TheWiseOldFart

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart   There is no doubt that Donald Trump is a traitor, and cannot be considered an American. Is there any possibility that a career criminal, sexual predator, and a failure at everything he has attempted without the aid of foreign nations could become the 47 th President of the United States? With assistance from Vladimir Putin, James Comey, and the mainstream media, it happened once. Think about this carefully. The leading candidate from the right, according to polls, is the worst man in America. Can you honestly tell me that the men and women who call themselves “Republicans” embrace the principles and morals of the Party of Lincoln? What the f**k is happening to my country? I believe that the American people are at fault, and what happens to them in the next few years is what they deserve. I will continue to cherish my right to be treated equally under the law, and my freedom to think and say what I believe. I believe in America and its promise. I will not beco

  Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart   Raised by a single mother in the 1950s and 60s, I was fortunate to have been very close and partially raised by my maternal grandparents. They were grandchildren of a Prussian grandfather, who came to this country at the beginning of the 20 th century, and the grandmother he met in America. Of the many things I learned from them, compassion, kindness, and understanding were the most important and remained with me throughout my life. What they couldn’t teach me were the underlying evils which existed then, and have become the norm in the 21 st century. These evils moved out of the shadows and escalated between 2017 and 2021 when an illegitimate president won the Electoral College, and became to leader of the Neo-Nazi movement in America. He and his party, once known as Republicans, combined with the mainstream media, continue to spread lies with the use of tactics including anger, hatred, and violence. At this very moment, somewhere in our nation a

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart   I am not an elitist. I never graduated from a college or university. I am nothing more, or less, than a 77-year-old man who has decades of experience and had the fortune to enjoy reading. I am what can be considered ‘self-educated.’ I try very hard not to be judgmental, but what I see happening in my beloved country and around the world in the 21 st century is unacceptable and frightening. Common sense seems to have been tossed aside and tyrants have become gods worshipped by the ignorant and uninformed. The United States is no longer the shining star, the epitome of what a democratic, free nation should be. It has morphed into a society more concerned with corporate profits than the quality of life for its people. Freedoms are in decline as fascist politicians seek control over our daily lives in the name of Christianity, and white power. Republicans believe they have the right to rule over us. They no longer believe that their purpose is to serve the needs

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart   Let’s take an honest look at America in the 21 st century. Where do you think our nation stands on issues which are most important, and where do you think one-half of our dysfunctional government stands? This rating includes 15 nations included in an overall rating of quality of life. Here’s a clue; the United States does not rate first in any category. Inf fact, we are last in the group at number 15. However, in the free world America is ranked 23 rd in healthcare. Only wealthy Americans receive the finest care because only the wealthy can afford the most expensive medical services and personnel available. Even for working class men and women who have healthcare plans at their place of employment, co-pays create hardships for millions of our nation’s people. Our failed healthcare system has become the most expensive and inefficient in the world. I, personally, had two friends die in a hospital after being misdiagnosed. America is the only nation in the worl

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart   I know this is controversial, but give me a chance to explain. What the terrorist group, Hamas, did in Israel is horrific and unforgivable. I would love to see them all eliminated by any means, as I would any other terrorist group, foreign or domestic. However, retaliating by killing thousands of innocent Palestinian men, women, and children is tantamount to a war crime. So, why is our government sending more money to Israel allowing Benjamin Netanyahu to continue his own form of genocide and placing the world in danger of WWIII? The truth is simple. Our government and our military love wars and winning them at any cost. No country in the world has committed a greater atrocity than the United States when the ultimate weapon of mass destruction was dropped on the people who lived in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August of 1945. Hundreds of thousands of innocent men, women, and children were killed and thousands more maimed. The truth is that this was the last time

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart   Republicans have selected a man as unpopular as Kevin McCarthy, Steve Scalise, and Jim Jordan as their Speaker of the House. He is the 56 th Speaker, and most unqualified in history, not the 45 th , as indicated when Steve Scalise introduced him. The 45 th Speaker of the House was Samuel J. Randall. Scalise must have skipped both history and civics classes. The only things we know about Mike Johnson is that he is a member of the right-wing extremist group, the Freedom Caucus, who attempted to overturn the 2020 election. He denies the validity of the Constitution, claiming that only Christians deserve protection and respect under the law. The Congressman from Louisiana is a well-known racist and bigot, denying equality to non-Christians, the LGBTQ community, and equal protection under the law for women. Putting it simply, he is one of 46 members of the House who hate the America of our Founding Fathers, and of course he is a climate change denier. If this is

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart   Trump has been indicted four times which include 72 felony counts. He is clearly guilty of every allegation. However, he has not been charged for his most serious crime against the American people. He alone is responsible for at least 100,000 of the more than 1,000,000 lives lost related to the pandemic known as Covid-19. Healthcare experts vary in the numbers but the estimates are huge. His failure to take action when he was first informed of an oncoming world health emergency in December of 2019, and fallacious claim that “it will just go away,” until Americans began dying in March of 2020, are the reasons an unnecessary number of our nation’s people lost their lives. Trump is not only guilty of murder, he is guilty of dereliction of duty. He failed his primary purpose, to protect the safety of 330 million Americans. Not once in four years did the worst illegitimate president in the world place the American people ahead of his personal needs and desires. No

