Making enemies where there are none

Once again, Faith Family Church’s Jim Graff trots out a right-wing trope in the Dec. 1, 2024 Victoria Advocate. His message is that those who are vocal and open about being a Christian are victims of persecution. But,
in keeping the faith throughout the persecution will result in a reward in Heaven. Even the title, or headline, for this piece is divisive: “How to win the war for those we love.”

This is the Christian nationalism that “The Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism” by Katherine Stewart exposes and warns us about. And its emphasis on Christians being persecuted is part of the echo chamber and serves the purpose of riling up the troops to oppose both the more liberal versions of Christianity and those of a more secular bent. In setting up his pep talk for his version of Christianity, Graff uses John Bunyan’s imprisonment is an example of someone enduring persecution for his faith. We can give Graff a pass when he calls John Bunyan, the author of “The Pilgrim’s Progress,” Paul Bunyan in the second paragraph.

As he has done before, Graff uses misdirection an disinformation by clearly implying that the 250 million copies of Bunyan’s work helped the imprisoned preacher support his family. While the multi-million copies sold is accurate from the time it was first published on February 18, 1678 until now, it’s playing fast and loose with the facts that is so troubling. Whether in hard news or opinion articles, this kind of writing damages credibility. Why Graff chose Bunyan’s story as an example of religious persecution isn’t clear, but there are several stories in whatever version of the Bible Graff likes to make the same point. The apostle Paul comes to mind.

The real damage, however, is pivoting to cherry-pick verses to make his case that Jesus assured those persecuted that they’d go to Heaven. Even worse, he quotes Jesus from Matthew 10:34-35, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law… .”

There is some delicious irony when Graff states, “He did not cause division because He wanted to, but because division was the natural response of a culture set on duplicity.”

What is the irony? It’s that he brings this up when many of us see this time of the year as one of peace and goodwill to all. Further, it would be helpful if Graff told us what this duplicity is in our culture. Is it that other religions or faiths are deceiving their followers? And, if so, about what? Why does Graff disrespect the possibility of one faith promising 72 virgins? Or a good follower of another version of Christianity would get their own celestial planet? Or is it our society that is deceptive? If so, how?

Graff then quotes the late Dr. Warren Wiersbe to assert that — and I have to quote to make my point — “Jesus is the Prince of Peace and the gospel is the message of peace. But when people confess Christ, they usually make enemies.”

I don’t see it. I’ve never had anyone display enmity toward me for being a liberal Episcopalian or before as a parishioner at a United Church of Christ. Nor have any of my friends in various other mainstream Christian denominations complain to me that they were treated as enemies. If you’d like examples of people persecuted either in this country or around the world, consider Muslims, Jews and America’s own Native Americans.

What Graff is doing in this piece is telling his flock that they must love God more than their own families to reach his version of Nirvana and the path for that is to withstand persecution. But what he is really doing is isolating his flock, imbuing his followers with religious hubris and making others enemies where there are none. One wonders how Faith Family Church’s worldview would fit in with any kind of ecumenical work in Victoria. If we want to celebrate this season, we can do so this year with our Jewish friends whose holiday this year shares the season. Hanukkah runs from the evening of Dec. 25, 2024 to Jan. 2, 2025. And while this year our Muslim friends’ holy days don’t overlap Christmas and Hanukkah, there’s always Festivus.

However, looking at this column in a broader and more well-read context, the message is sinister. By isolating and framing disagreement of beliefs as war, Graff subtly telegraphs the agenda of Christian Nationalism and dominionism that underlies the White conservative evangelical movement. Perhaps there is more duplicity here than meets the eye.

Sowing Chaos is the plan

On most days, I scan the news landscape by opening two dozen sites, including The Associated Press, The Washington Post, New York Times, Houston Public Media and Google News.

Today I noticed a pattern of content having to do with Trump’s cabinet and other leadership roles in his upcoming administration. Most of the pundits focused on how poor these choices are. Some are in over their heads, others know nothing about that which they will supervise and so on. What these choices have in common, these BigMedia talking heads assert, is their loyalty to Trump. Therefore, they will sow chaos, as will Trump, across the entire federal government.

While all all of these lamentations are partly true, they miss the bigger picture. These proposed appointees aren’t really Trump’s picks. He doesn’t know enough about the government to make those picks. They are are chosen by the operatives of the billionaire plutocrats and oligarchs behind the the dismantling of our democracy. And, yes, they will cause chaos, but that’s only a tactic. The real strategy is to destroy government. As Dr. Nancy MacLean points out in “Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right's Stealth Plan for America,” Charles Koch and his allies — a cast of thousands — want to tear government out at its roots.

Remember, this is a long-term game. At its heart, this is the epitome of white privilege and racism that caused a civil war in the Nineteenth Century. Those feelings didn’t go away. They just flew below the radar. But they were energized by Brown v Board of Education, the 1954 Supreme Court decision that separate education wasn’t equal. This is at the core of the right-wing radical movement. Immediately after the ruling, the so-called segregation academies popped up as private schools for whites only. ProPublica’s series (https://www.propublica.org/series/segregation-academies) traces this movement. But that was just the start. Voucher plans to destroy public education are operationally no different now from the ones 70 years ago.

And topics that raise ire and are “hot button” reactions like abortion, contraception, union busting, crime, immigration, LBGTQ rights fossil fuels and climate change are the wedge issues designed to divide people and sow chaos. That’s why we’ve been subjected to them. Even worse, they’ve been normalized as the right-wing American Enterprise Institute’s Jonah Goldberg points out, “But now it seems the odor has dissipated, at least among political scientists and operatives. Sure, there are still some ugly wedges, but wedge issues as a generic category or tool are now recognized for what they always were: normal politics.”

The truth is that most of the right-wing, at least the secular part, really doesn’t care about the cultural issues like abortion and gay rights. But they rile up the crowds, don’t they?

So, the chaos, you see, has been a tactic all along; and, so has disinformation, which has been turning definitions on their head. Tyler Cowen, the Holbert L. Harris Chair of Economics at George Mason University, Koch-funded intellectual mothership of the radical-right movement, wrote, “the freest countries [defining freedom as economic liberty] have not generally been democratic.” MacLean quotes Cowen in “How the Koch Network Uses Disinformation,” Chapter 5 in “The Disinformation Age: Politics, Technology, and Disruptive Communication in the United States.”

MacLean continues by writing that her research “adds to our understanding is its exposure of the core ideas guiding these efforts and how those ideas, in turn, explain the reliance on radical rules change (including change to the Constitution) being secured without alerting the public to the real endgame.”

