From the Desk of the Lapsed Catholic: The Church Speaks Out, Loudly

I was raised Catholic and spent my formative years at mass and in catechism when not attending Catholic School. I'm a recipient of most of the church's sacraments, although never taken Holy Orders or gone all the way to extremes, Extreme Unction that is, now known as the Sacrament of Anointing the Sick.  Yet, I am a Lapsed Catholic in current parlance. That means I don't go to mass religiously and partake in the eucharist (communion). I vote for Democrats (was once told by a Catholic deacon that I would go to hell if I voted for John Kerry, a Catholic and altar boy). I abhor certain church policies on women's rights and gender equality. The abuse of young people by priests is horrible. I trained to be an altar boy but never finished because our family kept moving so Dad could build missile silos in preparation for Armageddon. 

I spent four years at a Catholic High School in Florida kicking Southern Baptist asses on the basketball court and received Mister Catholic graduation honors from the Knights of Columbus of Daytona Beach of which my father and future father-in-law wore those funny hats with the fringe on top. I made fun of this Mr. Catholic award for many years as I was a snarky know-it-all Liberal which I remain, in most ways. But now, at last, I can wear it with pride as the church speaks out on the anti-human fascist policies of Trump and his henchmen and henchwomen.

The ICE killings in Minneapolis have sickened me. They are lawless thugs doing the bidding of the Thug in Chief, Donald Trump. I have been trying to keep out of politics on these pages out of deference for others. But no longer. Just joined the millions who have listened to Bruce Springsteen's anthem, "Streets of Minneapolis." Go listen. It may make you cry. It may curdle your blood. It may make you think. We just can't let this outrage continue.

I've written my legislators, for all the good it will do. But I keep at it. When I lived in Wyoming during the first Trump presidency, I helped organize protests in the state capitol. I am in Florida now and if any state needs a clean sweep of its ruling junta it's Florida. Gov. DeSantis is as much a thug as Trump. Our congressional rep in Florida District 6, Randy Fine, has gloried in the murders of protesters on the streets of Minneapolis. He's disgusting. 

From Occupy Democrats on Facebook (I was involved with Occupy in olden times):

Pope Leo's hometown cardinal shreds the Trump administration for lying about the murder of Alex Pretti, says that their smear campaign "flies in the face of what our eyes told us."

The Catholic Church is waging all-out holy war against MAGA...

"You have long been an advocate for immigrants' rights. What is your reaction to what we have seen from federal agents and the Department of Homeland Security in just the last few days alone?" Stephanie Ruhle asked Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago during his appearance on MS NOW.

"It's clear that we need to return to the understanding of what human dignity is about. People have to be treated in humane way," said Cupich. "Name-calling, referring to people as vermin or animals, garbage, really puts us in a very difficult position in this country because it's based on an understanding that each and every human being had dignity."

Cupich appeared to be referring directly to Trump's horrific rhetoric. The president has called Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, a Somali immigrant and Muslim woman, "garbage" and attacked "radical left thugs that live like vermin."

"And so we're going down a path in many ways a far distance from who we should be and claim to be as a nation in the world," Cupich added.

Ruhle than asked the cardinal what it "does to a nation" when "people in positions of authority" including the president use such "dehumanizing" rhetoric.

"Well I can tell you what it has done in the past..." said Cupich. "You know today we mark Holocaust Remembrance Day and it's important to recall the terrible tragedy that happened to the many people who were killed simply because of their faith and their traditions."

"The Holocaust didn’t begin when they opened concentration camps. It began with words,” he continued. "And I think that we have to keep that in mind and learn from history that words do matter. And so it is important to call people out."

"The Holy Father Pope Leo said something really very instructive for us in these days. He said that the real crisis we're facing is one of relativism, where we reduce the truth to an opinion, or alternative facts," said the cardinal, referencing Kellyanne Conway's infamous MAGA slogan from the first Trump presidency.

"And I think that we need to lean into that insight as well because we saw actually what happened and yet there's a narrative out there that's trying to be marketed to the American people that flies in the face of what our eyes told us," he added.

Feeling helpless? I get some direction from an unexpected Substack source

Didn't know anything about Jackie Summers until I read his "Field Notes for Cracking an Empire" on a Facebook repost. Common-sense tips from an African-American activist, chef and "serial entrepreneur." His field notes gave me hope that my daily activities for social justice can lead to something. Go to https://jackiesummers1.substack.com/p/field-notes-for-a-cracking-an-empire

Sunday morning round-up: Big & Strange, WY and FL

A round-up is a task performed by cowboys when they bring in the cattle.

I am not a cowboy. But I spent 30 years in The Cowboy State of Wyoming so sometimes feel like one.

