“All war is a symptom of man’s failure as a thinking animal.” - John Steinbeck Private First Class Bradford Freeman, Easy Company If you wanted to save the world from tyranny, you’d probably not seek out Mississippi country boy Bradford Freeman. His profile had to seem unlikely to be placed amid historic geopolitical storms that threatened humanity. There he was, though, in the midnight sky approaching the northern coast of France, June 6, 1944, loaded down with an 18-pound mortar plate, ready to parachute into the dark fields of Normandy and attack German defenses in the advance of the D-Day invasion.
Mark Twain is credited with the quote that “a lie can get all the globe before the truth is putting on its shoes” and that pretty much describes our dilemma. Just try to change the mind of a MAGA—they are locked in. I’ve tried every bit of salesmanship I know to change the mind of friends and family. I sympathize with the pols that are trying. The only hope is to get people with a modicum of sanity out to vote in November and then we have to do that over and over and over again. This madness is going to be here for a while.
James, thank you for this essay and for the work you did to expose the wrongdoing of George W. Bush and his administration. I was a Texas newspaper journalist throughout Bush's electoral career. For me, it was a time of political disgust and disillusionment matched only by Trump's tenure and his efforts to overthrow our democracy.
I'll cast my vote in November in an attempt, yet again, to fight back the forces of ignorance that seek to bring an end to this American experiment.
Keep up the good fight, and thank you for doing your part.
Mark Twain is credited with the quote that “a lie can get all the globe before the truth is putting on its shoes” and that pretty much describes our dilemma. Just try to change the mind of a MAGA—they are locked in. I’ve tried every bit of salesmanship I know to change the mind of friends and family. I sympathize with the pols that are trying. The only hope is to get people with a modicum of sanity out to vote in November and then we have to do that over and over and over again. This madness is going to be here for a while.
Come November, we may be confronting the fulcrum moment on whether or not our democracy will stand upright or teeter off balance, falling to its doom.
Great article and timely too.
James, thank you for this essay and for the work you did to expose the wrongdoing of George W. Bush and his administration. I was a Texas newspaper journalist throughout Bush's electoral career. For me, it was a time of political disgust and disillusionment matched only by Trump's tenure and his efforts to overthrow our democracy.
I'll cast my vote in November in an attempt, yet again, to fight back the forces of ignorance that seek to bring an end to this American experiment.
Keep up the good fight, and thank you for doing your part.