Read that again. It’s began long ago with stacking the judiciary with Federalist Society judges, overturning Roe v Wade, gerrymandering, voter suppression and eliminating voting sites. But these were for two reasons: to undermine the voice of the people and to distract from the long view. This stealth project wants to change the Constitution to lock down the unfettered economic power of the ruling class. The next step is a Convention of the States, under Article V of the current U.S. Constitution. I am not going to dwell on this, but I urge you to look at: https://conventionofstates.com/

It really doesn’t matter whether the Trump appointee is incompetent. The pandemonium is the plan and the rhetoric will ramp up calling for the dismantling of whatever the government activity is. That will open the door for shutting it down. Then think about what’s left when the government has only two functions: law enforcement and national defense. Posse Comitatus be damned.

Gov. Greg Abbott's order on forcing hospitals to grill immigrants flies under local media radar

A little more than a week ago, hospitals began questioning undocumented immigrant patients who come to the emergency room or are admitted. Greg Abbott signed Executive Order GA-46 on August 8 collect data on undocumented immigrants being treated a the hospital. Included in the data are demographic and cost information that must be reported to the Health and Human Services Commission every three months and yearly. Those questioned can decline to answer without jeopardizing getting care, according to the order.

Abbott has asserted that Texas taxpayers are overly burdened by the cost of providing care to non-US citizens, although the verbiage in the order is clearly political and inflammatory thus raising questions about the right-wing’s real agenda. If one’s ear is to the ground in the health/medical, the drum beating of concern, anger and GOP overreach is audible. Yet, as important as this issue is, it looks like the Nov. 1 implementation date flew under the local media radar.

For example, the Catholic Legal Immigration Network issued a statement raising several concerns, including that the order will frighten immigrants to the point of not getting care. The network also noted that a Harvard study “explained how a similar policy in Florida puts immigrants in an ‘impossible position: avoid the hospital and risk a loved one’s health, or seek care and potentially risk deportation.’”

Every Texan, formerly the Center for Public Policy Priorities, slammed the order.

“Abbott’s Executive Order will lead to fewer Texans and their families seeking medical care when they need it, even when dire medical needs make expensive health care necessary at the emergency room,” writes Lynn Cowles, health and food justice programs manager at Every Texan,. “These are Texans who generally already avoid less expensive medical care in settings like clinics and health centers because they are uninsured and often concerned about the cost and documentation requirements.”

She also called it anti-immigrant rhetoric “intended to scare people into not using any kind of public benefits program.”

The economy will be hurt as non-citizen construction, agricultural and service sector workers avoid the hospitals’ interrogations, Every Texan stated, adding “Meanwhile, Texas families will suffer the governor’s policies as he threatens their rights to seek medical care in emergencies.”

I reached out to DeTar Hospital Navarro and Citizen’s Medical Center on November 4 asking about how each facility might implement the order. Neither hospital has responded to me by the time this blog publishes.

But the Texas Hospital Association, responded within minutes, of my email. Carrie Williams, spokesperson for the health care trade group, said the major concern is that patients will be concerned about immigration questions and defer medical care.

“The bottom line for patients is that this doesn’t change hospital care. Texas hospitals continue to be a safe place for needed care,” Williams added. “On the particulars of implementation, all hospitals are different. Hospitals across the state are working on the backend to determine how to comply with the reporting guidance and meet the state’s deadlines.”

A Halloween horror story: the Roberson case

 The right-wing blood lust in Texas is strong and no better illustrated in the fight to save Robert Roberson from execution. On one hand, Ken Paxton, Greg Abbott and other far right Republicans continue to push for Roberson’s lethal injection. On the other side are those who assert that Roberson is the victim of “junk science” — the now discredited “shaken baby syndrome.” Further, Texas’ 2013 so-called junk science law” in and of itself should provide Roberson with a new trial. The Texas Tribune has a comprehensive review of the Roberson case.

Non-critical thinkers may be puzzled. Why, in the face of overwhelming evidence that the case needs a full review if not a new trial, are GOP stalwarts so bent on killing Roberson? What all of us must understand is that this case is another form of intimidation from the far right. The advocates for executing Roberson want to send the message that the far right Republicans in charge of the state can find a legal way to kill anyone it chooses. Remember that old saw: “With the right prosecutor, a grand jury can indict a ham sandwich?”

Take note that those leading the stampede into the death chamber include Paxton, the clearly corrupt Texas attorney general, and Abbott, the governor who touts his devotion to Roman Catholicism except when the church talks of justice and the death penalty. But it’s also the Texas judiciary and the Abbott-appointed Pardons and Parole Board turning deaf ears to modern science and the facts of the case.

The Innocence Project, a leader in exonerating condemned inmates, is among those calling for restraint and revisiting the case in full. Allies in this quest include a bipartisan group of Texas lawmakers on the Texas House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence who succeeded in forcing a stay for Roberson’s scheduled October 17 execution.

What is important at this moment is to understand this part of the Texas political ecosystem is up for election on Nov. 5. To keep the far right officials in power is to risk the lives of those who would disagree with their dystopian and violence-fueled agenda. To vote to replace them with officials who are Democrats can turn the tide and redirect Texas to a more compassionate and rational place to live.

There! I've fixed it while the VA circles the drain

 As The Victoria Advocate circles the drain, I wanted to show you what the paper's new managing editor does as a reporter. Yes, I am picking on him. Why?

 Because he is turning what was once a fine newspaper into a Trumper religious rag; he is shutting down blogs that don't reflect his personal Christo-fascist view; he is mentoring a scant newsroom of green reporters who don't know how to write a tight story using AP style or how to do real reporting like making pubic records requests; he has ignored suggestions on how to drill deeper by filing public records requests; and, he has attacked me by asserting his 40-some years in journalism is superior to my master's in hospital administration, 25 years in the health care industry and 22 years as an award-wining journalist.

Decent people thwarted fascist-backed state-sponsored murder

There is no shortage of reprehensible behavior from Fuhrer Greg Abbott and his fascist henchmen, Reich-fuhrers Ken Paxton and Dan Patrick.

Those of us passionate about putting justice back into the justice system watched the maneuvering around Robert Roberson’s execution. We saw the Texas Pardons and Parole Board and Paxton willing to kill an innocent man who was condemned based on junk science. Roberson’s death penalty was based on using the fully debunked “shaken baby syndrome” as the reason for Nikki Curtis’ death. Complicating the case at the time of Roberson’s arrest and trial was his flat affect, now known as a symptom of his autism and not his indifference to his daughter’s passing.

But even the prosecutor and detective who handled the case originally repudiated their belief that Roberson was a killer. So did a bipartisan group of Texas legislators and the Innocence Project. And so does a Texas law passed in 2013 designed to protect people from being convicted based on junk science. All of these clear-minded people called for the execution be halted. When the blood-thirsty and ignorant members of the Pardons and Parole Board and Paxton pushed for the execution, the lawmakers, in a unique move, subpoenaed Roberson to testify before the Texas House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee today, Monday October 21. Decency at the Texas Supreme Court showed itself when the justices backed the lawmakers’ request thereby halting the execution.

