An Open Letter To Congress

 Let me first tell of who I am and where I come from to give some background to why I am going to say the things I am going to say. I am a lifelong Texan born and raised in Texas, a 3rd generation native Austinite. I am now considered to be old, among the last of the boomers. I am white, publicly educated, and hold no degrees. I did attend college completing two years of study in various institutions of higher learning, discovering a deep love of history and specifically American political history concerning the Revolutionary war and The Founding. I am deeply read in those areas for a layman, I believe, having read biographies on Jefferson, Hamilton and other founders as well as The Federalist Papers, Democracy in America, and more. I know from those readings the reasons our form of government is called an experiment in democracy and that it has been challenged many, many times before.

I also know that democracy survived those challenges, usually with the staunch help of fearless institutions. The press, the church ..and the U.S. Congress. It is Congress' constitutionally defined obligation to hold the executive and the judicial branches of our government in check. They have failed in the past and are failing now, due to, as far as I can tell loyalty to their party and/or to their donors. Both of these failures now deserve the intimate attentions of the American people.

I have communicated my questions as to when my representatives will be exercising this power to end the current executive overreaches we are experiencing in real time. I have yet to receive responses from either of my Senators, and my Representative sent back what was basically a from letter and political pablum, but at least he replied to his constituent. 

Here's what I expect from my representatives: full and impartial investigations into crimes and misdemeanors committed by the executive branch, and if found to have been knowingly and criminally committed, impeachment proceedings. Find the truth then act on it as if they weren't politicians in your party. You owe them no loyalty. Your service belongs to me and your other constituents. If you will not serve us, then I will actively and with every resource I possess work to put you out of office. And while I do not have the financial capabilities some of your donors do, I do have and maintain a vast network of friends, family and contacts within my community. I will be spreading the word.

However, I do not believe that my attempts to unseat my representatives who have chosen not to represent us will truly change the political landscape. I do know of one power that, since the Revolution, has not been fully tested. And I believe it is time. I believe that, we the people need to demand that Congress do its job and protect and defend America against all enemies, both foreign....and particularly, domestic. To demand that government cease and desist from unconstitutional behaviors, i.e.; illegal searches and seizures, use of undo force, unconstitutional detentions, etc., etc.

And before you blow me off as a starry-eyed, bleeding-heart liberal, consider this:

    What if it was your mother or father being dragged out into the cold without due process and no probable cause? What if your son was driving home from school and was stopped, his car severely damaged and he is dragged out of his car , handcuffed and disappeared? Even if you don't think these things can happen to you or your family, take a minute and imagine it. Because it is happening in cities and communities all over the country to people just like you and I. And I can promise you beyond any reasonable doubt, that if it can happen to them, you could most definitely be next. Anyone who understands history knows that to be true.

So I am calling on Congress do do its duty to their constituents. Do it, Senators and Representatives, or not as you see fit, But understand that we will be watching like you've never been watched before and you will answer to the people on election day.

And I am calling on the people to do the watching. Call, write, email or hell, send up smoke signals to your elected representative and demand that they do their jobs. Let me also promise that a couple of hundred communications a day to a Congressional office that all basically say the same thing will definitely get attention. So do your duty to your country and communicate your dissatisfaction to your representatives. Vote, every single time there's an election. Listen to the campaigns and vote your conscience, but hold 'em to it. You are the boss, here. Act like it.

On Renee Good

 My Fellow Americans:

First let me say that my heart goes out to Ms. Good's family and children, her friend, her community and to the city of Minneapolis. I am truly sorry for your loss. 

At this particular time and in this particular place, I could care less what your politics are. What happened to Ms. Ross is criminal, no matter who says otherwise. What will cure the anger and fear that, in my opinion, this is supposed to instill? Accountability.

At this writing, the FBI has excluded the BCA (Minnesota's state investigative agency) from Federal evidence gathered during the federal investigation and tried to claim sole jurisdiction in any investigation. The Dept. of Homeland security labeled the woman a domestic terrorist before any investigation had had a chance to assess any evidence. J. D, Vance states its a left wing conspiracy and that she was radicalized, again before any evidence had been assessed.

