July 4th 2026, After 250 Years America And American Democracy Are Under Attack From Within!

Today, July 4th, 2026, is the 250th anniversary of American Democracy and America and American Democracy are more endangered today than we have ever been. That danger is centered in the White House, being directed by Fascists inside the White House. Let's just look at a few recent headline stories from across the country. The American Civil Liberties Union has worked to defend and protect American Democracy every day since its founding in 1920, 106 years. Almost ten months ago,that organization posted this story on their website. While a headline which screams "How Trump's Attacks On Our Democracy Put America At Risk" should be shocking, rare, and terrifying, headlines and stories about the danger which TRAITOR Trump and the Criminal Syndicate which poses as a "cabinet" pose for us and our Democracy, they are so commonplace since June 16, 2015, that millions of Americans ignore them totally. This so-called "second administration" of TRAITOR Trump is doing a great deal of things which previous FASCISTS and would be dictators have been doing since atleast 250 years ago, and millions of Americans insist on claiming that all they do is in the best interest of the country. The ACLU story in particular is and should be chilling to any lover of this country and our Democracy. Early in the story it states "There is now a coordinated assault on the constitutional architecture that has sustained American democracy. This assault should alarm anyone who values constitutional governance and the personal freedoms we so often take for granted." That should terrify every citizen in this country and it does not. The formerly sacred institutions of American government are now being utilized to install FASCISM in the country and most people do not understand that fact. The article moves on to state that Federal agents have repeatedly detained or arrested public officials conducting legitimate oversight, including Newark, New Jersey Mayor Ras Baraka, Congresswoman LaMonica McIver, and Senator Alex Padilla, who was tackled and detained for asking Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem questions. Students, including green card holders, have been detained and threatened with deportation for writing op-eds or expressing views that deviate from what the administration deems acceptable.

In some ways, the facts in this previous quotation from the ACLU article are now old hat since the article is more than 8 months old. We have seen ICE agents murder two people who were peaceful protestors in Minnesota and little or no outrage has been seen in the general populace. We are now seeing several Americans charged with vandalism and other crimes for touching a $16million dollar disaster at the Reflecting Pool literally in sight of one of our nation's most hallowed shrines to Democracy, the Lincoln Memorial. An Olympian who once epitomized American values to the watching world has been charged in an overt act of domestic terrorism in order to silence opposition to TRAITOR Trump and his TREASONOUS enforcers who, after giving a multi-million dollar secret and unvetted contract to one of his supporters, to repair the reflecting pool did a damn fine job of gravely damaging that symbol of American Democracy. And nobody seems to care.

An active duty American Air Force Major was arrested on July 2, 2026, in his full uniform for using his constitutional right to free speech to openly criticize TRAITOR Trump's actions in Venezuela. That was a direct violation of the US Constitution for anyone, whether in uniform or not, to be arrested for utilizing free speech to question what are clearly two totally unjustified wars against two countries with the basic intent to steal their assets such as oil, gas, rare earth minerals, and other valuable possessions of two sovereign nations. Major Jason Watson knew full well that he had chosen to end his military career before he opened his mouth that day. It should be a shock to every living American of sound mind when such a career military officer finds it necessary to willingly give up a career in which he has volunteered to literally place his life on the line to defend this nation. But it has not been seen as a shock to most people in this country. Most people are either to uneducated, uncaring, or ignorant to understand that such a person would find it necessary to place his life on the line, as he swore to do when he was inducted into the US Air Force, in such a manner contrary to the publicly stated intent of the people who have disastrously found themselves in charge of this country's military. Major Jason Watson is much more an American Hero today than he has ever been before when he willing complying with orders to participate in war crimes and international terrorism against Venezuela and Iran. The former Olympian David Hearn is now much more an American Hero than he ever was as an Olympic canoeist. Both these men, both those murdered citizens in Minnesota, and every other American who has simpley stood up in a No Kings Day Protest is much more a loyal American patriot than any of the hired thugs who arrested or murdered them.

Today, July 4th, 2026, America and American Democracy are far more endangered than they ever were in any of our previous wars. Democracy is being attacked in ways it never was by Adolph Hitler, Pol Pot, or Emperor Hirohito of Japan. We are under attack from those who are allowed to walk freely every day into the White House, the Pentagon, the State Department, the US Supreme Court and all of our government departments to pretend they are "making America great again". Those people, TRAITOR Trump and his many minions, are the most dangerous enemies America has ever faced. It is long past time for every American citizen to Stand Up, Speak Up, and Speak Out in defense of our Democracy or it will be lost forever long before November 2028.

"No Kings Day" Protest, Morehead, Kentucky, June 14, 2025

Yesterday, my wife and I attended the "No Kings Day" protest in Morehead, Kentucky, along with somewhere in excess of 200 other people who are all committed to seeing the end of the occupation of the White House by TRAITOR Trump and his Criminal Syndicate which poses as a "cabinet". It was a very successful and fulfilling event. It never stopped raining the entire time we were there. We arrived at almost exactly the scheduled start time of noon and had to leave at about 1:30pm to meet an old friend of mine at Cracker Barrel whom we hadn't seen in about 25 years. I wish we could have stayed longer. I dropped my wife off around the corner from the little city park at the junction of KY 32 and Main Street, and then drove down the street about three blocks to find a safe parking spot at a business which was closed for the day. When I returned to the protest, my wife had been invited under a tent which the organizers had set up, actually one several such tents. We had not thought about making protest signs and took none which is a shame. But the street side of the park was lined shoulder to shoulder and about three rows deep with people who were holding a wide variety of signs some of which were homemade and some which were commercial products. My favorite sign of the day is the one in the picture above. But during the time we stayed, one man who told me he is 80 was sitting down to take a break and agreed to loan my wife his sign which she held while he rested and managed to situate herself in her power wheelchair on the street edge with the sign. There was a lot of traffic for a Saturday in Morehead and most of the cars driving by were blowing their horns in support, waving in agreement, sometimes shouting encouragement to us, and in the spirit of honesty, some few would give us the finger or shout an obscenity. But the majority seemed to be supporting us. I talked to numerous people during the time I was there including a photographer for the local Morehead newspaper. Our conversation was about the difficulty which small town newspapers and radio stations are facing with the movement of most advertising money to the internet. We specifically discussed one of the Morehead stations which some people I know used to own as one in a small chain of small town Eastern Kentucky stations. That station, and all their others, have recently been sold to a Right Wing Radical Repugnican who has actually served prison time for vote buying when he was an elected public official. The Morehead newspaper has actually been sold a couple of times since the inception of the internet as have at least two other papers in Eastern Kentucky. None of those sold seem to have been bought by people with liberal leanings. Yes, it is possible for a newpaper editor, publisher, owner, and staff to promote rational liberal ideas which still providing accurate honest reporting. In fact, one small town newspaper on the Virginia border has, in the last couple of years, won a major award from the Kenucky Press Association for reporting it did on the 2022 floods in several Eastern Kentucky counties, and it is quite liberal in its leaninings. It's a shame in these times that more small town newspapers and radio stations were being bought up by Right Wing Radicals and being turned into megaphones of the Radical Right. I stayed at the protest as long as my other appointment would allow and both of us really enjoyed our time. We both feel a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment for having taken time out of our lives, as we always do, and as you should also be doing, to support the steadily growing public opposition to the TREASON of TRAITOR Trump and his Criminal Syndicate. Always Stand Up, Speak Up, and Speak Out!