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart   A long time ago I wrote a story titled “May the Republican Party RIP.” Anyone who failed to read the facts on which this story was based must now take a second look. In 2010 a number of candidates were allowed to run under the banner of the Republican Party. They were not true Republicans, they were a new extremist party called the “TEA Party,” created and funded by billionaires led by the Koch Brothers. Although they had minimal success, some of the richest Americans in our nation did not believe they were as far to the right as they wanted them to be. In 2018 a radical few, calling themselves “The Freedom Caucus,” moved so far to the right they adopted the philosophies of fascism, dismissing the Constitution. One of the founders was Ohio Representative, Jim Jordan. He has made himself famous as a loud-mouthed rebel who continues to block any legislation which would move our nation forward, and a leader of a small group which favors government shutdowns every

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart   I watched a lot of NFL football this weekend. I am positive that the league officials I watched refused to go to the NFL sponsored school and instead attended clown college. Overall they were inept and on occasion altered the outcome of a few games. I doubt that most football fans realize that there are no “professional” referees in the NFL. All of them have full-time jobs. Officiating is a “second job” for all of them. They are not trained or held accountable as are the officials in Major League Baseball or the NBA. I have seen playoff games and even Super Bowls lost or won because of the decision of officials who were not watching the same game I was. This is not just wrong, it’s criminal. Roger Goodell’s team cannot be criticized without receiving serious punishment. I began complaining about NFL officials after watching a New England Patriot’s game years ago. What I saw was very upsetting, and why I no longer make bets on NFL games, although I live in Nort

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart   When Bill Clinton left office in 2001, our nation no longer had a deficit. He eliminated the national debt and left his successor with a surplus for the first time in many years. However, George W. Bush placed our nation in two costly and unwinnable wars. His fiscal policy, originated by Ronald Reagan in 1981, known as “trickledown economics,” failed miserably. These factors led to the Great Recession and the destruction of the housing market. However, the super-rich continued to receive huge tax breaks. Their numbers grew under the failure of another right-wing president. Trump reduced taxes once again on corporations and the wealthy. When he failed to lead our nation in the fight against the Covid-19 coronavirus in 2020, another recession neared and our economy crashed once again. He left the economy in shambles for President Biden to repair. He, too, chose a policy of trickledown economics. The lesson I give you is simple and proven by historical fact. The

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart   Whenever there is a conflict between nations, the core of the problem is always found in incompetent leaders who are incapable or unwilling to do their jobs. Regardless of the nation, all Presidents, Prime Ministers, or whatever they are called, have the same responsibilities: improve the lives of their country’s citizens, and ensure their safety. My country, the United States of America, has devolved over the last 40+ years. Our Founding Fathers created a nation ruled by the people, not autocrats. However, since the Ronald Reagan era, our elected officials consider themselves rulers, not public servants. They ignore our needs and wishes and serve their own ambitions. No one in Washington can be trusted or respected in the 21 st century. Israel received “Statehood” from the United Nations in 1948. Their neighbors in the region, Palestinians, requested the same status, but have been ignored for the last 75 years. There have been moments in my life when the pos

  Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart   I always agreed with Mark Twain until 2017. “Loyalty to country ALWAYS. Loyalty to government, when it deserves it.” The ‘country’ refers to the American people. Until I began to see growing support for the worst man in America, who is also the least qualified presidential candidate in history, I believed in America because I believed in our people. However, I no longer believe that millions of our nation’s people love their country and therefore I am not sure that the United States is worth saving. America has never been a great country. More than half of our nation’s people harbor racist beliefs and cherish their bigotry towards others who are not like themselves. Beginning in June of 2015 this problem escalated. The Southern Poverty Law Center reported an 800 percent in hate crimes. Although this old, obese, white man attempted to overthrow our government, committing the definition of treason, he remains free to continue spreading anger, hatred, and

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart   When I read the news this afternoon, I laughed out loud and celebrated a victory for all true Americans. The Joke actually began in January of 2023. The Republican Party in Name Only regained power in the House after the 2022 election, but only by the slimmest of margins. In January of 2023 Kevin McCarthy was nominated to become the next Speaker. However, a “Republican Party” in chaos was divided and for the first time in history it failed to select a Speaker on the first vote. In fact, after multiple concessions from the California Representative, McCarthy was finally declared the next Speaker after ballot number 15. History was made and I chuckled. I have believed that the once Grand Old Party has been incapable of governing since 1981. But that was just the beginning. McCarthy proved to be the worst Speaker in history. One of his concessions to the fascist Freedom Caucus was that a single congressman could make a motion to remove the current Speaker. One me

  Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart   If there is one thing today’s fake Republican Party fears, it’s the truth. Although the small group which calls itself the “Freedom Caucus” is openly fascist, the entire party is controlled by a plutocracy which cannot exist without a fascist government. However, the most egregious example of an American politician who is opposed to a democratic government is Marjorie Taylor Greene. She is an avid racist, a homophobe, and has participated in rallies organized by Neo-Nazi organizations. Recently she continued her ability to make a fool of herself. MTG was confronted by a bicyclist who allegedly called her a fascist. Instead of being proud that she was recognized for who and what she is, she complained and made one of the most ridiculous comments in history, asking why this individual did not receive a “gag order,” although there was no involvement in a court of law. Once again, she was attempting to defend her Fuhrer, Donald Trump, whose antics in a New

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart   “Fox News” is not only a misnomer, it is an insult to every legitimate journalist who ever wrote a single word. The only reason this right-wing propaganda machine has existed since 1996 is found in its audience. Its fans choose to believe the many lies, half-truths, and conspiracy coming from its fake journalists every day. At the top of this pile of excrement is a little man who continues his efforts to be the worst political hack in our nation’s history. His name is Sean Hannity. Hannity continues to talk to Trump on a daily basis, although he was overheard calling the leader of fascism in America multiple derogatory names questioning his intelligence. Just another right-wing hypocrite. His latest benefactor is one of Trump’s most devout a** kissers, Ohio Representative, Jim Jordan. One of the founders of the fascist “Freedom Caucus,” Jordan is attempting to replace the worst Speaker of the House in history, Kevin McCarthy. If he achieves his goal, he will b

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart   ·          Plutocracy: a country or society governed by the wealthy. plural noun :  plutocracies "no one can accept public policies which turn a democracy into a plutocracy" ·          an elite or ruling class of people whose power  derives  from their wealth. "officials were drawn from the new plutocracy.”   Our nation is no longer governed by a capitalistic economic system. It has become a plutocracy, defined as rule by the super-rich. The men and women who call themselves “Republicans” are liars. They have no interest in the principles or morals of the once Grand Old Party. They owe their very existence to a small percentage of greedy and ridiculously wealthy men and women. In January of 2015 a small group of House TEA Party members, believing that their extremist organization was not as extreme as it should be, formed an organization based on the precepts of fascism and called it the “Freedom Caucus.” One of its founders was one of the congr

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart   Let’s look back at the time period in America from June of 2015 and today, October, 2023. I find it both frightening and unbelievable. This is not my country. It is definitely not the nation created by our Founding Fathers. Between June of 2015 and today, our system of government has failed. Political parties have become more important than a nation of 330 million people. Doing the right thing is seldom a reality. Over the last eight years, real Americans cringed as we witnessed the illegitimate election of a president who is a fascist, an old and bigoted Senator achieve his lifelong and destructive dream, the end of the Supreme Court, and soon the probable selection of the worst, least qualified Speaker of the House in history. These are all major crimes committed by ambitious men who are unfit for any position in the three branches of government. In June of 2015, Donald John Trump and his trophy wife, Melania, rode down escalators inside Trump Tower. He move

Op-ed by “TheWiseOldFart”   It is a fact that the words ‘Republican’ and ‘Ignorant’ are indeed synonyms. On June 24, 2022, a Republican dominated Supreme Court ended a woman’s right to make decisions about her own mental and physical health by overturning Roe v Wade. Actions were taken by legislatures in red states immediately. They passed multiple unrealistic, anti-abortion, and sexist laws, extending and escalating their war on women in the United States. Since that dark day in American history, nearly 16 months ago, there have been many stories about how this egregious and unconstitutional decision by a biased Court has harmed multiple women in our nation. However, what happened in Texas to one woman is a tale of cruelty, hatred, and ignorance by a right-wing dominated state government, led by Governor Greg Abbott. Miranda Michel received some devastating information regarding her pregnancy. She was carrying twin boys. Her doctors made an early diagnosis which would change her life

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart   I’m sure many of you doubt my claim that fascists are gaining control of our nation. You are very mistaken. Fact: the leader of the Republican Party is the leader of the fascist movement in America. The man who will be the next Speaker of the House, Steve Scalise, is a devout member of the fascist group calling themselves “the Freedom Caucus.” History is repeating itself. What happened in the United States in 1939 is happening today in 2023. Consider the situation our government is in today, read the definition, and prove me wrong. Fascism: “Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultranationalist political ideology and movement, characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition.” Now, add to this the fact that capitalism has escalated into a plutocracy, and a plutocracy cannot exist without a government which is autocratic, more specifically a fascist regime. The evidence is irrefutable. In my youth, a

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart   “The best the Republican Party has to offer America in 2024 are, in order of their polling, a life-long criminal, a fascist governor, and a woman who worshipped Trump, but is now attempting to distance herself from the worst man in the world.” I am aware that most Americans continue to ignore the fact that there is a movement very similar to the efforts in 1939 to establish a fascist government in the United States. One entire political party has moved so far to the right it has become the leader in white supremacy and the entire Neo-Nazi movement in our country. Names like Trump, DeSantis, Jordan, Taylor-Greene, Boebert, Gaetz, Scalise, Gosar, and many others sitting on the right side of the aisle are proponents of the establishment of a fascist regime and the shredding of our Constitution. If you are not aware of these facts, you are one of many millions of uninformed Americans. Stop and think about it. The leading right-wing candidate is a former illegitima