Let me encourage you to watch the videos. While they are not by any means conclusive, they damn sure show that DHS and Vance are lying. They are telling the American people, all the American people, that what they see isn't real. One of the videos is from the shooting officer's body cam. Is that the result of some politically motivated conspiracy?

Here  are the real questions: Why would these people want to lie about this? What's at stake? Who is injured by the truth? Why is it so important that our government would so obviously lie to us about the death of an American citizen who was breaking no laws?

Let me tell you how I feel. I am angry. I am so angry that I am posting this on a public forum where it could conceivably cost me my freedom or my life. And I am afraid. If an unarmed mother of three can be shot in the streets of her community for no other reason than she bruised an officer's ego, then it can happen to me, a member of my family,  a member of my community or anyone. 

Let me say that again. IF IT CAN HAPPEN TO HER IT CAN HAPPEN TO ANYONE.

That, in a very real and concrete way, means it can happen to you. The officer didn't ask what her political affiliation was or if she was a Christian, he just shot her three times, killing her instantly. 

If you are not willing to live with the idea of getting shot for no reason, then contact your government representatives. Call, write, email. text or all of the previous to your Congressman, your Senator, both Federal and State.  Demand that they provide transparent accountability and let the chips fall where they may. Withhold campaign contributions and urge your neighbors not to vote for those that refuse to do so. Your government is supposed to work for you, not kill you because it can. If you need help finding out how to contact your representatives, I'll link the federal information below. Your state should have a website with all representative listed and their contact information. Trust me, if they get enough calls, emails, letters, etc., they will pay attention.

But the time for silence is over. Make those calls! Write those emails. Be concise and curt in exactly what you expect. Its obviously not a game anymore. Demand your rights and life be protected from your government. Your life may depend on it.

https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative

https://www.congress.gov/contact-us

On MAGA and Christmas

 Let me first say that I chose the title of this missive on purpose. It is not my wish to exclude anyone, but MAGA persons are my target audience for this diatribe. Thus, the title.

To all true-believers and ideologues from the far right: Merry Christmas.

While you may not except that a moderate, left-leaning person such as myself can truly mean that, let me assure you, I do. I disagree with you, I do not hate you, I will not exclude you. I will listen to you and, yes, more than likely, I will disagree with some of what you have to say. The funny thing is, the same can be said of you to me. That doesn't mean I believe that you want any less for yourself, your family, your children and your country than I do. I truly believe you do. We just happen to disagree about what that is.

And disagreement used to be a good thing. It brought about an exchange of ideas, an explaining of ideals and goals, and ways to reach them. People talked, accepted the things they could, disagreed (sometimes vehemently) about the things they couldn't, and we met in the middle. This was how democracy worked. Nobody got everything they wanted, but the country, the community, the congregation moved forward. It is supposed to work that way. Consensus rather than fiat is the name of the game. But in order to form a consensus, all sides, all opportunities must be considered. Even the ones that may personally be disagreeable.

Therefore, with all sincerity, I wish one and all a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful, happy holiday season. May we all remember that we are better together than apart.

Amen.

On Sarah Beckstrom and Andrew Wolfe

 

This is Sarah Beckstrom in her Army National Guard uniform, where she was happily serving her country - our country - in the capacity that we are all responsible for assigning her to do.

 Guardsmen go where they are ordered. Not because they particularly want to, nor because they have an agenda. They go simply because someone up the chain of command told them to go. They are assigned duties. Sarah's was standing guard duty over a building. Not a particularly offensive duty, or at least it shouldn't be. When was the last time you went to a concert and there were no guards, no security. Did it offend you that they were there? Or did it make you fell just a little bit safer?

Sarah wasn't there to serve her own political, personal or ideological purposes. She was there because she was ordered to be and she was doing the job she was ordered to do. She was a good soldier. She was also a young woman on the brink of putting together her future. That has all ended. It cannot continue. Her story has been tragically and oh so sadly cut short.

Sarah died in the line of duty. She was 20 years old. As a soldier, the ones who ultimately carry the responsibility for her death is us, the people. We elected the officials who gave the orders that ended up putting Sarah on a street in Washington, D.C. We are truly and ultimately at the top of the chain of command. And as such, it falls to us to mourn her loss and remember that she gave her life as a soldier. No more or less so than any fallen soldier on any battlefield this country has ever put troops on. She deserve our respect, our honor and our remembrance. She certainly has mine. We are less because of what happened to her.

