We (The People) Stand United for the Common Good

Autocracy, authoritarianism, dictatorship, totalitarianism, despotism, monocracy, fascism – so many ways to describe the current state of the (not so) United States of America.

Here in the U.S., both the public and private spheres have been abuzz about whether our country is experiencing a Constitutional crisis. For the most part - at least in the U.S. mainstream/corporate media - people tend to dance around the topic, stating or inferring that we are not yet there (wherever "there" is). 

The website of the U.S. House of Representatives provides an authoritative explanation of how our Federal government is designed and intended to function in order to uphold the Constitution: "To ensure a separation of powers, the U.S. Federal Government is made up of three branches: legislative, executive and judicial. To ensure the government is effective and citizens’ rights are protected, each branch has its own powers and responsibilities, including working with the other branches." That seems clear enough; the system is structured to allow each branch to check and balance the others to prevent any one branch from becoming too powerful – that is, assuming at least one or two branches are functioning as intended.

Something is certainly not working in that U.S. President Donald Trump and his cabal are clearly running roughshod over the other two branches of government (definitely not "working with" them) as he – with a sweep of his pen - eviscerates one governmental agency and law after another, disappears people and deports them without any due process, and attempts to remove anyone - and particularly any judge - who comes even remotely close to throwing a wrench in the gears of his shredder. While at least some judges are upholding their duty to the Constitution, the (Republican) majority in Congress is certainly not!

Yet, beyond the talk of a Constitutional crisis, there is another, deeper, and far more important, question: Just what, beyond the Constitution itself, is really going on here and why? 

Beyond putting people's health, safety and financial security at risk, Trump is consolidating power at breakneck speed, undermining every check and balance, as well as the rule of law, and ultimately the nation's founding documents. He expects, and even demands, personal loyalty of everyone in government; threatens to jail political opponents; spreads conspiracy theories; fires anyone in the Federal government who exposes the truth or whom he sees as a threat to his power; threatens journalists and any public speech with which he disagrees in a blatant suppression of the First Amendment's guarantee of Freedom of Expression; conducts mass extrajudicial deportations; and much, much more.

It is clear that what we are witnessing is far beyond a Constitutional crisis. Of course it is a Constitutional crisis, but what is creating the crisis is a very well planned, and extremely well coordinated, effort to eviscerate what is left of the U.S. Democracy and establish an authoritarian state (a.k.a. DICTATORSHIP) run by a cabal of White Christian Nationalists. 

As for The Constitution of the United States, I wouldn't be surprised to see "We the People" removed (by Executive Order of course) from the preamble any day now. 

Elie Mystal, The Nation's justice correspondent, speaking on DemocracyNow! on March 19th is one of the people with the clear vision and courage to have stated what is happening right before our eyes:

“We live in a fascist dictatorship. That’s what’s happening right now. That’s what it feels like. This is where we are. There is not a coming constitutional crisis; we are in the constitutional crisis right now. Because what do we have — how can we call ourselves a democracy, how can we call ourselves a nation of laws, if one man, and one man alone, Donald Trump, is able to defy the other two branches of government? That’s what we have here. And that’s what Trump promised to do, and that’s what he is, in fact, doing.”

While it is clear that we are living through a crisis like never before in the U.S., what is less clear is the fact that the current crisis should come as no surprise, at least to any student of history. The groundwork for this crisis began well before the Constitution was written – history paints the picture: the kidnapping of “others” from distant shores to be used as slaves to build our economy, the conquest and genocide of Native Americans to steal their lands, of the building up of military power with which to threaten and control other countries for their resources and, in more modern times creation of the National Security State (and using fear of other countries) to justify whatever the government does as absolutely necessary for the protection of the people, the undue influence of corporations as“crony capitalism”, ignoring laws – both domestic and international, and the long-standing abandonment by Congress of its sole authority to declare war. 

Those who have worked long and hard to prepare for this moment – including the creators of the infamous (and chilling) Project 2025 – are also the product of a long and ugly history: the Civil War that, as with most wars, never really ended; it planted new roots whose tree bore bitter fruit – manifest in the Ku Klux Klan, Joh Birch Society... and today's Heritage Foundation and other institutions built on White Christian Nationalism and other associated ultra-conservative thinking. Project 2025 is the culmination of decades of patience and planning (as well as the grooming of ultra-conservative judges), and we are seeing the results evolve in real time.

