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Volunteerism; The Art of Giving Back

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Volunteerism; The Art of Giving Back

Volunteerism; The Art of Giving Back

Editor: “Volunteering is an optional and freely chosen act of an individual or group giving their time and labor, for community service.” Wikipedia

D.S. Mitchell

Down Home
I smiled as I pulled a copy of the Daily Courier, our hometown newspaper, from its delivery tube at the curbside. On the front page was a great picture of four volunteers and a terrific article titled, “Volunteers clear 7 mile Taylor Creek Trail West of Grants Pass.” According to the report more than 30 volunteers mobilized by SOTA (Southern Oregon Trail Alliance), Motorcycle Riders Association, the Rogue Valley Mountain Bike Association and the Siskiyou Mountain Club, worked from January to May” of  2026, to clear the entirety of the 7 mile trail. The trail is a key link to more than 40 miles of single track trails that make up the Briggs Valley Trail network.
Chainsaw  in Hand
After the Klondike and Taylor Creek wildfires in 2018 devastated the much beloved Briggs Valley Trail system many area folks wrote off  the area, but volunteers said, a loud ‘Hell, NO!’ For the Trail restoration project funding was obtained largely from Travel Oregon, a group that promotes tourism and outdoor recreation in the state. A total of 560 volunteer hours were enlisted for the project. The volunteers converged over four work days with crews ranging from 14 to 25 people each day chain-sawing through downed trees, cutting back vegetation with hedge trimmers and loppers, reshaping trails with shovels, and raking rocks and debris off the path. The volunteers restored this beautiful area to a “better than before” condition, despite difficult weather and dense regrowth. This is the power of volunteerism in dramatic action.
The Foundation
Volunteerism is the foundation of civic involvement a driving force in social action. You can become part of something bigger than yourself by volunteering your time, energy, and  knowledge to help your friends, neighbors and community.  I know many people are working two jobs to keep gas in the rig, but so are a lot of other people. “Give and ye shall receive,” was a mantra at my childhood home. My dad helped neighbors with handy man assistance when he wasn’t working, his real job. My mom owned a popular diner on N.W. St. Helens Rd, in Portland, OR. So, as you can imagine, she was busy. She played fry cook 4 days a week and manager/bookkeeper/entrepreneur the other three days of the week. But, mom; just like my dad freely gave their time, energy, and skills to improve the condition of their neighbors, community, and the city at large. Understanding the scope and impact of giving back involves examining several key aspects of volunteerism.
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Types of Volunteerism:
  • The Informal Volunteer: Unorganized random acts of kindness that help friends and neighbors to improve the local environment. Can be as simple as cleaning up a neighbors driveway, mowing a lawn, or cutting back some brush. Better yet, organize a neighborhood cleanup and get everybody to join in the effort. For the disabled Vietnam vet living down the street, get a crew together and go down (with permission, of course) and fix what needs fixing, or find someone that can fix it. Informal volunteering has a lot of networking that goes with it. You find out fast who to call for most any task. 
  • The Formal Volunteer: Individual people performing tasks through established nonprofits, schools, or government agencies such as mentoring students or hospital reception. I volunteered one school year as school nurse for my local elementary school when I was pregnant with my son.
  • The Corporate Volunteer: Staff are supported by the employer, usually by providing VTO (paid time off) or organizing public service group days.
  • The Skill-Based Volunteer: A professional, such as an attorney; providing legal support for non-profits, pro bono for those in financial distress, and related services.

Experts Describe Three Tangible Reasons People Volunteer:
  • Local Impact: Volunteers enjoy seeing the fruits of their labor close up-solving community needs, ending food insecurity, housing the homeless, making strides in environmental conservation. Instant gratification or at least the possibility of it.
  • Personal Growth: Volunteers learn new skills, develop networking strategies, great experience for any resume.
  • Health Benefits: According to research “volunteering can reduce stress, foster social connections, and promote overall mental and physical well-being.”

