My Canada Theory

I have this theory:  If the decent folks in the United States had to create a new country from scratch, the end product would basically be Canada.  

Now by way of disclosure, I will note that I am writing this from a rented condominium in Carleton Place, Ontario, Canada.  This is my third trip to Canada, with the fourth coming in August.  There can be more after that, and it would be perfectly okay with me.  

Canada is unique in that its is one of those places that manages to under-promise and over-deliver.  You hear that the people are nice, then you come to here and are still surprised at just how friendly people really are when you meet them.  You see pictures of how scenic it is, but then you come here and, well, you are pleasantly surprised just how much better things look in person.  You sense that this is an orderly kind of place but then you walk along the road and you see streets that are cleaner than most KFC restaurants.  It is a place of sometimes subtle, sometimes overt, understatement.  

As a United States citizen I feel like I should be saying sorry to folks here for just how asinine our government has been treating the residents of the Great White North.  Being here, there is one of part of U.S. policy that now make sense though:  The (U.S.) president's comments about Canada reflect how a bully sees those they view as "weak" and "vulnerable".  The failure of that logic lies in the fact that Canada is not a place for the weak (try lasting a winter here...) or the vulnerable.  Like most bullies, the current president chronically underestimates those he targets, up until the point where eventually one fights back.

Having spent a little bit of time talking to actual Canadians about the current U.S. president, the good news, if you want to call it that, is they:

1) Recognize that most U.S. citizens don't support Drumpf.

2) See him for being as ridiculous as most of us do.

Case in point -

Actual Canadian Teenager:  Why does he want to paint that pool in Washington D.C.?

Actual U.S. Citizen (me):  Because he's an idiot.

Actual Canadian Teenager:  Doesn't it cost like a lot of money to do that?

Actual U.S, Citizen (me):  Yes.  And he thinks this is somehow more important than providing healthcare of the poor.

Actual Canadian Teenager:  That's stupid.

Actual U.S. Citizen (me):  Congratulations, you are smarter than 32% of the U.S. voting population.  Want to run for Pennsylvania Senator?  If the current guy can run and actually be from Connecticut, then I don't see why a smart teenager from the Great White North (who has dual U.S.-Canadian citizenship, by the way) can't be elected as well.

(Part of the above is somewhat fictionalized)

One thing that I haven't sensed in speaking to actual Canadians is fear.  That's a good thing.  Fear is the currency that bullies trade in, and it's refreshing to know that most folks don't buy what Drumpf is selling.

As they say up here...

(Source HERE)

U.S. Midterm Elections - The Hungarian Dress Rehearsal

5pm ET, Sunday, Update - It appears that Viktor Orban has conceded defeat.  If true, and barring any surpises, this could be a very good sign for both Hungary and the United States.  For the record, sometimes being wrong is really, really good thing.  

******

This will be short and to the point.  

As I type this, citizens in the country of Hungary will be going to the polls with the outcome deciding the fate of current Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has ruled the country for 16 years.  

Hungarian Election Coverage -

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/hungary-elections-2026-live-updates-victor-orban-results-b2955998.html

Why should you care?  In part because Orban wrote the MAGA playbook.  He is to the current U.S. president as Mussolini was to Hitler.  His creation of an "illiberal democracy" has been the template for what many in the current administration are trying to achieve in the U.S.

What do I mean by an "illiberal democracy"?  Here's a good definition:

Seem familiar?  It should.  Note that U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance actually went to Hungary to campaign for Orban (citation HERE). 

If Orban loses his re-election bid, what happens next will be a test case, a dress-rehearsal if you will, for how the current U.S. administration prepares for, and responds to, the mid-term elections in November.  Expect immediate claims, evidence be damned, of wide-spread election fraud.  The potential exists for some form of action on the part of Orban to nullify the election results.  He will likely not go quietly.

In the case of the U.S., a significant Orban loss could create a further incentive for the current president to declare some kind of national emergency around election time, in an attempt to limit turnout or, intimidate voters via the public placement of armed forces.  It's entirely possible the current administration will simply refuse to accept election losses that will change control in Congress from Republican to Democratic majorities.  The current president has already attempted to use executive actions to nullify constitional protections (i.e., the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution).

This is a play that may not end well.  And today is the first act.