Fascist-in-chief Abbott remained silent until today, spewing his cowardly play as Monday morning quarterback in the form of an amicus brief filed by James P. Sullivan, the governor's general counsel. In it, Abbott argued the legislators usurped the governor’s constitutional power to issue a 30-day clemency for the state-sponsored murder. Using the inelegant language, Abbott’s lawyer claimed the lege “stepped out of line,” according to a report from the Texas Tribune. Of course, in this way, we don’t know what the psychopath fuhrer would have done; but, those of us watching Abbott and his rise to power would bet that the blood of an innocent on his hands would not bother this monster not one whit.Meanwhile, Paxton, the corrupt Texas attorney general, thwarted the House committee. “But Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is representing the state’s prison system, said Roberson would only testify via video,” according to the Texas Tribune, also reporting that the committee’s chairman found that restriction unacceptable due to Roberson’s autism. The legal wrangling will continue for some time and Roberson can’t, according to law, be faced with another death warrant for 90 days.

Following this case will be important. If the blood thirsty fascists on the Pardons and Parole Board and blood-lust Abbott and Paxton continue to push this ultimate punishment, Texans will know beyond a shadow of a doubt that their interest isn’t justice — it’s power. Any clear-mined people following Abbott over the years would agree that he is mentally ill. Not only does that make Abbott in particular a hypocrite to his Catholic so-called faith but it also makes him dangerous.

And now for something completely different

Those of us, perhaps mainly guys, of a certain era will fondly remember the Hardy Boys mysteries and the Tom Swift sci-fi adventure series. And maybe we’ll remember the word game call Tom Swifty or Tom Swifties. The word game used the heavy use of adverbs modifying dialogue, incorporating puns and humor. In the Wikipedia entry on the Tom Swift books, an example is: ‘“I lost my crutches,’ said Tom lamely."

Today we have new Swifties, followers of arguably the most famous pop artist of our day, Taylor Swift. Now, as some of you know, I have lamented the cult of celebrity for emphasizing values and behavior of which I disapproved. But for Taylor Swift, I have made an exception. It’s not that I find her music great. I enjoy some of her songs and some snippets of her Eras tour. Whether it’s real or imagined (after all, perception is reality), Swift presents as kind, generous, down-to-earth, feminist and misogynist hater; she’s not only talented but she’s a hard worker. She is, truly, the girl next door. She lived life bathed in the spotlight beam of an A-plus-list celebrity.

Then, a little more than a year ago, the world learned she is dating an NFL star, Kansas City Chief’s tight end, Travis Kelce, who was really unknown outside of football circles. Then the scrutiny of both celebrities was not only in the hottest of spotlights but it was also under the public relations equivalent of an electron microscope. Everything and anything was fair game for the pop culture media; and, then the phenomenon crossed into the mainstream media. These two 30-somethings couldn’t twitch without some speculation about their love life, relationship and careers. Will they or won’t they (fill in the blank)? Are they or aren’t they (fill in the blank)?

If Kelce didn’t make a Eras tour concert event or event, speculation was rife that there was, as so many have phrased it, “trouble in paradise.” If Swift missed a Chief’s game or Kelce event, again, was there a relationship problem. Paparazzi and other media types followed them almost everywhere they could — on dates, to parties, on vacation and even professionally related events. The lack of privacy was, in my opinion, beyond the pale. And that evasiveness extended to the Swift and Kelce families. I frankly don’t know how they stand the pressure although I do know that their wealth forms somewhat of a bulwark for them.

I also remember my mid-thirties and being in love and lust and admit to nostalgia about it. And I think that’s why I find their situation so interesting. I can’t fathom how they hold onto the strong sense of self and character under the unrelenting pressure. I wonder how they don’t push back on some of the invasive speculation about their relationship. So far, it’s clear to me that they are independent people with professional obligations. They must have a healthy respect for one another and are grounded in understanding their commitments.

I admit I am pulling for them to stay together. I know why. I don’t feel this way about other celebrity couples. Maybe this is a good thing, a bright spot during stressful and perilous times.

Victoria Advocate sells out to the radical right

Jim Graff, the senior shaman at Faith Family Church in Victoria, penned a column that The Victoria Advocate published Sept. 29 in which he asserts the following: “Read history, and you’ll find all thirteen of our original colonies required political candidates to pass a religious test before holding public office. Visit our nation’s capitol, and you’ll see scriptures engraved on federal buildings. Read our Constitution, and you’ll notice God mentioned four times.”

And while that may have been true before the United States adopted its Constitution, the Joel Osteen-related “leader” did what many, if not most, of the right-wing evangelical fake-Christian churches do: Graff left out the rest of the story to lie to people. Because when New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify the Constitution on June 21, 1788, the founders disavowed religious requirements to hold public office in this nation. In fact, a religious test is expressly forbidden in the United States Constitution. Article VI - Clause 3 states, “The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.”

These kinds of lies are the exact propaganda Christian nationalists spew. Katherine Stewart laid this bare in her book, “The Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism.” And it’s what Kristin Kobes Du Mez writes about in “Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation.”

Why is this important?

Well, I’ve been in an email “discussion” with the Victoria Advocate’s new Managing Editor Shawn Akers, who has rejected this blog post as an op-ed column. He rejected the submission, first, because he wrote he would never call anyone a Nazi. Then he rejected my suggestion of changing “Nazi” to “fascist.” Finally, he rejected the content because he didn’t think it was factual.

That, I thought, was an interesting irony because his introductory column to The Victoria Advocate’s readers, states, “My faith in Jesus Christ is a huge part of my life, and again, I am grateful for the opportunities He has presented me. But don’t get (me) [sic] wrong. I am uncompromising in my dedication to journalistic integrity, something that is very rarely seen these days in the media. When it comes to the news, and for the good of the community, I refuse to compromise the impartiality to everyone that I was taught in my younger years to uphold.”

In his emails to me, Akers also touted his longer stint in journalism than my 22 years. He started as a sports writer, which is real journalism. I respect those folks but also note they have a little more flexibility with their opinions and style than straight news journalists. But then he moved into working for NASCAR and then a charismatic Christian media outlet. Still, his rejection — nay, his denial — of facts, given his introductory column, mystified me.

What further mystified me was when I reached out to him as a gesture of journalistic collegiality on the Advocate’s coverage of the controversy in Bloomington over the water utilities. I suggested that the Advocate could find a Texas Attorney General’s Office ruling that nonprofits carrying out a government function on behalf of a government were subject to Texas sunshine laws. As a result, the newspaper could file a public records request because the approach by the people in Bloomington would go nowhere. The newspaper would be doing its job to report what the Bloomington utilities folks trying to hide.

Then it dawned on me. I remembered this swipe at journalism in general in that introductory column, “I am uncompromising in my dedication to journalistic integrity, something that is very rarely seen these days in the media.” That reeks of Trumpism. His response echoed that of other Trumpers with whom I have jousted.