Yesterday, a big galoot from Laramie, Wyoming – Frank Crum, 6-foot-7, 315-pound OL for the Denver Broncos -- caught a touchdown pass from Bo Nix as the Broncos beat the Bills. Crum grew up in Laramie, played football at Laramie High School, and played six years for the UW Cowboys. His father and grandfather all played for UW. Way to go, big fella.

Later, in overtime, Bo Nix powered the Broncos to the OT win. He broke his ankle along the way and now is out for the rest of the playoffs.

Meanwhile, UW’s Josh Allen, everyone’s favorite in Laramie where UW retired his uniform number in tribute, sat and watched his Super Bowl dreams evaporate.

A big, strange day for Wyoming. Wyoming excels in Big & Strange.

I miss it. Now living in Florida which has its own Big & Strange.

Earlier in the day, Chris and I cheered on the Florida Gators as they beat Vanderbilt 98-94 in NCAA men’s basketball. The Gators (UF my alma mater) are a hard-driving bunch with players from all over, some appearing mysteriously out of The Portal. There’s this small guard Xiavian Lee who portalized from Princeton to make amazing shots and there’s Rueben Chinyelu who steamrolls his way to the bucket. I was happy to see the win and glad there was no OT to interfere with the Broncos/Bills game. I know of no Wyoming connection for the Gators but looking for one.

Just finished reading (for the second time) “Never a Lovely So Real,” a biography of Nelson Algren by Colin Asher. I love the book for its unflinching portrait of Algren powered by Asher’s love of the subject. Algren was my first writing mentor, a strange old man dressed in rumpled clothes and a beat-up cap who taught writing to UF undergrads in 1974. I was a non-trad student, a university newbie at 23 who had been out doing something interesting. Nelson taught writing in many places (including the MFA bastion at Iowa) and was openly scornful of learning writing in the academy. He came from those mean streets of Chicago and learned his trade on the road. He wrote about the travails of regular folks. He must have looked around that stifling classroom and said what do these people know of the ways of the world? Go out and do something interesting and then write about it. I did. Was still learning. Algren told great stories and my Vietnam vet buddy Mike and I took Nelson to a strip club on Gainesville’s outskirts and had a swell time. We smoked pop with him although he said it didn’t do much for him as he had smoked it many times with jazz cats in 1930s Chicago. Nelson liked one of my stories and gave me his agent’s contact info which I never followed up on. He also gave us all a list of recommended reading and I worked my way through it, parked deep in the stacks of the UF library. Asher has a new book coming out which sounds cool. It’s titled “The Midnight Special: The Secret Prison History of American Music” and will be released by W.W. Norton on June 30. Check out his cool web site at colinasher.com for more info.

I get up every day cursing Trump and his fascist minions. Cursing is one thing. Doing something about it is another. I am a lifetime voter and Democrat who has been active in party politics. It ain’t always pretty but you gotta get your hands dirty if you want to make something. Algren was blacklisted for 30 years for being a Commie. His pal in the WPA Writers Project, Richard Wright, was forced out of the U.S. for his activism. I write regularly to the dimwits who want to turn Florida into a Maga Playground. Write. Demonstrate. Vote, please vote. There’s a good chance that Trump and his goons will find excuses to close the polls in November. Do not let him do that. It’s up to you.

Because Lorca was a poet, his country hushed him

 

Posted Jan. 9 on Facebook by the poet. Ninety long years ago,
Lorca was murdered by fascists. His spirit lives on.

As Pete Seeger sang: "We're waist deep in the Big Muddy, the Big Fool says to push on"

I've spent a lot of time in the 19-teens and 20s lately. A tumultuous time, even if you concentrate on one summer in America as does Bill Bryson in his nonfiction remembrance of 1927. Much of my time has been spent on America's involvement in World War 1 and the decade that followed. The time of my grandparents, you know, those olden days to me or to them, in many ways, golden days. It's shocking to delve deeply into a short span of history and see how much you don't know, how much I didn't know. 

I've written one novel based on my grandmother's diary as a nurse in France 1918-1919. It will be published soon by Ridgeway Press in Detroit. I've written another one set in 1922 in Colorado and other sites in the U.S. That one is in final edits. I read memoirs and fiction and poetry of the era. A few decades ago I read John Dos Passos's U.S.A. Trilogy. I dug out the trilogy from my local library. An amazing series, ahead of its time in its combination of fiction and nonfiction. I read many of the WW1 poets, the very angry ones and others. I read about fascism in its many forms, including its roots in Italy's tragedies in The Great War. 

I read plenty of material and saw many movies of those times. As I worked on my novels, I never thought that the war against fascism would come to America. That was a nightmare scenario best left to writers such as Philip K. Dick. 

