The Unclad Soul

The courageous protest by the former professional football player, Colin Kaepernick, has been so misunderstood and misrepresented that the point of it has mostly been lost. After what seemed like an endless stream of shootings and killings of unarmed black men by white police officers, Kaepernick decided to do something. He didn’t riot or retaliate, scream profanities, or assault white people. Instead, he simply chose not to stand at the playing of the National Anthem before his games . It was not an attack on the American Flag, on the military, or the anthem. His action was simply saying that, for him, the battles of war that our soldiers have fought to make us “the land of the free and the home of the brave,” as spoken in The Star-Spangled Banner song, are not being honored. The violence of white cops against Blacks and the indifference of politicians and the courts to tolerate and excuse it was what Kaepernick was protesting. The National Anthem praises honor, courage, ...

Let it be said, by me, by all of us, that we will not sit silently by and watch our country be shredded by ignorance and cowardice, by hate and violence, by meanness and cruelty, or by discrimination, sexism, ageism, barbarity and intimidation. The election of Donald Trump is not now an invitation for all of us to be punks and jackasses and beasts. For those who think they will have in the White House someone who will defend indecency, bigotry, and lawlessness, be warned: you will be confronted and opposed. For those who think Trump as president is now your right to mock and piss on and shame, him and those who support him, get hold of yourselves. This is not a time for juvenile rants and petty retaliation. Respect for the Office of President, reverence for the Constitutional framework of our government, must be honored. If we play this game of seeing who can beat up the other, whether in words, photos, memes, or actual deeds of violence and cruelty, then we do not have a ...

From the Desiderata by poet Max Ehrmann – A line a day for the remaining Christmas/Holiday season: “As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.”

In her fascinating book, Dark Age Ahead , journalist and urban studies specialist Jane Jacobs writes about great cultures that come to a defeating and devastating close. The Roman Empire is an obvious example and she writes eloquently about its sad ruin. Her big point is that cultures die, even great brilliant ones, from what she calls “mass amnesia.” Meaning, the people of that culture just stubbornly forget the beauty of what they had created and trade it for something sinister, ugly, selfish and inferior. She writes, “Many subtractions combine to erase a previous way of life, and everything changes as a richer past converts to a meager present and an alien future.” Ms. Jacobs’ important book is a warning to Americans to beware of succumbing to “mass amnesia” and losing what was once a culture of genius, inventiveness, humane compassion, acumen and skill. Today we are getting a startling look into sections of our society that are seemingly unaware they are forgetting these v...

“Everybody’s gotta learn; nobody’s born knowing.”   ―   Harper Lee, Novelist

“There are far too many silent sufferers.  Not because they don't yearn to reach out, but because they've tried and found no one who cares.” ~ Richelle E. Goodrich, Writer/Author

“A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep.”   ―   Saul Bellow, Novelist

An incident at the recent Missouri State Fair is getting quite a bit of attention. During the bull riding event a clown appeared wearing a ragged sport coat and a cartoon mask of President Obama. The announcer asked the crowd if they wanted to see Obama “run down by a bull.” The crowd cheered and then the announcer said, “We’re going to smoke Obama, man.” At one point another clown walked up and started flapping the lips on the mask. The crowd howled with laughter. The incident was recorded by an eyewitness and then shared with some news sources. Not everyone thought the stunt was funny. The governor of the state and other Republicans and Democrats stated their strong objection to the way President Obama was characterized and disrespected. A spokesperson for the State Fair later issued an apology. But of course the damage had been done and hundreds of families and children watched the spectacle of our nation’s president being made fun of and derided and the clown impersonating...

There is this very nasty business of questioning President Obama’s citizenship that continues to drive a lot of conservatives in this country. The force behind this disgraceful display of total nonsense is a woman named Orly Taitz, a self professed lawyer and dentist, who doesn’t seem to be actively practicing either of those professions. Her full time job appears to be to somehow convince the American people that Barack Obama does not deserve to be our president now or in the future. She apparently lives somewhere in California but she is now up in New Hampshire trying to get the President’s name taken off the ballot there for the upcoming primary elections. She still claims he is not an American citizen even though Mr. Obama’s birth certificate has been declared by all manner of officials as valid and trustworthy. I don’t like the way our country is behaving. We have lost so much of what has made us a place of welcome and inspiration to the world. I don’t think I’m being na...