TheWiseOldFart

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart The American people have a long way to go if they want to live in the greatest country in the world. The choice of most Americans to accept lies and ignore the truth is the most destructive force our nation has ever experienced. In 1981, the President of the United States ignored the intent of the First Amendment and by his avid and adamant devotion to one religion, Christianity, influenced the thought process of tens of millions of Americans. Thanks to Ronald Reagan, millions of Americans believe the lie that our country was founded on Christian values alone. His policies were the precursor to our nation’s greatest enemy which supports the end of democracy. This right-wing propaganda machine calls itself 'Fox News.' The truth is clear and undeniable: the First Amendment guarantees “freedom of religion,” and “freedom from religion.” On October 7, 1996, Rupert Murdoch, with the assistance of Republican strategist, Roger Ailes, launched the unofficial righ...

I was conceived in Seattle, Washington at the end of WWII. I was born in July of 1946 in Lewiston Idaho. My family moved to Los Angeles in 1952 where jobs were readily available. My father served in the United States Navy throughout the war. My mother was one of many “Rosie the Riveters” working at Boeing Aircraft. Everything I saw in my youngest years in public involved extreme patriotism. Flags were seen everywhere. Old posters like “Uncle Sam Needs You” were taped on the sides of buildings and on fences. Everything seemed to be painted red, white, and blue. My parents split up when I was about nine years old. My mother, brother, and I lived in a duplex near my maternal grandparents, and later to an apartment just a few doors down for my Catholic School and the church. When we got our first television with a nine-inch screen, the picture in black and white, a local television station broadcast a lot of movies: most of them were about the war, and starred John Wayne starred in many of...

  If the 2024 election taught us anything, it’s that Russia once again interfered in our election, according to the FBI, and most voters must be educated. It was clear that on November 5, 2024, most Americans voted based on emotions and misinformation on the boob tube, not on facts. It is an irrefutable fact the America has the least informed voters in the world. Early in 2024, the FBI reported that Russia was once again heavily involved in controlling the results of our election. We never heard from them again. Was this election rigged as it was in 2016? The mainstream media no longer deserves the title of “the fourth estate.” It has failed to report what has become rampant crime and corruption in Washington in the 21 st  century. I constantly report the events and actions which occur in our nation’s Capital daily. It’s not hard. The Washington Mafia remains in control of our government. This Mafia hides behind titles including Senator, Congressman, Supreme Court Justice, a...

  The title of this article is an old adage or saying, and it’s true in most of the shops in which people search for items they wish to purchase. However, this refers to MAGA Republicans who continue to choose ignorance over facts and reality. They voted for Trump, and now they will be the first to suffer from their mistakes. Trump was the worst president in history between 2017 and 2021, according to presidential historians. Do they believe that he will be better in 2025? No one can be that stupid, unless you are an uninformed American voter who “learns everything they need to know from television.” Regardless of how uninformed most voters are in America, anyone who spends even a small amount of time reading about politics must be aware of some of the many reasons Trump should not be president or hold any office in government at any level. If the electorate refused to choose ignorance over fact, Trump would never have received more than 10 percent of the vote. ...

When you grow up in post WWII America, you are covered in patriotism. When the United States entered the war on December 7, 1941, the fate of the entire planet was reversed. I am not claiming that America was responsible for the defeat of fascism; that would be far from the truth. However the allies were united and the axis of evil would be defeated. The world was focused on one man and his perverse ambitions. His goals were twofold: eliminate all Jews, and world domination. Born in 1946, an original baby boomer, I understood the necessity of fighting a war thousands of miles from our shores. In elementary school, I admit to shedding a few tears as we recited the Pledge of Allegiance at the beginning of every school day. I attended a parochial school. Of course we were taught about Jesus Christ, and had enormous respect for the nuns who taught us and our priests. We were also taught about our nation’s ideals and principles, and why it was mandatory that fascism was defeated. Over my 78...

I saw the signs, but ignored them. I wanted to believe that the American people were beginning to move forward and join all developed nations, moving bravely into the 21 st century. I have been wrong before, but this one is both painful and frightening. Statistics are not something I trust, most of the time. The mainstream media is no longer interested in facts, their goal is to increase advertising revenue. However, some facts, produced from statistical analysis after the election, are undeniable. The results of the 2024 presidential election proved that there are more of them than us. The number of people who share Trump’s beliefs in racism, misogyny, anger, hatred, violence, and revenge, or in a single word, “fascism,” is greater than the number of people who believe in the principles of what it once meant to be an American. What does this mean? It’s simple and extremely sad: my America, the country I loved and respected throughout most of 78 years, ceased to exist nine years ago. ...

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart   Moscow Mitch McConnell is the Senate minority leader, serving his 7 th term. He is 81 years of age. Recently, he took a fall and later was led off a stage during a news conference as he was unable to speak. He is too old and unfit to serve the people of Kentucky or our nation. Fact: the average age of our nation’s people is 38.9 year of age. The average age of Congress is 64 years of age. 54 senators are over 65. In the House, there are 141 men and women who qualify for social security. The largest demographic belongs to millennials. Pure white Americans are declining to reproduce, while Black Americans and Hispanics continue to have children. Our nation is becoming younger, and the Senate, older. Our government does not represent our people. One other statistic which applies: women compose 51 percent of our population, but approximately 27 percent of our federal government is composed of women. Republicans have a total of 40, only 7.5 percent of the tota...

  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 Right...

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart   White supremacy, pervasive racism, white privilege, and bigotry in far too many other situations are real, and undeniable. Let me tell you a personal story about a young, white man who had personal experience with these issues. A man who was not raised in the deep South or another red state, and learned that extreme racism is a reality in all 50 states to some degree. I was born in Lewiston, Idaho in July of 1946. Before my sixth birthday my family moved to Los Angeles, California. This great city, composed of diverse people and people who encourage free thought and the exchange of ideas, remains my favorite place to live if I could afford it today. Let me inform you that I trust no one in power in the 21st century. Every one of these groups has proven that they are not worthy of my acceptance because their lies are unending. I especially detest the worst of the worst, professional politicians. I know that political parties are destructive to any nation’s ...