Two Deadly Viruses Are Loose in America

Posted on March 1, 2020 by Les

I’m following Trump’s handling of the growing Corona-virus, CoVid-19, pandemic. The virus is not Trump’s fault. Oddly, it provides him a unique opportunity to be a national hero, if he acts swiftly and effectively to protect Americans from this lethal disease. Not surprisingly, he has chosen to go in the opposite direction, turning the virus into a political rather than public health issue. He has converted CoVID-19 into a weapon with which he can attack Democrats, Liberals, and any other group that opposes him.  This is extremely dangerous, politically and physically for millions of Americans.

Now we have two deadly viruses to combat: CoVID-19 and the malignant spreading of misinformation. Misinformation is a virulent lie that acts like a virus. It burrows into the minds of susceptible people where it slowly eats away at reason and civility. Misinformation leaves a puss filled hole in a person’s reality which leaves them thinking they are victims of some dark conspiracy that is out to get them. Eventually this paranoid fever erupts into rage and violence against innocent people that they have been trained to hate.

 For years now, a radically reactionary minority has been using this malignancy against the majority of tolerant, forward looking Americans. They have been turning us into “The Enemy.” An enemy that must be subdued by any way possible; violence if need be.

The blackout of Covid-19 information, from reputable medical and scientific sources is dangerous in two ways. The most obvious is the absence of instructions on how to prepare and act, should you or a loved-one gets ill. Without quick access to reputable information we are left vulnerable to quackery and further harm.

The less obvious but, in my opinion more dangerous, is the current campaign of misinformation, politicizing CoVID-19 and using it to cement Trump more firmly in power. Similar to the real virus, the lack of accurate medical and scientific information leaves the public space open to provocateurs’ fearmongering through the spreading of misinformation; rumors, conspiracy theories, baseless accusations, and lies.

Most Americans are reasonable people and don’t trust anything that Trump or his Administration say about Covid-19 or anything else of importance. This is a naturally developed immunity brought about by the continuous exposure to deception. Unfortunately, not everyone has this defense, leaving them hungry for information and vulnerable to lies and hokum.  In this environment, it is easy to mislead people and promote beliefs against their own welfare.

For example, Trump supporters. They listen to Trump, Fox News and the rest of that nihilist choir, accepting the idea that CoVID-19 is a Corona-virus and, since common colds are Corona-viruses, CoVID-19 is like a common cold. It’s not.

They aren’t told about the two deadliest diseases to emerge in modern history and occurring in the last 17 years. SARs and MERs had death rates of 30% and 90%, respectively ,and both were Corona-viruses.   

Trump is turning this medical crisis into an opportunity to increase his power by promoting more division, stoking anger and hatred towards Democrats, the Left and other freedom loving Americans. This creates the impression that our society is crumbling and permitting Trump to declare a national emergency. putting troops in the streets, postponing elections indefinitely with the excuse that gathering in polling stations will spread contagion. A contagion that Trump and his followers intentionally ignored, creating a self-fulfilling prophesy.

Up until recently, I had thought that Trump would create a fake emergency to legitimize the use of the troops to maintain public order, cancel voting, and trample on habeas corpus and other rights. CoVID-19 fell from the sky right into Trump’s lap. It is the perfect opportunity to destroy the last vestiges of Freedom, Rule of Law and the Government For and By the People.

Information is power.  Denying the American people information about Covid-19, data that they have paid for through taxes, is stealing our safety, power and the right to make decisions for ourselves. This pattern leaves us blind and vulnerable to other crises we need to face right now.

Blocking honest information about the CoVID-19 is criminal and puts us all at greater risk.

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Writer’s Ecstasy

Posted on February 25, 2020 by Les

I find it difficult to do two things at once when I’m writing.

I either look for other tasks and the writing rapidly fades away. Or, I’m in the zone, a state of mind where I’m oblivious to everything except the creative flow of ideas, exploding like fireworks, and the hum of the wordsmith, each word selected for its nuance, its sound. A well written piece, no matter the topic, must capture the reader with its perfect expression of thought and structure of language.

I’ve been writing a lot. The effort is like mediation. Something sublime embraces me and time ceases to exist. In a sense, it is the ecstatic experience that mystics have. Except, God doesn’t get chatty. I’m lucky that I have a few passions that induce this feeling of integration; writing, photography, and reading.