Be a Bernie or an AOC 

Now that I ‘ve pointed out the huge impact volunteerism can have on a neighborhood, on a country, and the individual volunteers themselves; I’m issuing a call for volunteers. This democracy needs the energetic, the smart, and those committed to small d democracy and the progressivism of Bernie Sanders, AOC, Elizabeth Warren, and Zohran Mamdani if we are going to save ourselves from the oligarchs. There was a time when the government taxed these high income earners. There was a time when immigrants were welcome It wasn’t that long ago when labor unions delivered good wages and health and dental insurance coverage to their members. But, those were different times.

Robert’s Supreme Court and Donald Trump

Today we have a Supreme Court that is purely partisan. No doubt about it. The Roberts court is no longer a court, but an unelected legislative body, making up laws on some imagined redrawing of American justice. We need to bring a halt to this untethered Supreme court that has given Donald Trump unparalleled power. power that he is abusing every single day. The Trump administration and this supreme court are trying to end our democracy and set up a dictatorship and We need ethics reform, term limits, expansion of the court and prosecution of those justices found to be taking bribes and favors.

  • The Political Volunteer (activist): Figure out what you stand for and volunteer for the candidate that best reflects your needs. Knock on doors,  help the local Democratic party with donated money, manual labor, the gamut-‘a where you are most needed situation’. Volunteer to help at the local election office. Hell, if you think you can bring change; run for office.

Be A Political Activist

It is important for a tsunami of progressive reps and senators to be elected in the 2026 midterms. We need to flip the House and the Senate if we are going to bring this court to heel and Trump removed or squashed until removed. We need Democrats to defend and expand  social security, Medicaid, Medicare, voting rights, vote by mail, income equality, fair housing, child care, maternity leave, and a host of issues that make life livable.

 

 

 

 

I Am My Politics; And So Are You

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I Am My Politics; And So Are You

Harris and Walz are igniting the Democrats

I Am My Politics; And So Are You

D. S. Mitchell

Editor: Writing for Calamity News and Politics gives me a platform to discuss headline events and political policy. It also provides me a place to vent and fume. If somebody doesn’t like the drum I’m beating, they are fully able, and encouraged to move on; to a site that better satisfies their social view of the world.

 

My Son

“Don’t get so wound up, it’s just politics”, my son told me one time.  Well, whether I’m saying it to my son, or to a potential reader, or to a neighbor, the guy sitting next to me at the bar-that is the wrong attitude. In the end, politics is government policy, and government policy; in case you hadn’t noticed, effects everything in our lives. So the choices you make politically are a vision of who you are and what you want in the world around you.  The schools, the hospitals, the parks, the highways, the airports, the waterways, international trade, economics, military defense, environmental action and social justice.  Nearly every part of our daily life is effected in someway by the policies that our elected officials enact in Washington, D.C., or our state capitols. Got it? We are the politics we support.

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Celebrating Juneteenth

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Celebrating Juneteenth…

Despite MAGA “Culture”…

Celebrating Juneteenth…

Despite MAGA “Culture”

 

By Cate Rees-Hessel

 

Continue to Proclaim Freedom…

As we celebrate Juneteenth, now a legal holiday thanks to years of activists’ campaigning and then our former President Biden in 2021 for making the day a federal holiday. It troubles me that we live in a racist ICE-filled nation because of our current administration, but that won’t stop us from celebrating. The holiday fell on a Friday this year, giving us a whole weekend to celebrate. Here are are 19 ideas to honor June 19th:

  1. Many towns are having public celebrations – I have my pink Juneteenth T-shirt all ready; I will proudly celebrate the North African portion of my heritage.
  2. Check your local library for books and films honoring Juneteenth.
  3. Make it a weekend event with barbecues, water parks, movies, or concerts.
  4. Visit an African museum to view exhibits and artifacts.
  5. Enjoy a marathon of African American TV episodes on your favorite streaming service.
  6. Read the Emancipation Proclamation out loud.
  7. Volunteer for a liberal Democratic organization.
  8. Buy a beautiful piece of African art to display.
  9. Teach children about African culture.
  10. Share stories and ideas around a campfire or picnic.
  11. Learn African dances and dance like everyone is watching.
  12. Learn the significance of quilts and how they assisted with the Underground Railroad.
  13. See the new recently released Michael Jackson film.
  14. Craft an African decoration to display.
  15. Read about Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Shirley Chisolm, Rosa Parks, and Kamala Harris.
  16. Read about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Barack Obama, John Lewis, Jesse Jackson, Hakeem Jeffries, and Cory Booker.
  17. Read about Big John and Mother Amy, slaves that positively influenced Dolley Madison.
  18. Enjoy some delicious soul food while listening to the premier children’s choir, the Soul Children of Chicago – see soulchildrenchicago.org for their music.
  19. Visit the brand new Obama Presidential Center in person or online, which is open starting today – go to obama.org.

