A Voice in the Darkness

19/07/2025

The Hollow of Innocence

I once was young—
and fooled like all the rest.
Told the world was fair,
that good would triumph,
that love meant something
more than debt unpaid.

I swallowed bedtime stories whole,
believed in stars, in saints, in rules.
Thought grown-ups told the truth,
and promises were iron-bound.
What a fool I was,
sitting there in Sunday shoes,
hands folded like they'd shield me
from the coming fire.

The world came anyway.
Not like a storm—
not loud.
Just quietly,
taking things one by one.
The trust,
the awe,
the prayer before sleep.
Gone.

They say childhood is pure.
But purity is ignorance,
and ignorance, a lie
we feed to keep the softness in our eyes.

Still…
God help me,
there are days I’d trade this hard-won knowing
for five more minutes
believing
that monsters only lived under beds,
and not inside bank accounts,
wedding rings,
and headlines.

I don’t miss being young.
I miss the illusion
that I mattered,
that someone was in charge,
that crying out
meant someone would come.

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18/07/2025

Who do you talk to when the system is as corrupted—or as blind—as NASA was before the Challenger disaster? When the people in power aren't listening to the right voices, when warnings go unheard, and decisions are made to serve politics over people... how do you reach them?

You try to speak up.
You try to go through the proper channels.
And still, you're ignored.

It’s hard not to feel like shouting into the void when your representative is more interested in soundbites than solutions.

History has shown us what happens when leaders ignore experts.
Ask the families of the Challenger crew.

How many more preventable disasters must it take before they listen?

The inconvenient truths of Trump’s second term won’t be hidden in classified folders or redacted memos — they’ll be in plain sight.
Just like NASA before Challenger, the warnings are already here. Experts ignored. Whistleblowers silenced. Loyalty demanded, not to the Constitution, but to a man.

We’ve seen this play before:

Gutting institutions that serve the public good

Replacing experience with obedience

Turning fact into fiction and dissent into treason

The signs are there — like they were before that fateful January morning in 1986.
And just like then, people are trying to raise the alarm.
But are we listening?

Because when the next disaster comes, it won’t be an accident.
It will be the cost of willful blindness.

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15/07/2025

Lately, I’ve been thinking about George Orwell’s 1984—not as fiction, but as a warning. With talk heating up about a possible second Trump presidency, I can’t help but draw some chilling parallels between the novel’s dystopian world and the political trends we’re seeing now.

Let’s be clear: 1984 isn’t about Republican vs. Democrat. It’s about power, control of truth, and the erasure of dissent. And the more I hear about things like “loyalty tests,” purging the civil service, or rewriting the narrative of January 6th, the more Orwell’s world starts to feel a little too familiar.

In 1984, Big Brother rewrites history daily.
In our world, we see "alternative facts," banned books, and efforts to reshape how our children learn about race, gender, and American history.

1984 has constant surveillance and “thoughtcrime.”
Today, we see chilling rhetoric about rounding up political enemies, gutting federal protections, and demanding total ideological loyalty.

Orwell’s "Ministry of Truth" pumps out propaganda.
In 2025, we see politicians calling the free press “the enemy” while propping up only the outlets that serve their narrative.

This isn’t about fearmongering. It’s about paying attention. Orwell didn’t write 1984 so we could admire how prophetic he was—he wrote it so we’d stop it from happening.

A second Trump term isn’t guaranteed to become a dictatorship. But if we don’t hold the line on facts, justice, and democratic norms, it’s easy to slip from democracy into something darker.

History doesn’t repeat—but it often rhymes.

