We taught kids to read, write, and dream; then trained them to hide, barricade, and bleed quietly while adults chose guns, cowardice, and silence over their future.
The NRA spent approximately $1.48 million on lobbying expenditures in 2024. I consider that "blood" money. Where did the word "conscience" disappear to?!#
It will never end, here, Michael. We are gun and violence addicted. I grew up in Dallas where every male had a shotgun on the back of their truck. Guns were feteshized more than growing a beard or "scoring" with girls. I was taught that our home was a castle, and if anyone I didn't like stepped foot on our property we were entitled to shoot to kill. Thanks to our hypermasculine culture from cowboys to vigilantes to Proud Boys and ICE, to 13 year olds "having" to carry guns to 7th grade, or politicians and MAGA touting Christmas cards and campaign vids displaying their AK 47s, we will never cure our nation of our bloodlust or racism or fear of "The Other." Perhaps a generation must come and go before our citizens honestly care about their children more than our guns.
I think the problem, other than the overall moral failure that this issue represents, is that too many people love THEIR guns more than they care about OTHER PEOPLE'S children.
You're right, it would matter a lot more than all those that "don't matter", but it still wouldn't compell those profiting & benefitting to address the actual problem, they'd just use it as an opportunity to blame & attack people they think are their enemies. These sociopaths don't actually have family values, children are property. They aren't protecting any sanctity of life, they are possessive about what they feel they own.
Vance claims he is Catholic, but he failed to convince the previous Pope that his beliefs were right and the Pope's were wrong. Vance believes he does not have to care about anyone but his own family. He does not follow the 10 Commandments, and he does not attempt to follow Jesus Christ's teachings. But he claims to be a Catholic. Having been taught by Catholic nuns; they would have called this man a tool of the antichrist.
i was raised as a Catholic but to be honest I didn't pay much attention. But I think someone like a bishop can start excommunication proceedings but if you do get excommunicated you can repent and be welcomed back. I'd love to see one of the progressive Bishops start these proceedings....you have to have committed some pretty bad sin but insulting the pope seems to be a reason. Rubio also claims to be a Catholic and it seems to me the glee with which they discuss bombing innocent persons would be reason enough to start excommunication proceedings...and then they rejoicing at every ICE violent behavior towards innocent persons would just be more fuel for the fire.
Scholar Garry Wills wrote a righteously angry column that said too many Americans valued our children’s lives less than sacrificing them to the Moloch of firearms.
We need new laws to limit the amount of money the NRA and gun lobbyists can contribute to a political campaign. We need stringent gun laws now on who can and cannot own a gun. Enough of these senseless killings. It’s past time for Congress and Senate to do their jobs. We need to let them know the American people have had enough.
The issue is very much front and center this month: "Supreme Court difficult to read in case on campaign finance limitations"
"The Supreme Court on Tuesday considered a challenge to a federal law limiting the amount of money that political parties can spend in coordination with a candidate for office. During over two hours of oral argument in National Republican Senatorial Committee v. Federal Election Commission, some of the justices were sympathetic to the challengers’ position that the coordinated expenditure limits violate the First Amendment. But with Justice Neil Gorsuch remaining silent throughout the debate, and Justice Amy Coney Barrett asking only one question, it remained difficult to make definitive predictions about the outcome of the case."
Unfortunately we can't rely on this Supreme Court to do the right thing. They are dominated by right wing ideologues, which to me seems to go hand in hand with the Heritage Foundation and of course mr orangehead
I think Rich, of Ohh that's RICH, was just explaining something about the importance of taking back, maybe the Senate?...because that impacts SCOTUS. All this that these rat bastards are doing has been by rigging OUR government. We have to get educated & take back our power.
