You must be crazy

The Merriam Webster Dictionary defines patriotism as “the love for, or devotion to, one’s country.”

I have no problem with that. Regardless of which side of the political spectrum you lean towards, you can always love and be devoted to your country, and still want to change it for what you consider to be the better. 

That’s what Dr. King gave his courageous life for almost 60 years ago, and I will always love him for his sacrifice.

That’s also what my good friend and brother, Bishop William Barber, continues to dedicate his determined life towards doing today, and I love him for that commitment as well.

Two gifted and anointed men of GOD, who say America is a great nation, but that it’s not as great as it could be, or should be, because America is not living up to the true meaning of it’s creed, “that all men and women are created equal, and are entitled to life, liberty, justice and the pursuit of happiness.”

I absolutely consider Dr. King, Bishop Barber, and anyone else who believes as they do, to be the best examples of what American patriotism is, because in their own way, both men of peace are known for fighting fearlessly for freedom.

Now I’ve just said all of that to note that there are other folks who say they “love” America too, but are nowhere near as committed as Dr. King or Bishop Barber to the equality of all men and women. If anything, these people have shown a disgusting devotion to redefine this country through the warped prism of their own selfish desires.

Did I mention that these crazy folks call themselves MAGA Republicans, and they’re proud of their undying devotion to a warped America as reshaped by their crooked deity, the one and only Donald Trump?

Strong words? Damn skippy! So strap yourself in for the rest.

According to a troubling story by The Associated Press last week titled “All the Ways Republicans Want to Honor Trump, from the $100 Bill to Mount Rushmore,” these wayward morons are seriously considering the following:

- establishing a national holiday in Trump's honor

- renaming Dulles Airport the “Donald J. Trump International Airport”

 - renaming the Kennedy Center the “Donald J. Trump Center for the Performing Arts”

- putting Trump’s portrait on the $100 and $250 bill

- carving Trump’s face into Mount Rushmore (included with Washington, Jefferson, T. Roosevelt and Lincoln)

- nominating Trump to win the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize ( T. Roosevelt, Wilson, Carter and Obama won it previously)

Mind you, the cost of basic groceries is skyrocketing. Trump’s crazy tariffs are unnecessarily adding to the pain in our pockets.  May through July job numbers have been so bad, the only way to change them is to fire the labor statistics head, and lie about the monthly numbers in the future. Democrats in the Texas [legislature] are forced to flee the state instead of allowing a quorum so that Republicans can pass an unconstitutional redistricting map.

Plus, Trump has commissioned construction of a $200 million ballroom to OUR White House nobody has asked for (I don’t care where the money is coming from, this IS a waste) all of this while there are tens of thousands of people, especially women and children, who are literally starving to death in Gaza at the hands of the Israeli government, which has been blocking aid. 

A federal judge ruled that Trump plans for ending the Temporary Protected Status for 60,000 immigrants from Nepal, Honduras and Nicaragua was partly motivated by the “discriminatory belief that certain immigrant populations will replace the white population.”

Yep, the judge also called that "pure racism"

Meanwhile those MAGA yo-yos have gleefully put the Center for Public Broadcasting out of business, as their convicted deity prepares for war with Russia by moving nuclear subs into position just in case Vladimir calls Trump’s bluff.

And the world continues to come apart at the seams.

But these GOP clowns see their priorities as worshipping their deity king to prove that they love his MAGA America.

This is what they call “patriotism.”

This kind of delusion is crazy, and exactly what the country’s founders did not want to have happen after we gained our independence from monarch-led Great Britain.

It is also contrary to the true spirit of America, because if the rule of law is what gives our nation the backbone to insist that freedom is a precious right for everyone that must be respected, then it is against our Constitution and bedrock beliefs to submit to anyone who proclaims himself to be above the law, because then he can take that freedom.

It also means that “the truth” is what someone else wants it to be, NOT what it is, so we get the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, for example, actually removing any reference of Trump’s two impeachments from an exhibit, even though it is an established historical fact.

Guess we know what the Smithy would remove if it had an historical exhibit of American presidents with 34 felony convictions, eh?

