“God and History will Remember your Judgement.”—Haile Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia, in his appeal to the League of Nations for assistance against Mussolini’s invading forces who were using arial mustard gas on Ethiopian civilians, 1936.  His plea was ignored, and the world was soon plunged into World War II.

“This is a tragedy for the free world, but it is first and foremost a tragedy for the United States. Trump’s message is that there is no point in being his ally. . .”—French Senator Claude Malhuret, March 4, 2025.

When I was in Junior High (that’s Middle School, for those too young to remember) I bought a paperback at our School’s Book Fair titled “Great Speeches.”  From Pericles to John Kennedy, the historical speeches ranged from war to peace, education to freedom.  I read it cover to cover.

I still have it.  The oratory included Washington’s Inaugural speech and Lincoln’s Gettysburg address.  Churchill’s “Blood, Sweat, and Tears,” Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream,” and even Nebraska’s own William Jennings Bryant’s “Cross of Gold” were all in there.

Most of the others were from people I’d never heard of.  Some impressed me, others didn’t.  

Then I read Haile Selassie’s speech of 1936.  I remember being stunned.

Without going into a drawn-out history lesson, I’ll try to summarize.  Plenty of sources can give you more detail.  When Africa was carved up by European powers in the nineteenth century, Italy didn’t have much to show for itself.  It occupied what today is Libya, Somalia, and Eritrea.  In 1896, Italian forces had also tried to conquer what is now Ethiopia.  They got clobbered.  It was the first time an African nation had utterly defeated a European attempt at conquest.

For years, Ethiopia (or Abyssinia, as it was earlier named) remained the lone independent nation on the continent.  Then along came Mussolini, the father of modern-day fascism.

In 1935, Italian forces once again attacked the African nation.  Despite its technological superiority, Mussolini’s army failed to make much headway.  It was time to bring in a much harsher method.  Mustard Gas.

A horrific chemical agent that can choke, blind, and kill, the gas had been outlawed by the Geneva convention.  The Italians not only ignored the prohibition, but developed a shocking new delivery system that would have been unthinkable during the First World War.  They sprayed the gas from airplanes crisscrossing the landscape.

Ethiopians died by the thousands, as did cattle and most other living things.  One Italian General described it as “great sport.”

It was this reality Selassie brought to the League of Nations, a body formed after the First World War at the urging of U.S. President Woodrow Wilson.  Predictably, the U.S. had never formally become a member due to the opposition of isolationists in the U.S. Senate.  But whether or not America would have supported Ethiopia is a moot point.  No one else did either.

Selassie’s plea fell on deaf ears.  The League did nothing.  The Ethiopeans somehow hung on until 1937 before finally falling.

Italy’s foray into Africa didn’t last long.  After the defeat of the Axis Powers, Ethiopia once again became a sovereign nation.  It was also one of the original members of United Nations.

Nearly 70 years after the gassing of Ethiopians, the U.N. was again confronted with another blatant invasion of a sovereign territory.  The Russian assault on Ukraine.  And much like in 1936, the U.N. was asked to hold the invader accountable.

This time, there was no doubt about America’s stance. They caved.  Along with Iran, North Korea, Israel, Hungary, Nicaragua, and a smattering of other countries on the Russian dole, the U.S. voted against the resolution identifying Russia as the invader.  It was a shameful mark in American history.

As I read of America’s capitulation, I couldn’t help but reflect on Selassie’s words in 1936: 

“Apart from the Kingdom of the Lord there is not on this earth any nation that is superior to any other. Should it happen that a strong Government finds it may with impunity destroy a weak people, then the hour strikes for that weak people to appeal to the League of Nations to give its judgement in all freedom. God and history will remember your judgement.“

But brave words can be spoken in all generations, and in all languages.  In response to America’s tacit approval of the Russian invasion, its indifference to world dictatorships, as well as the U.S. withdrawal from alliances around the world, French Senator Claude Malhuret delivered a thunderous speech that is worthy of standing next to Selassie’s.  His language was blunt. His message was clear.  I’ve reprinted it in its entirety.  We’d do well to read it.

And read it again.

Some MAGA supporters may try to dismiss the whole thing by saying, “Who cares?  He’s French!” If so, perhaps they’re falling right in line.

After all, there were plenty of people washing their hands of Selassie in 1936 by saying “Who cares?  He’s African.”

Here’s Malhuret’s speech, with a link to Selassie’s words below.

March 4, 2025

Europe is at a critical turning point in its history. The American shield is slipping, Ukraine risks being abandoned, Russia strengthened.

Washington has become the court of Nero, an incendiary emperor, submissive courtiers, and a jester high on ketamine in charge of purging the civil service.

This is a tragedy for the free world, but it is first and foremost a tragedy for the United States. Trump’s message is that there is no point in being his ally since he will not defend you, he will impose higher tariffs on you than on his enemies and will threaten to seize your territories while supporting the dictatorships that invade you.

The ‘king of the deal’ is showing what the art of the deal is on his stomach. He thinks he will intimidate China by lying down in front of Putin, but Xi Jinping, seeing such a submissiveness, is probably accelerating preparations for the invasion of Taiwan.

Never in history has a US President capitulated to the enemy. Never has any one of them supported an aggressor against an ally … trampled on the US Constitution, issued so many illegal executive orders, dismissed judges who could have prevented him from doing so, dismissed the military senior staff in one fell swoop, weakened all checks and balances, and taken control of social media.

This is not an illiberal drift, it is the beginning of the confiscation of democracy. Let us remember that it took only one month, three weeks and two days to bring down the Weimar Republic and its Constitution.

I have faith in the strength of American democracy, and the country is already protesting. But in one month, Trump has done more harm to America than in four years of his last presidency. We were at war with a dictator, now we are fighting a dictator backed by a traitor.

Eight days ago, at the very moment that Trump was rubbing Macron’s back in the White House, the United States voted at the UN with Russia and North Korea against the Europeans demanding the withdrawal of Russian troops.

Two days later, in the Oval Office, the military service shirker was giving war hero Zelensky lessons in morality and strategy before dismissing him like a groom, ordering him to bend or resign.

Tonight, he took another step into infamy by stopping the delivery of weapons that had been promised. What to do in the face of this betrayal? The answer is simple: confront it.

And first of all, let’s not be mistaken. The defeat of Ukraine would be the defeat of Europe. The Baltic States, Georgia, Moldova are already on the list. Putin’s goal is to return to Yalta, where half the continent was ceded to Stalin.

The countries of the South are waiting for the outcome of the conflict to decide whether they should continue to respect Europe or whether they are now free to trample on it.

What Putin wants is the end of the order put in place by the United States and its allies 80 years ago, with as its first principle the prohibition of acquiring territory by force.

This idea is at the core of the United Nations, where today Americans vote in favor of the aggressor and against the attacked, because the Trumpian vision coincides with that of Putin: a return to spheres of influence, the great powers dictating the fate of small countries.

“Give me Greenland, Panama, and Canada. You can get Ukraine, the Baltics, and Eastern Europe. He can get Taiwan and the China Sea.”

In the dinners of the oligarchs of the Gulf of Mar-a-Lago, they call this “diplomatic realism.”

So we are now standing alone. But the idea that Putin cannot be confronted is false. Contrary to the Kremlin’s propaganda, Russia is in bad shape. In three years, the so-called second largest army in the world has managed to grab only crumbs from a country three times less populated.

Interest rates at 25 percent, the collapse of foreign exchange and gold reserves, the demographic collapse, all show that [Russia] is on the brink of the abyss. The American helping hand to Putin is the biggest strategic mistake ever made in a war.

The shock is violent, but it has a virtue. Europeans are coming out of denial. They understood in one day in Munich that the survival of Ukraine and the future of Europe are in their hands and that they have three imperatives.

Accelerate military aid to Ukraine to compensate for the American abandonment, so that it holds out, and of course to impose its presence and that of Europe in any negotiation.

This will be costly. It will be necessary to end the taboo of using frozen Russian assets [and] circumvent Moscow’s accomplices within Europe itself by a coalition of only the willing countries, which includes, of course, the United Kingdom.

Second, demand that any agreement be accompanied by the return of kidnapped children, prisoners and absolute security guarantees. After Budapest, Georgia and Minsk, we know what agreements with Putin are worth. These guarantees require sufficient military force to prevent a new invasion.

Finally—and this is the most urgent because it is what will take the most time—we must build a European defense, too-long neglected to the benefit of the American umbrella since 1945 and scuttled since the fall of the Berlin Wall.

It is a Herculean task, but it is on its success or failure that the leaders of today’s democratic Europe will be judged in the history books.

Friedrich Merz has just declared that Europe needs its own military alliance. This is a way to recognize that France has been right for decades in arguing for strategic autonomy.

It remains to build it.

It will be necessary to invest massively, strengthen the European Defense Fund outside the Maastricht debt criteria, harmonize weapons and munitions systems, accelerate the entry into the [European] Union of Ukraine, which is today the leading European army, rethink the place and conditions of nuclear deterrence based on French and British capabilities, relaunch the anti-missile defense and satellite programs.

The plan announced yesterday by Ursula von der Leyen is a very good starting point. And much more will be needed.

Europe will only become a military power again by becoming an industrial power again. In a word, the Draghi report will have to be implemented. For good.

But the real rearmament of Europe is its moral rearmament.

We must convince public opinion against war weariness and fear, and especially in the face of Putin’s cronies, the far right and the far left.

They argued again yesterday in the National Assembly, Mr Prime Minister, before you, against European unity, against European defense.

They say they want peace. What neither they nor Trump say is that their peace is capitulation, the peace of defeat, the replacement of “de Gaulle Zelensky” by a “Ukrainian Pétain” at Putin’s beck and call. The peace of the collaborators who have refused any aid to the Ukrainians for three years.

Is this the end of the Atlantic Alliance? The risk is great.

But in the last few days, the public humiliation of Zelensky and all the crazy decisions taken during the past month have finally made the Americans react.

Polls are falling. Republican lawmakers are being greeted by hostile crowds in their constituencies. Even Fox News is becoming critical.

The Trumpists are no longer in their majesty. They control the executive, Congress, the Supreme Court, and social networks.

But in American history, the defenders of freedom have always prevailed. They are beginning to raise their heads.

The fate of Ukraine is being played out in the trenches, but it also depends on those in the US who want to defend democracy, and here on our ability to unite Europeans, find the means for their common defense, and make Europe the power it once was in history and that it hesitates to become again.

Our parents defeated fascism and communism at great cost.

The task of our generation is to defeat the totalitarianisms of the 21st century.

Long live free Ukraine, long live democratic Europe.

And the link to Selassie’s speech:

Haile Selassie and the League of Nations

“The fight is here.  I need ammunition, not a ride.”—Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, February 22, 2022, when he refused an opportunity to evacuate Kyiv in the face of a massive Russian attack on his country.

Three years ago, I broke down and took one further step into the universe of superfluous, high-tech 21^st century crap and purchased an Apple Watch.  Alongside a plethora of ridiculous functions I’ll never use was one that actually seemed practical.  You could set the watch to an additional time zone.  Glance at the local time, and you could also see the time at another location in the world.