[I think the Executive (nomination), the Senate (confirmation), and the House (determining the number of SCOTUS Justices) all affect SCOTUS organization and constituency]
[Constitution] Article III, Section 1. The judicial power of the United States, shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. ... https://tinyurl.com/yc7pe9fn
[House: # of SCOTUS Justices] Article III, Section I states that "The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish." Although the Constitution establishes the Supreme Court, it permits Congress to decide how to organize it. ... Over the years, various Acts of Congress have altered the number of seats on the Supreme Court, from a low of five to a high of 10. Shortly after the Civil War, the number of seats on the Court was fixed at nine. https://tinyurl.com/3k6scc98
[Senate: Advice and Consent] Article II, Section 2, Clause 2: "[The President] ... shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint … judges of the Supreme Court ..." https://tinyurl.com/yh2s82bk
Excellent. Thank you for the helpful information. I do recall mention of the Executive branch & Congress, but didn't have a real grasp. I'm embarrassed by that, but not too proud to learn! Our system of government is often slow, but it is designed for a balance of power.
I'm so strapped financially or I'd be a paid member of every substack of the Midas touch! It's a fantastic place to read the TRUTH FROM SO MANY EXCELLENT AND INTELLIGENT REPORTERS. THEY ARE SO REFRESHING!! This "best ever economy" spewed by the malignant narcissist in the Oval Office and his minions is certainly not the reality to many of us. We are just barely keeping our heads above water. That said, please KNOW how much we appreciate you all!
I’m in the same boat financially, and so appreciate being able to read and comment. Probably difficult for some to realize the concept of “pinching Pennie’s”, but here we are.
I understand, and I know you wanted to reassure him. I’m not critical of your decision to get your grandsons bulletproof backs, I am angry that our politicians have been sold a bill of nonsense from the NRA and Gun Owners of America. Kids shouldn’t have to live in fear of these things happening, but our politicians like all the money they get from the firearms industry.
Christian Nationalism: Nazi Republican Eugenics Program
The point of cruelty of Cheeto’s regime is to show dominance by the "superior race" The question they put to the electorate: don't you want to be part of the superior group? It's in the DNA of the Chrsitian Nationalist movement to be evil and cruel
RFK Jr’s anti vaccine policy fit very nicely with the far right’s eugenics stand because at the heart of his policy is that the strong don’t need vaccines and by prohibiting vaccines to the general population you inherently weed out the weak
The Christian Nationalist racist movement is a reinvention of eugenics in the guise of supporting white Christian values At the center of the movement is that white Christians are superior to all the rest of the world on a genetics level and therefore should rule the world Cheeto’s abusive language toward not only the “inferior immigrants” but recently he’s been going after Europeans as well depicts his sordid idea that supports the eugenics of the Christian Nationalists
But this worn out trope of superiority that rang true in Hitler’s Nazi Germany is as old as humans have occupied the planet Men aren’t created equal because men always seek to assert their dominance over others, seeking to make them better than the others In the end though, we all come from the same Maker and are deemed with certain inalienable rights The attack on these rights by the Nazi Republicans, Cheeto, and his obsequious billionaires all but doom the Christian Nationalist movement
The most recent South Park episode now airing on Paramount Plus is a hilarious parody of the lunacy of Christian Nationalism and the underpinnings that Cheeto and Just Dance Vance have with the movement
If these fools regard themselves as superior specimens of humanity, I’d imagine they got themselves confused with vipers, because they are a brood of vipers.
"There is a Connection between Vices as well as Virtues and one opens the Door for the Entrance of another" [Samuel Adams]
[Samuel Adams} He who is void of virtuous Attachments in private Life, is, or very soon will be void of all Regard for his Country. There is seldom an Instance of a Man guilty of betraying his Country, who had not before lost the Feeling of moral Obligations in his private Connections. For no People will tamely surrender their Liberties, nor can any be easily subdued, when Knowledge is diffusd and Virtue is preservd. On the Contrary, when People are universally ignorant, and debauchd in their Manners, they will sink under their own Weight without the Aid of foreign Invaders."
[James Madison] "I have observed, that gentlemen suppose, that the general legislature will do every mischief they possibly can, and that they will omit to do every thing good which they are authorised to do. ... I consider it reasonable to conclude, that they will as readily do their duty, as deviate from it. ... I go on this great republican principle, that the people will have virtue and intelligence to select men of virtue and wisdom. Is there no virtue among us? If there be not, we are in a wretched situation. No theoretical checks--no form of government can render us secure. To suppose that any form of government will secure liberty or happiness without any virtue in the people, is a chimerical idea. If there be sufficient virtue and intelligence in the community, it will be exercised in the selection of these men. So that we do not depend on their virtue, or put confidence in our rulers, but in the people who are to choose them."