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10/07/2025

July 9 births
1249 – Emperor Kameyama of Japan (died 1305)
1455 – Frederick IV of Baden, Dutch bishop (died 1517)
1511 – Dorothea of Saxe-Lauenburg, queen consort of Denmark and Norway (died 1571)[18]
1526 – Elizabeth of Austria, Polish noble (died 1545)
1577 – Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, English-American soldier and politician, Colonial Governor of Virginia (died 1618)
1578 – Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor (died 1637)[19]
1601–1900
1654 – Emperor Reigen of Japan (died 1732)
1686 – Philip Livingston, American merchant and politician (died 1749)
1689 – Alexis Piron, French epigrammatist and playwright (died 1773)
1721 – Johann Nikolaus Götz, German poet and author (died 1781)
1753 – William Waldegrave, 1st Baron Radstock, English admiral and politician, 34th Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland (died 1825)
1764 – Ann Ward, English author and poet (died 1823)[20]
1775 – Matthew Lewis, English author and playwright (died 1818)
1777 – Paavo Ruotsalainen, Finnish farmer and lay preacher (died 1852)[21]
1808 – Alexander William Doniphan, American lawyer and colonel (died 1887)
1809 – Friedrich Gustav Jakob Henle, German physician, pathologist, and anatomist (died 1885)
1819 – Elias Howe, American inventor, invented the sewing machine (died 1867)
1825 – A. C. Gibbs, American lawyer and politician, 2nd Governor of Oregon (died 1886)
1828 – Luigi Oreglia di Santo Stefano, Italian cardinal (died 1913)
1834 – Jan Neruda, Czech journalist and poet (died 1891)
1836 – Camille of Renesse-Breidbach (died 1904)
1848 – Robert I, Duke of Parma (died 1907)
1853 – William Turner Dannat, American painter (died 1929)
1856 – John Verran, English-Australian politician, 26th Premier of South Australia (died 1932)
1858 – Franz Boas, German-American anthropologist and linguist (died 1942)
1867 – Georges Lecomte, French author and playwright (died 1958)
1879 – Carlos Chagas, Brazilian physician and parasitologist (died 1934)
1879 – Ottorino Respighi, Italian composer and conductor (died 1936)
1887 – James Ormsbee Chapin, American-Canadian painter and illustrator (died 1975)
1887 – Saturnino Herrán, Mexican painter (died 1918)
1887 – Samuel Eliot Morison, American admiral and historian (died 1976)
1889 – Léo Dandurand, American-Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and referee (died 1964)
1893 – George Geary, English cricketer and coach (died 1981)
1901–present
1901 – Barbara Cartland, English author (died 2000)
1902 – Peter Acland, English soldier (died 1993)
1905 – Clarence Campbell, Canadian ice hockey player and referee (died 1984)
1907 – Eddie Dean, American singer-songwriter (died 1999)
1908 – Allamah Rasheed Turabi, Pakistani philosopher and scholar (died 1973)
1908 – Minor White, American photographer, critic, and educator (died 1976)
1909 – Basil Wolverton, American author and illustrator (died 1978)
1910 – Govan Mbeki, South African anti-apartheid and ANC leader and activist (died 2001)
1911 – Mervyn Peake, English author and illustrator (died 1968)
1911 – John Archibald Wheeler, American physicist and author (died 2008)
1914 – Willi Stoph, German engineer and politician, 4th Prime Minister of East Germany (died 1999)
1914 – Mac Wilson, Australian rules footballer (died 2017)
1915 – David Diamond, American composer and educator (died 2005)
1915 – Lee Embree, American sergeant and photographer (died 2008)
1916 – Dean Goffin, New Zealand composer (died 1984)
1916 – Edward Heath, English colonel and politician; Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, 1970-74 (died 2005)
1917 – Krystyna Dańko, Polish orphan, survivor of Holocaust (died 2019)
1918 – Nicolaas Govert de Bruijn, Dutch mathematician and academic (died 2012)
1918 – Jarl Wahlström, Finnish 12th General of The Salvation Army (died 1999)
1921 – David C. Jones, American general (died 2013)
1922 – Kathleen Booth, British computer scientist and mathematician (died 2022)[22]
1922 – Angelines Fernández, Spanish-Mexican actress (died 1994)
1922 – Jim Pollard, American basketball player and coach (died 1993)[23]
1924 – Pierre Cochereau, French organist and composer (died 1984)
1925 – Guru Dutt, Indian actor, director, and producer (died 1964)
