The Crisis in Portland, Etc.

I believe that John Lewis is right to oppose injustice. Trump's police state attack in Portland, Oregon is not only a violation of democratic rights. It represents Trump's authoritarian mentality. When police authorities, with no insignia, come about to arrest peaceful protesters without just cause, then that is a total violation of human freedom. The police authorities are from the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and other federal agencies. These people acted as real thugs to use CS tear gas, rubber bullets, and sonic weapons on protesters. One protester was hit with an impact munition fired by a federal marshal that severely damaged the protester's head. This comes after the massive multi-generational, multiracial protests (made up of working class people and all freedom lovers in general) during the aftermath of the unjust murders of George Floyd & Breonna Taylor. Homeland Security Chad Wolf has demonized protesters as violent anarchists. The ACLU has filed suit in Oregon against the DHS and the federal Marshal's service for using indiscriminate tear gas, rubber bullets, and acoustic weapons (sound weapons). Trump wants a grip on power. That is why Trump told FOX News Sunday's host Chris Wallace that he don't know if he will support the results of the November 3, 2020 election. Therefore, Trump is not God. He is a man, and he should be opposed of his corrupt policies.

In this land, we witness the coronavirus pandemic. We witness some good news about many Confederate monuments coming down. Likewise, we have a long way to go. One of the evil pastimes embraced by some is that some folks would rather lecture poor and suffering people on respectability politics than confronting the military industrial complex & the corrupt policies from Wall Street banking institutions. Discriminatory sentencing practices harming many black and brown people is wrong, and police brutality plagues American society. The conservatives believe in the myth that us getting up by our own bootstraps alone will eliminate poverty, discrimination, racism, sexism, xenophobia, and other evils. That myth ignores the fact that Americans historically have always worked extremely hard, yet income inequality remains high. It is not a problem of a work ethic. It is a problem of structural economic dislocation, structural racism, and the other systems of oppression in general harming people's lives.

The people want livable wages, affordable, up to date housing, medical resources, strong educational services, and liberation. Laissez faire capitalism never will eliminate employment discrimination, gentrification, and police abuses. The long legacy of slavery, Jim Crow, the neo-colonial atmosphere of ghetto life, and other evils remain in our land. The only solution is a radical redistribution of political and economic power to the people, not just the 1%. Most black Americans desire reparations. Are we as black Americans entitled to them? The answer is Yes. As the late democratic socialist Dr. Martin Luther King has accurately stated, we need a "radical reconstruction of society itself."

Many Republicans believe in the myth that JFK was a conservative and would be a conservative today. We have to look at the record. JFK in 1960 said that he was a liberal. That alone refutes the Republicans' argument. Also, JFK supported universal healthcare for the elderly which would be Medicare. Ronald Reagan opposed Medicare back then and claimed that it was a prelude to socialism. JFK supported unions, investments in Social Security, and a federal civil rights bill promoting racial equality. Back then, many conservatives opposed a federal civil rights bill like Ronald Reagan, Barry Goldwater, and George H. W. Bush. They falsely thought that the Civil Rights Act was a federal overreach. JFK believed in the separation of church and state and said that the Catholic Church will never dictate to him anything on political policy. Today, the Republicans bash the separation of church and state when even Jesus Christ said Render what it is to God and Render what it is to Caesar. The separation of church and state has been embraced by strong spiritual people (like the Anabaptists, etc.) for thousands of years. JFK believed in taxing oil companies, and he rejected using nuclear war against the Soviet Union. JFK wanted an end to nuclear weapons tests, and he believe in the rights of immigrants (JFK even wrote a book describing the contributions of immigrants involving American society). The GOP is so far right that it is incredible. Therefore, JFK was a mainline liberal. JFK wasn't a far left progressive person, but he was far from conservative.


By Timothy