My Review of 2018

This entire year has been memorable for a number of reasons as indicated in the bulleted list.

• Contacted Gretchen Whitmer to volunteer for her campaign
• Collected signatures on petitions for her campaign
• Attended Petition Submission
• Attended events for her campaign across the State
• Canvassed for the Democrats throughout my community
• Joined the local Dem club
• Attended first Democrat Conventions
• Worked the polls during primary and general election
• Joined the Black Caucus Dem Club
• Attended County Democrats Convention
• Elected to Executive Board of County Democrats
• Attended many meet and greets for candidates
• Promoted a boatload of Democrat candidates on social media
• Created live videos promoting the importance of voting, immigration, etc.
• Created videos to just to vent against the idiot-in-chief
• Created videos to promote my potential candidacy for president in 2020
• Watched the biggest sham of a presidency reveal more stupid and treasonous activities on a daily basis.
• Participated in several Marches in the cold, in the rain, in the heat: March For Our Lives, Families Belong Together, Cinco De Mayo Parade, Labor Day Parade,
• Lost 16 pounds knocking on doors
• Saw Bill Cosby go to jail for sexual assaults
• Saw many celebrities accused of sexual misconduct
• Saw the stain of corruption spread to the Supreme Court with the Kavanaugh confirmation
• Determined Russia has infiltrated American democracy with the intent to demolish it with the help of Koch Brothers, the Mercers, the Adelsons, the Murdochs and corrupt, treasonous Republicans (most now trumplicans)
• Vowed to fight against tyranny and a “life-time president”
• Learned the journey to the White House–is costly–emotionally, physically, as well as financially
• Trained to become more politically active in all elections

It has been a very busy year, one that has opened my eyes and hopefully the eyes of others in understanding we cannot be apathetic bystanders, we must get involved at every stage of local government to ensure our democracy is sustained and all participate in the process.

I won’t bore people with redundancies, since I’ve actually written about much of what has occurred this year, but I wanted to put in one place, a summary of my political involvement on my journey to the White House. A look back at what we’ve done is a good place to start planning where we go next and how best to make it work for all involved.

Hope you’ve all had a merry Christmas and look forward to a happy New Year (without the anger or lies of you-know-who).

 

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Now What?

Not to us, Lord, not to us but to your name be the glory because of your love and faithfulness. Why do the nations say, “Where is their God?” Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him, but their idols are silver and gold, made by human hands. They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see. They have ears, but cannot hear, noses, but cannot smell. They have hands, but cannot feel, feet but cannot walk, nor can they utter a sound with their throats. Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them. Psalm 115: 1-8 NIV

Those who praise people more than God and give people greater esteem than they do God, are idolizing the creation, rather than the Creator.

I’m reminded of trump in this passage–he has a mouth that never speaks truth, eyes that cannot see reality through his delusional alternative universe, ears that block out sound, wise advice; he has feet but cannot walk the path of integrity because of his crooked ways, and he utters sounds that are incomprehensible and astounds the world at his mental incompetence and ineptness.

We are in the throes of the beginning of a national crisis because we have allowed an idiot–that very foolish, stupid person–to make decisions for all when they do not have the mental capacity or expertise to do so. He relies upon those who hate and promote false news and lies to give him advice–though he claims to work for the people who voted for him. Here’s the problem–the people who voted for him were only a fraction of the total population and some of them are now seeing the error of their vote.

But trump is really not the problem right now–unless we allow him to continue to be one. The real problem is the complacent and impotent GOP Congress. They have a job to do–upholding their oath of office and they are negligent in doing their job. Pressure has to be brought upon them to honor their oaths of office over any pledges of loyalty to a person. Patriotism does not mean standing by a president; it means doing all one can to preserve the nation–placing priority to country over political party. They need to be reminded over and over again, until they do their job. 202-224-3121 is the Congressional Switchboard number–start calling now.

If they fail to do their job, we can rest assured of continued destruction and erosion of what we once understood a democracy to be. Putin gets his wish and takes over America without firing a shot–all because of an idiot who allowed himself to be put in a position where others have leverage over him. And the collusion–is real and dangerous since it involves the exposure of all in the GOP who have been complicit in the disastrous 2016 election results. They knew then and know now, the price of winning a rigged election will cost them their political careers. They have been duped, willingly.

What do we do now? We call, we email, we fax, we tweet until we get tired, then we rest and start all over–letting Congress know what we think of them and how they should do their jobs. I’m planning to contact at least 20 a day–by one means or another until they take notice and rethink their positions which are all on the line. The other 261 million people will vote for integrity in 2018 and in 2020–removing them from their positions.