Occasionally, I find this feeling of belonging through other experiences. About 10 years ago, Becky and I went to Brazil to spend a week at the spiritual compound of a mystic healer, Joa de Deus, John of God. Becky went to encounter the sacredness of the place and, perhaps, find healing. I went to see and feel what it was like to be at a destination for 100,000s of pilgrims from Brazil and around the world. It was a ancient experience, translated into the 21st century.

I had few expectations. I knew that I would get some good photos. I had read about the place and Joa and the only thing that intrigued me was the Meditation Room. When people came to see Joa, they followed an isle from the waiting area, through the Meditation Room and then beyond, to stand before Joa. I wanted to mediate in that room while a stream of pilgrims filed through. However, this room was by invitation only. You couldn’t wander in and take an empty folding chair.

Becky and I joined the seekers slowly making our way towards Joa. As we went through the Mediation Room, I became more convinced that this was the place I wanted to be, also recognizing that it wasn’t going to happen. When I stepped before Joa. He asked, why I was there. What did I need.? I said, to learn. I did need anything. Joa looked at me and sent me to the Meditation Room. That was it. The next 4 hours passed quickly. I lost all sense of time. When it was time for lunch, a free simple meal for anyone that was hungry. I joined the pilgrims for a tasty and filling bowl of bean stew with homemade bread. I had experienced the mystical state of belonging.

I have a similar experience when connected. The words come from someplace else and spill across the page.

The burnt pizza? That was my attempt to fix lunch while composing one of my blogs. I set t in the oven set two separate timers to alert me when the thing would be done. It was the smoke that got my attention. I can do one or the other. I can’t do both.

Yes, I ate it.

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Weary Yet Unbowed

Posted on February 10, 2020 by Les
WE Shall Overcome
Resist, Persist, Overcome

A few days ago, I sat at a table in my neighborhood Patisserie.  It had started snowing during the night and by 7a.m. about 3” coated the world. Looking out the large windows, I could the see powdery flakes falling, a snowy fog. What was I going to write today? I’ve got numerous drafts to pick from. As I sipped my steaming coffee, a friend approached and said, “I’m not going to vote. The parties are screwed up. Trump’s acquittal show’s there’s no point. I’m going to concentrate on my work and projects.”

This was someone who tirelessly works with the Red Cross to assist the homeless and distressed. This was the last person I’d guess to say that. Later, another friend said almost the same thing. I could see that they were exhausted and depressed, the political equivalent of battle fatigue.

The night before, Rachel Maddow and Senator Chuck Schumer discussed the disaster called the Senate Impeachment Trial. Republican Senator Mitt Romney was the only Republican in the Senate who voted for Trump’s removal. In a powerful speech, he said he had taken an oath before God to be impartial and open-minded. Even though the evidence was clear that Trump had committed High Crimes and Misdemeanors, all other Republicans voted to acquit Trump.  These senators helped Trump illegally ignore subpoenas for evidence issued by House Investigators. Similarly, they blocked evidence and witnesses at the Senate Trial. The Senate’s show trial was a foregone conclusion. Acquittal which gave Trump carte blanche to do anything to help with his re-elected and make money for himself and his cronies. The hogs are ready to gorge at the public trough.

After three years of FBI and House investigations, Republican Senators chose to ignore the crystal-clear truth, and acquitted the most dangerous man in America.

My friends and millions of other Americans are exhausted and disheartened. Schumer acknowledged that people were weary and worn down. But he said that now is not the time to withdraw from battle. The exact result that Trump and his sycophants have worked for; overwhelm us with lies, criminal behavior, and injustice. They want to break us and our resistance to their march towards absolute power.

Why Go On?

American history provides answers. The over-riding message; Don’t Give Up. We have suffered a painful defeat, off balance and confused. What is the point?

Our history is about people of goodwill who; believe in Rule of Law and the right of “we the people” to determine our own futures. The advance of human rights and prosperity has always been under attack by selfish, short-sighted, proto Dictators who want to manipulate us and control our lives. We have pushed back and made slow progress. We have fought to affirm the dreams of our Founders. We have taken their words to heart and expanded them to include all people. Our efforts have been imperfect and there is much left to be done but, today, we are much closer to a world of Equality, Rule of Law, and the Inalienable Rights to Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness. It has been a painful journey, many have fallen on the path towards what Lincoln called a, “More Perfect Union.”

