Freedom of the press, along with an educated and informed electorate, is the cornerstone of the American Republic. With newspapers, radio, television and internet outlets being the domain of corporations whose financial insterests make them enemies of the people's interests, rather than keeping government honest, those who tell the truth based on the facts have become rare. It's kind of ironic, with Trump having turned the government into a circus of chaos, that the most honest and up front people in media, the remnants of a true "free press," are largely comedians who deliver what has become a daily budget of disaster with a nice comedic edge. That may be the only way we can even stand to hear it.

I listen to Stephanie Miller every morning on the way to work, because I know that what I hear there will be factual. I don't know anyone who has been able to develop a vocabulary that mocks Trump's grandiose bragging and over use of the same extreme terms like she does/ Every time I hear the word, "eleventy-billion", it cracks me up and that has a way of calming me down. I think one of the best strategies Trump opposition and Democrats could have would be to make this program go viral and keep the same tone, format and approach.

Everyone who comes to the mic on that show brings facts and reason and sanity to the discussion. I trust their political judgment, and the laughs are natural, not forced. The level of frustration, incedulity, shock and amazement at the absolute disaster we are seeing unfold every single day resonates with me, and has a way of giving me a sense of vindication and justification for the anger and frustration. They make me feel like we are all watching an incredible disasater unfold together, experiencing and expressing common feelings, and getting a sense of hope that together, we can beat this thing.

I finish listening to her on my way home after work, followed up by Thom Hartmann, who does an outstanding job of just letting people vent their frustrations and point out corruption. I think it is important to hear what Americans are saying and be encouraged that as this moment has come when we are going to get a chance to make a difference, people will turn out and do what they've had bottled up inside for a while now. And I think a lot of Thom's callers are helping leaders who are genuinely committed to resisting Trumpism be encouraged that they are not standing alone, not for a minute.

It's pretty easy to tell, from the narrative of Trump tweets and posts on Truth Social, if not a mountain of other evidence, that there will be multiple attempts to alter the results of the upcoming midterm elections, especially if the news for Republican chances continues to be as bad as it now has become. The pollsters and political analysts who are always very cautious about making big shifts or show big movements in their numbers are still being cautious, but even some of the more conservative ones are hinting that the House will be a lost cause for Republicans. It's also looking like the Democrats may also win back the majority in the Senate, by enough seats to negate the VP's tie breaker.

The possibility of some kind of fraud being initiated by Trump and his cronies is more than just speculation. It's a certainty.

So what is being done about it?

In record numbers everywhere, Americans are turning out to show their disgust with Trump's failed presidency, and with the way he and his administration are handling their responsibility. They ignore the Constitution, they violate the law with impunity and they keep on getting away with it because the standard excuse of "we're not the party in power" keeps being brought up. Don't tell me that! We've seen all of the tactics the Republicans use when Democrats are in power, to keep progress from being made. So far, our record of using the filibuster in the Senate that was saved when Democrats backed away from packing the court is less than 50-50.

It's time for the nest-feathering and campaign fundraising to stop, and for this party to stand on the strength the people in the streets are providing for them, and be as bold in taking risks to stop Trump as the people are telling them they want them to be. Earn the mantle of the party of opposition.

And step up, call out and do something about the attempts to cheat in the election that are a matter of course for the GOP.

In 1845, the Northern Baptist Missionary Society of the Triennial Baptist Convention refused to ordain James Reeve, of Georgia, as a missionary because he owned slaves. As a result, Baptists from churches in the southern states where slavery was legal gathered in Augusta, Georgia that same year to withdraw from the Triennial Convention, which, in spite of attempts to remain neutral on the issue of slavery, took action that increasingly favored its abolition.

So it was that the Southern Baptist Convention, the nation's largest Protestant denomination, was founded as a result of theological error and doctrine formed from a grave, serious misinterpretation of the Christian gospel that rested on racist bigotry. That's not unusual in American Christianity, where the combination of a lack of seminary trained ministers with the emotionalism of frontier revivals led to the formation of many denominations, including cults that departed completely from the teaching of the Christian gospel. But there's more to this story that characterizes Southern Baptists as a denomination and explains their insensitivity to human equality and social justice that is at the core foundation of the Christian gospel.

