Tag Archives: The Mind of Brosephus

Second Civil War

Posted on by under Election 2020, Election 2022, Free Press Issues, History, Law and justice, Political commentary, Re-blogs, Social commentary

Blogging friend Brosephus doesn’t speak often, but when he does, his words have meaning. Today, he asks a relevant question: When does democracy begin to defend itself? Some food for thought here, folks …

The Mind of Brosephus

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the second American Civil War. If you haven’t already realized it, we’ve been living through a war since December 2008. War has not been officially declared, however I’ll suggest that the moment the GOP decided to go full obstruction as opposed to actually governing in the best interest of America was the day the war began.

I can already hear the questions and see the puzzled looks. “What war?” you ask. “Isn’t war supposed to be violent and deadly?” Well, the Cold War between the US and Russia was fought for decades without direct battle. Likewise, the second civil war thus far has not been fought as a traditional war.

This is a war against the Constitution itself, and the fight became visible on January 6, 2021. Since that time, we’ve had numerous people convicted for their actions that day on charges that include seditious…

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Who do you trust?

Posted on by under education, Election 2022, History, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Re-blogs, Social commentary

Here we are, exactly two weeks from election day. Have you cast your ballot yet? The girls and I mailed ours on Saturday. We usually use a drop box, but in today’s violent political climate I thought the U.S. Postal Service to be the safer, more reliable venue, even despite Louis DeJoy.

Our friend Brosephus responds to a recent ABC News poll and asks the question: “Who in the hell are they polling?” Let’s have a look at what he has to say …

The Mind of Brosephus

Here we are, less than 16 days away from election day, and a major news outlet is putting out information like this.

My initial response is, “Who in the hell are they polling?” I also want to know in which alternative universe the polling responders reside.

Why would anyone outside of the wealthiest Americans trust the GOP with the economy? They’ve already said they’re going to cut Social Security among other programs. They’re threatening to default on the debt limit again to extract concessions from Biden. Now ask yourself, if these financial endeavors were so damned important, then why didn’t they do them when Trump was in office and they controlled Congress?

Face it America, if your net worth doesn’t include at least three commas in front of the decimal point, the GOP doesn’t care about you or your families. All they want from you is a vote to give…

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Post-democracy politics

Posted on by under Election 2020, Election 2022, Election 2024, Free Press Issues, History, Law and justice, Political commentary, Re-blogs, Social commentary, voting rights

I had not planned another post today … I typically like to stick to my schedule of two posts plus a music post … but then I came across this post from Brosephus and … every word struck a chord. He is 100% spot on with all he says here and I hope everyone realizes it. Many thanks, Bro!

The Mind of Brosephus

Creator: Ben@bengray.com | Credit: Ben Gray Copyright: Ben Gray

Today starts the early voting period here in Georgia. We’ll hear the usual, “this is the most important election in our lifetime” speech over and over until November. While it gets old, this election is truly important and not just for the residents of Georgia.

Across the country, there are many candidates for office who are election deniers. The majority of GOP candidates on the ballot for November espouse the belief that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump. Think of the cognitive dissonance required to believe that Trump lost on the same election where hundreds of Republicans won.

Yet, here we are in 2022 staring at the ballot and there’s a chance that many elections in 2024 will be run by people who believe that very thing. Democracy itself is officially on the ballot and maybe even on life support. Welcome to the world…

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America is dead

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, education, Election 2020, Environmental Issues, History, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Re-blogs, Social commentary

A few short (or long, depending on the perspective of the moment) weeks ago, I would likely have disagreed with Brosphus’ premise that “America is Dead”. Today, however, reading his post stirred my conscience, brought a lump to my throat, and … yeah, my friends, the ‘America’ I thought I knew is indeed dead. Perhaps a new, even better one can be wrought from the ashes, but that remains to be seen. Please take a few moments to read and ponder Bro’s words. Thank you, Brosephus … my friend, my Bro.

The Mind of Brosephus

I’ve been hesitant to write this post because of the knee jerk reaction it’s bound to cause. However, as I keep observing incident after incident that further confirms my view, I guess I have no choice but to finally say it here. America is dead. It’s gone, sitting at the top of the dustbin of history, and it will never come back to life again.