I Have Questions...for my fellow Dads

The following has been attributed to Attorney General Pam Bondi:

 "If we prosecute everybody in the Epstein Files, the whole system will collapse" 

For the record, I can't find evidence that directly ties her to this comment though, and in fact it has been deemed in accurate by Snopes (attribution here:  https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/bondi-epstein-files-system-collapse/).

Yet this is where we are in that the quote seems entirely plausible, given the dynamics of life and politics in the United States of America right now.

Yes, this is a posting about the Epstein files.  Now, are some on the political left using the Epstein files as a tool to hammer the current presidential administration?  Sure.  This kind of stuff is as old as politics itself has existed.  But discussions like that ("...well the left...") are utterly meaningless in the larger sense of things in that, motivations aside, one simple fact remains:

Jeffrey Epstein ran a criminal enterprise that allowed rich and powerful people to sexually assault children and young women.

I will also add the following:

The United States government (and other world governments) has done virtually nothing to bring the folks that engaged in that abusing behavior...towards children and young women...to justice.  Why?  Because those same folks are rich and powerful.

Take a step back for a moment and consider just how utterly terrible all of this actually is; it is as if the plot for some horrible thriller has actually turned out to be real life.  Because it has.  

In particular, if you are a father of daughter(s), regardless of their age, I am wondering why you are not personally outraged at all of this; if you have been publicly silent* on this horribleness, why?  Because it doesn't directly impact you or your daughters?  When all is said and done, none of us are really above others by design.  Some folks achieve greatness in their lives, others live a quiet but good life.  Others are deeply flawed.  Regardless, we are all people.  If you are a parent (especially if you are a father of daughters), do you honestly believe that the lives of the children and young women victimized by Epstein and his rich/powerful friends really don't matter all that much?  Or are you afraid that the societal price for bringing to justice the rich/powerful people that engaged in this stuff will be too high?

To those last two questions, I offer the following quote, attributed to a labor lawyer (Attorney Ryan) I follow on social media:

"Anything that would be destroyed by the truth has no right to exist at all."

Citation HERE.  Ratcheting this up, we have the president publicly stating that he thinks the country has/should move on from this issue (citation HERE).  Well, I say that "getting on with something else" in the face of what we know now is a moral failure...second only to the fact the collective us took so long to recognize this whole thing in the first place. 

The "collective us" includes me, and I have been guilty.  Like many, when I first heard of Epstein and these allegations, my reaction was dismissive at what seemed like yet another in a series of Internet conspiracy theories running rampant on social media.  I claim not to be perfect, but I also know that I can learn.  And what I've learned about Epstein makes me wholeheartedly believe that our society as it stands now needs to fundamentally change, moving from the rotted belief that the life of some tech billionaire is so much more inherently important than the life of an innocent girl.  Any innocent girl.  Indifference is easy here, but if you are the father of at least one daughter, again, then would you allow your daughter to be sacrificed for the ego and pleasures of a billionaire?  

If your answer to that last question is "yes" or "I don't care", then you have no right to call yourself a parent, let alone a dad.

Moving forward, everyone who supported Epstein and his evil empire needs to be brought to justice.  All of them.  Every.  Single.  One.  For far too long, the cost of those crimes has been born by children; it's about time that the adults start to pay.  No matter what the cost, we fail to live up to the title of being civilized with every passing day when perpetrators go on about their lives while victims remain damaged.

Once some measure of justice begins to be actualized, then we have an even greater challenge ahead of us: How was it that this was allowed to happen in the first place?  Any system that allows this needs to be ritualistically burned.  It needs to be destroyed.  It needs to be fundamentally re-built in a way that recognizes the search for thrills among the rich and powerful is not more important than the very lives of children.  

We either start acting on what we say we value, or we allow ourselves to completely decay into the nothingness that we deserve for turning a blind eye to all this stuff in the first place.

SILENCE ENCOURAGES THE TORMENTOR

(*) As opposed to taking action, including contacting your elected representatives in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, to cite just one example.

When Grace Seems in Short Supply

It has, admittedly, been a rough couple of weeks.  This comes on the heels of a rough year (this posting).  Yet while I can (and sometimes do) complain about things, the reality is this:  There are bigger...and with apologies to English teachers everywhere*... "worser" things afoot.  

As I write this, the news is consumed by events in Minnesota.  Specifically...