Sources:
Samuel Adams to James Warren, 4-Nov-1775 (The Founders' Constitution, Vol. 1, Ch. 18, Doc. 6) https://tinyurl.com/445vfms3
James Madison, VA Ratifying Convention, 20-Jun-1788 (The Founders' Constitution, Vol. 1, Ch. 13, Doc. 36) https://tinyurl.com/fk3x7enu
I agree completely. From “Our Own Worst Enemy: The Assault from Within on Modern Democracy” (2021) by Thomas M. Nichols [Worth reading 2x as I have, once when it came out shortly after King 45 was deposed and now, almost a year into King 47’s reign. KH]
“The sheer size of our interaction with the virtual world, and the speed with which that world has enveloped all of us, has created a vast and yet lonely space, where we are both too connected and too isolated at the same time. ... Sources and apps that goad us into emphasizing our aggression, encourage us to aggrandize ourselves at the expense of others, and reward us for displaying our most negative thoughts are destroying our ability to function as citizens, even without the slew of emotional problems created when our minds are spinning in a tornado of random sensory input all day.”
This book from 2017 by Nichols also is excellent: "The Death of Expertise: The Campaign Against Established Knowledge and Why it Matters'" It advances the 1999 concept underpinning the Dunning Kruger-Effect: Why Unintelligent People Don't Learn. As described in a Wiki: "...The Dunning-Kruger effect is a cognitive bias where people with low ability in a specific area overestimate their competence, while experts often underestimate theirs, because the less skilled lack the self-awareness to recognize their own shortcomings, and experts understand the vastness of what they don't know. This leads to the ironically confident novice and the humbly cautious expert, creating a gap between perceived and actual skill."
Thank you for recommending this book also. One thing I know about Trump is that he has a profound disdain for expertise or knowledge. He has said he prefers to go with his “gut.” If that’s the case, his gut often led him to fail at his various enterprises.
One thing you have to know is that per his niece Mary, Donald paid someone to take his SAT exams for him, and his sister Maryanne did Donald’s college homework for him when Donald was attending Fordham.
Where's his Wharton transcript? With the Epstein files, no doubt. Oh, my, the things it, too, must include. As for his gut, as thoughtless as it is, it is all he has
Trump's disdain of expertise or knowledge I have to think comes from his profound fear of being found out as an imposter, never being able to measure-up to anyone or anything virtuous in any way whatsoever.
That explains why our country is so screwed. We did not elect a man if virtue or one with a moral compass. This also describes most of the people that voted for him.
Unfortunately, I am only too aware of this. He is both a sociopath and malignant narcissist, two extremely dangerous personality disorders to have in someone who is any official.
Maybe, but remember we need them in 2026, 2028 and beyond. Perhaps they just drank the Main Grifter's Kool-Aid, as the Peoples Temple followers of Jim Jones did obediently on November 18, 1978, in Jonestown, Guyana, in what became known as the "Jonestown Massacre," which resulted in 909 of the cult members dying. See, https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/november-18/mass-suicide-at-jonestown
We need not remain here in Dante's 9th Circle of Hell, at least not forever. In his remarks at University of Kansas, on March 18, 1968, with just 80 days of his life before him, Robert F. Kennedy famously said: “George Bernard Shaw once wrote, "Some people see things as they are and say why? I dream things that never were and say, why not?"” Today, now, We The People, collectively need to imagine where "there" is and how, lawfully and peacefully, to course-correct our journey away from here to there, no matter how hard. Together, ¡Sí, se puede! See, https://tinyurl.com/yrpvars8
My older sibling was from the era of “duck and cover”, but school was pretty carefree for kids my age. College was interesting and the times were innocent. It breaks my heart that kids who are learning critical thinking now, are also learning fear and distrust. America is a mess.