1925 – Charles E. Wicks, American engineer, author, and academic (died 2010)
1925 – Ronald I. Spiers, American ambassador (died 2021)
1926 – Murphy Anderson, American illustrator (died 2015)
1926 – Ben Roy Mottelson, American-Danish physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2022)
1926 – Pedro Dellacha, Argentine football defender and coach (died 2010)
1926 – Mathilde Krim, Italian-American medical researcher and health educator (died 2018)
1927 – Ed Ames, American singer and actor (died 2023)
1927 – Red Kelly, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and politician (died 2019)
1928 – Federico Bahamontes, Spanish cyclist (died 2023)
1928 – Vince Edwards, American actor, singer, and director (died 1996)
1929 – Lee Hazlewood, American singer-songwriter and producer (died 2007)
1929 – Jesse McReynolds, American singer and mandolin player (died 2023)
1929 – Chi Haotian, Chinese general
1929 – Hassan II of Morocco (died 1999)
1930 – K. Balachander, Indian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2014)
1930 – Buddy Bregman, American composer and conductor (died 2017)
1930 – Janice Lourie, American computer scientist and graphic artist
1930 – Elsa Lystad, Norwegian actress (died 2023)
1930 – Patricia Newcomb, American publicist
1930 – Roy McLean, South African cricketer and rugby player (died 2007)
1931 – Haynes Johnson, American journalist and author (died 2013)
1931 – Sylvia Bacon, American judge (died 2023)
1932 – Donald Rumsfeld, American captain and politician, 13th United States Secretary of Defense (died 2021)
1932 – Amitzur Shapira, Israeli sprinter and long jumper (died 1972)
1933 – Oliver Sacks, English-American neurologist, author, and academic (died 2015)
1934 – Michael Graves, American architect, designed the Portland Building and the Humana Building (died 2015)
1935 – Wim Duisenberg, Dutch economist and politician, Dutch Minister of Finance (died 2005)
1935 – Mercedes Sosa, Argentine singer and activist (died 2009)
1935 – Michael Williams, English actor (died 2001)
1936 – June Jordan, American poet and educator (died 2002)
1936 – David Zinman, American violinist and conductor
1937 – David Hockney, English painter and photographer
1938 – Brian Dennehy, American actor (died 2020)[24]
1938 – Sanjeev Kumar, Indian film actor (died 1985)
1940 – David B. Frohnmayer, American lawyer and politician, 12th Oregon Attorney General (died 2015)
1940 – Eugene Victor Wolfenstein, American psychoanalyst and theorist (died 2010)
1941 – Mac MacLeod, English musician (died 2020)
1942 – David Chidgey, Baron Chidgey, English engineer and politician (died 2022)
1942 – Richard Roundtree, American actor (died 2023)
1943 – John Casper, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut
1944 – Judith M. Brown, Indian-English historian and academic
1944 – John Cunniff, American ice hockey player and coach (died 2002)
1944 – Tabassum, Indian actress and talk show host (died 2022)[25]
1945 – Dean Koontz, American author and screenwriter
1945 – Root Boy Slim, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1993)
1946 – Bon Scott, Scottish-Australian singer-songwriter (died 1980)
1947 – Haruomi Hosono, Japanese singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer
1947 – Mitch Mitchell, English drummer (died 2008)
1947 – O. J. Simpson, American football player and actor (died 2024)[26]
1947 – Patrick Wormald, English historian (died 2004)
1948 – Hassan Wirajuda, Indonesian lawyer and politician, 15th Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs
1949 – Raoul Cédras, Haitian military officer and politician[27]
1950 – Amal ibn Idris al-Alami, Moroccan physician and neurosurgeon
1950 – Adriano Panatta, Italian tennis player and sailor
1950 – Viktor Yanukovych, Ukrainian engineer and politician, 4th President of Ukraine
1950 – Moisés Canelo, Honduran singer-songwriter (died 2024)[28]
1951 – Chris Cooper, American actor
1951 – Māris Gailis, Latvian politician, businessman, and former Prime Minister of Latvia
1952 – John Tesh, American pianist, composer, and radio and television host
1953 – Margie Gillis, Canadian dancer and choreographer
1953 – Thomas Ligotti, American author
1954 – Théophile Abega, Cameroonian footballer and politician (died 2012)
1954 – Kevin O'Leary, Canadian journalist and businessman
1955 – Steve Coppell, English footballer and manager
