I Took a Pledge...did you?

When I was a kid in kindergarten every morning we would recite the Pledge of Allegiance. Of course, as a kid it was just something we did. I never realized, until my country was threatened from within, how much that pledge actually meant to me. With the advent of the I.C.E. “surge” in Minnesota it has become abundantly clear that for some that Pledge means little.


We in this country are experiencing a threat to not just our economy, but to our liberty. When we have a president who believes that “retribution” is an appropriate stance to take when dealing with citizens of this country we are traveling down a road that bodes ill for all of us. Yes, that includes you, MAGA. The idea that people and companies are actually afraid, yes afraid, in the United States of America to speak out in opposition to government policies that are detrimental to our country is disgusting.


We have tried to warn you about the critical role that immigrants play in this country. No amount of “encouraging” women to have more babies will solve this. It will be too little, too late. We have tried to warn you about the cost of tariffs on our economy. That the Supreme Court ruled Trump’s tariffs illegal may also be too late. Many of our trading partners are looking elsewhere for trade agreements. China is a beneficiary of this. Instead of taking his loss like a man Trump doubles down on stupid putting on global tariffs of 15%. Yes, they are supposed to be temporary, but the uncertainty for businesses is just one more burden they have to bear. Hollowing out small businesses in favor of large corporations will only make this country less stable, both economically and as a society.


It has been somewhat heartening to see that other people in this country are standing up and saying enough is enough.


In Colorado:

In Texas:

A veteran who took an oath:

What some of our children have seen:

Voices from North Carolina:

We now have more problems to deal with because of the self inflicted wound created by the architects of Project 2025’s poorly thought out policies. We need intelligent, honorable, I cannot stress that last quality enough, governmental elected officials. Right now I am seeing few of those. Getting into another war or invading our allies is not the way to solve our internal issues. Those are a dictator’s tools.

Remember.  We will.

Alex Pretti

This weekend we lost another kind, gentle soul. He was killed by ICE. Alex, along with Renee before him, was out supporting our Minnesota community, looking out for our neighbors. It looks like the last thing that Alex did was to try to help another person, who had been pushed to the ground by ICE agents. Many tributes by family, friends and those who met him through his work as an ICU nurse at the VA have been coming in.

I know you have probably already seen this video, but I want to post it here as a tribute to Alex. It speaks to who he really was.

When we are inundated by the lies of the Trump administration, who seem to be intent on smearing an innocent man in order to cover their own incompetence and lack of moral character, we must remind ourselves of the good in the world. It is the good in America which is what really made this country great. Something we should not forget.

RIP Alex.

That’s Fine, Dude. I’m Not Mad at You.

As you all know by now there was a shooting by an ICE agent in Minneapolis this week. A woman was killed. She was a mother, she was an American citizen, she was by all accounts a kind soul. She was Renee Good. The title of this post were some of the last words she spoke. They were spoken to her killer. His last words to her? “Fucking bitch”.

I have looked at many of the videos of the shooting. I have listened to eye witness accounts. I have watched the reactions of our so called government officials. The FBI has stepped in and shut out local authorities from the investigation of this shooting. Protesters have taken to the streets. ICE agents have shot a couple in Portland.  Minneapolis schools were closed due to ICE activity on the property of at least one.

There was a woman at a protest in Minnesota whose words resonated with me. She said, simply, this isn’t America. She’s right, this is some distorted, grotesque version of my country that I never realized existed, until now. I am sure you have seen many of the videos of the shooting, so I won’t include them here. Instead I would like to include a video which stands, perhaps, as a memorial to Renee. Because her death may have inspired this couple to do something rather noble.

RIP Renee.

A Christmas Message

May we all take some comfort from a president who understands what being a president means. 

 

As always, Slava Ukraini!


Stay safe this holiday season and I will hope we all find glad tidings in the new year.

