22, 2025: A Poem for Joni

 

Here is a poem, inspired by Republican Senator from Iowa, Joni Ernst.

We're all gonna die, she said with great cheer,

So why should I care about any of you here?

And, by the way, the Tooth Fairy is false

But President Trump has really big balls.

So you see, my christian values are on full display

In the help to my neighbors that I take away.

She is just one in support of Trump's goals,

A powerful minority caught in the fold.

They want us to know that our rights are all shattered,

That what's moral and legal no longer matters,

And troops on the ground can invade any city:

Washington now is a town without pity.

The Republican Party has a very long list,

Manufacturing crises where none exist.

Immigrants are criminals who all must go!

Give jobs back to legal citizens, although

If you throw dinner parties, if you have the nerve,

Just who do you think will clean, cook and serve?

August 14, 2025: Christmas Is Coming

 

It is mid August already. Soon Costco and Walmart and everybody else will bring out their Christmas goodies and decorations, right alongside the Back To School supplies. As the one runs low, the other will fill the shelves. So it is time to start thinking about Christmas lists. Ah, lists—the gift that keeps on giving!

Today is also the 90^th anniversary of the Social Security Act becoming law, one of the biggest gifts by a government to its people of all time. In the spirit of that momentous occasion, I already have been thinking about my own Christmas list for 2025. I want to share what I have, so far.

National Parks that are well staffed, safe, clean and easily accessible to everyone, especially our foreign guests whom we want to impress with America's beauty.

The Social Security safety net firmly in place, fully funded and protected not just for me but for my children and grandchildren far into the future.

Clean air and water would be nice.

Affordable health care for everyone.

A living wage, which can be tricky, because there are so many opinions about what that is. Lets just say enough to pay all our bills, save a million-five before retirement, and maybe afford the occassional trip to the closest National Park.

Affordable housing for everyone.

Maybe we could have a return to the idea that we do need to help and care for each other, even strangers, because “a stranger is just a friend you haven't met yet,” according to Irish poet William Butler Yeats.

Francis Perkins, US Secretary of Labor under FDR, and one of the major forces in creating the Social Security Act ninety years ago, said, “The people are what matter to government, and a government should aim to give all the people under its jurisdiction the best possible life.” I fear that many Christians in America have lost sight of their own christian values. My final wish is that they come to their senses and remember, “For everyone to whom much is given, much will be required, and from him whom they entrusted much, they will demand more.” Luke 12:48.

Red suits and fake beards optional.

July 1, 2025: Davey Crockett Says

 

“Whenever I had anything and saw a fellow being suffering, I was more anxious to relieve him than to benefit myself. And this is one of the true secrets of my being a poor man to this day.”

                                        -----Davey Crockett

Today, the United States Senate passed Donald Trump's so-called Big Beautiful Bill on a split vote, with Vice President J. D. Vance casting the deciding vote. Cudos to the three Republican Senators, Susan Collins of Maine, Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Rand Paul of Kentucky, who voted against. This cumbersome bill designed to help the rich get richer now goes back to the House of Representatives, but it is doubtful enough Republicans care about their constituents to block it from becoming law.

The greatest redistribution of wealth in history has been occuring here in America over the decades since Ronald Reagan first took office in 1981. The disparity is remarkable. The top one percent control over 30% of the wealth. The bottom 50 percent control just 2.6% of the wealth in our country. It's only getting worse. The new tax cut extensions outlined in the BBB will give someone earning five million dollars a year a tax cut equalling the living wage estimate for four families of four. Trump's BBB will make certain the super rich get richer and richer, and so will Trump in the bargain, at our expense. If you voted Republican thinking you would slide up the scale, you were lied to and tricked. They are greasing the pole from the top in Washington, and I fear not enough Congressmen will remember the words to live by, spoken 200 years ago by Davey Crockett: “Be always sure you are right – then go ahead.”

A vote for the Big Beautiful Bill is not only wrong, it is immoral. Worse, it is amoral. Abandoning those in need is certainly not what I consider Christian or American. In Washington, it is only two things: convenient and cowardly. Davey Crockett said, “I would rather be beaten, and be a man, than be elected and be a little puppy dog.”