I wish I could have personally thanked every one of those American Patriots who stood up in Morehead and every other town and city in the country on No Kings Day. That is impossible. But each of you should know just how proud of you I am and how grateful I am for your courage and commitment to our country and our democracy! Always Stand Up, Speak Up, and Speak Out!

Some Thoughts About Separation Of Church And State!

 

Several events, incidents, occurrences, and news articles over the last 5 or so years, and especially the last 16 months have prompted me to write on this blog about something which, so far as I remember I have never done, interactions on social media, only one kind of which I ever use or ever have.  That one type of social media is Facebook and I have been induced twice to leave it for extended periods of time, one in 2017 for the entire month of October.  Admittedly, I was on a long road trip then and didn't want the distraction.  And in the last several months, I took another month off, without ever signing on to Facebook, simply because I was sick of all their targeted and unblockable ads.  But this post is actually prompted by one little interaction I had on Facebook this morning and the recent trend in quite a few conservative churches in America, and especially in the south, to support Vladimir Putin's invasion of the totally innocent country of Ukraine.  I had noticed some of it myself and got into a series of messages with a Facebook friend in Western North Carolina who has also been very concerned about the amount of this insanity he has seen in his own area.  He sent me a link to this article about so-called "Christian" groups which have been praising Vladimir Putin.  The article talks about Franklin Graham and the Billy Graham Evangelical Association, which he now controls, and his contacts with and praise for Putin.  The article also addresses the World Congress of Families, another fairly right wing "Christian" organization which has actually partnered with Russian officials who have been sanctioned by the US government.  Please note that if you want to go to these two groups' websites to see what they believe you are free to do so.  But I have not and will not add links to those groups on this blog because of their works with or in praise of Putin and Russia which are helping him in his ultimate goal of destroying America, American Democracy, and general worldwide Democracy.  If you want to know what they think, find it yourself.  

 But, the incident on Facebook this morning involved a woman on my Facebook friends list who made a statement that she was unfriending and blocking people she referred to as "atheists" because of their beliefs.  Her actual statement was:  "unfriending multiple atheists who insist on being rude and insulting to those who believe. Not putting up with it."  I was instantly reminded of a Bible quote which I admit I had to find through a joint Google search and a search of Bible Gateway in the King James Version which is the only translation of the Bible I ever bother to read since I firmly believe that the more translations away from the KJV you get the farther you simultaneously get from the original intent of the writers of the particular book of the Bible you are reading. 

 

In the interest of honesty, I will say that I am not particularly religious although I firmly believe in some form of creation by a power greater than the ordinary humans who attempt to be the self-appointed mouthpieces of whichever "God" they believe in. I will also say, for the sake of honesty, that I have actually read the Bible thirteen times "kiver to kiver"  as the Old Regular Baptist preachers I knew in my youth used to recommend. Additionally, I have read major sections of the basic texts of several other world religions and was blessed to know a man named Dr. Billy Rojas, Ph. D. in my youth who was a history professor at Alice Lloyd College and used "The Portable World Bible" as a supplementary text in every course he taught in order to help his students understand that various religions have greatly influenced world  history over the centuries and that in many cases that influence was markedly negative just as it is in America today. 

 Now that I have prefaced what else I am about to say  the remainder of what I have to say about the adverse influence a few million people like the woman who partially prompted this writing have on the general public, let's get back to the gist of what I have to say. You will also find, if you do an honest comparison of many modern translations of the Bible, that quite often those modern translations have inserted words, phrases, and meanings into the text which are in direct conflict with the older translations and the actual meaning of the original wording of the various ancient texts on which the Bible is based. As a result, it is always best to read the Bible, any version of the Bible, with a copy of "Strong's Exhaustive Concordance" nearby. And you should always recognize, admit, and accept that there were numerous writers of the individual books of the Bible in at least three languages, on at least two continents, and at least a few hundred years apart.  The particular quote I was thinking of in regard to the aforementioned type of deliberate alteration of the Bible is:

Second Timothy KJV 2:24-26- 24 And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, 25 In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;26 And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.

