TheWiseOldFart

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart   I may have been naïve. This baby boomer grew up trusting everyone older than me, especially those with authority and power. I firmly believed that our government placed the welfare of its people as priority number one. I believed the slogan on the side of police cars was sincere: “to Protect and to Serve.” When my priest gave his sermon, I trusted him with all my heart. I knew that my teachers, including the nuns, loved their jobs and would make my life better. I watched the evening news and believed every word. But things have changed over my 77 years. I no longer trust anyone who has power over me and those I love. Trust is earned and most of what I believed in my younger days no longer exists. No one in Washington can be trusted. Over the years I have less and less faith in Congress. Of the 13 presidents I remember, only five of them were competent and true patriots, and it may surprise you but Richard Nixon was one of them. His huge mistake was unforgivabl

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart   My wife and I each paid into Social Security for more than 40 years. When we became eligible for Medicare, we would be required to pay about 150 dollars per month for part “B,” each, and that didn’t cover everything we might need including vision care and prescription medicine. People half our age are now receiving comprehensive healthcare under the Affordable Care Act, “or Obamacare,” for as little as 20-30 dollars per month without contributing any additional funds to Medicare. What’s wrong with this picture? With a fixed income from Social Security of about $3,000 a month, we make too much money to qualify for assistance from any agency. Our food bill has increased by more than 30 percent. Gas and electric bills have increased by more than 27 percent. We cannot afford Medicare part “B” and continue to pay our monthly bills, all necessities. We do not have food delivered or go to restaurants. All of our money helps us maintain a meager lifestyle. We’re not c

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart   Over the last few months Florida Governor, Ron DeSantis, has proven two things to everyone other than his dwindling supporters: He is incompetent and therefore incapable of leading our nation, and he lacks the intelligence necessary to govern 333 million people. Any politician who would pick a fight with the Disney Corporation, Florida’s largest employer, is a moron. However, DeSantis proves that he is even dumber than I believed because after losing every battle with the mega-corporation, he refuses to end a lost cause. On Friday, speaking in Utah, Vice-President Kamala Harris attacked DeSantis’ racist policies and exposed him once and for all as a member of the Neo-Nazi groups who attempted to overturn our democracy on January 6, 2021. DeSantis has been attempting to alter Black history by setting misleading standards about our nation’s racist past for his state’s public schools. They dare to push propaganda to our children," Harris said Friday, denounc

  Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart There are multiple considerations for rating the best and worst states in America. A recent examination revealed the ten worst states in our nation based on employment combined with quality of life. Each of the ten worst have one thing in common, they are governed by right-wing extremists and governors who support them.   I won’t keep you guessing, here is the list from very bad to worst. They are Florida, Arkansas, Tennessee, Indiana, Missouri, tied are Alabama and South Carolina, nest are Louisiana, Oklahoma, and no surprise, Texas is “proudly” number one. It should not surprise anyone that Florida stands at number 10 on the list. Ron DeSantis is undoubtedly the worst governor in the history of the United States. He continues to establish fascist policies which directly violate the Constitution. His war against Disney has resulted in thousands of lost jobs in the Sunshine State. If you are Black, a woman, a member of the LGBTQ community, or non-Christian, yo

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart   Consumer Cellular, Hartford Insurance; these are two major companies who actually care about the American people. These two companies appreciate seniors and offer great service at a fair price. However, most corporations take advantage of older Americans and make our final years more difficult. My bride and I are seniors. We have our monthly social security checks as our sole income. Neither of us were ever employed in a business which offered a realistic retirement plan. Therefore, every dollar is crucial. Most of our creditors don’t care. NV Energy recently raised our gas and electric bill 37 percent, although our usage has been lower than in years past. In an act of pure “Greedflation,” corporate America has raised prices on everything. Our grocery bill is 12 percent higher than one year ago. Although we received an 8.5% increase in our monthly income last year, it was far below what we needed to compensate for our government’s failure to protect consumers.

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart Evangelicals are not Christians by definition. According to the Bible, a Christian is “ someone whose behavior and heart reflects Jesus Christ .” Evangelical leaders preach from the Old Testament, completely ignoring the teachings of Jesus Christ in the New Testament. The facts are clear. The biggest misconception about religion in America, and something Christian leaders would like you to believe, is that most of our Founding Fathers were Christians. Historians confirm that Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, Madison and Monroe practiced a faith called Deism . Deism is a philosophical belief in human reason as a reliable means of solving social and political problems.  In reality, a number of the key American Founders were neither Christians nor deists, but theistic rationalists. Theistic rationalists believed in a powerful, rational, and benevolent creator God who was present and active in human affairs. We must remember that the primary reason the men who create

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart Past and present American presidents frequently address the American people on national holidays. This past 4th of July weekend was no exception. President Biden spoke to his supporters touting the greatness in principle of the United States, and what this celebration of our country’s Declaration of Independence  means to every American citizen. However, the mood was quite different on Tuesday when Trump spoke to his Neo-Nazi supporters on his failing social media platform, Truth Social. He failed to talk about the importance of the day, and instead attacked everything good about our patriotic American President, and the millions of voters who voted for him in 2020. He spoke in front of a video screen which once again proved that Trump and his Klan have no class and in fact harbor great hatred for the nation of our Founding Fathers. The screen said: “F**k Biden and f**k you for voting for him.” Maybe I’m wrong but I always believed that a President of the United

