If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.

Thomas Jefferson

 

…is what allowed the Twitter-toddler Trump to become president of the most powerful nation on earth. And not speaking about politics doesn’t make our problems disappear much the same way that not talking about your problems in a troubled marriage, only allows the marriage to slowly disintegrate.

 

A healthy nation requires hard work & open communication. And “not talking about politics,” only allows the same destructive habits i.e. the Trumps of America to go on wreaking damage & causing havoc.

 

I have been commanded to shut-up or leave many taverns over the years & it’s always the same old excuse i.e. no talking about politics but I’ve seen it time & time again, what they really mean is; Liberals keep your fucking mouths shut!

 

This tragic state of affairs is more common here in small towns made up of mostly hunters & fishermen where there are often only two radio stations, one for the Bible-thumpers & the other that broadcasts Rush Limbaugh & FOX “News.”

 

To begin with, FOX “News,” shouldn’t have ever been allowed to call itself a news organization. It’s America’s version of Russia’s largest newspaper, Pravda. But I’m sure that the overwhelming majority of FOX viewers & listeners don’t realize that it’s almost entirely propaganda for the Right-wing corporate owners & the 1% who own America. FOX is mostly loud-mouthed, fear & hate spewing opinion & that’s not news my friends!

 

Actual news is supposed to be facts, not editorializing but our journalistic standards have been slowly deteriorating ever since they began turning it into infotainment. But the King of the Liars Club, Trump hides his duplicity by labeling anyone & everyone who dares to point out his hypocrisy, inconsistency, & manipulations as “fake news.” He’s admitted that he does this, so his critics lose credibility & he’s allowed to go on lying & very rarely is held accountable.

Don’t fall for Trump’s doublespeak on “fake news”

Trump, the scum-bucket used to pose as someone else & call in to news programs & other shows to plant lies about him being much richer than he actually was in his early days. So, he truly has some nerve calling reporters “fake news” every other time he opens his mouth.

 

A long time back, I dubbed FOX “News,” the Fear & Hate channel because if you watch or listen to it for even an hour, it’s as obvious as the nose on your face that these are the two emotional buttons they push around the clock. Like Hitler & countless other dictators whom Trump admires, they know that by keeping the public worked-up, you can distract them while you rob the national treasury.

 

Moreover, as long as people are emotionally reacting, they’re not thinking, writing, or talking about the serious issues that affect their lives. It has deeply saddened me to watch this process go on & on & on for most of my adult life. I am not only silenced in public bars but even in friends & relatives’ homes because I disturb the otherwise happy environment.

 

And it would be almost humorous if it weren’t so destructive, but most people don’t even realize that they are being hypocritical when they command me to not talk about politics because whenever the subject of gun ownership comes up, they’re immediately fired-up.

 

“They want to take away your guns!” The corporate cockroaches have been using this chestnut for decades because it works every time & closes peoples’ minds instantly on whatever subject they may be discussing. It’s a tried & true part of the three Gs i.e. God, Guns, & Gays!

 

Keep the bewildered herd distracted by invoking these three “issues,” and nothing else matters. For the past 20 years or better, I try to tactfully point out to those who seem somewhat reasonable, so, you’re not interested in politics?

 

That’s in effect saying that you don’t care if they shutdown your company & move overseas where they can pay their workers as little as $2 a day. Or you don’t care if the Wall St. wolves steal your company’s pension plan. And so, if they overnight cancel your health insurance, no big deal! The fact that the rich are purposely destroying our public education system doesn’t mean shit, right? And the fact that without a top-notch education, your children have a snowball’s chance in Hell of finding a decent paying career. Take a look at Betsy DeVos’s track record if you think I’m full of it.

I could go on with hundreds of examples of how politics does matter to each & every one of us, but I’ve given you enough to chew on already. Try putting yourself in my shoes for a minute if you will, my imaginary reader. I have conservatively invested at least 50,000 hours of my time & energy over the past 40 years or better in reading, researching, writing, listening, & watching documentaries, attending lectures, etc. and I am silenced by either threats of being 86ed out of a bar, physical intimidation, social exclusion, etc.

