I’m in a rather introspective, quiet mood tonight.  I don’t want to write about he-who-shall-remain-nameless, yet that seems to be the main focus of every news story I’ve read for the past 48 hours.  I don’t know what I can say about our current lack of adults in Congress … seems I’ve said it all already.  I’m biting my tongue on the topic of the war between Israel and Hamas, and I’ve already made my position on Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine perfectly clear.  So, what to write about?  Unlike sometimes when my mind bounces from pillar to post, tonight it simply seems to be struggling for air beneath a layer of foam from which it isn’t even trying to escape.  So, I offer just a few snippets and then I shall shut up and go to bed …

The story of the vigilante group who attacked a man they thought was a migrant but who was really a resident of NY   made me start thinking …

This is how it starts – the violence based on mistrust, based on lies told by politicians, and so by the time election day rolls around it has become the biggest immediate problem we face.  So, if Trump wins the election, he immediately calls out the National Guard to “quell the unrest” and puts the nation under martial law – we gave him just the excuse he was hoping for.  And the rest, as they say, is history.

Representative Doug Lamborn, a Republican from Colorado, announced last month that he is not running for reelection in November, leaving all three Republican-held seats in the Colorado delegation open this year. “I’m not getting any younger,” Lamborn said on KVOR-AM this morning . “I want to look for opportunities to do good.”  WHAT???  A Republican … wants to “do good” … can we clone him???

How many times have I heard in the past few years that the U.S. is a “Christian nation”?  It isn’t, and I argue vociferously that this is a secular nation as established by the U.S. Constitution, but those who want it to be otherwise hear only what they want to hear.  Well, I now have proof that this is anything but a Christian nation …

A recent study by Pew Research  finds that for the first time in the U.S., the group referred to as the “Nones” account for the largest plurality, about 28%, up from about 16% in 2007.  The “Nones” are comprised of essentially three non-religious ideologies:  atheists, agnostics, and the “nothing in particulars”.  This should (but won’t) put an end to that notion that the U.S. is a “Christian” nation and that Christianity is the only viable option.

And I leave you with one final thought … a question, really.  Republicans have now adopted ‘maga’ as their identity … ‘maga’ stands for “make America great again”.  I would argue that the U.S. was never “great”, that few nations achieve greatness and those that do, don’t hold onto it for long.  But my question to you is this:  what do you think “great” means in this context?  I’ll be back with more on that topic later.  Meanwhile, have a lovely Friday!