But here we are, waist deep in The Big Muddy as sang Pete Seeger. The Big Muddy is 2025 America. Wars come home in so many ways. It also may become relevant as Trump sends his masked goons and National Guard soldiers to Memphis on the Mississippi. The fascist strain in American politics has risen again, much as it did prior to World War 2 with America First. I was shocked to learn how Italian fascist pilots vied with budding fascist Lindbergh to fly the Atlantic. They were welcomed as heroes by our homegrown fascists who sometimes battled protesters, communists and others, as they barnstormed the U.S. There were American fascists in 1927 and they are the progenitors of Trump's fascists (his father was one). 

I looked for feisty poets in the Poetry Foundation's category of "Poems of Protest, Resistance, and Empowerment." Subtitle: "Why poetry is necessary and sought after during crises." Some great ones featured. I saw Maya Angelou's "And Still I Rise" and wondered how rabble-rousing it might be. Angelou was heroic in her resistance but also served as U.S. Poet Laureate and President Bill Clinton's inauguration speaker with "On the Pulse of Morning." These roles require a certain amount of diplomacy, a less-radical approach to topics. I worked in the corporate and government worlds so I know a bit about when to hold still and when to push on with my blog. But maybe I don't care anymore.

"And Still I Rise" is fiery and beautiful when read by Ms. Angelou. I urge you to watch her recite it on YouTube. If the link fails, read it on the Poetry Foundation site.

Anti-Trump protests? Better term: We gather together to save our democracy w/u

Update 4/10/25: "Hands Off" was the official term for the April 5 protests. Sorry I forgot to mention it. Perfect label for a response to Trump & Company's hostile takeover of the USA.

I didn't attend any of our local "anti-Trump protests" as the header read in this morning's Daytona Beach News-Journal. I couldn't bring myself to gather the support materials I would need for an extended stretch in the Florida out-of-doors. I need to slather sunscreen over every exposed inch of my body to avoid the return of skin cancer. Yes, it takes years for a burn to turn into cancer and I may not be around for that future dermatologist visit but I always try to think of my long game. I'll need a hat and a jug of water. A clever sign, which I hadn't yet made although many ideas are floating around the Net. 

I also must transport my e-scooter on the rack attached to my SUV. I have to make sure it's charged so I don't get stranded on the way back to the vehicle parked at a handicapped space if I can find one. Once on site, I have to make sure there is an accessible restroom nearby and that I can get to it. My wife usually helps with transportation but she was out with old friends on Saturday.

So I didn't make it. But millions did. I loved the photos that appeared on social media. I was able to view old Wyoming friends at sites in Cheyenne, Laramie, Rock Springs, Casper, and other places. Joe Barbuto and his brave compatriots in Rock Springs endured lots of nastiness. The city was once a Democratic stronghold, back when union miners were Dems. It takes an inner fire to get out on the streets in very red Wyoming. There were opposition rallies although not well-attended since Trump needs no more help destroying our fine country. Some name calling, screams and shouts. But most responses from passing motorists were horn honks in agreement. 

I saw a video Sunday of an armed MAGA man getting out of his truck and threatening protesters with an automatic weapon. Not in Wyoming, though. Not wise in the Still-Wild-West to go around threatening citizenry when so many are armed. And these protesters were mad as hell and not gonna take it anymore as a movie character once shouted from the rooftops. Despite what you may hear in the MAGA blogosphere, the rallies were peaceful, police wisely keeping their distance lest they be branded as Gestapo wannabes. 

So Mike didn't go. Boo hoo. Millions did and that's what matters. As a long-time Facebook scribe kept reminding us, none of this matters if we don't get out and vote. It would be tempting to ask rally attendees if they voted in the recent special Florida election that sent a GOPer that not even GOP stalwarts like to a seat in Congress. Volusia County's turnout for Democrat Josh Weil was impressive. Still, the majority of registered Dems stayed home. Chris and I voted by mail. The GOP seems worried that there will be a record turnout in midterm elections. They are busily crafting legislation to keep us from voting. 

I have participated in many protests and rallies. I was an onlooker as a confused young man at Vietnam protests in D.C. and South Carolina. Later, I participated in a big way. I was so proud to help plan the Wyoming Women's March in Cheyenne, Wyoming, on Inauguration weekend 2017. Some labeled it Wyoming Women and Allies March. I was part of the security detail and served the hungry at the post-rally potluck with my heart-friendly low-sodium chili. The Laramie County Democrats fed 1,200. We plugged in so many crock-pots that we shorted out the electrical system at the Historic Cheyenne Train Depot. Lukewarm chili still can keep a person warm on a chilly January day. 

Seems like ancient history now. We thought those days were behind us.

Thanks to all those who participated this past weekend. I will be there next time.

For my blogs on the 2017 rallies in Wyoming:

https://hummingbirdminds.blogspot.com/2017/01/wyoming-womens-march-and-potluck-draws.html

https://hummingbirdminds.blogspot.com/2018/01/i-wonder-if-ive-learned-anything-after.html