This is Andrew Wolfe, USAF Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe. At this writing, he is in a hospital with severe and life threatening injuries from a gunshot wound he suffered in the line of duty. It is unknown whether or not he will survive.

He, like Sarah, was simply doing what he was ordered to do in service to his country. Again, the ultimate responsibility for his wounds belong to "we, the people". He was in service to us, doing his duty for us - not some ideal, policy or preference  - for us. 

While I am praying for his full recovery, I would ask that all of us keep him in our consciousness. He deserves all the good thoughts we can send his way. He has more than earned them.

And I would also ask that we save the finger-pointing, blaming and political maneuvering until after the mourning. It is not appropriate to use these young peoples' and their families' horror for political or personal gain. Sarah deserve our reverence. Andrew deserve our honor. 

Please give it to them. They deserve so much more than we can ever, as a nation, give them.

On The Supreme Court and Same-sex Marriage

 

"Supreme Court rejects challenge to legalisation of same-sex marriage"

That was the headline on the BBC website this morning. I goes on to cover how this non-hearing came about with a woman named Kim Davis, a county clerk in Kentucky, refused to issue a wedding license to a same-sex couple based on her religious beliefs. She got sued and lost. The judge in the case found that she cannot use her constitutional rights to violate someone else's. Evidently, the Supreme Court agrees. I think it goes deeper than that.

I support Ms. Davis' right to her religious beliefs. She is free to believe her Apostolic Christian beliefs freely. Her mistake is believing that she had the right to impose those beliefs on anyone -anybody- else. If she truly believes that homosexuality is against her beliefs, then she's in the wrong job. Instead of refusing to do her job, she should have resigned. "Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's and unto God that which is God's". She was a public authority. Her job was to issue legal licensing to the public for the purposes (pretty much) of state record keeping. If she had religiously-based issues with that function, get another function. 

Your religious beliefs have absolutely nothing to do with another's beliefs or political rights. And you damn sure cannot enforce your beliefs on anybody else. It is anti-Christian to do so. You want people to share your beliefs? Show them how your beliefs make your life better, improve the society we live in, and make people happy while they maintain their right to choose. God gave mankind choice. Who are we to take it away?

Christ turned no one away. No one. The only entity he rejected was Satan and even then, he simply refused to take up what he was offering. You have an absolute right to your beliefs. So does everybody else. You want to convert someone? Love them. Don't deny them.

This Is The Way Its Supposed to Work

 With the government shutdown and Congress and the President playing politics with real peoples' lives, the people have stepped up to take care of their communities. It is absolutely one of the most heart-warming things I have seen in my life -and the way its supposed to be. Here are just a few examples of what ordinary people, charitable organizations and political candidates are doing to feed SNAP beneficiaries and out-of-work federal employees:

Pittsburgh man, A J Owen, set up a neighborhood food bank in his front yard with non-perishables and snacks he got from his local Aldi's. His TikTok went viral and he was covered on local and national news. Donations starting coming in, including an envelope with $100 bills and no name, Pittsburgh DE Yahya Black and his fiance who dropped off totes of food. And he estimates he's feeding 200 families in his community.

Kat Abughazaleh, of whom I have spoken before, has pledged $2500 per week of campaign funds to the food depositories in her district (She's running for Congress) and has challenged all candidates in her race to do the same (there are 17 candidates). 

A coffee shop owner in Portland is giving free "SNAP" breakfasts to anyone who needs a meal because an 11 year old boy asked him for one "because he was hungry". He is serving over 150 breakfasts a day and is getting help from donations. In his 450 sq. ft. coffee shop...

Southwest Diner in Boulder, Nevada is serving free meals to children during the shutdown.

In my home state, HEB, a huge but relatively local chain, has donated $5 million worth of food to food banks on top of what they were already donating weekly.

And the list goes on and on and on...

People helping people, spreading hope and love in their homes, their communities and to their neighbors. Something our government is entirely incapable of doing.(Not blaming the government, no government ever conceived has the tools to do that.) While it is not perfect, it is the way its supposed to work.

