Browsing: Opinions

     “I pledge allegiance to Donald Trump of Vladimir Putin’s Russia, and to the tyranny for which it plans, one space station under HAL 9000, out of control, with cocaine and Rogaine for all.” — Jake Pickering (10/24/21)

    Though there are other players, such as lobbyists and pro-defense think tanks, this military-industrial-governmental complex comprises central casting. They work together to meet and sometimes exceed the military’s funding requests, in good economic times and bad, in peacetime as well as in times of crisis. To them, national security is a gravy train.

     America’s democracy is once again under siege and as divided as during the Civil War. Having been able to continually discriminate against Black people and to deny them their inalienable rights, Republicans and white supremacists were content with America’s democracy. Now the threat of losing their political power has turned them against Democracy. As the idiom says, evil past deeds will cause Chickens to Come Home to Roost.” In other words, this Nation just may reap what it sowed.

     As more people come together not based on race, culture, gender, or the color of your skin, the Democrats will grow stronger. We may appear weak and losing the battle, but we will win the war. Voting rights has made America the great country it is, and the constitution is built on solid principles.

     A year ago, when I examined the lessons of hatred and political violence in the US, I made note of the ugly role dehumanization and hate played in the alt-right’s support of Donald Trump. I was inspired, in part, by thinking about what Matthew Shepard would have experienced had he lived to see the full-force of Trumpism. But I was also unable to ignore the violent plots which received Trump’s full blessings.

       The Pentagon issued its annual report recently on suicide in the military, and it provides us with very sad news. Despite spending hundreds of millions of dollars on programs to stem this crisis, the suicide rate for active-duty U.S. troops rose to 28.7 per 100,000 during 2020, up from 26.3 per 100,000 the previous year.

Even after Confederate flags and swastikas Defiled the people’s House on January 6th  this small coastal community in California Called Fort Bragg just doesn’t give a spit.