Covering it "all" thoughtfully

We are headed toward an election in November that could affect the course of history in a bad way for our children and grandchildren. This is something to take seriously, and something that we need everybody to think about.

Sometimes we simply have a visceral reaction to stuff we read, without thinking about it. The stuff seems to resonate with our preconceived beliefs, so we go along with it whether it's really true or not, or even whether it's something we would really support if we thought about it more.

I don't want to be offensive to anyone, and I am likely wrong myself on many issues. I am willing to discuss them with anyone and change if other ideas make more sense to me. Below is a piece that is circulating the internet that may sound good on the surface, but needs to be challenged. 

My thoughts are in italic print under the paragraphs of the original piece. I'd like you to think about it and circulate it to your distribution list of people interested in this kind of material if you want to.

Thanks, Joe.

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I THINK THIS GUY HAS IT ALL COVERED.  I COULDN'T SPOT ANYTHING HE LEFT OUT.

I am the Democratic-Republican-Liberal-Progressive's Worst Nightmare. I am a White, Conservative, Tax-Paying American , Gun Owning  Veteran That's me!

I hope I’m not anybody’s nightmare. I am white, somewhat conservative, taxpaying, American, gun owning non-veteran. That’s me, Joe Morin.


I believe in  the freedom of religion, but I don't push it on others.

I do also.


I believe in American products and buy them whenever I can.

The last car I bought was a Toyota Rav 4 because at the time it was the best car on the market that met the needs of me and my family. This helped some Japanese people spend dollars on American lumber so lumber companies in Northern Minnesota can keep paying their workers.


I believe the money I make belongs to me and not some liberal governmental functionary, Democrat or Republican, that wants to share it with others who don't work!

I believe in paying my share of taxes. I think we all benefit from roads, police and fire protection, schools, social security, health care, and welfare for people who need a helping hand. I wish our constipated state legislature would actually do their work and allocate part of our budget surplus to fixing our pothole filled roads and derelict bridges.


I'm in touch with my feelings and I like it that way!

I’m a little too old school to say something like that.


I think owning a gun doesn't make you a killer; it makes you a smart American.

 I own a gun for hunting. I think that owning a gun in the city for any other purpose is not very useful or smart unless you are well trained and practice every single day. Even Trump wanted to ban assault weapons, until he began seeking the endorsement of the NRA.

I think being a minority does not make you noble or victimized, and does not entitle you to anything.  Get over it!

Non-Hispanic white Americans are expected to become a minority within the next 3 decades, but that doesn’t make me feel noble or victimized. I feel entitled to the same things that all Americans are entitled to. I feel noble because I was created in God’s image. I hope everyone feels that way.


I believe that if you are selling me a Big Mac or any other item, you should do it in English.

As a “typical” American, I only speak English (but I am trying to broaden myself by learning Italian). 


I believe there should be no other language option for business.

I think companies are smart enough to sell their products using the language that their customers speak.


I believe everyone has a right to pray to his or her God when and where they want to.

I agree that everyone, including Muslims, has a right to pray to his or her God when and where they want to.

I don't hate the rich. I don't pity the poor.

I don’t hate anyone, but I do hate the hatred, bigotry, and fear mongering that is so prevalent in our society today. I have sympathy for the poor. 


I know wrestling is fake and I don't waste my time watching or arguing about it.

I know NFL football and soap operas are just entertainment, and I don’t waste my time watching them. I feel that the epidemic of brain injuries resulting from football is a serious medical problem that takes it out of the realm of harmless entertainment. I wonder why most of the players in the NFL and NBA are black, and most of the ticket-holders are white. Do black people have an athletic genetic advantage, or is it cultural, or something else? Can this even be discussed today without sounding racist?

I've never owned a slave, nor was I a slave. I haven't burned any witches , and neither have you!

I sometimes feel that we are all slaves to the top 1% who keep sucking the wealth from society at an ever increasing rate.


I believe if you don't like the way things are here, go back to where you came from and change your own country! 

 I don’t like the way things are now, and I am arguing for peaceful democratic change. Most of the folks who want change were born here. Most people who weren’t born here came from a worse place to try and improve the lives of their families, and they are happy for the opportunity.

This is AMERICA ...We like it the way it is and more so the way it was ...so stop trying to change it to look like Russia or China, or some other socialist country!

Actually I think things were better when I was growing up just after WWII before almost all of our politicians were bought and paid for. A movement toward a more Scandinavian style democracy might actually be a move in the right direction. We need a government that works for all the people, not just the wealthy. 