Alex Pretti Shot and Killed by ICE Agents

...which is just a kind of punctuation mark in a larger story about control, violence and the desire of one man to retain political power for the rest of his life.  A story that is still being written and with an ending that can't come soon enough.  We know the ending already, by the way, in that his mortal coil will fail at some point, and the United States will be left to sort through the damage.  I suspect that I won't live to see how long that will truly take.  Maybe that's a good thing.

The last time I felt this way was during the events of 9.11, when it all just seemed so overwhelming.  This comes from a place inside of me whereby I can't really fathom an event, where it seems surreal in a very horrible way.  I do feel a certain degree of anxiety that is widely generalized, a kind of pall that falls over me where nothing I seem to do takes me out of my own head for any length of time.  I tried cleaning, which usually works, but that didn't help.  I'll do some work stuff later, which may help, but that's got its own set of issues.  Writing this is helping...a little bit...which I suppose is better than nothing.

I did try to divorce myself from the news and social media, but that didn't last long.  Like a moth attracted to a lamppost on a dark night, I feel drawn to the horribleness of this event.  It's like part of me is searching for a big revelation, but yet nothing is in the offing.  There is, instead, a kind of societal rot that has been creeping into the collective us, where part of the net product is trying to understand why our government is killing American citizens.  It's a kind of end to something that we once took for granted.

  

Let's just hope that some sense of Grace returns to this country.  We desperately need it.

(*) Including my oldest daughter, Katrina.

2025: A View from the Gutter

I am coming up, in about 4 months, to my 62nd rotation around the sun.  That's a lot of years, and I am both thankful and blessed to be here typing at this very moment (make that "moments", as this will no doubt get written in pieces).  There have been good years...such as any year when any of my daughters were born...and there have been bad years.  I think that, when all is said and done, the dust is settled, and the ink is dry, 2025 will turn out to be far more on the negative side of life's ledger (and not just for me).

While I don't talk about it much, losing my brother Joe was tough.  It's kind of like losing a part of your own body...a part where the loss doesn't physically harm you...but you still feel a tiny bit less complete.  It's also a realization that there is one fewer person on the planet who sort of understood things about our growing up, one less witness.  I've already told my brother Rich he's not allowed to die.

On the national front, I think we, as a nation, are suffering from a kind of chaos fatigue.  It's as if the current president is in a continual race to the bottom, except for the fact that there is no bottom to be reached.  We collectively just sit and watch while another cruel act is ordained, another late-night social media tirade is launched, and another group is maligned for no real reason other than being different.  The specific group doesn't matter by the way, as yesterday's Somali will be tomorrow's other marginalized group.  The fact that we have 3 more years of this is enough to make someone want to just crawl into a cave and wait it out.  In the end, and regardless of politics, no country or leader was "great" because of who they hated.  Let that one sink in for a bit.

Another loss in 2025 was that of my father-in-law, the Rev. David Rivers.  There are times when you meet people who are just so diametrically different than what you've experienced before in your life that you end up being changed in ways that can be equal parts subtle and yet profound.  That was David.  The world is now smaller, a bit less fun, and certainly not nearly as wise with him gone.  The only real consolation is the fact that some of his best traits are manifest in his children, especially his oldest daughter Christine.

As a relatively crappy year, I naturally decided to deal with a long-standing health issue, resulting in a late November surgery.  I am glad that it's over, but as I creep into my early 60's, I'm reminded that every machine wears over time...both the mechanical and physiological ones.  I need to take better care of my own machinery.  That's far easier said than done. 

On the professional front, I am at a sunset, if you will, of my working career.  That's equal parts relieving and terrifying.  I continue to push myself a bit too far, a point that others have made on more than one occasion.  I was raised, if you will, in a working world where there was a kind of constant competition.  That kind of ethos doesn't actually depend on specific circumstances...it just exists in whatever reality I work in...whether it makes sense or not.  Some things just don't come with an off switch.  Yet the lack of such an off switch meant that, in 2025, I did far, far less of the things outside of work that I enjoy, basically just hopping between stressful work assignments.  As I stare down the time off days I am losing, it's pretty clear that I have been far crueler to myself than I would ever tolerate in someone else.  None of the above is to claim that I don't find myself in a working environment that may be more demanding than it should be, but in the end, the only real resource and decision-making powers I actually have are over myself.

