Manns Medium

  My wife saw this article and decided to share it with me because she knows just how the actions of many claiming the title of U.S. Marine has been making some erroneously bad choices and doing untold damage to the universally wide image to the title MARINE. The title was “Three men — including ex-Marines — sentenced for involvement in plot to destroy power grid” written by MAKIYA SEMINERA for the Associated Press on July 26, 2024, it reported that “three men have been sentenced in federal court for their involvement in a plan to strike a power grid in the northwestern United States. Three men with connections to white supremacist groups were sentenced Thursday in federal court after plotting to destroy a power grid in the northwestern United States, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Paul James Kryscuk, 38; Liam Collins, 25; and Justin Wade Hermanson, 25, were all sentenced for their yearslong involvement in a scheme to strike the power grid as part of a larger, viole...

  America has always been the land of opportunity however we have become lax in our efforts to ensure that this right is made available for all of us to achieve and enjoy.   Far too often, those who see themselves in a position of authority or great wealth begin to confuse themselves with an idea that since you may be thought of as successful, means your now have the power and authority to dictate to everyone else. This lying power makes those allowed to flex it feel bigger and better than they really are.   It gives them a false sense of righteousness and security over all people, places, and things which must be corrected before we completely lose our very humanity. Every last one of us knows this is wrong but history has allowed these individuals to exercise this false position of power without consequences and punishment. Every one of us is guilty of sitting on our hands and waiting on someone else to save us instead of finding our own intestinal fortitude to save o...

  In this year, 2022, so many Americans are screaming about the clear and present danger facing our democracy as well as those whose current position within this society lending credibility to this claim but as it has been for so long, there is still a lingering element within this society that do not carry the fear of this decay.   They are those who are much more aware of the history of this nation and its system of unequal justice.   History of this action of attempting to hold those truly responsible for seditious acts to account, are welcomed by those who have been emboldened to exercise this perceived right or privledge because they hold the victory over it’s coming. This idea that certain laws does not apply to certain people found its beginning when the Constitutional Convention got together in May of 1787 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and did something on September 17, 1787, that not only guaranteed that this democracy would eventually decay but fired the start...

  A brother Marine asked me “Why does the African-American community vote Democrat?   He asked me if I could try to explain it to him and below is my explanation. Since no race of people are all the same, I can only tell you what I think that reason maybe but if you want a more definitive answer you are going to have to ask individual blacks.   Here is what I believe could possibly be the reason so many others vote Democratic.     The first thing that needs to be made clear is the majority of African Americans don’t follow a party but an idea.   If a politician promises to do right by the African-American community, he/she has a really good chance of getting their votes but when they get in power, forget their promises and/or turn their backs on blacks, know that next go around, many blacks would not spit in their butts if their guts were on fire and if the turning of the back was brought on by a group of people, that group would pay as well.   Her...

  Today’s focus is on this election between Donald Trump and Joe Biden for the office of the President of the United States and while I cannot say that it is not something we should not be focused upon, there are other things going on behind the scenes of this that we refuse to recognize or choose to just simply ignore. Many claim that it is a fight between Democrat and Republican, Liberal and Conservative, the Right and the Left, the Right and the Wrong but that is not the truth, as I see it.   It is and always will be the fight between Good and Evil. This battle has been waging since the beginning of time and it is a never-ending war.   It is a battle that will be and must be fought every day of our mortal existence.   It is one that will never have clear winners and losers because if just a few of us fail to achieve victory in this war, we all fail.   This is not a battle to save the soul of a country, a nation, a world, or a universe.   It is the ba...

In the wake of the televised murder of George Floyd, Black American began to think that this was their chance to make drastic and demanding and permanent change to what we had been existent under for over 350 years. It was something that not only could you feel but in some instances you could actually touch it. That was before white folks did what they always do when black folks began to believe that they are now in control. Here is how it happens. Black folks allow the wrong people to advance to the front of a fight and squander their opportunity by choosing the lowest hanging fruits. I mean these new black leaders will be offered money, power, prestige and a change of personal status which is what the puppet masters know will make them quickly forget what they rose up to proclaim. You see black folks are taking down confederate statues, removing the confederate flags and getting Corporate America to say Black Lives Matter. Not saying that these things are not imp...