1955 – Lindsey Graham, American lawyer and politician
1955 – Jimmy Smits, American actor and producer
1955 – Willie Wilson, American baseball player and manager
1956 – Tom Hanks, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1956 – Michael Lederer, American author, poet, and playwright
1957 – Marc Almond, English singer-songwriter
1957 – Tim Kring, American screenwriter and producer
1957 – Kelly McGillis, American actress
1957 – Paul Merton, English comedian, actor, and screenwriter
1958 – Abdul Latiff Ahmad, Malaysian politician
1958 – Jacob Joseph, Malaysian football coach
1959 – Jim Kerr, Scottish singer-songwriter and keyboard player
1959 – Kevin Nash, American professional wrestler and actor[29]
1959 – Clive Stafford Smith, English lawyer and author
1960 – Yūko Asano, Japanese actress and singer
1960 – Wally Fullerton Smith, Australian rugby league player
1960 – Eduardo Montes-Bradley, Argentine journalist, photographer, and author
1963 – Klaus Theiss, German footballer
1964 – Courtney Love, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress
1964 – Gianluca Vialli, Italian footballer and coach (died 2023)[30]
1965 – Frank Bello, American bass player
1965 – Thomas Jahn, German director and screenwriter
1965 – Jason Rhoades, American sculptor (died 2006)
1966 – Pamela Adlon, American actress and voice artist
1966 – Zheng Cao, Chinese-American soprano and actress (died 2013)
1966 – Gary Glasberg, American television writer and producer (died 2016)
1966 – Marco Pennette, American screenwriter and producer
1967 – Gunnar Axén, Swedish politician
1967 – Yordan Letchkov, Bulgarian footballer
1967 – Mark Stoops, American football player and coach
1967 – Julie Thomas, Welsh lawn bowler[31]
1968 – Paolo Di Canio, Italian footballer and manager
1969 – Nicklas Barker, Swedish singer-songwriter and guitarist
1969 – Jason Kearton, Australian footballer and coach
1970 – Trent Green, American football player and sportscaster
1970 – Masami Tsuda, Japanese author and illustrator
1971 – Marc Andreessen, American software developer, co-founded Netscape
1972 – Ara Babajian, American drummer and songwriter
1973 – Kelly Holcomb, American football player and sportscaster
1974 – Siân Berry, English environmentalist and politician
1974 – Ian Bradshaw, Barbadian cricketer
1974 – Gary Kelly, Irish footballer
1974 – Kārlis Skrastiņš, Latvian ice hockey player (died 2011)[32]
1974 – Nikola Šarčević, Swedish singer-songwriter and bass player
1975 – Shelton Benjamin, American wrestler[33]
1975 – Isaac Brock, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1975 – Robert Koenig, American director, producer, and screenwriter
1975 – Craig Quinnell, Welsh rugby player
1975 – Jack White, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1976 – Thomas Cichon, Polish-German footballer and manager
1976 – Fred Savage, American actor, director, and producer
1976 – Radike Samo, Fijian-Australian rugby player
1978 – Kara Goucher, American runner
1978 – Nuno Santos, Portuguese footballer
1979 – Gary Chaw, Malaysian Chinese singer-songwriter
1981 – Lee Chun-soo, South Korean footballer
1981 – Junauda Petrus, American author and performance artist[34][35]
1982 – Alecko Eskandarian, American soccer player and manager
1982 – Sakon Yamamoto, Japanese race car driver
1984 – Chris Campoli, Canadian ice hockey player
1984 – Gianni Fabiano, Italian footballer
1984 – Jacob Hoggard, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
1984 – Ave Pajo, Estonian footballer
1984 – Piia Suomalainen, Finnish tennis player
1984 – LA Tenorio, Filipino basketball player
1985 – Paweł Korzeniowski, Polish swimmer
1985 – Ashley Young, English footballer
1986 – Sébastien Bassong, Cameroonian footballer
1986 – Simon Dumont, American skier
1986 – Kiely Williams, American singer-songwriter and dancer
1987 – Gert Jõeäär, Estonian cyclist
1987 – Rebecca Sugar, American animator, composer, and screenwriter
1988 – Raul Rusescu, Romanian footballer
1990 – Earl Bamber, New Zealand race car driver
1990 – Fábio, Brazilian footballer
1990 – Rafael, Brazilian footballer
1991 – Mitchel Musso, American actor and singer[36]
1993 – Mitch Larkin, Australian swimmer
1993 – DeAndre Yedlin, American footballer
1999 – Claire Corlett, American voice actress[37]
2003 – Conor Bradley, Northern Irish footballer[38]

