Month: March 2026

Some destructive behaviors are difficult to stop because we are addicted to them. We gravitate to that dopamine hit that promises to make us feel good. In the moment, these behaviors satisfy an intense craving and so we engage even though we are fully aware that we are doing damage to our body, the environment, or the lives of others. Personally, when I am bored, I consume way too much sugar and eat way too many potato chips. These things make me fat and lethargic. I am far less productive when I am tired and unmotivated. Others consume too much fast food or spend way too much time scrolling on their phones. And then there are those who spend hours playing video games or watching way too much television. There are those who smoke cigarettes, drink too much, or take mind-altering drugs to escape their uncomfortable emotional or mental state. It’s no surprise that experts are now warning us that anxiety is a huge and growing problem these days.

These destructive behaviors physically and mentally weaken our resolve while also distracting us from fighting for what matters in our society: our collective well-being and the environment. I doubt that these destructive distractions were created specifically to distract us. I believe they were each created simply to make some people rich. Our distracted or medicated state is allowing a few greedy opportunistic leaders to amass unfathomable wealth and power to feed their egos and further line their pockets. According to one of Trump’s sons, their goal is to make the Trump family the richest in the world. As long as we’re in a distracted state, he will continue stealing our tax dollars, harming innocent lives, and slapping his name and image on practically everything. Even our currency will soon bear his signature.

What scares me most is that the need for greater and more distractions is about to multiply as AI causes jobs to disappear and as people grow increasingly anxious about war, the economy, and our corrupt government. The future is looking dimmer by the day for those who must face the decades ahead or care about family members who will.

When I listen to technology experts, I hear two different scenarios playing out. On the one hand, AI will free us from having to work, think, and strive for anything worth having as though this is a good thing. They call it “abundance”. On the other hand, I hear that AI has the potential to literally destroy civilization as it takes control of everything and cannot be reigned it. We already know that AI is self-preserving and is willing to lie, blackmail or otherwise manipulate the “watchers” to continue to operate. On its own, AI has labeled humans as “watchers” and it has learned to give fake answers to pass tests designed to understand its motives and true compliance.

In our race against China, Trump has determined not to regulate AI at all. However, China has turned off AI access to students during exam periods and limits child access to social media to specific hours of the day. We’ve none nothing significant to protect or incentivize or enhance the education of our children. In fact, we have done the opposite by allowing AI to do our kids homework, banning books, revising history, demonizing teachers and scholars, and dismantling the Department of Education. Our kids can’t distinguish between the truth and a lie, what is real or fake, and what is morally good or bad. Sadly, many adults can’t either. The lines have been blurred on purpose, making confusion a weapon against us.

We are in a fight for the future of civilization. However, we cannot fight or even recognize that we should be fighting if we are distracted, lethargic, hopeless, high on drugs or confused. The wealthy tech guys, the greedy egomaniacs, and the white Christian nationalists are banking that the American public is distracted and confused enough to be unwilling and unable to put up a fight to protect and defend our Constitution, the rule of law, the use of our tax dollars, the environment, human decency, freedom, and justice for all. They know that distracted and confused warriors are completely ineffective.

It’s time to put the destructive distractions aside and find clarity so we can more fully join the fight to create the society and future our children deserve. We need to end the government corruption, the lawlessness, the senseless wars, and fight for the environment, affordable healthcare, human and civil rights, gun regulations, better infrastructure, AI regulation, social welfare policies, adequate education, and an equitable tax system.

It begins with protests, like yesterday’s huge “No Kings Protest”. It continues with commentary, conversations, phone calls, letters, pieces of art, music, skits, social media posts, lawsuits, and the funding of civil rights efforts. It culminates with voting for representatives who will fight for what is right. If all this fails, then history reminds us that the collective violent power of the people is ultimately more powerful than the few people in power. And the end of them is never peaceful nor pretty.

The best solution for anxiety is to take positive action, not further engagement in destructive distractions which do nothing to solve the root causes of the anxiety. It’s time to shed our addictions to the things that hinder our ability to give a hundred percent of our effort to learning the truth and saving our future. That means I’m going to drastically cut down on sugar and potato chips to become a far more effective warrior.

