of corporations whose financial insterests make them enemies of the people's interests, rather than keeping government honest, those who tell the truth based on the facts have become rare.  It's kind of ironic, with Trump having turned the government into a circus of chaos, that the most honest and up front people in media, the remnants of a true "free press," are largely comedians who deliver what has become a daily budget of disaster with a nice comedic edge.  That may be the only way we can even stand to hear it.  

Getting Through the Day Because of the Stephanie Miller Show

I listen to Stephanie Miller every morning on the way to work, because I know that what I hear there will be factual.  I don't know anyone who has been able to develop a vocabulary that mocks Trump's grandiose bragging and over use of the same extreme terms like she does/   Every time I hear the word, "eleventy-billion", it cracks me up and that has a way of calming me down.  I think one of the best strategies Trump opposition and Democrats could have would be to make this program go viral and keep the same tone, format and approach.  

Everyone who comes to the mic on that show brings facts and reason and sanity to the discussion.  I trust their political judgment, and the laughs are natural, not forced.  The level of frustration, incedulity, shock and amazement at the absolute disaster we are seeing unfold every single day resonates with me, and has a way of giving me a sense of vindication and justification for the anger and frustration.  They make me feel like we are all watching an incredible disasater unfold together, experiencing and expressing common feelings, and getting a sense of hope that together, we can beat this thing.  

I finish listening to her on my way home after work, followed up by Thom Hartmann, who does an outstanding job of just letting people vent their frustrations and point out corruption.  I think it is important to hear what Americans are saying and be encouraged that as this moment has come when we are going to get a chance to make a difference, people will turn out and do what they've had bottled up inside for a while now.  And I think a lot of Thom's callers are helping leaders who are genuinely committed to resisting Trumpism be encouraged that they are not standing alone, not for a minute.  

For Me, and Millions of Others, Late Night Comedy is our Late Night News

I'm sure Trump and his cronies regret their decisions to attempt to use their power and influence totry t get Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert off of late night television.  The ham-fisted way they do these things backfired big time, giving Kimmel an audience four times the size of his normal audience, and he used the attention to fire off a directed, devastating and honest look at just what is going on that still resonates across late night television.  

We trust these guys because they are still telling the truth, and the humor that is woven into the whole narrative makes the message resonate.  It's honest and straightforward and that is what we need.  I really sleep much better at night because I'm not going to bed angry and frustrated over the way our local and network television reporters are handling the news, failing to report things that are important and letting the senastionalism of falsehood dominate the ten minutes they spend on headline news.  

I guess they don't teach real journalism in colleges and universities any more.  I can't believe some of these people who are calling themselves journalists are willing to simply be mouthpieces of manupulation, reading off what someone has told them to say and that they don't have an opinion of their own, or any integrity.  How can someone know what is going on, and yet sit at a news desk and completely ignore it?  

No wonder no one is watching.  

A True Free Press Isn't Controlled by Corporate Dollars

I'm sure it is difficult in media these days to avoid the pitfalls of profit.  But that's the only way we will ever have a free press again.  People have to make a living, but if they must sacrifice integrity to do so, what's been achieved?  

One of the last radio networks left that can still be considered independent and free is the Pacifica network.  There are five anchor stations, and I got introduced to this format about twenty years ago through one of those affiliates, KPFT-FM in Houston, Texas.  Broadcasting independent news, locally-originating shows mainly operated by volunteers, the drive time program in the morning through which I was introduced to the network was Democracy Now! with Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez.  They carried independent news, which is nothing more than old fashioned American free press journalism.  Report the fact and let the listeners make up their mind.  

I wish there was a way to help all of these news sources, whether it's Stephanie Miller's comedy, Thom Hartmann's discussion and talk, or the Pacifica Network's journalism and news, go viral and become the primary source of information to inform Americans.  I also wish we had a strong public broadcasting system, because I would take absolute neutrality over the corporate network bias any day. 

And in conversations I still have with friends who have trouble seeing the light, it is a distinct advantage when I challenge them to prove something Miller or Hartmann or Goodman or Pacifica said wrong.  I rarely get responses back directly, if they bother to check it out.  Silence from my MAGA supporting friends has been comforting affirmation that they know I am right.  

I encourage everyone who reads this to find ways to give support to these independent media voices that are telling the truth.  Help them broaden and expand their reach.  

Learning From the Past, What is Being Done to Prevent Fraud in the 2026 Midterm Elections?

It's pretty easy to tell, from the narrative of Trump tweets and posts on Truth Social, if not a mountain of other evidence, that there will be multiple attempts to alter the results of the upcoming midterm elections, especially if the news for Republican chances continues to be as bad as it now has become.  The pollsters and political analysts who are always very cautious about making big shifts or show big movements in their numbers are still being cautious, but even some of the more conservative ones are hinting that the House will be a lost cause for Republicans.  It's also looking like the Democrats may also win back the majority in the Senate, by enough seats to negate the VP's tie breaker.  

The possibility of some kind of fraud being initiated by Trump and his cronies is more than just speculation.  It's a certainty.  

So what is being done about it? 

Learning From History Avoids Repeating It 

Ever since Trump became the GOP front-runner for the 2016 election, Democrats have been claiming that he is the biggest threat to American democracy we have faced since the Civil War.  They haven't done as much to prevent that as I think has been necessary to prove their belief in that claim, and that's a personal evaluation based on observation.  So I am concerned, as an American who sees this exactly that way, and would like those I help elect to take effective action in ending the threat, and not make subsequent actions to do so necessary.  

When Democrats had control of Congress and the White House, for two years between 2021 and 2023, there were those who had the vision and the boldness and were willing to take the risk to pack the Supreme Court, seeing that this particular court was much more partisan and much less constitutional in its rulings.  In fact, it would have been possible to prevent a second Trump term, and in fact, to bring him to justice for his crimes, if the advice of the progressive Democrats had been followed, and the Senate had disposed of the filibuster to amend the judiciary act and give President Biden the ability to appoint six justices to the court.  

Had that happened, we would have lost the filibuster, but we could figure out how to compensate for that.  What would have been gained was the overturning of Citizens United and the Presidential Immunity rulings that prevented Trump from being tried and convicted for his crimes while in office.  All of those obfuscations and delays in getting the insurrection and documents indictments to court would have disappeared when the Supreme Court made them go away and brought it to a quick and speedy end long before the election campaign season started. 

But the old school prevailed.  We're in a political age when those who have the power must use it to preserve American democracy in any way they can.  The days of celebrating bi-partisan deals ended when the Republicans abandoned that strategy, back during the Dubya Bush administration.  We had the power and we didn't use it.  

Lesson learned.  Maybe. 

But no.  Democrats tolerated the foot dragging and obfuscation and delaying tactics which let Trump off the hook for his crimes.  They knew there was an election approaching which would change the circumstances by which the criminals crimes could be considered. There was a lot of talk, but almost nothing in the way of legislation to correct some of the abuses of power we are now seeing, but there was no effort at all to use the power of the Presidency to move those trials along, cut through the red tape and make it happen.  Were they afraid of Trump or afraid of losing because of the damned Supreme Court?  So, we have Garland going down in history as one of the weakest, most ineffective Attorney Generals in American History.  