So goodbye 2025.  Don't let the door hit you in the tuchus on the way out.

As for 2026, the beauty of a new year is just that...it is new.  While I know I'll probably make mistakes (I/we always do) there is also promise and potential.  Here's to going into the new year a bit smarter for the wear, and a bit more kind...to ourselves and to each other.  I think our nation needs it, desperately.

(Fun facts:  This song paraphrases the quote reference in the title and the late Brigitte Bardot)

October 2025

I actually created this blog on October 27, 2008.  If you search by topic, you'll find that "October" is probably the most written topic in all these 2,189 published postings, although I have done a terrible job tagging said posts.  Bad blogger.  Anyway, personally and professionally, time and time again, October has consistently been probably the most challenging month of the year for me.  Yet I still welcome the month.  

Is this all about some weird version of the Stockholm Syndrome?  Have I been conditioned by October to admire it, despite reasons to the contrary?

No, I have a different theory: October has always been the month of change, be it for me or just the cycle of life stuff in general.  October has a way of being far different on its 1st day than its 31st, more dramatically so than any other month.  Be it going from 80's to 50's or thunderstorms to snow flurries, seasons pivot at October's whim.

Part of the pivot for me is the appreciation that summer has had its time in the spotlight, and I am personally tired of feeling broiled every time I do anything outside.  Granted that being cold doing anything outside is kind of a bummer as well, but for a few shining weeks, October offers a kind of mediation that makes time outside actually enjoyable.  

This year, October for me is at the forefront of some other changes that are coming not too far down the road.  I have a long-term physical issue that will be addressed via surgery next month, so there is work to be done to get ready for (as Fonzie once put it in an episode of Happy Days) "the rip out room".  Nothing life or death, but nevertheless very necessary.  Post that, I will be making some other changes with an eye towards improving my overall physical health.  

Another thing coming down the road is on the professional front, where I've already started to make some changes that will both help me on the physical front as well as help to improve the balance in my life.  That part of my life has been terribly out of balance for years now, which at the risk of repeating prior postings needs to change.  One thing that has changed?  I'm no longer doing the "coming in early and leaving when it's dark" thing.  

Lastly, and as I finish this posting, there are millions participating in No Kings Day protests across the nation.

Obviously, I am here writing this and not there protesting, but my hope is that this is yet another example of big change coming from October.  I will also note that, while I support this movement, I have yet to get a check from George Soros, I am not a member of Hamas or the mythical Antifa "organization", nor am I a Communist or an antisemite.  Instead, I am just a guy who wants a country where his children can grow old without fear of a far-reaching federal government bent on continuous revenge and intrusion into their lives, one that thinks nothing of dragging children out to be deported by masked men.

Here's to falling leaves and failing would-be dictators. 

Checking In

Saying that there has been a lot going in and around me over the past few months is a bit like saying "Nickelback may not be the most popular band out there".  Apologies if you actually like Nickelback, by the way.  So yes, things have been busy.

The swirl of things on "the outside", i.e., the news of the world, social media and such, is borderline blinding, to the point where I don't know that anyone could consume a steady stream of this and remain healthy.  This might be why so many seem like they are not so mentally healthy these days.  As for me, I am trying my best to be on an information diet, consuming enough to be informed, but not so much that I find myself falling into a literal rage vortex of every-circling feces.  Sometimes this strategy works; other times it does not.  I don't see too many alternatives out there though.  This isn't intended to hide myself from righteous outrage, but it is to prevent myself from constant outrage.  

In an odd sort of way I think that some of the powerful actually want a perpetually outraged populace.  They are like magicians...by getting folks to focus on the hand of outrage, they hope that they won't see the other hand engaging in near constant personal enrichment.  The trick for all of us is to be informed...but not distracted.  It's a tough act.

All of the above noted, I will note that I have followed, to an extent, the death of conservative media personality Charlie Kirk.  Getting killed right in front of your family during a public event with videos running everywhere is not exactly a dignified way for someone to end their life.  So yes, I do understand the outrage at his death that some feel. Here's the TRULY troubling part from those same people outraged at this recent death:

WHERE IS THIS SAME OUTRAGE WHEN LITTLE CHILDREN ARE GUNNED DOWN IN SCHOOL?