Which brings me back to Faith Family Church, where he worships. As does Michael Cloud, the right-wing “Sedition Caucus,” a.k.a. Freedom Caucus, member of Congress from Victoria. Akers asserted to me that he knew what an editor’s job is, so I’m confused why he failed to fact-check and catch Graff's lie.

I am aware this reeks of a personal attack on Akers. It isn’t. It’s a deconstruction of the influencers’ and leadership’s approach to the local news. This is an attack on the Advocate’s betrayal of the Crossroads. Staffing its newsroom with Trumper leadership and greenhorn writers who will be guided under that leadership. It leads me to predict that the editorials, opinion columns and letters to the editor will not only lean radical-right but will also lie or be allowed to lie to make their cases. Opposing opinions need not apply, thank you very much. Second, while one would think local coverage would be immune from this type of journalism, those with favored positions and views will receive favorable coverage. Others will be ignored. Accountability will apply only to the Advocate’s enemies. (Richard Nixon, anyone?) All this despite possible assertions to the contrary. I’ve seen this elsewhere.

It looks like the Trumpers have taken over to make the second oldest newspaper in Texas a right-wing rag. Victoria and the Crossroads will be the poorer for this. Worse is that institutional and governmental behaviors will fester in the dark instead of cleansed by First Amendment sunlight. And as we know from 1930s Germany, being silent is being complicit. Finally, lest I be pilloried for this blog, remember what the UN Secretary General, Dag Hammarskjöld, wrote in 1957 in the book “Markings,” published in 1963, “The madman shouted in the marketplace and no-one stopped to answer him. Thus it was confirmed that his thesis was incontrovertible.”

Trumper editor

 What a nothingburger piece of cowardly and ill-informed clap-trap. Aside from the poor writing (“more harsh,” really? Not harsher?), this self-labeled fundamentalist must be blind, deaf and dumb — but not in the muted sense, but in the intelligence sense.

Of course, for him the debate outcomes are tougher to gauge. That’s because he admits they’re an enigma. Obviously a puzzle above his pay grade. Shawn Akers discounts expertise (“so-called” Really?) for picking the debate winner and wrote that there was no winner but the electorate was the loser. Maybe Mr. Akers can check out Karl Rove’s op-ed in the Sept. 11 Wall Street Journal (it’s behind a paywall, but The Independent covered it). Now, I am no fan of Rove. His work with the GOP in the 1990s hurt this country beyond words and Rove knows his stuff; he is an expert on politics. And he wrote, basically, that Vice President Kamala Harris beat him badly. Here is what The Independent wrote, reporting on the WSJ article:

“ ‘But there’s no putting lipstick on this pig,’ says Rove. ‘Mr Trump was crushed by a woman he previously dismissed as ‘dumb as a rock’. Which raises the question: What does that make him?’”

Akers goes on to blame the Biden-Harris administration by saying Harris dodged the issues around the military withdrawal from Afghanistan without mentioning that it was Trump’s deal with the Taliban that hamstrung the Biden administration. He also faulted Harris particularly about “the disastrous border situation.” Never mind that Trump sabotaged a bipartisan deal in Congress that would have helped the border problems — that is well spread out on the public record. And that was an example of compromise Akers called for.

Then Akers, deep thinker that he is, suggests the country wants unity, that both sides should compromise, and in doing so, will “make America great again.” Haven’t we seen that on a red baseball cap? Isn’t that Donald Trump’s motto? You know, the convicted felon who’s run many of his businesses into the ground, stiffed his contractors and cities where he has held rallies, declared bankruptcy six times, is a serial philanderer, an adjudicated rapist, an indictee for trying to falsify voting records in Georgia and who mounted the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection. Akers thinks the “Never Trumpers,” on one hand, and those who see him as a savior, on the other, represent extreme views.

If Akers has read “Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right's Stealth Plan for America,” by award-winning Duke University historian Nancy MacLean, it’s not evident;

If Akers has read “Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right's Stealth Plan for America,” by award-winning Duke University historian Nancy MacLean, it’s not evident;

If Akers has read “Dark Money” by Jane Mayer, it’s not evident;

If Akers has read Shadow Network: Media, Money, and the Secret Hub of the Radical Right” by Anne Nelson; , it’s not evident;

If Akers has read “The Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism” by Katherine Stewart, it’s not evident;

I readily acknowledge Akers’ column is an opinion piece and maybe I should have let it lie. But I’ve said it many times: I can’t. You know why.

“The madman shouted in the marketplace and no-one stopped to answer him. Thus it was confirmed that his thesis was incontrovertible,” Dag Hammarskjöld in 1957, “Markings” 1963.

But given Akers’ introductory column and seeing the sins of omission in this one, I’m going to have to watch the Advocate more closely.

Save our country by knowing the threats

 The United States is fewer than four weeks away from the most consequential election since the 19^th Century. Voters will choose between an almost-democratic constitutional democracy or a dystopian fascist future owned and run by the libertarian billionaires. The soul of our country and our freedoms are at stake. Nothing makes this more starkly clear than Project 2025, the Republican-Nazi manifesto of Trump, the Heritage Foundation and Charles Koch.

Within the past two weeks, pro-democracy alliances have hosted virtual meetings/webinars that expose the specific destructive steps in Project 2025. Their aim? To alert as many as possible on the threat Project 2025 poses to our country’s soul.

On Sept. 27, the Center for Media and Democracy, American Constitution Society and Common Cause hosted “Setting the Stacked Court in Stone?” The speakers:

Nancy MacLean (moderator) is the William H. Chafe Distinguished Professor of History and Public Policy, Duke University; author of Democracy in Chains; and a Center for Media and Democracy board member.

David A. Super (panelist) is the Carmack Waterhouse Professor of Law and Economics at Georgetown Law.

Lisa Graves (panelist) is the founder and Executive Director of True North Research, a national investigative watchdog group and Managing Director at Court Accountability. She is the board president of the Center for Media and Democracy.

Stasha Rhodes (panelist) is a veteran strategist and the Executive Director of United for Democracy. She recently rejoined The Center for American Progress as a Senior Fellow.

The hour-long event exposed the origins and tactics of the oligarchs’ takeover of the US judiciary as well as capturing state legislators and Congress. If you believe preserving our real freedoms, especially the progressive improvements of the mid-20th Century, is worth your time, please watch a replay of this webinar at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edqgyJld3kY

On October 3, groups committed to honest history education, including the American Association of University Professors, the Berkshire Conference of Women Historians, the Coalition for Action in Higher Education, the Labor and Working-Class History Association, Massachusetts Peace Action, Scholars for a New Deal for Higher Education, the Zinn Education Project and Convergencemag.com hosted “MAGA and Project 2025.” The panelists were:

Carol Anderson is the Robert W. Woodruff Professor of African American Studies at Emory University.

Nancy MacLean is the William H. Chafe Professor of History and Public Policy at Duke University and a past president of the Labor and Working Class History Association (LAWCHA).

Paul Ortiz is Professor of Labor History at Cornel University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations.

Bill Fletcher, Jr. moderated the “Teach-In.”