Then, in the wake of the 2024 election, with evidence of enough vote counting irregularities, delays, messing with mail-in ballots and other kinds of fraud, no one did anything at all.  There was talk, talk, talk, about the tactics, what they were going to do and how it would effect the outcome of the election for months prior to the ballots being counted.  But, standing on protocol, after being so critical of the Republicans for screaming about voter fraud, Democrats did nothing at all, and lost because of it.  

More lessons learned.  Perhaps.  

We have seen actual examples of ways to suppress voters right out in the open now.  There are two years between the election cycles, which seems to be plenty of time to do something about potential voter fraud.  The other side is not just admitting to it but they are taking steps to do it.  And it seems like through all of the talking that is happening, Democrats do not appear to be doing anything about the anticipated voter fraud.  

I hear a lot of talk about what to do about potential voter fraud in this election.  I don't see much being done.  I see a lot of fund raising and nest-feathering, but not a lot of action to find out what kind of fraud is going to be perpetrated and how that will work.  The FBI just raided election offices in Georgia, which is a clear tactic aimed at committing voter fraud, and we have reported it and given our tsk-tsk-tsk but I am not aware of anything being done to stop it.  

Bold Risks Are Being Taken by the American People 

In record numbers everywhere, Americans are turning out to show their disgust with Trump's failed presidency, and with the way he and his administration are handling their responsibility.  They ignore the Constitution, they violate the law with impunity and they keep on getting away with it because the standard excuse of "we're not the party in power" keeps being brought up.  Don't tell me that!  We've seen all of the tactics the Republicans use when Democrats are in power, to keep progress from being made.  So far, our record of using the filibuster in the Senate that was saved when Democrats backed away from packing the court is less than 50-50.  

It's time for the nest-feathering and campaign fundraising to stop, and for this party to stand on the strength the people in the streets are providing for them, and be as bold in taking risks to stop Trump as the people are telling them they want them to be.  Earn the mantle of the party of opposition.  

And step up, call out and do something about the attempts to cheat in the election that are a matter of course for the GOP.  

Silence from Southern Baptists and Other Conservative Evangelicals Condemns Them

As Christian Leaders Decry Pretti's Murder, the Southern Baptist Convention President is Silent 

In 1845, the Northern Baptist Missionary Society of the Triennial Baptist Convention refused to ordain James Reeve, of Georgia, as a missionary because he owned slaves.  As a result, Baptists from churches in the southern states where slavery was legal gathered in Augusta, Georgia that same year to withdraw from the Triennial Convention, which, in spite of attempts to remain neutral on the issue of slavery, took action that increasingly favored its abolition.  

So it was that the Southern Baptist Convention, the nation's largest Protestant denomination, was founded as a result of theological error and doctrine formed from a grave, serious misinterpretation of the Christian gospel that rested on racist bigotry.  That's not unusual in American Christianity, where the combination of a lack of seminary trained ministers with the emotionalism of frontier revivals led to the formation of many denominations, including cults that departed completely from the teaching of the Christian gospel.  But there's more to this story that characterizes Southern Baptists as a denomination and explains their insensitivity to human equality and social justice that is at the core foundation of the Christian gospel. 

The rest of this story is that the Southern Baptist denomination, as a whole, did not apologize for their promoting and supporting of slavery in the south until 1995, one hundred and fifty years after their founding, based on the approval of the practice of slavery.  One hundred fifty years of history, during which most of its affiliated congregations practiced segregation and discrimination in their membership requirements, and during which most of their churches opposed the Civil Rights movement and took an active role in attempts to stop it.  

That says a lot about why, in the face of racial bigotry, injustice and the struggle for equality, Southern Baptists are either silent, or they come out on the side that is contrary to the principles and teachings of the Christian gospel.  They are blind to the fact that MAGA Trumpism and the faithful and truthful practice of the Christian gospel are mutually exclusive.  

God's Last and Only Hope

Dr. Bill Leonard, current dean of the Wake Forest University School of Divinity, and a long time Baptist history professor at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, says that Southern Baptists have a "scandalous past and an uncertain future," which is the subtitle of his book, The Challenge of Being Baptist.  Leonard is one of a relatively large group of seminary and university professors at Southern Baptist affiliated schools who, after years of attempting to bring reform based on the principles of the Christian gospel into the denomination, were forced out when fundamentalists used political manipulation to take over the denomination for the purpose of using it to advance right wing Republican politics.  

Dr. Leonard writes with impeccable honesty about the denomination's history, including the use of power and influence in the provincial manner in which the denomination is structured to keep reform from occurring.  This not only included the continued influence of white supremacy and active resistance of the denomination and its prominent leaders to the civil rights movement and integration of public schools in the south, but also the altering of the Baptist Faith and Message, the denomination's doctrinal statement, to include stronger wording that restricts women from ordination or vocational ministry in the church.  Controversy has been specifically sharp in recent years over calling women to serve in positions considered to be a "pastor," or in pastoral type leadership.  The denomination had no qualms and gave little consideration before removing its largest and most evangelistic congregation, Saddleback Valley Community Church in Mission Viejo, California, because it listed three women among its pastoral staff.  

I grew up in a small, Southern Baptist church where I was taught, among other things, that Southern Baptists were "closer" to the truth of the gospel than other denominations because we were the only ones who really believed and took the Bible seriously.  That included the other Baptist congregation in town, affiliated with the American Baptist Churches in the USA, labelled as "liberal."  No one ever said anything about being founded to support the owning of slaves, or why our church had no black people or latinos as members.  

Dr. Leonard traces the history of the fundamentalist takeover of the Southern Baptist Convention, which also includes hijacking its loyalty to the Christian gospel by far right wing politics, in a book he titled, God's Last and Only Hope.  It's ironic that a group which thinks of itself this way is silent in the face of some of the greatest injustice we've seen in this country since the Civil War and post-Reconstruction while those they have branded "Liberals," the Episcopalians, Presbyterian Church USA, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the United Methodist Church, the Disciples of Christ, the United Church of Christ, the Quakers and the Unitarians have become the loudest voices for loving one's neighbor and bringing about social justice.  

To be fair, there are churches that were once affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention that have rejected past history in favor of welcoming everyone, without exclusion, into their churches and are working to support justice and freedom for those who are now being oppressed.  Leaders of a couple of these Baptist groups--The Alliance of Baptists and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship--have complained to the justice department about ICE raids during their worship service to sieze people they are attempting to arrest.  Two Southern Baptist seminary professors made hypocrites out of themselves last week when they hollered about Cities Church in St. Paul being the subject of an anti-ICE protest, because one of their pastors works for ICE, but they were silent on ICE disturbing church services to arrest people.  

Silence is a Loud Statement

Conservative Evangelicals, Southern Baptists among them, are separating themselves from the mainline Protestant clergy and churches who are showing their love for their neighbors by standing against the injustice being done to them.  The American people can see who the real Christians are by their love and their actions.  Silence is condemning those who are complicit.  