But don't let these stories convince you that all is well. Every food bank, depository or soup kitchen  researched is begging for help. They are getting more than they've ever gotten to help the hungry, but there are more hungry people than they've ever seen before. What used to last a month is now lasting less than a week.

These people they are helping have no options, no Plan B, nothing to fall back on. Food banks don't solve their poverty, they literally just keep them from starving while Elon Musk gets paid $1 trillion dollars. Funny that while working class Americans open up their wallets, give of their time and reach out with the hand of community, the 1% are strangely silent. Hmmmm...

So, please, do what you can to help. Usually, the best donation you can make is cash. Food banks can stretch your dollar to buy much more food than you can just buying from your local grocer. They can combine your money with other donations and buy in bulk for pennies on the dollar, corporations can write off any discounts they give to food banks so food banks can buy for less. All the food banks I researched also said that they need diapers and feminine hygiene products, which the cannot get discounts on, but that families need. My suggestion is call the food bank of your choice and ask what they need.

This is America at its best, this is what happens in a democracy of the people. When we're down, we come together and quit looking at our difference and start acting like what we are - "One People, Under God". Help if you can and may God Bless the United States of America.

American History and the Trump Question

 Fair warning - If you are a true believer in the MAGA movement and believe that President Trump is doing what is necessary to preserve America, then you probably will not like at least some of the thing I am going to write. Your agreement is not necessary or even expected. I would urge you to consider what is written here and present a cogent, reasonable refutation. I will respond, in the same vein, to tell you why I think you are wrong or agree whole-heartedly if I believe you to be correct. I promise.

First, let me explain what I think is going on. Donald Trump is the perfect front man for a group of small people who want to be gigantic. Stephen Miller is now, and from what I can read, always has been a fascist. But he is the man behind the movement, as far as I can tell. He might be a fascist, but he ain't stupid. He is using every tool at his disposal to manipulate people, events and history. (Have you read Orwell's 1984?) He is using governmental powers and prerogatives to undermine virtually every other institution in American society - not that these institutions hadn't pretty much shot themselves in the foot. The church has become a weapon of white nationalism. The media has become more about a news anchors or influencers opinion than the facts - forget the truth. The current administration spews lies like fountains spew water and there is no credible nay-sayer. 

But when the President blows boats out of the water in international waters because he can, when troops are illegally deployed in American cities, and only those cities that are overwhelmingly Democrat, and then looks straight at the camera and lies about why - When people are wholesale manhandled into unmarked vans by masked "agents' and sorted out later to determine if they can further be deprived of their rights and humanity - When the President, the only convicted felon to ever hold the office, deploys military troops to "control crime" - When the President publicly instructs the Attorney General to prosecute his political enemies and she does, we get to the heart of the matter, control. 

None of these actions have any purpose other than to instill fear and assert control over the people most likely to disagree with the current political regime - at least for now. I will state plainly what I have always believed - If you let someone or something take away rights from anybody, you are in line to lose them yourself. If you take away Jimmy Kimmel's right to criticize the President, then you stand to lose your right to criticize anyone or anything that the people you have just granted that right to decide what you should or shouldn't be able to criticize. It starts with Jimmy Kimmel - it ends with everybody having to tow the party line, tovarisch. Hitler was freely elected as Chancellor of Germany - look it up.

I despise what is happening to America. I do not blame Trump. I have some modicum of blame for Congress, who decided a long time ago that their job was not to represent their districts, it was to tow the party line and get re-elected so they could keep paying themselves with insider information, a super retirement plan and all those unused campaign funds. No, the ones to blame are us. The American people are the ones that didn't show up to the polls, didn't raise our voices when we should and could have, we didn't hold our Congresspersons accountable to our demands or even their own promises. We got ourselves here, where fear and force are the methods of politics.

Fortunately, if the courts will continue to do their job, we can change it again. Raise your voice, call your representatives in Congress and demand they do their job. Write letters, text, post TikTok videos, shout it from the rooftops that we will NOT BE AFRAID. And most importantly, VOTE! Register and VOTE! We got ourselves into this mess, we can get ourselves out. But only if we use the tools given to us, our voices and our votes. 

Change the political market, demand your representatives represent you and the rest of the constituency, hold their feet to the fire. When MTG starts speaking truth to power, something is changing, the wind is shifting. Be a part of that change.