 

Whatever you decide to do to celebrate, enjoy, engage, and be safe – God bless our nation. We celebrate freedom despite our current administration – vote blue and continue to fight for freedom as we celebrate Juneteenth…

A High Mass for Massie

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A High Mass For Massie

A High Mass For Massie

By John Curran

 

I am not a priest, but if I was I would throw down on a righteous high mass for Thomas Massie. A good man in my opinion, fighting the good fight and he’s really in the trenches today. He must prevail. He is arrayed against the galloping goddamn forces of the modern day Apocalypse in the form of the Godless motherfucker currently some see as president. Good ‘ol USA, great in a lot of ways, not so great in some others, historically speaking. Many bumps in this road if we be truthful about it all but at least, at the very least, we were evolving. Up until this guy.

I don’t mention his name if I can help it but we sure do know it when we see it, smell it, taste it, feel it. Its become like an overpowering thing, like walking onto a field of battle after the last gunshot, on a hot day; before the work details have managed to bury the bodies…the smell kinda knocks ya out, gotta give it pause for a second cause its like nothing you have ever experienced and right off you damn sure know you don’t want to have to experience this again. It’s sorta like why the hell hasn’t this horror been speedily taken care of?  Hell no; it’s been allowed to fester and to grow stronger in its vile poisonous way everyday now while this person jiggles and manipulates every aspect of a system that lo and behold does allow itself to be manipulated and jiggled to allow maximum manipulation and consequent corruption, seeing as how the person is someone of that character, always has been, always will be.

Fact is though, many are now waking up to what is really going on with all of this to the point that even die hard bricks in the road are finding that road shift pretty mightily right under their feet as if a great and most powerful quaking and ‘a shaking of the very earth is occurring such that there no longer really is any room for denial, that building is coming down, better hope it ain’t coming right on top of your head. So, I just hope that during Massie’s last seven months in office he goes after that smelly piece of garbage in the White House with everything he’s got. It’s very important to me, and the country.

47 Things More Pleasant Than Trump 47

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47 Things More Pleasant Than  Trump 47

47 Things More Pleasant Than Trump 47

Editor: I have been avoiding the TV news recently; because his name, the sound of  his voice, his tweets, his quotes are the rantings of a demented old geezer that ‘otta be in a forensic unit at the Florida State Hospital instead of pretending to run the 21st century government of the United States. Before Trump sank into the depths of a terrifying dementia he was a thieving grifter who had fooled a lot of people for a long time. He has no respect for the law because he has always broken it and gotten away scot free while making huge sums of money. Now he is scamming the United States government for a whole bunch of cash for those who will claim false prosecution. Only in America. Holy fuck, what a terrible epitaph for this once glorious country. So with all that said, here’s Cate again with a few things she would much rather hear about than Donald Trump.

By Cate Rees-Hessel

 

47 is the worst excuse for a “president” ever…and I mean E-V-E-R. So with said, here are 47 Things I think are more pleasant than Donald John Trump