Most, if not nearly all, U.S. presidents have likely not seen this coming. They have been blind to the signs that they were leading the U.S. down the slippery slope by setting a precedent through their abuse of power that now presents an existential danger to the Republic. Examples include their unilateral use of war powers, extrajudicial detention (Guantanamo), and extrajudicial assassinations, to name a few. 

At this point in history, any remaining threads of Democracy in the U.S. are threatened by what is a descent into a full-on authoritarian Fascist state.

Political scientist Dr. Lawrence Britt wrote about fascism (“Fascism Anyone?,” in Free Inquiry, Spring 2003, page 20). Studying seven fascist regimes, including those of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia), and Pinochet (Chile), Dr. Britt found they all had 14 elements in common. He calls these the identifying characteristics of fascism.

Britt said his "Analysis of these seven regimes reveals fourteen common threads that link them in recognizable patterns of national behavior and abuse of power. These basic characteristics are more prevalent and intense in some regimes than in others, but they all share at least some level of similarity."

A number of these elements are extremely troubling in that they have existed in the U.S. to some degree for decades (and even centuries) leading up to our current crisis. Yet now, all of them are in place, and there are no apparent guardrails left to keep them in check. Our Democracy is in extreme peril.

LAWRENCE BRITT'S 14 IDENTIFYING CHARACTERISTICS OF A FASCIST STATE

1) Powerful and Continuing Nationalism
Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.

2) Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights
Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of “need.” The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, and long incarcerations of prisoners.

3) Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause
The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial, ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists...

4) Supremacy of the Military
Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.

5) Rampant Sexism
The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Opposition to abortion is high, as is homophobia and anti-gay legislation.

6) Controlled Mass Media
Sometimes the media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation or by sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Government censorship and secrecy, especially in war time, are very common.

7) Obsession with National Security
Fear of hostile foreign powers is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.

8) Religion and Government are Intertwined
Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government’s policies or actions.

9) Protection of Corporate Power
The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.

10) Suppression of Labor Power
Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed .

11) Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts
Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts is openly attacked, and governments often refuse to fund the arts.

12) Obsession with Crime and Punishment
Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.

13) Rampant Cronyism and Corruption
Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.

14) Fraudulent Elections
Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.

HOW DO WE THE PEOPLE RESPOND TO THIS CRISIS?

The only way to respond to Fascism is for We The People to come together in community for the common good. To stand up for the rule of law (rather than the rule of lawlessness), for human rights (rather than the rights of the rich and powerful), and for a better nation for ALL (and not just a privileged few).

We must not allow fear to paralyze us. Trump and his cronies are using the tactics of threats and intimidation in an attempt to control us and extinguish resistance to his authoritarian rule. By coming together in community we find other people with whom to share our concerns and fears and, most importantly, build a strong, resilient, and powerful movement to resist Fascist power.

Each of us is a unique human being, with our own abilities and limits. We must find what inspires us, what we feel able to do, and then try to push ourselves just a bit outside our comfort zone. 

We must also be strategic in our planning, and use calculated tactics in all our actions. Above all, we must always apply nonviolence in every action. Nonviolent resistance is a transformative force for change. Gene Sharp's 198 methods of nonviolent action is a helpful starting point to understand what constitutes nonviolent action. 

Martin Luther King, Jr. was both a modern-day prophet and a true believer in the power of nonviolence; not a popular belief in a country he called out as, “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today.” That statement, made in 1967, rings true now as it did then, even more so. 

King’s conceptualization of nonviolence had six key principles. 

1. One can resist evil without resorting to violence. 

2. Nonviolence seeks to win the “friendship and understanding” of the opponent, not to humiliate them (King, Stride Toward Freedom, 84). 

3. Evil itself, not the people committing evil acts, should be opposed. 

4. Those committed to nonviolence must be willing to suffer without retaliation as suffering itself can be redemptive. 

5. Nonviolent resistance avoids “external physical violence” and “internal violence of spirit” as well: “The nonviolent resister not only refuses to shoot his opponent but he also refuses to hate him” (King, Stride, 85). The resister should be motivated by love in the sense of the Greek word agape, which means “understanding,” or “redeeming good will for all [people]” (King, Stride, 86). 