A replay of this event is at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPwGWze0G3U

Project 2025 is about 900 pages; and, it’s a long read. Several speakers pointed out that the Nazis behind this document are terrified that the public will see and understand the plan to drag the country back to the 1850s. Thankfully, some pro-democracy and pro-transparency websites have summarized and highlighted this right-wing radical document. Here are the links:

https://accountable.us/expose-project-2025/

https://redwine.blue/project2025/

I’ve been following this clear and present danger to our country since 2015. Yes, almost a decade ago, I saw the threat. Five years later, I read Dr. MacLean’s “Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right's Stealth Plan for America.” You your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to go to:

https://www.thequintessentialcurmudgeon.com/

You will find additional information to help you understand the vast array of forces trying to kill our nation as we know it.

It’s not too late to save our country, but time is short. Please share this with as many voters as possible.

Understanding the stacking of SCOTUS

 

The upcoming national election will be the most consequential since the 1860s. The electorate will choose between keeping our republic or or surrendering to the dark forces as did Germany in the 1930s.

To that end, I have put aside everything else today to focus on urging people to sign up for an event this Thursday. Those of us of a certain vintage will remember the Teach-Ins of the 1960s. We now have a Teach-In to get the word out how dangerous another Trump-Republican election would be for our nation. Please open this link, sign up for the event and spread the word.

https://mailchi.mp/7a5677a03758/livestream-teach-in-featuring-us-historians-on-maga-and-project-2025-this-thursday-5-6-et?e=b8f23b3353

This Teach-In follows a webinar last week hosted by the Center for Media and Democracy, American Constitution Society and Common Cause called Setting the Stacked Court in Stone?. Award winning Duke University historian Nancy MacLean, who, wrote the ground-breaking “Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right's Stealth Plan for America,” moderated the webinar. The one-hour event is now available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edqgyJld3kY.

One of the best reviews/summaries of Dr. MacLean’s book can be found at https://www.ineteconomics.org/perspectives/blog/meet-the-economist-behind-the-one-percents-stealth-takeover-of-america

To fully understand this and other fascist culture wars, read these books, preferably in this order:

“Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right's Stealth Plan for America,” by award-winning Duke University historian Nancy MacLean; 

“Dark Money” by Jane Mayer; 

“Shadow Network: Media, Money, and the Secret Hub of the Radical Right” by Anne Nelson; 

“The Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism” by Katherine Stewart; 

“Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation,” by Kristin Kobes Du Mez; and, 

“Hiding in Plain Sight” and “They Knew” by Sarah Kendzior.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and consider my request. Please reach out to me if you want further information.

The death penalty: A tool of intimidation

 One of America’s killing machines, in this case executions in five mostly southern states, is ramping up. If executions in Alabama and Oklahoma occur as scheduled

on today, it will be the first time since July 2003 that five inmates will have died within a week. That’s according to a Sept. 24 Associated Press story citing information from the Death Penalty Information Center.

And. Sept. 24 was a busy day to focus on America’s death penalty. The Intercept and Bolt Magazine published a story about how some Alabama’s execution team guards are abusive and that such misconduct is hidden from the public, including reporting that Alabama officials claimed the state’s first use of nitrogen hypoxia dispatched inmate Kenneth Smith painlessly and perfectly. These assertions are disputed by Smith’s attorney and, more importantly, Kim Chandler, the AP reporter witnessing the debacle. These stories and the cases presented are further evidence that America’s blood lust is gaining traction in the shadow of the Republican Party embrace of authoritarianism and Nazism. Never mind reports seeing recent dips across the nation in the use of the death penalty. I suspect that’s a political artifact.

Part of my argument for that rests with the another Sept. 24 story, this time Marcellus Williams’ lethal injection in Missouri. Despite pleas from prosecutors, legislators and the family of victim Felicia "Lisha" Gayle, Missouri’s Republican Gov. Mike Parson and the Missouri Supreme Court let the lethal injection occur. So did the six corrupt Republican fascist member of the U.S. Supreme Court, USA Today reported. The right-wing blood lust is a harbinger of the fascism should Republicans gain control of our government this year.

Today, as third-world state Alabama prepares another nitrogen execution, the public will likely get another “white wash” from officials that the process, like the prior one, was “textbook.” Also today, Oklahoma plans to execute Emmanuel Littlejohn despite the state’s Pardon and Parole Board recommendation to spare his life. Oklahoma Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt, at this hour, not indicated he will follow his board’s recommendation, but in the past he has let his death machine work unimpeded.

It is no secret that the U.S. disproportionately executes people of color, specifically Blacks. This has been particularly true for the former Dixie states. What many are willing to overlook, however, is that the use of the death penalty was a form of Jim Crow intimidation. The idea was to keep Black people in their place. If you don’t believe me, research South Carolina’s electrocution of 14-year-old George Stinney. That is sure to continue of former president and convicted felon Donald Trump wins a second term. Remember how Trump triggered federal executions during his first term. Trump and his fascist allies like Texas Fuhrer Greg Abbott will now use this threat against any of those who oppose them.

That is one more reason for citizens to reject the right-wing in November.

Editor’s Note: Rather than embed links, I’ve provided them below for easier navigation and study of this issue.

https://theintercept.com/2024/09/24/alabama-execution-team-misconduct-death-row/

https://apnews.com/article/death-penalty-nitrogen-gas-alabama-kenneth-smith-54848cb06ce32d4b462a77b1bb25e656

https://apnews.com/article/nitrogen-execution-death-penalty-alabama-6d66344d3199f8c58f2408baa3df0738

https://dpic-cdn.org/production/documents/pdf/SecrecyReport-2.f1560295685.pdf?dm=1683576587

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/local/missouri/2024/09/25/marcellus-williams-execution-missouri-lethal-injection/75376315007/

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/local/missouri/2024/09/25/marcellus-williams-execution-missouri-lethal-injection/75376315007/

https://apnews.com/article/executions-oklahoma-alabama-missouri-texas-south-carolina-d77a31bea7a4839424afc8889c7d8755

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/09/24/south-carolina-execution-freddie-owens/?commentID=0c6dc995-3558-4269-bf45-fb74ac6d42eb

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/09/24/south-carolina-execution-freddie-owens/

Local newspaper abandons journalism's real mission

 Well, I just can’t help myself. The new editorial leadership at the Victoria Advocate is pathetic. I’ve noticed the new crew of green reporters hardly know what they’re doing. The news stories are especially poorly done and for some strange reason the copy is using magazine style instead of AP style. For example, for attributions the new word is “says” instead of “said.”

The Sept. 24 edition’s story about the water board issues in Bloomington (https://www.victoriaadvocate.com/news/local/bloomington-residents-continue-opposition-to-water-board-and-nonprofit-over-denied-records-requests/article_96186484-75e8-11ef-84f1-8f458bd3b26a.html) brought up the board’s resistance to transparency. I emailed reporter Christopher Green, (yep, I know.) and the new editor the following, “Several years ago, the Texas AG ruled nonprofits carrying out a government function are subject to the Texas sunshine laws. You can go to the AG pages to look it up. The VA and people from Bloomington need to pursue it further but going to the Texas bar association isn't the way to do it. The VA can also ask for the public records.”