I set it to Eastern European Standard time—the time zone for Ukraine. 

Russia had just launched the largest European invasion in 80 years.  Everyone predicted the capital Kyiv, and ultimately the entire country, would quickly be crushed.

I’d look at the watch, note the time in the Ukraine, and wonder.  How many missile attacks had occurred during the night (when it was 10PM in the Midwest, and 6AM in Kyiv)?  How many homes had been bombed?  How many children had been killed?   How many were freezing in the winter?

Three years later, and I still haven’t changed the setting.

Despite overwhelming odds, the widely expected collapse of Ukraine hasn’t occurred.  Instead, Ukraine has held out against everything the Russians have thrown at them.  Beyond an initial surge during the war’s opening months, and despite emptying out their prisons, enlisting the criminal Wagner paramilitary group, co-opting North Koreans and Syrians, and franticly seeking out weapons from such places as Iran, the Russians have made little progress, other than causing pain and misery.

In village after captured village, independent media have verified reports of rape, torture, and murder of civilians.  At least 10,000 Ukrainian children have been stolen and shipped to Russia.  Hospitals, schools, and apartments have been deliberately bombed.

Not that any of this was new.  Russia used many of these same techniques when they intervened in the Syrian civil war, and propped up dictator Bashar Al-Assad.  It worked for a few years, but Assad eventually had to flee the country and is currently cooling his heels in—you guessed it—Russia.  

It certainly wasn’t the first time Russia had illegally attacked a sovereign nation.  In 2014, it invaded eastern Ukraine and annexed the Crimean Peninsula.  Earlier, Putin’s Russia attacked the Georgian regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.  The invasion was universally condemned by democracies throughout the world.

Nobody really did much.  Then came February, 2022.  A wholesale, massive invasion of a sovereign nation.  This was a redline.  The world had seen enough.

But none of that matters now, according to the current American President.

Plenty of good words have been wasted trying to make excuses for what Putin has done.  Yes, Ukraine was seeking admission to NATO.  Yes, Ukrainian citizens rose up and overthrew a Russia-supporting/Eurosceptic regime that likely came to power through rigged elections, and instead installed a westward-leaning government.  But as a sovereign nation, that was within their rights.

The truth is much more basic.  Putin longs for a return to a Soviet-era empire.  As an up-and-coming KGB officer (remember them?), a 33-year-old Putin was assigned to Dresden, East Germany.  When the Iron Curtain fell, a frantic Putin had to talk down a mob ready to attack the city’s Soviet Ministry.  He called for backup, but nobody came.  It was then, Putin is reputed to have said, that I realized we no longer had a country.   

Putin would later claim that the downfall of the Soviet Union was the greatest tragedy of the twentieth century.  To overlook the excesses of the Soviet dictatorship, the economic impact of communism, the planned starvation of at least 5 million citizens, and the deaths of 27 million others in the second world war (15% of its population), and instead focus on what amounted to a political realignment is shocking.  But apparently that’s Putin.

Let that sink in for a moment.

In addition to Russia, fourteen other current sovereign nations made up the Soviet Union.  All left the alliance.  None seem interested in coming back in.  One of those countries was Ukraine.

Putin’s excuse for military action is usually a mixture of fractured historical half-truths and contemporary lies.  Russian speakers are under threat.  Ethnic Russians are being attacked.  And of course, these lands were originally Russian.

Lebensraum, anyone?

The Russian dictator has also been ruthless to his own people.  Political opponents and journalists have been murdered.  A Russian-supplied BUK missile killed hundreds of passengers on a commercial airline.  A British citizen died when she picked up a container of nerve gas supplied by the Russian FSB which was intended for a dissident.

To date, Putin has offered no acknowledgement of any of these atrocities, much less an apology.  

Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and Georgia has been accompanied by growing threats against the rest of the world.  The Baltic states of Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia have been threatened.  Sweden and Finland, two countries long famous for their neutrality, have beefed up their defense spending and joined NATO, vastly expanding the organization’s border with Russia.  If Putin thought his invasion would intimidate NATO, he was dead wrong.

But the strength of any alliance is derived from a willingness on the part of all partners to support one another.  And currently, one NATO member only seems willing to support the enemy.

Like billions of people around the world, I watched in absolute disgust as president trump labelled Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a dictator, later denied he had done so, then refused to acknowledge that Putin was indeed a dictator. 

I was nauseated when trump claimed Ukraine had “started it.”  It’s the comment I’d expect from a self-centered spoiled third grader.

I was appalled (but not particularly surprised) when trump lied through his teeth and claimed that the U.S. had spent $350 billion on support for Ukraine.  The actual figure is less than $120 billion.

I was enraged when trump tried to exploit the war into a mineral grab for a much wealthier nation.

And I can only shake my head as trump continues to make excuse after excuse after excuse for Putin

In a high stakes meeting at the White House, trump and j.d. (“Junior Dick”) vance alternatively berated, ridiculed and insulted Zelenskyy when he insisted on post-war security beyond “I believe what Putin says.”  In doing so, trump not only knifed Ukraine in the back, but also everything America stands for.

Those who shake their heads over any American support for Ukraine, insisting that they just want peace, are delusional.  This was how Hitler ended up with the Sudetenland, and set the stage for World War II.

Those who talk about the invasion as “an endless war” are being ridiculous.  After only three years, Russia is depleting its military hardware, losing its morale, and tanking its economy.  Their casualties have been massive and despite scrambling for allies, they’re running out of soldiers. 

And all of this despite not one American soldier (or other NATO soldiers) fighting in the war.  Yes, Ukraine has received military support, but most of that has been money that stayed in its home countries (including the U.S.) when arms were purchased.  The actual frontline battles have been fought solely by Ukrainians defending their nation.

As one former diplomat said, “after three years, we finally have Putin where we want him.  And trump is trying to let him off the hook.”  

Efforts to compare NATO support for Ukraine to U.S. involvement in Iraq, Viet Nam, and Afghanistan are absurd.  Right or wrong, good or bad, America sent troops into those countries for years (call it an invasion, if you like) and never enjoyed the full support of the people.  $2.3 trillion was spent in Afghanistan alone, before an idiotic, haphazard trump-sponsored “deal” with the Taliban was further bungled by his successor. 

The Russian invasion, on the other hand, has galvanized the people of the world in a show of support for Ukraine.  With military assistance, Ukraine has fought the Russians and North Koreans to what essentially is a draw.  At least for the time being.

Do we all want peace?  Of course we do.  But we also want a secure future for the children of the world.  Dropping support for Ukraine, while providing no assurances of security other than “trusting” the words of a documented liar, will bring neither peace nor security.  But I suppose it might bring a trump Resort to the Black Sea.

Today’s meeting at the White House was perhaps the most disgusting display of strategic ineptitude in the history of the American Presidency.  What trump calls peace amounts to a virtual surrender on the part of Ukraine.  And if that happens, Putin will be back with a vengeance.

The requirements for a just peace are so basic as to be scarcely negotiable.  Immediate ceasefire.  Withdrawal of forces to February 2022 borders, on the part of both Russian troops in Ukraine and Ukrainian forces in Kursk (Crimea and pre-2022 Russian land grabs are a separate issue.  Yes, they were blatantly illegal, but their adjudication must wait for another day).  A NATO enforced no-fly zone over Ukraine.  Security assurances for Ukraine, with peacekeepers from both NATO and the UN.

NATO membership for Ukraine?  One compromise could be no formal membership for a 5-year period, with revisiting the idea at that time.  Who knows?  By that time, Ukraine may not even care to join.  Or Russia might not have a paranoid leader secretly despised by most of his own people.  About anything is possible. 

But one thing is certain.  A U.S.-led capitulation to Putin would be a disaster for the world. 

I never dreamed I would one day see my country join Russia, North Korea, Iran, Syria, Nicaragua, and others in denying the reality of a Russian invasion.  I never thought I would see an American President kiss up to a dictator.

I never imagined that an American president would so gleefully and haphazardly discard the mantle of “leader of the free world,” and not care one way or the other.

But here we are.  For the sake of our children and our children’s children, indeed the children of the world, I hope we can come to our senses.

WHO’S IN THE COCKPIT AND WHY IT MATTERS

Wait!  Before reading this, please take a look at the most recent post from Dr. Josh Freeman Concentration Camps: Is the US still the “savior” or will they happen here? Fascism on the rise in health and everything else.  It’s on his website Medicine and Social Justice.  I’ve written about Nuremberg and Dresden, but what Josh has to say about his visit to the Italian city of Trieste is even more urgent.  You’re certain to feel moved.

Now, back to our regular program.

It’s 5 AM and you’re headed to the airport for an early morning flight.  The wind is howling and rain is pounding your windshield faster than the wipers can keep up.  You lock your car, run into the terminal, and get through security just as your flight is called.  You settle into your seat, breathe a sigh of relief, and relax.

Well, not exactly relax.  The weather’s terrible.  You can see other passengers looking concerned, too.

The cabin attendant comes on the intercom and says, “Good morning, folks. My name’s Lucinda.  I’m assisted today by Randy, Susan, and Caleb.  We’re here to make your journey comfortable.  But more importantly, safety is our primary concern. I know the weather looks rough, but in the cockpit today we have Captain Anderson, assisted by her co-pilot Julian Smith.  They’re two of our most veteran pilots, and together have more than sixty years of flying experience.  They’re both Air Force veterans and very capable pilots.  You’re in good hands.”

You feel yourself relax, and can sense the tension easing in the rest of the plane, too.

The attendant continues, “we’re ready to close the cabin door, so please take your seat and fasten your seatbelt and… WHAT THE…?”

You look at the front of the plane just as a man pushes past the attendant and into the cockpit.  You hear a loud argument, then the two pilots storm off the plane.  The man emerges from the cockpit and grabs the microphone.  “We have a few changes starting today, so get used to it,” he says.  “I just bought this airline, and I’m the new CEO.  What I say goes.

“I’ve just fired the two clowns in the cockpit.  A woman and a black guy.  What do they know?  Probably DEI hires, anyway.  Time to get some real pilots.  Come here, guys.”

He motions and two teenage boys run onto the plane laughing and giving thumbs up signs.  Both are wearing T-shirts and have baseball caps on backwards.  “These are my nephews,” the man says.  “They’ve had their pilot’s licenses for 8 months now.  Never flown anything this big before, but that doesn’t matter.  They’re both geniuses.  Super-geniuses, actually.  They’ll do great.  And they’re loyal.  Super loyal.  I only hire the best.”

You watch as the pair cackle and jump into the cockpit, turning knobs and pulling levers at random.

“And you lame cabin attendants?  Out!  You’re old, slow, and ugly!  You’re all fired!”

One by one, the stunned attendants walk off the plane.  In their place, a group of twenty-somethings wander in, and start opening drawers and banging bottles around.  “These kids are so brilliant,” the man says.  “They know all about customer service, and that’s what you paid for, right?  You’ll all be taken care of.  You’ll be so much better taken care of.  So much better.”

The man leaves and a “flight attendant” in a pink tank-top slams the door shut, just as a couple of passengers jump up and start to run to the door.  “Too slow, Bro,” the attendant laughs.  “We’re on our way now!”  The pilots slam the throttles forward, and several passengers fumble with their seatbelts.