6. The nonviolent resister must have a “deep faith in the future,” stemming from the conviction that “The universe is on the side of justice” (King, Stride, 88).

Dr. King held a deep spiritual belief that violent revolution was impractical: “Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that. The beauty of nonviolence is that in its own way and in its own time it seeks to break the chain reaction of evil” (King, Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community, 62–63).

The time for action is now! People across the country are already acting in solidarity - marching, rallying, and protesting against the Trump regime's destruction of our country. And there is much more to come.

Saturday, April 5^th will be the largest mass mobilization to date – the NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION. The message will be clear: Hands off our Democracy! A core principle behind all Hands Off! events is a commitment to nonviolent action. Please find an event near you, and find as many other people in your community to participate. Together, our voices are strong; we will be heard! 

For the Common Good! 

“No Guilty Bystander” tells the inspirational story of Thomas Gumbleton

Book review by Leonard Eiger; July 6, 2023

What does it mean to live as a follower of Jesus in the struggle for justice in today's world? “No Guilty Bystander: The Extraordinary Life of Bishop Thomas Gumbleton,” tells the inspirational story of one bishop who has lived such a life in a world deeply in need of healing. 

The authors of this well-researched book published by Orbis Books, Frank Fromherz and Suzanne Sattler, IHM, have done a deep dive into the rich and often stormy career of a bishop who took on so many issues – including racism, poverty, war, clerical sex abuse, gender issues and nuclear weapons. Through his story we see that it is possible for a member of the clergy to be a follower of the Gospel teachings within a church structure that is itself flawed and in need of healing.

In my own time leading a social justice ministry in the United Methodist Church some years ago, I regularly read The Peace Pulpit, Bishop Gumbleton's weekly homily in the National Catholic Reporter. His homilies were unlike any I had heard from other priests, and greatly informed my own work in the church and beyond. A bold example of his work was his 2004 Christmas morning homily, in which he spoke of the horrific violence in Iraq and said that, “War will not ever bring peace. That's clearly part of the message communicated to us through Jesus who is the full revelation of God. The only way you can bring peace is by transforming the world through love and goodness, spreading the message of Jesus, spreading the love of Jesus. That's the only way.”    

At that time I was beginning to meet, and work with, Catholic priests, nuns and lay people who were the antithesis of what I had experienced as Catholicism, and Gumbleton was certainly among them. For someone “trained and socialized in a hierarchal-clerical culture,” he broke out of the mold, and with open heart and open mind listened deeply – both to The Word and to those around him who challenged the established and rigid church dogma – and grew as a follower of the loving, nonviolent Jesus. This growth informed his work in the church on every level throughout his career as priest and bishop.

Bishop Gumbleton initially found himself immersed in the issue of the Vietnam war. For him this was what Chapter 1 calls his “Personal Turning Point,” a time of great inner transformation. Many factors came together to inform his understanding, including the writings of Thomas Merton, the pacifism of Dorothy Day, and the statements of young draftees “who faced their own personal and existential questions of conscience.” The sacrifice paid by Franz Jaggerstatter in World War II also had a major impact on his objection to the war and his support of conscientious objectors. Gumbleton admitted that it was no easy journey: “I was struggling to determine what my response to the war should be...” 

Gumbleton's trip to Vietnam in 1973, in which he witnessed atrocities committed on behalf of his own government, was one of many trips he would make in witness to suffering in other countries – including Colombia, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Haiti, Iraq and Afghanistan. All of these journeys motivated him find “ways to help and provide effective solidarity” to those in need. As Gumbleton once said, “You can't know the situation of the poor and their suffering from the violence... unless you see some of it firsthand, experience it, and come to understand their life from their perspective.”

It is no small irony that this humble follower of the nonviolent ways of Jesus was once “characterized as 'the most radical member of the U.S. Catholic Bishops Conference... who is into very questionable stuff.'” This was in the context of El Salvador where Gumbleton was considered a subversive by both the U.S. and Salvadoran governments. After Gumbleton travelled to Nicaragua in 1986, “he told the press: 'We've been lied to in order to promote the current war between the Sandinista government and the U.S.-backed Contra rebels.'” Although it was not the bishop's natural inclination to be in the spotlight, Gumbleton time and time again spoke out strongly about injustice wherever he found it.

