America First – A Race to be Last!

Wow. This is the future.

https://www.facebook.com/Vox/videos/1181935768660690/

While trump is leading us down a path of isolationism, better known as “America First”, China is crafting an “inclusion” plan to connect their part of the world and become a world economic, and subsequently, a military power as well.

All we have is Amtrak, that clugs along at 40 MPH while the rest of the world speeds along on “super” high speed rails. SMDH!

Okay, so they’re spending trillions of dollars. Well, we have corporate America and the wealthy a trillion dollar tax cut, and we spend almost a trillion a year on the military industrial complex.

Hell, we spend almost a trillion a year on “for profit prisons”.

We are being left behind by our blindness political leaders who are trying to convince us that all we need be concerned about is a stupid trade deficit.

Sure the trade deficit with China is important, but that’s because they’re leading the world in production of consumer goods.

And, that’s because we’re a nation of consumers. We buy more stuff than we make. . I. E. , smartphones. We all have them but none are made here.

We’re walking around with our heads down, texting and tweeting, and have no clue the world is speeding past us at warp speed.

And, that’s because we allow American companies to move their production abroad, to places like China, then buy/import them back, thereby, increasing the so-called“trade deficit”.

It’s the country’s love affair with our multi-nationals and willingness to let them do whatever the hell they want, all because they have bought and sold our politicians.

When we get to the point we’re at now, where 2% of the wealthiest people in the world has more wealth that the bottom half – or 150 million Americans – we have to admit, that’s not sustainable.

The biggest con game of this modern area is our politicians and our government’s willful propaganda of having us believe we’re the greatest country in the world.

That may be true in a military sense, but if anyone believes we’re going to hold that position for long – of of its even true now – has already been bamboozled.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not mad at China as our political leaders, even the Democrats would have us believe. They are spineless and ignorant as well.

Sometimes we have to deal with abandonment for someone to achieve their personal goals.

Deion Sanders hired as the next head coach for the University of Colorado football.

Photo Credit: CNN

It was a good ride but we need to let it go. The question being posed by brother Neely, the host of Thee Pregame Show, as to whether JSU did anything, or did enough to retain coach prime – is really a moot point at this stage in the game. If you watch the Deion Sanders Tours Colorado’s Campus for the First Time: you can see firsthand what he is enamored with.

First off, Deion always said that he wasn’t there for the money because he was wealthy, so then, why did he leave for the money? He said he was on a mission from God, and no one can argue that, but when he came to Jackson State, he knew what we could offer.

I am waiting for the second shoe [lie] to drop. The first one was from his insistence on his “calling from God” to build something special among black student-athletes. This other one is where he constantly said, he would never coach in the NFL because of the attitude, egos, and salaries of some of the players. As in politics, words don’t mean a thing in coaching, or when it comes to one’s [personal] ambitions. Were the players who transferred to JSU solely to play for him, or the parents who persuaded their sons to leave their previous schools to go to JSU dupped? Were they “Hood Winked, or did they just learn a valuable life lesson? It’s a matter to be debated.

Second, when a man or a woman, decides to leave the wife or husband for another man or woman there’s [really] nothing you can do about it. It’s like when the husband or wife leaves their partner for someone who makes more money than their current partner. We say it’s all about love, but we all know that when it comes down to it in a relationship, it’s about the money. The sex and the love may be foundational things, but the lore of a (perceived) better life with someone with a bigger purse wins the day.

Third, one noted commentator made the statement that he doesn’t owe Jackson state anything. Well, he may not owe Jackson state anything, but Jackson State did put him on the national stage coming from an unknown private high school in Texas. JSU gave him a platform on a stage larger than the one he was on and he capitalized on it, made good on his commitment to deliver a winning program and now he’s moving on. One can’t argue the two consecutive winning seasons and back-to-back SWAC championships.