The government has a record of our birth. They know who was born in this country. They know when. And they know where. It is the responsibility of the hospital or midwife to report births. They know who has gained citizenship through the naturalization process. They know this information so well that they are planning to automatically register our sons for the draft. They know when we get married because we have to obtain a marriage license to do so. They know when we change our names because we are required to tell them. They know when we die because others are required to inform them. So, why are Republicans trying to force every one of us to proffer proof of our citizenship to vote instead of automatically registering every U.S. citizenship to vote upon turning 18 years of age?

Republicans are doing this because they understand that their policies are unpopular and that their corruption is so egregious that the vast majority of citizens no longer want them in power. So, while they are in power, they are determined to rig the voting system to hold on to it. That is what the “Save America Act” is about. It’s not about saving America through safe and secure elections, it is about maintaining Republican power over America and transforming it into a fascist authoritarian government under white Christian nationalist control.

One seemingly acceptable way to do this is to require everyone to present “voter ID” to register to vote. On the surface that sounds reasonable. Never mind that it is already illegal for a non-citizen to vote and almost none have voted. The very few who have tried were easily identified. This isn’t a problem that requires fixing. So, since they know who we are, why isn’t our driver’s license, military ID or school ID enough to cross check with government citizenship records? Why must we prove what they already know? Republicans want us to prove we have the right to vote because they know this request presents many people with difficult and expensive hurdles to overcome. It is a form of voter suppression.

First of all, not everyone has their birth certificate handy. In fact, for anyone who has changed their name since birth through marriage, adoption, or for any other reason, they will also have to present a U.S. passport. Getting that passport costs about $165 plus professional pictures and documents and takes about eight weeks of processing time under normal conditions. Roughly half the country currently holds a valid U.S. passport. Imagine the backlog in the face of a greatly reduced workforce since DOGE fired many government workers. But even worse for many Americans is that the State Department under Marco Rubio is in charge of processing these requests. It is easy for him to rig the processing to slow walk applications from people living in blue counties and from registered democrats. I would not put it past this Rubio State Department since it has been revealed that they are stealing millions from hopeful visa applicants by taking their non-refundable application fees with no intention of approving their visas.

Another hurdle that they are determined to enforce are requirements to register in person. This places an undue burden on the elderly, the disabled, the sick, the traveler, and working people. They are trying also to eliminate voting by mail with only a few exceptions. Voting by mail has proven to increase voter participation and to be a secure method. Right now the Supreme Court is deciding if mail-in ballots cast prior to the deadline but arriving late because of the post office delay should be counted. The mail-in voting system isn’t broke and doesn’t need fixing unless you want to suppress the vote. We already know that Republicans in charge of state elections brought this current lawsuit and that they already limit voter turnout in urban areas by limiting or eliminating ballot drop boxes or polling places causing extremely long distances to polling placing and long lines that they know are prohibitive. Imagine the long distances and long lines when one has to register to vote? And then a second time when it is time to vote? It’s crystal clear that compelling someone to drive a long way and to wait nine, ten or eleven hours to cast a ballot while simultaneously denying others to provide them water or any form of sustenance during that wait is a form of voter suppression.

It is not surprising that Trump is thinking of planting federal ICE agents at polling placing as a form of intimidation. ICE has shown that they are willing to detain black and brown people under the suspicion that they might be here illegally, ignoring their documentation. How many people will be ripped out of voting lines or deterred from even trying to vote under these circumstances?

In addition to creating unnecessary voting hurdles and scaring people away from the polls, I’m concerned about who will be counting the ballots and certifying the results. Republicans know that they can only win by cheating and they have shown that they are willing to do it while accusing the other side of rigging elections. Their accusations always turn out to be confessions. In fact, the small amount of voter fraud has been discovered has nearly always turned out to be Republican actors.

We must fight against the passing of the SAVE America Act by contacting senators and letting them know that we are 100% against it. Should it pass, we must make sure we secure our passports and birth certificates right away. I’ve heard that women are considering reverting to their maiden names to match their birth certificates. That will save the time and cost of securing a passport. Moving forward, young women will certainly be reluctant to take on their husband’s name after marriage. I’m certain lawsuits will be filed immediately to stop this law from going into effect, and we have a civic duty to financially and morally support the civil rights organizations acting on our behalf to stop it. Some of these organizations include the League of Women Voters, ACLU, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Democracy Forward, Brennan Center for Justice and the National Urban League.