“Aw, don’t worry about it,” the attendant says.  “Those things are overrated, and probably don’t work anyway.  Just a way the old company tried to restrict you.  The only people who use those things are just suckers and losers.”

Not exactly convinced, you fasten yours anyway.  “Oh, what have we here?”  The attendant asks sarcastically, the intercom broadcasting her voice throughout the plane.   She walks over to your seat, holding an iPad.  “We don’t need disloyal customers like…” 

She glances at the iPad and proceeds to loudly read off your name, address, social security number, credit card numbers, and the names and ages of all your children, along with where they go to school.   You’re horrified.

“Any more disloyal customers who want to put on those wimpy seatbelts?”  The attendant asks while waving the iPad in the air.  No one moves.  The attendant smiles.  “I didn’t think so.”

By now the plane is picking up speed.  Galley doors are clanging and banging while the plane bounces down the runway. 

Someone in the back shouts, “have we received clearance for take-off?”

The attendant laughs.  “Clearance?  Who needs clearance?  These guys know what they’re doing.  All of those corrupt air traffic controllers have been fired, anyway.  Just a drain on air transportation.”

“But are you sure the plane’s OK?”  someone else calls out.

“Of course,” the attendant says.  “The boss fired all those lazy mechanics and ground crew a couple of  hours ago.  Anyone who’s worked on the plane since then may not be experienced, but they’re loyal to the boss, and that’s all that matters.”

“I wonder if those kids are in radio contact with anyone?” a woman behind you whispers.

The attendant overhears this.  “Radio contact?  Are you kidding?  We’ve turned off the radios.  Shut down all of the flight instruments, too.  They’re just a distraction.  The pilots know what they’re doing.  You just have to have a little faith, right?  Give ‘em some time!”

Someone else screams, “My God, isn’t there an Air Marshall on board?”

The attendant starts laughing even harder.  “We fired them all.  None of them could pass our loyalty test.  But we know some security guards who were fired by the old airline because they assaulted some previous customers.  As soon as we get them out of jail, we’ll have them back on the job.  Then we’ll be perfectly safe.”  

The attendant grabs a bottle from the liquor drawer, then shouts into the intercom.  “Welcome to Dolon Trusk Airlines!”

The cockpit door is open and you see the pilots do a high five.  One shouts “woo-hoo!”  The plane shudders violently as it barely lifts off, then banks sharply to the right.  You grip the armrests and feel sick.  How could this have happened?

How, indeed.  Welcome to Trump/Musk America, the 2.1 version, where safety standards are unnecessary, guardrails are red tape, being a professional makes you disloyal, government expenditures are corrupt (except expenditures going to Elon Musk), health care is irrelevant, bullies and liars are now the good guys, the constitution is simply a nuisance, fealty is more important than competence, the Supreme Court is a rubber stamp, and democracy is rapidly becoming a joke.

The juvenile techies known as the Muskrats have accessed government payment systems as well as personal data, despite having no authority to do so.  Agencies authorized by Congress are being dismantled, the law be damned.

The USAID, a program to aid developing countries for the past 60 years, is being axed.  Were some of those countries that received aid corrupt?  Almost certainly, but not unlike Russia, Hungary, or any number of other countries. And Tesla, perhaps?

For the uninformed, you can’t buy good will with bullets.  America transformed Europe through the Marshall plan, and engendered trust through other aid programs.  Disbanding USAID and destroying trust in America is the greatest gift Trump can give to Russia and China.  But we knew that already, right?

Any attempt to help the poor or marginalized is now labeled with the scarlet letters “DEI.”  Anyone seeking asylum or freedom is unwelcomed. 

The exception, of course, is if you are a wealthy white South African.  Then Trump promises to “resettle” you to the United States. Apparently, a rich white South African expat named Elon approves.

But hungry kids or threatened families?  Screw ‘em, right?  They’re probably all rapists and murderers, anyway.

So long Department of Education.  Who needs national standards?  Schools can teach whatever their state wishes, whether true or not.  States can mandate Christian instruction to the exclusion of other religions.  Exhibit A?  Oklahoma and Louisianna.

So long scientific research and medical progress.  So long health standards.   Good-bye critical thinking.

Hello raw milk, overpriced supplements, vaccine denial, and disproven treatments.

So long pollution standards.  Hello climate disasters.

And for anyone who says “gee, it’s only been a few weeks, let’s give it a chance,” remember this—being thrown off a skyscraper is no big deal either.  Just give it some time.  Give it a chance.

Sooner or later, the ground always comes up.

“FLOODING THE ZONE WITH

“The real opposition is the media.  The way to deal with them is to flood the zone with sh*t.”—Steve Bannon, conspiracy-theorist, ex-Trump aide, and convicted criminal, describing his strategy to keep Americans from recognizing the truth by rapidly releasing massive amounts of misleading information.

Pssst!  Come here quick.  Don’t let anyone see you!  They don’t want you to hear this!

Did you know that the polio vaccine causes cancer?  Did you know that no vaccine has ever been properly tested?  Did you know HIV doesn’t cause AIDS, it’s actually lifestyle?

Did you know Lyme Disease is really a biological weapon developed by the military?  Did you know herbicides are making our kids transgender (why those damn farmers!)?  Did you know antidepressants cause school shootings?  And that antidepressants are harder to stop taking than heroin?  And didn’t you know that you could get better grades when you use heroin?

Did you know COVID was genetically engineered to make white people and Africans sick, but not those of Asian and Jewish ancestry?

Did you know those 5G waves coming into your cellphone give you cancer?  Did you know vaccines haven’t stopped infectious disease—it was all because of malnutrition?

What, you didn’t?  Good.  Because they’re all lies.

Before we talk about the title of this piece, let’s set the stage by talking about one of the most dangerous nominees put forth by the new President—Robert Francis Kennedy, Jr., sometimes shortened to RFK, Jr.  For brevity, I’ll shorten again.

I’m just going to call him “Jr.”

Jr. was born into one of the wealthiest and most powerful families in America.  He traded on his last name in ways they rest of us can’t.  Despite being kicked out of some pretty cushy prep schools for drug use, he was accepted to Harvard (on what some call America’s connections-based affirmative action plan) and got a law degree from the University of Virginia.  He was heavily into drugs, and it’s likely that if he’d been born into the kind of families most of the rest of us came from, he’d still be strung out in a ditch somewhere.

This isn’t to downplay the horrors of drug addiction.  It’s an awful disease that takes many lives, and this country has ignored it for far too long.  But there’s a different accountability if you come from a powerful family.  There are different resources, and you don’t have to suffer like most Americans.  When Jr. was convicted of heroin possession in the early 1980’s, a crime that would have gotten the rest of us sent upriver, he received only a slap on the wrist and probation.  He was hired out of law school as a U.S. attorney but resigned when he failed the bar exam.

Eventually he got his life together.  He became an environmental lawyer, taking on polluters and big corporations.

Somewhere in there, he went off the rails again.  He plugged himself into the growing antivaccine movement. 

At first, vaccine skeptics were largely far-left granola types who wanted to pull their kids out of society and raise them in communes.  This put Jr. in good company.  He was pro-choice, pro-environment, pro-conservation, against corporations and wall street, and supportive of national health care. 

But later, as the Rush Limbaugh-led government conspiracy movement began, right wingers started gravitating to the antivax cause, as did many members of the religious far-right, who insisted vaccines were somehow an affront to the Almighty.

This strange blend of characters began to coalesce, and Jr. cashed in.  He’s made millions from an organization called the Children’s Health Defense (CHD), for writing and speaking the sort of nonsense listed at the beginning of this post.  Last year alone, he personally pulled in $10 million.

And Jr.’s slick.  He’s become adept at taking half-truths, cherry-picked and incomplete data, as well as downright disinformation, and putting it into chart and graph form that looks impressive.  Dr. Michael Osterholm of the University of Minnesota, one of the country’s leading infectious disease specialists, calls Jr. someone who “has perfected the art of selling illusion as fact.”

Through it all, Jr. began to develop what can only be described as a cult following.  Growing ever richer, he and the CHD began to show up everywhere, hawking their antivaccine rhetoric.  When 2 children died in Samoa after receiving a vaccine that had been inappropriately mixed with a dangerous sedative, the CHD and Jr. dropped in, and helped turn the whole thing into a media circus.  Of course, he now denies that he encouraged vaccine refusal.  But somehow vaccination rates plummeted across the island.

The following year, disaster struck.  An unprecedented measles outbreak hit the largely unvaccinated island.  Dozens of children died.  Anyone who wants to learn firsthand details should read the comments of Hawaii’s Governor, Dr. Josh Green (I’m the Current Governor of Hawaii.  I’ve Seen what Vaccine Skepticism can Do ), who was one of the first responders to the deadly outbreak. (For insights, see below).

Jr. basically washed his hands of the whole thing, and instead tried to blame pretty much everyone else, not unlike that Orange Guy who’s trying to appoint him to the position of Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS).  But the tracks are easy to follow.

By 2023, Jr. saw another opportunity.  A lifelong Democrat, he announced himself as a candidate for his party’s nomination for president.  No one took him particularly seriously.

When it was apparent his attempt was going nowhere, he launched an independent bid for office.  Because the public wasn’t exactly thrilled by the likely nominees of the other two major parties, Jr. initially polled 22% of potential voters.  It soon fell off to around 5%.  It wouldn’t be nearly enough to get him to the oval office.

Undeterred, he sought a deal from the Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamila Harris.  Promise to appoint me to your cabinet, Jr. said, and I’ll throw my support behind you.  Although welcoming the support, Harris said she could make no such promise.  So, despite his liberal background, Jr. decided to make a deal with the devil.

Would Trump have been elected without the votes Jr. pulled his way?  Frankly, I doubt it.  But that’s the way it turned out, and in short order, Trump announced Jr. as his nominee for Secretary of HHS, despite Jr. having no background in administration, and outside of vaccine denial, none in health care, either.  In gratitude for the nomination, Jr. suddenly caved on abortion rights, environmental protections, and conservation, to become a “drill baby drill, ban the EPA” Trumper.

Outside of the lies and conspiracy theories, other issues have been raised about the sort of person Jr. has become.  Family and close friends describe him as an abuser of women, a sexual predator, a bully, a sadist who tortured animals, along with other traits that border on sociopathy.  His second wife committed suicide, an act that allegedly was due in part to her own drug addiction that worsened during her marriage. 

I won’t go into any of that, because it’s frankly not much different than a number of other Trump nominees, although Jr. does have that brain worm excuse.  But he attracted votes to the President, and apparently that’s the only thing that matters.

At this point, some in the MAGA world would say, “but there’s more to it!  He wants us to be healthy!  He wants America to eat better, stay fit, and avoid chronic diseases!”

Right, like that’s going to happen in a Trump administration.  The first person in Washington who strongly advocated for a healthy diet and exercise was Michelle Obama.  Remember?

She was skewered by Republicans.  Sarah Palin declared that she was trying to take away children’s desserts!  Others said it was Big Government Nanny State Socialism at its worst (that term is thrown around so much, why don’t we just abbreviate it to BGNSS).