Brother Neely, the host of Thee Pregame Show,  was not one of the people who said it early on, but some of the same people now who are harping about why Deion’s leaving were some of the same people who questioned him being hired [without any college coaching experience] in the first place.

So, here we are, back where we were – moping around, whining, making excuses, pointing fingers, and basically missing the whole point. He’s leaving because of his flamboyant nature and ego, and yes – the money bag. It’s called “Love ‘em and Leave ‘em”, or “Using something as a Stepping-stone”,

So, another black man leaves his black family for a white woman.  Deion has spent his entire college in professional life in predominantly white environments. So, his move to Colorado is nothing new. He is simply going back home. The buffalos ain’t SWAC that’s for sure. Maybe Eddie Robinson, Jr. had a point here.

As in my marriage analogy above, all of the rhetoric he posted about his mission from God to build character in the young black men at Jackson State is all lost to me, with him deciding to go to a predominantly white school with a 2% black student body and a post-season won-loss record of 1-11. Go figure.

Let’s not forget some of us remember the days when Jackson State was a powerhouse in SWAC football and this was before Deion came on the scene.

  • Are we going to lose some top recruits, yes?
  • Will some of the glare of the [inquisitive] media lights on Jackson State dim a bit, yes?
  • Will those of us who (truly) love our school abandon it and quit setting fan attendance records at our football games, I don’t think so.
  • Will black students – many at the urging of their parents – stop enrolling at HBCUs in general and at JSU in particular, I don’t think so.

What we had before Deion came on the scene at Jackson State, and in Jackson Mississippi, we still have, and that’s a great school with nationally ranked degree programs, a great student body, a great culture within the HBCU ranks, and a wholesome, loving, and nurturing environment. Deion didn’t bring us those things, they were there before he came, and they will be there after he’s gone.

My loyalty lies with Jackson State University, and not with Deion Sanders.

JSU Bounces the “bully” Southern University – now we can move on.

Well, it’s all over. The most anticipated game of the season, in my opinion, ended with a blast. I won’t lie, I was filled with anxiety.

This week was one of the most fun-filled weeks I have ever experienced, as a JSU alumnus or as a student.

Southern University is one of two schools that gave me high anxiety about a win.  Now that we have beaten them, I honestly feel we can go undefeated.

Saw may disagree with me; however, Southern really needed to be shut out, or beaten by 50 or 60 points. Their belligerence, unsportsmanlike conduct, and fan hostility are just some of the things I have disdain for. Honorable mention, Coach Robinsons’ behavior after the Alabama State game.

This childlike behavior by Southern fans goes back 50 years – back when I was in college. There was always harassment Southern’s students and a fight or two was always the norm.

I say this, because with all of the hype and attention being brought on the SWAC and HBCUs, in general, I hate to see childlike behavior and unsportsmanlike conduct by coaches and fans alike, become the center of attention.

SWAC rivalries and smack talking nothing new. Southern University is technically not one of our rivals – in my opinion. The game always brought a lot of hype, but Alcorn has always been our top rival.

Take, for example, Alcorn State University. Our rivalry goes back decades with them, and every time we play them, either at home or in their backyard, it is truly a great experience and a class act.

There is an old Chinese proverb that says: “He who laughs first will be laughed at last.”

#TheeILove

So – What in the Hell Just Happened?

Men’s Track & Field Performances-So Disappointing!

I am with Carl Lewis. “It was a total embarrassment, and completely unacceptable …” for the U. S, Track & Field (men’s running) teams disappointing performance.

The 4 x 100m relay

Before I can begin to deal with the embarrassment of the familiar faces not even being in the 4 x 100-meter relay race, or that the U. S. team came in sixth place in the qualifying heats, I have to first get over my unending bewilderment of what happened a few days ago in the 100-meter sprint. 

Allow me to digress for a moment.

I am kicked back on the sofa downstairs, watching the replay of one of the Olympic events-I can’t recall which one and my wife comes down the stairs on her way to the kitchen to make some of her world-famous chili and says, “is that the 100 meter final you’re watching, and I say no”. Then, she says “ have you watched the 100-meter finals, again I say no.”