And finally, should their voter suppression efforts successfully prevent us from retaking control of our government from those who have shown themselves to be lawless liars who ignore the Constitution, rob us of our civil and human rights, destroy our economy, and lead us into illegal wars, and now present us with taxation without representation by denying us the right to vote, then revolution is our final option just as it was 250 ago.

Decent parents spend time teaching their children how to obey basic social norms that make living together in a family and by extension, a community, bearable for everyone. In a civil society, parents are expected to instill behaviors like truthfulness, fair play, and consideration in their youngsters. It doesn’t happen on its own and when neglected, eyebrows are raised and tongues wag about the ill-mannered kid that no one wants to be around. We are sure that such children will likely end up is prison.

If we are honest with ourselves, we know that the beautiful innocent bundle of joy we bring home from the hospital is naturally selfish, self-centered, and self-preserving. The newborn’s survival instincts lead her to do whatever it takes to get what she wants and to avoid pain and suffering. It doesn’t take long for her to realize that crying isn’t the only manipulation tool she has in her toolbox. To avoid unpleasant consequences, a toddler automatically lies about the missing cookie that he secretly swiped and quickly ate when a parent wasn’t looking. That same toddler may violently hit a playmate over the head to take a toy he wants to play with. It is up to parents to correct such impulses. Every parent knows that convincing a child to share takes real effort. The words, “please” and “thank you” and “excuse me” and “I’m sorry”, must be taught. We are fortunate that most young children naturally covet affirmation, making these lessons possible.

Instilling values like honesty, integrity, gratefulness and generosity takes a concerted effort from the entire community that surrounds each child. Teachers, neighbors and extended family members reinforce these values in everyday interactions. Our approval and disapproval of their behaviors help to shape them. Religious teachings, no matter the faith tradition, all teach these basic values. In general, we are socialized through our interactions and role models to value and rely on the truthfulness, generosity, kindness, and consideration of others. It’s because our individual and common welfare depend on it. We are not islands unto ourselves; we need each other to survive and thrive in a world filled with natural and manmade disasters.

For most of my life, our society severely punished those who stepped outside the boundaries of these social norms. Politicians who were caught lying to the public were publicly humiliated and left the public stage in shame. Businessmen who defrauded others were prosecuted and imprisoned. Doctors who caused harm, lost their license to practice medicine. Rapist and thieves were prosecuted and imprisoned. Public sentiment did not tolerate public cruelty and insults. We expressed how appalled and disgusted we were by anyone who behaved in such a manner, curbing such behavior.

Most of us continue to cling to these basic social values that have served us so well. That’s why most social commentators thought Trump would be summarily disqualified when he bragged about sexually assaulting women on an open mic or when he lied about many things or when he insulted his opponents or when he was exposed as a business cheat, an adulterer, and a draft dodger. But he wasn’t. Enough people set our common values aside to support Trump. They liked his charisma and how he bucked social norms, thinking he was strong enough to free them from these shackles as well. Hillary was right when she called his supporters, “deplorables” and ironically, she was punished for saying it because the majority of us still expected polite behavior from public figures, especially those who wanted to lead us. Michele Obama’s words continue to ring in my ears: “We they go low, we go high.”

However, we should all be worried that those in government leadership today are no longer setting a good example for our children. Children need to see that the behaviors and values parents instill in them are rewarded outside the walls of their home. Trump and his MAGA supporters are showing them the opposite. He is demonstrating that truthfulness doesn’t matter, and that leaving everyone confused and guessing suits his agenda better. He is demonstrating that insults and bullying are a good way silence detractors or to bend people to his will. He is demonstrating that cruelty and brutality is a strategy to cause fear that controls others. He is the school yard bully who laughs as he steals a weaker child’s lunch money with impunity.

Trump has tried to break the social contract we have with each other. His constant lying, bullying, and cheating has led the world to financial instability, a fear of being invaded, and now a war. His promotion of others who share his lack of consideration and generosity has led to the deaths of thousands of people who relied on USAID for food and medicine. His promotion of liars and conspiracy theorists and inexperienced cabinet members have led to confusion about vaccines and a resurgence of measles and a dangerous roll back of environmental protections. America and the world are suffering under his anti-social leadership and lack of the moral values we depend on. We all know that a bully must be brought down and I’m certain he will. Chaos and terrorism, if not outright revolution are knocking at our door.

