DOTS DAY TO DAY

One of many principles that baffles me about Christians who are also politically conservative is their unabashed effort to try and make the United States into what they term a "Christian nation." This desire is baffling to me since the reason the colonies were founded was to allow for freedom of religion, supposedly, the freedom to worship as one chooses, along with the right to not worship if one chooses, and the freedom of no state religion. The United States founding fathers were so concerned about this, that they incorporated this principle into the United States Constitution as a 1st Amendment guarantee. The First Amendment to the United States Constitution states: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." This amendment was adopted

I couldn't be more grateful for President Biden's leadership in response to his son, Hunger's conviction on felony gun charges. President Biden has said he respects the jury's decision and the judicial process. Good for him. I call that leading by example. Former President Trump could take many lessons from President Biden, in my view. Trump is angry about every single thing he and his ilk have been convicted of. The response is always the same. He calls everything either a disgrace or a conspiracy by Democrats. I don't recall that he's ever owned up to the outcome. Conversely, President Biden and the Biden family are not flooding the media with justifications and/or excuses. That response, accepting responsibility, is leadership at its finest, I believe.

Indigenous activist Leonard Peltier is again seeking parole after serving nearly 50 years in federal prison, following his conviction for killing two FBI agents in the 1970s. I remember the incident and the ensuing news coverage. I'm glad not to have to be a decision maker in this case. I can see both sides of the issue and empathize with both Leonard Peltier and the victim's families. Leonard Peltier was active in AIM, American Indian Movement, an organization founded to deal with issues of police brutality and discrimination against Indigenous people. AIM repeatedly made national news when it took over the village of Wounded Knee, on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. On June 26, 1975, federal agents came to serve arrest warrants concerning treaty violations and self-determination, and two federal agents were killed. Leonard Peltier is now 79 years old and in poor health and is seeking parole. It is difficult for me not to take his side in this effort. There has been

The first time I recall beginning to formulate a basic understanding of D-Day, June 6, 1944, and the enormity and meaning of the undertaking was on June 5 or 6, 1966, watching a movie on television with my dad. I cannot say what the movie was. It may have been The Longest Day, based on the novel of the same name, but I cannot find information as to whether that movie was yet available as a TV broadcast. I think that is doubtful. Nevertheless, whatever movie Dad and I watched, caused me to ask serious questions about D-Day, specifically. I knew about WWII, of course, but as a soon-to-be 3rd grader, I had little understanding about the reasons for the D-Day landings, and the tremendous effort involved, not to mention the loss of life. Whenever my parents spoke of WWII, the strongest impression I always came away with was the idea that the purpose of the allied mission was to rid the world of dictators trying to dominate and take away freedom from people whom they either felt were inferio

Senate Republicans block bill to protect Americans' access to contraception. These GOPERS are on a roll, don't ya know? In my opinion, they really want to throw women back into the 19th century, or even further back than that, if possible. The Senate vote on the Right To Contraception Act was 51-39, falling short of the 60 votes needed to defeat a filibuster. Republicans said the bill is unnecessary as the use of birth control is already protected under Supreme Court precedent. I believe this to be a lie. Many felt the right to abortion was also protected by SCOTUS precedent, and we all know what happened there, and what has happened in many red states, due to overzealous actions of Republican controlled state Legislatures seeking to control a woman's right to choose, and also allowing insurance companies to decline to pay for contraceptives. People who fail to see this trend in red states, I feel, are complicit in this effort, and should quickly turn their consciences back