“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely “
Lord Acton
President Trump is nakedly using tactics employed by Putin, Xi and other autocrats he so admires to exercise his insatiable quest for near total power;
Pay-to-play schemes to coerce some of the nation’s wealthiest individuals, corporations, law firms and media organizations …
“If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt it is mine alone.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower, June 5, 1944
Prior to the invasion of Normandy, Supreme Allied commander General Eisenhower, drafted a speech taking full and personal blame should the D-Day invasion turn into a military catastrophe, despite the fact it was …
I read the following excellent and timely opinion piece on The Chris Hedges Report/Substack. It is only the second piece written by a third party I have ever posted in nearly forty years f writing social and political commentary … and echoes many of the warning signs for the future …
“When hypocrisy is a character trait, it also affects one’s thinking, because it consists in the negation of all the aspects of reality that one finds disagreeable, irrational or repugnant.
Octavio Paz
Amazingly, President Trump and many conservative Republicans have argued it should be solely up to parents to make decisions regarding …
“I won’t insult your intelligence by suggesting that you really believe what you just said.”
William F. Buckley Jr.
Many Americans passionately believe parents should have the ultimate say in:
their children’s medical care, including what vaccines their children receive and on what schedules;
in controlling the historical, scientific, social and religious-based educational information …
“No right was deemed by the fathers of the government more sacred than the right of speech. It was in their eyes, as in the eyes of all thoughtful men, the great moral renovator of society and government.”
Fredrick Douglas
The assassination of Charles Kirk was reprehensible … as was that of …
“Sometimes the point isn’t to make people believe a lie; it’s to make people fear the liar.”
Anne Applebaum
Never before has any American president politicized public spaces and government buildings with banners featuring their face, a propaganda ploy more commonly associated with autocratic leaders in China, Russia, North Korea and other …
“Partisanship, parochialism, excessive public debt, ambitious leaders who could come to power playing off our differences, and a poorly informed public who might sacrifice their own liberties to find relief from divisive politics”
George Washington
President Trump is absolutely correct … America has been and remains an exceptional nation!
Unfortunately, the president ignores …
“Patriotism means to stand by the Country. It does not mean to stand by the president.”
Theodore Roosevelt
Donald Trump increasingly makes clear, in spite of the Constitutional limitations imposed on the presidency, he intends to amass more unconstrained power for the Executive Branch and for himself, personally!
While not on the golf …
“A body of men holding themselves accountable to nobody ought not be trusted by anybody.”
Thomas Jefferson
Credible scientific studies have concluded the Climate, despite Republican claims it’s a hoax, is fast approaching a tipping point where global warming may be irreversible. However, America’s unique experiment in representative democracy may also be …
“I’m afraid, based on my own experience, that fascism will come to America in the name of national security.”
Jim Garrison
We were warned:
By the architect of our Constitution, James Madison; “I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments by …
“In a constitutional democracy, persons owe loyalty to the Constitution, rather than the government”
James Buchannan – Hillsdale College
U.S. Attorney General Pam Blondi has justified firing or demoting respected Department of Justice attorneys for failure to be a “zealously advocate” on behalf of the United States, even in situations where …
“First came for the communists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist. Then …
“A body of men holding themselves accountable to nobody ought not be trusted by anybody.”
Thomas Jefferson
The signors of the Declaration of Independence understood the potentially lethal consequences of their actions yet opted to, “mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor,” by formally severing ties …
“Notice and comment is unnecessary because I am ordering the repeal,”
President Trump’s Executive Order to unilaterally
repeal energy and environmental regulations
Donald Trump’s insatiable thirst for and expansive interpretation of presidential power has been the defining characteristic since his inauguration. His issuances of daily, often legally-questionably, Executive Orders and Actions have …
“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”
Attributed to Voltaire
For nearly fifty years Liberals have been justifiably accused of censoring speech with which they disagree. It has taken the form of establishing so-called free speech zones on high school and …
“he who saves his country does not violate any law”
Donald Trump
His wildly inaccurate remark, “I have an Article II where I have the right to do whatever I want as president,” and embracing the label of “king” epitomizes Donald Trump’s exaggerated and narcissistic ego and disrespect for the Constitution!
Trump’s election …
“Every 25 seconds, someone in America is arrested for drug possession.”
