Category: Opinion

Opinion

The long first wave

COVID-19 has hit the United States much harder than other industrialized democracies. We look more like Russia and Brazil than Germany or Japan. As cases are spiking to higher daily rates more elected leaders are finally backing mask wearing. Several Republican politicians are now saying that people should wear masks while out in public. Hopefully wearing a mask will cease to be considered a political statement in the USA, and this explains why our infection rate is so horrific. Trump and his backers in Congress have made a public health issue into political cause that has led to more disease and death. Americans are now banned from travel to many foreign countries because they don’t want us spreading disease. I am hopeful that a new government after the elections will put America on the comeback trail and end the American Carnage of Trump. Vote in 2020!

Opinion, Self improvement, Words to ponder

Keep counting those blessings

The news these days is often very bad, but we still have reason to hope. Make a point of thinking of the good things in your life or that you have achieved. Make plans that you feel good about and will help someone beyond yourself. Celebrate small things and express gratitude to others for what they add life. Imagine a world where you were alone before looking at the issues of society. People make the world go around and we are all lucky to have so much company. As an adult own your life and feelings while working to improve the management. Thank God for the good things in life and you will see more!

Opinion

Commander and Chief?

US troops have been targeted by Russians bounties in Afghanistan since March with no response by the current president. The evidence keeps stacking up that Putin and the oligarchs have something on Trump to keep him on a leash. We have seen no backbone from this president when it comes to standing up to Putin. The republican controlled senate does nothing to push accountability or leadership on major issues confronting the country; they only care about judges. America is transforming from a shining example of a republic, to a pitiful zombie nation that is a danger to what is left of the modern democracies. I am hopeful that the United States will regain its bearings and hold Trump and his enablers accountable, but we must reinvigorate our republic. Voting should be a high participation event, and public employees should work with transparent community oversight. A united strong America that is working towards its potential will lead the world towards a brighter future. America can improve; but only if every person of decency and conscious votes in 2020 to destroy the current criminal regime and its legislative branch supporters.

Opinion

The perversity of Racism

Racism leads people to behave and think in ways that diminish themselves and others. Americans have struggled with attacking others while appearing not to or maintaining plausible deniability for a long time. This evil has caused issues and pain that drag the nation down. The country is threatened by the smallness in people who want to have two sets of rules; one for us and another for them. This embrace of fundamental evil must be broken for the United States to reach its potential. The United States shocked the world when President Barrack Obama was elected because other countries could not do what we had done. Choosing a minority group member for the most powerful position in government is unheard of around the world. Now we shock the world with our electoral pendulum swing to overt racism, fascism, incompetence, and xenophobia in the form of Trump. Evil will always be around but we do not have to accept it or give it a place in our society. We are capable of better as a species and time is running out. Ending the Trump administration is about the soul of America; a country so many amazing people have sacrificed to build. Think, research, communicate, pray, and vote in every election.

Opinion

Long game and Short game

Citizens who want a better future need to be active and engaged in the coming months and beyond. Good people need a long and a short game to bring about change in society. A lot has happened in the short amount of time since George Floyd’s killing, but much more needs to be done for real change. Leaders are emerging who focus on benchmarks and bringing people together to get things done. America will change if most of us want it to happen. The challenge for leaders and caring citizens is to develop the habit of following up. We will all have to monitor what is going on in our society and demand that media works for us, not against us. The saying that you need to “inspect what you expect” must be brought to life if we are to fight climate change, create a just society, and improve our republic. Social media and people power have been harnessed to challenge the status quo which makes the continuous effort that leads to change possible. All of us can research, communicate, and vote in today’s society with a minimum of effort (provided there is no voter suppression); it is the least we can do for a decent future. We must all remember the words from the Bible “Without a vision the people perish”.