I appended that quotation to her post along with this comment "I suspect that if you are really seriously religious you should actually do what the Bible tells you to do which seems pretty rare today from most self-described "Christians". And I'm not religious at all, but I have read the Bible and understand it well enough to confront those who claim to know but don't. Actually as I said previoiusly, I have read the entire Bible, "kiver to kiver" as my ancestors used to say thirteen times but not lately, hence the need to look those verses up.  The willingness of people today to use whatever interpretation of the Bible they like (generally their own or that of someone they like better than the Bible), can be traced to TRAITOR Trump and whatever most recent bizarre, illogical, and total unsupported by fact things he has said. Over the last 9 years especially since June 16, 2015, when TRAITOR Trump announced his delusion that he believed he was fit to become the president of the United States our country has steadily deteriorated morally and ethically while the people in the forefront of that deterioration claim they are doing what they do because of their religion which they can never seem to support with the actual words of the Bible. These self-described "Christians" have become more and more influenced by the Big Lie, actually thousands of Big Lies, from TRAITOR Trump to the degree that they believe a country and a leader, in the case of Putin and Russia, which have murdered, isolated, imprisoned, and endlessly sought to destroy Christianity is actually working to help them restore Christianity all over the world.  They also deny the fact that Putin actually stole the 2016 US election in order to install his stool pigeon, the TRAITOR Trump in the White House in order to destroy America. They also claim to believe that it will happen again in 2024.  The level of willful ignorance and willful blindness on the part of these people is astonishing to me.  I have written about that aspect of it on this blog many times but this effort to aggrandize two of the most evil men on earth despite their public crimes, violation of all ten commandments, and outright murder of at least a dozen former KGB/FSB agents who were involved in the contacts between Putin and TRAITOR Trump absolutely astounds me.  

 Anyone on earth, when confronted by some self-appointed spokesperson for "God", their individual "God", should listen to that person's arguments very closely, examine them even more closely, and never accept any of their quotes and misquotes of the Bible, or any other religious text, as "Gospel" until you have verified it with a close examination of the Bible,preferably the King James Version, since it is the oldest version  currently in widespread use in America today.  And do that examination with a jaundiced eye and "Strong's Exhaustive Concordance" in hand.  probably refer to this famous quotation from the Bible, which almost no one seems to remember today,  before shooting off your mouth:  

 5And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. ⁶ But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. ⁷ But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. ⁸ Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.  (Matthew 6:5-8, KJV)

And, all of these people who claim to want to turn the United States into a "Christian Nation", especially those who claim they want to do so "because that is how it was founded" need to read some history also, accurate, factual, American History as close to the Founding Fathers as possible and realize that one of the primary reasons Americans fought for independence in the American Revolution was to end the domination of their lives by the Anglican Church, more commonly known as the Church of England, and to create a country where the practice, or lack of practice of religion of any or all kinds was solely up to the practitioner and not connected in any way to the government.  That is what is called Separation of Church and State and it was, and still is, one of the most important building blocks on which this country was built.  The fastest way to destroy democracy in America would be to allow churches, any churches, to dominate life and the government.  As soon as we force all to practice one religion over all others, or we refuse to allow anyone to practice their religion of choice, whatever that religion may be, we have begun to destroy democracy.   

The Most Unjustifiably Ambitious State Legislature In America!

 The Kentucky state legislature convened on January 2, 2024, to begin the 2024 regular session which will last until April 15, 2024, which will be a sine die day, or the date of adjournment.  They have set aside 10 days from March 29, 2024, to April 9, 2024, as days to deal with any vetoes which Governor Andy Beshear might sign.  However, sadly, very sadly, the Right Wing Radical Repugnican party has a veto proof majority in both houses and any vetoes which the governor will sign are likely to be only on bills which are so abhorrent to both the governor and common sense that he feels that it is necessary to take a public position against them.  At two links below, I will post the individual links to both the legislature's schedule and the link to the link to the page labeled 2024 Regular Session Record. That page is operated by the Kentucky Legislative Research Commission and is updated every day if necessary.  It will contain every bill being considered by the legislature, every bill passed into law, and a great deal of other information. The schedule page will tell you every day the legislature is in session and, for those of you who are willing to travel to Frankfort, it will let you plan to be there on a day when you have a possible opportunity to publicly express your opinions to the legislature by either seeking to contact a legislator, leave a message face to face with a legislative employee, or engage in public protest by exercising your right to free speech. I urge all of my readers who live in Kentucky or have a vested interest in what happens in the state to spend time on both links to learn what is being considered by the legislature and to familiarize yourself with the legislative process.  This is going to be a very destructive legislative session and will do a great deal to destroy individual constitutional rights in the state; destroy a multitude of programs intended to provide health care, education, free speech, environmental protections, and virtually any program intended to assist the lower echelons of society. 

At this time, it is too complicated a process to attempt to address every legislative bill in the session. But I will speak out here for the first time about a bill which I just learned about yesterday, February 9, 2024, which is intended to take away the right of Kentucky teachers to keep unused sick days throughout their careers and add them to their time for retirement purposes which has been a standing perk for all full time state employees for many years. This bill is labeled as Senate Bill 4.  This bill will pass the state legislature, will go to the governor's desk, and, I suspect, will be vetoed as a public moral, ethical, and political statement by the governor who is deeply committed to education in the state but, incredibly sadly, unable to prevent this attempt to further incentivize every good educator to consider either never applying for a job in Kentucky or leaving the state early in their careers to seek better jobs in states with a genuine commitment to high quality education.  I repeat, the Right Wing Radical Repugnican majority in the legislature has a veto proof majority in both houses of the legislature and all Andy  Beshear, the best governor can do is speak out and take a rational public position by refusing to sign such damaging laws into the state code.  We must support the governor and lieutenant governor, who is a former educator, in their effort to save public education in Kentucky.    

As I have time to read, research, and understand other bills being proposed in this legislative session, I will post other blog posts to this blog, may modify this particular post, and will do my best to keep my regular readers in Kentucky informed about the most dangerous bills being proposed by the legislature as they continue their effort to become the worst state legislature in the nation.  

Reading Banned Books--A Commitment You Should Make

I sincerely hope that this version of this blog post turns out more successfully than the first attempt I made a couple of years ago.  After nearly finishing this important and rather lengthy post, somehow or other I managed to lose the entire thing and I still don't know why or how.  I have left it untouched for quite some time because I just didn't have the heart to see it disappear once more literally before my eyes and because I also had a constant stream of ideas which needed to be completed also.  But I have been reading the book "Reading Lolita In Tehran: A Memoir In Books" by Azar Nafisi and both that book and its author have been banned in Iran for quite some time.  From my personal point of view, I firmly believe in reading every book I can get my hands on which has ever been banned in any jurisdiction and I have read many and will continue to do so as long as I have the capacity to do so.  So should you!  The world needs to know the truths contained in books which are important enough to induce power brokers to attempt to prevent their messages from being seen and heard.  I honestly do not know when I read my first previously banned book or what the title was.  It might have been "The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain or "Alice's Adventures In Wonderland" by Lewis Carroll or some other relatively innocuous work by an author who is considered mainstream in today's world. The bottom line is that I began reading banned books at a very young age without even consciously doing so and I have never read a banned book from which I did not learn something which has proven to be informative, helpful, and worthwhile in my later life.

