In Trump's America - Who Needs that Pesky First Amendment?

Apparently, free speech in America is only that which is approved by Donald Trump. Trump thinks people should be punished and even deported for showing a "lack of patriotism" by refusing to do something that has always been voluntary in our country regarding the flag. Where was all of Trump’s patriotism when he invented that bone spur in his foot to avoid military service during the fighting in Vietnam? Shouldn’t that be a punishable or deporting offense? How about it, Trump?

When the First Amendment was adopted in 1791, our Founding Father’s apparently needed to include “This article is not subject to re-interpretation by any future president or official” to protect coming generations from the whims of some dictator who managed to attain the White House. One of its provisions was to allow unpopular views to be spoken or written…like, say, when writers in the mid-1700s vented about King George III or British actions. The writers and speakers were to be allowed and encouraged to disagree with mainstream thought so public debate could determine what course of action was best for the colonies. That’s why we had people arguing in favor of, and against, the British. It’s why we allowed many different religious practices (although hindsight has shown that the tolerance was primarily limited to Christian-style religions). It’s why newspapers were not subject to censorship by the government. It protects you from the government punishing or censoring or oppressing your speech. Symbolic speech is protected by the constitution, too. Simply put, you have the right to not speak. You have the right to silence. So if you were to be fined or punished by your employer for not standing during the national anthem, that’s a major First Amendment issue. But now, Trump has redefined what that amendment really means. Stand, or get out of the country.

Here we are trying to contend with major issues around the nation and the world, including powerful hurricanes, earthquakes, erupting volcanoes, unprecedented flooding, rising sectarian violence, record droughts, suicide bombings, health care, tax reform, and threats of nuclear war (thanks to our president acting like a third grader taunting the second grade bully in North Korea, and then unzipping his pants and flipping out his tiny member at Iran to taunt them as well)...and what does Trump want to address? He decides to escalate a non-issue by attacking the NFL, calling on fans to boycott NFL games until players who refuse to stand for the national anthem are suspended or cut from the team.

So which is it...do fans stop going to games, or are the team owners supposed to fire the players? 

On ABC TV’s “This Week,” Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin defended Trump’s attack on NFL players. “You know, the NFL has all different types of rules.You can’t have stickers on your helmet. You have to have your jerseys tucked in. I think what the president is saying (Mnuchin doesn't really know, he just made this up on the spot) is that the owners should have a rule that players should have to stand in respect for the national anthem. This isn’t about Democrats, it’s not about Republicans, it’s not about race, it’s not about free speech. They can do free speech on their own time.”

Mnuchin (who never served in the military or as a first responder) needs a thorough lesson on the creation of the First Amendment. He makes the same mistake so many others do about the intent of the amendment - and what the NFL players kneeling represents - by erroneously claiming “This is about respect for the military and so many people who put their lives at risk and what the country stands for, and the owners should meet and they should decide on this rule the way they decide on any other rule.”

Incredulous, ABC’s Martha Raddatz immediately asked: “Is it not about their first amendment rights? Is it not about the first amendment?”

“No, it’s not,” Mnuchin replied. “They have the right to have the first amendment off the field.”

Free speech is only to be enjoyed in private, on your own time, away from everyone and everything. So voluntary standing, voluntary putting a hand over your heart, voluntary singing of the anthem is no longer acceptable. Now it must be coerced and if the NFL players don’t like it, they should be penalized or thrown out of work - or out of the country.

When former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick initially knelt rather than stand at games in 2016, He was NOT disrespecting the flag, the military, or our nation. He was protesting racial injustice and police brutality. That’s all.  He recognized the U.S. as his country too and he knew his First Amendment rights. In his display, he was calling attention to the increase in the number of police shootings of unarmed blacks as well as more overt discrimination against non-whites - yet there seemed to be no concern for it by government officials. There's even less under the Trump administration.

Thanks to Trump’s ignorant tweet and Mnuchin’s failure to understand what was the intent of the First Amendment, protest events and comments were commonplace at NFL games this weekend. At the day’s very first contest, a London showdown between the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Baltimore Ravens, more than two dozen players knelt, as did Ravens owner Ray Lewis. Jaguars’ owner Shad Khan, who had been a Trump supporter, locked arms with his team in a show of unity. So did Ravens coach John Harbaugh. Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers posted a photo on Instagram of him kneeling with several of his teammates. The Pittsburgh Steelers sidestepped the anthem entirely by staying in their locker room to demonstrate unity. (Only Alejandro Villanueva broke with them and went out to stand on the field.) LA Rams owner Stan Kroenke, a Trump supporter, released a statement affirming the players’ “freedom to peacefully express themselves”  as did the Tampa Bay Buccaneers owner. Over half of the Denver Broncos kneeled on the sideline at their game while numerous members of the New Orleans Saints remained sitting. The Houston Texans locked arms in a show of unity...the New York Giants locked arms too as several players took a knee. Yes, there were boos from the stands, but that is the fan’s First Amendment right. No one said they can’t do it because it might offend someone.

What Trump is calling for is a new interpretation of the First Amendment. If you live or work in the U.S., you must stand when the national anthem is played. You must stand and face the flag. You must show respect no matter what. And only Trump gets to interpret what “respect” means. When just one man gets that kind of power, it’s called a dictatorship.

So what the hell have we become?

Doomsday...AGAIN!