The result? Crickets. Now, given the recent social media and email interactions I’ve had with various Victoria Advocate staff, I get that I’m not one of their favorite people. I also get that one technique to deal with gadflies like me is to ignore them — even if the communication is constructive and potentially helpful. As one of my Facebook friends noted the other day based on that old cliché, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him think.”

Whether my self-labeling as a gadfly is on point or not, my reality tells me that spayed and/or neutered media outlets pose one of the greatest threats to protecting us from governmental and institutional abuse. When I lived in Amarillo and saw the Amarillo Globe-News propagandize for certain interests, I resigned and founded The Amarillo Independent. While not a business success, I spent seven years leading an incredible group of journalists who wrestled with and dragged information from “under the rugs.” After folding the Indy, I consulted with ABC7-KVII for two years and helped the investigative team expose financial shenanigans at the Amarillo Economic Development Corporation. While I am proud of those years and see that work as evidence of strong investigate journalism chops, more to the point is that Amarillo’s residents got increased governmental and institutional transparency.

Our founders made a free press sacred with the First Amendment. And they placed its tenets about religion and journalism part of our Nation’s soul for good reasons. It’s a shame we must continually remind Americans of that; it’s more shameful that I have to remind Texas’ oldest newspaper of that.

GOP and right wing control gun? Never.

As the country digested the school shooting in good ole red state Georgia, all the right-wing/Republicans could offer were “thoughts and prayers.” JD Vance, the GOP’s vice presidential candidate, said these shootings are a “fact of life.” Now we’ve moved on with dissecting the Harris-Trump debate. But in the shadow of the 9/11 remembrance, CNN is reporting that the shooter’s mother has written an open letter apologizing and saying her son isn’t a “monster.” That’s irrelevant. He had access to a weapon of war and we need to understand that the Republicans and the radical right will never divest themselves from the NRA or tolerate any restrictions on guns. Why?Here’s the brutal truth. They want their allies to be armed and ready to use against those of us who disagree with the deconstruction of our American democracy. We haven’t heard Thomas Jefferson’s quote in a while, but the right-wing has used it, especially when the Tea Party was more visible.

“The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants,” Jefferson wrote to William Stephens Smith, the son-in-law of John Adams, on November 13, 1787.

In other words, the radical right is lusting for a violent dystopian future. We see this penchant for violence elsewhere. For example, look at the situation with death row inmate Robert Roberson, who faces execution based on junk science. The Intercept reported on this Sept. 9. I am guessing that Texas Fuhrer Greg Abbott will not stop this killing. He’s sending a message, subtle though it may be: The right wing will show no mercy or tolerance for those with whom it disagrees. It’s a reflection of the Jim Crow era when the preponderance of executions in the southern states were people of color, specifically Black people. The death penalty was as much of a tool of oppression then as are gerrymandering and voter suppression today.

If I had a solution to this situation, I would certainly suggest it. But I don’t. Get out the vote? Sure. Hope that law enforcement and the U.S. military will stay loyal to the Constitution? I can hope. But I am afraid we're in for a hot civil war.

Can we fix broken capitalism?

The Washington Post reported on Sept. 4 that Boeing’s ill-fated Starliner capsule will returned to Earth Sept. 6 without its two-person crew. The formerly respected aerospace and airplane manufacturer and NASA have agreed that mechanical issues made a crewed return unsafe, but Boeing has objected to describing the return of the crew as “stranded.” The fact is that an eight-day mission has stretched for months and the word is perfectly appropriate.

Boeing’s PR folks are clearly in bunker mode because the firm issued a statement instead of answering questions, according to the Washington Post. That’s not surprising given the company’s recent history. For those needing a reminder, two new Boeing 737 MAX aircraft crashed due to software and other failures claiming 346 lives. More recently, an Alaska Airlines 737 lost a door plug forcing an emergency descent and return to the airport. And, two Boeing whistleblowers died a few months ago. The other reminder about Boeing is less spectacular and thus may have flown below much of the public’s radar. The firm moved its Seattle-area headquarters to Chicago in 2001 and then, in 2022, to Arlington, Va. Many industry watchers and others noted the moves from changed the company from an engineering firm to a bean counter firm.

But this isn’t just about Boeing. It’s about how the right-wing has destroyed the best parts of capitalism. It’s about James Buchanan and the Koch brothers and the other “titans” of industry who created a deeper and broader problem for the United States and world economy.

I’ve written exhaustively about the source of the 20th Century origins of this movement by citing the brilliant work of award-winning Duke University historian Nancy MacLean’s 2017 “Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right's Stealth Plan for America.” Buchanan laid the plans for the unfettered libertarian corporations in the world, especially in the United States where the guardrails are weak.

But another book chronicled the who and how changing the stakeholders in companies from employees and customers to investors and “Wall Street,” they have reshaped the economy to favor the wealthy.  

David Gelles’ work, “The Man Who Broke Capitalism:How Jack Welch Gutted the Heartland and Crushed the Soul of Corporate America — and How to Undo His Legacy” describes how Welch changed G.E. from a customer-product-employee oriented company to a firm focused on stock price. Welch’s reign of terror began in 1981 and spawned the “greed is good” 1980s and 1990s.

“But Welch’s achievements didn’t stem from some greater intelligence or business prowess. Rather, they were the result of a sustained effort to push GE’s stock price ever higher, often at the expense of workers, consumers, and innovation,” writes the Simon & Schuster summary of Gelles’ work. “In this captivating, revelatory book, David Gelles argues that Welch single-highhandedly ushered in a new, cutthroat era of American capitalism that continues to this day.”

Gelles cites Boeing, Home Depot, Kraft Heinz, and others; so, Boeing is just the most recent poster child for abomination. It’s been going on for years. Remember Erin Brockovich? And how about Microsoft’s environmental rape by setting hardware requirements for Windows 11 that will obsolete an estimated 240 million non-conforming, vomiting them into landfills?

As recently as Sept. 1, the New York Times broke a story about Acadia Healthcare’s illicit hold policies for psychiatric patients. That story also mentioned the Justice Department’s $122 million fine in 2020 of Universal Health Services, Inc. and Turning Point Care Center, LLC. The DOJ release of July 10, 2020 stated the fine was “to resolve alleged violations of the False Claims Act for billing for medically unnecessary inpatient behavioral health services, failing to provide adequate and appropriate services, and paying illegal inducements to federal healthcare beneficiaries … .:”

These examples are the proverbial tip of the iceberg. Also on Sept. 4, Kim Komando’s tech newsletter exposed the Atlanta-based Cox Media Group for selling information from its product that taps smartphones and sells the information for advertising.

