Category: politics

Ashamed of America

 

I’ve never been proud to be an American, but at times, I’ve been proud of America.

It makes me proud whenever our country does something really humane. Several of these proud moments predate my birth. Lincoln’s “Emancipation Proclamation” is one of those moments. Another is the liberation of France from the Nazis. In my lifetime, two events stand out. The leadership of Martin Luther King, Jr. in the 1963 protests against American racism that led to the passing of the Civil Rights Act in 1964 is one. The other is more symbolic, when, in 1987, President Regan shouted, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”

Now, March 1, 2025, I am ashamed to be an American. It’s one thing not to vote for a president one doesn’t trust. That’s an act of distancing. (Not my president, etc.) It’s another thing to see one’s citizenship mired publicly and perhaps permanently by that same president. Friday, February 28, 2025 marks a dark day in American history. The world watched as the President and Vice President of the United States clumsily and at times irrationally spoke condescendingly to a man who towers above them.[1]

The popular distinction between guilt and shame may apply here. Usually, it is confined to the personal counseling sessions. Guilt is doing the wrong thing. Shame is being the wrong person. Everybody and every country does the wrong thing—frequently. If guilt helps correct those actions, then it serves a purpose. If it doesn’t—if in this case a country is hell-bent on doing the wrong thing (such as siding with dictators)—it is becoming the wrong country. It is moving from a state of guilt to a state of shame.

One of my favorite passages in Shakespeare occurs in Measure for Measure. The brother has encouraged his sister to lose her chastity to save him from the death penalty. To some modern ears this may sound like a good negotiation. To Isabella, the idea is abhorrent. She responds, “Thy sin’s not accidental, but a trade.” Our country’s sin is not accidental, but a vocation. Everything is on the surface, too. There is no need for behind-the-door meetings because President Trump relentlessly proclaims that others are bad, weak, spineless, and nasty while implying that he knows and does best for the country, even if that means falsely claiming that an election has been stolen, watching tv for hours while the Capitol is being stormed, and turning the nation’s back on a democratic ally in support of one of the most obviously brutal dictators of Russia.

The last decision is the worst decision. Be a truly bad President. You and your league of sycophants will be removed from power within a decade. But turn your back on that thin line between Russian imperialism and a young (1991) democracy—rewriting history in the process…and you are using your country’s resources (that’s us, folks) shamefully.

There’s another line from Shakespeare that comes to mind when I think of successful people who do rotten things. Hamlet, stunned by a revelation of such evil, says it is important for him to write down, “That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain.” He adds “At least I am sure it may be so in Denmark.”

I add, at least I am sure it may be so in the United States of America.

§ Footnotes §

[1]  Volodymyr Zelensky emerged as a hero three years ago when President Putin commanded the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This invasion, projected to take a matter of days, has been successfully thwarted for over three years. Russia, 143 million people. Ukraine, 37 million people. Were he in grade school, Putin would be told to pick on somebody his own size. In spite of being outnumbered and out-weaponed, Zelensky has not flinched.

The Wikipedia summary does Zelensky justice and is a good reminder of the past three years, including how Zelensky was offered safety by Turkey and the United States but turned down the offer.

As a footnote to a footnote, early in the war, I celebrated Zelensky as a bike rider in my Person versus Automobile web log.

Liz Cheney Changed My Mind

After listening to yesterday’s speech by Liz Cheney—a dyed in the wool Republican all her life—I’ve decided to vote for Kamala Harris. I’d like to contribute to the message that we don’t like, believe, trust, or endure Donald Trump.

Until today, I was going to vote for a third party, probably Jill Stein, because I like to protest the two-party system in the United States.

Cheney’s speech, though, reminded me that a vote for a leading candidate can be a protest vote. Protesting the end of democracy (Donald Trump’s trajectory) addresses a problem that is even more dire than the duopoly itself. My message to those who find themselves with divided allegiances: vote for Harris in 2024 if for no other reason than so you can vote for someone else in 2028.

Here’s Cheney’s entire October 3 speech in Wisconsin (cued up, however, to skip her prefatory remarks):

Here’s an infamous response that Donald Trump made, following Cheney’s support of Harris (1 minute):

Lamentation for the 2024 Presidential Election

Listen to the May 2024 version of this post in the author’s voice (3 minutes)

On the willows there
    we hung up our lyres.
For there our captors
    required of us songs,
and our tormentors, mirth, saying,
    “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
How shall we sing the Lord’s song
    in a foreign land?

Psalm 137:2-4, RSV

Whatever my aversion to partisan politics has been in the past, it’s stronger than ever. Putting age aside, as well as a highly forgettable VP, I find little encouraging in the Democratic ticket. The Democrats no longer promote the view that abortions should be safe, legal, and rare, but that they should be affordable and accessible (making them common). If I didn’t think the unborn were human beings, I wouldn’t object. But I cannot see the difference. After conception, it’s all shades of gray, lines drawn in the sand.

Meanwhile the Republicans—the majority of them—celebrate a man who lies profusely, who is a known sexual predator, who seldom speaks factually, who relentlessly spews superlatives, and who promoted the ruin of the democratic process in the 2020 presidential election.
Continue reading “Lamentation for the 2024 Presidential Election”

The Irony of Mr. Trump’s Rhetoric

An entire book could be (and perhaps has been) written on Mr. Trump’s rhetoric, something like Trump’s Towering Rhetoric.