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09/07/2025

Born Beneath the Headlines
for July 9

The world was loud the day I came. Flags were falling, shame whispered across the airwaves. A Prime Minister walked out mid-fight. Bombs fell. Raids lit up the sky. The Reds knocked five into the heavens. Watergate began its quiet deceit. A justice passed away, the headlines swelled—and somewhere, far from all that noise, a child exhaled.

In the hills of Norway, a cable snapped, and four souls vanished into the silence. The mountain kept their final breath. While far away, I slept—small and unknown.

No trumpet marked my birth. No headline circled my worth. No nurse proclaimed, “This one will change the world.” Just hushed tones, flickering fluorescents, and the quiet mystery of a new life.

I didn’t get the classroom birthday song. There was no paper crown, no frosting-heavy cake. No kids cheering my name. Just heat and sun. And that was that.

But I came. And I stayed. I grew up quietly, with roots that ran deep and hands that weathered time. I wasn’t loud. But I was here. I have carved my way through the years—not with spectacle, but with steady grace.

And what a date I came to share—July 9—with names etched into the public story:

Tom Hanks, with kind eyes and subtle grace.
Courtney Love, raw and tangled like lace.
Jack White, haunted by the blues.
Dean Koontz, spinning dark truths.
Oliver Sacks, who listened to minds sing.
Bon Scott, who thundered and burned.
Fred Savage, a spark of childlike light.
David Hockney, with bold color and form.
Lindsey Graham, storm-wrapped in suits.
Yanukovych, a figure of global tides.
Georgie Henley, royal and luminous.
And many more, just passing through.

Their names ride headlines, books, and films. But I, too, was born this day. Without the fame. Without the noise. Without the stage. An inkless arrival on history’s vast and crowded page.

So here’s to the others like me—the ones the world passed by. The quiet bloomers. The behind-the-scenes builders. The menders. The silent roars. The ones who shape without needing to shine.

I raise my glass today and make this vow:
You didn’t see me then—
but see me now.

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06/07/2025

The Devil’s Price: What Did America Trade Its Soul For?
If there ever was a deal made for the American soul, it didn’t come with fire and brimstone—it came with contracts, convenience, and coins clinking quietly in a backroom.

The devil didn’t show up in red. He wore a suit. He smiled politely. And he asked for very little at first.

Maybe it started with a treaty. A signature scratched onto paper with fingers crossed behind the back. Promises to Native nations broken before the ink dried. Land taken, rivers damned, buffalo slaughtered, languages silenced. And when the land flooded under reservoirs, when the spirits of ancestors were drowned beneath steel and concrete—did we even pause?

Maybe the price was greed. Not just wanting more, but needing more. Corporations ballooned, wealth stacked at the top, and soon, money wasn’t a means to live—but the measure of a man’s worth. When we started to call billionaires “job creators” instead of robber barons, maybe that was a turning point.

Maybe it was insider trading, quiet phone calls, offshore accounts. Ethics replaced by loopholes. Power used not for service, but for hoarding. A democracy slowly auctioned off in parts, and the voters left wondering why their voices echoed but were never heard.

Or maybe the price was hate. The kind that divides us by class, by skin, by God, by flag. The kind that sees difference not as richness, but as a threat. That whispers lies in hard times and turns neighbor against neighbor. That burns books, builds walls, and rewrites history to erase pain rather than learn from it.

So when did we sell our soul?

Maybe we didn’t do it all at once. Maybe we gave it away a thimble at a time. A compromise here. A silence there. A shrug when the powerful crushed the weak. An excuse when truth got too uncomfortable.

And now we look around, and the country feels hollow in places. Shiny on the outside, but brittle beneath. A place where children go hungry while stock prices soar. A place where truth bends to party lines, and justice is something you can afford—or not.