I recently had a conversation, quite by accident, with a worker at my local post office who has known me for several years and has seen me receive and ship hundreds of books.  But until that recent day I did not know that she was a steady reader and often read banned books.  In the course of that conversation, one of us, her as I remember, brought up the concept of reading banned books and she informed me quickly that she also reads every book she can get her hands on which have been banned.  I had previously seen her at an annual picnic which is sponsored by a local conservative church and I was somewhat surprised to hear her agree with me on this subject.  She rose several steps in my estimation after that conversation. So will you if you read a banned book and post a comment on this blog post about the experience and what you learned from it!

One of my favorite websites about banned books is run by a site known as Punchnels and they have an article entitled "10 Reasons for Banning Books, and 5 Much Better Reasons Not To".  I will be using that article as an outline for this blog post and will attempt to expand on their key points while also making several dozen of my own.  I will discuss each of their reasons one by one and attempt to further elucidate my reasons for why they are correct while also providing further examples of books which fit into each of these categories they discuss.

1) Racial Themes: Numerous books have been banned in America, or portions of the country, for this very reason.  "The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn" was banned in many locations for many years after its publication because it cast two runaways, one a white juvenile running from a drunken and abusive father and the other a runaway black slave.  In recent times, it has been banned for an absolutely different reason, the use of the "N" word several times.  In my estimation and that of many others, neither of these reasons justified banning a masterpiece such as "The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn".  "To Kill A Mockingbird" was also banned for many years because it was written about a white southern attorney who defended a black man in a court of law.  John Howard Griffin's "Black Like Me" was also banned because Griffin, a white author, successfully posed as a black man in the Deep South in order to understand racial prejudice.  There is a much longer list of wonderful books which have been banned over the last 250 years in America because they addressed racial themes.

2) Alternative Lifestyles: Nearly as many books have been banned for this reason as have been banned for discussing racial themes.  Numerous books which have addressed LGBTQ themes have been banned in America.  Many of them are still banned in small enclaves such as religious based schools, Third World Countries, tyrannical and despotic countries, conservative communities, and other unique areas.  This list of books may also include books about crime, gang activity, drug use, polygamy, polyandry, polyamory, mental illness, and prostitution.  Some of these reasons for banning also touch the edges of sexual and/or racial themes which are actually a completely separate reason for banning books. There is actually quite a bit of such crossover in book banning where stated reasons for banning a book may actually reveal that the book banners were publicly stating one reason but also thinking of another which might have been less publicly acceptable.  One of the most famous books banned in America for being about alternative lifestyles is "The Outsiders" which was written by S. E. Hinton when she was only about fifteen or sixteen and published when she was eighteen.  The book is about gang life in high school and was banned by many school boards and libraries in 1967 when it shot to the top of the best seller lists and deservedly so.  "Junkie" and "Naked Lunch" by William Burroughs have also been banned all across the United States because they depict the lifestyle of drug addiction. "Howl", arguably one of the finest books in all of American poetry, was banned in many jurisdictions upon its release in 1956 because the author was both gay and Jewish. Several of the books by his associates in the Beat Generation including William Burroughs and Jack Kerouac were also banned almost en masse because the authors were known to be members of that wonderfully progressive school of writing.  Many lesbian, gay, transgendered, and witchcraft books have also been banned along with books about Satanism, communism, socialism, and other lifestyles at the fringes of mainstream society and that banning still occurs today.

3)  Profanity: Profanity alone has also caused many books to be banned including the works of Erica Jong, John Steinbeck, and many others.  Ms. Jong's books were also frequently banned due to their highly sexual nature so she often found herself and her work caught between a rock and a hard place although she has still managed to publish more than 25 books in at least three genres.  More power to her!  "The Grapes Of Wrath" and "The Great Gatsby" have also been banned because of their salty language.  "The Great Gatsby" plays a large role in the book "Reading Lolita in Tehran" by Azar Nafisi which I have recently read and written about on this blog.  Ms. Nafisi's highly acclaimed work has been banned in her native Iran for similar reasons.  I cannot recommend any book more highly than hers.

4) Sex: The article "10 Reasons for Banning Books and 5 Much Better Reason Not To" on the Punchnel's website which I am referring to frequently in this blog post states in their discussion of this topic that "not just graphic sexual content, but also dialogue of a sexual nature, any and all references to reproductive acts, and even the barest, briefest, Disney-approved sensuality" can result in a book being banned by the small minded and heavy handed book banners anywhere.  Books which have been banned because of sexual content include "Fanny Hill" by John Cleland, "Fear Of Flying" by Erica Jong, and "A Farewell To Arms" by Ernest Hemingway.  All are excellent literature and have proven themselves to be far more consequential in America and the world than the people who banned them.

5) Violence: Violence can sometimes be the official public cause for banning a book when the real reasons may  be nebulous, unnamed, and more questionable in nature.  Books which have been banned because of their violence include "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" by Ken Kesey but the real reason for its banning was often related more to the fact that the protagonists in the book were residents in a mental institution.  "Lord Of The Flies" by William Golding was probably banned most often because it involved teen age boys in a setting where they had to wear no clothes.  "Fifty Shades of Grey" by E. L. James was often banned ostensibly because of violence when the real reason was that the violence is sexual in nature.  But with more openness in America about sexual activity outside the societal norms, book banners sometimes look for other reasons to ban books with sexual content which arouses their ire.

6) Negativity:  There can be no more broad and nebulous term in relation to the content of a book than "negativity".  That word to a book banner is much like the term "disorderly conduct" to small town judges, police officers, and juries.  It will cover nearly anything with which the person in power disagrees.  "The Diary of A Young Girl" by Anne Frank was banned in Alabama for being "a downer" which was a wolf whistle word for the fact that it was actually about Jews dying in the Holocaust at the hands of Nazi's when the banning was being done in a state where the Ku Klux Klan still holds power today and that power in growing today as the White House is being illegally occupied by a TRAITOR who is supervising the deaths of children in cages.  In Corona-Norco, California, in 1993, "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley faced banning because of "negativity".