We must remember our vision of a fair and prosperous land, where we and our environment exist in an healthy balance. It will not be Utopia. We are Humans and nothing we do is perfect. We will always need to improve. But our vision is a goal we can reach. If we don’t surrender to our fears and worst passions.

What to Do?

We begin by acknowledging that we are hurting. Many of us will have the inclination to withdraw and block out the struggle unfolding around us. I know this through firsthand experience and yet, I’m back. If we withdraw from our vision and purpose, we will lose our power becoming more helpless and hopeless.

If we look, we can see many examples of people taking control of their lives. When an earthquake, flood, or fire destroys an American community, what happens? Americans take action to help those in distress. Besides governmental agencies that represent all of us there are others. There are emergency relief organizations such as the Red Cross, and public organizations like Civic clubs and groups, Fraternal organizations, Churches, Synagogues, Mosques and Temples jump into action. We send money, food, clothes, house goods and volunteers.

Important to note, when we donate, we have no idea who will receive our aid. We give freely knowing that it will go to people in need, regardless of their culture, faith, political beliefs or race. We give because others need help. We do this to aid other nations too.

It is in that spirit that we reach out to each other. Like an Army that has lost a battle, we will regroup and prepare for the next battle as we lick our wounds and refocus our energies. An excellent example is the American Revolutionary War. Our army lost more battles than they won but they persisted. In the end they wore out the Red Coats and British Monarchy and convinced the British public they had to stop. We persisted and succeeded.

When the Constitution was signed, someone asked Benjamin Franklin, “What have we got?” His reply was, “A Republic, if you can keep it.” At that time, our Founders couldn’t foresee what America would be like in 250 years. Instead, they created a government that was flexible enough to adjust to the times. Overtime, our Republic has been transformed into a democratic Republic. Following our Founders core beliefs, we have expanded the right to participate to all men, women, including people of color. WE expanded the power of the state so to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to live in a society with many permanent rights, such as, freedom of speech, freedom to gather, equality under the law, be safe from undo actions of the state or religions, and the opportunities to succeed and be happy. Nonetheless, Franklin’s words hold true. “A Republic, If we can keep it.”

Don’t allow ourselves to be misled by self-serving liars, domestic and foreign, in their efforts to divide us by using our differences, real or contrived. We have more in common. Again, Benjamin Franklin had something to say about unity. During the creation of the Declaration of Independence, the Founders stressed the need to work together and not fragment into individual states or regions. This was critical because the Crown considered them traitors and if the revolution was lost, all of them would pay with their lives. Franklin reminded the Founders of a simple truth, ‘We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.”

What now? History tells us to; regroup, support each other and unite, replenish our spirits and organizations, remember, that we fight for our children and a just, healthy world, that there will be defeats and victories, and that if we persevere, we will overcome.

As Dr. Martin Luther King said, quoting a 19th century Unitarian minister, “The arc of the moral universe is long and bends towards justice.” The arc bends only if we have the courage bend it.

We have work to do. Let’s get to it.  

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United States and Its History with Democratic Socialism

Posted on February 6, 2020 by Les
My Favorite Place To Start the Day

The reality show, called the State of the Union, was the most frightening thing I’ve seen in my life and I’ve lived through the Cold War, the assassinations of John and Robert Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King, the Vietnam War, Nixon and Watergate, Ronald Reagan’s’ Iran-Contra crimes, 9/11, rise of the Terrorist Threat, the rise of gun violence, numerous economic recessions, a near crash in 2007-8, and more. However, last night was worse by far.

The State of the Union was one long reality show with game show stunts “Come on down Rush Limbaugh.” And the blatant manipulation of our emotions. As when one soldier is reunited with his wife and family because of Trump’s self-serving order for his early return from deployment. This is after he put our military in greater danger with his destructive policies that gave comfort to our adversaries and insulted our allies.

While this charade went on, the Radical Republicans, beamed and applauded deliriously. The only things missing were the Nazi’s “Sieg Heil” and the Fascist salute.

I have always wondered how a group of people could be convinced to enthusiastically cut their own throats. The State of the Union was a cheap reprise of 1934 and I shuddered. Now I know.

The Senate acquitted Trump and saying, in essence, that HE is the State, above the law, and any action he takes to ensure his election is okay. The rest of us, including his supporters, don’t count. 

