Category Archives: Uncategorized Rants

Election Campaign Donations – Really?

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(A video version of this post can be found at: https://www.instagram.com/p/DcY46DDuxQ8/ 

Have you ever considered how it seems that every election is steered by the amount of money a campaign grosses in order to make a candidate competitive in a race?

To be truthful, I have made contributions to some candidates and political causes – $546 since 2015 to be exact – not a lot, but some. I suppose those tiny donations were, in some way, my attempt to allay the fear that the opposing candidate would somehow make things worse for us if he or she won and that my support might help prevent that from happening. And this is just what I…as an individual…have contributed. There are hundreds of thousands, well…probably millions of other people like me making similar donations.

Then there is the big money – Super PACs, corporations, non-profits, labor unions who all invest vast sums virtually trying to buy whatever political clout they can to support their own objectives and thanks to the 2010 Citizens United versus the Federal Election Commission ruling by the Supreme Court, they’ve been allowed to invest unlimited amounts of money in political advertising. Is it any wonder the rich get richer? They have the resources to extend their influence to buy whatever they like by funneling money, often surreptitiously into the Super PACs.

But should this really be the way elections are decided? Should it be about how much  money is raised and spent on a campaign? Is it fair to allow the wealthy to have that much leverage in seeking what they want? Oh HELL no. But all this isn’t new. Complaints against Citizens United go back quite a ways.

Think about the aggregated amount of money sitting around waiting to be spent on ads that denigrate an opponent. Instead of a candidate or their supporting Super PAC telling us what they propose, what they stand for, what they want to accomplish if elected, most ads seem to ignore that in favor of telling us how awful someone else is – often by telling half-truths, or in some cases, outright lies. We are bombarded with endless commercials often ending with the words “I approve this message”. We get endless texts and emails. We have to drive through intersections littered with posters that never seem to be removed.

Every four to six years there are campaigns: 435 U.S. house of representatives, 100 senators, a president and vice president – that’s just the Federal level; 50 state governors, roughly 7,383 state legislators – and every one of these candidates try to raise millions of dollars to fight their opponents.

And recently, June 30, 2026 in fact, the U.S. Supreme Court in a 6 to 3 ruling eliminated the Federal limits on how much money a political party can spend for presidential and congressional campaigns. Justice Bret Kavanaugh, delivering the court’s opinion stated that the 1971 Federal Election Campaign Act’s limits violate the First Amendment. He said, and I quote, “In short, Congress’s original justification for the limits on political-party coordinated expenditures is entirely inadequate under the First Amendment.” Mind you before that ruling, the FECA’s limits allowed for up to $4m on a senate campaign, $130,000 for a House candidate, and over $32M for a Presidential Candidate. The First Amendment also played a big part in the Citizens United ruling. I guess the First Amendment doesn’t come cheap.

Here’s a simple idea – how much better would it be if every candidate for every office posted their voting record, if applicable, along with their platform of what they hope to achieve on their own website. For God’s sake, who doesn’t have a website these days? Use the damn things. If the press did their job and made everyone aware of who was running for what position, then everyone would have the opportunity to read for themselves what each candidate is about and make a decision on whom to vote for. I read a posting yesterday that, in Texas, Greg Abbott’s “war chest” stands at $67.4 million. That’s one candidate for a re-election as governor.

So, let’s use round numbers. Let’s say in that in every four to six year period there are 10,000 campaigns and each campaign spends $2,000, even $3,000 for a well-constructed, comprehensive candidate website – that’s $20 or $30 million in total, less than half of one candidates war chest. There are billions of dollars out there trying to sway elections. Don’t you think there are better ways to spend that money? You know The Constitution, that document which governs how things should run in this country. As a reminder, it opens with “We The People”. It does not open with “We the Super PACS”.

Just one more example of American insanity.

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Atheism – A Religious Irony

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(A video version of this post can be found at: https://www.instagram.com/p/DcEktecpZsp/)

Growing up, social etiquette dictated a rule – never speak of religion or politics in social settings. Up to about ten years ago, I was a good boy, but after turning 60, I discovered I didn’t really much care if people liked what I decided to write or post about.

Yes, as a storyteller, my hope is that the books I write offer a few hours of escape and enjoyment just as I was the thankful recipient of the stories from my favorite authors.

But one thing that was drilled into my head while studying for my Master of Fine Arts Degree was that writers observe and then package what we observe into our writing. We become the spokesmen for the human condition. It’s why books like 1984, Fahrenheit 451, Of Mice and Men, and The Brothers Karamazov are such amazing classics.

Given the times in which we live, I, like many of my fellow writers, feel compelled to weigh in on the taboo topics of religion and politics. I posted a politically themed reel the other day, and as I suspected would happen, robust commentary from the questionably intelligent thoughts of some MAGA patriots began to flow.

See what I mean?

But religion is another focus of mine. Why? Because it was a central part of the first half of my life.

When I was eight years old, my parents informed me that my father was taking steps to answer his “calling” to enter the priesthood. Sure enough, he disappeared from my life for several years as he worked by day and went to Mercer School of Theology at night with the goal of being ordained in the Episcopal Church (that’s catholic-lite to the R.C.s amongst you or catholic with less guilt). Three years later, I rose from my bed with the flu to witness our bishops administer the laying on of hands at the Cathedral of the Incarnation in Garden City, NY (yes, Episcopalians do retain the ‘authority’ of Apostolic Succession). From that day forward I became a PK. Shortly thereafter, we moved into a rectory and began a life that was heavily infused with religion – it was our daily existence.

And I did my part. I trained the acolytes, became a Sunday school teacher, joined the vestry when I was eighteen, and passed the requirements to become licensed as a Lay Reader and a Chalice Administrator. On rare occasions, when my father was sick, I even led the congregation in Morning Prayer. This continued well into my adult years.