  1. A peanut butter and pickle casserole – I will never call “The Donald” president
  2. Stepping on a screw
  3. Gastric disturbance
  4. The fragrance of a garbage truck
  5. Cotton mouth – I will never call “The Donald” president.
  6. Extreme physical pain
  7. A root canal without Novacaine
  8. Cockroachs – I will never call “The Donald” president
  9. Stomach flu
  10. Food poisoning
  11. COVID – I will never call “The Donald” president
  12. Poison Oak and Poison Ivy
  13. Dog poop – I will never call “The Donald” president
  14. Toilet back-up
  15. A sewer back-up
  16. A rectal exam – I will never call “The Donald” president
  17. Sink holes
  18. Razor burn
  19. Rat infestation – I will never call “The Donald” president
  20. Nails on a chalkboard
  21. Cellulite
  22. Stubbing a toe on pointy heavy furniture – I will never call “The Donald” president
  23. Crepie skin
  24. Being mooned by a stranger, or anyone for that matter
  25. A flasher in the produce aisle of the grocery store – I will never call “The Donald” president
  26. A flat tire during a rain storm
  27. Losing water pressure while showering
  28. Black ice – I will never call “The Donald” president
  29. The stirrups, if you are female
  30. Turn your head and cough, if you are male
  31. A kick in the balls – I will never call “The Donald” president
  32. Irritable Bowel Syndrome
  33. Cleaning up hairballs from the sofa
  34. Spending the night in a haunted house – I will never call “The Donald” president
  35. A clogged drain
  36. Arriving at the water park to discover someone threw up in the pool
  37. Finding a dog accident the hard way – I will never call “The Donald” president
  38. A can of warm soda or beer
  39. Running out of toilet paper
  40. A dead battery in subzero temperatures – I will never call “The Donald” president
  41. A gas gauge on E when you are running late
  42. A sprained ankle
  43. My in-laws – I will never call “The Donald” president
  44. A traffic citation
  45. Finding a fly in your soup
  46. The laugh of a hyena – I will never call “The Donald” president
  47. Creepy clown with orange hair – oh wait, that IS “The Donald”…

Angry? Feeling Betrayed? Here’s Why

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Angry? Feeling Betrayed? Here’s Why.

 

 

Angry? Feeling Betrayed? Here’s Why.

 

By D.S. Mitchell

 

So, I’ve been doing my own research and right now my blood pressure, despite medication, is at least 40 points above normal. Damn fucking serious, my doctor tells me. So while the doctor adjusts my medication based on the nightly news, I have put together a list of Trump’s most despicable actions. I can only imagine the number of outrages I don’t know about; those hidden behind the curtain, those hidden behind a wall of corruption.

1.) During Round One the Mango Menace tore up Obama’s Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Better known as the “Iran Nuclear Deal”. Why? Because Obama was connected to it. No other reason than a black man had been its guiding force. The agreement provided for inspections and prevented Iran from ever obtaining a nuclear weapon. Now in Round Two, Melon Head, under the spell of Israel’s Netanyahu and big Jewish donors in the U.S., launched major combat operations against Iran without formal, direct advance notification to Tehran. Trump’s War characterized by a surprise military campaign, aimed at destroying Iranian capabilities, rather than a declared, notified war. Now here we are;  and it looks like the Iranians are winning.

2. ) This one is a twofer for Trump. This is the second time he has withdrawn the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement, ending U.S. participation in global climate efforts. Trump’s fossil fuel donors are jubilantly jumping up and down, while the environmentalists cry. However, as oil prices skyrocket, Europeans are buying EV’s and talking wind and solar power and even nuclear. Hopefully, we in the U.S. will take up a similar cry.

3.) Fed chaos has caused market volatility while Trump’s shifting economic policies are  an economic disaster. Trump’s wildly gyrating tariffs based on nothing other than how he felt when he woke up. His tariffs are a tax on the U.S. consumer and those policies have triggered inflation and chaos; and now that the courts have ordered repayment of tariff charges to  many big companies. When asked about it, Trump suggested he would “remember” the guys that wanted their money back; like he’s some ‘effin mob boss. A really ugly look for the United States of America.

4.) Trump and his sometimes buddy Elon Musk dismantled USAID and other U.S. “soft diplomacy” efforts. The battle was loud as food and medicine rotted and expired in warehouses around the world waiting to be delivered to those desperately in need. An estimated 600,000 to 732,000 died, most were children and those deaths were directly related to the withdrawal of  USAID. Apparently, the number of those who died mattered little or nothing to Trump and his allies. My God, that’s like wiping out every man, woman, and child in Denver, Colorado; without a single tear shed.

5.) Trump revoked federal recognition of transgender Americans by executive order and federal agencies have rushed around carrying out Trump’s orders. The common goal of all his  orders is to remove transgender and nonbinary people from public life by restricting access to accurate federal identity documents, threatening to withhold hospitals’ federal funding over gender-affirming care, and erasing trans history from federal websites and in schools. The Trump White House is using the federal government as a cudgel to make it harder for trans Americans to live openly — without fear of harassment and discrimination.