So, what could this surprise be? These events have been dominated by U. S. athletes in general and black athletes in particular. Using my sequential viewing technique I’ll mention later, I had already seen all of the semi-final heats and had a pretty good idea as to who was in the final of this event. Still, I pondered my wife’s question with keen interest.

You see, I am all in during the Olympic games and I will watch a few minutes of almost [I say almost] any event. I may have been watching a recorded Equestrian event, or maybe it was the women’s rugby finals or even Canoe Slalom. It doesn’t matter, as I said earlier, I am all in and will watch almost any Olympic event — except, basketball, golf, and wrestling, to name a few. Sorry, I just don’t give a crap about either of these sports.

Back to my wife’s question of “have you watched the 100-meter final.” She then says you’re going to be surprised. No, I wasn’t going to ask her what the surprise was, as the answer to that question would have spoiled all the fun. I didn’t spend a lot of time on the question as I wasn’t about to break my routine of watching the recordings of the events I love and not getting off course. I stayed with my 2-year plan to follow the games’ events in sequential order.

Question answered — mystery solved!

After lumbering through another fifteen minutes of viewing some of the more tepid events, I finally catch up to today’s premier event, the results of the 100-meter final. And whoa behold. Who woulda thunk it? There stands Lamont Marcell Jacobs of Italy, posing for the camera.

Photo Credit: Olympics-Athletics – Lamont Marcell Jacobs of Italy, posing for the
camera after winning 100 Meter Sprint in Tokyo – 2021

Who the hell would have guessed that an Italian sprinter had won the 100-meter sprint. Italy, the 100 meters? Did we give this cherished event away to the Italians? What is this world coming to? 

Okay, I know a lion is a pretty fast predator, but he is no match for the speed of a Cheetah. Italy vs the USA in sprints, get it? Okay. my bad. I could have done better.

The Italians take the 100 meters and the 4 x 100m relay

After the 100 meters and 400-meter hurdles debacle, I asking myself “What the hell just happened? Before I can solve that riddle, I am hit with the fact that the men don’t even qualify for the 4 x 100m relay semi’s and thus the finals. Reason: they came in sixth place in their heat. Sixth place!

Okay, they were having a bad day you say. Well, let’s go back to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The relay team was eliminated there too, for dropping the baton of all things. A bad day there too – I suppose. And, don’t even try to excuse this unacceptable performance, as one commentator attempted to do by saying, “well, you have to understand these guys are traveling at some awful high speeds, 25 mph in some cases, and it’s not as easy as it seems”. WTF did you just say? 
This sounds like a guy who is accustomed to passing out the participation trophies at his kid’s (losing) little league baseball game-even though his kid’s team lost the game by a landslide? 

Is today the day that the participation trophy (PT) culture has caught with us? Not necessarily with the athletes, but in the minds of some of us who are seemingly ready to excuse anything. 

Nah, I do not think so. But you better keep looking over your shoulder.

Then five years ago in the 2016 Rio Olympics, the 4 x 100m relay team was disqualified in the finals due to a violation of baton exchange rules.

These guys have attained the distinction of becoming Olympic athletes and with that distinction comes some basic assumptions. One basic assumption is that by the time they are bestowed with the honor of becoming an Olympian, they should have learned how to pass a baton.

The Gold Standard

What I do know, is that in the world of track and field, there are six premier events-all running events. The 100-meter semi’s/finals, the 200-meter finals, the 400-meter semi’s/finals, the 4 X 100-meter semi’s/finals, the 100-meter hurdles/the 400-meter hurdles finals.

The men’s 100 meters have been present on the Olympic athletics program since 1896. The 100 meters is considered one of the blue-ribbon events of the Olympics and is among the highest-profile competitions at the games. It is the most prestigious 100-meter race at the elite level and is the shortest sprinting competition at the Olympics — a position it has held at every edition except for a brief period between 1900 and 1904.