Human Rights Watch and the ACLU
America’s War on Drugs dates back to 1971 and is estimated to have cost our nation more than $1 trillion, sent millions of people to prison for low-level and non-violent offenses, and seriously eroded Constitutional-protected …
“Trump demands that government actors pledge loyalty to him, as opposed to the law or to the Constitution”
Rick Pildes
Donald Trump’s rants claiming undocumented immigrants are all recently released criminals from foreign prisons and mental institutions and “poisoning the blood” of Americans and declaring of Haitian immigrants, “They’re eating the dogs. …
“I believe I’m the best qualified to govern and I think I’m the best qualified to win, but there are other people who could beat Trump, too.”
Joe Biden
This week’s Republican convention witnesses the coronation of Donald Trump despite having proven he is unfit to return to the presidency.
During and since …
“A Law repugnant to the Constitution is void.”
Marbury v. Madison (1803)
In a concurring opinion supporting the Alabama Supreme Court ruling frozen embryos are people, Chief Justice Tom Parker leaned heavily on Christian scripture, “Human life cannot be wrongfully destroyed without incurring the wrath of a holy God,” and “All human …
"I have a gut, and my gut tells me more sometimes than anybody else's brain can ever tell me."
Donald Trump
On January 20, 2017, Donald Trump spoke the following words, "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will …
'Well, go pick up a Bible off your shelf and read it. That's my worldview.'"
Speaker Mike Johnson
Newly-minted Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has made it clear his actions are driven by his faith and looks to the Gospels to form policy positions. Echoing evangelical and Christian Nationalists ideologies, he …
“There are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpation.”
James Madison
Ask any politician, political commentator, or cable talking-head about the greatest threats facing America and you will predictably hear China, Russia, Iran, …
“Truth and hypocrisy cannot exist in the same room.”
Matthew 23
Think of the irony, one political party claims to champion “parental rights” and a “less intrusive government.” Yet, that party’s most visible politicians have no problem advocating for and enacting laws restricting the rights of individual citizens who may not share …
“I hate prejudice, discrimination, and snobbishness of any kind – it always reflects on the person judging and not the person being judged. Everyone should be treated equally.”
Gordon Brown
For nearly a century, successive Administrations championed the expansion of the rights of disenfranchised Americans, whether based on gender, race, nationality, religion, …
Muzzling Speech Endangers Democracy
“Once a government is committed to the principle of silencing the voice of opposition, it has only one way to go, and that is down the path of increasingly repressive measures, until it becomes a source of terror to all its citizens and creates a country …
“I do not believe in taking away the right of the citizen for sporting, for hunting and so forth for home defense. But I do believe that an AK-47, a machine gun, is not a sporting weapon of needed for defense of a home.”
Ronald Reagan
The Constitution and Bill of Rights …
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."
Evelyn Beatrice Hall (1903) … although often attributed to Voltaire
“Anti-Woke” rhetoric has become the centerpiece of conservative politics and given license for subtle, and sometimes not-so-subtle, demonization of and discrimination targeting non-straight (LGBTQ) …
“The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.”
Marcus Aurelius
In 1935, during the depth of the Depression Sinclair Lewis published a novel in which the average American’s political ignorance and complacency resulted in a …
“If a public school were to remove every book because it contains one word deemed objectionable to some parent, then there would be no books at all in our public libraries,”
Peter Scheer – Executive Director
California First Amendment Coalition
There is a dangerous movement sweeping across the country. It began with pressures …
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;”
First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
Certain recent Supreme Court decisions have embraced high-priority political objectives of conservative, primarily Christian Right, activists; justifying their opinions on “originalism” and questionable interpretations of the First Amendment.
These range from …
Be Careful What You Wish For
“Without reflection, we go blindly on our way, creating more unintended consequences, and failing to achieve anything useful.”
Margaret J. Wheatley
Last week, to the dismay of Democrats, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, ending a women constitutional right for an abortion. The Court’s …
Kamaljeeth Vijay and Patrick Lichtner, seniors from Holy Ghost Preparatory School in Bensalem and who were joined by their parents, were named winner and runner-up in a countywide civics scholarship essay contest sponsored by theLegacyof1776.com, the Bucks County Courier Times and The Intelligencer.
The contest was open to all Bucks County …
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof ….”
