Tag: history

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AIN’T SKEERED

Well actually, Gabby is scared. But it’s not Iran that scares him. It wasn’t Iraq years ago. It’s not Russia nor China today. Even North Korea doesn’t keep Gabby awake at night. And the alleged rapists and pillagers crossing the border from Mexico seem to be a figment of the government’s imagination. We have infinitely more native-born rapists and pillagers. Most of the refugees are men, women and children looking to build a new life in America. Immigrants have done that for centuries creating a rich and vibrant society, a melting pot. They also were ostracized upon reaching our shores.

We white folks are being conditioned to look over our shoulder with distrust for brown skins, black skins, any skin other than pale skins. Even further, some Americans are encouraged by that same government to assault and harm those people. Not only skin color, but nationality, lifestyle, and political affiliation make them targets of our increasingly rogue society.

Gabby has abandoned the Pollyanna mindset that America is good. His counterpart, Larry, continues to hold to the innate goodness and equanimity of freedom and liberty for all. But America’s blooming truth speaks of hatred and injustice.

There are necessary questions to ask. What have we become, how did we get here, is there a way back to the welcoming arms of Lady Liberty and the society we were destined to be?

The attack on Iran, despicable as it is, is another downward spiral of a once great nation. It’s a symptom of a government desperately struggling to maintain its economic and political world control, its imperialistic designs. But, in no way does this make America Great Again. It shows our weakness in a world determined to move ahead without us.

No, Iran does not concern Gabby. The current USA government does.

He has told you, mortal one, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?
New American Standard Bible Micah 6:8

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scapegoats

What is on Gabby’s mind today are the scapegoats POTUS 47 is creating to the delight of numb-minded Americans and the MAGA crowd. Immigrants, transgenders, blacks and browns, the unhoused population, woke folks, and most recently the Democrats have become his targets.

Certainly, Charlie Kirk did not deserve to die by an assassin’s bullet. His was just another dedicated voice for the far-right rhetoric pumped by the POTUS and his supporters. But on cue, the POTUS played his favorite trump card, viciously blaming everyone and everything for the shooting other than a man and his gun.

If y’all need a scapegoat, take a look at gun violence which has become a sad commentary on American society in 2025. However, it seems that disenfranchised people are an easier target for the POTUS and his minions. All of history’s infamous despots hit upon this realization quickly in their reigns of terror.

Of course, Gabby is not comparing POTUS 47 to any of history’s bad boys. Trump doesn’t have the intelligence to stand shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Nero or Hitler or Stalin or Putin or Kim Jong Un. He is nothing more than a seasoned PR man who hit upon a winning formula with his TV series and gained favor as the lap dog of the world’s truly notorious bad boys.

By now, some of you are asking, “Gabby, and your point is?”

Martin Niemöller, a prominent German pastor in the 1920’s and 1930’s, said, “First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak for me.”

After Hitler’s reign of terror was eliminated, Niemöller toured allied-occupied Germany sharing his self-defined ‘confession’ to urge fellow Germans to accept personal responsibility for their complicity in the Nazi regime’s horror.

Gabby must ask of himself and all Americans, “Are we complicit in the crimes of a rogue government led by a modern-day demigod?” Am I fearful of speaking up and standing shoulder to shoulder with the disenfranchised, the poor, the meek, the homeless, the persecuted, the people of color?”

If so, what is my problem? Lack of courage, lack of compassion, a distorted view of faith?

If any of the above are true, perhaps I should align my life according to the grace and blessing bestowed upon me as an American, to always ask WWJD, to honor the freedom which sober living affords. This is my personal responsibility as an American and as a man of faith. To remain quiet dishonors the many patriots and martyrs who have given their lives trusting all of us with America’s legacy.

……and Gabby says, “AMEN, brother.”