Some of the 400 meters, 4 x 100m relay, and 200m athletes just did not seem to take their events seriously enough.

The adage, “A picture is worth a thousand words” could never be more revealing than in this photo. Benjamin looks like he is out for a morning jog.

Photo: USA Today Sports, Karsten Warholm celebrates his 400m hurdle win

During the interview with the reporter after one of the semi-final track & field events, the athlete who came in third and when asked by the reporter “what do you think of your performance”, the guy says “well, I know I stopped running in the end and didn’t do my best, but I will do what I have to do in the finals”. EXCUSE ME!

Then there is another brother in an interview where he said he came for the “partay”. Now, there are two ways to interpret that word used in his statement. The Urban Dictionary defines it in several ways. The Olympics are not that type of party. If you qualified — and you did – to be an Olympic athlete, then showing up in Tokyo just for the “partay” is a poor example of being a serious Olympic athlete. 

I understand pacing oneself in some of the semi’s and heats to avoid over-exertion before the finals. Here is the darn problem with that. If you do not make the cut in the semi-finals, then you won’t get the chance to be in the finals-as some of them didn’t. 

None of these laid-back, lackluster attitudes apply to guys like Noah Lyles or Grant Holloway. Two guys who show a lot of humility and authenticity.

Noah Lyles was a Bronze medalist in the Men’s 200m Final. During Noah’s interview, Noah says “I felt like I was running for his life.” This young man has a super relaxed demeanor, but he is focused. And, he’s a truly genuine guy. 

Grant Holloway, a bronze medalist in the 110m hurdles, is, to me, another likable guy with a great attitude.

How impressive. Congratulations to both of you.


You are Not the Bolt!

How is it that you lose a race at the finish line because you stopped running, or because you’re gazing across the lanes at the other runners? Any coach will tell you to never stop running until you are across the finish line. Heck, if the serious dudes are running the 400m, they will not stop running until they have almost run another 200 meters.

In race after race, you see some of the male athletes in the sprints, relays, and 400m races showboating [it seems]. Seems that some of them were trying to imitate Usain Bolt, especially as they approached the finish line. Well, I have news for you wannabe’s, you’re not Usain Bolt.

While Bolt is known for his flamboyance, his jabbing, and even joking at his competitors-often at the end of his races, he never did that until his win was either a sure thing or he was at that finish line. Yes, he ran races where during the last dozen meters he would look around and sort of smirk at his opponents. What Bolt never did was allow his computers to get ahead of him while he displayed some of his antics. 

Finally, unlike some in this Olympics crop of runners, Usain Bolt never ran as fast as he could run. I do not think we will ever know how fast this dude is. I am not so sure he even knows.

The Women Runners Showed Amazing Determination & Seriousness!

Watching Delilah Muhammad compete in the women’s 400m Hurdles is a far more impressive show of competitiveness, determination, and desire than it has been watching some of the men perform in similar events.

In the Women’s 400m Hurdle’s semifinals and finals, here is this woman and other women like Sydney McLaughlin and Dalilah-Muhammad running their hearts out in a display of seriousness that seems lost on some of their male counterparts.

The women are competing in their respective events in a deluge. Rain pouring off their faces and bodies as if they got out of a pool, yet you did not see any showboating or silliness or carefree expressions on their faces — while they ran in the rain.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is photo-by-cameron-spencer-getty-images.jpg
Rivals Sydney McLaughlin (400m Hurdles Winner)and Dalilah-Muhammad embrace each other after 400 Meter Hurdles

Thank goodness for the performance of the women sprinters, hurdlers, and relay runners. They garnered well-deserved excitement in this Olympiad. Any rightfully so!


So – What in the hell just happened?

A New Normal I suppose! 