I’m grateful that the majority of Americans are not fooled by him and that they are not abandoning the basic values that serve us. We have to look harder to find the truth, but we still demand it. We are still considerate of each other. We remain generous with our time and money when it comes to the needy. We continue to value fair play even when those in power do not. And we are fighting every day in the streets, in social media posts, in artwork, in public statements, and in the courts to preserve the values that have made our society bearable.

When the Epstein files revealed that some rich and powerful men had been breaking social norms with regard to sex with children, we collectively decided to punish them. Trump tried unsuccessfully to distant himself from those files, but he is in them a lot and his sins have found him out. Whether Epstein died by suicide or was murdered, the truth of what happened is finding its way around the world and no manufactured war in Iran will save Trump from the consequences of breaking this social contract. Young children are off limits!

My hope is that those who have violated our collective need for truth, fairness, consideration, and integrity will be duly punished this time around if we win the midterm elections and gain a majority in the House and Senate. This will be the preferrable way to take him down and hold him accountable. The alternative will not be so nice.

We should know that Trump will attempt to cheat, lie, steal and even use troops to stop this from happening. He will do everything he can to prevent the majority of us from voting, especially women and minorities. Let’s not let him. Our social contract demands that fraud, lying, cheating, and cruelty be punished. And Trump can no longer be an exception.

My heart goes out to the families of the young men and women in the armed services today. My prayers go up for the safety of our young soldiers who were just thrust into an illegal war and harm’s way at the order of a lunatic president. And my upmost sorrow and sympathy reach out to the families of our lost soldiers and the 150+ schoolgirls and staff who lost their lives as a result of our missile strike on their school. War is hell. And this war is the result of the untethered ego of Trump and Netanyahu to protect their personal interests. So how did we get here?

It took me a while, but I just finished reading Kamala Harris’ book, “107 Days” which details her campaign for president. Like Kamala and those around her, I really thought she was going to win. She was more qualified, more likable, more articulate, more decent, more educated, less selfish, and actually had a vision for the nation that would improve our economy, expand educational opportunities and healthcare, protect the environment, and stabilize our international relationships. Like everyone who fought hard for her, I was not only distraught that Americans “seemingly” decided Trump was a better choice, but I was genuinely scared for the wellbeing of our nation.

Trump had shown us that he could not be trusted and that he lacked morals, was a cruel bully, was indecent, made lying and fraud his way of life, and was essentially lawless, ignoring the Constitution. He was a convicted felon who would have been behind bars had senate Republicans convicted him and Attorney General Merrick Garland not sat on his hands for too long. All the evidence of his wrongdoing was there and yet these men in high places failed to hold one of their own accountable. And with a cowardly Republican majority, there was no mechanism to enact Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment that clearly disqualifies an insurrectionist from holding elected office. Even the Supreme Court wouldn’t allow individual states to keep him off their ballot in line with the Constitution. They decided that Congress had to do it, ignoring the reality that Congress had been usurped by a violent MAGA cult. And other Republicans refused, deciding they preferred power over country.

That left the decision to the American people and we failed. Trump won this election by only 1.5% of the vote, a very narrow win. I continue to take solace (like Kamala Harris) in the fact that two-thirds of the voting citizenry did not vote for him. However, it is the third that neglected to vote that I blame the most for putting us in this situation. I believe more Americans are decent and somewhat reasonable than are the complete degenerates or gullible folks who voted for Trump. Elections have consequences and I’m hopeful that those who now understand that their vote matters will vote this November. That said, Trump started this war in Iran (without Congressional approval), breaking yet another of his promises to his base. And for what? I really don’t know because his administration keeps changing the reasons and have been unable to deliver a coherent rationale for why they started a war with Iran.