6.)Trump egged on by drug intoxicated Elon Musk joyfully halted the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program completely. EXCEPT, as I understand it, “for select white South Africans.” This while Secretary Hegseth is firing black officers with decades of service without reason or explanation. Everything this administration does has an anti-melanin component to it; and they are making no effort to conceal their love of white.

7.) After Trump denied any knowledge or understanding of what Project 2025 was during his 2024 campaign he suddenly embraced the project after the election. Project 2025 is a plan to restructure the U.S. government in the image of  a Christian Nationalists homeland where we all follow their narrow religious beliefs. In the introduction to the document the authors call for “deleting” LGBTQ+ equality, reproductive freedom, and removal of diversity, equity and inclusion language and intent from “every federal rule, agency regulation, contract, grant, regulation, and piece of legislation that exists.”

Project 2025 plan is to:

  • Eliminate the Department of Education
  • Fund private religious schools with taxpayer money
  • Delete LGBTQ+ rights
  • End marriage equality
  • Limit reproductive health care and in the process ban the most accessible forms of abortion
  • Create obstacles for racial justice through gerrymandering and the resulting loss of voting rights
  • Using religious freedom to discriminate

8.) Trump ended the Energy Star appliance-efficiency program and any other credit or tax benefits derived by the purchase of energy efficient products including  EVs.  Oh, I keep forgetting, grandpa thinks “global warming is a hoax.”

9.) Trump’s “Big beautiful bill” cut a trillion dollars from United States health care expenditures. An estimated 12 million people will lose health care coverage. Children’s Medicaid, nutrition, and vaccine programs have been devastated.

10.) Trump in demented tweets has threatened to abandon NATO commitments if allies don’t increase their military spending; while walking away from Ukraine forcing NATO Europe to ramp up money and resources for the Ukrainian defense. His saber rattling and threats to take over NATO countries such as Greenland by force if necessary is causing a wide rupture between us and our long time friends.

11.) With the scribble of his sharpie Trump attempted to revoke birthright citizenship via executive order. The Supreme Court is reviewing numerous law suits regarding the constitutionality of such presidential action.

12.) The Trumpster has used the Alien Enemies Act to justify mass migrant detentions. The public is sick of warehousing human beings for the profit of Trump allies and community after community is fighting back and they are winning and ICE detention warehouses are being shut down across the country.

13.) Trump looked at a couple pictures and appointed unqualified loyalists to high-ranking posts. The Trump cabinet is the richest cabinet in U.S. history with little experience at public service.

14.) Proposed turning Gaza into the “Riviera of the Middle East”-resettling Gazans “some place-anyplace” without a view.

15.) Trump has pushed for mass surveillance expansion focusing on protestors and immigrants and then have used that information to deport students.

I had intended to list 47 abhorrent, disgusting, revolting things that Trump has done since being elected  for his second term, and truly I am so angry I don’t know if I can get to 47 with out  having an ‘effin stroke. Because right now, I’m guessing my blood pressure is somewhere close to 170/100! As far as finishing this article I don’t think it will be this week. Hugs. Love you. Keep protesting, keep resisting.

 

 

Moving On

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Moving On

Moving On

 

D. S. Mitchell

 

I went to 27 different grade schools, and it probably won’t surprise you; I’ve been married five times. The only reason I’m confiding these tidbits of ancient information is to cue you to the fact that I’m no stranger to packing up the car and moving on.

So, now you ask, “are you going somewhere?”

“Aahhh, yes, and as always, I have no idea where.”

I came to the charming Southern Oregon town of Grants Pass in 2022, lured by an older double wide mobile home on a beautiful lake front lot. I bought it and have been loving it ever since.

So, now you ask, “why would you leave; if you love it?”

Aahhh, because somewhere deep inside me there is a malfunctioning gene. A gene that will never let me be stay in one place; no matter how well things seems to be going. In fact, the better that things seem to be going all the better reason to move on. Sounds a bit crazy, doesn’t it? Well, I think you’d be absolutely correct. Unhinged, perhaps? Spoiled? Entitled? Probably all of those things and a few more unflattering descriptors, when the truth is known.

