For My Progeny
At this writing we're in the winter of 2026, in the second year of the second Trump administration.
I’ve chronicled the following primarily for the sake of my progeny, especially for newborn Parker and soon-to-be-born Averi, and for all those arriving after them.
Should they read this someday, I want them to know how outraged and apologetic I am that, in my remaining days, I and my generation were not able to fix this mess that we created (although I want to assure them that I did continue to do what I could to make amends).
Our innocent descendants will have to live with what we've done. I hope they’ll find a way to restore this country to a state of grace.
☯
We are currently at the killing protestors and arresting journalists stage of fascist dictatorship.
With whom should I side?
For context: at the collapse of the Second Intifada―the second uprising of Palestinians against the Israeli occupation―Leonard Cohen wrote his poem Never Mind in 2005, portraying an operative who was living undetected in occupied territory. Years later Cohen revised the poem and used it as the lyrics to his song, Nevermind.
Today, you and I are living in occupied territory.
If you think I’m being at all hyperbolic, then...
think about how the following political and economic forces are occupying our home country.
Think about how these occupiers are undermining our democracy (dēmos "common people” + kratos "rule, strength")….
- Foreign and domestic moneyed interests (among them V. Putin) controlling our national and state politics. Thanks to the hideous Supreme Court decision Citizens United v FEC, in our politics today, anyone can contribute unlimited covert funds to a campaign. Citizens United made that a First Amendment right.
- Impotent politicians (lawless R’s, feckless D’s, powerless I’s) focused solely on perpetual re-election, afraid of offending the ruling elites, abdicating the power given to them by their constituents.
- Heartless government agencies (ref: Project 2025): DOGE, ICE, CBP, FBI, HHS… threatening our safety, security, health, welfare and privacy.
- The über-wealthy: A mere 1% of the US citizenry—equivalent to less than the population of Connecticut—holds a third of the nation’s household wealth (approximately $55 trillion). Trump, Murdock, Musk, Bezos, Ellison, Zuckerberg, Soon-Shiong, et al. control major sources of news and public opinion. They define our world, infect our alliances and ignore our needs. They see themselves as princes, not servants.
- Borderless personal data miners: Experian, Equifax, TransUnion, Acxiom, Epsilon and Palantir all maintain data warehouses of our personal information and are willing to exploit it for profit. Clearview AI, Amazon’s Rekognition and Microsoft’s Azure all sell facial recognition technology and promote large, searchable databases for surveillance purposes. Software for Meta's Smart Glasses, called Name Tag, has facial recognition capability and instant access to personal information through Meta's AI assistant. Why?
With whom should I side?
I’m angry,
not just about what ICE/CBP did to
Minneapolis /
Renée Good /
Alex Pretti,
not just about the unmitigated arrogance and treachery of Trump-Miller-Vance-Lutnick-Rubio-Roberts-Alito-Noem-Hegseth-Bondi-Thomas-Gorsuch-Kavanaugh-Barrett-Patel-Ratcliffe-Oz-Gabbard-McMahon-Rollins-Kennedy-Duffy-Pirro-Bessent-Vought-Bovino-Homan-Blanche-Leavitt…,
not just that the Electoral College is a rigged system where voters in most states, Oregon included, don't matter,
not just that I’ll never see my homeland recover from this disaster before I die,
I’m angry about all of it, all the psychopathy at the highest levels.not just about the unmitigated arrogance and treachery of Trump-Miller-Vance-Lutnick-Rubio-Roberts-Alito-Noem-Hegseth-Bondi-Thomas-Gorsuch-Kavanaugh-Barrett-Patel-Ratcliffe-Oz-Gabbard-McMahon-Rollins-Kennedy-Duffy-Pirro-Bessent-Vought-Bovino-Homan-Blanche-Leavitt…,
not just that the Electoral College is a rigged system where voters in most states, Oregon included, don't matter,
not just that I’ll never see my homeland recover from this disaster before I die,
All the hate.
All the cowardice.
All the chaos.
All the incompetence.
All the corruption.
All the brutality.
All the misogyny.
All the racism.
All the ignorance.
All the cheating.
All the bribery.
All the lying.
All the coverups.
All the fearmongering.
All the cruelty.
All the grift.
All the undoing.
All the neglect.
All the withholding.
All the injustice.
All the contempt.
All the fraud.
All the greed.
All the lawlessness.
All of it. All the cowardice.
All the chaos.
All the incompetence.