We practiced duck and cover drills often but no one explained to us (then or at any later time) how, precisely, hiding beneath our desks with hands planted firmly behind our necks would save us from the Mach 1 or 2-concussive nuclear wave and radiation poisoning that would have been far more likely to finish us than a small flying shard of a window pane
Thank you Michael for your message. It is a war cry and wake up call. I truly believe if there was harsher punishment for the shooters this shit will stop. If the punishment were DEATH these murders wouldn’t be happening. I believe owning a gun that is an automatic rapid firing should be outlawed. Guns should be for hunting and protection of your home against invaders. It is NOT a needed in society. Rapid fire guns should only be used in a military operation.
The only residual element of exceptionalism now, more overtly than ever before, but certainly not as new policy, is the talk we talk and the walk we walk diverge considerably
If Jesus were alive today in the United States, I feel this would be the words He said. Instead of saying, “Those who live by the sword, die by the sword.” Jesus would say, “Those who live by the gun, die by the gun.” Whenever I hear someone say that the United States is safer because of gun ownership, I really have to wonder if that is a true statement anymore. The Secind Admendment has probably caused more death in the United Stares, then it has saved any lives. Bottom line: when there are more guns in our society then there are people, this statistic guarantees there will be problems.
I understand Canada has almost as many guns per capita as America but almost no mass shootings. In Aus the only mass shootings (including the horror of last evening) were committed using automatic weapons, clearly designed for military use.
I am not a gun owner, user or lover. I'm not American. I know they are useful in some instances, but I doubt the framers of the constitution would have imagined the weapons being used in mass killings in schools as a right. They are weapons of war.
These guns are not used to save lives. They are used to kill. And they do. 🥲
As a proud Canadian 🇨🇦 I know that Canada does NOT have almost as many guns per capita as America because only farmers and designated hunters here are allowed to purchase and carry guns —- although unfortunately many semi-automatic firearms are smuggled into Canada’s criminal urban gangs from America.
Thankyou for correcting my misunderstanding. My point was actually that there are other countries that have guns, but don't have the same gun-related violence. I believe the problem is hatred and guns an easy way to cause maximum damage. A horrible combination.
Australia is much like Canada with it's gun laws, but last evening's horrible event in Sydney shows the effect of such a weapon in the hands of someone filled with hate. Our govt is already preparing changes to the laws in response. As it should. 🇦🇺🇨🇦
Teach your children, grandchildren, nieces & nephews, even the half sibling kids.....No race, creed nor color is better than anyone else. Do not judge others, until you hear their story. Teach the kids about God and what HE requires us to do, how to love and treat others. Love has no color. God made us all. We are uniquely made. All of this comes from the home.....On this note teach them other things as well. (Be honest when kids ask questions in a humble way)
Beautifully written. I have nothing to add but my sadness 😢
Mine too.
Mine three.
And rage
Same here :(
We are teaching them that our government does not protect them.
The NRA spent approximately $1.48 million on lobbying expenditures in 2024. I consider that "blood" money. Where did the word "conscience" disappear to?!#
It will never end, here, Michael. We are gun and violence addicted. I grew up in Dallas where every male had a shotgun on the back of their truck. Guns were feteshized more than growing a beard or "scoring" with girls. I was taught that our home was a castle, and if anyone I didn't like stepped foot on our property we were entitled to shoot to kill. Thanks to our hypermasculine culture from cowboys to vigilantes to Proud Boys and ICE, to 13 year olds "having" to carry guns to 7th grade, or politicians and MAGA touting Christmas cards and campaign vids displaying their AK 47s, we will never cure our nation of our bloodlust or racism or fear of "The Other." Perhaps a generation must come and go before our citizens honestly care about their children more than our guns.
I think the problem, other than the overall moral failure that this issue represents, is that too many people love THEIR guns more than they care about OTHER PEOPLE'S children.
Well said.
I think that we would suddenly begin to care, if the children, or grandchildren, of any high profile politician were shot, and killed!
If they were Democrats, no one in the GOP would care. Indeed they would cheer. If it were one of their own they'd blame it on Biden.
You're right, it would matter a lot more than all those that "don't matter", but it still wouldn't compell those profiting & benefitting to address the actual problem, they'd just use it as an opportunity to blame & attack people they think are their enemies. These sociopaths don't actually have family values, children are property. They aren't protecting any sanctity of life, they are possessive about what they feel they own.
I don't think the GOP will ever care more about their kids than their guns.