If you were born here and don't like it... you are free to move to any Socialist country that will have you. I believe it is time to really clean house, starting with the White House, the seat of our biggest problems.

If you were born here or not and don’t like it … you have an obligation to work for needed change. It’s time to clean house, starting with the White House (anyone but Clinton or Trump). We also need to clean out the telemarketing representatives from congress and replace them with statesmen and stateswomen who truly represent all of us. We need an independent third party.

I want to know which church is it, exactly, where the Reverend Jesse Jackson preaches, where he gets his money, and why he is always part of the problem and not the solution?  Can I get an AMEN on that one?

Jesse Jackson received an offer from the Chicago White Sox after high school, but chose a college football scholarship instead. He’s been a candidate for president, has been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and has been a strong leader for African-American rights. He made a trip to Syria and secured the release of a captured American pilot. He also negotiated the release of 30 Americans being held in Cuba. He negotiated the release of 3 American POWs captured in Macedonia. He has also been dogged by ongoing controversies in both his personal life and because of his criticism of President Obama. He is an old guy now, same age as me, still supports the Civil Rights Movement, but is not as active as he once was. Amen.


I also think the cops have the right to pull you over if you're breaking the law, regardless of what race or color you are.

Yup! But racial profiling is just plain wrong, and I don’t want my kids or anyone else’s kids subjected to it. 


And, no, I don't mind having my face shown on my driver's license, nor the necessity of showing my identification, to conduct normal business or especially to vote . I think those policies are more than prudent....

Voting is a right, not a privilege. Over 21 million Americans don’t have government issued photo ID’s, mostly because they are disabled, low-income, or elderly. I think it’s incumbent on our state governments to get everyone a photo ID before making laws that say they can’t vote without one. For example, my daughter can’t drive because she has epilepsy, so a social worker took her to a government office that issued her a photo ID.  
I think if you are too stupid to know how a ballot works, I don't want you deciding who should be running the most powerful nation in the world for the next four years.

That reminds me what Adlai Stevenson said after one of his inspiring speeches when a young woman gushed: “Mr. Stevenson, you will have the vote of every thinking American.” To which he replied: “That won’t be enough, Madam, we need a majority.” I think if we are so stupid as to end up with Clinton or Trump as our only choice, that we deserve what we get. Whose hands do you want on the nuclear football? Sorry, I don’t mean to use scare tactics.


I dislike those people standing in the intersections trying to sell me stuff or trying to guilt me into making 'donations' to their cause....Get a job and do your part to support yourself and your family!

Sadly, many of these people are veterans. We need to do something to combat the growing epidemic of homelessness among American Veterans, and homelessness in general across America. 


I believe that it doesn't take a village to raise a child, it takes a man and woman ...

It takes love, happiness, and encouragement to raise a child … and an average of $250,000.


I believe 'illegal' is illegal no matter what the lawyers, or progressive Democrats  think!

The United States is one of the greatest violators of International Law, and this is the doing of both Democrats and Republicans over the years. Of course we are invading, blockading, occupying, bombing, terrorizing, killing, and assassinating to protect American interests. Our enemies are doing the same, but illegal is illegal.


I want to return this country to the values it was founded on, and prospered under for over 200 years!

Me too … a democracy of the people, by the people, and for the people … rather than an oligarchy of the top 1%, by the paid lobbyists, for the rich and powerful. 


My Country...I hope this offends all illegal aliens.

I don’t want to offend the illegal aliens who came here fleeing death, destitution, or political corruption to seek a better life. I sympathize with them and think that they should be treated with mercy. Those who came here illegally who commit crimes and/or belong to street gangs, should be rounded up to serve their criminal sentences and then deported.

Texas high school students raised a Mexican flag on a school flag pole, other students took it down. Guess who was expelled...the students who took it down.

I think it was actually in California. This was a protest by students from several high schools from two different school districts. They threw bottles and decimated Montebello High School because their students would not join in on the protest; and then raised the Mexican flag (after stealing the California flag) above an upside down USA flag for a brief time. The student who raised the Mexican flag was punished. No one was expelled. There was an incident in Houston where a Mexican flag was hung from a railing over a corridor in the school (not on the flagpole) as part of the Cinco de Mayo festivities. Again, no one was expelled.


California high school students were sent home on Cinco de Mayo because they wore T-shirts with the American flag printed on them. Enough is enough!