Now, when I say America, I am talking about the country, not the idea of America. The idea of America is very much alive, and we see that spirit shining elsewhere around the world where people are free to pursue their happiness and life itself without overbearing government. Our country, on the other hand, is finished.

Sure, we still have a government, an economy, and other things in place as we’ve always had. When you look closely at them, how functional are they? If you’re…

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Uncomfortable History Month: Hammer Time

Posted on by under Social commentary, Re-blogs, Racism & Bigotry, education, History

Black History, like all history, is a mixed bag. Unfortunately, from the time the first slaves were transported to this continent until present, it seems that we keep taking two steps forward, then one step backward. Humans … seem to have an immense propensity for love, but also for hatred, and both are expressed in a myriad of ways. Brosephus’ post today shows us one of the uglier sides of humans and how it has played a role in Black History. Thanks, Bro!

The Mind of Brosephus

Day five, and what better topic is there than the Hammer himself. On this date in 1934, the greatest player to ever wear an Atlanta Braves uniform was born in Mobile, Alabama. Henry Louis “Hank” Aaron would leave Mobile and go on to become the homerun king of Major League Baseball.

I could go on all day about his career, but we all are pretty familiar with his stats. What makes his career even more impressive is when you realize that he accomplished all he did while under constant threat to both himself and his family. Just as revisionism portrays Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr as someone who was supposedly beloved during his time on earth, Aaron wasn’t universally accepted and loved by America during his playing years.

I’ll give you just a few samples of the thousands upon thousands of hate letters he and the Braves organization received…

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Uncomfortable Violence

Posted on by under education, History, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Re-blogs, Social commentary

Anti-lynching bills that would make lynching a federal crime have been bouncing around in Congress since 1918. The most recent was the Emmett Till Antilynching Act which passed in the House of Representatives in February 2020 but never made it through the U.S. Senate. This, my friends, is an abomination!!! Our friend Brosephus, continuing his series for Black History Month, tells us of the lynching of Michael Donald who was lynched on March 21st, 1981. The story is unique because … well, I’ll let Brosephus explain why …

The Mind of Brosephus

Lynching is an ugly stain on the fabric of America. It’s one of those ugly truths about our history that many people want to forget or ignore. Totals differ depending on the sources, but the estimates are that between 4 and 5 thousand people were lynched in the US after the Civil War and up to the Civil Rights Era.

Lynching was mob violence condoned by the government. Most often, the violence was carried out by the Ku Klux Klan, but there were many instances of regular everyday white citizens forming a mob to lynch someone. These mobs acted with little to no fear of law enforcement. Some mobs even took on a party-like atmosphere.

I’ve often wondered why the counts end with the Civil Rights Era when lynching didn’t end during that time frame. I was born after the Civil Rights time, and the last verified lynching by a…

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Uncomfortable History Month begins

Posted on by under education, Environmental Issues, History, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Re-blogs, Social commentary

I post about Black History Month numerous times each February, recognizing the accomplishments of Black people and also calling out the racism and discrimination against Blacks in our society. However, whatever I say is diminished by the fact that I am not Black and have not experienced that discrimination first-hand. Our friend Brosephus, however, is far more familiar with it than I am and his words have a legitimacy that my own lack. So today, I have chosen to share Brosephus’ post of February 1st, the first day of this year’s Black History Month. Thank you, Bro!

The Mind of Brosephus

Today is February 1st which means it’s also the beginning of Black History Month in the US. I typically don’t like to celebrate this as I personally think that Black History is American History.

However, since white guilt seems to be an issue nowadays, I’m going to go out of my way to make some folks feel uncomfortable.

So, for the next 28 days, I am going to search for something significant about American history and its apparent ability to make Americans uncomfortable.

Image via NCpedia.org

To kick things off, we’ll honor February 1st and the Greensboro Four.