For me the scariest moment was when he labeled Democrats and Liberals as Socialists. He was clearly laying out who are the real Enemies of the State. Once again, a salute to NAZIs and Stalinists.

Sadly, Trump’s supporters and some of the public licked it up. The ignorance of Americans about their own history and simple political definitions is astounding; ignorant people are easily manipulated.

Here are what folks need to know.

Socialism is an economic system and has nothing to do with the type of government in power. Think about Capitalism and how it is employed differently in countries like Russia and China which have different forms of Capitalism. In America, Democratic Socialism, often simply called “caring,” has been part of our history since the first colonists. It is an integral part of American political thought. Democratic Socialism means that people have the power to accept or reject programs intended to benefit some or all Americans through our existing democratic republican government. People decide through voting on which programs and reforms support the common good. All of us are beneficiaries of Democratic Socialism. For example:

  1. The US Military is a democratic socialist organization both in its intent, to protect the nation, and its implementation. Our taxes pay for service-members’ housing, food, healthcare, and after service, education. Since World War II, our military has been instrumental in promoting the integration of all Americans into common service.
  2. The Veterans Administration, like our military, is a product of democratic socialism. The VA exists through taxes paid by the American people. We know that those who protect us need and deserve life-long medical and psychological care.
  3. Social Security exists because the American people understand that it is wrong to leave people who have contributed to our society without the support of a safety net.  Social Security taxes by those who are fortunate to work provide security during old age and those with disabilities. Its purpose is to protect all Americans from destitution and abandonment.  
  4. Medicare and Medicaid are intended to protect the health of America because our security depends on a healthy population. The American people understand that we all need and deserve a health safety net.
  5. The Federal Highway System is the result of democratic socialism. Americans, through their taxes, provide the resources to build and maintain our highways. Critical arteries that connect all of us and promote commerce, mobility of all citizens, and national security.
  6. Other democratic socialist efforts are our multilayered infrastructure. Uniform regulations ensure better water and waste systems that improve public health. Airports, like highways, improve commerce, our personal mobility, and security. The Corps of Engineers looks after our ports and waterways, preventing floods, improving commerce, travel, security, and more.
  7. The National Weather Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are socialist projects. Funded by our taxes, these organizations, and others, study the weather and provide information that protects crops, lives and property. Our insurance rates are determined by insurance companies using weather information to predict risks and costs across our nation.
  8. The National Institutes of Health whose purpose is to study diseases, public health and then implement programs to protect us from illness and death.
  9. The Environmental Protection Agency, much maligned by some who don’t understand the links between clean water, air, and land with disease and illness. The EPA also studies the very real climate change crisis. The EPA protects us from industrial and societal pollution that can injure or kill us. Until recently, the EPA has protected all of us by protecting our common heritage and improve our environment and health.  
  10. Locally, Democratic Socialism has shaped our lives for the better. By using our taxes to support public schools, hospitals, fire and police services, libraries, and city services like parks, sports venues, trash, and water, we improve our quality of life and security.

These organizations add value our communities and nation.  Again, the resources needed for these necessary services come from taxes, which we create and regulate using our democracy. This improves our common good, also called our commonwealth.

Democratic Socialism has been here with us since the beginning of the Colonies. Our ancestors and founders understood that the welfare of a group depends on the welfare of its members. This is knowledge that has been handed down since prehistory. The Puritans, Quakers, and all most all others embraced the concept of “noblesse oblige.” Those that have look after those that have not. That includes defense, food, and stability. Until recently, in the US, the message of Christ teaches that we all help those in need. Everyone is included, even the lowliest and most wretched.

It is common, in the US, for our religious groups to receive tithes or gifts for the express purpose of helping others. The membership agrees to fund helping of others. That is the spirit of Democratic Socialism.

Our American form of Democratic Socialism expresses the values that have made the US great. It ensures that all of us are protected from enemies, diseases, weather, environmental poisoning, assistance in times of need, the Rule of Law, and the participation of all citizens in our Democracy.  Democratic Socialism has been part of America since the beginning. The next time someone goes off about Socialism, remember that in the United States, we have our own unique, Democratic Socialism. It has contributed to America’s greatness and well-being throughout our history.