One day, while showering, I had an epiphany (not to be confused with the Christian celebration) and answered a nagging question: why did I have so much trouble holding my faith? Answer: I never had it in the first place. It was stunning in its simplicity. Something clicked into place at that moment. I realized that most of the teachings of the church didn’t make sense, never did, but I was now free to explore alternatives, and not to stubbornly try for the forced acknowledgment of a faith I didn’t have. I embraced agnosticism for about a month. The exploration ultimately led to atheism.

Now, here’s the irony. Forty years of religious life, going to church weekly, if not semi-weekly, reciting and memorizing countless prayers and creeds, none of that ever came close to the profound realization I gained from becoming an atheist. Atheism is what provided me with an enhanced sense of morality.

Imagine, just for a moment that there is no God, that there is no life after death, that your time on earth is truly the only shot you have at living – just picture this for a second. Now imagine how much more the value of a life increases. How much more heinous is a murder, or a war, or neglect of our fellow man given that this is all we will ever have? It increases the magnitude of those transgressions beyond understanding. You would no longer be able to suffer life with the thought that – it’s alright, your reward will come after you die. You can no longer take solace in the concept that evildoers will suffer an indescribable fate when the Day of Judgment comes. It knocks the system of justice off its well-oiled tracks and trashes thousands of years of assumption. When you free yourself from the constraints that teach against the idea that it’s possible to have evolved into sentient creatures without benefit of divine influence, it liberates your thought process to imagine so many other insightful and meaningful truths.

Atheism taught me this. Atheism, not religion, taught me to honor the life of every deserving human being. It taught me restraint. It created in me a painful sensitivity to injustice – something which hurts more every day as I look at the news both here and abroad – from people being murdered by ICE to the arbitrary hanging of protesters in Iran, from the renditions of harmless immigrants to living in a society which creates more and more opportunity for the wealthy to obtain an obscene amount of riches.

Take a good hard look at our world – it’s insane and it’s getting worse. A fair share has to do with religion, that little thing which has been the root cause of more death, destruction, and misery over these many millennia. Religion, nationalism, and inequality are the dynamic forces driving humanity to the brink. Add to that a thriving cancel culture, unparalleled greed, and the narcissistic personalities of those in leadership positions and it’s a wonder if it is even possible to steer a course that might avoid an ultimate dystopia.

Just think about it…

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Civil War and the Permanent Loss of International Standing

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I have spoken against Trump beginning the day after his decision to run for President. January 6, 2021 was the defining moment that crystalized my words of caution and derision since that time. If nothing else, the storming of the Capitol was a clear indication that while there has been no formal secession of states or two armies facing one another across a battlefield, we are none the less in the midst of a Civil War. While it may be ideological yet, make no mistake that is where we are. Is it a stretch to consider the danger of armed conflict being far behind? Consider the FBI alert warning that all fifty state capitols are possibly the target of invasion starting next week. Weapons, pipe bombs, and Molotov Cocktails were present during the Siege in Washington D.C. and multiple fatalities resulted.

If one accepts the notion that to attain the rank of a Congressional Representative or Senator requires even a modicum of intelligence, it becomes all the more difficult to understand how a significant number of Republicans in the House and several in the Senate can justifiably yield to the rhetoric of a madman. Yet, that has happened consistently for years.

In the early morning hours after Election Day in 2016, as an evil man became the next leader-to-be of the free world, the weight of the longer-term problem pressed home; it was the knowledge that seventy million Americans made that possible. Trump would go away one day, but they would not. They became an army populated by people with an agenda, anxious to operate outside the boundaries of decency and law, fueled by racist upbringing, ineffective education, and a willful disregard for truth and reason. While some simply voted along party lines, many more, spellbound by the lies that fueled their immoral beliefs rushed at the chance to do what no other candidate ever offered – a license to be an outspoken and active supremacist.

Where do we go from here? The definition in the Federal Code for treason is this:

“Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason and shall suffer death, or shall be imprisoned not less than five years and fined under this title but not less than $10,000; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.”

To apply this definition to the insurrectionists, to Giuliani, Donald Trump, Jr., Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, and Trump himself would be a good place to start. Unfortunately, I am having trouble believing there is sufficient intestinal fortitude to carry the day on that front, especially from the standpoint of fear. Legislators are seeing evidence of becoming targets. Crowds threatened Lindsay Graham at the airport and rioters called to have Pence hung. It sheds light on the commitment to overrun the government. January 6th was a Fort Sumter event. Today, the military is installed at the Capitol for the first time since the actual Civil War. There is no reason to suspect that once Trump is out of office, things will go back to normal. Pandora’s Box has been opened; the true nature of nearly half the country is fully revealed.

On the international front, our enemies: Russia, China, North Korea, Iraq, and Iran are hunkering down in ecstasy that the foundation of the United States is crumbling. If nothing else, it will embolden them to strike while the window of opportunity exists. Our allies are assuredly holding hands to their foreheads that the dependability of our support is seriously compromised. Even with Biden’s return to normalcy, effective repair to the damage done will take a decade or more.

Thomas Paine once said, “These are the times that try men’s souls.” It was to suggest that real Patriots – the ones who put faith in an America that stood for all, free of tyranny and not the pseudo-patriots Trump calls his own – would have the fortitude to remain true to their beliefs. It is the only hope we have, that over time, the extremists will crawl back under their rotting tree stumps like the maggots they are. We need to hold firm to the convictions that made America stand out and become the land of opportunity for a world full of people desperate to escape untenable lives. We need to stand up and continue to speak out against the bullies who lack the understanding of that which they hasten to destroy.

This is the time for the real MAGA to come forth. With Biden and Harris leading the way, we need to Make America Great Again.