7) Witchcraft: I grew up in Knott County Kentucky and did not know until two years ago in 2017 that Jessie Wicker Bell, the author of the most famous witchcraft book in America, "The Book Of Shadows", had been a native of Knott County and that her children scattered her ashes in a family cemetery about a mile from another cemetery in which most of my paternal aunts and uncles are buried.  Since I wrote about her, her importance to Wiccans worldwide, and her writing on my blog, two of her children have contacted me to thank me for helping to make the world aware of her work and her books which are all available still today on alternative bookseller sites.  They also told me that a son of hers and the grandson of a former tenant of my parents whom I had known as a child was actually their sibling.  This kind of suppression of information in a small community which arose from the banning of books and making her a pariah is a shining example of the kind of damage book banning can do in such a small populace.  It is also relevant to this discussion  that Knott County has an unusually rich literary history with James Still, Albert Stewart, William Howard Cohen, Verna Mae Slone, May Stone, and myself all having either grown up, writing and publishing in, or living and teaching in the county.  But Jessie Wicker Bell is not the only writer of such literature to have their works banned.  Anton Szandor Lavey, the author of "The Satanic Bible" and four other books saw his work banned in nearly every state in America and in most mainstream book stores.  Nearly every other book about witchcraft, Satanism, or similar beliefs has been banned somewhere in America and most of them have been banned in many jurisdictions. Even Roald Dahl, a very mainstream and revered author of children's books, had his book "The Witches" banned.

8)  Unpopular Religious Views: Both C. S. Lewis' "Chronicles Of Narnia" and J. R. R. Tolkien's "Lord Of The Rings" have been banned as being anything from "anti-Christian", "satanic", or "atheistic" when both authors were deeply religious and created these works as Christian allegories.  In fact, in addition to the banned children's books, Lewis also wrote two highly respected non-fiction works on Christian theology, "Mere Christianity" "The Weight Of Glory", and the fictional "Screwtape Letters" which is also deeply religious but couched in the form of letters home by a junior devil sent to earth to help the efforts of Satan.  Other unpopular religious works have included those related to Scientology, atheism, agnosticism, Judaism, Jehovah's Witnesses, Later Day Saints, and most other religions which can viewed as being outside the mainstream in a Christian country.  Additionally, several Muslim countries have banned religious books such as the Holy Bible, the Khama Sutra, and works related to Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, and most other non-Muslim religions. 

9)  Unpopular Political Views: Many political books have been banned in many countries of the world depending on the beliefs they expressed and the beliefs of the reigning officials.  Oftentimes, these books have been diametrically banned in opposing countries with the opposing beliefs in power.  Such books include "Mein Kampf by Adolph Hitler, "The Communist Manifesto" by Marx and Engels, "Poor Richard's Almanac" by Benjamin  Franklin, "Cat's Cradle" by Kurt Vonnegut, "The Rights Of Man" by Thomas Paine, and "Wealth Of Nations" by Adam Smith.  The bottom line is that, just like book banners who ban religious books because of opposing beliefs have also often been involved in banning political books which support beliefs other than their own.  And you can bet that if the current criminally minded TRAITORS who occupy the White House based on the TREASON of the nameless TRAITOR who ostensibly leads them believed they could do so successfully they would also begin banning most books of a decidedly democratic or liberal bent. When I use the word "democratic" in the previous sentence, I use it in a universal not a party sense.  Any book banning based on political belief is an affront to the US Constitution and the Founding Fathers who wrote.  Actually, any banning of books is such an affront and in direct conflict with the concept of Freedom Of Speech which is firmly enshrined in our constitution and our democracy as a whole. 

10)  Any Theme Judged Unsuitable For A Particular Age Group: In many ways, this reason for banning books is a bit nebulous and left largely to the interpretation of the book banners at any given time in any given jurisdiction.  It is often used to ban books with even mildly sexually based content even to the point of banning discussion of anatomy and gender.  While I do understand that children of what are sometimes called "tender years" should not be allowed to read "Fanny Hill" or "Fear Of Flying", I do not believe they should be denied the knowledge that such books exist which they must wait a few years to read.  A single curse word or the use of the "N" word in the classic works of Mark Twain do not constitute legitimate reasons for banning a book.  Perhaps they do justify making a young reader wait but no book should ever be completely destroyed, banned, and wiped from the face of the earth.  What would the fields of sociology and gender studies do without books such as "The Tea Room Trade" by Laud Humphrey or "The Human Experience Of Sex And Gender" by James Doyle.  While I can understand an argument that either or both are not mass market books, I would never agree that they should be denied to the adult reader, especially the specialist in the fields they illuminate.  But this last of the ten reasons for banning books is, in many ways, an open door through which many narrow minded people have walked in order to do great damage to the body of literature of many a country. 

The Punchnel's article which I have referenced freely to write this post ends with five reasons for reading banned books and they are all wonderful reasons.  But they are not as clearly written or created as the ten reasons books are commonly banned.  But I will comment on those five reasons for reading such books and, perhaps, add a few of my own.

1) You may not like something, but that’s no reason to take it away from everyone: This is a perfectly good reason for reading banned books.  But it is more a reason to allow others to read them than a reason each of us, as an open minded individual, should be reading banned books as often as possible.  As citizens in a democracy, we must accept the right of any sound minded person to read whatever the hell they choose or to write it for that matter.  You have the right to your opinion that "Tropic of Cancer" or "Fear Of Flying" is smut for instance but I also have the right to say I love that kind of open minded, honest language and literature and I am going to read it as I damn well please.  The bottom line is that if you believe in free will for citizens of a  democracy then it is none of your business what anyone else reads.