WHY ISN'T THE PRESIDENT HONORING THIS HERO CHILD*?

(*) See this video:  https://www.youtube.com/shorts/mZ3QUJz8yCI  (or any of the hero teachers who saved children during the all too common school shootings in this country.)

Let's be honest here:  The late Charlie Kirk has become more of an avatar for some rather than an actual violent crime victim.  It has become a reason to feed the outrage machine and distract from what the other hand is doing.  By the way, I received a donation solicitation from some scumbag feigning to be his widow last Thursday.  Yes, it's gotten that bad.

Oh, and let's talk about the "whataboutism"?  That would be "Oh yeah, well what about when _______ happened?".  Is that what I am engaging in right now?  

The simple answer is no.

The death of Charlie Kirk seems to be unique in U.S. political and social discourse.  What's not unique in U.S.?  Mass shootings and gun violence.  I actually think Charlie Kirk once spoke an uncomfortable truth about this very topic, a point which many of his followers conveniently now seem to forget:

(Validation:  https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/charlie-kirk-gun-deaths-quote/)

So in a very real sense, the death of Charlie Kirk is just "another" payment in our never-ending life debt to the Second Amendment. For the record, I don't think God gave us the right to kill each other with high-powered weaponry.

Let me be clear:  I am not placing any value judgement on the life of Charlie Kirk.  People can and have said that he was both a horrible human being and a brilliant cultural warrior.  Like most of us, he was a mix of both good and bad.  Personally, I have problem with anyone who demeans the value of another simply based on their religion, race, gender or ethnicity.  Was Charlie Kirk guilty of that?  Well you can find out for yourself.  

I would also be wary of any arugments that works along the lines of "well I only agree with some of what he said".  Why?  Because it depends on the things he said that one DOES NOT AGREE WITH.  Making stuff up, if he said that "I think there is too much crime in cities" and you disagree with that, such a thing is much different than "husbands should be allowed to vote for their wives" (again, just making something up...not attributed to him).  The magnitude of what you disagree with is an essential element in any evaluation of the person.  Failure to consider this runs into what I will call the "Fallacy of Mussolini", namely that "well, he made the trains run on time".  Yes he may have made the trains run on time, but he also did some terrible stuff that greatly outweighs the punctuality of public transportation.

The above standard should be held to Charlie Kirk as well.

Files? We don’t got no stinking files! Or maybe do, but they are fake! Obama!

 

                                        (Real, actual tweet from the president’s oldest, circa 2023; citation HERE.)

Here’s the most interesting part of the whole debacle that has been the current president’s handling of the Epstein case:  I think there’s about a 50/50 chance that he (the current president*) wasn’t a client of the previously mentioned modern-Day Monster (henceforth simply “The Monster”).  I say this for two reasons:

1.            He is a notorious germaphobe.

2.            With him, it always goes back to money and greed.

To that second point, I think the relationship with The Monster was likely far more about making money than it was the exploitation of children. The abuse of children is not impossible, but I am saying that it wasn't the primary driver.

Oh, and before I forget to mention it, let’s all agree that the term “underaged women” or similar words are repugnant in that they are an attempt to soft sell the crimes committed.  These were CHILDREN that were abused. 

Given this, why the utterly ridiculous denial of The Monster’s client list in the first place?  Again, note that this is after using the client list as a literal hammer to go after opponents for YEARS.  See Junior's actual Tweet, above.  Anyway, here’s my theory:

•              There is a list.

•              Even if he was not a client, he’s referenced in it repeatedly.

•              It’s not really just him that’s being protected…instead it’s his class of people.

That third bullet is the key.  We all want to believe that supervillains who do terrible things are fictional, but what if it were true that the multi-multi-millionaire and billionaire classes can use their money and power to, for example, exploit children for the very worst of reasons?  What if some of these folks were names that we would all recognize (akin to “Prince” Andrew)?  This class of people has conditioned the masses to believe that they are better than the rest of us.  More successful.  More powerful.  Simply better.  But what if they are worse?  How would the 99% of folks who are not in these upper echelons of society react if it became common knowledge that one of the privileges that money buys is the sexual assault of children?

What if all of this were about protecting the image of the rich and powerful?  Now I am not prone to conspiracy  theories, but in this case, we have something of a tiny peephole into reality, namely the case of Britian’s Prince Andrew.  You can read more about that HERE.