But here’s the thing the devil never tells you:
A soul can be reclaimed.

We can still turn back. We can still remember what it means to be one people, indivisible. We can still honor the treaties—not just with nations, but with ideals: with liberty, with dignity, with hope.

But we need to read the fine print.
We need to comb through the contract that sold us short, and find the loophole—the one they never expected us to notice.
The loophole that can save the country, and ourselves.

Because the deal is only final if we stop fighting.

And we haven’t stopped yet.

05/07/2025

How Project 2025 & the Big Beautiful Bill Attack the Middle Class
Area Impact on the Middle Class

Health Care Higher premiums and deductibles, fewer protections for preexisting conditions, and limited coverage options.
Middle-class families who earn too much for Medicaid but can't afford private insurance are hit hardest.

Education Cuts to Pell Grants, public school funding, and federal oversight of special education.
Upward mobility weakens as tuition rises and public schools lose vital support.

Tax Reform Flat tax proposals and reduced enforcement on the wealthy shift the tax burden downward.
Middle-class taxpayers pay relatively more while wealthy individuals use loopholes.

Social Programs Codified work mandates in SNAP, Medicaid, and TANF.
Middle-class families who fall into temporary hardship may be denied aid when they need it most.

Labor Rights Rollback of wage protections, union power, and job safety enforcement.
Teachers, postal workers, and skilled trades face greater job insecurity and fewer benefits.

Environmental Deregulation Rollbacks on EPA standards, end of energy-efficiency credits, and weakened oversight.
Pollution burdens shift to local communities—often middle-income and rural areas.

Public Service Cuts Privatization of Social Security management, reduction of public broadcasting and libraries.
Out-of-pocket expenses rise for services the middle class has long depended on.

And it was signed into law July 4 2025.

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05/07/2025

july 4 1776 we stood together against tyranny of a king and taxation run amuck -
249 years later they burn the constitution and wipe there rears with the bill of rights

04/07/2025

Every dollar this president strips from our allies abroad is a dollar handed over to the wealthiest here at home—not to invest in America’s future, but to line the pockets of those already bloated with greed. Now, in the name of 'budget cuts,' he's going after the most vulnerable among us—our seniors, our disabled, our children. He’s not slashing fraud or waste—he’s slashing your Social Security, your food assistance, your healthcare. While billionaires get richer, working families are told to wait their turn. And no one blinks. But maybe it's time we did. Maybe it's time we stood up and reminded Washington that the soul of this nation does not live in gold-plated towers, but in kitchen tables, church basements, and union halls. We built this country. And we won't be erased.

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03/07/2025

Yesterday, as in years past, was a day that may live in quiet infamy.

Not because bombs fell from foreign skies,
But because a coordinated assault was launched—not by enemies abroad,
But from within the very chambers of our democracy.

We have witnessed, in broad daylight, a series of attacks—
Attacks not with bullets, but with briefs,
Not with tanks, but with televised tantrums,
Not on beaches or bunkers,
But on the Constitution itself.

Our courts, once blind and balanced, are now tools in the hands of men
Who see the law not as protection for all—
But as a weapon for the few.

Allies long loyal to the cause of liberty—
Nations who stood beside us in war and peace—
Now find themselves ridiculed, betrayed, or abandoned
In favor of strongmen, despots, and those who scoff at the free world.

Make no mistake:
This is not politics as usual.
This is not another swing of the pendulum.

This is the slow-motion unraveling of a republic—
Unseen by those too weary,
And welcomed by those too proud to admit they were wrong.

You may have once believed in the man who brought this on.
He promised to shake things up.
To fight for the little guy.
To restore greatness.

But I ask you now—
Whose greatness?

Certainly not the worker whose union was broken.
Not the nurse whose benefits were slashed.
Not the small-town shopkeeper suffocated by corporate tax favors.

He says he loves the forgotten American—
But he forgets them daily.

And that wall…
Ah, yes.

That monument to fear.
That symbol of division.

Built to keep “them” out—
But if you dare to speak up,
To dissent,
To disagree…

You may find yourself on the outside of that wall—
Looking in.
Wondering when the promise of freedom became a gated illusion.