Silence Adds to Hypocrisy and a Past History of Racism in Conservative Actions Regarding Cities Church Protests

Three Arrested in Cities Church Protest 

Cities Church Considers Legal Action Against Protesters

The real question that needs to be asked, and answered, regarding the protest which took place inside Cities Church in St. Paul during a recent worship service is just exactly how far outside of the gospel of Jesus this congretation is willing to go.  There's a lot of hypocrisy here, including the silence of the congregation regarding the suffering being inflicted on their neighbors by ICE and having one of their own pastors involved in it.  And even more in the complaining and whining about protesters disrupting their church service, while ICE agents are barging into church worship services in multiple locations in order to drag worshippers out.  

Pam Bondi's shrieking and lip flapping about not tolerating the disruption of church services is an empty, hypocritical lie.  She is well aware, from complaints filed by multiple church denominations and congregations, that ICE agents are disrupting worship services to enter churches, and drag worshippers out of their pews to arrest them without specific warrants or authority to do so, in violation of the first amendment.  This particular protest, calling out a church with a pastor who is a supervisor for ICE for its hypocritical silence and failure to act in a manner consistent with the Christian gospel, was caught on camera to counter the lies of conservative Evangelicals, and Pam Bondi.  It was not comparable to the sometimes violent removal of worshippers by ICE agents from other churches,   

Let's Be Hypocrites

I was raised in a Southern Baptist church, and went through a period of deconstruction and rethinking my faith perspective while a student at a denominationally-affiliated university that was considered to be "on the left" of the theological spectrum of Baptists.  During graduate school, the church I joined was a mid-sized congregation that had made some historic marks among Southern Baptists, like having welcomed blacks as members since it was first formed, and being one of the first to ordain women to serve as deacons and pastors.  

It was not uncommon for protesters to be gathered with ugly signs and ugly words on the sidewalk and street between the parking lot and the church to protest the fact that we welcomed gays and lesbians to worship.  Fact is, we welcomed everyone to worship.  And there were occasions when people would protest from inside the auditorium, chanting slogans, raising signs or being otherwise disruptive.  Many congregations that were affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention, but which either didn't support, or actively resisted, the intrusion of the fundamentalist takeover known as the "Conservative Resurgence" experienced this.  

Most of those churches have long since severed their ties with the Southern Baptists, and have formed a couple of groups, more of the nature of fellowships with common beliefs and goals, rather than denominations, but they are among those whose churches have had services interrupted by ICE for the purpose of dragging members of the congregation out of the service and off to arrest.  The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, the largest group made up of former Southern Baptist churches, has formally protested to the Department of Homeland Security.  

Cities Church in St. Paul is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention, so it's not surprising that the church would not have any conscience when it comes to social justice or that it would value right wing MAGA Trumpism over the Christian gospel.  The kind of political perspective and loyalty that would be required of someone to be in a supervisory capacity at ICE is something I consider equivalent to being a member of the Ku Klux Klan.  Both of those things require doing things which run contrary to the values and practices of the Christian gospel.  Whether or not that justifies a protest inside the church worship service is a matter of conscience, not law. 

This is the same Southern Baptist Convention that was formed in 1845 because the Triennial Baptist Convention, the main body of Baptists in the United States, refused to appoint a slave owner as a missionary.  It was not until 1995, 150 years later, that the denomination officially apologized for its role in promoting the enslavement of human beings.  The racism which drove the Confederacy and was written into its Constitution, that black persons are inferior to white persons, also drove the Southern Baptist Convention and it was a theological and doctrinal error that they allowed to stand for 150 years before correcting it.  

That is a clear indication that it can make theological, doctrinal and Christian practice errors in other areas, too.  And they are making them in the realm of social justice, especially when it comes to immigration.  They are silent in the face of injustice and in the violation of individual human rights.  

This is the same Southern Baptist Convention that has failed to find any kind of sympathy or resolution for the victims of hundreds of incidents of sexual abuse perpetrated by pastors, vocational ministers, missionaries and seminary professors, exposed by the Houston Chronicle and The San Antonio Express News in 2019.  What has transpired is the perpetuation of a cover-up, and the "largest Protestant denomination in America" being stymied as to how to handle allegations of sexual abuse by church pastors and denominational employees like missionaries or seminary professors.  And, the impression that has been left is one of blaming the victims for trying to ruin the ministry of these supposedly "godly" men. 

Was This A Christian Worship Service or the Gathering of a Pseudo-Christian Political Cult?

We have to look at this for what it is.  I haven't seen any complaint or outrage about the disruption of church services by ICE agents from the Southern Baptists like Al Mohler and Danny Akin, the two seminary Presidents who arrogantly defended the pastor employed by ICE and shrieked and lip flapped about the protest inside the church which was recorded on camera and does not in any way show any confusion, frightened children, or chaos that they described.  I have to wonder if they were watching the same video that I did. 

Frankly, I am still opposed to protests disrupting church worship services.  However, given the attitudes in this case, and the manner in which this is being handled by both the church, and by the Justice Department, I believe this protest was perfectly acceptable.  This wasn't a Christian church service that was interrupted, it was a gathering of a pseudo-Christian cult and considering the issue at the heart of the protest, it was simply a constitutionally protected act of free speech and conscience.

None of the protesters should have been arrested, since they did not break any laws, and I hope the judge in this case realized that no crime was committed.  

With Polling Data Heavily in Favor of Democrats Winning the Midterms, the Party Must Make a Clear Decision on Where it Stands

Is the Democratic party going to be fully committed to opposing Trump, claiming that he is the greatest threat to American Democracy in history, or is it going to focus most of its attention on helping the party prominents feather their nests, hold on to their seats and stay out of the more risky line of fire as the elections approach?  

In light of how some elected members of the party have been responding to everything that's happening, I think this is a legitimate question that deserves and answer.  

Primaries Are Just Around the Corner So Watch What Democrats in Congress Do, Carefully

I'm a lifelong Democrat, the son of a labor union member who grew up in a working class household.  I've always been registered to vote, and I've always voted, including in local elections at the city and county level.  In all of the time I've been eligible to vote, I've never missed an election if I could help it, including voting absentee and by mail when circumstances dictated it.  I've also always been a contributor.  I'm not wealthy, by any means, but I can give candidates a little bit of a boost with  a small contribution to their campaign, and a regular gift to the DNC  

I've dropped the DNC gift, as a practical matter, and because I no longer see the value of doing so.  I'm open to revisiting the possibility but I need to see something a whole lot different than what I see now.  And a lot more bold and aggressive when it comes to opposing Trump.  That contribution now goes to Leaders We Deserve  which is where I think it will do the most good for the Democratic party in electing the best candidates who aren't afraid to stand up and be Trump opposition.  

Keep a close eye on the Democrats in Congress, because at a time like this, when a tiny GOP majority is on its back heels trying to keep up its agenda and Democrats have more power than they want you to know that they do, their votes will tell you how sincere their lips are being when it comes to Trump opposition.  They're not getting my vote unless they're 100% anti-MAGA.  