 

I have only one outlet & that is my writing which hardly anyone will take the time to read. It may take 15 minutes to read one of my essays, but people say they don’t have the time. Yet they will watch T.V., movies, etc. for several hours a day.

 

I contend that if a lot more of us would’ve had lively discussions, fair debates without attacking the other person’s character, etc., we never would’ve ended-up with such a dangerous moron as Trump in the oval office.

What do we try to teach our children as they grow? Responsibility is a major lesson we hope to teach them, right? Well, as our founding fathers tried to teach us, it’s our responsibility to inform ourselves & to hold our government accountable to we, the people. How are we doing in that department my friends?

 

I accuse Trump of being the most dangerous president who ever was because there are two major threats to humanity’s survival; 1) the rapid destruction of our environment which is caused by our climate’s inability to keep up with technological waste due to the insatiable greed of the corporate cockroaches; 2) the threat of nuclear war. The mind-boggling stupidity of Trump in this area in particular is nightmarish. He actually asked those who were trying to inform him about our nuclear arsenal, “I don’t get it, why can’t we use our nuclear weapons i.e. since we have them, why don’t we use them?

 

In conclusion, without a doubt, the most heinous crime of this con artist, woman hater, etc. was his not only blocking but also undermining the Center for Disease Control, the World Health Organization, etc. in their efforts to prepare us for the COVID 19 pandemic which led directly to the unnecessary deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans’ lives!

 

And to continue to refuse to discuss politics i.e. liberals’ points of views, speaks volumes about what we have allowed ourselves to become!

 

—Rob DeLoss, Gold Beach, OR December 21, 2020

 

Addendum

 

I may not have been quite as clear as I want to be regarding talking about politics in bars? The regulars or locals are free to complain about the actions or inactions of their local government, planning commission, etc. & they can get as loud as they like in condemning liberals or progressives on abortion, protests, homosexual rights, etc. and you can bash the federal government to your heart’s content.

Here are a few things those dirty Liberals gave us:

• The GI Bill
• Endangered Species Act
• Environmental Laws
• The Space Program
• The Peace Corps
• Americorps
• The Civil Rights Movement
• Earned Income Tax Credit
• Family & Medical Leave Act
• Consumer Product Safety Commission
• Americans With Disabilities Act
• Freedom of Information Act
• Women’s right to control their reproductive future
• Allowing citizens to view their own credit records
• The Internet
• Balancing the federal budget
• The Brady Bill (5-day wait on handgun purchases for background checks)
• Lobbying Disclosure Act
• “Motor-Voter” Act
• The Voting Rights Act
• Unemployment Insurance
• Medicare/Medicaid
• Food Stamps/WIC
• Social Security
• Peace between Israel and Egypt
• Peace between Israel and Jordan
• The Department of Education
• The Department of Energy
• The Department of Transportation
• The Department of Housing and Urban Development
• Labor Laws
• The Marshall Plan
• Winning World War II
• Food Safety Laws
• Workplace Safety Laws
• The Tennessee Valley Project
• The Civilian Conservation Corps
• The Securites and Exchange Commission
• Women’s Right to Vote
• Universal Public Education
• National Weather Service
• Product Labeling Laws
• Truth in Advertising Laws
• Morrill Land Grant Act
• Rural Electrification
• Public Universities
• Bank Deposit Insurance (FDIC)
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Public Broadcasting
• Supporting the establishment of Israel
• The United Nations
• NATO

 

But if you dare to defend some aspects of our federal government or criticize our foreign policy, watch out! In brief, as long as you tow the party line i.e. Limbaugh, FOX “News,” & Alex Jones’ insane conspiracy theories since his buddy, the spoiled, rich brat & bully, Donald of the Duck Dynasty Klan was illegally installed in the White House, you are free to speak your “mind.”

Herein is the evil of ignorance, that he who is neither good nor wise is nevertheless satisfied with himself: he had no desire for that of which he feels no want.

