July 6, 2022

When parents accept, love, and show affection to their children, even when they make mistakes or fall short of expectations, this is love unconditional. In other words, it is a form of love with no strings attached. Therefore, parents love their children for who they are, no matter what. Unqualified love is what makes identifying your own son as a mass murderer so difficult. We do not see our loved ones objectively. That is for other people. We see the potential in our loved ones, and ignore or dismiss the potential for disaster. In recent cases, parents actually abetted their sons in the purchase of firearms.

This may explain the fealty that too many people show to Donald Trump. After all, it was Trump himself, who said he could kill someone on Fifth Avenue and suffer no consequences. Only a child who knows the impotence of his parent would say something like that. Trumpies are incapable of reining in their man-child. They don’t see what is obvious to the rest of us. They have lost control of their child. Their child was willing to have Mike Pence hanged. Their child was willing to lead an armed insurrection to the Capitol, which caused the deaths of many and could have led to even more massive bloodshed. Trump supporters are okay with that because they have unconditional love for the ex-President. There is nothing he can do that could break the parental bond. To paraphrase a saying, “Don’t confuse them with the facts.”

July 5, 2022

The President of the United States is often referred to as the most powerful person in the world. We now have evidence that President Biden lives up to that reputation. In a relatively short period of time, he has engineered a global spike in energy prices and inflation. Around the world, from South Asia, Africa, Europe, and Latin America, the cost of filling a car’s tank has skyrocketed.

Ecuador has had riots. Nigeria suffers. It may cost $125 to fill a tank in Great Britain. Hungary is rationing. Ghana used tear gas to quell demonstrators protesting the price of regular gas. In Manila, cabbies are now begging. Similar stories are coming from Laos, New Zealand, Denmark, and Hong Kong. Our neighbors in Mexico and Canada have their problems.

Biden is apparently responsible for Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, two years of a pandemic, and global supply chain issues. And now, voters are willing to elect “Big Lie”Republicans because they believe the most powerful President of our times is also the least effective. Republicans are willing to sacrifice the environment, women’s reproductive rights and gun safety because they blame Biden for the price of a gallon of gas. Eventually, prices will come down, and not because Biden is the most powerful man in the world. They will come down due to natural forces. The war in Ukraine will wind down. Supply chains will restore themselves. And we may have a recession.

July 3, 2022

Now that the Supreme Court has made abortion illegal, and red states are following all over themselves to see who can enact the cruelest follow-on laws, women from all over the country are going to need alternatives for pre-natal healthcare. Women from blue states will not have a problem finding a qualified physician to perform an abortion. Unfortunately, for red state women, back alleys are back in play. Because of this and in the spirit of the American entrepreneurial spirit, I will be starting a new transportation company called Uter-US. Uter for short. Uter will have various levels of service.

UterXL will accommodate groups of six to the destination of your choice. It will be stocked with plenty of food and drinks because we know how hungry you get. You can share your tale of woe as you travel out of state. For an up charge, we will include an RN, who is licensed to carry a concealed weapon.

Uter Comfort provides extra legroom because we know how uncomfortable long rides to adjoining states can be, assuming you live someplace where an adjoining state provides abortion services. If you live in a place like Louisiana, Uter Comfort is definitely for you.

Uter Black provides a premium ride in a luxury car for black women because black women are the ones most likely impacted by the new laws. At Uter, we believe that Black Wives Matter.

Uter Black SUV provides a premium ride for six in a luxury SUV. See above. We are trying to deal with the new abortion restrictions, not the energy crisis or environmental consequences.

Uter Green. If burning too much fossil fuel on the way to your abortion is a concern of yours, don’t worry. We have Uter Green where you will be whisked away quietly in your personal electric vehicle. This is also helpful in maintaining a low profile from vigilantes.

We do have Uter WAV for seniors, but this is not about you.

June 29, 2022

I hate to admit it, but I agree with Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito that abortion is not a right guaranteed by the Constitution. The privileged white men who met in Philadelphia never considered the issue. The Bible does not guarantee the right to an abortion either because it is never mentioned in the Bible. Clearly, abortion is not a right like the sacred right to own a gun, which is enshrined in the Constitution.

However, we all have many rights that are not discussed in the Constitution. I have the right to burn as much fossil fuel as humanly possible. I have the right to be ignorant of facts and science. I have the right to vote for candidates who lie. I have the right to not get vaccinated. These are all rights that I have as I go about my daily business. These are not legal rights bestowed on me by the Constitution or any higher authority, but these are rights nonetheless. When I exercise these rights, I am not imposing my will or beliefs on others, which I have no right to do. In the same way, women have the right to terminate a pregnancy if they so choose. Abortion is not the imposition of a belief system on someone else. Regardless of what I believe or decide to do, you are still free to follow your own conscience. That is your right. Imposing your belief system on me is not your right. It is wrong.

June 28, 2022

Powerful and Continuing Nationalism

Disdain for Human Rights

Identification of Enemies as a Unifying Cause

Supremacy of the Military

Rampant Sexism

Controlled Mass Media

Obsession with National Security

Religion and Government Intertwined

Corporate Power Protected

Labor Power Suppressed

Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts

Obsession with Crime and Punishment

Rampant Cronyism and Corruption

Fraudulent Elections

June 24, 2022

We were married on a nice summer day similar to this one on June 24, 1972 in the middle of Hurricane Agnes. Friends of ours were married on the same day in the middle of the same hurricane. For virtually the entire time that we have been married, Roe v. Wade has been the law of the land. Abortion was never something that we fortunately ever had to deal with, but it was nice knowing that the country was taking a more enlightened view to the issues facing women. We were friends in Florida with Sally Blackmun, the daughter of Harry Blackmun, who wrote the Roe v. Wade decision. She had her own personal story that involved Planned Parenthood. Now, we get to share our fiftieth anniversary and every other anniversary to come with the day that Roe v. Wade was overturned by the less than Supreme Court. These six Injustices have unleashed a hurricane, but I suspect this one will not miss us.