The older I get, the more I attempt to find a positive spin on anything that occurs.  I do this because it is easier for me to try and understand the motives of another if I can see things a little as they see them.  It helps me to reconcile myself with the fact that as the Bible tells us we should always respect another person’s truth.  It does not say we have to agree with it or even like it but it does ask us to respect it and in so doing we can now expect that they will respect our truth. Listening to the latest in the Donald Trump Saga, many are talking about a rift in the party and those anti-Trump people may have a valid shot at winning and blocking him out while others are saying the exact opposite.  I don’t truly know which is right or wrong and neither is it my place to say either way.  I have never been given the power or authority to tell anyone whether they are right or wrong, I can only control and diagnosis my actions and advise myself. ...

I have been racking my brain trying to figure out why someone would truly support Donald J. Trump and besides the fact that they are his family or worked for him before he declared himself a candidate, I kept drawing a blank.  I thought that many who say they stand with Trump wasn’t doing so because they actually believed in the things that were coming out of his mouth but the frankness and courage it took to say them out loud.  If this is the only reason to support a candidate for president and place him in front of others world leaders as the best that we could do then maybe we need to re-define this entire thing of choosing a president. It wasn’t too difficult for me to surmise that the reason for some coming to his aide is because while having his show Celebrity Apprentice, he brought back some names of people many may have forgotten and if we look at closely at those speaking for him at one point of another, we may find that many was those he hired to play on the sho...

It all started January 19, 2008 after Barack Obama won his first term as President of the United States.  The stars had already aligned for many who just could not believe that a man, unlike any of those that have gone before him was actually voted into an office many felt very name denies them entry.  Those who just could not believe were told to believe and as sheep to the slaughter, they followed their masters without questions.  Today they still follow their masters without questions except now it has culminated into one form, one being, one chance and that chance is Donald J. Trump. People say that Donald J. Trump is a brilliant businessman but I don’t agree with it.  I do say that Donald J. Trump is an outstanding opportunist however because he saw a very clear and wide berth opening up toward the Republican nomination for President and when he finally decided to take the plunge, he dove in head first and now refuses to admit that there he now stands among...

Washington politicians and the media that covers them wishes all of us to think that this so-called Tea Party Movement has taken over the GOP and candidates running for office has no other alternative except say outrages and outlandish things to get their vote.  Common wisdom in this up-coming election as well as a few prior says that the Republican voter wants obstruction to anything President Obama wants to do or want them to stand against anything he stands for.  They wish you to believe that common wisdom says that the Republican voter wants to get rid of governmental agencies, defund Obamacare and Planned Parenthood.  Common wisdom says that the Republican voter despises Obama, is racist and is full of bigotry and hatred for anyone who don’t look, act or think like them.  Common wisdom says that the Republican voter wants everything Washington does to be about finding dirty laundry to expose on anyone who is not Republican and they should remain obstruction...

Well I guess that depends on who you are, where you came from and how far those who are supposed to be lead allow you to take them. Today I received a letter and on the outside envelope the return address  looks to be the signature of Ted Cruz, under it is printed “ U.S. Senator Ted Cruz ”, under that is printed “ personal business ” and finally under that is printed “ not printed or mailed at taxpayer expense ”.  Right next to the window of that same envelope is printed the words “ check enclosed ”.  This is a 4 page mailer paid for by Cruz for President in which they suggest that if I care about conservative values I need to send them a 45 dollar check immediately and when that happens a big money donor will match that donation but time is limited and the offer will expire in the next 7 days.  It appears to be pushing against the moderate Republicans that they say are in the mold of Mitt Romney or John McCain. The weirdest thing of all is, I do not know h...

Since 2009, it has been a comedy of errors on the behalf of the GOP when it came to choosing who would give the Republican response to the White House State of the Union Address that was until a group of, probably men, made the right choice and chose South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley.  Now please don’t get it twisted, there are a lot of things I could easily disagree with the GOP on but when you speak frankly about the current situation our nation faces and take full blame for the part you played in making things as they are, you will find me standing right up front to support that effort.  Gov Nikki Haley knocked it out of the park with her response to the State of the Union Address, maybe not in all she said but what she did say was more truth than anyone has ever heard coming from the GOP in years. According to an article titled “ Haley warns against following ‘angriest voices’ in GOP response ” written by Andrew Rafferty but originally appearing on NBCNews.com, it i...

Heard something the other day that made me have to try and find it again.  Heard someone say how right Allen West was about the executive actions of President Obama.  Now I do not agree with everything President Obama does but there are somethings that I can agree with him on and if what I have read about his executive actions on gun control is true, he has my support.  It is rumored that he is asking for all those who sell guns in any form or fashion to conduct an extensive background check on those they are selling them to.  How I see that helping is the expense of this extensive background can be used in their deduction when doing taxes and if they discover that this person who wishes to buy should not, by law, be able to possess a firearm then they have potentially saved a life.  Mr. West says that nothing in this executive order would have prevented any of the recent shootings and on that he is correct but I wish to also ask Mr. West that knowing no illega...