On this date in 1960, four college freshmen from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (NC A&T) decided to take on segregation by staging a sit-in at Woolworth’s lunch counter. Ezell Blair Jr (now Jibreel Khazan), Joseph McNiel, Franklin McCain, and David Richmond started what eventually became a mass sit-in protest…

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Blackness is a constant fight

Posted on by under Election 2020, Election 2022, History, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Re-blogs, Social commentary, voting rights

Yesterday, the Supreme Court dealt a crippling blow to voting rights across the nation. The case involved a voter suppression law in Arizona, and the court ruled in favour of the state, allowing the voter suppression and disenfranchisement to remain law. Unfortunately, this does not bode well for We the People, for it may well be considered to have set a precedent for the other 40+ states that are passing or have passed voter suppression laws. Our friend Brosephus is angry, and I don’t blame him … I’m angry too! This Court decision takes us another step closer to a return to the days of Jim Crow laws. Please take a minute to read Brosephus’ take on this. Thank you, Bro, for sharing this … you’re right … we have fewer voting rights now than before the VRA of 1965!

The Mind of Brosephus

Imagine waking up to the realization above. That’s how my day has been so far. Last night was a pretty uneventful night at work with the usual routine at play. Everything was pretty unremarkable until I woke up this afternoon to the news about the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Arizona voting law case.

Justice Samuel Alito, writing for the court’s six conservatives, said Section 2 requires equal openness to voting, not equal outcomes.

“It appears that the core of [Section 2] is the requirement that voting be ‘equally open.’ The statute’s reference to equal ‘opportunity’ may stretch that concept to some degree to include consideration of a person’s ability to use the means that are equally open. But equal openness remains the touchstone,” Alito wrote.

“Mere inconvenience cannot be enough to demonstrate a violation of [Section 2],” he added.

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/supreme-court-upholds-arizona-restrictions-major-voting-rights/story?id=78182724

After taking the time to read through analysis of…

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No Buckhead, you’re not a special case

Posted on by under education, Environmental Issues, guns, Law and justice, Political commentary, Re-blogs, Social commentary

One of the topics I cover frequently is that of the gun culture in the U.S. Here, guns outnumber people and our society seems to have largely become inured to the daily gun violence and death. Outside the U.S., our gun culture is viewed with horror and incredulity, rightly so. Some communities think the answer is to wall themselves off from the rest of the nation, but our friend Brosephus tells us of some much more viable, widespread and comprehensive solutions to the problem, though my own preference would be to take the guns out of the hands of civilians! Thanks, Bro, for this wise post.

The Mind of Brosephus

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/06/14/2021-gun-violence/?itid=orw-hp-2021

Through the first five months of 2021, gunfire killed more than 8,100 people in the United States, about 54 lives lost per day, according to a Washington Post analysis of data from the Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit research organization. That’s 14 more deaths per day than the average toll during the same period of the previous six years.

Fear does strange things to us. It causes all kinds of responses from the instinctual “fight or flight” impulse to making rash decisions. Instead of making rash and rushed decisions, we sometimes need to take a few seconds to assess the situation facing us. That few seconds allows us to cool our jets and make rational, fact-based decisions as opposed to knee-jerk reactions. We must remember that fear can sometimes be False Energy Appearing Real.

We all watch the news and see the reports on crime increasing. However, it’s…

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Let’s talk American History

Posted on by under education, Free Press Issues, History, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Re-blogs, Social commentary

The U.S. has a uniquely diverse history, parts of which are often glossed over, ignored, or revised in its teaching. That needs to stop … we need to learn the history of the nation — the good, the bad, and the ugly. Those who fail to learn from history are destined to repeat it. Yet, there are those who would simply erase parts of the history of this nation. Blogging buddy Brosephus has once again knocked the ball out of the park with his take on this topic … thank you, Brosephus!

The Mind of Brosephus

American history has been a hot topic as of lately, primarily because of Republicans striking out against what they’re calling “wokeism”, revisionism, or whatever the code word is for the day. There’s been a lot of crap being spewed from the Tennessee Republican claiming the Three-fifths Compromise was passed to end slavery to Tim Scott claiming America isn’t a racist country.

Individually, the statements that have been made are outrageously stupid and wrong. Collectively, these statements all feed into the cult-like behavior Republicans now exhibit where up is down, the sky is green, and grass is blue. This is dangerous because this creates a society ignorant of its own history of accomplishments and mistakes. You can’t know who you are if you don’t what you have and haven’t done.

So, first up is Rick Santorum and his statement on Native Americans. The easiest and quickest way to disprove his statement…

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