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: The Trump Factor

  • Is There No End to the Suffering of the Palestinian People?

    Trump sees himself as an international peace maker and covets the Nobel Peace Prize.  After the current Gaza cease fire and hostage deal was announced, Trump said, “At long last, we have peace in the Middle East.”  “The war is over.” At the time, I wrote a Letter to the Editor of The New York…

  • To Donald Trump: America Is Not a Christian Country

    This year, many agency heads in the Trump administration sent out official Christmas messages with explicitly religious as opposed to universal spiritual messages.  So for example, War Secretary Hegseth said, “Today we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.” This is just one more example of the Trump administration’s distortion and perversion…

  • Why Are Women Demeaned?

    Despite the brief #MeToo era, we still live in a world where if a man and a woman are engaged in a sordid—meaning, in conflict with society’s conventions—relationship, it is the woman who will be chastised and not the man.  Men have always been able to do what they want and receive little criticism; women…

  • What It Means to Be an American and Fly the Flag

    There is deep disagreement among Americans today on what it means to be an American.  The two sides are so polarized that each sees the other as a threat to our democracy’s continued existence. There is even occasional talk about the possibility of civil war. With the passions this disagreement has fostered, how do we…

  • A Democrat’s Plan for Ending the War in Gaza and Establishing Peace between Israel and the Palestinians

    Trump’s 21 point peace plan for Gaza has not and will not go anywhere, despite its adoption by the UN security council. There are two reasons. One is that Netanyahu and his ultra-orthodox nationalist allies will not agree to an eventual Palestinian state in the occupied territories. The other is that Hamas will not stand…

  • Listen Up, Trump Supporters!

    I understand your anger. And that anger is justified. I too am angry at the Democratic Party for turning away from its traditional role as the supporter of the American worker.  After having been neglected and disappointed by Democratic politicians for decades, you responded to Donald Trump’s full-voiced support for your grievances against the government…

  • Trump: The King of Fake

    In his campaigns and in his presidency, Donald Trump has conquered by labeling things that present the truth as “fake,” whereas in fact he himself and what he presents as “truth” to his supporters is fake.  He has created his own Alice in Wonderland world, where everything is flipped on its head, where things are…

  • Food Should Be a Fundamental Right; Extreme Wealth Is Not

    There is no argument between Democrats and Republicans—even of the MAGA variety—that we live in a country of great inequality regarding a number of essential aspects of life:  money, education, health care, and housing.  The difference between the two is that Republicans feel that if you don’t  have money, or an education, or good health…

  • America the Beautiful?

    The other afternoon, I listened to a local band in small-town Maine play “America the Beautiful.”  And as I heard that music and thought of the song’s lyrics, tears came to me.  Why?  Because the President, Donald Trump, and his MAGA allies have corrupted everything that is good about our country and are rendering it…

  • The Deceit of MAGA

    “Make America Great Again” is a great slogan.  Who wouldn’t vote for someone with that goal?  The problem is that Trump’s MAGA is a deceit. Each and every principle of MAGA—either in concept or in execution— does not make America great again.  Instead, it makes America smaller.  Let me explain. The overarching theme of MAGA…