A bottom line of sorts:  Release the damn list.  Release everything.  Every name.  Every connection.  Every log.  Every scrap of paper.  Make this a teachable, wake-up moment for modern society where an uncaring population must come face to face with the fact that being rich and powerful can sometimes make you a monster who does terrible, terrible things.  Lay bare the fact that unrestricted wealth and power can have horrible consequences.  Force us to reconcile a society that promotes high ideals but allows the lowest of behaviors when money is involved.  Remind us that some are above the law by virtue of money and power, even if we pretend that justice is somehow equal.

Nothing can or will change until we face reality first.

 

 

(*) His name is a trademark.  I don’t reference trademarks here, and I don’t want anything I note to, in any way, shape or form be seen as promoting him or his “brand”.

Road Apples, #181

 

It's been a while since I've written a Road Apples posting.  A very long time in fact, well in how time seems to flow these days.  Anyway, here we go.

The Ugly Times

I was thinking about how, in 10 years' time (and God willing my mortal coil has not yet extinguished), I will look back at this point and time in our nation's history.  The best I've come up with is the phrase "The Ugly Times".  There is no defending ripping families apart.  No justification for masked individuals purporting to be federal law enforcement officers but yet not in uniform, taking people out of their homes, places of work, immigration courts (the irony is steamy in those cases) and schools.  In this country law enforcement serves the people, a concept that runs counter to faceless people piling out of an SUV to abduct someone.

Yes, we can enforce the nation's immigration laws, but this is not the path.  In 10 years' time, many will feel shame.  I hope.  If they are even capable.

Retirement

Being in my very early 60's, I've been more seriously thinking about retirement.  I am very interested in opinions from others about retiring "early".  If someone could retire at age 62, for example, should they?  A key parameter to consider:  Through a combination of hard work and luck, the financial aspect of retiring early isn't much an issue for me.  Any opinions you may have would be greatly appreciated.  Feel free to comment or email me at steve_g1964@hotmail.com.

Note:  If there is someone out there reading this who feels compelled to spam me or offer any other kind of solicitation, my reply will be the entire Unibomber Manifesto.  I am not kidding.

It's Raining (for a change)

It's not raining now as I start writing this, but it is virtually guaranteed that, by the time I finish it (in a day or so) it will have rained at least once.  In years past, for example, a forecast of "23% chance of rain" pretty much meant that it wasn't going to rain.  This year?  That means that it will absolutely, positively be raining at some point.  Has forecasting gotten that bad?  Was "Big Balls" set loose at NOAA?

Don't Look Back in Anger

I was eating lunch last weekend at a burger place and this song was playing in the background with its chorus of "And so Sally can wait, she knows it’s too late...".  Never heard it before.  I googled the lyrics, and it is from "Don't Look Back in Anger" by Oasis.  In addition to being just a great song, it seems to fit with the premise noted in the first part of this posting.

 (Fun Fact:  The song is sung by the lessor crazy Gallagher brother, Noel).

It also feels oddly fitting when I think about how I have been feeling over the past few weeks.  I'm not holding onto any real anger towards anyone else.  Maybe though this is about holding onto other things well past their appropriate time.  This is part of the magic of music I know to be true: It is almost entirely non-linear in that what I hear may not be what was intended or what others hear.  Like I said, magic.

Let's Be Careful Out There

 

It think it is most definitely appropriate to begin this post about current events with a scene from one of my favorite television shows ever, Hill Street Blues.

In the case of this posting, it's not just the police I think should be careful out there, but everyone.  I speak of what's happening at this very moment in Los Angeles, California.  A few disjointed thoughts are in order.

We don't use the military against our own citizens in the United States.  If you are not from the U.S. this may not seem like much, but it is a very, very big deal.  And that line has been crossed with, as of this writing, the deployment of about 700 Marines in Los Angeles.

I grieve for the individuals living in fear of deportation.  It's a fabrication...a fiction of the highest order...that every immigrant in the U.S. who is not legally here is a criminal.  They are simply the target of a bigot, picked because, based on their status, they offer zero in the way of political resistance.  

I admire the protesters in Los Angeles.  Are there opportunists using this as an excuse to sow anarchy?  Sure.  Are the vast majority of those protesting upholding the best ideals we have...standing up for others, for their community...standing up to oppression?  Absolutely.  They are heroes.