I am certainly past my productive reproductive years so one could say I don’t have a dog in this fight, but the reality is we all have a dog. We all know or will know a family member, a friend, or a colleague, who will be adversely affected. We will all hear of a woman, who was forced to deliver her rapist’s baby, or a woman forced to deliver a baby with fatal disabilities. We will know girl’s trying to be mothers, and boys trying to avoid being fathers. We will know girls dying from botched illegal abortions. Here is hoping the next fifty years will be forward and not backward. Happy Anniversary!

June 22, 2022

The Iranian Revolution, also known as the Islamic Revolution, was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in 1979, and the replacement of his government with an Islamic republic under the rule of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, a leader of one of the factions in the revolt. The revolution was supported by various leftist and Islamist organizations. An absolute monarchy favorable to the West was replaced by an anti-Western theocracy.

The United States seems to be on the cusp of a religious revolution. The only question left to be answered is whether it will be violent or non-violent. The Republican Party has become a one issue party. It’s defining issue is abortion, which is pushed by the Christian Coalition to the exclusion of all other issues. The Federalist Society has made abortion a litmus test. The Supreme Court is packed with Federalist Society Catholics, who want to make Catholic doctrine the law of the land. The theological takeover of the Supreme Court is complete, and Congress is next if you believe the polls.

The Supreme Court was a peaceful takeover, but things have obviously gotten worse. We had an attempted violent coup by Trump and his white supremacist followers. Republicans in Congress are defiant about limiting their constituents access to guns. MAGA politicians promote violence in support of candidates, who toe the religious line. Over 100 Republicans have used guns in their ads. An Arizona politician recently threatened to assassinate his opponent in a “RINO-hunting” political advertisement. Republicans want to impose their religious views on the rest of us, and are willing to use violence. Isn’t that what the Iranian Revolution was all about, and how did that turn out?

June 19, 2022

Donald Trump apparently believes that the law, like military service, is for suckers only. That is what we are learning from the January 6th investigations. And no, Trump supporters/Fox watchers, this is not an inquisition. An inquisition is when you try to root out and punish heresy, which is what Trump did all the time. The committee is making the case for criminal indictments on many levels. “What did the President know, and when did he know it?” Trump clearly knew what he was doing was illegal as did the people around him. He was told that circumventing the Electoral College vote was illegal and batshit crazy. His attorney, John Eastman, asked for a pardon after he was advised by a White House attorney to lawyer up. And yes, Trump supporters/Fox watchers, it was an insurrection, which is a textbook example of an act or instance of revolting against civil authority or an established government.

Trump has a history of buying his way out of legal jeopardy, or settling at the last minute without acknowledging guilt. He is now in a situation that he can’t buy his way out of even with all of the money he grifted from his supporters, $250 million by some estimates. Trump believes the law is for suckers. Soon, he will discover that the law can really suck.

June 16, 2022

Burden of proof is the legal requirement to establish who is responsible for presenting evidence that proves or defeats a claim. It also determines how much evidence is needed to achieve that goal. If your party has the burden of proof, the law requires you to put forth enough evidence that will support your claim. Given that definition, it seems to me that the burden of proof regarding the claims of rigged elections falls squarely on the election deniers. It is not up to the rest of us to prove that the elections were, in fact, safe and secure even though that fact has already been proven. If you accuse me of something, show me your proof. Put up or shut up.

Republicans from all over the country at all levels of government continue to cling to their election fantasies without offering one shred of credible proof. To say it is so doesn’t make it so. If you continue to repeat a lie over and over again, it doesn’t make it true no matter how loud you yell. Another legalism may better explain the actions of these yahoo Republicans, willful blindness, which involves conscious avoidance of the truth. For them the truth is uncomfortable, and it has become a burden. The truth has become their beast of burden.

June 15, 2022

Now that the January 6th Commission is making its proceedings public, we are all being shocked by the depth and breadth of the criminal wrongdoing perpetrated by Trump and his henchman. Conspiracy theories are as prevalent as ants at a July 4th picnic, and just as annoying. One particular conspiracy caught my eye.

Italygate is one of the more obscure among the theories. Essentially, it holds that people connected to the Italian defense firm Leonardo used satellites to change the votes cast in the 2020 election from Trump to Biden. This is used to explain the large gains Biden reaped from late-night vote tabulations in urban centers in key states — a claim for which there is really no evidence because it was easily disproved by the voting methods used (mail ballots, used significantly more by Democrats) and where the votes came from (urban centers, which are overwhelmingly Democratic).

I am not offended as an American. I am offended as an Italian-American. I am offended in the same way that I find Rudy Giuliani and Doug Mastriano offensive. One is a drunk, and the other is a terrorist yet they are still embraced as superheroes in the Republican MAGA universe. Why would the country that gave us Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Federico Fellini, Enrico Fermi, the Ferrari and Lamborghini want to get involved in our elections? Italy already went through its Trump-like experience with Silvio Berlusconi.

My advice to the Trumpists. You need to do better job in coming up with your conspiracy theories. You are intellectually lazy. In the immortal words of Attorney General Bill Barr, words that will live forever, BS!