All the corruption.
All the brutality.
All the misogyny.
All the racism.
All the ignorance.
All the cheating.
All the bribery.
All the lying.
All the coverups.
All the fearmongering.
All the cruelty.
All the grift.
All the undoing.
All the neglect.
All the withholding.
All the injustice.
All the contempt.
All the fraud.
All the greed.
All the lawlessness.
This is not the country I was born into, the country of my ancestors. It has become something foreign to me. I’m watching it be hollowed out and sold for parts to all its occupiers.
With whom should I side?
I am small-c christian by practice, a pacifist, a moral foot soldier. I’m not a church-going Christian, and I’m certainly not a White Christian Nationalist. Those heathens have never taken Matthew 25 to heart.
✞
If you’re a church posting prayers for peace and unity today while my city bleeds in the street, miss me with that softness you only wear when it costs you nothing.
Don’t dress avoidance up as holiness.
Don’t call silence “peacemaking”.
Don’t light a candle and think it substitutes for showing up.
Tonight an ICE agent took a photo of me next to my car, looked me in the eye and told me, “We’ll be seeing you soon.”
Not metaphor.
Not hyperbole.
A threat dressed up in a badge and a paycheck.
Peace isn’t what you ask for when the boot is already on someone’s neck.
Peace is what the powerful ask for when they don’t want to be interrupted.
Unity isn’t neutral.
Unity that refuses to name violence is just loyalty to the ones holding the weapons.
Stop using scripture like chloroform.
Stop calling your fear “wisdom”.
Stop pretending Jesus was crucified because he preached good vibes and personal growth.
You don’t get to quote scripture like a lullaby, while injustice stays wide awake.
You don’t get to ask God to “heal the land” if you won’t even look at the wound.
There is a kind of peace that only exists because it refuses to tell the truth.
That peace is a lie. And lies don’t grow anything worth saving.
The scriptures you love weren’t written to keep things calm. They were written to set things right. And sometimes the most faithful thing you can do is stop praying around the pain and start standing inside it.
If that makes you uncomfortable - good.
Growth always is.
Don’t dress avoidance up as holiness.
Don’t call silence “peacemaking”.
Don’t light a candle and think it substitutes for showing up.
Tonight an ICE agent took a photo of me next to my car, looked me in the eye and told me, “We’ll be seeing you soon.”
Not metaphor.
Not hyperbole.
A threat dressed up in a badge and a paycheck.
Peace isn’t what you ask for when the boot is already on someone’s neck.
Peace is what the powerful ask for when they don’t want to be interrupted.
Unity isn’t neutral.
Unity that refuses to name violence is just loyalty to the ones holding the weapons.
Stop using scripture like chloroform.
Stop calling your fear “wisdom”.
Stop pretending Jesus was crucified because he preached good vibes and personal growth.
You don’t get to quote scripture like a lullaby, while injustice stays wide awake.
You don’t get to ask God to “heal the land” if you won’t even look at the wound.
There is a kind of peace that only exists because it refuses to tell the truth.
That peace is a lie. And lies don’t grow anything worth saving.
The scriptures you love weren’t written to keep things calm. They were written to set things right. And sometimes the most faithful thing you can do is stop praying around the pain and start standing inside it.
If that makes you uncomfortable - good.
Growth always is.
Those are the words of Minneapolis artist and co-chaplain of the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves, Matt Moberg.
With whom should I side?
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Here's what I pledge to do for as long as I can.[1] Feel free to hold me to it. And join me however you can. I will...
□ Call or write to one member of Congress each week about a national issue.
□ Support Common Cause, ProPublica, Democracy Docket and the ACLU.
□ Donate to Fair Fight, ActBlue, Vote Save America and VoteVets.
□ Participate in the campaigns of Indivisble and Mobilize.
□ Call or write to a state representative monthly about IToN or OHOM.
□ Continue my work for In Time of Need, OHOM and Meals4Kids.
I'm open to your suggestions to help me become even more effective, especially if you can show by example.
Be well. Stay safe. Please pass this on.
To my reader, whether you're family or not, know that for the rest of my life I will continue to do a slow burn about this current world situation created by greed, ignorance and apathy. It will take generations to heal.
However, Kathy and I have been part of a miracle within that world—this fun, beautiful group of humans who constitute our growing family. They are an absolute delight to be around, and we are blessed that we're all so close. They are the reason I will continue to say and do all of the above because, as is often said, we're on the right side of history.