I agree with Jim Gaffigan in a rant he posted when Mr. Trump was President: “Trump is a great salesman. Possibly the best salesman I’ve seen in my lifetime.” I agree. Although many people critical of Trump describe him as an idiot, dumb, or stupid, I believe he knows what he is about and succeeds very well in convincing about half the American population that he is what he says he is. Continue reading “The Irony of Mr. Trump’s Rhetoric”

Civil War or War on Civilians?

“I admit that political polarization may bring it all to an end, we’re going to have a hung election and a civil war.” Bill Gates, September 2022

This is my third, and I hope last, article on the woeful condition of politics and “Christianity” in the United States. Earlier, I remarked with shock and sadness on the conservative Christians’ penchant for conspiracy theories. Later, under the influence of heterogeneous sources, I predicted the violence likely as a result of the November presidential election—but never thought anything like the violence of Jan. 6, 2021 would occur.

Update 6/11/24: Nearly two years after publishing this article, I realize I was contaminated by fear mongering when I referred to “hundreds of thousands of mostly armed people truly believing they and their families are about to lose their livelihood.” The leap from being armed and upset to opening fire in the streets on a grand scale remains inconceivable. Perhaps the most durable bit of this article is the Civilian Manifesto toward the end.

Continue reading “Civil War or War on Civilians?”

Christians and Conspiracy Theories

“Just because I’m paranoid,
doesn’t mean they are not after me”
We say this with a wink… and then glance over our shoulder

“Just because it’s a conspiracy theory,
doesn’t mean it’s not true”
We say this straight-faced… and then take another sip of Kool-Aid

This article’s focus is deliberately narrow: to explain to myself and perhaps to others how it is that so many politically and theologically conservative Christians entertain so many conspiracy theories. Following are a discussion of what’s so bad about Christians being conspiracy-theory prone, a definition of “conspiracy theory,” a short list of conspiracy-theory candidates, and a two-prong argument to explain the Christian proclivity.
Continue reading “Christians and Conspiracy Theories”

Perfect Political Storm

We’ve got God on our side
We’re just trying to survive
What if what you do to survive
Kills the things you love
Fear’s a powerful thing, baby
It’ll turn your heart black you can trust
It’ll take your God filled soul
Fill it with devils and dust
          (Bruce Springsteen, “Devils & Dust”)

Update 1/6/21: the storm has broken. Early this afternoon, the House and the Senate were carrying out their 12th Amendment duty of counting the certified electoral votes. Thousands of protestors had gathered outside the Capitol to protest what President Trump frequently described as a fraudulent election, where he lost both the popular and the electoral vote. Around 2:20 p.m., protestors broke through metal barriers at the foot of the stairs to the Capitol. Police sprayed tear gas. Around 2:30 PM, a large number of protestors, some violent, some carrying weapons, forced their way into the Capitol. “Protesters could be seen marching through the Capitol’s stately Statuary Hall shouting and waving Trump banners and American flags” (Associated Press Timeline of events at the Capitol). The building was locked down, but not before one woman was fatally shot by the police. Three other people died from currently unspecified medical emergencies.[§] Congresspeople were eventually escorted out of the building. Around 8:30 p.m. the Senate resumed the electoral vote. Several Republicans withdrew their objections in light of the siege.

Continue reading “Perfect Political Storm”

Man from Oklahoma on Trump Supporters

Tuesday, November 8, 2016 : Oklahoma voted overwhelmingly for Mr. Trump (about a 2:1 ratio). Accordingly, I  provide a short guest post on Trump supporters from Tulsa citizen, Charles Anderson. His comments might be useful where I live in Colorado and elsewhere: some of my friends have never knowingly met a Trump supporter.

Continue reading “Man from Oklahoma on Trump Supporters”

Cost of Voting One’s Conscience

Although the President of the United States is an idealized office that has less power than the emotional tide leading up to an election suggests, I am concerned about what I see as a train wreck with two possible outcomes: the train stays on the track or the train leaves the track. In either case, the train isn’t the little democracy that could, but is instead the fact that, as Chris Hedges stated, “We do not live in a functioning democracy, and we have to stop pretending that we do.”

Continue reading “Cost of Voting One’s Conscience”

Anti-white, No-deal Rhetoric

As often is the case, the attempt to correct one ill in society creates a second ill. To point out the second ill, of course, is not to minimize the one ill, but, rather, to prevent a perpetual reciprocity of ill for ill.

In this case, the critique of white privilege as the cause of economic and racial inequities in the US may ultimately reinforce the problems the critique attempts to resolve. At least that is the point of David Marcus’ “How Anti-White Rhetoric Is Fueling White Nationalism” (May 23, 2016). He writes, “In reducing all phenomena to a question of race, both the alt right and the progressive left ensure the dominance of racial resentment as the lynchpin of our society.” He argues that the more white guilt is stressed, the more likely whites, who are trying to ignore race, become sensitized to it, with the result that some of them are drawn into the polarization that the critique intended to dissolve.

Continue reading “Anti-white, No-deal Rhetoric”