As a part of her effort to bring about self-improvement, Michelle encouraged Americans to grow small gardens, even on backyard plots of land.  To demonstrate this, she even personally planted a garden at the White House.

One of the first things Melania did when she and Trump moved in?  Invited reporters to film her and young Baron ripping the garden out.

Look, we know what interventions worked for tobacco.  They were adamantly opposed by conservatives, just as they would oppose similar efforts to improve diets today.  Drastically restricting advertising.  Taxing unhealthy foods, both to discourage intake and raise money for treatment.  Subsidizing healthy fast-food alternatives focused on food deserts, especially for those who are working two jobs, caring for children, and unable to take a three-transfer bus ride to Whole Foods, much less have the time to prepare a meal.

Would these be timely measures to improve diets and health? Or would they be trashed as BGNSS interference?  Looking at the current administration, I think the answer is pretty obvious.

The U.S. Senate has four physicians in its ranks.  Only Bill Cassidy of Louisiana has expressed any concern about Jr.  The other three, Paul, Barrosso, and Marshall, are basically Trump rubber stamps.

Who knows how all of this will end?  But with H5N1 looming on the horizons, it’s not hyperbole to say lives hang in the balance.

So what about the Bannon quote that began this piece?  We don’t have much time left, but the term “flood the zone” is familiar to football fans.  Send your eligible receivers sprinting into one corner of your opponent’s secondary—one defensive zone—with the idea that the defense will be so confused that at least one receiver will be open.

The past two weeks have seen this unfold.  A massive flood of executive orders, many of which are blatantly unconstitutional, but will nonetheless be upheld by our far-right Supreme Court.  All of it flying directly into the face of the American public.

More about this next time.  But in the meantime, know that government funds are now in the hands of Elon Musk, including your Medicare and Social Security.  Staff have been locked out or fired. 

All foreign aid except for (you guessed it) military aid to Egypt and Israel has been shut down.  As we speak, Malaria control programs in Uganda have ground to a halt, rehydration fluid-salts can no longer reach villages in Zambia, and in other underdeveloped countries, programs to prevent HIV and Tuberculosis have been stalled.

Even George W. Bush’s Malaria Initiative treatment program, the largest in the world, has been hit.  Nearly 70% of its staff has been fired.

Gee, Elon must be proud.

More on the Flood the Zone with Sh*t strategy next time.  We haven’t even gotten to tariffs, deportations, and military threats (among other things). But with the recent massive firings of FBI and other government officials, it’s clear the purge is on.  And for anyone who has time for any extra reading, take a glance back at my post Purge at your Own Risk  I was hoping it would turn out to be an exaggeration.  Unfortunately, that doesn’t appear to be the case.

See you next time.  Be careful out there.     

For further reading:

‘He’s a liar.’ Green outraged after Kennedy denies role in Samoa measles outbreak

RFK Jr. misled the US Senate on measles deaths, Samoa’s health chief says | AP News

WANDERING AMONG THE GHOSTS IN DRESDEN, SEARCHING FOR THE LETTER “L”

“I envy you lads,” the Englishman said.  “You lads are leaving this afternoon for Dresden—a beautiful city, so I’m told. . .you needn’t worry about bombs, by the way.  Dresden is an open city.  It is undefended, and contains no war industries or troop concentrations of any sort.”—From the Novel Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut, 1969.

“There were so many corpses, that German soldiers gave up burying them and simply burned them on the spot with flame-throwers.”—Kurt Vonnegut (1922-2007), recalling the aftermath of the bombing of Dresden that he witnessed as a prisoner of war (POW), February 15, 1945.

Visit Dresden on an overcast winter day and the ghosts will be sure to find you.  Amidst some of the most formidable gothic structures in the world, buildings that once gave the city the title “Florence of the Elbe River,” you can almost feel Dresden groan under the strain of its history.

The massive Cathedrals and public buildings stood for decades. Then came February 13, 1945.

Throughout the war, the sophistication of bombing techniques had been evolving for both the Allies and the Nazis.  Bigger planes, more bombs, and greater casualties.  In Europe, at least, it reached its peak that winter day on the Elbe.

Years before I set foot in Dresden, I’d visited Coventry, England.  Located in the industrial north, it was best known for its local heroine, Lady Godiva, who supposedly rode through town in her birthday suit to protest high taxes.  The story also goes that an unlucky young chap (as the Brits would say) named Tom, ‘peeped’ at the naked figure too long, and either went blind or was struck dead, depending on who you want to believe.  His name has been associated with voyeurism ever since.

But Coventry later became known as the Detroit of England, manufacturing the nation’s automobiles.  By 1940 it had been converted to wartime production.  The Nazis, who’d been ruthlessly bombing London for months, were determined to take out Coventry’s capacity.  On the night of November 14, 1940, they launched Mondscheinsonate, Operation Moonlight Sonata.

515 German bombers crushed the city, leaving even the Cathedral of St. Michael in ruins.  Nearly seven hundred people perished, the number kept low only because thousands were able to hunker down in underground shelters.

The bombing was so complete, so utterly devastating, that the Nazi propaganda machine invented a new verb to describe it.  “Koventrieren,” or in English ‘to Coventrate’, meaning “to annihilate or reduce to rubble”.

Up to this point, the British had bombed primarily military targets.  But now the gloves came off for both sides.  Massive bombing, without regard to civilian populations, became the order of the day.

Which brings us to Dresden.

From a military perspective, Dresden was neither a troop center nor a manufacturing hub.  Arguably, it was at best a railroad cross roads, far removed from British or American fighting.  Most Germans thought it was the last place they’d experience a concentrated bombing. 

Of course they were wrong.  On the night of February 13, 1945, the first wave of British Lancaster bombers struck, over 700 in all.  By morning, the city was in flames.  Then came the Americans. 

Over 316 B-17 bombers hit the city on the 14^th.  They returned again on the 15^th.  By now Dresden was in ruins.

Over 4,000 tons of bombs struck the city.  Most German air defenses had been transferred elsewhere, and to say the city was a sitting duck would be an understatement.

No one knows how many were killed.  Estimates range from 20,000 to 100,000.  More than Coventry.  Probably fewer than Tokyo.  The city was packed with refugees.  The Russians were pushing rapidly from the east, and those fleeing the advance were pouring into the city.  Just how many is impossible to say.

Why Dresden?  Some say it was because of the city’s railroad access. Others claim intelligence indicated the Germans were going to establish a defensive bulwark in the city, and that the bombing could aid the Russian advance to the east.

Still others claim it was also meant to impress, and maybe even intimidate the Russians.  One Royal Air Force (RAF) memo issued to its airmen included in its justification for the bombing “…incidentally to show the Russians when they arrive what Bomber Command can do.”

The bombing created what is commonly called a “firestorm.”  Flames so hot, so all consuming, they suck every oxygen molecule into the inferno.  Those who aren’t burned to death suffocate from breathing the dead air.

The heat was so intense that bomber crews 16,000 feet above the city were drenched in sweat as their planes were tossed about by the updrafts.

The firebombing of Dresden remains controversial to this day.  Some called it a war crime.  Some said it was justified.  It was war.  These things happen.

Walking around the city, I tried to ask the ghosts, but all I heard was silence.

Which brings us to Kurt Vonnegut.

A 22-year-old Army scout, Private Vonnegut was captured at the Battle of the Bulge, and ultimately sent to Dresden to labor as a POW.  He and his fellow captees were housed in a damp underground cavern that had previously been used to store butchered beef.

Schlacthof Funf, it was called.  Slaughterhouse Five.  The prisoners were confined there when the bombing started.  They didn’t emerge until the 15^th, and suddenly confronted the aftermath.  Vonnegut would later recall the landscape looked like the surface of the moon—except there were bodies everywhere.

Vonnegut, of course, later became a celebrated author, but it took him nearly twenty-five years and multiple shredded drafts to tell the story of Dresden.  For those who haven’t read it, it’s a disjointed, dizzying story of Vonnegut’s alter ego, Billy Pilgram, who also survives the bombing of Dresden, only to become “unstuck in time,” moving backward and forward, even reliving his own death years later.

There’s also flying saucers and alien abductions, but I won’t spoil it for you.  In short, it’s exactly the kind of book you’d expect from a gifted science fiction author, who almost certainly suffered from undiagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Today, Coventry and Dresden consider themselves to be sister cities.  Both have been rebuilt.  Stone by stone.  Brick by brick.  And they share the same pain.

But neither will ever be the same.

Which brings us to the Drake Equation.  And the letter “L.”

Like most American kids, Frank Drake was fascinated with the thought of life on other planets.  Later, as an astrophysicist, he decided to try to calculate the odds that such planets existed, and whether they could ever communicate with those of us here on earth.

It became known as the Drake Equation.  For the benefit of any math geeks, you can find it at the bottom of this post.  The equation didn’t deal with UFOs or little green men, but rather with the likelihood that radio waves or some form of communication could reach us here on our planet.

The equation took all sorts of factors into consideration.  How many planets are out there?  How many can support life?  And what fraction of those go on to develop civilizations capable of transmitting messages into space?

Then Drake added one final question to the puzzle—what is the average length of time a civilization can actually transmit such messages (the letter “L” in his equation).  Is it forever?  Is it a million years?

Or does a civilization that reaches such a point only flourish for the blink of an eye before it destroys itself?

With radio telescopes and deep space probes that can map the known universe, we are just beginning to define most of variables in the Drake Equation.

All except one.  What is L?  We don’t have a clue.

An English veteran of the First World War once said that the only redeeming aspect of his time in the War was knowing that it had been so terrible, so utterly horrifying, that such a war could never happen again.  Of course it did.

The weapons of the Second World War put those of the First to shame.  High altitude bombing.  Massive tank warfare.  And of course, the atom bomb. 

The war also saw the world’s most highly sophisticated effort on the part of one group of people to exterminate another group of people from the face of the earth.

Since the war’s end, our civilization has seen many advances.  Miraculous medical discoveries.  The internet.  Global travel. 

But we’ve also developed intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), hypersonic missiles, nerve gas, biological weapons.  And of course, the hydrogen bomb.

And in Rwanda and elsewhere, the determination of one group of people to utterly destroy another group of human beings, purely for the sake of who those people are, continues to play itself out.  We’ve even given it a name.  Genocide.

Which brings us back around to Dresden.

As 2025 looms, countries are again posturing, threatening, and arming themselves to the hilt.  Leaders are demonizing those within their own borders and beyond.  Nationalism of all stripes, with its ‘us against you’ extremism, is rapidly growing throughout the world.

How many of those extraterrestrial civilizations reached precisely this point before blowing themselves up?  How many reached this point, only to step back at the brink and move away from their destruction?

What direction will we take?  What will be the L variable in our own equation?

Who knows?  But these are the kinds of things a 73-year-old Midwesterner thinks about as he wanders the streets of Dresden.  Listening for the voices of ghosts. 

So it goes.