2)“Protecting” children from the difficult realities of the world is an exercise in futility—and privilege:  This reason for reading banned books is also a bit shaky if we sincerely believe that parents have the right to raise their children as they wish so long as that method of rearing them is not abusive or seriously neglectful.  I tend to believe that depriving children of free will as their age and maturity suits the subject under question.  But I also believe that some children due to age, immaturity, or intellectual problems may well never reach a point where they can freely choose their reading material, life circumstances, or other aspects of daily living.  In such cases, parents should be able to make choices for their children.  But as soon as the children reach emotional maturity, they should have self-determination on all subjects. 

3) Books are among our best teachers:  This is by far the most valid of the Punchnel's reasons for reading banned books so far.  Without books to broaden our views of the world, provide necessary information of thousands of subjects, and to provide simple, basic entertainment, we would be a dull, under educated, and unsuccessful species.  Books are our most basic and wonderful source of information other than word of mouth.  They are our best teachers and we should always have a book by our favorite chair or bed.  We should never allow the negative opinions of others to prevent us from learning about something another human obviously believed the world needed to see and know about.  I have met a few books I didn't like.  I have met a few books I hate.  I don't believe anyone should endanger their brains by reading "Mein Kampf" but I also firmly believe that those who choose to do so have that freedom of choice and it is an "inalienable right" guaranteed by the US Constitution. 

4)  Many of the most frequently banned books are—or go on to become—celebrated classics. And that’s not a coincidence: Quite often books which are banned were so attacked because the ideas they contained were simply too big, in an intellectual sense, for the minds of the people who chose to ban them.  The works of Thomas Paine, Benjamin Franklin, Adam Smith, and Thomas Locke were very often larger than the people around them who found themselves inordinately fearful of the ideas they contained.  The best, most futuristic, most visionary, and most consequential works are far ahead of their times and small minds cannot accept that the world will be better place with those books being freely read, supported, and followed.  Read every banned book you can find.  Read them and pass them on to others.  Always defend the universal right to read banned books.  Always defend democracy in all its manifestations and books, by forward thinking authors, will defend you. 

5)  Books really can change the world:  None of us know when we will be reading a book which will lead us to greatness or happiness within our ordinary lives.  None of us know when another book will be released to the world which will change the world.  As we look back to the days before the Gutenberg press, we can see and remember a long list of books which have been consequential in making the world a better place.  Those books have been found in all genres over time.  No book is too complicated, too simplistic, or too ordinary to change lives and the world.  I am reminded of a little book called "Acres Of Diamonds" by Russel Conwell which on an initial examination appears to be a simple little fable about a man who left home, was unhappy, and returned to find success in the land of his birth.  But, on much deeper levels, it is one of the greatest motivational books ever written and should be mandatory reading for every student in every school in the world. 






Now I will add my very on best reason for reading banned books.  They will relieve you of your ignorance and there is no ignorance worse than self imposed ignorance which is exactly what occurs anytime we allow any one to prevent us from reading a book we wish to read.  Now go out and read as many banned books as you can.  Feel free to return to this blog post and leave a comment about which banned books you have read and how doing so positively affected your life. 

Always Confront Political Ignorance

Yesterday, November 28, 2017, I had an appliance repairman in my home working on my washing machine.  He has been in my house on several occasions over the last few years since it seems that the relatively expensive, high tech, front loading washer we bought a few years ago seems to eat software and other parts regularly.  Until yesterday, he had never broached any political subjects and that might be due to the fact that he and his brother recently took over the business from his former partner and the founder of the business upon his retirement.  But as he was working on the washer, we talked about many random subjects just as we always had before.  But during the the course of the conversation, he made the statement that "the problem with this country is that all the big corporations think there is nothing in the world except the left wing people".  Just as I always do in such cases with anyone, anytime, anywhere, I confronted his error in logic.  I responded "no, the problem with the country is that we have a Russian Owned Criminal Syndicate illegally occupying the White House".  

Freeway Carpets, El Paso, Texas, Photo By Roger D. Hicks

That response obviously was not the answer the man had been expecting but I have to give him credit.  He took it well as I proceeded to go on to inform him that in my opinion TRAITOR Trump is just that and nothing more, a TRAITOR, and that nearly everyone close to him is also a TRAITOR.  I went on to tell him about the long and ever growing list of evidence and documented incidents of illicit contacts between TRAITOR Trump, his Right Wing Radical minions, and various Russian operatives.  We also talked about the recent timeline of events in the Robert Mueller investigation and how the road is being paved to indict, convict, impeach, and imprison not only TRAITOR Trump but the great majority of his flunkies.  I reminded him that Russia and Putin seem to have begun to groom TRAITOR Trump for his current status as a Russian operative sometime in the 1980's with the onset being linked to the original deal to allow a TRAITOR Trump Tower in Moscow.  I have to admit that I failed to inform the repairman of the number of Russian covert operatives who mysteriously died immediately after the 2016 US Presidential Election in what seems to be an attempt to prevent any of the operatives who had contact with TRAITOR Trump from living to potentially defect and testify against the scheme, Vladimir Putin, and TRAITOR Trump.  

Freeway Carpets, El Paso, Texas, Photo By Roger D. Hicks

I also neglected to advise him of a recent article from Bill Moyers on his website in which he interviewed attorney Steve Harper, one of the top court room performers in the world of big time criminal law, about the rapidly moving events related to the Mueller investigation and the potential outcomes of that investigation.  I also informed the repairman of several legitimate sources of news which could help to relieve him of some of naivete and provide him with actual news instead of the fake news he had been receiving from a variety of Right Wing Radical Repugnican sources.  Additionally, I told him about several of the well informed people I know who would also be willing to assist him in relieving him of his factual void.  I told him about four people I had met on my recent southwestern vacation.  Those people included a carpet store owner in El Paso, Texas, who uses his outdoor marketing sign on a daily basis to post messages about the crimes of TRAITOR Trump and the Russian Owned Criminal Syndicate which he directs.  In that group is also a retired associate superintendent of schools in Austin, Texas, and her retired teacher/chef husband who work daily to assist in the effort to have Traitor Trump held responsible for all his crimes, past, present, and future.  Additionally, the group includes a retired engineer with a plethora of international business experience who lives in a gated community in Arizona and runs a business testing golf equipment for manufacturers and once got out of the car of an acquaintance more than thirty miles from his own vehicle because the acquaintance insisted on repeatedly defending TRAITOR Trump.  The last of the people on this list of which I advised the repairman is a retired plumbing contractor in the Baton Rouge area who started telling me of his knowledge of the crimes of TRAITOR Trump literally as soon as I entered his home.  I also informed the repairman of two men I know who between them spent nearly fifty years in the US Army, both with long time high level security clearances, who work daily to inform the world of the crimes of TRAITOR Trump.  The man did state that he would check out some of the honest media sources of which I informed him including the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, and The Atlantic.  He might do as he said and check the sources.  He might not.  But, based on the information I gave him, he can never again say that he has not been told the truth about the danger in which American Democracy exists today.  

