The Numbers Don’t Lie – And They Don’t Tell the Whole Story

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Much is being made in some circles of the supposed “mandate” that the convicted felon, President-Elect Donald Trump has won to do what he wants to do when he gets to the White House. The phrases being used include “an unprecedented and powerful mandate” (Trump in his victory speech); “a clear mandate to fix what […]

Post-Election Musings

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Millions of us in the United States are deflated, demoralized and even scared after the 2024 presidential election has been called for Donald Trump. How do those of us who not only voted for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz but also may have supported them financially cope with this tremendous loss? How do we move […]

Beware the Presidential Administration Academy

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Over the past few years, we have alerted readers to organizations, initiatives and stances sponsored or promoted by the right-wing element in our political discourse that might sound good at first glance but which are in fact misleading and even dangerous (Project Blitz and right-wing attempts to legislate specific types of Bible classes in public […]

All the President’s People: The Vital Importance of the Leader’s Advisors

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Yes, the person we elect as our President every four years is extremely important. Most of us hope against hope that he or she will have certain qualities for the job: competence, honesty, wide knowledge of the significant issues of the day, integrity, good mental and physical health, and others. In the complexity that is […]

Update on Removal and Renaming of Confederate Memorials: Moving Ahead!

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There was very good news recently on the issue of Confederate-themed memorials, symbols, monuments, celebrations and military bases: according to NPR, all nine Army bases that were named for Confederate generals have now officially been renamed. Journalist Jay Price reports, “Fort Gordon in Georgia is now Fort Eisenhower.” As we noted earlier, decades after the […]

Civics Lessons from the Era of Trump: Part I

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If we feel sometimes like we’ve gone to law school over the past eight years, it’s understandable. For many of us who have been paying attention, we have learned more than we ever wanted or expected to know about our Constitution and legal system. This is not an entirely bad thing; we citizens should definitely […]

An Excellent Application of the 14th Amendment

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“No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of […]

Where Are We with Abolishing the Electoral College?

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After the 2016 presidential election, when candidate Hillary Clinton won the popular vote but Donald Trump became President because of the Electoral College (EC), the issue of the EC was thrust again into the forefront. Recent polls show that 63-65 percent of American adults want the EC abolished. As we have noted before, no other […]

Honoring the Wampanoags Today and Moving Toward a More Perfect Union

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As a spiritual practice, and for positive mental health, it is good to give thanks – to express gratitude, whether to a powerful God, our guardian angels, our families and friends, and our teachers and other generous givers of wisdom. We can perhaps also add so many other people – and even inanimate “beings” – […]