In mid-January of 2020, the US had its first reported case of COVID-19. A glaring constitutional weakness leaves it unclear who is the commander-in-chief, if any, against this virus. Is it the president, or is it the governors or mayors of the various fifty states or thousands of municipalities? In point of fact, just like the Lincoln cabinet and the US Congress leading up to the start of the Civil War, there have been innumerable conflicting opinions about how the war against the coronavirus should be waged, and who should direct the waging thereof. Various expert health officials have also given widely conflicting advice on how best to fight the virus, and many politicians have offered widely disparate opinions on what should be done. It is the same old story in many respects as it was in the events prior to the Civil War.

The most pressing ethical question, which is by far the most important and the hardest question the American people and their leaders must try to answer, is this: At its most basic and terrifying level, what is the highest number or percentage of deaths that America is willing to tolerate in order to begin to emerge from our current level of lockdown?

While sheltering in place, assiduously trying to keep a proper social distance, I have read more on an average day than at any time since college and seminary. Looking back on it, I am probably reading more now than I did then. However, I am more than ready to escape my shelter and greatly to narrow my distance. Our necessary incarceration shall continue as long as it must, so I shall continue to read in order to try to salvage whatever is left of my mind.

Has Wisconsin become the bellwether for autocratic government? With similar actions being taken in other states where one political party greatly overpowers the other party, are we rapidly losing the democracy we have loudly touted since 1787? Is it being replaced with a plutocracy or oligarchy, as is happening in so many other 21st century former democracies?

This essay is by no means an attempt to provide an objective account of the current Bishop of Rome, nor is it an objective brief summary of the current Roman Catholic Church. Instead, it is written from the perspective of one who has become a great admirer of Pope Francis I and who has had a lifelong admiration for many aspects of the historic Roman Catholic Church. Further to clarify so as to avoid any misunderstanding, this is an opinion piece and an essay; it is an outsider’s glimpse at the largest Christian insider’s institution in the world.

Bees are the primary pollinators of thousands of species of plants all over the world. Without them, agriculture might be impossible, and the life of all species of animals and plants might be endangered. We should fall prone before the bees’ knees in gratitude.

This essay is by no means an attempt to provide an objective account of the current Bishop of Rome, nor is it an objective brief summary of the current Roman Catholic Church. Instead, it is written from the perspective of one who has become a great admirer of Pope Francis I and who has had a lifelong admiration for many aspects of the historic Roman Catholic Church. Further to clarify so as to avoid any misunderstanding, this is an opinion piece and an essay; it is an outsider’s glimpse at the largest Christian insider’s institution in the world.

The last thing the Iowa caucuses intended to do in 2020 was to end the Iowa caucuses forever. But if that is the result, it will be a very providential occurrence. It also, I fervently hope, will signal the end of presidential primaries altogether.

The last thing the Iowa caucuses intended to do in 2020 was to end the Iowa caucuses forever. But if that is the result, it will be a very providential occurrence. It also, I fervently hope, will signal the end of presidential primaries altogether.

The truth is that too much of the thinking of every senator (or House member) is based not on what is constitutionally and ethically the correct position, but on what is most likely position for them to take which shall result in their own re-election.

This short essay was begun on Saturday morning, Jan. 25, 2020, starting at 12:27 AM. This was after the writer had nearly overdosed on the prosecutors’ wrap-up, and listening to the three major cable news networks’ commentary on the proceedings. The House Managers (i.e., the prosecution) finished their presentation on Friday evening at about 10 PM, Jan. 24, in what has been alleged to be the impeachment trial of President Trump. On Saturday afternoon the President’s lawyers (i.e., the defense) will begin their presentation regarding the defendant (i.e., the President).

This essay was prompted by the exasperating length of the college football national championship game. Most college or professional football games about last three hours. The LSU-Clemson game took four hours. The additional hour was due to the additional time devoted to television advertising. In my opinion, that was one hour too many.

Up through the 1933 election, Germany was still a democracy. With alarming speed, it became a totalitarian dictatorship. To accomplish this, Hitler installed a coterie of carefully chosen yes-men whom he convinced should do only what he instructed them to do. If they did not do his bidding, they were gone. Early on they were merely fired. Later some of them were dispatched with the ultimate pink slip. Once Hitler assumed the dual roles of head of state and leader of the Reichstag, he totally consolidated his power within his own autocratic office. Hitler became Germany, and Germany became Hitler.

Contemporary presidential primaries also allow far too many candidates to run. In the 2016 election, seventeen Republican presidential candidates ran in the primaries, and the least qualified one won. For 2020, there have been twenty-four Democratic candidates (depending on how you count). Because of the early Iowa and New Hampshire primaries, and now also Nevada and South Carolina, it is utterly unpredictable until mid-to-late spring who shall probably triumph. Yet again, in 2020 the least qualified candidate may become the victor.

Despite the differences in their backgrounds, Donald Trump and Boris Johnson are so much alike in most ways that their names could be transposed. Donald Trump could be Boris Trump or Donald Johnson, and Boris Johnson could be Donald Johnson or Boris Trump. I have chosen to call them Boris Trump and Donald Johnson. Both men look alike. They think alike. They act alike. They speak alike.

Facts used to be the essence of good journalism. Who, what, when, why, and how were the questions to ask that journalists were taught in college or in on-the-job training. All print journalism was “vetted,” meaning that an editorial staff read everything the writers wrote, and they insisted their work must be factually correct.

For the good of America, elected American politicians need to grow up and to stop calling one another hurtful names. Those who refuse to attain political maturity in the next few months must be ushered out of office the next time they are on the ballot. For all House of Representative members and for a third of the Senate members, that will occur on November 3, 2020.

Even before the House Judiciary Committee began its hearings yesterday, it was becoming very evident that Republicans inside and outside Congress claimed the process is moving much too quickly. They want it to slow down so that their side of the debate may produce more of their own witnesses to derail an impeachment conviction of President Trump.

Whether or not the House and Senate will have found the president guilty by November 3 of 2020, by then the open and public House and Senate hearings will have provided the American electorate more than enough evidence to determine for themselves whether the president should be convicted.

Trump is a very engaging personality for a certain type of easily-engaged person. Any serious people who believe that Mr. Trump is a serious politician and national leader are seriously deluded. But until you watch the man in action for the entirety of a campaign rally, you cannot appreciate how effective he is at stirring the emotions of emotionally-suggestible voters. He has his audience eating out of his hand, even if what he is feeding them is undoubtedly lethal.