If you believe in our constitution and our country…

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

People and governments all over the world can clearly see we are heading toward an authoritarian government. Yet some Americans just can’t believe it can happen here. Well, it IS happening here.

If you believe in our constitution, democracy, the right for all of us to live peacefully in this country… then start to listen, really listen and watch what is going on. READ the big “beautiful” horrendous bill this administration is trying to pass. Watch the actual videos of ICE dragging away innocent mothers, screaming and crying for their babies — they are NOT “criminals, rapists and murderers.” These are people who have green cards or are at immigration court, doing what they were supposed to. Some are professors and lawyers, sent to detention camps because this administration doesn’t like anyone to voice differing opinions. Some are American citizens being “mistakenly” kidnapped and sent to detention centers or other countries, because they have brown skin.

When people are being fired, threatened, kidnapped, arrested, denied access to the country, or sent to a foreign prison for saying anything against what this administration is trying to do, then we are not the United States of America anymore. When people who protest children being killed and starving to death in Gaza are being sent to camps for voicing their opinion, we are not in the United States of America. That’s not free speech. When the press is being threatened if they report on anything negative about this administration or its policies, that’s not the United States of America anymore. That’s not freedom of the press. When seniors with disabilities in wheelchairs are being zip-tied and arrested for staging a peaceful protest against healthcare cuts, that’s not the United States of America.

The evangelicals running this show are so far from being the Christians they profess to be. It’s all about racism, money and power. The Christian right’s support of Trump is idolatry and heresy. Their racism and cruelty are on full display. They do not care if poor children are denied a free lunch at school or medical care. They do not care if 16 million people are kicked off Medicaid and Medicare. They do not care if our Social Security is taken away (which is OUR money, not the government’s). They do not care if white South Africans come to this country, as long as they are white. They do not care if Trump wants to sell rich white people a “Gold Card” for millions of dollars in exchange for citizenship to our country. They do not care if our Veterans get the care they deserve and earned. They do not care if our Public Lands are sold off to the highest bidder. They do not care that the insurrectionists from Jan 6^th were pardoned, even though they damaged our Capitol, broke in, hurt and killed policemen, and threatened our elected representatives and our country.

They do not care that Democrat State Representative, Melissa Hortman, as well as her husband Mark and their dog Gilbert were assassinated by a radical right-wing christian… or that Democrat State Senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette were shot that same day and survived. The president didn’t even have the class, respect, compassion or humanity to call the families or reach out in any way. He dismissed it, made a mockery of it.

They do not care that womens’ rights are being stripped away. That if a 12-year old girl is raped and impregnated by her father in Mississippi, that she must carry that baby to term. Or if a woman needs a life-saving abortion to save her life. Or if a woman has a miscarriage and is afraid she will be thrown in jail. They don’t care about women who are devastated by losing a child, they want to know what she did to “cause” that to happen. I had a miscarriage, have you?? It rocks your world when you are trying to have a baby. But, these people only care about the unborn — not the mother or children living who need food, school, shelter or healthcare.

They do not care that the KKK and Proud Boys are here, even though they say they are after gangs and violent criminals. They only care to remove all brown skinned people from this country. When they finish with that, who is next?? Disabled people? Special needs children? Seniors? Democrats? Jewish people? Let’s face it, it will be ANYONE WHO DISAGREES WITH THE GOVERNMENT, at that point.

This is not far-fetched… it’s already happening. And the desensitizing and cruelty is part of it. They want to chip away at the compassion and empathy we have for other humans. And obviously, it’s working.

They are dismantling the government and our constitution – destroying people’s lives — AND this is not a Christian nation. It’s a nation where you are free to be Christian or any other religion you want. Separation of church and state — that’s what we were built on.

The United States used to be a country that accepted people from all over the world who were persecuted, tortured, starving. In fact, our 305’ Statue of Liberty welcomes the poor, hungry and oppressed – it has always been a welcoming beacon of hope. All of our grandparents or great grandparents were immigrants to this country… unless you are a Native American, then you are here because of sheer luck and your ancestor’s determinedness for a better life for their family.

In the Declaration of Independence, the phrase “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” articulates the inherent rights that are unalienable and granted to all individuals by their creator. It emphasizes that these rights are inherent, and not given by a government… and that it is the government’s responsibility to protect these rights. It is the cornerstone of our democracy.

This administration is a disgrace. It believes they have the ultimate decision as to who they give rights to. They want to only allow us life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, if they choose, and if we follow their belief system. They want no criticism or debate — they want us to fall in line. They take every opportunity to divide us as a nation and to hurt and wound. As Mitch McConnell told his fellow Republicans regarding 16 million people losing their healthcare if this Big Horrendous Bill passes, he said “ they’ll get over it.” Another republican said, too bad… “we’re all going to die.” That’s not the United States of America.

If you are a patriot, if you believe in this country and the constitution… if you believe in humanity… in the rights we hold dear… it’s time to stand up for your country. Let your representatives know. Do whatever you can to get involved. Write letters, emails, call your representatives, protest however possible. Read the bill they are voting on and make your voice heard.