Raja Krishnamoorthi lost this Illinois Democrat's vote this week, when he voted along with the Republicans, to censure the Clintons for their refusal to testify before Congress.  I was already not impressed by some of the money he has taken for his campaign, and he demonstrated the fact  that he's a nest-featherer, not a bold, risk taking opposition member, in several ways.  I'm still not sure who I will vote for in the primary, but it won't be Krishnamoorthi.  Democrats elsewhere need to look at the candidates in their states, and pick the more progressive, liberal, aggressive and bold candidates who will use the power to crush Trump when they have it in their hands.  

I'm now naturally gravitating toward high level resistance participants, candidates who, while some may seem like longshots now, because in the sea of big money politics they are not taking any PAC money, or corporate dollars with eventual strings attached, but are running on their own.  Many of them are exactly the kind of leaders we need, with the kind of convictions candidates who take PAC money can't stand up to defend at the point where it interferes with their PAC's interest, and I think some of them are going to find their way through the flood of cash to a seat in the House.  Then they will represent my interests without compromise or a sudden back down, which we have seen too often. 

Though I live a little bit further north than Illinois district 7, I've been at a couple of gatherings where the level of satisfaction with the members who represent several Chicago districts is lukewarm, mainly because those who are gathering and marching and protesting are way ahead of where their congressional representatives are operating.  I'm happy with what my representative, Delia Ramirez, has done, and she's earned my support and contribution.  But I'm willing to give to a neighbor, Reid Showalter, who is a longshot candidate in neighboring district 7.  Go to his site and see why he is the kind of Democrat we need to be on ballots everywhere. It would be great having them both represent a large chunk of Chicago in the House.  

With the loss of a couple of their seats recently, one due to the resignation of one of the worst MAGA cultists in the House, there's a lot of pressure on the GOP leadership to hold the fort.  And there's a lot of money destined for the mid-terms that might buy some weakness on the part of Democrats, because they think they can hide it or get away with it.  I hope the voters are smart enough to detect that kind of nest-feathering until we can get big money out of politics completely.  Until then, unfortunately, we will have to keep a close eye out and keep careful watch over who is writing campaign contribution checks, and to whom they are writing them.  

Recovery From The Trump Disaster Won't Be Quick or Easy

Frankly, as a former civics and history instructor, I am not sure that we can ever actually recover from the damage that Trump has done to American Democracy.   The residue of the fascist ideology and the racism and bigotry he tapped into in order to divide the nation so he could win elections isn't going away just because he does.  One of the biggest political mistakes ever made by a sitting President of the United States was Gerald Ford's pardon of Richard Nixon.  Had Nixon been prosecuted and sentenced to the full extent of the law, I doubt Trump would have even dared run for election.  He bases his lawless, anti-patriotic, anti-American practice on the fact that Nixon got away with it and he's said as much.  

That's going to take Democrats with the boldness to take risks when they're back in power, and this time, use it to enforce the law, not to drag feet, slow processes down and "garlandize" criminal indictments in order to nullify their effect.  We need a party full of Jack Smiths, and David Hoggs.  They're out there.  We just need to filter through the muck of the money flood to find them and elect them.  

This time, when we control Congress and the White House at the same time, we need leaders who see the necessity of packing the Supreme Court with liberal progressives who will neutralize the corrupt conservatives and make their votes irrelevant, even if we have to keep paying them their undeserved salaries.  We could have done that any time between 2021 and 2023, but for the complaints and whining from those who thought that might look political.  They knew what was coming if they didn't, so that tells me there wasn't a whole lot of genuine conviction about Trump's threat to democray, and too much nest-feathering going on.  

The Challenge is This

Any Democratic candidate for office must earn my support by their boldness, their willingness to take risks, and their desire to see Trump and MAGA gone, by the actions they take now to ratchet the pressure up on Republicans as much as they can, and given what Republicans have done to Democrats when they weren't in power, the fact of the matter is that this can be done, and not ignore what's happening to get to their next fundraising luncheon at the club.  

Real resistance, a real fight and the willingness to use the power of office in every possible way against Trump earns my vote and my donation.  Anything less than that, and I will find someone who is willing to be bolder and more of a risk taker for whom to vote.  

Whining About the Disruption of Worship Services at St. Paul's Cities Church Needs to be Put in Perspective

 Rick Pidcock: Let's Talk About How Cities Church Treats Women

Let's take a look at the perspectives here.  

Southern Baptist Seminary President Al Mohler was, in 2016, opposed to Trump's nomination.  He, along with Russell Moore, who was President of the Southern Baptists' Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission at the time, were the only two Southern Baptist leaders who showed any Christian conviction, or backbone at all in refusing to support an agenda and candidate who was so openly antichrist, and diametrically opposed to any Christian practice or values.  That, in a conservative Evangelical denomination that has completely lost its way because it cannot discern that right wing politics is antichristian, was highly unusual.  

But if the Southern Baptist Convention ever had any characteristics of the Christian gospel, and having been raised in a Southern Baptist church, I would say that it never really did, it has lost every vestige of it with its turn toward support for right wing politics.  Mohler wanted to be President of the Southern Baptist convention, and realized that being a Trumper was the key, not only to winning elected office in the denomination that is more of a political power structure than a Christian ministry organization, but to hanging on to his well feathered and financed nest as President of the denomination's flagship theological school.  

So he flipped.  But the fact that he wasn't committed enough to the Trump cult at any point cost him the Presidency of the Southern Baptist Convention, though it may have saved him from being forced to retire as President at SBTS.  But this makes his comments on the disruption of worship at Cities Church by protesters worthless.  So, then, are the comments made by another Southern Baptist seminary President, Danny Akin, of the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina.  

But, this is to be expected.  Cities Church is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention.  So they don't see the complete inconsistency in a pastor who works for ICE, and who participates in the immoral injustice that they are perpetrating.   Nor do they see that Biblical Christianity and being a supporter of MAGA Trumpism are mutually exclusive.  It is not possible to be faithful to the principles of the Christian gospel, and a supporter of MAGA, and Trump.  

And that's not a judgment.  It's simply an observation.  

But, what is to be expected in a denomination that was founded for the purpose of defending slavery, rebelling against the biblically founded restrictions on sending slaveowners out on their behalf as missionaries, adopted by the Triennial Baptist Convention of Philadelphia.  And, one that did not repudiate or apologize for its role in promoting the evil, ungodly practice until 1995, 150 years after it was founded because of its support for slavery.  

I didn't hear either one of these seminary presidents speak out against the murder of Renee Good.  Nor have they spoken up against the brutal treatment we have all seen that has been a trademark of ICE raids and alleged "enforcement" of immigration law everywhere they've been.  To be fair, I've never heard Akin preach, nor have I read anything he's written.  I have heard Mohler, his podcast, and his pompous pontifications on everything he thinks his audience needs informing from his perspective.  And I can't find any reference to their complaining about ICE agents interrupting church services to abduct worshippers.  

If this protest, calling out the hypocrisy of this church, is a problem, then so is ICE entering a church to drag off and arrest people in the congregation.  Why not speak up about disrupting worship in general, instead of whining about this calling out of hypocrites?  The leader of the protest was arrested, and the attorney general, Pam Bondi, stated, "We will not tolerate attacks on places of worship."  