They call the immigrant a threat.
They call the struggling parent a scammer.
They say a pregnant woman is not a miracle,
But a loophole.

This is not patriotism.
It is prejudice, dressed up in stars and stripes.

And if you cheered as the rights of others were stripped away,
Don’t be surprised when yours are next.

Because when power tastes blood,
It always comes back for more.

I say this tonight not to divide us,
But to awaken us.

To remind you that democracy is not inherited—it is earned.
Every generation must hold the line.
And we, my friends, are that generation now.

So I ask you:

When he turns on you—and he will—
When the jobs vanish,
When your vote is questioned,
When your voice is no longer welcome—

Will you still defend him?

Or will you remember that America’s strength
Was never found in wealth or weapons,
But in we the people—united, defiant, and unafraid?

Let us rise not with vengeance,
But with vigilance.

Not with flags of one man,
But with the banner of all people.

And let it be said that when the storm gathered,
We did not sit quietly.
We did not bow.
We stood.

For liberty.
For justice.
For the republic.

Good night.
And may our better angels be loud.

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02/07/2025

They say this land is free and brave,
But fear now fills the home we gave.
Where justice once stood tall and proud,
It whispers now, beneath the crowd.

They knock at night without a name,
A badge, a file, a hint of shame.
No trial comes, no case is read—
Just vanished lives, just tears instead.

The laws, they say, are cold but fair—
Yet blood runs hot in vacant chairs.
A killer stands with rights intact,
But migrants vanish, never back.

No jury waits, no lawyer pleads,
No chance to speak of hopes or needs.
Just chains, and planes, and border walls,
As if the law forgot us all.

You chant “go home”—but where is that
For one born here, in cap and hat?
For one who dreamed in English verse,
Yet finds their name a twisted curse?

The Irish came, and so did mine,
On ships, with hope, in ragged lines.
We toiled, we built, we paid our dues—
And now you blame the next to lose?

You guard the gate, as if it saves
The truth we etched on copper graves:
"Give me your tired, your poor, your soul..."
But now we post “Keep out” signs bold.

And still you claim this hate is pride—
A flag to wave, a truth denied.
But justice chained and speech suppressed
Will burn the stripes upon our chest.

So hear this now, before it slips:
True power lies in joined up lips.
Not in the knock, not in the cell—
But in the words we speak and yell.

For when the silence chokes the skies,
And crosses cover frightened eyes,
Remember what Sinclair once warned,
Before the stars and stripes were torn:

“When fascism comes to America,”
he said with sorrow, not with gloss,
“It will be wrapped in the flag...
and carrying the cross.”They say this land is free and brave,
But fear now fills the home we gave.
Where justice once stood tall and proud,
It whispers now, beneath the crowd.

They knock at night without a name,
A badge, a file, a hint of shame.
No trial comes, no case is read—
Just vanished lives, just tears instead.

The laws, they say, are cold but fair—
Yet blood runs hot in vacant chairs.
A killer stands with rights intact,
But migrants vanish, never back.

No jury waits, no lawyer pleads,
No chance to speak of hopes or needs.
Just chains, and planes, and border walls,
As if the law forgot us all.

You chant “go home”—but where is that
For one born here, in cap and hat?
For one who dreamed in English verse,
Yet finds their name a twisted curse?

The Irish came, and so did mine,
On ships, with hope, in ragged lines.
We toiled, we built, we paid our dues—
And now you blame the next to lose?

You guard the gate, as if it saves
The truth we etched on copper graves:
"Give me your tired, your poor, your soul..."
But now we post “Keep out” signs bold.

And still you claim this hate is pride—
A flag to wave, a truth denied.
But justice chained and speech suppressed
Will burn the stripes upon our chest.

So hear this now, before it slips:
True power lies in joined up lips.
Not in the knock, not in the cell—
But in the words we speak and yell.

For when the silence chokes the skies,
And crosses cover frightened eyes,
Remember what Sinclair once warned,
Before the stars and stripes were torn:

“When fascism comes to America,”
he said with sorrow, not with gloss,
“It will be wrapped in the flag...
and carrying the cross.”

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