….and not just in Congress

from “The Second Coming” by William Butler Yeats

Dear Donald – a campaign 2016 letter to Donald Trump

Image via Flikr and is owned by Gage Skidmore

Donald, I wish I could look beyond your loose mouth, your impulsiveness, and your short fuse, but I can’t. They were fun, attractive, exciting and very different from what I had come to expect from politicians. Your latest comments went too far, however, old friend.  You have shown a crass inability to know that, as in business, there is an art to being a Commander-In-chief. The two arts are very, very different, though.

This is a campaign to decide who will be my next President, it is not a reality show and it is not your next ‘Deal’. Do you understand the difference?

The Gay Agenda: Identity, Liberty and Tolerance

Pink triangle worn by gay prisoner of Nazis during WWII – Image courtesy of Padraig Rooney ( http://padraigrooney.com/blog/ )

As I write this ten days have passed since the Supreme Court of the United States granted to same-sex couples throughout the Republic the same legal benefits and responsibilities of civil marriage available to straight couples. I have written previously  of why I will not wave the rainbow flag and my views on marriage, and about the attitude and actions of many gay people chasing down alleged ‘rights’.

I’d like to speak now of why I think many gay people, rather than feel grateful that the culture at large has become supportive of us, instead feel compelled to force those few folks who do not support gay marriage or gay relationships to either change their minds or pay in dollars, ostracism and loss of basic liberties.

Independence Day – a love story

Are the liberators here?

Well, tomorrow is Independence Day. As some might tell from my writings I am in perpetual awe of the magnitude of what our country represents.

Unique among nations, we exist due not to random events, actors or actions – most nations being formed as a result of wars, seizure of land and the vagaries of personalities – but rather due to the deliberate intent to found a country based on an idea and because the men who founded the United States had had enough and had grown weary of tyranny. The risks they took and their willingness to suffer the consequences amazes me. I am thankful that I was not among them, deciding whether I would take on that risk for myself.

Praying for light – gay marriage and the aftermath

Marriage equality?

Well, it’s official.

Marriage equality has arrived in America. It seems appropriate to mark the occasion, seeing as the issue hits so close to home.

Where to start? First, I’ll begin by saying that I am happy beyond words that gays and lesbians throughout the Nation, finally, will have the exact same civil benefits and responsibilities everyone else is afforded. It is proper and right that we should have them.

No government of a nation dedicated to treating its citizens equally under the law should be allowed to discriminate against its own citizens. Moreover, no nation that claims to pride itself on valuing property rights can dare to deny to citizens the basic right to enter into a contract. That being said, this decision, the debate leading up to it and the aftermath that has followed, is not something I feel like dancing and smiling about. You will not find my profile pic draped in a rainbow flag.