Could it be that certain sports like some of these track & field sports have become so blended with black and white athletes that we can no longer assume the U. S’s dominance of sprint and relay races? 

This is not about diminishing white athletes. Heck, I love watching and adore Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte, Katie Ledecky, Caeleb Dressel, some of the best swimmers in the world. And guess what, they show up and show out and WIN!

I am always amazed and dazzled by the big white guys who can (seemingly) throw the16-pound ball in the men’sand the 8.8-pound ball in the women’s Shot Put competitions, respectively. The discus throwers are another fascinating sport to me, and I do not want to forget those big guys who throw that heavy-ass ball tied to a rope or chain or something, halfway across the field. Okay, I know, it is called the Hammer and the event is the Hammer Throw. 

Hammer Graphic

So, no offense, but we all know who’s going to win most of the Olympic swimming medals. It’s going to be the USA and it’s going to be the white swimmers and we all know why. But a white guy from Norway winning the 400m hurdles? Come on! Norway? Awesome job Karsten.

James Lang, USA TODAY Sports Karsten Warholm celebrates winning the 400-meter final, narrowly beating American Rai Benjamin.

Finally and back to my point. We all also know what country and what group of athletes have historically won most of the premier track & field events, especially the 100m sprint and relay, the 4 x 100, the 200m, the 4 x 100m relay, and the like. We also know what country and what group of athletes will win the majority of the swimming medals.

So let’s not get our panties in a wad here.

We have to move on.


Is it because we’re now seeing some athletes who previously would have represented the U. S. in track & field now representing other countries? I am just being frank and asking the question.

For Some Athletes, Competing for Another Country Is the Only Way to Reach Olympics.

A FIBA rule allows countries to tap players with dual citizenship or a player who becomes a naturalized citizen. Several players at the Tokyo Games are taking advantage of the rule, including former UConn forward Gabby Williams, whose mother is French, is playing for France. Astou Ndour, born in Senegal, went to Spain to play basketball and became a Spanish citizen in 2011.

Yvonne Anderson knew playing in the Olympics for the U.S. was a long shot at best. Yet, the Arkansas native is here is at the Tokyo Games living her Olympic dream — with Serbia

Nigeria’s roster is filled with players who honed their games at American colleges and now represent the country of their parents.

An Olympic hammer thrower inadvertently brought that question to the fore last month when she turned her back on the U.S. flag after qualifying for the team. Gwen Berry, who is a two-time Olympian, said the flag and anthem don’t represent her because of racial and social injustices in America.

Is the Olympics about patriotism or just a chance to compete?

Further complicating matters is the fact that, in some sports, athletes can now qualify as individuals, rather than as part of their country’s official medal team.

For example, in women’s gymnastics this year, four U.S. gymnasts, including the University of Utah’s Grace McCallum, will compete as a team, while two others (including Utah’s MyKayla Skinner) will compete for individual medals as part of the U.S. delegation.

A Transfer of allegiance.

The International Olympic Committee requires that athletes be citizens or nationals of the country they compete for. According to the Villanova Sports Law Blog, Rule 41 allows athletes with multiple citizenships to choose which country they want to represent. The law requires athletes to wait at least three years before changing to a different country, but there’s a loophole: The athlete can be released from his or her choice if both countries agree.

More than 200 nations will participate in the Tokyo Games, and each one has different laws that govern citizenship and nationals. But no matter where an Olympic-caliber athlete is applying, they may find it easier than the average person to get approved.

As such, both American athletes and those from other countries have used national status to join the Olympic teams of countries where they don’t live and then have competed against their own countries in the Games.

Days have gone by!

Gone are the days when the U. S. dominated the six premier track and field events — all running events. The 100-meter, the 100-meter hurdles, the 200-meters, the 400-meters, the 4 X 100-meter relay, 400-meter hurdles.

Bye-bye to the seeing the grimacing faces, the agonizing strain they place on the bodies as serious athletes as they approached the finish line. 