After Sandy Hook, when I realized we would allow children to be murdered, I lost all faith in our country. But I won’t give up working to change it.
Excellent, we have to keep fighting to change the gun laws. Look at Gabby Gifford, herself a victim, but she never gave up
We have some coward law makers
and greedy
I wish I could believe they are cowards. But I think they are just horrible people who only care about themselves.
Well, that too.
Vance claims he is Catholic, but he failed to convince the previous Pope that his beliefs were right and the Pope's were wrong. Vance believes he does not have to care about anyone but his own family. He does not follow the 10 Commandments, and he does not attempt to follow Jesus Christ's teachings. But he claims to be a Catholic. Having been taught by Catholic nuns; they would have called this man a tool of the antichrist.
i was raised as a Catholic but to be honest I didn't pay much attention. But I think someone like a bishop can start excommunication proceedings but if you do get excommunicated you can repent and be welcomed back. I'd love to see one of the progressive Bishops start these proceedings....you have to have committed some pretty bad sin but insulting the pope seems to be a reason. Rubio also claims to be a Catholic and it seems to me the glee with which they discuss bombing innocent persons would be reason enough to start excommunication proceedings...and then they rejoicing at every ICE violent behavior towards innocent persons would just be more fuel for the fire.
Scholar Garry Wills wrote a righteously angry column that said too many Americans valued our children’s lives less than sacrificing them to the Moloch of firearms.
So agree Laura.
We need new laws to limit the amount of money the NRA and gun lobbyists can contribute to a political campaign. We need stringent gun laws now on who can and cannot own a gun. Enough of these senseless killings. It’s past time for Congress and Senate to do their jobs. We need to let them know the American people have had enough.
Beautifully written, Michael. Thank you.
The issue is very much front and center this month: "Supreme Court difficult to read in case on campaign finance limitations"
"The Supreme Court on Tuesday considered a challenge to a federal law limiting the amount of money that political parties can spend in coordination with a candidate for office. During over two hours of oral argument in National Republican Senatorial Committee v. Federal Election Commission, some of the justices were sympathetic to the challengers’ position that the coordinated expenditure limits violate the First Amendment. But with Justice Neil Gorsuch remaining silent throughout the debate, and Justice Amy Coney Barrett asking only one question, it remained difficult to make definitive predictions about the outcome of the case."
Source: SCOTUSblog, 9-Dec-2025/10-Dec-25 https://tinyurl.com/sst4mk7f
Unfortunately we can't rely on this Supreme Court to do the right thing. They are dominated by right wing ideologues, which to me seems to go hand in hand with the Heritage Foundation and of course mr orangehead
Mitch McDonnell: one man who has done as much or more damage than most
He was architect of this Supreme Court starting with blocking Merrick Garland. He is a rat
I think Rich, of Ohh that's RICH, was just explaining something about the importance of taking back, maybe the Senate?...because that impacts SCOTUS. All this that these rat bastards are doing has been by rigging OUR government. We have to get educated & take back our power.
[I think the Executive (nomination), the Senate (confirmation), and the House (determining the number of SCOTUS Justices) all affect SCOTUS organization and constituency]
[Constitution] Article III, Section 1. The judicial power of the United States, shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. ... https://tinyurl.com/yc7pe9fn
[House: # of SCOTUS Justices] Article III, Section I states that "The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish." Although the Constitution establishes the Supreme Court, it permits Congress to decide how to organize it. ... Over the years, various Acts of Congress have altered the number of seats on the Supreme Court, from a low of five to a high of 10. Shortly after the Civil War, the number of seats on the Court was fixed at nine. https://tinyurl.com/3k6scc98
[Senate: Advice and Consent] Article II, Section 2, Clause 2: "[The President] ... shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint … judges of the Supreme Court ..." https://tinyurl.com/yh2s82bk
Excellent. Thank you for the helpful information. I do recall mention of the Executive branch & Congress, but didn't have a real grasp. I'm embarrassed by that, but not too proud to learn! Our system of government is often slow, but it is designed for a balance of power.