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart What I refer to as “the great change” began in January of 1981. Ronald Reagan’s efforts to remake the “Party of Lincoln” into what it has become today, the American Fascist Party. Today’s RINOs choose not to serve the American people, but to rule over us. Reagan began wars on minorities, the working class, and women. He demanded loyalty without dissent and openly supported our nation’s wealthiest Americans. For eight years he violated the First Amendment as he accepted Evangelical Christianity as our nation’s only religion.  What was once the “Grand Old Party” has devolved over the last 42 years. It has become the party of greed, negativity, and has moved so far to the right many right wing politicians have embraced the fascist ideas of Donald Trump. No longer are these men and women supporters of individual rights, small business, or family values. Today these anti-Americans seek control over the lives of everyone, controlling their physical and mental activiti

  Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart Thanks to Vladimir Putin, James Comey, the mainstream media, and millions of white supremacists, our nation’s people had four very long years to learn about the “real Donald Trump.” Not only was he revealed as a sexual predator, a lifelong criminal, and an obese old, white man who hated his country and planned to destroy democracy and create a fascist regime, two weeks prior to his eviction from the White House he proved to be our nation’s biggest traitor by attempting to overthrow the government of the United States of America. It is an undeniable fact that Trump will be remembered as the worst president in history forever. Never again can any man or any woman be allowed to devote their every effort for four years to destroy the country they were elected to lead. I constantly refer to Trump’s victory on November 8, 2016 as “illegitimate.” One story, which is now hidden from the American people by our government and a complicit mainstream media, proves tha

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart In 2023 the Supreme Court of the United States of America is composed of six justices who are on the extreme right of our political system. Their sole purpose is to overturn advancements made in our nation’s social system over the last 70 years. Intelligent and clear-thinking Americans were shocked on June 24, 2022, when these prejudiced five men and one woman overturned a 49-year-old decision by a legitimate Court and returned all American women to third-class citizens. They celebrated after creating one of the darkest days in American history as they removed the Constitutional right of women to make personal decisions about the future of their own mental and physical health. In March of 1961 President John F. Kennedy extended affirmative action to include creating racial equality within our colleges and universities. This week the same six “bad actors” ended affirmative action in America once and for all. What’s the next fascist act by these biased pretenders:

                                                          Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart The categories on which nations are ranked related to their “greatness” can be summed up as “the quality of life for all of their nation’s people. Look at the following list. [ Quality of Life (14.52%): a good job market, affordable, economically stable, family friendly, income equality, politically stable, safe, well-developed public education system, well-developed public health system. Entrepreneurship (14.17%): connected to the rest of the world, educated population, entrepreneurial, innovative, provides easy access to capital, skilled labor force, technological expertise, transparent business practices, well-developed infrastructure, well-developed digital infrastructure, well-developed legal framework. Agility (13.96%): adaptable, dynamic, modern, progressive, responsive. Social Purpose (13.49%): cares about human rights, cares about the environment, gender equality, religious freedom, respects

                                                                 Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart Time is a cruel mistress. As we age it is impossible to maintain the physical abilities we enjoyed when we were half our age. However, I hope that life has taught us many valuable lessons and therefore we are wiser and possess more knowledge about the world we live in and the reality which exists around us. I will be 77 years old in just over a week. When I turned 70, I began to fall into a trap. Memories of my past made me sad. Although many of them will be cherished forever, I allowed myself to believe that the future would never contain great joy and I would fail to find excitement in my meager accomplishments as a much older man. This form of “defeatism” must be quashed. I am learning to accept what I cannot do and treasure what I can do. Everything in our society confirms one fact: Agism is a serious problem in 21st century America. The late-night comics, who are getting older themselves, cons

  Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart Although the United States of America is only arriving at its 247th year, the list of tragic events which affected all Americans continues to grow. One of these tragedies involves the cowardly attacks on September 11, 2001.  The truth is that there were many instances ignored by those in power. From foreign men attending flight school in Florida without showing any interest in landings. Most importantly our president and vice-president ignored briefings by our national security agencies that an attack on our nation was imminent. They both decided to ignore these warnings and take vacations although they had only been in office for less than eight months. The facts prove that the attacks on 9/11 might have been prevented if George W. Bush and Dick Cheney had taken the warnings from our top security leaders seriously. Possibly the greatest tragedy is related to how their failures after the debacle destroyed many protections promised by the Bill of Rights for all

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart   As of today, June 24, 2023, the United States of America remains the only nation to use nuclear power to murder tens of thousands of innocent men, women, and children.  [Hiroshima: 70,000–126,000 civilians killed 20,000 soldiers killed 12 Allied prisoners of war Nagasaki: 60,000–80,000 killed (within 4 months) 150+ soldiers killed 8–13 Allied prisoners of war Total killed: 129,000–226,000.] Governments declare and create wars. The military executes these tragedies. Regardless of the nation or the situation, innocent civilians are always victims of their governments, offering their lives and their quality of life for those who are designated to serving our nation, while our elected officials frequently profit from the carnage. In the 1980’s our political and corrupt government created one national holiday in February and declared it “President’s Day.” This was a self-serving and terrible decision. Prior to this mistake, we, as a nation, celebrated Abraham Linco