 

This picture as the old saying goes, says a thousand words & poignantly expresses what the humans among us feel. Yes, I am inferring that Trump believers are sub-human because they have no compassion for anyone outside their insane asylum.

 

Many of us senior citizens, myself included, fear a horrific end of our lives like this picture suggests i.e. to not be able to touch, kiss, or hug our loved ones as we lay dying in intensive care. And we now have the additional worry of perhaps not even having a bed available in the I.C.U.

 

And even sadder is the fact that this is a very rare doctor because his holding a fellow human being even with all this protective equipment on is the exception, not the rule. Can you imagine how terrified & depressed this poor soul must feel? For quite some time now it has been known how critically important the human touch is i.e. babies deprived of the warmth & nurturing touch of their mothers, if they survive, grow up emotionally damaged & maybe even mentally handicapped though I’m not sure about the mental aspect?

 

Speaking of emotionally & mentally handicapped, Trump obviously is one of those but this in no way excuses him for all the damage he has done & unleashed on America and the rest of the world.

This poor man’s suffering hit home to me on a very personal level as well because it made me realize that as my wife lay dying in the I.C.U. back in 2013 & we had disconnected the machine that was keeping her alive, she could no longer speak or see but she could feel.

 

Jeri was disconnected from the machine around six p.m. on the evening of August 17^th & she clung to life until about six a.m. the next morning. I was blessed to be able to hold her hand, our fingers interlaced for nearly the entire night i.e. I took a couple of maybe, ten-minute breaks, and finally succumbed to sleep & had just laid my head on her bed when maybe five minutes later, my son’s wife nudged me & said, “she’s stopped breathing.”

 

It was as if she couldn’t let go literally until I had let go by falling asleep? I am glad that at least she had the comfort of my touch & knew how deeply I loved her as she slipped away into that final transition.

 

I stopped going to church & calling myself a Christian back when I was in middle school but over the past 50 years or better of my life, this personal decision has only been confirmed as the right choice.

 

How so many self-professed “Christians” can so fervently worship at the altar of the golden calf, Trump, truly blows my mind? And it’s so glaringly obvious to even non-believers like myself that Trump spits on every admonition that Jesus laid out for his disciples in his Sermon on the Mount i.e. a sort of Cliff Notes version of what Christianity is about.

 

Many religious scholars have boiled down this sermon to what they call the Beatitudes. I prefer this term & can’t help but wonder if perhaps this is where The Beats, or Beatniks, the forerunners of the hippies took their name? And if so, how ironic because the beats & the hippies were so despised by mainstream America for rejecting their righteous hypocrisy but practiced a true Christianity in their love of nature, belief in peace, anti-war stance, rejection of materialism, etc. that de facto was an embrace of the beatitudes.

 

Obviously, millions in Trump’s cult of personality who call themselves Christians, need to reread Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount,” so here it is; 

 

The eight Beatitudes in Matthew:^[7][8][9]

³Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
⁴Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
⁵Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the Earth.
⁶Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
⁷Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
⁸Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
⁹Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
¹⁰Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
¹¹Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
¹²Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

 

I was going to illustrate how Trump has defiled each & every one of the beatitudes but have decided that’s not necessary & instead, I’ll just offer a few observations on the wolves in sheep’s clothing who are so willfully blind & ignorant!

 

By-the-way, I have long pointed out that this simple sermon supposedly given by Jesus, really boils down to the crux of the Ten Commandments & is coincidentally the one commandment common to nearly all the world’s major religions i.e. Do unto others as you’d have them do unto you!

 

But our buffoon in chief by his actions & words has unleashed a wave of barbarity in America not unlike the barbarian hordes that attacked & overthrew the seat of Christian power at the time, Rome.

 

Because Trump is supposedly a billionaire —but who knows for sure because he’s been lying about his fortune for decades — and has his hands on the reins of power of the most destructive force on earth, the U.S., his cult believe they are righteous Christians & therefore their vile, vicious, hatred, & even murder of all others is justified.

