TheWiseOldFart

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart Over the last 45 years, nearly one-fifth of America’s existence, our government, our leaders, have failed to accomplish anything which positively affects all 340 million Americans. Nothing proves this with greater significance than failures across the nation last Saturday. Gun violence continues to escalate across America and this situation could easily be controlled if our government had the courage to do the right thing. This was supposed to be the 250th celebration of our nation’s Declaration of Independence from England. In a normal year, Thomas Jefferson’s eloquent and heartfelt message would have been read out loud at every gathering in the country, giving every American a reason to be proud of his or her origin. Not this year: not in Trump’s America. WORDS INTENDED TO INSPIRE A NATION If these few words in the Declaration of Independence don’t make your hear flutter just a little, you have no idea what our nation was meant to be. [We hold these truths to ...

  Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart A celebration devoted to the signing of the Declaration of Independence, will also be remembered for a fire on the Brooklyn Bridge, a debacle in San Francisco, cancelled parades, the longest and most boring fireworks display in history, and a mass shooting on Coney Island. BEGINNING AT THE TOP What should have been a promise to renew the intent of the Declaration of Independence became another politically motivated Trump hate rally and turned a celebration into a memoriam for what America once strived to become. A few words to remind all Americans why we celebrate the 4 th of July. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” This one sentence was a summation of the core values the New Nation would stand upon. I can understand why Trump failed to refer to the document which in...

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart The greatest weakness in humans is the reason why America has never been a great nation. It is the most common evil inherent to every culture, every race, and every man and woman claiming to be religious. Prejudice in its many forms reveals ignorance and the need to feel superior to others. Prejudices including racism, bigotry, misogyny, and religious extremism prevent the most important promise in the first line of the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence: equality for everyone. A PREVIOUSLY INCOMPETENT GOVERNMENT IS NOW THE MOST CORRUPT IN THE WORLD Our government has failed its people in many ways. A massive increase in gun violence began in 2017, could be ended with a single vote, and would in no way violate the Second Amendment. Our country has never demanded fair taxation. 95 percent of the 6,871 page tax code includes measures which allow the wealthy to avoid paying their fair share of taxes. As long as our nation’s big businesses continue ...

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart The image of the United States of America in the minds of our idealistic Founding Fathers can be found in the words contained in the Declaration of Independence and the first ten Amendments in the Constitution, the Bill of Rights. However, I doubt they would see their dreams in today’s America. Some of the mistakes they made were originally based on the levels of integrity within their peers. Politicians have morphed into corrupt and ambitious men and women. Political success takes precedence over the welfare of our nation’s people in the 21 st century. The Word is Freedom Every person who signed our most sacred documents agreed that the First Amendment contained the rights most important to every American. However, in 2017 Trump and his American Fascist Party began to remove those rights, claiming that they are reserved exclusively for wealthy white men. Their ambition is to remove our democratic government and replace it with fascism with Trump as their Fuhre...