The rest of this story is that the Southern Baptist denomination, as a whole, did not apologize for their promoting and supporting of slavery in the south until 1995, one hundred and fifty years after their founding, based on the approval of the practice of slavery. One hundred fifty years of history, during which most of its affiliated congregations practiced segregation and discrimination in their membership requirements, and during which most of their churches opposed the Civil Rights movement and took an active role in attempts to stop it.

That says a lot about why, in the face of racial bigotry, injustice and the struggle for equality, Southern Baptists are either silent, or they come out on the side that is contrary to the principles and teachings of the Christian gospel. They are blind to the fact that MAGA Trumpism and the faithful and truthful practice of the Christian gospel are mutually exclusive.

Conservative Evangelicals, Southern Baptists among them, are separating themselves from the mainline Protestant clergy and churches who are showing their love for their neighbors by standing against the injustice being done to them. The American people can see who the real Christians are by their love and their actions. Silence is condemning those who are complicit.

The real question that needs to be asked, and answered, regarding the protest which took place inside Cities Church in St. Paul during a recent worship service is just exactly how far outside of the gospel of Jesus this congretation is willing to go. There's a lot of hypocrisy here, including the silence of the congregation regarding the suffering being inflicted on their neighbors by ICE and having one of their own pastors involved in it. And even more in the complaining and whining about protesters disrupting their church service, while ICE agents are barging into church worship services in multiple locations in order to drag worshippers out.

Pam Bondi's shrieking and lip flapping about not tolerating the disruption of church services is an empty, hypocritical lie. She is well aware, from complaints filed by multiple church denominations and congregations, that ICE agents are disrupting worship services to enter churches, and drag worshippers out of their pews to arrest them without specific warrants or authority to do so, in violation of the first amendment. This particular protest, calling out a church with a pastor who is a supervisor for ICE for its hypocritical silence and failure to act in a manner consistent with the Christian gospel, was caught on camera to counter the lies of conservative Evangelicals, and Pam Bondi. It was not comparable to the sometimes violent removal of worshippers by ICE agents from other churches.

Cities Church in St. Paul is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention, so it's not surprising that the church would not have any conscience when it comes to social justice or that it would value right wing MAGA Trumpism over the Christian gospel. The kind of political perspective and loyalty that would be required of someone to be in a supervisory capacity at ICE is something I consider equivalent to being a member of the Ku Klux Klan. Both of those things require doing things which run contrary to the values and practices of the Christian gospel. Whether or not that justifies a protest inside the church worship service is a matter of conscience, not law.

This is the same Southern Baptist Convention that was formed in 1845 because the Triennial Baptist Convention, the main body of Baptists in the United States, refused to appoint a slave owner as a missionary. It was not until 1995, 150 years later, that the denomination officially apologized for its role in promoting the enslavement of human beings. The racism which drove the Confederacy and was written into its Constitution, that black persons are inferior to white persons, also drove the Southern Baptist Convention and it was a theological and doctrinal error that they allowed to stand for 150 years before correcting it.

That is a clear indication that it can make theological, doctrinal and Christian practice errors in other areas, too. And they are making them in the realm of social justice, especially when it comes to immigration. They are silent in the face of injustice and in the violation of individual human rights.

We have to look at this for what it is. I haven't seen any complaint or outrage about the disruption of church services by ICE agents from the Southern Baptists like Al Mohler and Danny Akin, the two seminary Presidents who arrogantly defended the pastor employed by ICE and shrieked and lip flapped about the protest inside the church which was recorded on camera and does not in any way show any confusion, frightened children, or chaos that they described. I have to wonder if they were watching the same video that I did.

Frankly, I am still opposed to protests disrupting church worship services. However, given the attitudes in this case, and the manner in which this is being handled by both the church, and by the Justice Department, I believe this protest was perfectly acceptable. This wasn't a Christian church service that was interrupted, it was a gathering of a pseudo-Christian cult and considering the issue at the heart of the protest, it was simply a constitutionally protected act of free speech and conscience.

Is the Democratic party going to be fully committed to opposing Trump, claiming that he is the greatest threat to American Democracy in history, or is it going to focus most of its attention on helping the party prominents feather their nests, hold on to their seats and stay out of the more risky line of fire as the elections approach?

In light of how some elected members of the party have been responding to everything that's happening, I think this is a legitimate question that deserves and answer.