On the other hand, in two capitols thousands of miles apart, two sociopathic heads of state show their willingness to throw their soldiers and citizens into their psychopathic conflict. A war with no purpose, other than to keep Bibi out of jail and the Epstein files out of the headlines. A war that conservatively is costing the United State a fuckin’ billion dollars plus per day. That ought to make your hair stand on end as you wait in the unemployment office for an interview, or you struggle over how to pay for groceries, or fill the gas tank. A fuckin’ billion dollars a day; while rural hospitals are closing across this country. Again while Trump and Bibi burn up a billion dollars a day Health and Science Universities across the United States are experiencing dramatic federal funding cuts. Outrageous, scandalous an unbelievable middle finger to civilized nations.

For the last week I have watched near 24/7 coverage of Donald and Bibi’s War against Iran. It is here I want to say that despite all my malfunctioning genes and general bullshit over the years my craziness has never cost one person their life; certainly not 185 school girls, leveled  a city, destroyed oil fields and stored reserves,  or sank ships and their crews at sea. Why aren’t these two guys in jail or a padded cell? How does it happen that these two men, both criminals, run two of the most powerful countries in the world? Where are the restraints? What went wrong in the election? Right now we have two of the most dangerous men in history threatening the world military and economic stability.

Trump while raving illogical “short term pain and long term gain,” he and his brother in pain are  running wild with Tomahawk missiles and endless bombing raids against Iran. If congress can’t stop them, the American people and the Israeli public CAN halt this despicable activity, but that requires action. Action on the street. Protests. Screaming our damn heads off. Time to put the American people first, that means affordable housing, access to child care, universal health care, basic income, and superlative public education.

It’s time for the few remaining sleeping Americans to come out of the MAGA coma and see Trump for what he is. Show your disapproval for this president and his fuckin’ foreign wars. Register for the No Kings Protest, and turn out with whistle, drum and sign, March 28, 2026. A goal of 10 million Americans on the street will move even psychopaths to change course. Come on America, PROTEST!

 

Why Your Vote Is So Important

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Why Your Vote Is So Important

Why Your Vote Is So Important

By D.S. Mitchell

 

The 2024 Election

I talk to people; lots of people everyday, and I am sad to tell you folks that a surprisingly large group of my friends, neighbors, co-workers, and even my favorite barista did not vote.  I’m genuinely surprised. I thought it was just someone else, somewhere else that did not vote. How could it in fact be people I know, lots of people I know. Usually, a federal election brings the voters out, but not in 2024. I’ve heard the low voter turnout related directly to Trump winning.

Staying Away From the Polls

When I asked each of them why they hadn’t voted the answers varied. Several people said they were busy and totally spaced it out. What? How is that possible? I don’t believe them. But, why are they lying? A handful of others said they didn’t vote because politicians are all a bunch of crooks just with a different party affiliation. So why bother? A few commented that the whole election system was rigged. One woman even told me she was “protesting” by not voting. How can not voting be a protest against anything; you are doing nothing. Several said they didn’t like any of the candidates. And finally the last half a dozen people I quizzed said their one vote didn’t make a difference. How could it; its just one of millions.

What Can I Say?

To those who said they had been “too busy” I can only say, shame on you for not taking the few minutes required to vote. We have few covenants with our democracy;  the principle one is that we vote. Regarding the “all politicians are crooks” belief is understandable. Lobbying is a bad practice and weakens our system. However, it is up to us to demand our officials are accountable for any misdeeds in office. Some ways that is accomplished is with term limits and strict ethics rules, but most importantly a vigilant electorate. The rigged election ‘reason’ is based on a politically motivated attack on our independent state voting system by powerful people with loud voices and a significant bully pulpit. Even a lie, told repeatedly will find believers. As far as not liking either candidate; do a little research and I bet you discover there is a huge difference between the candidates and you might find you really do like one better than the other. The last and most often stated reason people didn’t vote was because they believed that their one vote doesn’t make a damn bit of difference. This last reason I am going to spend some time on. Just like the late Reverend Jesse Jackson I know enough of history to know that one vote has changed the course of history more than a few times.