And that is exactly what every American citizen should be doing every time anyone, any time, anywhere attempts to disseminate support for TRAITOR Trump, his lies, his Russian Owned Criminal Syndicate members, or any other aspect of their efforts to destroy American Democracy.  Always stand up, speak up, and speak out when the supporters of TRAITOR Trump attempt to spread the disinformation, fake news, and outright lies about the criminal conspiracy currently under investigation by Robert Mueller and his staff.  

 

Freedom Of Speech--Stand Up, Speak Up, Speak Out!

American Flag Photo By Newsmax.com

Yesterday, July 7, 2017, I received an unexpected phone call from an employee of a large private practice medical practice in Lexington, KY, of which I had been a patient for several years beginning in the early 1990's.  I had become a patient of that practice when a general practitioner I was seeing, greatly respected, and trusted absolutely became a member of that practice.  A few years later, that physician had left that practice and I had gone along with him, following him in at least two practice moves in Central Kentucky because of that trust, respect, and genuine affection for him.  The last time I had seen him, in another practice, about two years ago I felt that he had slipped some in his attention to detail and decided to end my association with him.  When it came time a year of so ago for my annual physical, I had randomly chosen another member of that former practice from which I received the call yesterday and went to see him for my annual physical.  During that physical, we had discussed my potential need for a shingles vaccination and the doctor remarked that "we don't do those here but I can write you a prescription for one and you can get it at a pharmacy.  Barack Obama makes me charge you over $200 for that shot."  The remark was clearly intended to criticize the Affordable Care Act and President Obama.  It also clearly labeled the physician as a Republican party member or sympathizer.  I instantly responded to him that he "still need to be voting Democratic".  He said "we can discuss that some other time" and walked out of the examining room.  To say the least, I was clearly irked by his attempts to criticize both the Affordable Care Act and the best President in recent years in this country.  

President Barack Obama Photo  By White House Archives

When I answered the phone yesterday, the employee stated that it was time for my Medicare Physical and they were calling to schedule it with the physician in question.  I hesitated at first before going on to discuss the issue with the employee.  But after a moment of thought, I told her the story of my previous encounter with the doctor and the fact that his comments had "irked me".  To which she replied "Our Medicare Physicals are performed by one of our nurse practitioners.  Would you like me to schedule you with one of them?"  My response was, "I have three perfectly good nurse practitioners in the county in which I live. I prefer to be seen by an MD. We are facing ongoing treason in this country and I will not support or condone it. I will not spend my money anywhere it is even remotely possible that even one cent of it could go to support a Republican cause."  At that point, she asked me if I would like her to remove me from the patient list of the practice.  After a second of thought, I told her to remove me. Even before the phone call, I had been contemplating the fact that I have not seen a physician in over a year and needed to schedule with someone for an annual physical.  I have no known health problems or prescriptions and had not been under any pressure to find a new doctor any time soon. But I had recently asked a Facebook Friend who works for a nursing college to help me find a politically liberal general practitioner. 

But the two conversations and my ruminations about them have led me to come to some important conclusions.  Firstly, I realized that I should never have hesitated even briefly to voice my opposition to the doctor's defamation of both President Obama and the Affordable Care Act.  I also realized that no one should ever, in these times when TRAITOR Trump, regularly attacks both free speech and a free press, hesitate to voice their freedom of speech, freedom of the press, or any other constitutional freedom. On a daily basis, every citizen in America should be speaking out in defense of the US Constitution and the freedoms it guarantees.  On a daily basis, every citizen in America should be willing to confront TRAITOR Trump, his criminal syndicate which occupies the White House, his TREASON which has placed all of American Democracy in danger, and the Right Wing Radical Repugnicans who tolerate, defend, and support him in his ongoing crime spree against the human race.  I will not, I cannot, I must not stand silently by and watch the destruction of all that is sacred in American politics and government while a gang of Russian Owned TRAITORS work to destroy it.  And neither should you.  Stand up, speak up, speak out to defend the freedoms which all of American history and the US Constitution guarantee you and every other citizen of this country. 

Independence Day 2017

As we celebrate Independence Day 2017, basic constitutional freedoms in America have been under attack on a daily basis since January 20, 2017, by the TRAITOR Donald Trump and his criminal syndicate.  The most recent attack on basic individual freedoms has come in the thinly veiled disguise of a "Voter Fraud Commission" which is seeking access to every available piece of information about the American electorate in a followup to the Russian hacking of the election of 2016 by Vladimir Putin in order to help install TRAITOR Trump in the White House to benefit Russia. Thankfully, at least 25 state election officers are standing up to this effort and refusing to provide the data. Every such state officer should do the same. If you live in a state which has agreed to send this highly confidential information to a "commission" which is actually a thinly veiled workshop to strip minority and liberal voters of their voting rights, you should immediately contact your state level election data management officers to demand that they refuse to provide this information. Kentucky, California, and Virginia led the way in the refusal and their secretaries of state and other public officials have called the effort from the White House exactly what it is, an effort to gain information in order to suppress votes.  West Virginia's secretary of state has given a half-hearted response by saying "we would never provide social security numbers".  No doubt this issue will play itself out in the federal court system at the same time as the ongoing effort to end TRAITOR Trump's illegal occupation of the White House. With the current mix on the US Supreme Court after the addition of Neal Gorsuch, we cannot be certain how the high court will respond.  