Picture this, you feel very strongly that you can bring the change your local, state or Federal government needs by seeking and obtaining a governmental office.  You’ve studied the issues, looked at hundreds of plans and have come upon the answer you think would greatly increase your area government service to the public.  Now all that is left is to enlist help to get to that next level and you know you will need those with experience to help secure the funding it will take to get you to that level.  The problem, you do not personally know the movers and shakers in this arena and by the time you finally get a few names of those who could possibly help propel you to that next level, the time limit has expired and your dream of making a real difference has passed.  You think of tomorrow and begin early to put together this powerful group of people but for minorities and women, there is another major issue you have to consider that no other class of people have to....

In 2008, the Republican Party promised jobs, healthcare, tax reform and immigration reform.  They made other promises as well but far too many to count.  The opposition parties, Democrats and Independents, sat idly by and allowed the GOP to win big and capture both house of the government.  The promise of “once we get in, let us show you how to govern” went quickly out the window and control was now in the hands of those whose primary goal was never to govern because they didn’t know how.  Their primary goal was to disrupt and make the Obama Administration the laughing stock of the world.  In 2010, John Boehner and Mitch McConnell concocted a plan.  They pulled together a meeting in Hersey PA which was supposed to be a meeting where they debate and vote on many bills that had already bipartisan support but were never brought to the then Democratic led Senate.  They were intent on proving their point of knowing how to lead with John Boehner delivering ...

If you listen to those on the right, this country is fine in the hands of a Democrat but the Republican-controlled House and Senate is to blame for government ineffectiveness.  If you listen to the left the Republican-controlled House and Senate is valiantly fighting that tyrant in the White House who is a Democrat and he is the reason this country is so messed up.  Both seem to strongly believe their rhetoric and some will even defend it to the death but the real reason this country is where it is lies with the voters who keep sending rich people to office to stand up for the poor people and lawyers to office when history proves that this group haven’t even come close to fixing our justice system.  The problem is not the government as it pertains to one person or one group.  The problem is the voters who truly are the government but keep failing to find or hold accountable those they hire to task.  Blame government all you wish but if you are the one pointing ...

Talk to anyone who loves politics and you will hear them describe themselves as a Republican, Democrat or Independent.  Once that distinction is made, you will typically know which way your conversation is going to go.  You know that no matter which party affiliation that the subject of your talk is about, nothing they have done will ever be seen as good because in order to maintain honest affiliation you must defend your party above all else.  Because of this we are required not to think for ourselves but follow the lead of those who are supposed to know more and better.  We are not required to hold them accountable for any misdeeds because we are first and foremost party first, country last.  That being the case, to whom are we beholding to then, certainly not ourselves because our decisions are being made by group than by individual.  It’s time for a change. Not all politicians should be painted by the same brush.  Many have made campaign promi...

The media is all ablaze by the recent comments of Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee invoking the Holocaust but anyone even closely watching this fallacy called politics knows exactly why he did so.  The frightening part is how many have come to accept voices such as this and how some have even chosen to adopt Mr. Huckabee’s position.  Makes you wonder why so many are willing to say and do whatever to win even if it means defaming and belittling their own principals.  Mr. Huckabee is supposed to be preacher and to see him cast disparage on the plight of another human being has to make any real Christian wonder to whom he truly does serve.  Jesus was murdered by the very people he asked his father to forgive and at no time did he ever try and use the pain and suffering of another to elevate himself so whom should we take a lesson from?  Mike Huckabee, Donald Trump and others like them or God’s only son?  Make up your mind America because you truly cannot se...

If you are one of the many who think that this nation is headed to hell in a hand basket then you have also got to be willing to admit that two of the vehicles taking us there are structured politics and structured religion.  If you think that either or neither of these are true then resign yourself to remaining unaware and don’t be surprised when other things began to adopt structured politics and structured religion’s brand of Americanism. I say this because both have been slowly erasing a freedom that we were granted so may years ago but many of us either did not wish to see it or saw it but refused to stand up to stop it.  I’m talking about a freedom that was first granted to us by God Almighty himself when he sent his only son to this planet, delivered to us a new agreement between us and him and sealed that agreement with his own blood as he died on that cross.  I am talking about a freedom that was later recalled by a few slave owners and non-slave owners who ...