Irony is dead in Washington D.C. among many Republicans.  You can't call what happened on January 6th a peaceful event on one hand and then condemn what is happening in Los Angeles on the other.  Yet many are, and it is beyond ironic.

We should hold the police, government agents and the military to the highest possible standards of conduct.  For example, United States Marines swear an oath to uphold the Constitution and follow orders...as long as those orders don't violate the Uniform Code of Military Justice.  No member of the military should be blindly following orders.  

Whether you’re talking about soldiers in the field or generals in the theater of battle, the general rule is service members have a duty to obey lawful orders. But there is also a duty to disobey manifestly unlawful orders—that is, orders that a person of ordinary sense and understanding would know to be unlawful.  [Citation HERE.]

I am sure there are individuals among the government agents, police, National Guard and Marines who are deeply troubled by what they are being asked to do.  Spoken far better than I...

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/14uCUYHkaA/

I fear this will get worse.  One need only remember what happened a few years ago...

https://www.npr.org/2022/05/09/1097517470/trump-esper-book-defense-secretary

...to fully grasp what could be happening.

Call me overly dramatic.  I don't care.  Ditto to charges of being "liberal" or many of its variations.  What is happening in our country is wrong.  We should not be the country of deporting children from schools.  We should not be a country of bullies.  We should not be the country where the military polices cities.  If you happen to believe otherwise, well that's your prerogative, and your soul.

Pope Francis

I've been thinking about the passing of Pope Francis, and I've come to the conclusion that there's not much for me to say, even if I did know what to say in the first place.  Mostly, it feels like the world just got a little bit worse, which is something we probably can't afford these days.  Anyway, since his passing, what has been pinging around in my head is the prayer of St. Francis, a copy of which hangs on a wall in my office, about 3 feet from me at this very moment.

This seems as good of a tribute to Pope Francis as I think is possible.  

Rest in Peace Francis.

We Have All Been Forewarned

By way of being forewarned, note that this will not necessarily be the most uplifting thing I’ve written in a while, but so be it.  Sometimes uncomfortable things need to be said out loud.

I have a theory:  The current president is actively looking for ways to increase his power.  Well, that’s not a theory…that’s an actual fact based on current events (including ignoring court orders... see below).  The theory part is the degrees to which he will go in the exercise of that power.  To that end, there are two scenarios that concern me.

First, the stripping of fundamental rights from non-citizens should concern all of us. 

Why?  If the administration can say to a student visa holder that you don’t have a right to an attorney if they are charged with an offense…or to be even told what that offense is in the first place…then the only thing that is stopping that from happening to me or to you is our citizenship.  What if the administration decided that they could strip citizenship from someone?  There’s an actual process for this, which can be found here:

https://www.usa.gov/renounce-lose-citizenship

An important point noted on the above linked website:  You can be stripped of your citizenship for reasons of Treason. 

What if the administration sought to streamline the process of denaturalization for reasons of treason? 

Second, the administration could use the Insurrection Act to suspend basic freedoms.

You can read more about the Insurrection Act here… 

https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/insurrection-act-presidential-power-threatens-democracy

(note that this article was published before the last presidential election)

The Act could be used as part of a system of mass deportations.  It could also be used as a pretext to suspend or delay elections.  Would the courts generally allow this?  Probably not but see above:  The president and his proxies have shown a willingness to ignore court rulings, including those by the United States Supreme Court.  This isn’t just a “Steve Albert feels this way” kind of thing… 

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/23/judges-trump-court-rulings

Finally, I will note this:  I loathe conspiracy theories, and as a general rule, I do not trade in them.  A review of my writing over the years (since 2008) will prove this to be true.  However…and this is a very big however…conventional wisdom and respect for precedent have flown away from us in the United States today.  We have a “might (power) makes right” president who has shown an eagerness to use whatever means are necessary to boost his power and upend constitutional checks and balances.  Note that the United States Congress is complicit in that second point (“…checks and balances”), with some buying into the argument that, since he won the last presidential election, he effectively has the right to do whatever the heck he wants.

Lord, I so want to be wrong about all of this, but mark my words...actions born out of anger and a desire for power rarely result in a good ending for anyone.