But the effort to gain access to voter information nationwide is only one aspect of a wide ranging, nefarious, oppressive, and suppressive plan by the TRAITOR Trump criminal syndicate to destroy all basic constitutional rights.  The effort is also centered on wide ranging, destructive, and nefarious attacks on the freedom of the press, free speech, and other rights which have been a given in America for the past 200 plus years.  During the Women's March on the day after inauguration day, several legitimate journalists who were doing their job by covering protests against TRAITOR Trump were charged with crimes in federal court.  Journalists were also arrested while covering the Dakota Pipeline protests and you can bet your butt that more such arrests of legitimate journalists will continue unless the indictment, arrest, conviction, impeachment and imprisonment of TRAITOR Trump takes place soon.  His aim is to establish a totalitarian regime in absolute violation of the US Constitution and in support of Vladimir Putin and Russia.  The ongoing congressional investigations are deliberately slowed by the Republican Congress in order to allow them time to damage government agencies, constitutional protections, and individual freedoms to a lesser but debilitating degree.  Deep down, Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan, and the Republican party simply want to get TRAITOR Trump to sit down and shut up long enough for them to do major parts of the damages which are sought by the Russian interests which control TRAITOR Trump.  The Republican congress is gambling that they can control TRAITOR Trump long enough to destroy health care, voter freedoms, reproductive rights, and several dozen federal agencies whose purpose is to confront and control business efforts to totally destroy those rights.

TRAITOR Trump's ongoing war against all legitimate media coverage of his crimes is the heart of the war against the free press.  Every citizen in America should speak out this Independence Day in support of the press and their constitutional guarantee of the right to practice honest journalism.  At the G20 Economic Summit on July 7-8, 2017, TRAITOR Trump has plans to meet with Vladimir Putin in a private meeting in which there is little doubt that Putin will deliver further marching orders for the traitor whom he bought with a the stolen US election of 2016.  Call you elected representatives in congress to demand that congress and the US military leadership prevent this meeting from taking place.  The article at this link discusses the active fear among American professional intelligence officers of the incredibly dangerous and destructive possibilities coming out of any meeting between TRAITOR Trump and Vladimir Putin.

On this Independence Day of 2017, American Democracy is in greater danger than it has been since the Civil War.  Stand up, speak up, and speak out in order to defend American Democracy and individual constitutional rights from the treasonous criminal syndicate which is currently occupying the White House as the result of an American Presidential Election which was stolen by Russian hackers. 

1984 by George Orwell--A Textbook For These Times

Orwell, George: 1984 (Delhi, India, Pigeon Books 2009)

Recently, "1984" by George Orwell shot back to the top of the Amazon Bestseller List based on the illegitimate inauguration of the TRAITOR Donald Trump and his occupation of the White House. Please note when I refer to his occupation of the White House I always use the word in the military sense.  Since November 8, 2016, I have been diligently reading all the literature I have time to cover which addresses misfeasance and malfeasance in office, treason, totalitarian governments, the US Constitution and civil rights.  "1984" has been a classic ever since it was released in 1948.  It is a masterpiece of fiction about a futuristic, totalitarian government and was a part of that body of Orwell's work to which he referred when he said: 

"Every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written directly, or indirectly, against totalitarianism.  Animal Farm was the first book in which I tried, with full consciousness of what I was doing, to fuse political purpose and artistic purpose into one artistic whole." George Orwell, "Animal Farm" pp. vii

George Orwell

"1984" is an excellent example of that effort on Orwell's part to fuse both political and artistic purposes.  The book made him famous worldwide and its Orwellian language Newspeak has introduced several words into everyday usage such as "newspeak", "Big Brother", "doublethink", and "thought crime".  The book is taught worldwide in classes on politics, literature, philosophy, and psychology.  There is no more important time that American citizens should be reading "1984" and other works by George Orwell such as "Animal Farm" than today. The book is fiction but it is fiction with a political purpose.  It can be easily read and understood by the person who does not ordinarily read philosophy or political science.  By virtue of reading the works of George Orwell, that type of reader can begin to understand the importance of observing the actions of government and its leaders and also begin to develop skills necessary to resist destructive, disruptive, and totalitarian actions of government.  

The book is set in a fictitious, futuristic 1984 with a totalitarian government which controls literally every function of the lives of its citizens, restructures their reality on a daily basis to fit the needs of the government, and literally wipes those citizens off the face of the earth, without a trace remaining, when they no longer meet the needs or oppose the actions of that government.  The protagonist of the book is an ordinary citizen, Winston Smith, who works in the Ministry of Truth where his job is to rewrite history, both small and large, in order to meet the aims of the government.  Winston finds himself involved in an affair with a young woman much like himself.  Their love affair and joint opposition to the government lead them into the dark world of the government and its actions to control the citizenry.  

The book is now and always has been a harbinger of possible and probable tyrannies to come in the real world.  It is a billboard of truth, writ large and boldly, warning the citizens of the United States of today that such tyranny is possible and is the goal of people who are living today.  The goal of every American citizen should be to prevent such tyranny from ever happening or becoming possible in this country.  We are teetering on the brink of the most destructive times in American history.  A malignant, malicious, and well organized effort, centered in the White House is working on a daily basis to deprive this country of freedom of the press and individual constitutional freedoms.  Media members have been arrested while doing their job of covering multiple news stories which were contrary to the aims of TRAITOR Trump and his minions.  Religious believers are being targeted, arrested, and deported simply because they are not members of a majority religion in this country.  More crimes against the US Constitution will come and they will come soon.  Every citizen of this country should be working to prevent the possibility of such destruction of individual and collective freedoms.  Go out and read books such as "1984" and "Fahrenheit 451".  Study the US Constitution and fight to defend it.  Learn about outspoken defenders of freedom such as Thomas Paine, James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, and other, more modern patriots who spoke out for freedom and Constitutional Rights.  Join organizations such as The American Civil Liberties Union.  Financially support organizations such as The ACLU, National Public Radio, The Southern Poverty Law Center, and others which fight on a daily basis to protect the rights of ordinary citizens and work to keep the citizenry informed in an honest, ethical fashion. 

This link will take you to a post on this blog about "Animal Farm" another of George Orwell's excellent books about totalitarian governments.