First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
Justices Thomas and Alito recently demonstrated ideology holds sway over their alleged “strict constructionist” view of the U.S. Constitution when they lambasted the religious liberty implications of the Court’s …
“Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came”
President Trump (July 13, 2019)
For the past 2½ years I have assumed Donald Trump’s rambling Tweets and political agenda were aimed at simply placating and revving up his base.
However, his recent tirades …
The NFL players taking a knee are “very disrespectful to our country.”
President Donald Trump (September 30, 2017)
The furor over athletes taking a knee, raising a fist or sitting during the national anthem or people burning the Flag continues unabated, with President Trump fanning the flames those believe that such actions …
“Get that son of a bitch off the field”
Donald Trump (09/22/2017)
Referring to NFL players who have followed Colin Kaepernick’s lead and taken a knee during the national anthem, President Trump’s recent rants demonstrate he has clearly forgotten his oath of office to, “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the …
“It’s very sad that Republicans, even some that were carried over the line on my back, do very little to protect their President,”
Donald J. Trump
President Trump’s recent tweets provide unmistakable evidence he has forgotten, does not understand or chooses to disregard the oath that he and all other federal officials …
“Agency shop” laws, which require public employees to pay union dues as a condition of employment, violate well-settled principles of freedom of speech and association.”
Plaintiffs in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association
It is clear that the Supreme Court is likely to overturn its 1977 ruling in Abood v. Detroit Board of …
“You should protest about the views of people you disagree with over major moral issue and argue the down, but you should not try to silence them, however repugnant you find them. That is the bitter pill free speech requires us to swallow.”
Julian Baggini
This past week, the New Jersey Motor …
Christine Brennan’s September 12th USAT0day OpEd plea for the Washington Redskins to change their name as, “if only some Native Americans think it’s racist … It’s racist”, is yet another sad example of selective political correctness and displays her lack of appreciation for the very rights which make her profession …
“If the flag needs protection at all, it needs protection from members of Congress
who value the symbol more than the freedom the flag represents.”
Representative Jerrold Nadler (D-New York)
It is clear that Mike Fitzpatrick and Jonathan Last simply do not get it!
In recent OpEds Congressman Fitzpatrick defended his recent vote …
“If the flag needs protection at all, it needs protection from members of Congress who value the symbol
more than the freedom the flag represents.”
Representative Jerrold Nadler (D-New York)
In the wake of 9/11, American freedoms are falling victim to the crusades of activists from both sides of the political spectrum …
“Freedom of speech means that you shall not do something to people either for the views they have or the views they express or the words they speak or write.”
Justice Hugo Black
We have recently been witness to several news items which do not bode well for the preservation of our …
I was privileged to have had the opportunity to serve as a “community” member of the Courier Times Editorial Board during the several months running up to the recent November elections. With that perspective as background, it was interesting, and sometimes amusing to read several of the published Letters to …
“There are more instances of the abridgement of the freedom of the people by gradual consent and silent encroachment of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.”
James Madison
In the wake of the recent election night flip-flopping by the television networks over who won the Florida presidential election, there …
“Restriction of free thought and free speech is the most dangerous of all subversions.”
Justice William O. Douglas
The hallowed chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives, where those men and women elected to serve the people once debated ways to enhance the rights of man, recently became a cheap forum for …
“Belly Dancing is like Jello on a plate with a vibrator under the plate”
J. Donald Silva (UNH)
There is no greater danger to individual rights than committed zealots, operating under the color of real or usurped police authority, as they attempt to reorder public policy. Their actions become all the more …
“Live free or die.”
John Stark
Once again powerful forces across the Granite State are embroiled in an emotional debate testing the mettle of New Hampshire’s movers and shakers. For more than half a century this highly charged polemic has ebbed and flowed from the Connecticut River to the Isle of Shoals …
“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”
Voltaire
A new McCarthyism is loose in America. Unchecked, its impact on the fabric of our society can be more devastating than any consequences which resulted from the Wisconsin senator’s brief reign of …
“Much ado about Nothing”
Shakespeare
With serious intellectual pursuits falling by the wayside at many colleges, small cadres of self-righteous students fritter time away identifying new social problems in need of an immediate cures. As with earlier campus protests, demonstrations and the issuance of “demands” are the principal means of drawing attention …
“It is harder to preserve than obtain liberty.”
Voltaire
The past decade has witnessed an alarming trend emerging on the American political landscape. Activist forces on both the left and the right have become increasingly outspoken in their efforts to justify the limitation or surrender of fundamental rights in the name of …