My Purpose

 “I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man”

-Thomas Jefferson

America is becoming a tyranny.

This is not the usual tyranny that we read about or see on television. In a "regular"
tyranny, a country’s citizens are living under the boot of a dictator. We do not (yet) have
thugs with badges walking our streets, a press that is little more than a propaganda
machine, or spies in our community monitoring our movements. This tyranny has none
of the overt aspects that we normally associate with the tyrannies we see around the

world.

The tyranny we are heading for is a tyranny of the mind. In this tyranny, the minds of the
majority of Americans are enslaved and directed by a few, self- serving interests who
want to direct what we do, what we believe, and even how we think.
I have watched over the course of several years how the people in this country have
been divided according to ideology. I have watched as ideologues have taken over our
government at the local, state, and national levels. I have observed quietly as different
“versions” of events are presented as “news”, and how those presenting these versions
have “fans” who choose which news source(s) they watch or listen to based on what

they want to believe.

I have watched as the people who run our government have forgotten their duty to
serve the American People, and how they have deteriorated into short- sighted, partisan
shills. These people act not in the best interests of the People, but in the interest of

grabbing and maintaining their own power and privilege.

I have watched as the American People have been brainwashed into seeing and
treating anyone who disagrees with them as some kind of enemy who is out to ruin this
country. I have seen this reflected in our Congress and Senate, where fanatics who
would never have been placed in those institutions 20 years ago are increasingly

chanting the mantra of “no compromise!” on just about everything.

It seems that the Republicans have, for the last 12 years, been better at manipulating

news, pandering to extremists, and solidifying and maintaining their power than the
Democrats. With a growing sense of alarm I have observed their successful efforts to
use fear, hatred, and intolerance to put themselves into positions at every level of our
government, and to use tricks like gerrymandering and what are clearly biased voter

registration laws to keep themselves in power.

They have been extremely effective. They have taken over governorships and state
legislatures, and have even taken control of our House and Senate in Washington. They
are now pretty entrenched, and it will be very difficult to fix the things that they have

been breaking since they took power.

Then, in 2016, Donald Trump was elected President.

From my point of view, the result of this election is an unqualified disaster. Trump’s
election was not a surprise to me, considering everything that had been happening
since Bush’s last term in office. This did not mean, however, that I had not hoped for a

different outcome.

Despite all the reasons that so many people consider Trump to be “unfit” to be our
President, including his continued ignorance about his powers as President, his
apparent inability to speak and act like a real adult, the growing evidence that he
engaged in collusion with one of this country’s greatest enemies in order to win this
election, his mistreatment of women, his poor record with regard to race, and the
support that he clearly accepts from bigots and religious fanatics are not the main
reasons why I consider his Presidency a disaster. Of course, any one of these factors in

itself would make him a disaster.

The reason I consider him a disaster is because of the effect his election to the

Presidency has had on the people of this country.

Since this man’s election, I have seen racists and bigots, emboldened by the successful
election of “their” candidate, spewing their hatred more loudly than ever, growing more
effective in their recruiting efforts, and committing all manner of terrorist activities and
murders. They perform their terrorist acts with impunity. For the most part, our society is
not only failing to punish them appropriately for their actions, but in some cases our
leadership is tolerating and even encouraging their behavior.I have seen half- truths, omissions, and outright lies told by so- called “news” organizations that have become nothing more than a propaganda arm of the self- serving “right”. I have also watched more independent news people being lambasted, castigated, and physically threatened for reporting on things that Trump and his followers don’t want us to talk about.

I have seen fundamental freedoms being compromised on a daily basis in the name of
“keeping us safe”. Even the right to vote is being taken away from a large portion of our

American population in order to “protect” us from some made- up “voter fraud” crisis.

Worst of all, I have watched many of my friends, who are otherwise good and decent
people, take on such attitudes of hostility towards those of a different skin color, religion,
or some other irrelevant difference that some of my friends are even advocating

genocide.

I have seen enough. No, I have seen too much! This country has already gone too far
down a dark path, and it is time for me to do what I can to prevent it from going any

further.

Some things about me: while these days people categorize each other as
“conservative” or “liberal”, I do not fall under either category. I consider most
conservatives to be narrow- minded, backward idiots who are in the pockets of big

business interests that care more about power and profits than they do about people.

On the other hand, I consider most liberals/progressives to be condescending, over
intellectualized idiots whose utopian views are as divorced from reality as they are

disconnected from the concerns of most people.

Both sides are idiots. Neither side alone is capable of solving the problems that plague
this country. To my mind the only difference between conservatives and liberals is the

kind of idiots they are.

I am not alone in believing as I do. There are many others who do not fit into the “liberal”
or “conservative” mold. We are Centrists, who do not buy into the extremes on either
side. There are more of us out there than most conservatives or liberals will ever
realize.Like all of my fellow Centrists, I do not like where this country is being led. This country
is developing into a kind of cultural tyranny where if you don’t adopt the “right” ideas and
attitudes, or if you ask the “wrong” questions about things our so- called “leaders” don’t
want to have honest conversations about, then you are designated as some kind of anti-

American enemy who should be vilified and silenced.

Donald Trump is not the problem. He is merely a symptom of a greater problem. He
himself has done a great deal of damage to our democracy, and continues to do so, but
ultimately the problems that this country is going through predate him. There were
already many forces in place that were bringing this country down into ignorance and
division when he was elected. Now that he is President these forces are merely
becoming more vocal and open. The real damage to this democracy is being done by
individuals who, as I’ve said, are more interested in acquiring and maintaining power
than they are in the people of this country. Trump’s presidency is merely part of the

promotion of their agenda.

Many people have considered Trump to be someone who would “unite” this country.
Others make a great deal out of the fact that this “unite- er” has been very divisive in his

rhetoric and in his actions. They call him a “divider”. I disagree.

It is my belief that Trump actually intends to unite the country -- under him. My belief is
based on his actions since he took office. Everything he has done so far, including his
firing of James Comey, his attacks on the so- called "mainstream media", and even his
efforts to build the "border wall" are actions designed to further his own interests. Those
interests include maintaining the adoration of his followers and the consolidation and

maintenance of his political power.

In my opinion, Trump is, to a great extent, also a puppet. He would never admit this, of
course, but he is in place to advance the interests of the real threats to our democracy.
These threats include corrupt politicians, their donors who care more for profits than

people, and right- wing terrorists and the propagandists who inspire them.

He thinks he is uniting our country under him, but in reality he is uniting us all under an
economic and theological oligarchy that seeks to impose its own moral and cultural
ideals onto everyone. Under this oligarchy, America is becoming a monolithic,
monochromatic Dominion where anyone who is not wealthy, White, male, and/or

Christian will effectively be a second- class citizen.

I cannot sit back while this is happening. I must fight against this.

I will fight with every weapon at my disposal. I will do all that I can to resist my country’s

slide into darkness and ignorance. But make no mistake about what I am saying here.
My weapons are not the guns, knives, bombs, or vehicles used by Muslim or White
Supremacist terrorists. The weapons I will use are facts, reality checks, persuasion, and
general intelligence. I will provide people with strategic doses of reality and hope that
this will move them to take appropriate action to help change things. This blog will be a
source of information about what is going on in this country. It will not promote any
conspiracy theories, and it will not use the “reporting” tactics of the Ministry of Truth (aka
Fox News and other “right- wing” media). In all things I will endeavor to tell the truth.
Where I express an opinion I will make that clear and back up the opinion with verifiable

facts.

If you read and follow this blog, I thank you. I hope that the content I place here will be

helpful to all.

-Mikal Shemhem
December, 2017