Really, Pam?  So you are a two faced liar, and hypocrite too, as if we didn't already know this, given your bottomless corruption.  Does this mean you will not tolerate ICE agents entering churches to drag out congregants and send them to detention camps?  Will we hear, from your office, orders prohibiting ICE agents from attacking houses of worship?  

I'm not really in favor of a church becoming a place of protest, or at least, not in favor of disrpting a worship service.  If it's outside, I don't have a problem with it.  The hypocrisy we are seeing from so many of these conservative Evangelicals needs to be called out, for the sake of those inside who don't want their church over-run by right wing, anti-patriotic, unAmerican, anti-Christian ideology.  Calling out a pastor who is in error is the responsibility of those who are members of the church.  But there's nothing wrong about an outdoor display that doesn't disrupt worship, but makes the point clear, especially to the congregation.  

But as long as ICE agents are invading churches and dragging off people just because of suspicion, and without proof, then a church that has a direct connection to ICE, via its pastor, is at risk for being called out.  

One Year Into a Second Trump Term and This is Where We Are

No, I did not listen to the rambling, disjointed, incoherent, fumbling, bumbling, and frankly, boring to comatose press conference given by Trump to mark his first full year in office of his second term.  I can't stand to watch or listen to him, knowing that every word that comes out of his mouth has no connection to the real world, is not true, and is nothing more than another symptom of his narcissism and dysfunctional ego, mixed with a good measure of dementia.  

Donald Trump was, in his first term, one of the worst presidents in American history.  His term in office was predictably bad, the fact that he had trouble demonstrating competence working the drive in window at a McDonalds a precursor for the manner in which he handled the job as President.  This is a man who, honestly, could not pass an eighth grade constitution or history test.  And as far as his personal morality and character go, well, not everyone who has occupied the White House has had character that matches its exterior color, and Trump's womanizing, affairs, including the tryst he tried to cover up with a porn star, cheating in business, added to the recent rape convictions, seditious attack on the Capitol and what he may have done with Jeffrey Epstein are pretty bad compared to just about anyone else who has served as President.  

We knew we were getting this when the Republicans nominated him.  And Democrats, the ones who, when we had control of Congress would not break the senate filibuster to amend the judiciary act and pack the Supreme Court, which would have eliminated the possibility of a second Trump term, sort of botched the possibility to run someone who could have easily beaten him if they'd had two years and a full campaign to do it.  They knew what a second Trump term would bring. The way that was handled wasn't my mistake.  

All that has happened this past year has simply confirmed what was known prior to the election.  Trump is an incompetent boob, an imbecil, an incapable, inept con artist and grifter who is the single worst President in American history.  That is an undisputable fact.  It is also a problem that we must deal with before we lose the ability to recover what has been lost or destroyed.  The founding fathers apparently never envisioned partisan animosity and hatred so bad that overturning the principles of the nation, and its Constitution, would be worth it for one side to get its way and "win."  

There's a lot of rumbling among the protesters who have shown up in record numbers to send the message of just how unpopular this President is, about using the 25th Amendment. He's hitting poll numbers showing disapproval not seen before, but not necessarily so distressing to a party that no longer values the integrity or accuracy of the American ballot box.  They are willing to bring that down too, to keep this orange headed thug in office, rendering the Constitutional means of removing him from office moot. Well, good luck getting this cabinet, most of whom are crazier, more corrupt and immoral than he is, to give that a shot. 

The partisan divide in the United States has rendered impeachment and removal from office virtually impossible. I don't believe there is a politician in the United States in either party who would vote against their own party's interest, though  Democrats generally seem to be more aligned with Constitutional Democracy than the GOP has ever been.  It does not look like this constitutional means of removing a sitting President will work, either.  

I'm not opposed to giving either one a try, though I have serious doubts whether any Democratic party politician is willing to lead the public pressure charge that would be required.  I'm not going to apologize for thinking that the Democrats, as a party, are just not up to being the kind of opposition that those of us who are participating in peacful demonstrations or marches are looking for.  Point to an example of someone who would be willing to lead the charge, and take the force of massive protests right inside the Capitol, making enough Republicans feel the pressure to either get out of the way and resign, or participate in the President's removal from office.  

We can even get someone who is willing to keep putting this up in front of the media, and helping to fan the flames of resistance in order to use the energy of massive discontent to bring enough pressure to bear to make Republicans experience the political consequences of their abandonment of American idealism and patriotism.  

This cannot continue with any hope of America emerging from this nightmare with the ability to recover. It's the worst year of any Presidential term we've had in the history of this country.   

Constitutional Ignorance Abounds in America, and I'll Tell You Why

Bakery Owner, Facing Death Threats Over Anti-Ice Cookies, Refuses to Back Down 

I've taught the Constitution to eighth graders and Civics to high school students for almost 40 years.  The requirements for passing these courses in order to graduate from either eighth grade or high school are not enough.  For one thing, the standards used to measure what students must achieve in order to graduate are frankly, a joke.  So is the classroom order and management in the vast majority of schools in this country, to the point where the few students who are engaged and interested enough to learn are passed through because passing requirements have to be dumbed down so that the majority of students don't fail.  

Argue against that, and I will bring out the test data and scores, and organize a tour of schools to prove otherwise.  

But the biggest test of the effectiveness of this kind of coursework is what happens in our society when every value we understand as Americans, every Constitutional right and principle, every limit on the power of the federal government against the rights of the people is challenged by ignorant, stupid, violent people just because they don't agree with the idea that is being expressed.  

Death threats to a bakery owner for expressing something that is a matter of conscience, protected by the first amendment is a real life test that demonstrates the failure of our educational system, at least as far as having taught anything of value to the hateful ignoramuses who make the threats.  It also shows that mental health care in this country is failing to treat the high level of insecurity that such behavior represents.  

The response of this bakery owner is the right one.  Don't back down.  Move ahead.  Cowards make those kind of threats, cowards and stupid people.  The response of the community was massive repudiation of ignorance.  Good for them.  

Political Weakness and Insecurity Fears Free Speech and a Free Conscience

Politicians who can't stand protest against their ideology and the decisions they make are weak and insecure.  Basically, their response not only betrays this fear and insecurity, but it also demonstrates their own incompetence and ignorance, and their own cowardice and weakness.  

The first time we really saw this in American history was during the Presidency of John Adams.  Adams was one of America's founding fathers.  He had served in multiple capacities on behalf of the United States, including being part of the Constitutional convention in Philadelphia that drafted the current document along with the Bill of Rights, and worked to secure its ratification.  

But when critics challenged his decisions, especially regarding his handling of the United States and its relationship with France, he went over the edge.  And, in fact, Adams going down in history as one of the least effective, most inept Presidents is due to his instigation of support for a set of laws  known as the Alien and Sedition Acts.  Basically this made it a crime to write or say things critical of the President or of Congress, and it gave the President the power to deport foreigners he didn't like, and were critical of his position on immigration and citizenship. 

Then, if that wasn't bad enough, Adams went on a court-packing frenzy.  As a lame duck, he tried to fill every judicial seat with Federalists who would rule against challenges to the acts.  Known as the "Midnight Judges Act," it was repealed by Jefferson before the appointees could take office and eventually led to the court's establishing Judiciary Review. 