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Senate Impeachment Trial: Day 1 – 01/21/2020

Posted on January 22, 2020 by Les
I am not amussed.
When you don’t have the facts, blow smoke.


I’ve been chilling for a bit. Avoiding the repetitive BREAKING NEWS cycle. Reading a lot about the climate, human psychology, a book about a guy from the 19th century – Alfred Russel Wallace – a contemporary of Darwin and far ahead of him and his peers in ethnology and modern science. Just trying to stay sane.

I listened to the first day, 01/21/2020, of the Senate Impeachment proceedings. Fascinating, and needless to say, I have an opinion.

And Off We Go

The Senate hearing was a textbook example of facts versus coverup. Schiff laid out, in an orderly and factual argument, why the Senate Trial is an aberration from all the previous 15 impeachment trials the Senate has conducted. since the founding of our nation over 250 years ago.

First and foremost, the absence of any investigation into the charges; review of existing documents and testimony, calling in witnesses to testify or re-testify before the Senate, the use of Senatorial power to get further documentation and witnesses that the Trump has blocked and much more. Supposedly, this will be put to an up-down vote at some point, which I’m skeptical of. In all previous impeachments this was a given. How else can you hold a trial without fact finding? Schiff backed up his assertions about the power of the House and Senate to conduct a thorough investigation and trial, with paragraphs in the Constitution and legal judgements by the Supreme Court.

Schiff asserted that blocking information and witnesses was an admission of guilt because, Trump had already provided solid evidence of his actions in the form of answers to questions and in writing.

There is a legal way to not questions, the 5th Amendment. It allows the defendant not to answer a question if it might provide new evidence leaving him vulnerable to new charges. Every time that a mobster or crooked businessman invokes the 5th, I assume guilt. The 5th also permits assuming that not answering is a tacit admission of guilt.

Then it was time for Trump’s team to to present their argument. Jay Sekulow took the floor. Never asserting Trump’s innocence, he immediately attacked the process. He talked about the intentions of the Democrats, how they rushed the House hearings, didn’t allow Trump to challenge the evidence, and that the House didn’t let the process run its course through the courts.

The intentions of the Democratic party explicitly laid out the reason for investigating Trump; hold Trump accountable and that he isn’t above the Rule of Law. For example; Clinton wasn’t above accountability. Democrats supported impeachment and trial once Clinton lied under oath. This was a clear example of Democrats wanting to know the truth so that they could judge fairly. No one is above the law.

The House proceedings were not rushed. Nancy Pelosi stopped earlier attempts, including a vote to remove her from the Speaker’s Chair by fellow House Democrats, she didn’t want to put the nation through the trauma. However, in the end, Pelosi agreed to go forward with impeachment only after clear evidence, included Trump’s own words, were shown. Then she had no choice. Trump had lied and was engaged in a coverup.

The reasons that the Courts were not involved was that:
1) It isn’t required by the constitution. Indeed, the House and Senate are provided power to act as law officials and compel testimony with fines AND imprisonment. The Democrats chose not to use those harsher powers.
2) Early on, it became clear that the Trump administration was planning to stall the investigation by using the legal system to continuously challenge the House’s actions with suits about process. There is at least one suit, filed in early 2019, still tied up in the courts.

The investigations were not hurried. Beginning with the Mueller FBI investigation, starting in May 2017 and concluding in March 2019; 675 days. And then the actual House Impeachment proceedings that lasted an entire year. Spending about 1000 days on investigation is not rushing. Trump supporters like to claim that the Mueller report exonerated Trump. It did not. The report clearly stated that it did not clear Trump and that his actions were outside the scope of the investigation.

Baring the Bidens from being a subject of the impeachment was because it had nothing to do with Trump’s actions to shakedown the Ukrainian President by withholding legally appropriated money for Ukrainian defense. There was no need to do anything illegal about investing the Bidens. Indeed, there are legal channels that Trump could have used to invoke an investigation of the Bidens, including in Ukraine. Trump’s choice to go outside of channels is he didn’t want it to become public. If the public discovered his actions, he’d be forced to justify his actions. Hiding his actions shows that he knows what he doing was illegal.

During the first day, Sekulow trotted out the same misdirection and misinformation that has been used all along to defend Trump. Bottom line: If your client is guilty and you can’t legally claim innocence, then loudly argue the process, technicalities and charges without evidence. Trump’s defense clearly shows that he is guilty as charged and his lawyers know it.