In September 2015 I posted an End-of-the-World blog at this link: http://warnepiece.blogspot.com/2015/09/end-of-world-september-23-2015.html. It was about Christians saying God has had enough, the end was nigh, and all the proof was pointing to September 23, 2015. They claimed that innumerable cosmic events, news stories, and weather-related phenomenon were the key. But when September 23^rd came to pass the believers were left stunned.

Turns out they just got the last digit wrong; it was supposed to be September 23, 2017. Now we have something to look forward to.

 “We’ll all die then” according to David Meade, author of Planet X: the 2017 Arrival “by the collision with death planet Nibiru which is going to kill us all. It’s written in both the Bible and the Pyramids.” Meade says, ‘It is very strange that Revelations 12 and the Great Pyramid of Giza both point to one precise moment in time – September 20 to 23, 2017.”  Yes…sometime between 12:00 AM September 20^th up to midnight on September 23^rd. How’s that for precision?

To back Meade up, from the website The Catholic Astronomer, comes this: “A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of 12 stars. She was with child and wailed aloud in pain as she labored to give birth … She gave birth to a son, a male child, destined to rule all the nations with an iron rod.” On September 23, 2017, the sun will be in the zodiac constellation Virgo — “a woman clothed with the sun”. The moon will be at the feet of Virgo — “with the moon under her feet”. The ‘nine’ stars of the zodiac constellation Leo, plus three planets (Mercury, Venus, and Mars), will be at the head of Virgo — “on her head a crown of 12 stars”. The planet Jupiter will be in the center of Virgo, and, as the weeks pass after September 23, Jupiter will exit Virgo to the east, past her feet, so to speak — “She was with child and wailed aloud in pain as she labored to give birth”. Jupiter is the largest of the planets, the “king” of the planets, so to speak — “She gave birth to a son, a male child, destined to rule all the nations with an iron rod”. 
Astrological boogah-boogah should convince everybody!

          Then we have self-professed seer Pamela Banda who wrote in a blog on August 29, 2016, that she saw a vision of Houston the previous May. In it, she said that two floods and two storms would hit the city. Harvey did it starting on August 25, 2017, and Hurricane Katia is forming up in the southern Gulf of Mexico, churning northward as of September 8th. However, Ms. Banda gave no indication of the date this would happen after she had her “vision.” It’s her followers and those who subscribe to her nonsense that came up with the date…right now, they say. Harvey and Katia are the proof. How do we know Ms. Banda is right? Because she said “Since I was a little girl, I have had dreams and visions, so seeing things is not new for me, but hearing words from the Lord is. I first started hearing words from Him in 2011.” Yep, until then, God couldn't be bothered with telling Pamela anything.

But maybe those aren’t the only signs that Yahweh, Jehovah, Allah, or Elohim have sent to prove he means it this time. For example, doomsayers claim…

…the solar eclipse that was visible across a broad swath of the US on August 21st was a sign…because the Supreme Being can only let us know of his presence by normal celestial events over the United States. Christian websites claim it was proof of God’s coming judgment. (Hey, thanks for nailing that down for us!)

              By the massive 8.1 earthquake along the Mexican Pacific coast on September 7^th, that killed at least 90 people. It produced strange and eerie bluish-green flashes in the skies offshore as the tremors rocked…literally…western Mexico. End times interpreters were having a field day claiming the lights were another sign of God’s presence.

             The gargantuan solar flares on the sun the past few days…the size of which has never been recorded. Active Region 2673 (AR 2673), seen in the short clip above, blasted out another solar flare early on the morning of Sept. 8th, its sixth intense burst of high-energy radiation since Monday, Sept. 4th. Two of the six recent flares from AR 2673 were X-class — including Wednesday the 6th's monster X9.3, which was the most powerful solar flare since 2005.

             The approaching giant Hurricane Irma that has leveled several small Caribbean island nations including Puerto Rico, and is now heading for Florida. It has Hurricane Jose following in its wake.

             The huge wildfires that have burned hundreds of thousands of acres in the states of California, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, and Montana. They are the worst fires in more than a decade.

So, some God is mad...and rather than show himself or provide concrete evidence of what is the reason is for all this…that Being thought it would be more impressive to continue hiding but use naturally occurring events - just on a bigger, broader scale - to prove His existence. That way, there’d be no doubt who or what we’re dealing with.

And through it all, climate expert Rush Limbaugh, who has a Ph.D. in Meteorology from Trump University, says the global climate change appearing in real time by trendsetting hurricanes, is a liberal hoax that’s being used to advance a socialist agenda, sell products, and whip up negative press toward President Trump. Yet, ironically, even though hurricanes are a liberal hoax, he’s not willing to put his money where his mouth is and stay put in West Palm Beach. No. He headed for the exits so he doesn’t have to face that gigantic bag of hot air bearing down on the state.

          As I stated last time, when September 23^rd comes and goes and the end of the world hasn’t happened, it will just strengthen the Christian and Doomsday proponent’s beliefs…and we’ll be off to the races toward the next end of the world prediction.

          Count on it.

(Update September 27, 2017 - Author David Meade has now clarified that Sept. 23rd was the date of a “historical event” in the skies that would signal the oncoming rapture. He claims it DID happen. It just wasn't Planet X or Nibiru slamming into Earth. But he says doomsday itself will begin on October 15th...or October 21st...or maybe even later. It's fascinating how "precise" Meade's predictions are. And you know you can trust him...because he's gotten it wrong three time in a row now. How did he forget to mention any of this post-Sept.23rd information in his original doomsday prophecy?)