Even founding fathers were subject to partisan temptation.  In this case, it damaged, and practically destroyed, Adam's reputation, and the good work he did.  It also ended any chance he would ever have at being re-elected President, and it destroyed the Federalist Party, which lost the next five elections in increasingly large landslides and would disappear completely during the Monroe Administration.  

The suppression of the first amendment that Trump so blatantly advocates and tries to implement should be driving the GOP to extinction.  Though it does appear to be doing some real damage to Republican chances at holding a Congressional majority, it isn't having the widespread effect that the Alien and Sedition Acts did 225 years ago.  Is it because more Americans today are so completely ignorant of the Constitution, and lack the critical thinking skills to associate Trump's attempt to subvert the free press with a violation of this most sacred Constitutional protection?  

Yes. 

So What Do We Do About It? 

Leaving public education in the hands of the states, in the balance of power, has been a huge mistake.  It has led to a huge gap in the student outcomes experienced from state to state.  In states where education is regarded as an essential for the preservation of democracy, and valued as a means of raising the standard of living, the test scores, graduation rates and overall quality of the schools are all high.  And generally, the voters in those states tend to favor the Democrats.  In states where education is seen as a glorified babysitting service, budgets are cut whenever there's a tax reduction, and they'd rather spend millions on football stadiums with artificial turf where they can watch their kids bash each other's brains out than on learning math, or how to read, or, God forbid, how to correctly interpret the Constitution in a way that the differences in skin color, or ethnicity, or religious beliefs, gender, or political perspective don't matter when it comes to individual rights. 

There is a reason why a President who uses the dumb-ass interpretation of politics to scam for votes wants to dismantle the Department of Education.  And that is exactly why one of the first things any future Democratic majority needs to do is to double its budget, and make public education a power under the federal government.  Students in places like Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Texas or West Virginia should not be denied the opportunity to get the same kind of quality education that those in Minnesota, Massachusetts, Rhode Island,  Connecticut, New Hampshire, Illinois, Maryland or California get.  

Once that's complete, then the number of courses students receive throughout their grade school and high school years in American History, government, the Constitution and other Civics-related subjects should be implemented every single year, starting with Kindergarten.  Common Core and the revamping of schools to increase instruction in technology, science and mathematics hasn't worked.  The math and science scores are getting worse nationally, not better, and the time has crowded out the ability to teach important subjects like American history and government.  

Look at the course requirements for university bound, professional students in high schools in European countries like Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, and now even most of the Eastern European countries.  Their school day doesn't end at 2:15, it goes to 4:30 or 5:00 and it includes double the amount of social studies that American schools do.  Most European countries won't even give any coursework credit to their students who participate in a foreign exchange program in the US, because they have no respect for the quality of American education and they know the students get far less than they would in their European school.  

This is not the place for an apologetic on behalf of our hard working, underpaid school teachers.  Any teacher in American public education who is doing their job, and knows what education is supposed to look like will say that the quality of education in most of our public schools is substandard and I know this, because I'm engaged in those kinds of discussions almost every day.  I taught in a public, inner city high school in Houston, in a program aimed at recovering drop-outs who wanted to come back, and I saw teachers make do with few resources, sometimes spending their own money, in  a state where teacher salaries already rank in the bottom 10% nationally, to try and provide students with opportunities.  Many of them lined up at the private schools, when a job opened up, to take less pay and fewer benefits, but where the quality of education was higher.  

And we see this poor quality social studies education manifest itself in the media, where reporters and commentators are either completely ignorant about the Constitution, or are told by management not to bring it up when the President or one of his cronies says something that they know is anti-Constitutional, anti-Democratic and anti-American.  I wonder how we'd feel if we're facing charges in court, and our lawyer is a millennial who doesn't know the Constitution.  

This is why over 70 million Americans cast a ballot for the incompetent, inept, demented and insane man now living in the White House, and why another 30 million who would have potentially voted the other way just stayed home.  

  

Trump is Going After the Hegemony Just Like Hitler Did

In his fictonal works The Winds of War and War and Remembrance written by author Herman Wouk, which take place in the years prior to World War 2 and which end at war's end, one of the leading characters, Dr. Aaron Jastrow, is a Polish Jew who emigrated to the United States as a teenager, during the turmoil of the aftermath of the First World War, and becomes a history professor at Yale, and subsequently an author whose writings center on his Jewish identity and the perspective that gives him as he observes world events leading up to the war.  

He retires, and resides in Italy, initially writing about the Jewish origins of Christianity, and the sharp turn in history under the Roman Emperor Constantine, whose sudden conversion experience, including a vision that contradicts everything the Christian gospel taught, leading to the advancement of the institutional Christian church by political power which shaped European history and, according to Dr. Jastrow, two thousand years of anti-Semtism.  

Wouk uses the character of Jastrow to introduce the concept of hegemony as an explanation for the suddent rise of European Fascism, in which, prior to the war beginning, is focused on Lenin and Stalin in Russia, lumped together with Mussolini and then, after some refinement and adjustment, Hitler, who sets out to conquer Europe, grabbing, in the fictional professors words, the hegemony.  

Jastrow's character is written to take the more fatalistic position of the time, in the aftermath of war weariness from World War 1, that the dictators rise is due in part to Allied policy laying the blame for the war on Germany and demanding unreasonable reparations which kicked over European economies, leading to the Great Depression.  Money is at the bottom of political upheaval, and Jastrow, in a political discussion, uses the phrase, "The hegemony can be shared, and it must be shared with the Soviets, at any rate," he says.  

So when I look at the mutterings, rumblings and ramblings of Trump about Venezuela, Greenland, Canada, Mexico, my memory gets jogged, my historical interest is generated and I went back through Wouk's books and re-read both of them.  Yes, they are works of fiction, but they're based on historical facts and his research providing accurate settings and insights of the politics of the time is an excellent way to learn about all of the political perspectives in play prior to and during World War 2.  And much of  what Trump says, not only wanting to take over sovereign nations, but in the motivation and reasoning he gives for doing so, he sounds exactly like the European Fascists did, prior to the war.  He is just another politician hungry for money and the power it brings, trying to win the hegemony.  His ego is the driving force, and we have Mary Trump and her books to confirm that.  

We've Done This Before

Threats made to neighboring countries, and attempts to dominate them are not new in American history.  There are some hints of it in the Monroe Doctrine, and grabbing a share of the hegemony was behind a lot of that rhetoric, especially as the rivalry between the United States and the European powers, especially Great Britain and Spain, and to a lesser degree France, had heated up after the American Revolution and then Napoleon's rampage.  

Then there was the whole Texas Independence, Mexican War debacle, where pretenses led to grabbing most of what was then the northern third of Mexico, mainly because we could, and because there was also hegemony involved, mainly American economic interests and the aquisition of national wealth and power.  We did it again against Spain, during another burst of attempted control and domination of Latin America.  

If we're honest, the impression America's grab at the hegemony has left with those who had to endure it doesn't really look a whole lot different to the victims of it than Hitler's grab did to his victims.  There's one big difference.  The Germans, after being beaten to the ground, and their country bombed to ruins, seem to have learned their lesson, and have practiced what they learned over the course of the past seven decades.  Most Americans know better, too, but the uptick in Facist, neo-Nazi ideology in this country that lies under the surface of support for Trump is behind the violence and hatred that is pushing this.  