Opinion

Ebbs and Flows

American history is filled with episodes of African-Americans making contributions or gains and then experiencing systemic attacks to preserve white supremacy. This is the ebb and flow of the movement toward our potential as a country; highs and lows. After the Civil War and Reconstruction blacks were targets of terrorism by the newly formed Klu Klux Klan. Successful businesspeople and farmers were specific targets for jealous whites who were threatened by any black success. Black troops returning from World War I feeling that they deserved the rights of citizenship were attacked to ‘put them in their place’. African-American veterans returning from World War II were targeted by systemic racism working to maintain white supremacy leading to the Civil Rights movement. The election of the first African-American president led to the white supremacist birther movement and the election of Donald Trump. The ebbs and flows of the movement towards America’s potential continues. We live in difficult times where it is easy to see that the death of the American republic could happen. Participate in the flow toward justice and dignity for all people and vote in 2020!

Opinion

Skeletons coming out

The new book by John Bolton called the Room Where it Happened; A Whitehouse Memoir is not worth buying for patriotic Americans. Bolton should have testified in the impeachment hearings of Donald Trump if he thought something was wrong. He cannot appear now to tell us amazing tales of treachery and corruption after he did not do anything when it counted. Trump attempted to sell pieces of America to China, Turkey, and Ukraine in exchange for help with his reelection according to John Bolton. This is not a surprise. We all watched him ask Russia for help and get it in 2016; we still don’t know what they got for the help. Trump represents the worst of white privilege; the spectacle he is today exists because he constantly got away with crime and corruption. He rose to power by lying about a black man, he stays there by selling racism, lies, and fear. Research and vote in 2020 if you care about justice in the world, or America!

Opinion

“Hoard food and it rots, hoard money and you rot, hoard power and the nation rots.” – Chuck Palahniuk

This quote is relevant to our nations issues today. Citizens do not trust our institutions and we have a president who openly attacks them. Why is this happening? Could it be that a system of white supremacy has become a direct threat to our potential as a republic? The largest issues of the day are; whether police officers are super citizens with more rights when they victimize minority communities, a political party that ignores the rule of law for a racist president, and a pandemic that impacts minorities due to low paying jobs in crowded conditions with no healthcare. America is heading in a direction that decent people cannot stomach and cannot hide from. Power has been concentrated in the hands of a few with the promise of status to whites while minimizing poor and essential minority workers/people. The rot is apparent and we will see what direction the people choose in 2020. More chaos and rot or hope and growth towards our potential? Make sure that you research and vote this year.

Opinion

The republic or the oligarchy

Some say the choice is between America or Trump, but if you look beneath the surface there is more. We are choosing between our current republic and an oligarchy. An oligarchy is rule by the few similar to what is taking place in Russia under Putin and his friends. Trump and his friends are the American oligarchy in waiting. Who are Trump’s friends? We know that he believes Vladimir Putin over the American intelligence agencies because he said so. We must assume that Mr. Putin is a friend of Trump. Other friends of Trump could only be identified by his tax returns and his trail of transactions. As Trump himself says he loves money and the people who give it to him. We will be making the most important vote of our lifetimes in November. Many have tried to get away with crime, but Trump will have done so if he wins. The statute of limitations will run out on many charges Trump is facing if he achieves another term as president. The American republic will be destroyed by a Trump victory as well as our reputation and soft power. Trump is ignorant, but he is not as dumb as he pretends to be. He knows how to run a scam and not end up in jail (so far). Research the facts through multiple sources and vote to save our republic in 2020!

Opinion

Removing Confederate symbols

Systemic racism seeks to produce inequality through: 1. fear created by terrorism that is sanctioned but denied 2. Cultural symbols that reinforce beliefs in the system of inequality 3. Mental and physical attacks at the micro and macro levels to maintain the system 4. Political,social, cultural and economic resources unevenly allocated. Events in Georgia, Kentucky, and Minnesota revealed systemic racism in action that this time have sparked extended outrage. The battle for civil rights for African Americans is a continuation of the Civil War and Reconstruction. Northern and southern whites reached agreement after Reconstruction to create second-class citizenship for black people. Confederates who had been traitors to the United States were elevated to hero status as a symbol of white supremacy. The Confederate traitors were not considered in a negative light because that was reserved for black people. Whites were elevated to a status of having the benefit of the doubt, while blacks were assumed guilty of something. Taking down the symbols of treason that subtly promote racism is a milestone on the road to fulfilling American potential.