For additional viewing:

Coventry, England 1940

Dresden, Germany 1945

Private Kurt Vonnegut 1944

Kurt Vonnegut, the writer, years later

And (as promised) The Drake equation:  N = R_* x f_p x n_e x f_l x f_i x f_c x L

Where

N = the number of civilizations in the Milky Way galaxy with which communication might be possible

and

• R_∗ = the average rate of star formation in our Galaxy.
• f_p = the fraction of those stars that have planets.
• n_e = the average number of planets that can potentially support life per star that has planets.
• f_l = the fraction of planets that could support life that actually develop life at some point.
• f_i = the fraction of planets with life that go on to develop intelligent life (civilizations).
• f_c = the fraction of civilizations that develop a technology that releases detectable signs of their existence into space.
• L = the length of time for which such civilizations release detectable signals into space.^[6][7]

Happy New Year, everyone.  Be careful out there.

CHRISTMAS 2024

“What religion a man shall have is a historical accident, quite as much as what language he shall speak.”- George Santayana (1863-1952)

Like most rural Midwesterners, I was raised in an exclusively Christian community.  Christmas was as imbedded into the month of December as ice, snow, and the frozen Missouri River.

There were some pageants and sermons, some prayers and scripture readings, but for the most part it was candy, food, and celebrations. There wasn’t much thought given to what Jesus might actually be saying about the state of mankind.

Three years ago I wrote my first Christmas blog, featuring what I thought Jesus might have to say.  It was followed by one in 2022 and another last year.  This year won’t be an exception.  So with apologies to both Christians and non-Christians, this is what I think Jesus would probably be saying right now, based on what I was taught pretty much from the time I could walk.

Hello Everyone,

It’s me again.  I realize that some of you believe in me and some don’t, some worship me and some don’t, and some of you want to kill each other arguing about the whole thing.  That part’s pretty depressing.

So believe what you want.  But regardless, give a little thought to the things I said.

You all are probably in the midst of stringing up twinkling lights and gorging yourselves on outrageous food.  Some of you will get pretty hammered. 

And many of you will spend ridiculous amounts of money on crap that’ll be thrown away as soon as the wrapping paper’s off.  About all you’ll accomplish is to help Jeff Bezos make a few more billion.  I’m sure he’s just jealous as hell of Elon Musk (you can probably guess what I think of that little asshole).

Oh, yes, I can occasionally curse.  I was born in a stable, remember?  You don’t think I heard some rough language?  Of course, it was all in Aramaic.  Not many left who understand it these days.

This birthday stuff is pretty amusing, in a way.  You all have no idea when I was born.  You’ve arbitrarily selected a day around the winter solstice that originally was a tribute to both a Roman god and a Pagen German deity, whose symbol was a fir tree. 

That fact used to upset some people.  The Puritans even tried to ban the celebration during the 1600’s.  That didn’t last long though, probably because beer sales plummeted.  

But let’s get back to the basic message.  I didn’t spend my 33 years trying to jam religion down anyone’s throat.  I was a teacher.  I taught principles for people to live by.  Maybe it’s time to take a look at how well you’re doing.

You people have always had this thing about money, haven’t you?  I once told about a self-righteous rich man who threw a few coins to the poor and made a big display out of it.  I compared that to a widow who had next to nothing and gave it all away.  If you remember, I was pretty specific about which impressed me most.

But today, the powerful, the rich, and the self-righteously selfish are in positions of unprecedented power.  Those who are suffering the most are ignored at best, and at worst trampled down.  I’m not especially impressed by that.

The leaders you’ve chosen are often just images of your own vanity and selfishness.  But that’s up to you.  The way the universe works, you’ll get what you pay for.

So if you really believe that I have some sort of presence on earth today, where do you think I’ll be spending my birthday?

I’ll be somewhere in Gaza, hiding with a family while the bombs are falling.  I’ll be trying to find shelter with a family in the West Bank whose home was just destroyed by settlers.

I’ll be shivering with Syrian refugees in Europe as they ponder whether to try to stay, or make the perilous trip home to a nation still in turmoil.

I’ll be with a mother in the Ukraine praying that her son makes it home from the war.

I’ll be with a terrified Rohingya girl caught somewhere between Myanmar and Bangladesh.   

I’ll be with a Uygur boy crying in China because he hasn’t heard from his father in months.

I’ll be with hungry Afghan women who have nowhere to turn for their daughters’ education and safety.

I’ll be with an Israeli hostage who wonders if he’ll ever make it home.

I’ll be with a Pacific Island family whose home is slowly vanishing from rising sea levels.

I’ll be with an African family whose cattle are dying and fields are shrinking due to climate change.

I’ll be sweltering in a crowded building in Cite Soleil with a Haitian family, trying to not even whisper while men with machetes run past.

I’ll be with an immigrant family in Springfield, Ohio, afraid to stray from home because of some politician’s vicious lies.

I’ll be with thousands of others on either side of the Mexican border, uncertain of what the coming days will bring.

I’ll be with a father who’s just lost a daughter to an overdose.  A Mother who’s lost a son to suicide.

I’ll be with that gay kid who’s been humiliated and threatened.  I’ll be with the girl who’s just found out she’s pregnant, and has nowhere to turn.

I’ll be with thousands of families whose loved ones have been killed by a gun.

I’ll be with an exhausted young single Mother, crying at the kitchen table because her job as a waitress didn’t bring in enough tips on Christmas Eve to pay for her child’s present.

But I’ll tell you where I won’t be.  I won’t be with Elon, Peter, Jeff, J.D., Mark, Vivek, or any of the other tech-bros.  I won’t be with any of the Bitcoin pushers.  I won’t be living it up at Mar-a-Lago.

And as far as Matt Gaetz?  Do you really have to ask?

But you’ve probably guessed all of that by now.  The real question is where will you be?

Christmas and Hannukah this month. Ramadan in March, Diwali in October.  Times to celebrate.  Times to think about a lot more than just yourself.

And maybe time to not just pray for others.  Maybe time to do something.  Especially for someone who can do absolutely nothing for you in return.

My run lasted 33 years.  Most of you will make it a lot longer.  What will you do with yours?

So tomorrow, go ahead and string the lights, eat, drink, and celebrate.  And for crying out loud, don’t worry about whether you say “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Holidays” or whatever else you’d like.  It’s not going to impress me one way or the other.  

And as always, go ahead and stand up during the “Hallelujah Chorus” if you want.  By that point, you’re going to be pretty tired of sitting anyway.

See you down the road.

Jesus

PURGE AT YOUR OWN RISK

“Over six hundred people at the NIH (National Institutes of Health) are going to walk into work in the morning and be sent home without a job that afternoon.”—Secretary of Health and Human Services Nominee Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., speaking of his intention to purge the NIH of those with whom he disagrees.

“They’re traitors!  The military’s full of woke Generals who need to be purged!”—Secretary of Defense Nominee Pete Hegseth, speaking of changes he intends to make in the U.S. Military

By 1939, the Soviet Union had assembled the most massive military machine the world had ever seen. 

The Red Army.  The enormity of its soldiers, tanks, and planes dwarfed even the powerful Nazis just to the west. 

The Soviets’ sheer size alone seemed enough to deter any outside invader.  And dictator Joseph Stalin further hedged his bets by signing a non-aggression treaty with Hitler.  Known as the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, it stated that the two countries would not go to war with one another for at least the next ten years.  They also agreed to remain neutral if either were attacked by third parties.

But what happened next shocked everyone.  The world’s most powerful far-right fascist and far-left communist regimes actually joined forces to invade Poland.  It fell in 36 days.  

The back-room deal was that Germany would take out western Europe, including England, and the Soviets would move into the Baltic States, Finland, and eastern Romania.  America, focused mostly on western Europe, really didn’t want a part of any of it.

For a while, the German-Soviet alliance seemed unstoppable.  The Nazis ran roughshod in the west, while Stalin tightened his control in the east.  With their advantage in land, resources, and troops, the Soviets felt they could safely bide their time.

Then came June 22, 1941, and Operation Barbarossa.  

With no warning, the Nazis attacked.  The stunned Soviets struggled to respond.  Units disintegrated and Russian soldiers were captured by the tens of thousands (most would later be starved to death on orders from Hitler).

The mighty Red Army started fleeing to the east.  Counterattacks failed, orders were confused, and through it all, the landscape was littered with destroyed equipment. 

And still the Nazis kept coming.  In less than 3 months, Kiev was surrounded and Leningrad under siege.  The advancing Germans were chewing up hundreds of square miles each day.  By the beginning of October, the Red Army had lost 750,000 soldiers, and the Nazis were within 200 miles of Moscow.  By the end of November, the distance was down to 12 miles.  German advance units were so close they could see the city with binoculars. 

Stalin ordered the Soviet government to evacuate.  The most powerful army in the world teetered on the verge of collapse.

How could this have happened?  The Soviets had superior numbers, far more tanks and planes, understood the landscape, and knew the region’s roads and geography.  Yet they were being pounded into submission by a smaller foe.

Why?  Because the Soviet military leadership was utterly incompetent. 

Say what you will about Joseph Stalin, but he was as paranoid and vengeful as he was ruthless.  Anyone who failed to display anything less than blind loyalty was eliminated.

The Russians simply called it the Great Purge.  Stalin’s “enemies within” were either executed or sent to starve in Siberia, over 2 million in all.

The military was no exception.  By the time the Nazis attacked, 90% of Russia’s Generals and nearly 80% of its Colonels had been purged.  Their replacements were a mixture of inexperience, inability, and incompetence.  But they all had one thing in common—the one thing Stalin valued most.

Blind loyalty.  To survive in Stalin’s Russia, it was the only thing that mattered.  Even General Mikhail Tukhachevsky, a brilliant strategist known as “the Red Napoleon,” was dispatched with a bullet to the back of his neck.

But the disaster wrought by the Great Purge was something the Soviets should have seen coming.  Earlier, in 1939, with inexperienced Generals at the helm, Russia had launched an invasion of Finland that ended in catastrophe.  In barely 3 months, the largely volunteer and vastly outnumbered Finns inflicted massive casualties on the Red Army, using a homegrown weapon of choice that’s remembered to this day.

A glass bottle filled with gasoline, stuffed with a burning wick.  Each time a Finn would hurl one into an oncoming Soviet tank, he’d shout, “here’s your cocktail, Mr. Molotov!”

The Russians, of course, claimed the war as a victory, but as one general (who was later purged himself) admitted, “we won just enough land to bury our dead.”

Loyalty over competence.  Don’t disagree.  Don’t question.  Don’t tell me anything I don’t want to hear.

Anyone who has ever been in a position of leadership understands that often the most important thing a subordinate can say is “I’m sorry, but I can’t agree with you, and here’s why.”

In fact, I can’t think of a single organization I’ve ever been a part of that lasted long when blind loyalty was the only thing that mattered.  I can’t think of even one that was successful when it “purged” itself of anything but yes-men.

Which brings us to today.

An angry, vengeful demander of total loyalty is about to assume the office of President of the world’s most powerful country and thus control the most massive military the world has ever seen.  He, too, speaks of revenge against “enemies from within.”  And to date, he’s been busy assembling a cast of enablers that demonstrate blind loyalty over competence.