Kathy, I enjoy reading your substantively rich and interesting posts. They encourage me to think, evaluate, reconsider, and learn. Thank you. 🙏 KH
The brutal truth. Nothing more to say other than Let that just sink in. If we remain silent we are complicit.
Totally agree, we need to keep fighting the gun lobby and its influence on politicians, especially Republicans
I'm so strapped financially or I'd be a paid member of every substack of the Midas touch! It's a fantastic place to read the TRUTH FROM SO MANY EXCELLENT AND INTELLIGENT REPORTERS. THEY ARE SO REFRESHING!! This "best ever economy" spewed by the malignant narcissist in the Oval Office and his minions is certainly not the reality to many of us. We are just barely keeping our heads above water. That said, please KNOW how much we appreciate you all!
I’m in the same boat financially, and so appreciate being able to read and comment. Probably difficult for some to realize the concept of “pinching Pennie’s”, but here we are.
Believe me you are not alone, much of the country has to in the current situation
Our country is in such a mess, I bought bulletproof backpack plates for my grandsons.
Perhaps the PTA can put bulletproof vests in every classroom since common sense laws will not be implemented
THAT IS EXTREMELY SAD
It truly is.
You should never have had to do that. Too many people value their firearms over human life, and we are a very confused society because of it.
My grandson was afraid. I had to do something
I understand, and I know you wanted to reassure him. I’m not critical of your decision to get your grandsons bulletproof backs, I am angry that our politicians have been sold a bill of nonsense from the NRA and Gun Owners of America. Kids shouldn’t have to live in fear of these things happening, but our politicians like all the money they get from the firearms industry.
I am a grandfather and I understand. It remains a tragic thing
What? Hanging the 10 Commandments in every classroom won't save them? (sarcasm)
The beatitudes would be a better choice
Christian Nationalism: Nazi Republican Eugenics Program
The point of cruelty of Cheeto’s regime is to show dominance by the "superior race" The question they put to the electorate: don't you want to be part of the superior group? It's in the DNA of the Chrsitian Nationalist movement to be evil and cruel
RFK Jr’s anti vaccine policy fit very nicely with the far right’s eugenics stand because at the heart of his policy is that the strong don’t need vaccines and by prohibiting vaccines to the general population you inherently weed out the weak
The Christian Nationalist racist movement is a reinvention of eugenics in the guise of supporting white Christian values At the center of the movement is that white Christians are superior to all the rest of the world on a genetics level and therefore should rule the world Cheeto’s abusive language toward not only the “inferior immigrants” but recently he’s been going after Europeans as well depicts his sordid idea that supports the eugenics of the Christian Nationalists
But this worn out trope of superiority that rang true in Hitler’s Nazi Germany is as old as humans have occupied the planet Men aren’t created equal because men always seek to assert their dominance over others, seeking to make them better than the others In the end though, we all come from the same Maker and are deemed with certain inalienable rights The attack on these rights by the Nazi Republicans, Cheeto, and his obsequious billionaires all but doom the Christian Nationalist movement
The most recent South Park episode now airing on Paramount Plus is a hilarious parody of the lunacy of Christian Nationalism and the underpinnings that Cheeto and Just Dance Vance have with the movement
If these fools regard themselves as superior specimens of humanity, I’d imagine they got themselves confused with vipers, because they are a brood of vipers.
WELL SAID
"There is a Connection between Vices as well as Virtues and one opens the Door for the Entrance of another" [Samuel Adams]
[Samuel Adams} He who is void of virtuous Attachments in private Life, is, or very soon will be void of all Regard for his Country. There is seldom an Instance of a Man guilty of betraying his Country, who had not before lost the Feeling of moral Obligations in his private Connections. For no People will tamely surrender their Liberties, nor can any be easily subdued, when Knowledge is diffusd and Virtue is preservd. On the Contrary, when People are universally ignorant, and debauchd in their Manners, they will sink under their own Weight without the Aid of foreign Invaders."