I agree that students should not be disciplined for wearing patriotic clothing. On the other hand, the US Flag Code clearly states that the flag should never be used as wearing apparel. Anyone wearing flag-decorated T-shirts, shorts, or bikinis right now should remove them immediately! (Just checking to see if anyone is still reading).


This message needs to be viewed by every American; and every American needs to stand up for America .We've bent over to appease the America-haters long enough. I'm taking a stand. I'm standing up because of the hundreds of thousands who died fighting in wars, preserving liberty and freedom both, here and in other besieged nations, for the American flag, and all she stands for.. If you agree, stand up with me. And shame on anyone who tries to make this a racist message. AMERICANS, stop giving away Your RIGHTS!  Let me make this clear! THIS IS MY COUNTRY! This statement DOES NOT mean I'm against immigration! YOU ARE WELCOME HERE, IN MY COUNTRY, welcome to come legally, as did my grandparents: 

1. Get a sponsor
2. Learn the LANGUAGE, as immigrants have in the past!

3. Live by OUR rules!
4. Get a job!
5. Pay YOUR Taxes!
6. No Social Security until you have earned it and Paid for it!
7. NOW find a place to lay your head!

Hypothetically,  my great, great, great, great grandfather watched and bled as his friends died in the Revolution and the War of 1812.

Hypothetically???


My great, great, great grandfather watched as his friends died in the Mexican American War. My great, great grandfather watched as his friends and brothers died in the Civil War. My great grandfather watched as his friends died in the Spanish-American War. My grandfather watched as his friends died in WW I. My father watched as his friends died in WW II and the Korean War. I  watched as my friends died in Vietnam , Panama and Desert Storm. My son watched and bled as his friends died in Afghanistan and Iraq. None of them died for the Mexican Flag. Everyone of them died for the American flag, and liberty.

My great grandfather was an immigrant to this country, seeking a better life for himself and his family.

As a grandson of an immigrant, my father was kicked down the stairs of his grade school by the principal who screamed at him that he was a dirty little French Catholic bastard. It took my father some time to learn the English language, since French was the most comfortable language used in his family. He learned to fight as a young boy (prejudice, kid stuff) and fought on the boxing team at his university.

My father enlisted in WW II because the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. He shot expert both right handed and left handed and taught hand-to-hand combat for a time before fighting in Africa, Italy, and France – earning the purple heart along the way. He grew up in the country and was comfortable with guns for hunting and varmint control. He believed that there is no place for guns in the city, and even disposed of his German Luger that he brought back from the war. He gave his childhood rifle to my cousin (and life-long friend) who lived in the country. He taught me and my siblings how to shoot when we visited our grandparents on the farm, but did not want me to even play with toy guns in the city.

My father did not want his sons getting drafted to fight in Vietnam. Nowadays nobody gets drafted anymore because it’s mostly the kids who can’t afford to go to college who do the fighting.  I had a student deferment and later a work deferment so I did not have to fight. As a famous American athlete once said: “Man, I ain’t got no quarrel with them Viet Cong.” To make a long story short, I didn’t either. Today (long after losing the war in Vietnam) we are forging a military alliance with Vietnam to stop Chinese aggression in the South China Sea, and Vietnam is a popular American tourist vacationing destination. Many of the Hmong people immigrated to Minnesota from Vietnam during and after the war, and have become good American citizens. We enjoy bantering with them and buying their products at our local Farmer’s Markets.

If you don't want to forward this for fear of offending someone, then YOU'RE PART OF THE PROBLEM! We've gone so far the other way . . . bent over backwards not to offend anyone. Only AMERICANS seems to care when American Citizens are being offended! WAKE UP America !!!If you do not pass this on, may your fingers cramp!I  MISS MY COUNTRY!   God Bless America

I believe that we need to take back our country, but fear mongering and intolerance toward other people is not the path.

May God bless you, and may God bless America!

Take back our country

The economic system of the United States (Capitalism, maximization of shareholder value) has corrupted our system of government (Democracy, government for and by the people). The top 1% and their paid lackeys are running the country. The Koch brothers, for example, contribute heavily to both major parties. The biggest buildings in Washington are filled with paid lobbyists. Our senators and representatives have been reduced to telemarketers spending our time begging for reelection funding. The obstructionist congress has been deadlocked for many years, maintaining the status quo. This is exactly what the top 1% want since their rate of acquisition of wealth and power has never been greater.

