Watching history sadly repeat itself, I recently had the following scary thought: It wouldn't take a huge leap of my imagination to envision the Republican Party being willing to run Adolf Hitler as a presidential candidate if that would give them the power that they are so desperate to seize.
Scientific studies have apparently shown that the human brain operates on a negative bias in order to survive, so it's an easy political card to play to get the scared, angry masses stirred up: find and blame a scapegoat. Pretty obvious.
As a person without a college education who has made my living with my hands (now missing two fingers), I understand (to whatever degree I can) the need for someone to represent the common disenfranchised person in this country whose life and livelihood have been gutted by what I see as a capitalist system that lacks adult supervision.
Since the era seems to have passed when America has a John Wayne to believe in, yet still clings to the notion that we need a hero to save us, many have, out of desperation, chosen just that - a false god in Donald Trump.
The Republican Party has lost its mind. Out of desperation, its House members have elected a speaker who, if his party's candidate is not elected, believes that the democratic election process is corrupt. If his candidate is elected, no problem. Where does America go from here? This Voices Letters...
I live in a house with a porch that has been described as having the best view in the county. Maybe yes, maybe no, but it is in the middle of Williamsville and faces south, straight across the road into the Rock River from a slightly elevated vantage point.
Invading a smaller nation under false, trumped-up pretenses; doing so with superior weaponry; massacring people; and shattering the infrastructure with toxic waste should be seen by anyone as a criminal act. What if Iraq had been tied into adjacent NATO nations with their powerful allies and a significant amount of our country's banking was tied into the banks in one or many of those nations choosing to freeze our assets in retaliation? What if our dollars that you and I...
Proud Boys? I'd rather be proud to be a man - one who accepts the fact that his childhood was far from perfect, that this life is far from perfect. I'd like to be one who accepts that he needs help from another person or other people from time to time to deal with the scary places and feelings in my gut. I'm overwhelmed with hints and jabs to the effect that I'm small, powerless, and worthless compared to “others.”
I was born in the early '50s. As far back as I can remember, there has been the specter of communism/socialism lurking in the shadows. We called each other “commie pinkos” on the playground. Our new '60s house had a flimsy bomb shelter built in the basement just in case that Soviet threat proved real. We played in it. In this last election, socialism was once again used over and over as a fear-tactic weapon to keep Americans voting to...
It's Friday night here in our little old village, with the Rock River plummeting through variegated post-Tropical-Storm-Irene-riven channels. There used to be a crib dam here, as well as many businesses that derived their power from multiple river-driven locations. Tonight, I am walking approximately 1,000 feet down Main Street from my driveway to the Williamsville Hall, where one of my talented neighbors is settling down on the well-tuned old Poole piano to accompany a 1929 silent Russian film that he...
About a month ago, two years after making my reservation, I finally received my deposit back from Cinnamon Bay Campground on St. John. The U.S. Virgin Islands were shattered by Hurricane Irma at the beginning of September 2017. Gusts were reported at 250 mph. I have no idea what happened to the island's birds, fish, and other species. Not many leaves remained on the trees. I can't imagine how much garbage is in the surrounding sea. Cinnamon Bay Campground was...