Hypocrisy That Knows No Bounds

Trump expected widespread jubilation and dancing in the streets when he extracted Maduro from Caracas, and brought him to the United States.  A lot of Venezuelans did dance and celebrate, for a few minutes, until they learned that Maduro's hand picked Vice-President was in charge, and that absolutely nothing had changed except the direction of their oil tankers.  Hegemony.   The Venezuelans I know here, and because I'm in Chicago, I have gotten to know several, are taking a more "wait and see" attitude, not really seeing much of a difference between Maduro, and Trump, who is hunting them down and deporting them, some to prison in El Salvador, when ICE finds them.  

And I'm frustrated, not surprised, at the blithering ignorance displayed in this country when it comes to these events.  Maybe ignorance is a root cause of hypocrisy, or maybe it has become the trademark of a country in which the education system has failed miserably to provide basic instruction in history, poltics and government.  It's pretty inconsistent and stupid, and I don't mind using that word, to cheer and support Trump's removal of Maduro, while his bootlicking, bowing and cuddling up to Kim Jong Un, a much more brutal dictator in North Korea, is still a fresh memory from his first term.  

Why not send some helicopters, shock paratroopers and air support into Pyongyang, and extract the North Korean dictator, and try him alongside Maduro?  Why not go after Putin,, for that matter, or Bashar al-Assad?  

The last time the United States went to war to remove a dictator, Saddam Hussein, and simultaneously supported the rebels in Syria, it didn't turn out well.  As a result, ISIS swelled up into the vacuum, capable of doing so because, in Syria, they were well financed by the Bush administration funneling money to them because of their opposition to al-Assad.  Maduro's political faction is still solidly in control in Caracas, in spite of Trump's gaslighting, and that's not going to go well for the Venezuelanos who were celebrating his downfall.  

Constitutional Failure

Here's what we have to ask ourselves at this point.  How stupid has this country become?  How ignorant are we, and how many Americans have absolutely no idea whatsoever what attacking or attempting to take over Greenland would mean?  How many ignorant and stupid people do we have, that all of this rherotic spills out of the mouths of the Trump administration and it doesn't appear that Americans even know where Greenland is or why Trump wants it or why it would be totally unpatriotic and anti-American to be aggressive in demanding it come under our jurisdiction?  

Somewhere, in our Constitution, the limits on Presidential authority exist for someone somewhere to tell Trump "NO!" and then countermand any orders to militarily occupy Greenland.  The limits on Presidential authority have been there since this demagogue took office, but no one, especially among his oposition, seems to know what can be done, or they are too interested in feathering their own nests to do it.  

The United States is now a predator among smaller, weaker nations, much smaller and much weaker, in  a quest to gain the hegemony, which is Trump's life purpose, grab and grift for money.  He's dragging our country, and its values, into the abyss of his own demented mind and disfunctional ego.  And while we march, and protest, and complain, he keeps getting away with it and we keep letting him.  We are now a threat to a world that we helped rebuild and turn toward our values following World War 2, simply because no one will do anything about the man who claimed he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and no one would do anything about it.  

God help us.   

Let's Help Zach Shrewsbury Win a Senate Seat

When it comes to national politics, West Virginia rarely shows up on the radar screen.  Unless an election is running close, or a primary, little attention is paid to what goes on in this small state that once was a Democratic party stronghold because of organzed labor in the coal industry, but which, because of the culture war, a lot of ignorance, and no one really caring much, has become one of the reddest states in the union.  And as coal has collapsed, which Republicans falsely and deceptively blamed on Democrats when it was their own doing, under Bush and under Trump during his first term, the population has declined, the state lost a congressional seat, and the voter turnout in elections has plummeted to all time lows as the opioid crisis roared and people who could still afford to do so moved elsewhere. 

I have a personal stake in what goes on in West Virginia politics.  My family roots are there.  My parents, grandparents, great grandparents and ancestors came from Irish and Scottish immigrants who moved into the mountains when it was still part of Virginia.  For them, the attraction was the jobs, in the coal mines and in the industries that use it.  And I spent some time there myself, working at door to door sales jobs in the summer to earn money for college.  The coal fields were prosperous back then, and I was able to pay for tuition and fees by walking the hollers in Mingo, Logan and Wyoming counties, where I think I probably knocked on every door to every house.  

Hospital Closing is a Sign of Political Malaise 

So a few years back, browsing the online edition of the Williamson Daily News, I noticed that the Williamson Memorial Hospital had closed, a victim of the opioid crisis that hit rural West Virginia hard, and of the COVID pandemic.  The high rates of poverty in the county, high unemployment, and low numbers of people with adequate insurance, left the hospital short of operating capital, and it was forced to close.  

It was the only hospital and emergency room in Mingo County, serving 25,000 residents, many in remote rural areas.  It was not the only rural hospital in West Virginia that was struggling.  More than a dozen rural hospitals closed in the state as a result of the debt they incurred having to treat so many uninsured patients who were victims of the opioid crisis or COVID.  

West Virginia's state legislature, and governor, have done little to nothing to provide help to allieviate the opioid issue, or to keep accesss to medical care in rural areas open, in spite of the fact that there's no profit to be made off health care facilities in communities where as many as 40% of the residents are on medicare, medicaid, or do not have insurance at all.  And if anything happens to the ACA, it will have a devastating effect on medical care in rural West Virginia.  

There was some hope for WIlliamson Memorial Hospital, when it closed.  When the Biden Administratin was in power, West Virginia's Democratic Senator, Joe Manchin, worked to bring local resources together with federal money, and secured enough help from the federal government to combine with what was available from local physicians and local resources to renovate the facility, bring it up to standard, and eventually, after several years, get it open and operating again.  The state government was largely absent from the process.  

So was the state's other Senator, Shelley Moore Capito.  She stands out in contrast to her constituents, the daugher of a family that made their money exploiting the people of West Virginia, and of a governor whose record is one of the worst when it comes to doing what state governments are supposed to do for their constituents.  Even among some of my more conservative family members who still live in West Virginia, the name "Archie Moore" can't be mentioned without generating some anger and expressions of derision.  

So how does this, one of the most ineffective, inept members of the United States Senate, get re-elected?  The apathy among West Virginia voters, when it comes to their faith in their own leaders and government, is at an all time high.   Turnout is low, people are more focused on day to day survival than on who will represent them in the US Senate, and money buys elections in West Virginia in a way that it doesn't do so anywhere else.  

Moore-Capito did absolutely nothing to help the hospital in Williamson re-open, but she was there, once Senator Manchin was gone, to help claim credit.  I have done reasearch, through the news reports from the local newspaper, and from television  stations in Huntington and Charleston that carried the stories about the hospital, and cannot find a single reference to Moore-Capito in all that was done to secure federal funding, over $2 million, for the hospital.  Nothing.  