The two major parties serve the bidding of the masters. On the right side we have the cruel slave drivers who motivate through fear and intimidation. Keep cutting benefits, keep people running scared for their jobs. On the left side we have the more benevolent slave drivers who believe that keeping the slaves healthy and happy will produce the better result.

People have been reasonably satisfied with this system of controlling their lives. “Panem et circenses” … give us our fast food, big screen TV’s, and NFL football, and we’ll stay fat, dumb, and happy. We’ve got the bestgovernment money can buy. But the signs of unrest are becoming unmistakable.

Our country is ripe for social disruption and revolution. A nazi-esque figure with a populist message is emerging who could lead our country down the path to fascism. This leader doesn’t need to be a person of substance; a spray-tanned reality TV host will do just fine. This is especially dangerous because this person’s populist message is not constrained by moral conviction, reality, or even logic – but is solely driven by his insatiable greed for personal power. He is being supported on the right by some tea-partiers, the KKK, and people who do not have college educations. Unfortunately, he is the presumptive candidate of the Republican party for president.

On the left we have another call for change. This leader has been called a soviet communist style socialist. (But remember that it was the Soviet leader himself who endorsed the other fascist candidate). This leader is a man of substance. He is not advocating soviet style communism, but rather a move toward a more Scandinavian style of democracy that works for all of our people. He is being supported by young and educated voters. Unfortunately, this man of substance does not appear to have the majority vote to be the presumptive candidate of the Democratic party for president.

Bernie Sanders is not the whole answer, but he is part of the answer. We not only need a leader like him as president, we also need to clean house. We need to replace our telemarketing “representatives” with statesmen and stateswomen who will actually work to represent all of the people. We need to empty the buildings in Washington that are filled with paid lobbyists, and fill them with people doing productive work such as job training or scientific research. 

I wish with all my heart that we could get this all done during this election cycle. I believe in miracles, but it appears that Bernie Sanders will not garner a majority. So we need to prepare ourselves to go the polls in November, holding our collective noses, brace for 4 more years of the status quo, and (for the sake of our children and grandchildren) vote for Hillary Clinton (would you rather have Trump holding the nuclear football?). Then use the next four years to prepare for the next election cycle, create a third party that is truly for and by the people, and take back our country.

Jamar Clark – a victim of police racism, brutality, or something else?

For some reason I don’t feel as smug as Mike Freeman about this case. Yup; an open-and-shut case. A 24-year-old guy, drunk (over 0.09) with THC (marijuana) in his system, hand on the policeman’s gun, previous trouble with the police. Case closed.

Something’s fishy. Think about it. Two police arrive. Jamar is unarmed, has his hands in his pockets, staring off with a “1000-yard stare” (not exactly a threatening position). Then 61 seconds later he’s dead – shot in the head by the police. What did he do to cause this? He was previously knocking on the back window of the ambulance and the two paramedics in the presence of the EMS supervisor (a marine veteran) were afraid to come out … even though Jamar moved a few steps away when he was asked to. County Attorney Report. 

What happened? Ringgenberg takes his gun out and holds it at his side. Later he puts it back and then he and Schwarze engage in a tug of war, with Ringgenberg pulling on one of Jamar’s arms and Schwarze pulling on the other. If it wasn’t so tragic we could call it a Keystone Cop routine. Then Schwarze totally botches a take-down move, falls down backwards on top of Jamar with his gun belt twisted to the back. Of course Jamar is resisting because Schwarze had him in a choke hold trying render him unconscious (or break his neck). Jamar is probably just pushing on Schwarze’s back getting his DNA all over the gun belt and gun, trying to get this huge cop off of him. Then he’s shot and killed by Ringgenberg – all within 61 seconds of the cops arriving at the scene.

Why didn’t they just squirt him with some pepper spray to get his hands out of his pockets, or smack him in the back of the head with a police baton or flashlight? They didn’t have to kill him. I feel so sad for Jamar Clark’s friends and loved ones. He did not deserve to die for knocking on the back of an ambulance window.

Some have called this police racism or police brutality. I think it’s something else. I hesitate to call it “police incompetence” because I don’t want to demean the fine men and women who risk their lives serving us every day. But I will point the finger at their bosses and at the system and say that these men should have been better trained. Our mayor and governor ought to be lobbying our state representatives to allocate a meaningful portion of our budget surplus to an ongoing professional development program for Minnesota police officers.