Currently, what we have is a Republican Show Trial, where innocence is the foregone conclusion, unlike in Soviet show trials the assumption was guilt.

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2020 Year of Manufactured Fear

Posted on January 3, 2020 by Les


We’ve entered the 2020 Presidential Campaign with Trump and the Republicans, predictably, cranking up manufactured crises to generate more anxiety and fear among Americans. The goal, to herd more people towards conservative, authoritarian, politics. This is a tactic that has worked repeatedly through history. Trump’s campaign of fabricating anxiety and elevating it to fear is a cliché, but it works.

Iran is a good example. Trump’s ignorant interference in the nuclear agreement stopping Iran’s uranium enrichment to weapon’s grade, which was working, led to Iran’s renouncing the nuclear agreement and restarting their enrichment program and possible development of nuclear weapons.

The US’s renouncing of the agreement and everything that has followed was avoidable. I’m not saying that we wouldn’t have continued with problems with Iran, we would have. But, the atmosphere in which we dealt with them wouldn’t have been as dangerous as it is now and, potentially leading to further improvements.

Context Isn’t Sexy but It’s Important

On 9/11, the world came to us and offered condolences and help. It was a time when we could have built stronger ties with many countries. For instance, Iran approached the US and offered condolences and information about the situation in Saudi Arabia and the region. President George W. Bush pushed all of this aside and proclaimed that we didn’t need help and that we’d handle it alone. This began the isolationist trend that Trump has capitalized on, driving us farther and farther from both our allies and potential enemies.

Trump is trying to turn the entire world into “THEM” who are taking advantage of the US. This rachets up anxiety and fear in a segment of our population. It also pollutes the general social environment, gnawing at reality.

Starting with Ronald Reagan, Republicans have been constructing a false narrative about how terrible the world was becoming. Ignoring obvious signs that things have been improving world-wide, they have spent the last 45 years expanding and strengthening this dystopian fiction. For instance, crime in the US is at a 30-year low. Yet, Trump, Republicans and Media reinforce the false belief that crime is rampant. Yes, crime numbers have increased, but that is to be expected when our population has grown by about 100,000,000 people since then. The crime and incarceration rates are dropping significantly with the legalization of marijuana.

US crime in proportion to population is not the worse in history, not even close.  So why the lie that crime is out of control? It creates anxiety and fear, and a feeling that we need more order and authority. But the only way to do this is by sacrificing or democracy and personal freedoms.

Historically there Is Good Reason the Iranians Don’t Trust US

Iran is the international example of the same process. Iran and the US are competing for dominance in the Mid-East. However, there is a good reason that Iranians don’t trust us. In 1950s the CIA replaced a democratically elected Prime Minister, Mohammad Mossadegh. He was a reformer who wanted to get rid of the rampant corruption by the oil companies and others. In 4 days, the CIA overthrew the Iranian democracy and installed Mohammad Reza Pahlavi as Shah. The CIA admitted this in 2013. What followed was 27 years of US support for the Shah, along with corruption and dictatorial rule. This ended with the Iranian Revolution.

A Reasonable Path Not Taken

The Obama administration, using diplomacy and negotiation, was able to temporarily halt, for 20 years, Iran’s central ambition to develop nuclear weapons. Setting the stage for further talks, once some trust was established. Honoring the treaty was fundamental to further progress with nuclear issues. If this continued then, in time, enough trust would have been formed for talks about other pressing US-Iran problems. This process could have reduced tensions between our two countries and made conflict less likely.

Unfortunately, Trump and the Republicans decided on a confrontational approach, unraveling decades of effort by the US, EU, and others to peacefully resolve the dilemmas we faced.

Arrogance and ignorance put us on a dangerous path that will increase anxiety and fear in the US and steer more reasonable Americans towards the contrived need for a strongman, resulting in undoing 250 years of efforts to create a free people.

2020 Fear and Loathing In America

2020 is the year that Trump and the Republicans are pull out all the stops and try to drive us mad with anxiety and fear, with the goal of destroying democracy in America and delivering us into a 21st Century serfdom ruled by people who don’t care about the rest of us. Even Trump supporters will be victims of this coup.

Authoritarians rule through fear. When everyone fears everyone else, including friends, control is complete. That’s where we are headed.

Welcome to 2020.

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