Or what about how certain Republican members of Congress have refused to publicly admit that the shameful January 6th, 2021 insurrection and violent attempted overthrow of the U.S. government actually did occur (we all saw it), or how they continue to perpetuate the damnable lie that Trump won the 2020 presidential election, and of course the Trump Administration’s continued efforts to wipe diversity, equity and inclusion off the map, let alone our history books, adding its recent attack on Duke University and its medical research arm to the mix, and you have an ongoing effort to rewrite American history in real time, meaning that we don’t own the past, present or the future of our country if we allow it.

I don’t blame former Vice Pres. Kamala Harris for saying that she isn’t running for anything next year because our political system is broken. When all of the above is happening unabated, you don’t have a political system. You have Russia, where Putin can remain in power for life because every so-called “election” he’s in is rigged. You have South Korea where Kim Jong-Un is dictator for life.

And you certainly have the country of El Salvador, where the party of Pres. Nayib Bukele has just approved indefinite constitutional changes to presidential reelection,” extending presidential terms to six years.

According to The Associated Press, Pres. Bukele “overwhelmingly won reelection last year despite a constitutional ban” after El Salvador’s Supreme Court “selected by his party,” ruled in 2021 to allow reelection to a second five -year term. 

Read the fine print - Pres. Bukele can now stay in power as long as he wants.

Trump is trying to pull the same hat trick here, and Republicans in Congress, and our Supreme Court, are aiding and abetting. The High Court has already given him immunity, and if Republicans remain in control of Congress, they’ll find a way to ignore the Constitution, and keep their king in power indefinitely. 

Mind you, our country before Trump was never perfect, but compared to the bloodthirsty, power-hungry, so-called “governments” that exist elsewhere on this planet, America has always been a relative Shangri-La of democracy and freedom.

Until now.

Let's be honest. MAGA Republicans see Trump, and Trumpism, as the most effective way to systematically destroy the Democratic Party and everything it represents. That's why they bend over so much for him, even when it hurts.

It hurt my aging heart to read the last paragraph of Thomas l. Friedman’s excellent but depressing recent column in The NY Times where he wrote:

That is why, dear reader, though I am a congenital optimist, for the first time I believe that if the behavior that this administration has exhibited in just its first six months continues and is amplified for its full four years, the America you know will be gone. And I don’t know how we will get it back.

Brother Friedman, I fully understand your trepidation, truly I do. Our nation is coming apart in ways we never dreamed we’d see in our lifetimes, and it does seem as if there if there is no way to stop the madness that’s going on.

But I truly believe, Church, that all is not lost!

So I’m telling MAGA Republican leaders straight up, YOU MUST BE CRAZY! YOU HAVE LOST YOUR FREAKING MINDS!!!You are so power hungry, you have turned Trump into a god, and are demanding that the rest of us worship him on our knees like you do!

NO! In fact, HELL TO THE DOUBLE NO!!! Not this AMERICAN citizen, proudly born Black in Brooklyn, NY, living and working in North Carolina for over 40 years, and respecter and supporter of our police and military when they do their jobs properly and constitutionally.

Trump’s America’s is NOT a religion, but it IS a dangerous cult. This clown is a convicted criminal who many suspect is guilty of more sordid crimes than we actually know of, and we don’t like that one bit!

 I want Dr. King's America! I insist on Bishop Barber's vision for this nation!

Yes, you must be crazy if you think we non-MAGA folks aren’t going to use every constitutional means we know of to take our country back. Because if we don’t, we won’t have a country. We won’t have a democracy.

And our children won’t have a chance for their futures.

So Democrats, cut the crap, and do everything to win back Congress in 2026. That’s where we have to start.

The longer Trump remains in office, the longer we come to realize that the nation we bitched and moaned about before, was also the most precious commonality we all shared, and are now deeply sorry we lost.

NOW IS THE TIME to look ahead with determined resolve, and unrepentant true patriotism, to reclaim the America we lost - warts and all -  and make it the land it was always meant to be.

A land where true freedom came from the people, NOT some criminal who would be king!