Stranger Things - Final Season

 The show Stranger Things was what got me hooked on Netflix. In fact, for the longest time the Netflix opening music was something I associated with Stranger Things. If you haven’t seen the show I will give you a brief synopsis. It is set in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana in the 1980’s. I would describe is as a sci-fi fantasy revolving around a group of young friends who turn investigators when one of their own goes missing. They discover that he has been kidnapped by a monster(they ultimately name Vecna) that lives in another dimension called the Upside-Down. The Upside-Down is Hawkins only a more sinister Hawkins, with Vecna and his minions, whom they call Demogorgons, from their Dungeon and Dragons role playing game, inhabiting it. They ultimately meet a mysterious girl named Eleven, whom they call El, who has rather unusual powers. It soon becomes apparent that she is connected to the Upside-Down and its denizens.

I will leave it at that, since there are too many plot twists to do justice here in this small space. The final season is excellent so far. They will release the season in phases, the next one due this month.

But you may wonder why I mention Stranger Things here, as lately I have been taken up with the horrible events transpiring in the United States. It is because I realized that currently I feel like we have been overrun by monsters, who are controlled by one monster, Donald Trump(Vecna), who are dragging us all into the Upside-Down. It seems to get worse every day with the Supreme Court now rubber-stamping whatever Trump wants, regardless of whether it is really legal or even morally right. Or at least that is the way it seems to me.

I am looking forward to the rest of the final season of Stranger Things. Maybe there will be some ideas on how we can fight our own monsters. Or maybe it will just take my mind off our current horror.

Meanwhile, this song got a lot of play because of the show. I feel like we are all running up that hill.

Truth & Treason

I wanted to write about this movie, but I happened to see it the same weekend as the No Kings protests. I don’t know if it is still in theaters, but I wanted to post about it anyway. It is based on a true story that occurred during World War II in Germany. It is about a young man, I cannot say boy because he was much more mature than that, who decided to stand up and speak the truth. It is not easy to stand against a government that has no shame or integrity. It is not easy to stand when you run the risk of being eliminated for having the audacity to speak against a selfish, narcissistic, authoritarian leader who does not care about his country’s people and treats them like his serfs.

Here is the trailer:

I think this scene says everything:

No, it is not easy to stand with integrity for values that so many people seem to find disposable. This young man is a lesson to us all. If you can find the movie, I recommend it.

No Kings – 2.0

Last Saturday was the No Kings protests. As before, I went to my local protest. Probably the biggest difference from last time was the number of people. This time there were more. Now, I can’t say why, it may have been because last time they attempted to cancel the protests in Minnesota because of the Hortman murders, which happened in the early hours of that day. Or it may be because of something else. Personally, I hope it was because of something else. Given that the number of events was up nationwide I do think there was something else behind the higher turnout.

The crowd was peaceful, with a bit of a festive air. Costumes were common. I saw an eagle, a bear, a couple of chickens, six unicorns and a taco. Yes, a taco. That one was unique and from what I overheard homemade. A number of frog hats were being worn by organizers. They had music and chants. “This is what democracy looks like” was a favorite.

The signs included the normal; “Resist”, “No Kings”, “No Faux King Way”, “Save Democracy”, “Hands Off” (an obvious recycled sign from an earlier protest) etc. But some people came up with some very clever ideas: “Make Nazis Afraid Again”, “Where is Christ in Christian Nationalism? Following Christ means protecting the vulnerable NOT Punishing Them! STOP weaponizing the Christian faith to harm others!” (a crowd favorite judging by the number of photos taken) and “Honk if you’re NOT in the Epstein files” (a personal favorite). I made a new sign, using the traditional “Liberty and Justice for All” on one side (others used that too) and “Tariffs are a Tax on You & Me!”. As before, if I thought a vehicle passing held Trumpers I showed the “Tariff” side, thinking maybe they would actually care about their pocketbook, if not democracy. My unscientific poll of passing vehicles showed a lower rate of occupants giving us the finger or the thumbs down. There were still some who did the roaring engine thing. But over all there was a more positive response. Someone drove by with a Biden head placard, which I really loved. It was like Grandpa Joe was with us. Despite his cognitive decline, a still normal president from the good old days.


Here is a small video of Minnesota protests:

This video is of a more rural area of my state. Trump country. Rural areas will be impacted a great deal from the cuts to Medicaid and the ACA.

Just one more song.