In fact, they are so ridiculous that they are now saying that Iran started the war when they took U.S. hostages some 47 years ago in 1979. They never go further back to the fact that our CIA helped Britain overthrow Iran’s democratically elected prime minister in 1953 and returned that puppet monarch, The Shah of Iran, to power to restore outside control and profits from Iran’s oil. The Shah’s brutal authoritarian rule backed by Western powers led to the 1979 Revolution where the Shah was removed and a new government, the “Islamic Republic” was established where religious authoritarianism, hostile to Western culture, took over has been harsh for many Iranian people. Of course they blame us. Iran has been angry at us for good reason. We have meddled in and destabilized their country and did a world of damage to them. We have tried to sanction them into economic ruin. And once again, we claim to be the righteous victims who have no idea why we have enemies. They say Iran can’t have nuclear bombs because they will be a threat to the world. But aren’t we and Russian and China and every other nation that has nuclear weapons a threat to them and to the world? The problem is that we are afraid Iran will take vengeance on the nations that exploited their oil, ruined their economy with sanctions and meddled in their political affairs since 1953. Let’s not forget that Trump tore up the nuclear agreement Obama had with Iran simply because it was Obama’s agreement.

This war is a short-sighted distraction. There was no immediate threat to our homeland. The Iranians are nowhere near gaining a nuclear weapon. The haste of this war reveals the incompetence and lack of planning in its execution. Americans being stuck as bombs fall around them is what happens when you gut the State Department and rush into war. It’s no coincidence that Trump is further implicated in the Epstein files and that he wants us worried about Iran and not paying attention to his sexual crimes against young girls. We already knew he was a creepy sexual predator, but crimes against young girls might prove to be a bridge too far for his MAGA base. In large part, I believe that is what this war is about.

I pray that the war ends quickly. I pray that our troops and innocent lives are safe. I also pray that every eligible voter shows up for the midterms and votes those cowardly Republicans out of office at every level of government. A gift for our 250th anniversary would be to chart our nation on a course for greater freedom, greater democracy, and stronger institutions to safeguard against an authoritarian leader like Donald J. Trump. A man like Trump is the exact reason our nation was established in the first place.

I’m having a difficult time figuring out how this Administration claims this is the “golden age” for the United States when people are being kidnapped and imprisoned by ICE thugs for the crime of being black or brown. Our economic policies are enriching the wealthy while impoverishing everyone else with high prices for healthcare, childcare, health insurance, home insurance, food, and housing. Our environment is being destroyed with the rollback of environmental regulations that protect our air and water and deal with climate change. Our health is being put at risk by placing incompetent inexperienced conspiracy theorists in charge of it. Measles is back. Hospitals are closing. Medical research is being defunded. Poor people are being thrown off of Medicaid. 400 women have been criminally prosecuted for miscarriages. Education is being gutted and a reverse brain drain is occurring in real time as the best and the brightest are choosing to study and do research outside the U.S. Actual history is being erased and rewritten to center the myth of white supremacy. Journalists are being prosecuted and news outlets are being sold to Trump supporters to control the messaging that no longer values truth. CBS News, including “60 Minutes” have been co-opted. Anderson Cooper quit. And now CNN has fallen into the same evil hands with Paramount purchasing Warner Bro. We have learned that rich and powerful men have sexually abused minors with impunity for years. And it is likely that Trump is among them.

And now Trump has joined with Israel to start a war with Iran without Congressional approval. One of their strikes killed over 50 middle school girls. None of these things make us safer or more secure. Innocent lives are being lost. Billions of dollars are being wasted, and our country will again become the target of terrorists’ attacks at a time when the FBI has been gutted and turned over to that corrupt party animal Kash Patel.

I ask myself if these people in charge, Trump, Mike Johnson, Steven Miller, JD Vance and the billionaires who fund them, are actually short-sighted or if they plan to rule over ashes? Their actions are so incredibly destructive that I can’t help but wonder if their plan is to ultimately destroy the country and its people. And for what reason? You can’t destroy the environment without dire consequences to everyone, including themselves. You can’t steal taxpayer money to enrich yourselves with luxury planes and ballrooms and lavish parties while people struggle and starve. It makes no sense to allow people to be chronically sick or even die by making medical care unaffordable and pushing misinformation while defunding medical research and still expect to have a healthy population able to contribute and defend the country. What they are doing is unsustainable. And now they are sending our military into harm’s way to distract from the Epstein files. None of these moves are an improvement.

This country is unrecognizable to me. And yet, I am hopeful that enough judges and citizens will continue to wake up and resist. There are more sane than insane people in this country who aren’t willing to sacrifice their freedom, their health, and their children’s future to continue to feed the ego and greed of a madman and his white nationalists base of supporters. I predict that a real revolution is coming and that it will be sooner rather than later.