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Simple Wisdom: Pro Choice

5/14/2022

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Editor's Note: It's less than two weeks since the draft opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito leaked into public view. If, as seems likely, that draft morphs into the final majority opinion, the right of a woman to control her own body, unlike the right to keep and bear arms, shall be infringed. States will be free to infringe away, so to speak, and many are prepared to do so. Eventually, you'll see a post about all this ... probably more than one ... on the "Marj-inized" page. Sometimes, however, the clearest wisdom can be found in the fewest words. What follows are a few entries from the online public square known as Facebook. Because I'm never sure of the identity of the original author of any given post,  I post some of them here without attribution. 
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March 1933 - The Enabling Act

3/9/2020

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By Bruce Thompson

Bruce Thompson is an adjunct instructor of philosophy at Palomar College. His Ph.D. is from the University of Colorado. His major emphasis in philosophy is critical thinking, formal logic, and American pragmatism. He is also a poet, violinist, and raiser of back yard chickens.

Brace yourself. The following is a grim warning.

March 1933 - The Enabling Act
BEGIN
March 1933 - The Enabling Act, granting Hitler unrestrained power.

February 2020 - Senate Acquittal, granting Trump unrestrained power.

Thereafter, modern history will unwind as follows:

In 2021, following his re-election, Trump will begin a bloody purge of people he considers to be disloyal to him. John Roberts will be assassinated, and Brett Kavanaugh will be named Chief Justice. Mitt Romney will be imprisoned on charges of bigamy, but will commit suicide in his cell by repeatedly stabbing himself in the back with a blunt shiv. All of this will be in preparation for Trump to suspend the Constitution and seize power in 2024.

By 2027 we will be at war with China as Trump attempts to achieve world domination. People suspected of having even traces of African (and Latino) ancestry will be rounded up, kept in concentration camps, and eventually exterminated. However, the cost of the war and the imprisonment of "undesirables" will tank the economy. In 2028 Trump will attempt an ill-advised invasion of Canada (during the winter). The brave Canadians will make a near-suicidal stand at Calgary, thus preventing Trump from taking Edmonton (which will become the capital of Canada in 2023). The defeat of the U.S. military in Canada will be a significant factor in the inevitable defeat of the U.S. a few years later.

In 2031 an invasion of the U.S. by China, Cuba, and Venezuela* will be staged from Cuba. Beachheads will be established at Fort Lauderdale, Daytona Beach, and Jacksonville. After the successful amphibious landings in Florida the defeat of the U.S. will drag on for another year, but with little doubt of the eventual outcome. Trump will commit suicide while holed up in Trump Tower with his latest mistress, a blonde 19-year old with huge...

Of course, you and I won’t see how all this turns out, since we will have been exterminated in the concentration camps long before. But do not give up hope. I don’t know what there is to be hopeful about, but giving up could only be counterproductive. We must see this through, no matter how it ends.
​

*Question – Why Venezuela? Answer – Okay. Iceland?
END
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I Get Confused                                                                                     _______________________________________________________________

8/27/2018

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By Dick Eiden

Dick is a poet, attorney, and political activist living in Vista, California. 


​I Get Confused

​Watching TV with the French door open a crack, seven 
clear shots, sirens, a body in the alley across Fayette, 
yellow tape, suits, groups of hushed people looking lost.
 
The street name is Fayette but I want to say Fallujah 
runs east & west across old Baltimore, bus stop and 
McDonalds at Fayette and Howard, buildings boarded 
since the rebellion of ‘68 burned up and down Black
streets across America, and war raged in Vietnam.
 
Justice for Freddie Gray marched under our balcony in 2015 - 
Justice - that shining word, moon low in the sky, far out of reach. 
 
I've walked and driven Fayette a hundred times, but still want to say 
Fallujah where our local Marines broke down doors and killed Iraqi’s
till the town was subdued, barren, wasted - more civilians killed 
than fighters. I want to take Fayette west and Eutaw street north 
to Sandtown, Black Baltimore abandoned, row houses & businesses 
still boarded up, hand painted signs faded long ago - but I get lost.
 
Sirens a regular thing here, five murders a week and lesser crimes, 
car crashes, fires, old guys with heart attacks. That week we heard
“All night, all day, we will fight for Freddie Gray” marching below,
media vans, suits, helicopters, more sirens, National Guard deployed 
on street corners looking tough, or scared - hard to tell the difference.


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------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   I Stand So That You Can Kneel

5/27/2018

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By Andrew Freborg

Andrew lives and works in Corvallis, Oregon.
​
I Stand So That You Can Kneel
I stand to honor the promise the flag represents.
You kneel because that promise has been broken.

I stand to affirm my belief that all are created equal, and to fight alongside you for that promise.
You kneel because too few stand with you.

I stand because we can be better.
You kneel to remind us to be better.

I stand to honor all that have fought and died so that we may be free.
You kneel because not all of us are.

I stand because I can.
You kneel for those who can't.

I stand to defend your right to kneel.
You kneel to defend my right to stand.
​

I stand because I love this country.
You kneel because you love it too.
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