Archive for Politics – Page 12

Doing God’s Work…

Yesterday was the 110th anniversary of Mother Teresa’s birth. Reading a short biographical essay about her I was reminded of her remarkable life and life’s work – a life we should be celebrating. Born with a club foot into a poor Albanian family, she joined the Sisters of Loreto order in Ireland at age 18 taking vows of obedience, chastity, and poverty, promising to give “wholehearted free service to the poorest of the poor.” While teaching at a school outside of Calcutta she learned nursing and began ministering to the poor, sick, and hungry on the gritty streets of Calcutta. read more

RICO Time…

Civilization’s veneer is paper thin. William Golding showed us how thin in his novel Lord of the Flies. Given that thin veneer, it’s all the more astonishing that wild-eyed Americans aren’t storming the White House, tearing down its walls, and chasing Donald Trump and his posse of grifters down Pennsylvania Avenue.

Nevertheless, while the veneer is cracking, the center is holding. Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, Black Lives Matter, Putin’s bounty on US soldiers, a Post Office scandal and virtual political conventions, “civilized” Americans are hanging on to the belief that their institutions are durable enough to withstand the swirling shit storm. They believe, we believe, November 3rd will bring America a new president (and Senate). read more

Who Gets the Last Word?

America is exhausted…

In the middle of the most devastating pandemic in 102 years, Americans watched the murder of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, by a white police officer in Minneapolis. They learned of the police break-in and murder of an innocent black woman, Breonna Taylor, in Louisville. They watched as police used tear-gas and flashbangs to break up a peaceful protest in Washington in order to give the president a Biblical photo op. They saw unidentified federal troops dispatched to Portland and Seattle to quell “violent left wing” Black Lives Matter protests .  read more

My CIA Interview…

Once upon a time there was a clear-eyed, wet behind the ears, 24-year-old who believed national service was honorable. He was a liberal arts college graduate and Marine Corps fighter pilot about to finish his active duty obligation.

He never planned to make the military his career as much as he loved the flying, but he wasn’t sure what was next. Life was open ended. He thought about graduate school in English and a college teaching career. Tweed jackets with leather patches and all that. But that might be too tame.  read more

Treason… It’s Personal.

Anyone who reads my blog knows that I think Donald Trump is unfit for office. I’ve offered a long litany of his faults, mistakes, moral transgressions, and failures, but it’s arguable that none of them rose to the level of Treason until last week when intelligence sources revealed that Russia was paying a bounty for US military scalps in Afghanistan. He denied having been briefed and did nothing. He called it a “just another hoax”.

Since then he has attacked the only black driver on the NASCAR circuit, criticized those who advocate for the removal of the Confederate flag and statues, and claimed that America is under siege from “left wing Fascists.” These are the latest shiny objects designed to distract us. Do not be distracted. Nothing in his presidency compares to this treasonous and reckless disregard for the lives of Americans in uniform.  read more