I, among many others, will be seeking the opportunity to truly serve all Americans and I know–if Everyday Americans are fed up with the nonsense we see on a daily basis, they will appreciate having someone who understands the challenges they face, making decisions in the White House for all Americans.  Only time will tell if Americans will wake from their daze and see truth and love as a means to accomplish greatness rather than lies and hate. It is up to us, all Americans who care about this planet, to rise and change the narrative so we’ll have a bright future.

Pulpit Idiocy!

One of the reasons our society at-large is in the shape that it is in is because of some of  those in leadership in churches. When leadership fails to live up to standards of integrity and virtue, then the whole house (for which it leads) is subject to failure!

This didactic is not about casting judgment upon those who have exercised no wisdom in the things they do, but it is an attempt to bring to the forefront–awareness–so that all of the idiocy that begins in a pulpit–regardless of denomination–is exposed and those who perpetrate it have room to repent and desist.

First of all, if a person has never been taught The Word in a structured, educational environment that provides guidance in extrapolating, dissecting and “rightly dividing the word,” they should never be allowed to present information to others that they do not understand.  Why does this happen? When the leadership is not led by God, but by emotions or familial connection, we end up with idiots in a pulpit.

Does that mean that everyone with a degree in theology or Christian Education belongs in a pulpit? No, it does not.  We have all seen the messes created with some who hold degrees and titles who–because of their lack of relationship with God–have  made a mockery of the church, Christianity and all that it involves.

Who’s left? For those who “hire” the pastor or church leader by any other name, accountability lies with them.  If their relationship is not right with God, they may end up making a decision that will prove detrimental to the whole body. Congregations need to know–if the leadership is not living a godly life–they are under no obligation to support idiocy and should not support idiocy.  Unfortunately, many people in the congregation of a church are cajoled “to forgive” those who commit transgressions and move on, but few have actually forced the guilty leadership to repent and rethink what they’re doing.  As a result, wrong-thinking people continue to lead entire congregations astray and many have bullied the congregation into allowing them to keep their position. If the people–in the congregation–understood The Word–this could never happen. There are far too many wolves in our society, pretending to be something they are not and far, far too many sheep who fall into their clutches.

How do we get rid of the idiocy in the pulpit? Every born-again believer needs to understand The Word for themselves and when they hear and see conduct that is not of God in the leadership, they should act to rid themselves of that person. If more people did this, we would have fewer people in leadership positions, conning the people.

How do we know when there is idiocy in the pulpit? When the leadership (male or female) is abusing/misusing their position with members of the congregation. No one in a church should be subjected to sexual advances from any church leadership for any reason. That is not God speaking to them, but the devil himself.  No one should be subjected to listening to a preacher who has proven themselves to be less than honest, never really teaches The Word, but is always fussing and negative about those in the church. No church should be subjected to those who steal from the church in an effort to make themselves look good. No one should ever have to feel that they have to support idiocy when they see it–when the pastor wants more for a salary than the church can support. That is total idiocy! And then we have the church leaders who want to “build unto themselves a mini-kingdom” and expect the congregation to foot the bill, whether building is needed or not–idiocy!

How do we avoid the pulpit idiocy? The Word tells us that we ought to always pray. We should pray about where we worship, asking God to reveal everything we need to know about a situation before we settle there. We should pray for the leaders–all over the land–in every church–that they will hear and obey the voice of God. We should know The Word for ourselves so when we hear error being taught, we know it and can do something about it. We should pray for ourselves and our families, and church congregations that they would understand the legal ramifications for the role and duties of a church. Every person attending a church as a member and supporting it has a right to know how decisions are made and how money is spent. When leadership is found not living according to the Word, the congregants should make it known and with discussion–provide an avenue for the leadership to get it together or leave. These should be the only two options.  If the leadership won’t listen to the congregants, then the congregants should leave and find a place of worship where the leadership hears God.

One of the biggest problems we have with church leadership today is the practice of nepotism. Every son thinks that if their father is a pastor, they should be next in line. Churches should never be treated like a family business; especially if no training has been afforded to those being put in leadership.  Fathers and mothers need to stop “calling” their sons into ministry and allow God to be God in the lives of their children. Not every offspring of a preacher was intended by God to preach, but in our society that seems to be the rule rather than the exception. When we do not do things God’s way, we mess up and end up with idiocy in the pulpit.

Father, in the name of Jesus, help us to be more sensitive to You in hearing and obeying Your voice and not the one of a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Remind us to pray about everything we do–where we worship, how we support that place and who we should “hear” as a leader. And when we find idiocy, help us to be bold enough to expose it for the benefit of all. Amen!