In a chapter that could have been titled The Straw That Broke the Camel's Back we learn of Gumbleton's ministry to, and advocacy on behalf of, victims of clerical sex abuse in the Catholic Church. As with every other issue it began with him compassionately listening to what victims had endured, and in this case he provided testimony for the Ohio state legislature arguing that, “full disclosure of the abuse is essential to hold perpetrators and the church accountable, heal victims and restore the church's 'moral credibility' at a time when 'more than a few feel that church social teachings ring with hypocrisy...” Gumbleton had barely arrived home when the political firestorm began.

When all was said and done (in 2007), Bishop Gumbleton was removed from both his roles as bishop and as pastor of St. Leo's in Detroit. The book quotes Canon lawyer Thomas Doyle referring to Gumbleton's prophetic stance on clerical sex abuse: “If a bishop stands up for what is right and has the courage to express his stand, he will quickly find himself cast out with the rest of us... Bravo for Tom. He did what Jesus would have done.” Indeed he did!

The authors have not only told the stories of Bishop Gumbleton's experience with Vietnam and the clerical abuse scandal. From ministering to the people of his parish to his support for LGBTQ+ rights to nuclear weapons, the book chronicles Gumbleton's growth and prophetic activism as a member of the human family and as a bishop, doing the work he felt called to do.

I spoke with Bishop Gumbleton in 2021 about his friend and colleague Archbishop Raymond Hunthausen who is remembered for his strong stance against nuclear weapons. During that conversation Gumbleton spoke prophetically about the extraordinary immorality of our nation's worship of nuclear weapons. He noted that while some bishops have said President Joe Biden should be denied Communion for his stance on abortion, Catholics serving on a Trident ballistic missile submarine can receive Communion from a Catholic chaplain. “They reinforce these enlisted people wherever we have these weapons, essentially giving their blessing and that of the church,” Gumbleton said. “You have Catholic chaplains supporting the military people who have the intention to use nuclear weapons.” 

Instead, Gumbleton said, the church needs reform to contend with the evil that threatens to destroy the planet: through war and environmental destruction. “Right now we need a profound conversion within the church if we are going to speak God’s word with any type of authenticity,” he said. “That is not going on right now. ... So that makes someone like Ray Hunthausen stand out all the more. If we had 300 of the bishops speaking out like Ray Hunthausen, we might be getting someplace.” 

After reading “No Guilty Bystander” I realized that there was much about this humble servant of God that I had not known. It also became clear just how much his earlier homilies inspired my work to this day – that it is (to quote Gumbleton) – “not enough... to be privately, individually moral, in the face of evil embedded in the very structure of the social system... The believing person says, I will try to speak God's name into this madness and stop it.” If there were 300 bishops today speaking out like Tom Gumbleton, the church might be leading the way to a better world. 

The authors took the title of their book from Thomas Merton’s 1966 “Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander,” in which Merton wrestled with his contemplative life in contrast to the immense suffering in the world outside of his retreat. Yet, his writings reached far and wide and informed so many people's lives and work including Gumbleton, whose life is evidence that he, too, was “No Guilty Bystander.”

Thanks to Frank Fromherz and Suzanne Sattler for this rich and comprehensive telling of the life's work of a humble and, if I may be so bold, radical priest. 

You may order “No Guilty Bystander” from Orbis Books, which will give (as designated by the authors) all royalties from sales of “No Guilty Bystander” to the Kay Lasante Health Clinic in Haiti, which Bishop Gumbleton helped to establish. 

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Leonard Eiger is an activist and member of Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action.

The Big Superbowl Scam

February 12, 2023

Many, many years ago I enjoyed sitting in the bleachers, bundled up on a cool fall Saturday evening watching a high school football game and cheering on the local team. It was, for me, real - a bunch of high school kids doing something they were good at, and bringing people together for some good, friendly competition. College football, which even then was more organized and better funded, still had that feeling of simpler times.

