TheWiseOldFart

  Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart I may be an old man, but I know two things: I have seen or heard all the great individual men and women who created the greatest music in history, and the bands who thrilled us, and I have lived long enough to see our nation’s federal government become the most corrupt and incompetent in the world. I am aware that I was naïve before my junior year in high school, 1962, but for the most part, I trusted my government, our military leaders, law enforcement, and the priests serving me and my fellow parishioners in our church. I also believed that most of America’s wealthiest men and women and the corporations they owned cared about the quality of their products and the people who worked for them. As I near my 80 th birthday, I no longer trust anyone in our nation who has outrageous wealth and/or complete power over my life. The truth is both disheartening and unacceptable. NOT A SINGLE PERSON IN OUR GOVERNMENT IS WORTH THE SALARY THEY RECEIVE The ...

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart Since the 1980’s, America’s federal government began to discard and ignore its intent and purpose. Although our Founding Fathers created a system of “checks and balances” with three “separate but equal branches:” the executive, legislative, and judicial: politics began to replace purpose with dysfunction. If you study history, and read the letters written to their constituents by those attending the Constitutional Convention between 1787 and 1789, you will have a greater understanding of the intentions of Washington, Jefferson, Adams, Monroe, Madison, and the rest. FREEDOM OF AND FREEDOM FROM RELIGION Our Founding Fathers considered the First Amendment the most inclusive and important guarantee of human rights, and the protection of freedom and equality for all, ever written. "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the ...

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart I often think about what makes America less than it should or could be. I know all the good things: I love history and our Founding Fathers stated their reasons for creating the United States of America better than I could ever explain them to you. ACCORDING TO ME, HERE ARE THE WORST OF THE WORST I won’t use individuals, you know who they are. The government of the United States has become the most corrupt and incompetent in the world, and there are plenty of guilty individuals on Capitol Hill. I will list organizations and groups I consider to be the most harmful to the image and future of America. I trust no one with great wealth or power. I could have chosen our incompetent military leaders in the Pentagon, all law enforcement agencies, many religious leaders, and other groups I despise for their failures to do what is right without reservation. However, I narrowed it down to just four. PROFESSIONAL POLITIICANS BELONG TO THE WORST PROFESSION IN THE WORLD If a...

  Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart There are no guidelines, no requirements to offer proof of experience or expertise when any individual files for the right to run for the House or Senate. The truth is, the regulations for becoming a Representative or Senator are minimal. [To serve in the U.S. House of Representatives, you must be 25+, a U.S. citizen for 7+ years, and a resident of your state; for the Senate, you must be 30+, a U.S. citizen for 9+ years, and a resident of your state, with both offices requiring you to be an inhabitant (resident) of the state you represent at the time of election.] In common language, “nearly anyone can become an American lawmaker.” Writing, presenting, and passing legislation intended to serve the American people should be just as simple. However, this is far from the truth. History proves that most of America’s elected officials have been incompetent and uninformed. I am positive that most voters are just as uninformed as the men and women who r...

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart Born in July of 1946, it is obvious that I am an original baby boomer. My father was discharged from the United States Navy in Seattle Washington in 1945. He met my mother, who had been working for Boeing during the war. They married in July, and less than a year later I took my first breaths. I was too young to know much about the Korean Conflict. Most of what I learned about it came from the popular television show, “MASH.” The first war I remember was Vietnam. I graduated from high school in 1964 and enlisted in the USAF. I couldn’t afford college, and the recruiter promised me that the Air Force would train me well. He lied. However, I feel a small amount of gratitude. After I was out of tech school in Mississippi, the war in Vietnam rapidly escalated. I might have died for nothing on a battlefield halfway around the world. I was medically discharged in 1965. I watched the news as the body bags began to arrive from Southeast Asia. I learned that some of the ...