I'm a lifelong Democrat, the son of a labor union member who grew up in a working class household. I've always been registered to vote, and I've always voted, including in local elections at the city and county level. In all of the time I've been eligible to vote, I've never missed an election if I could help it, including voting absentee and by mail when circumstances dictated it. I've also always been a contributor. I'm not wealthy, by any means, but I can give candidates a little bit of a boost with a small contribution to their campaign, and a regular gift to the DNC

I've dropped the DNC gift, as a practical matter, and because I no longer see the value of doing so. I'm open to revisiting the possibility but I need to see something a whole lot different than what I see now. And a lot more bold and aggressive when it comes to opposing Trump. That contribution now goes to Leaders We Deserve which is where I think it will do the most good for the Democratic party in electing the best candidates who aren't afraid to stand up and be Trump opposition.

Keep a close eye on the Democrats in Congress, because at a time like this, when a tiny GOP majority is on its back heels trying to keep up its agenda and Democrats have more power than they want you to know that they do, their votes will tell you how sincere their lips are being when it comes to Trump opposition. They're not getting my vote unless they're 100% anti-MAGA.

But, this is to be expected. Cities Church is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. So they don't see the complete inconsistency in a pastor who works for ICE, and who participates in the immoral injustice that they are perpetrating. Nor do they see that Biblical Christianity and being a supporter of MAGA Trumpism are mutually exclusive. It is not possible to be faithful to the principles of the Christian gospel, and a supporter of MAGA, and Trump.

And that's not a judgment. It's simply an observation.

But, what is to be expected in a denomination that was founded for the purpose of defending slavery, rebelling against the biblically founded restrictions on sending slaveowners out on their behalf as missionaries, adopted by the Triennial Baptist Convention of Philadelphia. And, one that did not repudiate or apologize for its role in promoting the evil, ungodly practice until 1995, 150 years after it was founded because of its support for slavery.

I didn't hear either one of these seminary presidents speak out against the murder of Renee Good. Nor have they spoken up against the brutal treatment we have all seen that has been a trademark of ICE raids and alleged "enforcement" of immigration law everywhere they've been. To be fair, I've never heard Akin preach, nor have I read anything he's written. I have heard Mohler, his podcast, and his pompous pontifications on everything he thinks his audience needs informing from his perspective. And I can't find any reference to their complaining about ICE agents interrupting church services to abduct worshippers.

If this protest, calling out the hypocrisy of this church, is a problem, then so is ICE entering a church to drag off and arrest people in the congregation. Why not speak up about disrupting worship in general, instead of whining about this calling out of hypocrites? The leader of the protest was arrested, and the attorney general, Pam Bondi, stated, "We will not tolerate attacks on places of worship."

Really, Pam? So you are a two faced liar, and hypocrite too, as if we didn't already know this, given your bottomless corruption. Does this mean you will not tolerate ICE agents entering churches to drag out congregants and send them to detention camps? Will we hear, from your office, orders prohibiting ICE agents from attacking houses of worship?

No, I did not listen to the rambling, disjointed, incoherent, fumbling, bumbling, and frankly, boring to comatose press conference given by Trump to mark his first full year in office of his second term. I can't stand to watch or listen to him, knowing that every word that comes out of his mouth has no connection to the real world, is not true, and is nothing more than another symptom of his narcissism and dysfunctional ego, mixed with a good measure of dementia.

Donald Trump was, in his first term, one of the worst presidents in American history. His term in office was predictably bad, the fact that he had trouble demonstrating competence working the drive in window at a McDonalds a precursor for the manner in which he handled the job as President. This is a man who, honestly, could not pass an eighth grade constitution or history test. And as far as his personal morality and character go, well, not everyone who has occupied the White House has had character that matches its exterior color, and Trump's womanizing, affairs, including the tryst he tried to cover up with a porn star, cheating in business, added to the recent rape convictions, seditious attack on the Capitol and what he may have done with Jeffrey Epstein are pretty bad compared to just about anyone else who has served as President.

We knew we were getting this when the Republicans nominated him. And Democrats, the ones who, when we had control of Congress would not break the senate filibuster to amend the judiciary act and pack the Supreme Court, which would have eliminated the possibility of a second Trump term, sort of botched the possibility to run someone who could have easily beaten him if they'd had two years and a full campaign to do it. They knew what a second Trump term would bring. The way that was handled wasn't my mistake.