An Attorney General whose own investigation for sex crimes he tries to hide.  A Defense Secretary who wants to perform his own “Great Purge” of American Generals.  A Health and Human Service’s Secretary who wants to purge America’s leading research agency of scientific researchers.  A Director of National Intelligence who’s an apologist for a Russian dictator.  A Director of Medicare and Medicaid who’s never cared for a Medicaid patient in his life.  A Secretary of Education whose background is in an imaginary performance art called “Professional Wrestling.”

A couple of bloated billionaires who think they can reform government. 

All have one thing in common.  Blind loyalty.

At this point, about the only Trump Loyalist that hasn’t been suggested for a high-ranking post is Marjorie Taylor Green, who thinks the government controls hurricanes.  Perhaps she’d be a perfect fit to head the National Weather Service.

Had Russia fallen in 1941, it’s hard to imagine what would have come next.  The Nazis could have easily started pushing south toward Asia and perhaps even India.  But of course, that didn’t happen.

Instead, Stalin was the beneficiary of two incredible strokes of good luck, which very likely saved him.  First, the vaunted Russian winter came early that year.  On December 1^st, with the season’s official start still 3 weeks away, the temperature dropped to 45 below. It was the most vicious European winter of the twentieth century.  The rapidly advancing Germans began to freeze.

And secondly, the Nazis’ eastern allies, the Empire of Japan, attacked the United States.  Within hours, Hitler also declared war on the U.S., and America responded in kind.  Germany’s relatively quiet western front would soon begin to dissolve.

Over the next three years, the Soviets gradually pushed the Nazis back.  Moscow survived by sending even school children to the front lines.  Volgograd residents (or Stalingrad, if you’d like) held on by eating rats—and sometimes each other.

But the price of blind loyalty came at a terrible cost.  Atrocities committed by both the Nazis and the Soviets were horrific. One out of every seven Russians died in the war—over 15% of its population.  Through it all, Stalin clung to power, all the while insisting on blind loyalty, flattery, and obedience.

But what if the Great Purge had not occurred?  What if competent leadership had been in place when Hitler attacked?  What if?

No, contemporary America is not the Soviet Union.  2024 is far removed from 1941.  And Donald Trump is not Joseph Stalin.  But we ignore the lessons of history to our own peril.

Blind loyalty to a single flattery-seeking leader will not make America great, and could do it great harm in the coming years.  Indeed, it could damage the entire world for decades to come.

It is up to the United States Senate, regardless of party loyalty and irrespective of fear of reprisal, to carefully consider each of these and other Trump nominees, and to carefully consider the impact that upcoming “purges” could mean for all of us.

Because in the end, at what point do we purge our nation of its own identity? 

STOP!  Before leaving this page, please also read the blog post Medicine and Social Justice: Raw milk, vaccines, and RFK, Jr: Some dates worth remembering by my friend and colleague Dr. Josh Freeman, for a sobering reality check on the threat to public health in America.

SELLING AMERICA’S BIRTHRIGHT FOR A BOWL OF BEANS (OR A DOZEN EGGS)

“And Esau said to Jacob, ‘Feed me, I pray, with that red pottage. . . for I am faint.’  And Jacob said, ‘Sell me this day thy birthright.’”—The Bible, King James Version, Genesis 25:30-31

If you grew up like I did, dutifully following my mother each week to a Southern Baptist church, you couldn’t help but soak up bible verses like a sponge.

Go ahead, cover your ears if you want, clamp your eyes shut.  After a while, it still creeps in by osmosis.  I once won a prize for reciting the books of the bible.  Forward and backwards.  

Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers. . .

Revelation, Jude, Third John, Second John, First John. . .

And so it goes. All 66 books. 

At least that’s what I was taught.  My Catholic friend next door insisted there were really 73.  But I didn’t bother to learn the other seven, because someone else claimed Catholics thought Baptists were going to hell anyway.

The stories themselves were fascinating.  Moses and the parting of the Red Sea.  Jonah and the Great Fish.  Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in Nebuchadnezzar’s fiery furnace.  They all seemed a little far-fetched, but I could at least imagine each one happening.

The only one that simply made no sense was Jacob, Esau, the bowl of beans, and the birthright.  Basically, the story goes like this.

Jacob and Esau were twins.  Because Esau technically dropped out first, he got the “birthright,” that is, he pretty much inherited everything.  Apparently, that was how things worked back then.

One day Esau came back home from hunting, hungry as all get out.  Jacob was by the fire, stirring a pot of beans.  Esau, in full stomach-growl mode, asked for some of the beans.  Jacob said fine, but first you have to give me your birthright. 

Esau said, in essence, “sure, I’m hungry as hell.  What good is a birthright if your starving?  You’ve got a deal.  Give me the beans.” 

Esau wound up with a full stomach, and Jacob wound up with everything else.

As a kid, I thought this sounded crazy.  How could anybody be as stupid as Esau or as big of an asshole as Jacob?  How could this happen?

At first, I tried to rationalize.  Did Esau have some mental deficiency, like a couple of the kids I knew?  Did he just not understand?

It wasn’t until much later that the story’s power hit me (I say story, because you’re free to believe it or not, that’s your business).  I suddenly saw it playing out every day:  people throwing away the future for some immediate satisfaction.

I want this?  I’ll buy it, whether I can afford it or not.  I don’t want to do this?  Then I won’t do it, regardless of how it might affect my future.

Will this make me feel better now?  Fine.  I’ll worry about the future later.

Forget the birthright.  I’m hungry.

Which brings us to the recent election.

According to pollsters, America voted with its stomach.  Inflation had increased overall costs, and food prices were out there for everyone to see.  As one person put it, “Here’s a suggestion.  Drop by a grocery store before you vote.”

And the posterchild of all such items were eggs.  In 2022, national egg prices topped out at $4.25 a dozen (I checked at Hy-Vee today, and they’re $3.99, but that’s here in Omaha).

The price of groceries had people pissed.  And that’s how they voted.

Of course, this wasn’t the highest price we’d seen for eggs.  Adjusted for inflation, they were $4.49 in 1975, during the Nixon/Ford years, before hitting a low of $2.42 in 1992.  Looking at inflation in general, it peaked at 8% in 2022, and is now running just under 5%.  Still too high, but a far cry from the 11% of 1974, and the whopping 13.6% of 1980.

What’s wrong with casting a vote against high prices?  Nothing.  But of course, there was a lot more to it than that. 

Voting for Trump meant not only protesting higher prices, but also sticking a middle finger in the face of the current government, a female mixed-raced candidate, anyone who doesn’t think or look like you (that is, an “elite—never mind that we haven’t had a President with Trump’s sort of gilded-wealth since Roosevelt), or anyone open to any sort of immigration policy other than sealing off the country from the rest of the world.

Fine.  But all of this came at a price.  It’s not just who you vote out, it’s also who you wind up getting in return.  (At this point, let me add another paradox, since this post has a religious theme.  I’m often stunned by Christians who go on mission trips to Central America and come home talking not only of the love and kindness they saw on their journey, but the abject poverty of those they met.  They speak about sharing the love of Christ with these poor souls.  Yet if those same people showed up at the border seeking refuge and a chance for a better life, the same loving Christians scream “rapists and murderers!  Build a wall!  Keep ‘em out!”  Sounds pretty hypocritical to me, but what do I know?).

Esau was hungry, and all too willing to blow off the future by giving up his birthright for a bowl of beans.  Is that what we just did in this election?

Our recent anger over the price of eggs caused us to relinquish the leadership of our nation to a convicted felon, a man who encouraged rioters he supported (on January 6) and supported the killing of rioters he opposed (during the George Floyd protests), a former president who’d been twice impeached, who’d cozied up to dictators (“Kim and I, we fell in love”), who called veterans suckers and losers, who denied science, peddled conspiracy theories, sold himself and the nation to the highest bidder (yes, I’m talking to you, Elon Musk), who’d abused women, taken away women’s choice across much of the country, and was too cowardly and self-centered to acknowledge his electoral loss four years earlier.

A man who stood by and did nothing while a mob threatened to kill his own Vice President.  A man who was called a fascist and unworthy of the presidency by his own military leadership.

A man who told lie after lie after lie without regret, remorse, or apology, no matter who it hurt.

America, this is what you got in exchange for that dozen eggs. 

Or maybe we should ask it this way.   What did we give up?  What was our birthright?

Parse the Constitution all you want.  I’m not a constitutional scholar, and will leave that to those who are.  But I know what I was taught growing up at home, at school, and even at that Baptist Sunday School.

America’s birthright was truth.  It was justice.  It was opportunity for all, and not just the billionaires (when I was growing up, you could count all of those in the world on one hand).

It was a system of laws that was respected and envied the world over. 

Today, our economy is the world’s strongest.  But that’s about it.  Around the globe, nation after nation is turning to religious nationalism (pick any religion you want, they’re all out there), if not outright fascism.  For America, democracy seems less a glowing flame than a dying ember.

But that’s not important.  It was all about the economy, right?  All about the price of those dozen eggs.

Never mind our birthright.

Once Esau agreed to the bargain, the deal was done.  The birthright was gone, and there was no going back.

But we have another opportunity, if we’re willing to grasp it.  Another election will come, and with it a chance to reclaim that birthright.  Until then, we can only work to regain the trust America has lost.

There’s an old saying, “fool me once, shame on you.  Fool me twice shame on me.”

Perhaps we should consider a modification to that old adage when looking at our current situation:  put a bullet in the chamber and spin it once playing Russian Roulette, and you’re lucky.  Pull the trigger twice, and you’re downright stupid.

And for all of those waiting for prices to fall, I have bad news:  economist after economist, from liberal to conservative, are warning us about Trump’s proposed tariffs.  They foresee rising prices, shortages, and job losses.  Be careful what you wish for.

Because much as I try to be optimistic, a troubling memory keeps emerging.  In amongst the childhood recollections of a thousand hay-bales that need to be hauled in before the rain starts, the clatter of dry leaves across a gravel road, the smell of ham curing in the smokehouse, the shock of seeing all those spiders in my grandmother’s outhouse, the rush of pushing my way into the endzone against a nose-tackle that outweighed me by a hundred pounds, yes, even arguing with that Catholic kid next door, who always was and always shall be one of my dearest friends, one memory stands out.

It’s of a frightened 8-year-old sitting wide-eyed in a Missouri church on a Sunday night, listening to the dark words coming from the mouth of a Baptist preacher as he glared out at the congregation and uttered the text from Genesis 41:31.   “And the abundance in the land shall not be remembered, because the famine that follows it will be so severe.”

The coming years will be among the harshest and most difficult this nation has ever experienced.  Please do all that you can to help one another, now and in the future.  Hold true to your values.  By starting there, perhaps we can begin once again to reclaim our birthright.    

TRUMP SUPPORTERS ARE ASKING THE WRONG QUESTION

Talk to most Trump supporters, and you’ll basically get the same line.  It goes something like this.

Yes, I know he’s a jerk.  I know he’s a misogynist, a p*ssy grabber, a serial adulterer, and maybe even a pervert.  I wouldn’t let my daughter date him.  I wouldn’t even let my daughter be alone in the same room with him.

