The time is always right to do what is right. Martin Luther King Jr. In response to the federal demise of Roe v. Wade, Democrats are stressing the utmost importance of voting in the midterms. In a recent speech, President Joe Biden stated, “This fall, Roe is on the ballot. Personal freedoms are on the ballot.” Speaker of the…
Can We Engage Voters to Save Democracy?
This year I’m not so much in the mood to celebrate July 4th. The reason is that I’m angry and I’m alarmed that many of our elected representatives and senators actively supported the January 6th insurrection and Trump’s blatant attempt to overthrow our country. I hear a lot of citizens and Democrats cry “vote them…
Going Backwards
Last Friday, June 24, the Supreme Court stripped away the constitutional right to an abortion, overruling the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision and leaving the question of abortion’s legality to the states. When I heard the news I was both shocked and numb, but not surprised. Last February the leaked opinion paper drafted by Justice Alito was…
Truth: A Revolutionary Act
In a time of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act. George Orwell As the January 6 committee continues its publicized hearings this week, America is getting a clearer picture of how close our democracy came to unraveling on that fateful day. What is so alarming to me is that all three branches of our government were involved in the…
Confessions of Character
People do not seem to realize that their opinion of the world is also a confession of character. Ralph Waldo Emerson This past Thursday, the January 6 House select committee held its first public, televised hearing detailing the committee’s investigation into the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. The second proceeding will be held…
When Will it End?
We create most of our suffering… Dalai Lama Daily shootings are becoming the norm in the US, and it’s tragic, heartbreaking, and frightening. What’s most troubling to me is that all these deaths and the suffering of the families and survivors did not need to happen. The school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, that left 19 young children and two adults…
In Memoriam
We do not know one promise these men made, one pledge they gave, one word they spoke; but we do know they summed up and perfected, by one supreme act, the highest virtues of men and citizens. For love of country they accepted death, and thus resolved all doubts, and made immortal their patriotism and…
Gods, Guns, and Trump
I live in a fairly homogenous rural community just 30 minutes from a large, more diverse urban area. The history of my neighborhood is rooted in ranching which dates back to the late 19th and 20th Centuries. The ranchers took advantage of the federal Homestead Act at the time to claim land for cattle raising and farming….
The Myth of Secularism in the Courts
Way back in US History class, I learned about the separation of church and state, which was outlined in the first amendment to the US Constitution. The amendment states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” In 1961, John F. Kennedy was the first non-Protestant President to be elected to…
Holy Hate
Recently, Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) appeared in an interview with Church Militant, a fringey, right-wing Christian “news” organization that has featured interviews with the likes of Steve Bannon, and Milo Yiannopoulos. In the interview, Greene rehashed her usual complaints, describing herself as a victim of January 6, suggesting that Satan is controlling the Catholic Church, and purporting that the US is so sinful she doesn’t understand “why God…