A Long Shot That Might Not be so Long

I am encouraging Democrats and independents I know to help Zach Shrewsbury beat Moore-Capito in his challenge to win this Senate seat.  I've written to every family member I have in West Virginia encouraging them to take a look at this guy and get out and vote for him.  For many of them, who consider themselves Republican, that was a shocking request, but all I asked of them was to give him a fair consideration.  I found that several of them, including the ones who still live in Mingo County, are planning to break their fast from voting, one cousin and his wife not having been to the polls in over 20 years, and will vote for Zach.  They've been beneficiaries of his work, and they know about him and what he does, and his care and concern for the people of West Virginia.  That, frankly, was more than I expected. 

But he's apparently getting his message out.  I've heard from other family members, mostly in my own generation, who are planning to support him.  That's progress.  Politics was off the discussion table in my extended family, and I'm kind of an outsider, not growing up in West Virginia, but this discussion got more acceptance than I thought it would.  People are paying attention, and Shrewsbury's message is clearly resonating, unlike the gaslighting they hear from Moore-Capito and the GOP.  

Shrewsbury's message is aimed at West Virginians who have, in surprisingly large numbers, stayed away from the polls over the years.  I remember hearing my mother and father, and my grandmother, express their doubts about whether any politician was honest enough or sincere enough to be concerned about their life and their needs, and that it really didn't matter who they voted for, nothing would change.  That came from their own experience.  How many other people think that way is a clear factor in election outcomes, since more people don't register or vote than those who actually do.  

West Virginia, especially its southern counties, deep in the Appalachian Mountains, is feeling the effects of the affordability crisis more than most places.  A high percentage of the population, those who haven't moved to find better jobs, are on fixed incomes, like black lung pensions, or social security, so when the local grocery store, or Wal-Mart, or hospital, closes, they have the expense of long drives added to the higher prices of goods.  Try to find what Moore-Capito is doing, anything, to help.  You won't find a thing.  She's more interested in being a good Trumpie than she is in helping the people of  West Virginia, she's just using them for her own political career.  

Shrewsbury is Running the Kind of Campaign It Takes to Win an Election Like This

Committed not to take corporate, dirty money, and to run an "on the ground" campaign, Shrewsbury has a chance to win this election, if he can do what he is aiming to do, and that is to activate apathetic voters.  It's pretty clear from what he already does for the people of West Virginia, that he's not going to sit around and do nothing.  Of course, what politicians say they are going to do and what they wind up doing are usually two different things, but Shewsbury is an advocate for the people already.  He is clearly worth the financial support he will need to unexpectedly flip this seat, help people understand that voting for Moore-Capito is voting against their own interests, and win this election.  

This is not a politician who is feathering his own nest.  This is someone who is making a difference without being a politician.  

Join me in sending your contribution to Zach Shrewsbury for Senate, in West Virginia.  This is a guy who can win.  

Political Expediency is Not Going To Save American Democracy

One of the things I really try to avoid, especially when it comes to politics, is cynicism.  However, as we start into this 2026 midterm election season, things being the way they are, I am struggling to avoid doing so.  It comes from the impression I get that opposition to Trump is considered by some politicians, to be more of an opportunity to feather their own nest, and advance their own political career than it is to save American democracy from the biggest threat it has faced since the Civil War, or Richard Nixon.  

I've committed not to cast ballots for fence-sitters, compromisers, or weak-willed wafflers.  I'm already a third of the way into a notebook I'm keeping with comments made by politicians and potential candidates which try to leave the impression that this is just another midtern election with business as usual.  That's not going to get my vote.  So politicians, especially those running in Illinois, in the Chicago area, beware.  I'm looking for boldness and a willingness to go to the point of taking big risks politically to end the Trump nightmare and who are willing to use the power of Congress to get rid of him and send him packing.  If I don't see that you don't get my vote.  

If--and that is still a very small word for a very big possibility--we do win a majority in the Congress, including the Senate or not, there are those who will restrain their actions against Trump because of the fear of not being re-elected, or not wanting to look too "political," then we will not stop what is happening to our country.  

We could have put a stop to this right after the 2020 election, when we had the majority in both houses, but many of our seasoned, veteran politicians caved.  The biggest obstacle to preserving Democracy at this point is the Supreme Court, who write blank checks to the President to do what he wishes.  Their Presidential Immunity ruling was the biggest load of crap a Supreme Court has ever spewed out, and in our legal system, which is as crooked as it can be, that's saying something. 

More than one progressive Democrat put forth the idea of packing the court, since they had the power to do so.  That would have required breaking the stupid, undemocratic Senate filibuster, which can be a risk after all.  But sometimes, that kind of risk is necessary to protect the freedom that is provided by our democracy.  It just seemed that the President and some of his advisors, including members of the senate, were far too concerned about the appearance of an obvious political move.  

So what?  

Isn't saving the country more important?  Isn't justice more important?  They all said that it was but their actions are what makes me cynical.  They didn't do what they could have done.  

Think about it.  One justice could have ripped down all of the attempted road blocks and delays Trump was relying on to postpone his criminal indictments for January 6th and stealing documents indefinitely, set trial dates, and got those trials moving toward landing him in jail where he belongs.  And the bonus would have been saving Roe, and overturning Citizens United.  That is what Democrats who claim that they believed Trump was the greatest threat to American Democracy since the civil war should have done.  

But we let the foot dragging and delays go on and on, and this ridiculously unqualified court continue to be dominated by stupid conservatives.  

That made me cynical. 

Well, after all, the Democrats had the power.  Observing what Republicans, Trump, and MAGA are doing with the power they have, and a lot that they don't really have if those responsible for making sure they remain within the limits of the Constitution were doing their job, the Democratic party failed miserably to achieve its ends during the first two years of Biden's term, when they had majorities in both houses.  Yeah, there were risks involved.  And there was too much nest-feathering for that power to work to our advantage.  

Hence, this may be why I get this cynical feeling now.  I should be hearing sharper rhetoric from candidates running for office.  And frankly, what I'm hearing doesn't help shake the cynicism.  

There are a few exceptions to this, of course.  There's Zack Shrewsbury, running for Senate against incumbent Shelly Moorre Capito, a do-nothing Republican from West Virginia whose personal interests do not align in any way with the needs or desires of her constituents, many of whom are too uninformed and prejudiced to know that voting for her is voting against every single one of their interests.  And I have the ultimate respect and admiration for Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, who does not mince words and who is rising to the top of my list of Presidential hopefuls.  I'd like to see him run for senate first, and knock Fetterman out of his seat, the worthless ass.  

Maybe there is something I'm missing, but the attitude and the political discussion, from Democratic party politicians, doesn't seem to be reachng the level of where the growing protests and marches are going.  Maybe I'm expecting too much, and expecting people to disobey illegal orders, or make it impossible for them to be carried out is more than what is possible in this passive, blissfully ignorant, inattentive, duped country.  

I've been an active enough participant in government to know that my frustration, and my cynicism, are not unwarranted in this particular situation.  When the Republicans have been in the minority, they have shut down the government and have brought progress to a standstill, largely because Democrats wouldn't push past stupid things like the filibuster.  But the only thing we get when Republicans are in charge is the whine that "We aren't the majority so we can't do anything."  I've seen some good examples of when we could have put that stupid filibuster to use, and couldn't get enough Democrats to do it.  

Too much nest feathering, I guess.