Yes, I know he’s been bankrupt a bunch of times, stiffed contractors, and knifed his best friends in the back.  He’s told lie after lie without remorse, and never taken personal responsibility for anything.

No, I wouldn’t want my son to grow up like him, and I sure wouldn’t do business with him.  But so what?  All of that’s beside the point.  There’s something that’s way more important.

At this point, the supporter will lean forward, narrow their eyes, and demand “weren’t you better off when Trump was President than you are today?”

Sorry, but that’s a pretty stupid question.  You might as well ask how many angels can dance on the head of a pin, or whether you were better off in 1998 (or 1898) than today.

The world is changing rapidly, and 2024 isn’t 2020, and sure isn’t 2016.  Our risks, our economy, our whole universe, for that matter, are vastly different.

The more important question is this:  Would we be better off today if Donald Trump had been President for the past 4 years?  And what about the next four?  These are the questions Trump supporters don’t want to ask.

I wrote about this over 2 years ago.  I just recently went back and read it again.  Back then, I thought it might be an exaggeration.  But then I read Project 2025. 

Now I’m not so sure.

So would you—or the world—be better off?  Let’s think for a minute.

You can bet Ukraine would be under Russian control.  Trump never stood up to Putin before, and certainly won’t now.  Russia has been cozying up to China, and Trump isn’t about to say no.  Iran and North Korea are supplying Russia with weapons.  You really think that would stop if Trump were in office?

Post-pandemic inflation slammed the entire world, not just the United States.  It would have been no different under Trump.  No, the Build Back Better legislation likely would not have passed.  Would inflation have been lower?

Maybe.  But America’s incredible bounce-back likely wouldn’t have occurred, either.  Just this week, the respected international publication “The Economist” carried a front-page article describing America’s economic growth under Biden titled “The Envy of the World.”

Despite numerous predictions four years ago, our country did not slip into a recession.  The Federal Reserve’s interest rate balancing act indeed walked a fine line.  It successfully brought inflation down without veering us into a recession.  Unemployment held in the 3.6-4.1% range, well below the long-term average of 5.6.  Trump naysayers had asserted this was impossible.

Could the King of Bankruptcy, who claims to know more about economics than anyone else and wants to personally micromanage the Fed, have accomplished this himself?  In your dreams.

What about crime since Biden took office?  Murder is down over 10%, rape by 9%.  All categories of violent crime are down.

After an initial surge in undocumented immigration, those numbers are down, as well.  They’d likely be down further if Trump hadn’t ordered the Republican Congress to vote down a comprehensive immigration reform bill.

Shut down nearly all immigration as Trump’s immigration guru Stephen Miller has advocated?  Throw in millions of unfilled jobs?  There’s your prescription for runaway inflation.

And you think prices are high now?  Wait until Trump’s tariffs kick in.

Crime.  Immigration.  Rising numbers of people with no insurance.  Sucking up to Dictators.  Stamping out dissent.  Imposing idiotic tariffs.  Taking away voting rights.  Locking up political opponents. Taking away the rights of women. Turning women who seek care into criminals. I covered all of that two years ago.

Back then I thought it sounded pretty out-there.  But plenty of other people who read it disagreed.  They thought it was all eerily possible.

So go ahead.  Have a look at it below, just as it appeared over 2 years ago.  See what you think.  I’d love to hear your comments.

And for all of you who would downplay my creativity in visualizing the future, I apologize.  Despite all of the conceivable lies I could imagine Donald Trump telling–and he’s told a lot–accusing legal Haitian immigrants of being dog and cat eaters was something that didn’t even hit my radar screen.

Sorry about that.  Happy Halloween to all of you carnivores out there.

Here’s the piece titled “An American Horror Story.” By the way, election day is November 5^th.

1 June, 2022

AN AMERICAN HORROR STORY

“Well, it couldn’t be any worse than. . .”

Whenever I hear someone use this phrase, I cringe.  In my experience, if all someone can say in defense of their statements is “well, it couldn’t be any worse than—” they really don’t have much of an argument.

And second, most of the time it actually could be worse—a lot worse.

This is true of countries as well as people.  In America, we tend to have a pretty high opinion of ourselves.  And in my lifetime, some of the dumbest things we’ve ever done have been justified on the basis of the “it couldn’t be any worse than. . .” principle. 

Today, America and the world face incredible challenges.  Some people hate Joe Biden and the ground he walks upon.  They never cease to talk about how much better things would be if Donald Trump were still in office.

When I disagree, they respond with “how could things possibly be any worse?”

With apologies to students of quantum physics, where complex formulas suggest parallel universes and realities, let’s take a moment and visit such a parallel world where Donald Trump is still in office. 

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

THE WHITE HOUSE

WASHINGTON, D.C.

MAY 32, 2022

Greetings from the administration of President Donald J. Trump!  We know the people of the United States have many concerns, but rest assured these issues will soon be resolved and America will again be moving forward toward Greatness.

Since the brave patriots stormed the capitol on Patriot Day, January 6, 2021 and made sure the stolen election was overturned, President Trump has been busy moving our nation forward.  In addition to jailing senior Democratic leadership and installing Tucker Carlson as Secretary of the newly created Department of Information, he is tackling America’s challenges head on.

Let’s review them.  And remember, all of this would be so much worse if Biden had been installed as President.

UKRAINE

Thanks to President Trump, there is peace in Ukraine.  Soon after the Russian liberation of Ukraine began, our President made it clear to NATO that we stood steadfast with our friend President Putin, and would tolerate no interference.

Ukraine was quickly liberated, and their clown-President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was executed.  Next month President Trump will travel to Kyiv to congratulate President Putin as the traitorous Ukrainian government formally surrenders to the Russian Republic.

As you may know, illegal and banned news sources have been reporting lies and distortions about the treatment of captured Ukrainian soldiers, claiming they are being starved, murdered, and tortured.  These treasonous sources even claim that Russian soldiers have raped and killed Ukrainian civilians.  Rest assured, President Putin has made it clear to our State Department that nothing of this sort has occurred, and as we know, President Trump trusts President Putin completely.

As you are also aware, the United States is withdrawing from NATO.  There is no reason for this organization to even exist now that a powerful American-Russian-Hungarian partnership is in place.  However, if the rest of Europe wishes to “go it alone,” let them.

AFGHANISTAN

As you know, thanks to the brilliant decision-making of President Trump, all U.S troops were secretly withdrawn from Afghanistan between 0200 and 0500 hours last August 29, ­with no troop casualties.  This was an incredible feat.  Once again, the illegal and traitorous press has made much of the numerous massacres of American Aid workers and others who were unable to get out after our troops suddenly left without notice, but this was not our fault!  Those people should never have been there to begin with!  We cannot be responsible for everything and everyone.  Yes, they were U.S. citizens, but these things happen sometimes.  America first.  We all have the choice to stay at home.

CHINA

The U.S. Stand-Our-Ground China policy, much criticized by the rest of the world, will have a great effect.  We have shut down all trade with China, and we are sure this will bring them to their knees.  In addition, we have announced that we will soon be placing tariffs on any nation doing business with China. 

As every American knows, China is the root of all evil in this world, and must be isolated.  This may mean some temporary economic pain, but we will recover.  We are confident that the current trade relationships between China and the rest of the world will quickly disappear if we hold firm with our tariffs and embargos.  Temporary high prices will only be a reality for a short while. We are confident China will not develop trade relationships elsewhere. And no matter what you hear, this will not cause a recession!

THE ECONOMY

First, let’s talk about the good news.  Corporate profits are through the ceiling, and this is by far the most important measure of any economy.  We are quite confident that wages, which have lagged behind inflation, will soon catch up. 

Much of our temporary economic challenges are due to supply chain issues, which would be much worse if Biden were still in office.  Due to isolated shortages, inflation is currently running at 10%.  This is entirely due to China!  We are sure this will resolve quickly. Remember, inflation was nearly 18% in the early Reagan years.  We can fix this.

The price of gasoline, at $7.17 a gallon, has been a hardship for many.  This is a worldwide issue, and has nothing to do with President Trump.  In England, gas (they call it ‘petrol’ there, the sissies) is $8.00 a gallon.  Other countries are even higher.  We should be glad for what we have.

The supply chain disruptions with China have had an impact on employment, as well.  Some plants have had to close due to materials shortages.  Farmers are struggling to find markets for their crops.  Unemployment in the U.S. is currently running at 5.1%, much better than at the height of the so-called pandemic, but we still need to get it lower.  But can you imagine what it would be under Biden?  10%, at least!  

HEALTH CARE

We all know America has the greatest health care system in the world, regardless of what the treasonous press might say.  And we know that these liars are telling us that the number of Americans without health insurance has now shot up to 40 million.  Don’t believe them!

Yes, unfortunately the latest release of official Health and Human Services insurance data has been delayed for another year (or two) under the order of Secretary Dr. Scott Atlas (the same brave patriot who banned masks on President Trump’s first day in office, and declared an end to the phony ChiCom epidemic).  But we know this is just a temporary disruption while he reorganizes the Department.   In the meantime, things are fine.

More importantly, our President has allocated $100 billion to develop the Abortion Prevention and Prosecution (APAP) Force to send armed agents into states to ensure no abortions occur.  These agents will also have the authority to check pregnancy tests on any woman leaving the country (in order to ensure that they’re not travelling to receive an abortion), as well as the authority to inspect any and all mail that APAP has reason to believe contains abortion related pills or materials.

Finally, the President has forwarded the Patriot’s Right of Refusal (PRoR) Law to Congress.  This freedom-protecting bill will allow any health care provider to refuse to give medical services to anyone he or she believes might represent a threat to the stability of the country.  Yes, in some cases this might mean that Left-Wing Communist Democrats may not be able to receive care, but that is a small price to pay for our continued freedom.

And an additional comment:  the decision to end the Medicare program should not be taken as an attempt to bring harm to older Americans.  Medicare was simply an entitlement program started by Socialist Democrats that served only to make the elderly dependent on the government.  Ending it will empower older citizens to get private insurance.  Those who feel they don’t have the funds to afford this obviously didn’t save enough over the course of their lifetimes, and regrettably, must now live with those consequences.

ELECTION MONITORING AND SECURITY (EMS) FORCE

As we all know, the security of our elections is the most important single principle in a strong America.  Left-wing grousing about whether our elections are “fair” notwithstanding, the decision to establish the EMS Force has been one of the boldest and most important steps President Trump has taken.

This Force will station armed officers inside every polling place in America, with the authority to arrest any voter they might suspect of fraud. Of course, those votes won’t be registered and/or counted.  Even though last year’s Fake Voter Identification (FVI) Task Force has been unable to find concrete evidence of clear election fraud, we all know it is out there.  How else would the phony narrative that President Trump lost the last election have been created?

And in keeping with our budget-conscious approach, the EMS Force will be funded through the savings realized by closing just over half of all polling places in the country, and limiting voting times to no more than 5 hours per election.  This will result in enormous savings.  Again, bleeding heart liberals are saying this is not “fair,” but we know that a willingness to travel 20-30 miles to vote, then stand in line for 3 hours, is the least someone can do to demonstrate their true patriotism.  Anyone unwilling to do this is not a true American anyway.