“Their Active Listening software can tap into private conversations through your smartphone’s microphone. It uses AI to capture and analyze data from a convo, which it then combines with behavioral data to create ultra-targeted ads,” Komando wrote. “Perhaps most shockingly of all, they list Facebook, Google and Amazon as partners. Now, they didn't say for sure the Big Tech giants use Active Listening; it’s more implied — and now those companies are scrambling.”

And lest we forget, take note of Tesla, the most prominent strain of corporate genital herpes, Elon Musk, infecting our world.

“When a Tesla is in Sentry mode, its onboard cameras capture what’s happening around the vehicle when there’s sound or movement detected. Police know that to get the footage, they need access to the USB drive in the glove box. If the owner is MIA, cops get a search warrant and tow the EV into evidence,” Komando wrote. That also raises the question that a Fourth Amendment violation may be at play. In addition, Musk’s Space X is contaminating Texas, without the state’s corporately captive government doing nothing. Of course, Texas own Führer, Greg Abbott, promotes this as he pledges his allegiance to the world oligarchy.

Gelles was optimistic that firms are now rejecting “Welchism,” citing companies like Patagonia and Unilever among others. But given the revelation about the Cox Media Group and BigTech, I am far from convinced the pendulum will swing back the other way.

It will come down to politics, won’t it? Add the above thoughts on November 5, 2024.

My Journey to Linux and Peace

 This story is part of my mental health journey to embrace things that give me more peace, pleasure and less agitation.

As I continue my painful recovery from surgery and float through the cybersphere, I came across a post on one of my subreddits — a Linux Mint forum. The post celebrated the first release of this operating system on August 27, 2006.

Why should this matter to me? Or to anyone else?

Well, late in 2023, I decided that Microsoft had become too intrusive to both my pocket book and my data. The tech giant converted its office suite into a subscription-based product while disabling and locking away access to former versions of Office, which had been fully paid for making practically industry-standard Word, Outlook, Excel and other programs useless. The threat that the firm’s monopoly-coveting greed would extend to renting the main operating system seemed real to me, specifically because its PR flacks issued denials of the possibility. Then, “security” updates to the Windows 10 system imposed defaults to such things as OneDrive, where all your work was loaded into the Microsoft cloud app or “copilot,” a supposed artificial intelligence app. It was clear that my “personal” computer was really just becoming Microsoft’s work station placed in my home.

Then with no rational justification, Microsoft’s new hardware requirements for its Windows 11 operating system would vomit, according to some estimates, about 240 million (yes, million) older devices in landfills. I lack any civil words for condemning Microsoft’s rape of the environment.

I knew, from my introduction to personal computing in 1976, other operating systems were available; and I knew from playing in cyberspace in 2016 that operating systems based on Unix and Linux were gaining ground and becoming more user friendly. So, I went on a research spree and, in November 2023, checked into various Linux operating systems (called distros in Linux-speak). The learning curve was steep, complicated by the fact that some of my essential finance and photography programs were not available for Linux systems; or, that the Linux variants were simply not robust enough.

After an agonizing trek through research and testing in December and part of January 2024, I decided that I wanted a “dual boot” system. That is, I wanted the ability to start and/or boot my powerful desktop computer into either Windows 10 or Linux Mint Cinnamon. The latter Linux system’s desktop environment looked much like Windows although it was completely different. That decision made, I took apart my computer and following very helpful YouTube videos, installed two solid state drives, or SSDs, and then loaded Windows 10 on one and Linux Mint Cinnamon on the other. I reattached all the drives and booted up. By the end of last January, I had everything installed with both operating systems available at my command. And, the few Windows-only programs run on that SSD while the majority of my “daily driver” applications are on my Linux drive.

Remember I said environmental rapist Microsoft is forcing those who want/need to run Windows 11 to give up perfectly good devices, flooding landfills with the poisons of Silicon Valley? Well, a major answer to dodging the cost of new equipment is that the variety of Linux distros let you choose one that will work on older machines because even the most robust of Linux flavors are less bloated than Microsoft’s operating systems. My Linux Mint Cinnamon is lightening fast on a 2011 ASUS laptop that slogged along on Windows 10.

There is another benefit to using Linux and Linux-based applications. They are known as “open source,” which means they are free; they are supported by large communities of developers who will take but not require contributions. So my word processing, video editing and playback apps, other office-programs, browsers and VPN are all free and run on Linux. I am writing this on LibreWriter, which is part of my LibreOffice suite. It’s not as robust as Word in some ways, but it’s easy to use and, as I noted, free. Even better, none of the Linux applications default to data sharing or have embedded spyware. Further, as many in the Linux community will point out, these distros are remarkably secure and almost totally immune to malware attacks.

Moving from the major computing environments to Linux can be challenging. In my moments of great frustration, and there were many, I reminded myself I was also learning things and the exercise was good for my Hercule Poirot-type “little gray cells.” Now I start my days in Mint condition, visiting Microsoft once a day to handle finances. It gives me peace to know I am less vulnerable to BigTech and am part of a community with similar values to mine. If you, dear reader, wish to detach from BigTech and greedy capitalism, take a look at Linux. Even if you don’t convert, you will have learned there are more options for you and your computer to enjoy.

Abbott and the stormtroopers

 

On August 8, 2024, Greg Abbott, the Nazi who purports to be the governor of Texas, issued Executive Order GA-46.

The order, as the Texas Tribune notes, “ … requires public hospitals in Texas to collect information on the immigration status of patients so that the hospitals can then track costs incurred for the care of undocumented migrants.”

But, that’s only part of it. The order requires that hospitals enrolled in Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and any provider the Health and Human Services Commission defines as a hospital to comply. So, clearly DeTar and Citizens are being abused by these stormtroopers; but so are the hospitals in Cuero, Hallettsville and other neighboring towns. Further the HHSC can extend the order to encompass any other provider it wants to. At what point would this stop?

Let’s leave aside the notion that this Gestapo-like overreach clearly violates the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) and any other laws about patient confidentiality. If you read the order, it’s a rant to feed more red meat to the radical Texas Reich base. It’s also going to clearly drive sick people away from health care — and that will include many legal as well as undocumented people of color. This racism  would make Hitler and Joseph Goebbels proud. And, no, that is not too extreme a label for Abbott, Patrick, Paxton and the rest of the Republican ilk.

One question is whether the hospitals and other related industry associations will fight this in court. And, will the media cover this monstrosity as the media should or will the media be complicit enablers of these ogres.

Lord knows, were I still an active reporter, I’d be on this like a duck on a June bug. But I am not. I lack the resources to file the requisite record requests and engage the in fight over facts that would ensue. Nor do my blog or Facebook pages have the reach and traction this exposé desperately needs. I have, for the record, reached out to the new editor at The Victoria Advocate. I will, along with the posting this, reach out to others in my media network.

Let’s see what happens.