Educational Idiocy!

There are many things that one can look at in our society and see just how idiotic things are and yet, most do nothing to change it. One specific area of idiocy is the way educational leaders leap without looking into the pits of “educational reform” that do more harm than good.

Specifically–in Michigan–and even more specifically–the demise of the Detroit Public School system–is the result of educational idiocy–the origins of which are yet being determined. The real problem however is in the fact that those in position of authority and supposed leadership have allowed this demise to occur simply because they did not think about the ramifications of the “so-called research” that ignited the changes in how we do education.

Some years ago–approximately twenty years or so–someone had the bright idea that students in Detroit, did not need to be taught grammar skills and as such–teaching grammar was forbidden and rather rigidly enforced. Since I learned grammar the way that works–constant repetition (skill and drill)–I could not understand why anyone in their right mind would ever think that the “whole language theory” would benefit children who were “not raised in environments using Standard English.” For those students across the country who were living in environments where Standard English was the rule of the day and not the exception–whole language teaching might have worked. Unfortunately, since college professors all over the land and the business industry have great concerns about college students and employees not knowing how to write, it would appear that “whole language” learning was a bust. 

But now we have “data-driven” theories which subject students to testing to the degree of overkill and then teachers are being subjected to unfair evaluations when the test scores do not improve. How is a teacher supposed to clear the way for improvement in learning (anything) if they never have time to “teach” because they only have time to “test” what has not been taught? The whole process of testing, testing, and never teaching, is total idiocy! No one has ever learned anything by being constantly tested and never taught. Now, I believe Einstein said, “to keep doing things the same way, expecting a different outcome is insanity.”

What I don’t understand is why–those in positions to make decisions--educational leaders have failed to understand that they did not need to change what worked.  What worked? Repetition–this is how most human beings learn–constant repetition and the addition of new concepts introduced–when learning is evidenced of what had been introduced. To expect students to learn new concepts, when they did not understand what had already been taught, is ludicrous–total idiocy!

We have a number of people who are responsible for the demise of education in the Detroit Public School system: The State Superintendents who did not exercise judicious oversight of what was being represented as “educational reform” simply because of those who developed the research (not everyone with a degree is a credible source of information); and a systematic problem of not having a credible system in place to determine that those teaching–knew what they were teaching; the school board members who only wanted a position on the school board as a step forward in their political ambitions and who had no clue as to how to have oversight of what the superintendents were doing, they hired; the negligible parents who didn’t care enough to know anything about who they electing and positioning politicians to govern the educational process; and refuse to stay actively involved in their child’s education; the students who come because “socializing” is their priority, not learning–-but if their parents had cared enough to teach them how to do school, before they ever started school, this would not be a problem; and last, but not least–the teachers–who did not and do not think that continuous education is important and so they mis-teach information they did not understand and now we have a colossal mess on our hands with people who did not learn what they should have and they keep perpetuating a vicious cycle of illiteracy and idiocy.

How do we climb out of this pit of idiocy? Someone has to have enough nerve to bring the problem to the forefront and confront the idiots in-charge to make changes in how we educate children that will make a difference. Since those in positions of authority have really screwed it up–they should all be fired! In the case of anyone who chooses to accept “new research” as the catalyst that will bring about miracles; they really need to look at who’s behind the research and understand their purpose or intent. I believe there has been a conspiracy–to maintain a manual labor force with the students of Detroit–which is why–the idiocy has been allowed to blossom to the nuclear mess we now have.

If people are incapable of critical analysis of anything before forcing others to join the melee, they should be lined up and made to suffer penance for the damage they have inflicted upon others. Where do we start in Detroit? Perhaps with a white male, Mike Lamb who decided that Detroit students did not need to be taught grammar (I’m sure his own children were raised in an environment using Standard English). Where do we stop? Perhaps with Karen Ridgeway and those who hired her since she thinks testing is the only way to get children to learn. And then there are all of those who fit in the middle–some I know by name, some I do not. They know who they are and they should be ashamed of themselves for perpetuating such idiocy in the guise of a quality education. Now that the cover has been pulled off and the idiocy exposed, what are you (especially if you live in Michigan) going to do about it?

I have addressed this issue more extensively in my book, If Parents Cared Enough, Johnny and Juaneshia Could Read (available on amazon.com). My intent is not just to make money or to point fingers at those who caused the problems, but to ignite real change–that will benefit all children. Get involved and change the landscape of idiocy so all children will have a quality education!