IMMIGRATION

Our President has taken unprecedented heat for making the decision to stop all immigration from countries that are not predominantly white, Christian, or western European.  Such a decision, however, was in full keeping with the values at the heart of the MAGA concept.  We should be thanking him.

The unfortunate incident at the border last month when border patrol agents were forced to use automatic weapons could not have been avoided.  Due to adverse weather conditions, the agents had every reason to believe that the 68 children trying to cross the border were actually murders and rapists.  The agents were only doing their job.

The Presidential directive to “shoot to kill” any unauthorized crossing only makes sense.  This directive has been well publicized throughout the world, and those children who tried to illegally cross over are the only ones responsible for their fate.

PATRIOTIC EDUCATION ONLY (PEO)

If America is to move forward in the MAGA era, education must be in line with MAGA principles only!

This means that the principles of American education must be (1) teaching only America First values, (2) eradication of Critical Race Theory (CRT), (3) purging libraries of anti-American literature, (4) the elimination of any anti-MAGA sexual content, and (5) protection of students.

It is for these reasons that the President has dissolved the Department of Education, and placed all of its responsibilities under the Department of Justice, headed by Attorney General Rudy Giuliani.  He will ensure that these priorities will be protected according to the PEO Act of 2022

Our Justice Department will deploy agents to every school in America, ensuring that teachers have, first and foremost, signed the MAGA loyalty pledge, and that no mention of sexuality or critical race theory is made. 

Only math, reading, and Authentic American History (AAH) will be taught in grade school.  Because science is purely subjective, it will not be taught until the high school level.

All teachers, in order to obtain a state teaching certificate, will be required to participate in a minimum of 100 hours of firearms training.  AR-15 rifles will be required inside of every classroom in America.  This will ensure the protection of our students.

Yes, we know that the lying liberal media has made much of the accidental discharge of some of these rifles inside Texas classrooms (where mandatory rifle legislation is already in place).  And yes, 5 students unfortunately died in those accidents.  But imagine how many lives have been protected!  This is just a small price to pay for our freedoms!

The press has also implied that the PEO policy will prevent gays and lesbians from teaching.  This is absolutely untrue!  Of course, we welcome all teachers.  However, in keeping with PEO principles, any gay teacher that discusses his/her sexual orientation with students will be subject to immediate termination.

This is only fair and correct.  Real teachers know that students must be protected from any notion of sexual orientation.

Finally, rumors are circulating around the country that the Trump administration is going to shut down public schools.  This is absolutely untrue!  However, we do anticipate that by 2030, public schools will no longer be necessary, and all students will be attending private schools.

Clearly, public schools in this country have run their course.  Private schools are the way of the future.  Yes, we know that many liberals maintain that some students will be unable to afford private schools.  But this is simply a reality.  Private schools—when properly focused on PEO—will indeed make America Great Again.  The fact that some students may miss out is simply a product of our times.

We would also like to confirm that private funding has been obtained to add President Trump’s bust to Mount Rushmore.  This is only fitting, in that he is obviously the greatest President in American history.

Finally, we would urge all Americans to contact their representatives and support the 28^th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America, which provides that President Donald Joseph Trump shall be eligible to be designated as President for Life.  Yes, we are aware that, once again, the liberal media has acted in horror when President Trump replaced Mike Pence with the most qualified person in America to be Vice-President, Donald Trump, Jr.  But we live in dangerous times.  An orderly transition, as well as an administration we can trust, is far more important than any whining about nepotism.

Thank you for your steadfast support of our nation!

Make America Great Again!

Keep America Great!

America first, no matter what!

Sincerely,

The White House Office of Public Information

Elon Musk, Director (and majority stockholder)

Public Service Announcement before beginning this article:  Since many readers are currently being smothered in Medicare Advantage marketing materials, I should probably say a few things about the perils of these products.  But I won’t for two reasons.  First, I already have , and second, my friend and colleague Dr. Josh Freeman has recently provided an excellent update . 

The only thing I’d add is this:  if you sign up for an Advantage Plan, and later become seriously ill and want to switch back to Traditional Medicare, there is no guarantee that you will be able to purchase a private Supplement.  The decision, of course, is yours.  But I’d think about it long and hard before I signed on that dotted line.   

And now, back to our regularly scheduled program.

_____________________________________________________________________

“All that stuff I was taught about evolution and embryology and the big bang theory?  All that is lies straight from the pit of Hell!”—Dr. Paul Broun, physician and former Georgia Republican Congressman, graduate of the Medical College of Georgia who also has a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry.  To date, there is no word on whether Broun has demanded a tuition refund for being taught these “lies” which are actually considered fundamental principles of Medicine, Biology, Chemistry, and Physics.

“You’re entitled to your own opinion.  You’re not entitled to your own facts.”—Daniel Patrick Moynihan, former New York Democratic Senator.

Let me make a confession right off the bat.  Science and math weren’t my strongest subjects in school.  I was much better at history and English.  None of what I am about to say is written from the standpoint of a self-proclaimed scientific genius.

But I was able to acquire the necessary science skills to become a physician largely because of my High School science teachers, L.D. Young and T.J. Beach.  Mr. Young was also athletic, outgoing, and a championship basketball coach.  Mr. Beach, on the other hand, was short, decidedly non-athletic, and a unique blend of Midwest farmer-nerd.  He could throw a thousand hay bales as easily as he could explain the laws of thermodynamics.

He was also my uncle.

Uncle T.J. left the farm to fight in World War II, then came home and earned GI Bill-funded degrees in Agriculture and Biochemistry.  He worked in a research lab in Kansas City for a short while, then returned to run the farm when my Grandfather suffered a stroke.  He never left home again.

Several years later, our local school needed a chemistry teacher, and my uncle reluctantly agreed.  He taught until he retired 25 years later.

He was as devoted to science as he was to the soil.  He was also a devout Christian and a Truman-Democrat.  But he never let religion nor politics overrule scientific principles.

Man, would he be shocked at our country today.

For one political party, science seems to make the perfect scapegoat.  And apparently, scientists are the spawn of the Devil. 

For this party, belief trumps fact.  Faith trumps evidence.  And if facts and evidence conflict with religious dogma?  Kill the messenger and bury yourself in your religion.

If you’ve followed this Blog, you’ve already seen what I have to say about COVID denial, the denigration of educators, book banning, and especially the insane notions that the serious threats to America’s health—including pregnancy-related deaths, a declining life expectancy, worsening addiction, firearms mortality, out of control drug costs, and unaffordable health care—aren’t really problems at all.

All of these claims fly in the face of measurable evidence and outcomes.  Yet because they serve a political purpose, people still choose to believe them.

In 2009, the Pew Research Institute surveyed American scientists as to their political views.  55% identified as Democrat, 32% as Independent, and only 6% as Republican.  Given the sort of disinformation (OK, call it lies, if you’d like) that have been spread since 2009, I doubt that the Republican numbers have gotten much better.

It’s not that Science has excluded Republicans.  It’s that Republicans have excluded Science.

As I write this, the second mammoth hurricane in 2 weeks is bearing down on the Florida gulf coast.  It’s not like we haven’t seen this horror coming.

Scientists have issued warnings about the rapidly rising water temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico.  Models have clearly predicted more dangerous storm growth.  Both Helene and Milton exploded from Category 2 storms to Category 5 in a matter of hours.

Rational people would be looking for causes and recognizing that steps need to be taken to help mitigate disasters in the future.  But a look around.  What we’re seeing isn’t encouraging.

Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene, a confirmed climate-change denier and purveyor of the “Jewish Space Laser” myth, claims hurricanes are manufactured by Democrats.

Republican Ron DeSantis has mandated that all references to climate change be removed from Florida Schools.  Will anyone hold him accountable?

Ex-President Trump has called climate change a “Chinese hoax” and tried to alter the path of a previous hurricane with a Sharpie pen.  It didn’t work.

And yes, he also pushed unproven and irresponsible treatments for COVID, too.  They didn’t work either.  Remember, he wound up in the ICU despite taking hydroxychloroquine. 

Science isn’t glamourous, and it certainly isn’t political.  Science is a process.  Science is hard work.  It involves measurement, observation, thought, and perhaps most of all, critical thinking.

What’s critical thinking?  It’s the ability to take seemingly conflicting facts and sort them out.  It’s the ability to question beliefs in light of new evidence.  Most importantly, it’s the ability to accept the possibility that a deeply held belief or opinion might, in fact, be dead wrong.

Isn’t this the way kids should be taught to think and reason in school?  Apparently not, if you’re a Texas Republican.

In 2012, the Texas Republican Party added to its Platform a statement that opposes teaching critical thinking skills, since such skills could “challenge a student’s fixed beliefs and undermine parental authority.”

Such a claim serves neither science nor faith.

Those who prioritize conspiracy theories and faith-based belief over science need to take a hard look around.  The evidence of climate change is everywhere.  More emerging viruses are coming our way fast.  Internationally, we are locked in a race with potential adversaries to develop quantum-based computing and encryption, along with artificial intelligence. 

This is the world we confront.  In many ways, it’s even more challenging than the “space race” years of the 50’s and 60’s.

We won that race because we universally supported national efforts to expand science and teach the scientific method. 

Will we win this one?

As I said earlier, my Uncle was also a man of faith, who believed in a higher power.  He was also a tireless worker, who believed government should have a role in providing a path for others who were willing to work hard, too.  Just as his government did for him with the G.I. bill.

He found nothing inconsistent with science, faith, and a supportive social structure.  We need more like him if we are to survive this politicized, conspiracy-minded world of today.

Please keep this in mind when you vote.

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BONUS QUESTION:  For those who enjoy a bit of a challenge, here’s an actual question from one of my Uncle’s chemistry tests.  Feel free to take a stab at the answer in the comments below, if you’d like.  I’ll post the correct answer in the next 24 hours.  Full disclosure:  I missed it.  Maybe that’s why I’ve never forgotten it. 

And if you’re unfamiliar with “root cellars,” “Mason jars,” or “canning,” look it up.

Here’s the question:

“A FAMILY SPENDS THE FALL CANNING THEIR GARDEN VEGETABLES INTO MASON JARS.  THEY STORE THE JARS IN THEIR ROOT CELLAR.  IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WINTER, A SEVERE COLD NIGHT IS PREDICTED.  THE FAMILY IS CONCERNED THE TEMPERATURE WILL BE SO COLD THAT THE VEGETABLES WILL FREEZE AND THE GLASS JARS WILL SHATTER, DESPITE BEING UNDERGROUND.  SO THEY PLACE A LARGE SHALLOW PAN OF WATER IN THE CENTER OF THE CELLER, AND MOVE ALL OF THE JARS ONTO THE FLOOR OF THE CELLER, NEXT TO THE PAN, BUT NOT IN THE PAN.  SURE ENOUGH, THE NEXT MORNING THE WATER IN THE PAN HAS FROZEN SOLID.  DESPITE THIS, THE MASON JARS FULL OF VEGETABLES HAVE NOT FROZEN AND ARE UNDAMAGED.

EXPLAIN WHY THIS HAPPENED.”