UnAmerican

I am sorry to say we now live in a world where truth, justice and the American way are no longer what they use to be. We now have fake news with the rise of the internet anyone can write a story that they can claim is true and it does not matter if the author is foreign or domestic some people accept it as dogma without any evidence to support its claims.
Everyone talks about the Constitution but few seem to know what it really means. A lot of people forget that our founding fathers added a Bill of Rights in their wisdom to insure our individual freedoms. I have seen a lot of Presidential transitions in my life and this has been one of the scariest. The truth is no longer relavent to president Trump and his supports nor is it to his critics either. We do have freedom of the press even thou some of the press is bias. We do have freedom of speech even freedom to lie or cast doubt on the stories that seasoned journalist uncover.
Many talk about the right to bear arms but few talk about the responsibility in bearing arms. According to FBI statistics for 2015 there were 15,696 murders in the United States that year that is more people killed than the population of Sitka Alaska, Gettysburg Pennsylvania, Astoria Oregon, Jackson Hole Wyoming, or Hanover New Hampshire. This does not seem to be a problem for the NRA or the gun manufacturers who push for anyone and everyone to have unhamperd access to guns. You can buy guns when your mentally ill, abuse your wife, or belong to right wing militia that wants to over throw the elected government. I am not against people having guns I just want them to be responsible people.
Our property right are now in question as well and if you don't believe this just ask the Native Americans at Standing Rock. If an oil company wants put their pipeline near your water supply they only need a friend in the Oval Office.
A lot of people wanted health care repealed but Congress has found the task harder than the anticipated everyone of their proposal cost more and have less coverage due to concessions they have tried to make to their political contributors the legal drug cartel and the insurance companies.
We are no longer a melting pot where diversity is our strength we are now just a pot where the biggest turds float to the top.
Our constitution not only guarantees freedom of religion but also freedom from religion although it seems the religious right owns Congress  but you might dispute who owns Congress. It's not owned by the American people, just special interest.
The seventh amendment gives us protection against excessive fines and that is not working either if you have been to traffic court recently or been late on your mortgage or rent.
I love our country, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights but I wish they would be used as our founding fathers intended in their wisdom.

It's Time to start the Revolt in your State

I have seen a number of US Presidents come and go during my lifetime, some good and others lacking. Now for the first time I am worried about the future of our country and the deterioration of the fabric that our democracy was made from. The fire has gone out under the melting pot. Hate and self interest are now burning brightly. I understand the anger coming from all sides because for years now we have had two incestous political parties that bred upon themselves excluding the input of those they served.
In the past two decades labor's power has declined along with wages. The Supreme Court made corporations citizens while chipping away at individual rights. Our Presidents and Congress bailed out the big banks during the recent recession but allowed the banks to make record profits while they foreclosed on a multitude of home owners. Due to the loss of jobs during the recession and also because of the increase of outsourcing in the past couple of decades banks and corporations are now running the show.
It is no wonder the little average Joe is starting to get selfish and cutting corners because it has worked for the banks and corporations. Wells Fargo's executives recently got rich while practicing unethical banking practices and opening fraudulent accounts that customers were unaware of. Other banks have also been guilty of other violation. The have been fined but when the fine is equal to a few pennies to a thousand dollars, it's not much of an insentive to change practices.
The Trump administration chose to solve these problem by getting a group of advisors who mostly billionaires to solve the working man's problem. Their answer is to push through deregulation on the banks, Wall Street and big corporation. Trump's tax plan does little to change my taxes but is a great boon to big business. Don't get me wrong I do think Trumps looking into trade is good but that is only part of the solution for average Joe to succeed.
Social Security was fine until Congress started borrowing from it to pay for wars. And why are we giving more than 5 Billion in foreign aid to Israel their people have college and health care paid for while we squabble.
We need a revolution in both our political parties to get them back to serving the people and we need it to begin in every state. This way Congress and the rest will follow.

This is not news but the thoughts of a journalist of 26 years.