It’s critically important to bear in mind that the proud members of that illustrious organization known as the KKK have always considered themselves “Christians” as well. Yep, their idea of a good ‘ol time’ on a Saturday night is to get a belly full of beer, then go out & lynch some poor black man or boy. And they get up the next morning & go to church and sing their gospel songs about love & peace.

 

One of Trump’s beliefs that I was sure would sink any chances of his winning the presidency in 2016 was the “Access Hollywood” video clip in which he bragged about being able to “grab them by the pussy” (women” and no one would do or say anything against him for it.

And depressingly, he was right because among his millions of “Christian” evangelicals & fundamentalists, men are the masters & women are subservient slaves. In short, their view is that of the authoritarian father figure who can do no wrong & his word is law. It is clear to those of us who refused to drink Trump’s Kool-Aid, he looks up to authoritarian aka dictators & wishes he could be one here.

 

If any of these “Christians,” had half a brain, they’d follow this “logic” of Trump’s through & realize that he’s de facto saying that rape is okay. Therefore, if you idolize Trump & believe everything he says & does is good, right, & righteous, you wouldn’t mind if a strange man raped your daughter, your wife, or your mother.

 

Gee, I wonder if Donald of the Duck Dynasty Klan would be upset if someone were to rape his daughter, Ivanka? But then again, maybe he’d like to rape her, given some of the amazingly crude things he’s said about her over the years?

Yet ironically, back in 1989, Trump took out a full-page ad in New York City newspapers calling for the death of the five, black teenagers accused of the brutal rape of a white woman. And these poor guys served years in prison only to be proven innocent. Connect these facts with Trump’s obsession/hate of Obama & you’ll see that he’s built his political career on stirring the race-baiting cauldron simmering just beneath the veneer of our “society.”

 

Or note the fact of Trump being sued for rape dozens of times over the years & his bragging about his freedom to walk in on the girls in the beauty pageants he owns while they’re getting dressed. Yep! Onward “Christian” soldiers as you go proudly marching on against every semblance of decency.

 

Underneath this despicable swamp creature’s words & actions is a philosophy of sorts i.e. mankind is basically like those apes in the beginning of Stanley Kubrick’s famous film; “2001: A Space Odyssey.” In brief, ever since our primate ancestors learned how to wield a club & kill their competitors, this is the way it is & shall always be. He who is stronger & more aggressive is the rightful leader of his pack, community, city, nation, & in the final analysis, the rightful master of the universe.

 

Moreover, and I’m sure this has never occurred to Donny’s pea-brain, I believe Kubrick was showing us in this film that our so-called evolution as illustrated in our technological advances i.e. the creation of nuclear bombs, of which we, the U.S. just happen to possess the largest & deadliest stockpiles of, may very well reduce humanity to its origins like those apes huddled in fear in dark caves desperately searching for water & food to sustain ourselves?

 

Therefore, it should come as no surprise to us who are capable of independent thought, that those anti-human, reptilian brains who walk amongst us, view all of Western cultures discoveries & accomplishments in the humanities as well as the hard sciences is but a façade.

And they cling to their automatic weapons like a baby clings to his security blanket because they are scared to death & will lash out and maim or kill anyone they perceive as a threat!

 

Given these observations that I’ve laid out, is it any wonder that we have a humanoid replica of an orangutan behind the desk in the oval office who reportedly asked a national security expert three times if we could use our nuclear weapons. It’s not been established whether this is accurate or not but given Trump’s mind-boggling ignorance, I don’t find it hard to believe at all.

You may think that not even someone as cold-blooded & heartless as Trump could possibly have asked such a question but bear in mind the fact that the death of over a quarter of a million Americans due to the COVID-19 pandemic we are cowering in fear of, doesn’t trouble Trump. No, his only concern the whole time we’ve been living with & dying from this pandemic, Trump has only been concerned about how it would affect his chances of winning the 2020 election. So, to all you “Christians,” who still love this piece of excrement I say, shame on you!

 

Resist or Perish is our only Choice!

 

—Rob DeLoss, Gold Beach, OR Dec. 1, 2020