[James Madison] "I have observed, that gentlemen suppose, that the general legislature will do every mischief they possibly can, and that they will omit to do every thing good which they are authorised to do. ... I consider it reasonable to conclude, that they will as readily do their duty, as deviate from it. ... I go on this great republican principle, that the people will have virtue and intelligence to select men of virtue and wisdom. Is there no virtue among us? If there be not, we are in a wretched situation. No theoretical checks--no form of government can render us secure. To suppose that any form of government will secure liberty or happiness without any virtue in the people, is a chimerical idea. If there be sufficient virtue and intelligence in the community, it will be exercised in the selection of these men. So that we do not depend on their virtue, or put confidence in our rulers, but in the people who are to choose them."
Sources:
Samuel Adams to James Warren, 4-Nov-1775 (The Founders' Constitution, Vol. 1, Ch. 18, Doc. 6) https://tinyurl.com/445vfms3
James Madison, VA Ratifying Convention, 20-Jun-1788 (The Founders' Constitution, Vol. 1, Ch. 13, Doc. 36) https://tinyurl.com/fk3x7enu
Please remember that all women and all people of colour and African American slaves were entirely excluded by the Founding Fathers of America 😢 !
And for for the ensuing 406 years, and continuing, by their progeny 😢😢!
I don’t forget that ever.
Amazing words indeed. Thanks!
They are from a time when we met each other face to face.
80% of human communication is non verbal.
I agree completely. From “Our Own Worst Enemy: The Assault from Within on Modern Democracy” (2021) by Thomas M. Nichols [Worth reading 2x as I have, once when it came out shortly after King 45 was deposed and now, almost a year into King 47’s reign. KH]
“The sheer size of our interaction with the virtual world, and the speed with which that world has enveloped all of us, has created a vast and yet lonely space, where we are both too connected and too isolated at the same time. ... Sources and apps that goad us into emphasizing our aggression, encourage us to aggrandize ourselves at the expense of others, and reward us for displaying our most negative thoughts are destroying our ability to function as citizens, even without the slew of emotional problems created when our minds are spinning in a tornado of random sensory input all day.”
Kelvin, thank you for recommending this book. I am adding it to my already lengthy list of books to read!
This book from 2017 by Nichols also is excellent: "The Death of Expertise: The Campaign Against Established Knowledge and Why it Matters'" It advances the 1999 concept underpinning the Dunning Kruger-Effect: Why Unintelligent People Don't Learn. As described in a Wiki: "...The Dunning-Kruger effect is a cognitive bias where people with low ability in a specific area overestimate their competence, while experts often underestimate theirs, because the less skilled lack the self-awareness to recognize their own shortcomings, and experts understand the vastness of what they don't know. This leads to the ironically confident novice and the humbly cautious expert, creating a gap between perceived and actual skill."
Thank you for recommending this book also. One thing I know about Trump is that he has a profound disdain for expertise or knowledge. He has said he prefers to go with his “gut.” If that’s the case, his gut often led him to fail at his various enterprises.
One thing you have to know is that per his niece Mary, Donald paid someone to take his SAT exams for him, and his sister Maryanne did Donald’s college homework for him when Donald was attending Fordham.
Where's his Wharton transcript? With the Epstein files, no doubt. Oh, my, the things it, too, must include. As for his gut, as thoughtless as it is, it is all he has
Trump's disdain of expertise or knowledge I have to think comes from his profound fear of being found out as an imposter, never being able to measure-up to anyone or anything virtuous in any way whatsoever.
That explains why our country is so screwed. We did not elect a man if virtue or one with a moral compass. This also describes most of the people that voted for him.
Unfortunately, I am only too aware of this. He is both a sociopath and malignant narcissist, two extremely dangerous personality disorders to have in someone who is any official.
Maybe, but remember we need them in 2026, 2028 and beyond. Perhaps they just drank the Main Grifter's Kool-Aid, as the Peoples Temple followers of Jim Jones did obediently on November 18, 1978, in Jonestown, Guyana, in what became known as the "Jonestown Massacre," which resulted in 909 of the cult members dying. See, https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/november-18/mass-suicide-at-jonestown
Trump would have charged them for the Flavor Aid and cyanide.
Haha___indeed
😂
Thank you. It’s plain to see who and where we are.