And please, don’t sit there reading this and thinking I am suggesting the athletes shouldn’t have some fun and enjoy this once-in-a-lifetime experience. Of course, that’s not the case. Have all the fun and do all of the “partaying” you want – after you have won a medal.

Okay, let’s just do (barely) enough to make the Olympic track and field team, grab your duds, hop a plane with your free ticket, and show up in the host city for the Olympic games for the “partay”.

In the meantime, you’re causing the U. S. to forfeit its claim to the dominance of the 100 meters, 400-meter hurdles, and 400-meter relays.


All said- they are all Olympians. They’re in a class like no other. They are the best in the world and the best we (USA) have. Hats off to all of them.

Hats off to Karsten Warholm for shattering the world record in his men’s 400-meter hurdles win. 

Photo Credit: USA Today Sports

Hats off to Italy’s Lamont Marcell Jacobs for his surprising gold medal in Olympic 100-meter sprint.

Photo Credit: USA Today Sports

Enjoy it while it lasts my friends. 

We want these titles back.

Trump’s Slow Burn to Totalitarianism

safe_image.jpg-2
Photo Credit: The Huffington Post

Totalitarianism is:

When the state seizes property and paraphernalia, quashes ideas and voices from individuals and groups whose oppose its views.

I’ll say again, these are the types of SLOW BURN actions that go unnoticed by the populous, and then we wake up one day and turn on the TV set and the only channel we can get is STATE TV, better known as FOX lies. When this happens, trump like so many of the despots he admires, and like Hitler, will direct our daily lives as they wish it to be.

What beats the hell out of me is, all of the right-wing blow hearts, pundits, Republican politicians and state run media outlet called FOX, who has vehemently opposed government overreach for the last 50 years, seemingly find no problem with the governments seizure of these face masks being mailed to young people by #BlackLivesMatter.

There was nothing offensive, nothing vulgar, nothing anti-state and nothing terrorist about these face masks. These were being mailed to young people to help protect them from contracting Covid-19.

There were a lot of German people who say nothing wrong with what Adolph Hitler was doing in his early stages of racist ethnic propaganda and ethnic cleansing of the Jewish people, when he seized control of the press, criminalized and punished dissent[ers] and confiscated all communications outlets that were not in favor of his Nazi message.

As a matter of fact, many Germans cheered him on and went about their days and lived their lives as though absolutely nothing was wrong. Sort of like what we are doing now.

They (the German people) all thought what Hitler was doing was okay as long as it was “the other people” he was targeting. The hate-filled right-wingers and trump supporters feel that way currently. As long as trump’s actions trashes Jews, Mexicans, Blacks, other brown and black people, the right is good with his tactics and overwhelmingly supports his march to totalitarianism.

Fast forward to present day. The right-wing nuts, and other lovers of trump are as misguided as the Germans were, if they believe trump cares about them. Those raging nut cases will not become part of his inner circle, any more than those aforementioned ethnic groups he so despises.

Of course, we all know he does not. It is his consumption of power and using that power to further line his pockets and push all of his personal immoral ideologies.

This is a frightening parallel to me.

Trump’s Slow Burn to Totalitarianism

safe_image.jpg-2
Photo Credit: The Huffington Post

Totalitarianism is:

When the state seizes property and paraphernalia, quashes ideas and voices from individuals and groups whose oppose its views.

I’ll say again, these are the types of SLOW BURN actions that go unnoticed by the populous, and then we wake up one day and turn on the TV set and the only channel we can get is STATE TV, better known as FOX lies. When this happens, trump like so many of the despots he admires, and like Hitler, will direct our daily lives as they wish it to be.

What beats the hell out of me is, all of the right-wing blow hearts, pundits, Republican politicians and state run media outlet called FOX, who has vehemently opposed government overreach for the last 50 years, seemingly find no problem with the governments seizure of these face masks being mailed to young people by #BlackLivesMatter.