Today I certainly don't get that warm, fuzzy feeling about football at any level. As for professional football... where to begin?

By the time you read this, Superbowl LVII will be over and the winning team will on its way home for the big parade where the players will brandish their huge trophy and flash their massive Superbowl rings. Yet, even before the game begins you don't have to be a Las Vegas bookmaker to know who the real winners (yes, plural) are in the Superbowl?

Side Note: This year's carefully scripted military flyover will make history by being the first ever all-women team of Navy pilots. At least it won't involve the Global Strike Command's (that's the folks who would be in charge of the end-of-the-world... you know – NUCLEAR WAR) Superbowl 55 nuclear-capable bomber flyover involving three (yes, three!) different bombers; a most impressive spectacle that made people go “ooh and aah,” rather than “WTF!!!” But I digress...

As the New York Times said this morning, “Super Bowl Sunday is akin to a national holiday, one of the few times of year that tens of millions of Americans do the same activity at the same time.” Ain't that the truth. And, of course, being the most-watched program on American TV by a huge margin means huge advertising revenue, and that will likely be dominated by... BOOZE ads, along with cars (well, mostly BIG, manly trucks), pizza and chicken wings.

On a positive note I will mention, although it's barely a blip on most of America's Superbowl Sunday radar, Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl special, an annual televised event featuring dozens of cute puppies taking to a scaled-down football stadium. A “rufferee” oversees “Team Ruff” versus “Team Fluff” as they play for the coveted “Lombarky” Trophy. There is no flyover, and likely no beer advertising, so it's understandable why it's so overshadowed by the Superbowl.

But let's get down to the real issue (I have) with the Superbowl. OK, aside from the fact that it is a massive feel-good opportunity for the Pentagon, boosting people's patriotic fervor for the Forever Wars, and likely boosting visits to military recruiting offices, it is, above all really, really good financially for the team owners.

Aside from the profits from advertising and merchandising, the team owners benefit hugely from taxpayer dollars. As economist Robert Reich points out, “Since 1990, franchises in major North American sports leagues have intercepted upwards of $30 billion worth of taxpayer funds from state and local governments to build stadiums.”

And that's just part of their (sweet) deal. Aside from the Green Bay Packers that, miraculously, is owned by over half a million “Cheeseheads,” the rest of the franchises are privately owned by very rich people, each owner worth at least a billion dollars (and it's not just football teams...).

One would think that public funding would bring public benefits, yet, as economist Reich points out, this does not appear to be the case, as studies have pointed out. As one article said, “There are a lot of things economists disagree about, but the economic impact of sports stadiums is not one of them.”

Instead, between tax breaks, reimbursements on everything from utilities to maintenance and repairs, and all the revenue on tickets and concessions, it's a cash cow (with apologies to our bovine friends).

Capping all this off is the extortion exerted by franchise owners! How many times have we heard about owners threatening to move a team to a different city if they didn't get their way. Here is sunny Seattle, Starbucks’ founder Howard Schultz, who owned the Seattle Supersonics basketball franchise, failed to get public funding to build a new stadium. So what happened? That's right; the coffee billionaire sold the team to another wealthy businessman who moved it to Oklahoma. In all fairness, it is a lot sunnier there.

And, it's not just state and local money; it's also our Federal tax dollars that help fund Superbowl. The 600+ Department of Homeland Security (DHS) personnel are just the beginning of the Federal largesse bestowed upon this year's sacred event (all in the name of National Security). The Federal government's involvement in protecting Superbowl is so massive that even before the kickoff of this year's game, the DHS is already preparing for next year's game in Las Vegas. 

So what is all this really about? Well, to let the people's economist Robert Reich have the last word: “The most egregious part of how the system currently works is that every dollar we spend building stadiums is a dollar we aren’t using for hospitals or housing or schools. We are underfunding public necessities in order to funnel money to billionaires for something they could feasibly afford. So, instead of spending billions on extravagant stadiums, we should be investing taxpayer money in things that improve the lives of everyone — not just the bottom lines of profitable sports teams and their owners. Because when it comes to stadium deals, the only winners are billionaires.”

You've probably guessed by now what I will be watching this year on Puppy Bowl Sunday...