Thank you 🙏 KH
We need not remain here in Dante's 9th Circle of Hell, at least not forever. In his remarks at University of Kansas, on March 18, 1968, with just 80 days of his life before him, Robert F. Kennedy famously said: “George Bernard Shaw once wrote, "Some people see things as they are and say why? I dream things that never were and say, why not?"” Today, now, We The People, collectively need to imagine where "there" is and how, lawfully and peacefully, to course-correct our journey away from here to there, no matter how hard. Together, ¡Sí, se puede! See, https://tinyurl.com/yrpvars8
Yes we can and yes we must !
My older sibling was from the era of “duck and cover”, but school was pretty carefree for kids my age. College was interesting and the times were innocent. It breaks my heart that kids who are learning critical thinking now, are also learning fear and distrust. America is a mess.
We practiced duck and cover drills often but no one explained to us (then or at any later time) how, precisely, hiding beneath our desks with hands planted firmly behind our necks would save us from the Mach 1 or 2-concussive nuclear wave and radiation poisoning that would have been far more likely to finish us than a small flying shard of a window pane
Thank you Michael for your message. It is a war cry and wake up call. I truly believe if there was harsher punishment for the shooters this shit will stop. If the punishment were DEATH these murders wouldn’t be happening. I believe owning a gun that is an automatic rapid firing should be outlawed. Guns should be for hunting and protection of your home against invaders. It is NOT a needed in society. Rapid fire guns should only be used in a military operation.
What a dramatic fail from grace for a country that thought they were something they never managed to achieve and never will. Really quite sad!!
It's called AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM, unfortunately. Many people are still proud of this country as is.
The only residual element of exceptionalism now, more overtly than ever before, but certainly not as new policy, is the talk we talk and the walk we walk diverge considerably
I don’t think that’s something to be proud or happy about, or do you.?
Certainly I do not. It was stated with heartbroken disappointment and sadness
I share your sentiments
Let’s work to change it
Action is the best therapy against despair
If Jesus were alive today in the United States, I feel this would be the words He said. Instead of saying, “Those who live by the sword, die by the sword.” Jesus would say, “Those who live by the gun, die by the gun.” Whenever I hear someone say that the United States is safer because of gun ownership, I really have to wonder if that is a true statement anymore. The Secind Admendment has probably caused more death in the United Stares, then it has saved any lives. Bottom line: when there are more guns in our society then there are people, this statistic guarantees there will be problems.
I understand Canada has almost as many guns per capita as America but almost no mass shootings. In Aus the only mass shootings (including the horror of last evening) were committed using automatic weapons, clearly designed for military use.
I am not a gun owner, user or lover. I'm not American. I know they are useful in some instances, but I doubt the framers of the constitution would have imagined the weapons being used in mass killings in schools as a right. They are weapons of war.
These guns are not used to save lives. They are used to kill. And they do. 🥲
As a proud Canadian 🇨🇦 I know that Canada does NOT have almost as many guns per capita as America because only farmers and designated hunters here are allowed to purchase and carry guns —- although unfortunately many semi-automatic firearms are smuggled into Canada’s criminal urban gangs from America.
Thankyou for correcting my misunderstanding. My point was actually that there are other countries that have guns, but don't have the same gun-related violence. I believe the problem is hatred and guns an easy way to cause maximum damage. A horrible combination.
Australia is much like Canada with it's gun laws, but last evening's horrible event in Sydney shows the effect of such a weapon in the hands of someone filled with hate. Our govt is already preparing changes to the laws in response. As it should. 🇦🇺🇨🇦
Teach your children, grandchildren, nieces & nephews, even the half sibling kids.....No race, creed nor color is better than anyone else. Do not judge others, until you hear their story. Teach the kids about God and what HE requires us to do, how to love and treat others. Love has no color. God made us all. We are uniquely made. All of this comes from the home.....On this note teach them other things as well. (Be honest when kids ask questions in a humble way)
Teach your children well
Their father's hell did slowly go by
Feed them on your dreams
The one they pick's the one you'll know by
And you, of tender years
Can't know the fears your elders grew by
Help them with your youth
They seek the truth before they can die
Teach your parents well
Their children's hell will slowly go by
And feed them on your dreams
The one they pick's the one you'll know by
“Teach Your Children” (1970) song by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
That alone in Itself,should put enough rage in everyone to fight like hell for our their future, RELENTLESSLY.