There was nothing offensive, nothing vulgar, nothing anti-state and nothing terrorist about these face masks. These were being mailed to young people to help protect them from contracting Covid-19.

There were a lot of German people who say nothing wrong with what Adolph Hitler was doing in his early stages of racist ethnic propaganda and ethnic cleansing of the Jewish people, when he seized control of the press, criminalized and punished dissent[ers] and confiscated all communications outlets that were not in favor of his Nazi message.

As a matter of fact, many Germans cheered him on and went about their days and lived their lives as though absolutely nothing was wrong. Sort of like what we are doing now.

They (the German people) all thought what Hitler was doing was okay as long as it was “the other people” he was targeting. The hate-filled right-wingers and trump supporters feel that way currently. As long as trump’s actions trashes Jews, Mexicans, Blacks, other brown and black people, the right is good with his tactics and overwhelmingly supports his march to totalitarianism.

Fast forward to present day. The right-wing nuts, and other lovers of trump are as misguided as the Germans were, if they believe trump cares about them. Those raging nut cases will not become part of his inner circle, any more than those aforementioned ethnic groups he so despises.

Of course, we all know he does not. It is his consumption of power and using that power to further line his pockets and push all of his personal immoral ideologies.

This is a frightening parallel to me.

The Slow Burn of Trump’s Totalitarianism

safe_image.jpg-2
Photo Credit: The Huffington Post

Totalitarianism is:

When the state seizes property and paraphernalia, quashes ideas and voices from individuals and groups whose oppose its views.

I’ll say again, these are the types of SLOW BURN actions that go unnoticed by the populous, and then we wake up one day and turn on the TV set and the only channel we can get is STATE TV, better known as FOX lies. When this happens, trump like so many of the despots he admires, and like Hitler, will direct our daily lives as they wish it to be.

What beats the hell out of me is, all of the right-wing blow hearts, pundits, Republican politicians and state run media outlet called FOX, who has vehemently opposed government overreach for the last 50 years, seemingly find no problem with the governments seizure of these face masks being mailed to young people by #BlackLivesMatter.

There was nothing offensive, nothing vulgar, nothing anti-state and nothing terrorist about these face masks. These were being mailed to young people to help protect them from contracting Covid-19.

There were a lot of German people who say nothing wrong with what Adolph Hitler was doing in his early stages of racist ethnic propaganda and ethnic cleansing of the Jewish people, when he seized control of the press, criminalized and punished dissent[ers] and confiscated all communications outlets that were not in favor of his Nazi message.

As a matter of fact, many Germans cheered him on and went about their days and lived their lives as though absolutely nothing was wrong. Sort of like what we are doing now.

They (the German people) all thought what Hitler was doing was okay as long as it was “the other people” he was targeting. The hate-filled right-wingers and trump supporters feel that way currently. As long as trump’s actions trashes Jews, Mexicans, Blacks, other brown and black people, the right is good with his tactics and overwhelmingly supports his march to totalitarianism.

Fast forward to present day. The right-wing nuts, and other lovers of trump are as misguided as the Germans were, if they believe trump cares about them. Those raging nut cases will not become part of his inner circle, any more than those aforementioned ethnic groups he so despises.

Of course, we all know he does not. It is his consumption of power and using that power to further line his pockets and push all of his personal immoral ideologies.

This is a frightening parallel to me.

Kennedy Center honors House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as 2019 Profile in Courage honoree!

Kennedy Center honors House Speaker Nancy Pelosi – Speaker of the House of Representatives of the 116th United States Congress – as the 2019 Profile In Courage Award honoree! She put the national interest above her party’s interest to expand access to health care and, against a wave of political attacks, led the effort to retake the majority & elect the most diverse Congress in U.S. history.

Our Speaker of the House is a lady I truly admire.

This prodigious honor is bestowed on a very deserving person.

Courage, coupled with skill and grace – in abundance.

Again, congratulations Madam Speaker.