A long overdue confession

I’ve been giving a lot of thought about my experiences in grad school and about the 25 years working in the health care industry. And I want to say something I’ve needed to for a very long time. You see, I didn’t go to grad school for hospital administration because I loved the idea of being in health care. My parents pushed me to because they didn’t think I could make a living following my long-held dream of being a writer. Why that’s so is a story for another time.

These facts may be 57 years old. But, I was there, bore witness and remember them clearly.

In 1967, I enrolled in the master’s program in Hospital and Health Administration at the University of Iowa. It was a structured program; the first two 15-hour semesters led to a summer “internship,” followed by another two-semester-15-hour stint. The final semester was focused on the masters thesis. It was lock-step. The program sought to turn out administrative practitioners and doctoral graduates who would enter the field as either researchers and/or academicians.

The Iowa program was headed by an academician credited as one of the founders of the field of health care administration, the late Gerhard Hartman. Hartman was a Prussian to the core. And a tyrant. A dishonest tyrant. And, a petty tyrant at that. I will never forget Hartman referring to the doctoral student who was my thesis “supervisor” as a “martinet” in front of my entire class. So, what, in addition to his mean spirit, what else did students learn under Hartman’s tutelage?

Modeling behavior is an effective way to teach, to instill values and mold character. What did Hartman model? That it was acceptable to engage in private consulting services using the university’s resources for copying, typing and charging other expenses to the university funds. That it was acceptable to pass off the students’ research and writing as his own in a consulting report. And, that it was acceptable to exploit people; he required the students’ parts of the consulting report to be professionally typed — and paid for by the students.

Even with Hartman gone, the program put him on a pedestal with self-serving puffery and egregious dishonesty. One of Hartman’s “pets,” the late Sam Levey, wrote a monograph about the program’s history incorporating information about Hartman and his legacy. That monograph failed to address the realities of how Hartman ran the program. In short, it was a cover-up. A snow job. And worse, people at the university and in the program who knew the truth about Hartman let the publication stand as is. What does that mean for the credibility of such academic research? As an editor and publisher, the story would have been fact-checked; and finding these flaws, I would have spiked the story and fired the reporter. I am sure in another time and place, Hartman and Trump would have been great chums.

Finally, although Hartman and his henchmen claimed to train leaders in health management and policy, I have no memory of any Iowa graduate take a strong stand for fixing the health care system. And, from the time I enrolled in the program in 1967 until I left the field and subsequently severed ties with Iowa and the industry, I was never aware of an Iowa leader taking a stand on the radical steps needed to reshape the United States’ medical-health-industrial complex. In fact, strong stands were discouraged.

Meanwhile, in the almost 60 years since my time in the health care system, little of the industry's core has changed. As a nation, we tolerate the capitalist medical-industrial complex. Despite what politicians and others would have you believe, adding drugs to Medicare benefits and passing the Affordable Care Act needed major concessions to BigPharma, BigInsurance and BigEquipment. So while politicians and BigMedia propagandized by touting the benefits of these measures, the truth was buried and the umpteen-year-old so-called health care cost “crisis” continued.

How long have these observations festered? Probably since 1968, when I saw “The Graduate” and failed to understand the message: Live your life as you wish it. But, wait, Don Pardo, “There’s more.” During my second year, I enrolled in a photography course offered through the student union and almost washed my master’s thesis down the darkroom drain. How I wish I had.

After 25 mostly miserable years in the field, I had enough. I took a part-time job and went back to school. It took one journalism course before landing an internship covering the Colorado Legislature’s 1996 session and, then, my first job as a cub reporter. My drive to do investigative reporting scratched my anger itch and fueled my desire to hold to account those who need to be held responsible. I am proud of the work I did in journalism. I cherish the friends, the memories and the awards.

Few would dispute that the health and medical care system is deeply flawed and needs radical repair. “Medicare for All” would be a good start since we know that, despite swipes at government bureaucracy, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is far more efficient than BigInsurance. We need to de-fang the BigPharma, BigInsurance and BigEquipment lobbies. Pundits are only partly right when they lash out at physicians and hospital systems for the exorbitant health care costs. The inflation is driven by the choices forced into legislation by these lobbies. Failure to institute negotiation to lower drug prices for Medicare’s Part D is one example. “Saint” Ronald Reagan’s destruction of “Certificate of Need” and other measures to staunch duplication of services leading to unhealthy competition and inefficiency is another. And the propaganda that “free market” competition was good for health care and medicine? That was another “big lie,” and as false as “trickle down” economics. Joseph Goebbels would have been proud.

Which brings me back to the leadership in the hospital space. Graduate programs like Iowa’s have ceded their legitimacy to call the policy shots. Training administrators to game the system under the guise of fiduciary responsibilities is a cover and the perfect example of Albert Einstein’s definition of crazy. You can’t keep doing the same thing and expect a different result; unless of course this is all a kabuki dance with dancers who don’t want to change the tune.

It’s time for the clinicians seize control of the health care system. The leadership of hospitals and hospital systems should lie with physicians and other clinicians. One example of this successful paradigm is the Houston Methodist Hospital system. Those who come through the hospital management programs can be secondary players serving, as Ward Churchill said, “Little Eichmanns.” They and the other specialties like accounting and IT will have their proper roles. But the ship needs navigation by those who most understand what’s really going on at the patient level.

I didn’t have the courage in 1968 to walk out of the program and become a whistleblower. But in 1995 I took the steps that let me do more good than a lifetime of professional cowardice. The 22 years of comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable were the most fulfilling of my work life. For those of you who have dreams to follow, do so. Now.

A sermon worth hearing again and again

As far back as 2015, I joined others in predicting we would face a dystopian future with the GOP. That our predictions were accurate, especially as we realized that the parallels to 1930 Germany were the clear and present danger hulking over our nation, the long-term strategy of the right-wing was still below the radar. It wasn’t until 2017, when award-winning Duke University historian Nancy MacLean’s “Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right's Stealth Plan for America” revealed the depth of the march toward fascism. And, wile MacLean showed is the origins of this danger to our country, other books followed that documented the rest of the story.

But, since I’ve’ written far and wide about these works and the exposé, it’s unnecessary to do so here. Rather, what I want to do is preserve a sermon from St. Andres’s Episcopal Church in Amarillo, Texas. Mother Miriam Scott, one of the priests at St. Andrews, grew up in Germany and was well-versed in her country’s history and the acts of the Third Reich. That endowed her sermon with gravitas. Her warnings and conclusions about weaponizing Christianity and Jesus Christ himself, was (and is) a condemnation of the fundamentalist Christian evangelicals embrace of fascism. And, of their corrupted leaders leading their flocks into the hands of those who wish to hurt them. Indeed, Mother Scott labeled, rightly so, weaponizing Jesus was blasphemy.

I have listened to this sermon several times and each time I understand more. I have posted it to Facebook, but that may be too transient. I post it here for more permanence, I hope. Please take the time to listen again and again. It’s important.