Preserving American Values

Our nation stands under attack … not from without but from within. American values, our politics, and our culture have been corrupted.

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about

Websites: www.westillholdthesetruths.weebly.com; www.preservingamericanvalues.com; www.thepracticalbuddhist.com. A graduate of Brown U. and U. of Chicago Law School, I’ve had a varied career as a legal aid lawyer, survey researcher, nonprofit executive, management consultant, composer, teacher, and author. I have authored 7 books on topics as varied as Buddhism, child rearing, and politics, the latter of which received a pre-publication endorsement from James Fallows, National Correspondent, The Atlantic. My Buddhist blog was selected as one of the top 50 Buddhist blogs on the web.

Category: Politics

  • Trump’s Different “Big” Government

    When Trump assumed the presidency again, one of his stated aims was to make government smaller, whether by getting rid of Federal employees, cutting “unnecessary” allocated funds and grants, or limiting the scope of the government’s work. So on the one hand, Trump and his MAGA allies are very anti-Federal traditional big government. And Trump…

  • Trump Scorecard: Week 9/21-9/27

    A while ago, I suggested that one thing the Democratic Party should do to counter Trump is to have a weekly new conference to highlight what Trump has done during the previous week that harms the people or endangers the country.  Democrats have not adopted my idea, so I’ve decided to put together my own…

  • How Should the Democratic Party Address the Israel-Gaza War

    At the DNC’s annual meeting this week, there were 2 resolutions on the Gaza War.  The Progressive wing’s resolution called for an arms embargo and the suspension of military aid to Israel.  The other called for an immediate ceasefire, the unconditional release of all hostages, unrestricted delivery of humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza, and…

  • Who Has Free Speech Rights? Kimmel?

    While what Kimmel said regarding the far-right’s reaction to Charlie Kirk’s death may have been partially inaccurate and unnecessarily combative, it certainly did not warrant the FDC Chair’s reaction or ABC’s decision to indefinitely suspend him. What did Kimmel say?  “We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to…

  • “It’s the Radical Left” – Trump’s Scapegoating Power Grab

    Scapegoating is an old ruse of authoritarian leaders to get their followers to support action against the minority scapegoated, or even commit crimes themselves against the scapegoated. The Nazi’s used the burning of the Reichstag (the German equivalent of the capitol), which it blamed on a Communist, to convince the German President to issue an…

  • Hey Bro! Do You Think Trump Has Your Back?

    This is an open letter to all bros.  You’re angry,. You’re disillusioned. And you have every right to be. The question is, what do you do about it?  How do you do something that’s going to improve your life, your future? Does the answer lie in a political party? Both Republicans and Democrats certainly want…

  • Mamdani and the Socialism Canard

    Every time Democrats propose having the government provide new assistance to those in need or a new regulation of business, the Republicans cry out,“This is Socialism.”  But after Zohran Mamdani won the Democratic primary for mayor of New York City, his fellow Democrats beat them to it.  They were aroused primarily, I think, because they…

  • Countering Trump’s Alternate Reality

    It is common in non-Trump circles to describe Trump as an inveterate, congenital liar. Throughout his campaigns and his presidency, his distorted perspective on facts—or outright lies—have been the underpinning of his combative arguments, And his forceful, passionate statements, whether distortions or lies, have become the truth for his followers. All real news and truth…

  • What Exactly Does “All Men Are Created Equal” Mean in the Declaration of Independence?

    I used to think the answer was obvious; it was self-evident. But it’s not, at least not in today’s political context.  MAGA Republicans and Democrats have a very different take on the meaning of this phrase in the Declaration. I said in my book, We Still Hold These Truths: An America Manifesto, that it is…

  • Stopping Netanyahu’s and the Israeli Ultra-Right’s Inhumanity

    The world is in an uproar over the policies of the current Israeli government—Netanyahu and his ultra-right Orthodox supporters.  Not only did they prosecute the Gaza War out of all proportion to the harm done to Israelis in the October 7 Hamas attack, killing approximately 60,000 innocent people and leveling a large swath Palestinian towns…