When One Vote Changed History

  • One vote made Oliver Cromwell Lord Protector of the Commonwealth and gave him control of England, Scotland and Ireland from 1553 until his death in 1558.
  • One vote caused Charles I, King of England, Scotland, and Ireland to lose his head.
  • One vote kept Aaron Burr (later charged with treason) from becoming President of the United States.
  • One vote made Texas part of the United States and led to the Mexican American War and the acquisition of a lot of real estate, including, California, New Mexico, and Arizona.
  • One vote changed France from a monarchy to a republic.
  • One vote per precinct would have elected Richard Nixon rather than John Kennedy as president in 1960.
  • One vote in the German Reichstag in 1933 gave Adolf Hitler dictatorial powers and launched catastrophic global upheaval and led eventually to WWII.
  • One vote maintained the Selective Service System only 12 weeks before Pearl Harbor.
  • In 1920, Tennessee became the final state needed to ratify the 19th Amendment, granting women the right to vote. The state legislature was deadlocked on the issue, and a single vote—cast by Harry T. Burn—secured its passage.
  • The acquisition of Alaska from Russia, commonly known as ‘Seward’s Folly’ was approved by a single vote in the Senate in 1867.

The Trump Stench

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The Trump Stench

The Trump Stench

 

Editor: When I read Cate Rees-Hessel’s 50 Things She Trusts More than Trump I was motivated to do a bit of a take off on her piece. Forgive me, I couldn’t help myself. Here are just a few of the thoughts that came to mind as I read her piece.

By D. S. Mitchell

 

  1. We can thank our own Agent Orange for all the environmental deregulation.
  2. Left over unrefrigerated milk found in the WH pantry. Bobby’ll drink it! Bobby’ll drink it! We hope.
  3. MOLD WARNING. Not all mold forms are deadly just the smelly toxic orange variety.
  4. I heard Greg Bovino and Pam Bondi are offering at home body piercing. Och, och, och. Show me your papers!
  5. The government was forced to get supersized Porta-Potties for DHS ‘cuz Kristi Noem and Cory Lewandowski do everything together.
  6. The smell of an outhouse on a hot summer day, has nothing on the Trump White House.
  7. Got stomach acid? I’ve been told the Trump store is running a special on gold sprayed Rolaid packets.
  8. Dirty diapers found in the bushes at Mar-a-Lago’s front gate, apparently left following an Epstein memorial party.
  9. Puppy pee pads? OMG! Where’d they bury that poor puppy? I bet Kristi knows.
  10. The foul odor of used Kitty Litter lingers persistently in the air after every Cabinet Meeting.
  11. A box of sexually transmitted disease video tapes found at the Trump Tower after an Epstein memorial training.
  12. A bag of torn prophylactics found with the video tapes. What do you think? I say party favors.
  13. The stench of a dumpster on a hot summer day smells much like the image of Corporate America taking the knee for their revered Mango Mussolini.
  14. The fermenting odor of the Epstein Files permeates every space Trump enters. You don’t want to get caught in any tight spaces with DJT.
  15. Windmills are killing whales and causing cancer Donald tells us, but he’s got clean coal and Venezuelan oil for us.
  16. The ghosts of the demented Ronald Reagan and the criminal Richard Nixon have nothing on the crazy ass Mafioso king pin currently running our country.
  17. Trump has been given a second term to rape and rob the people of the United States. There’ll be no more emergency PayDay loans for Donnie Boy, now it’s direct hand-to-hand-cash in the billions from the Middle East dictators and potentates and who knows who else.
  18. Some rumors never end, especially the one about how Melania lost her virginity to an ICE agent who dummied up an Einstein visa for her ‘extraordinary intellectual abilities’. How bad does that smell; it’s been rotting in Melania’s closet since 1996.
  19. Trump is a publicly diagnosed power-mad narcissist demanding his name be placed on government buildings and that an arch be built with his name emblazed on it, all while threatening to withhold monies for already allocated major projects unless he gets his monuments. The only monument I want to see Trump’s name on is the one in the above photo.

 

 

The Rigged Game

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The Rigged Game

The Rigged Game

Editor: The Jan-Feb 2026 edition of Mother Jones published a scathing indictment of the sitting Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, John Roberts, and the actions that have directly led to the “corrupt and abusive Trump reign”. What follows are direct quotes (with large parts of the article left out because of copyright issues) from that brilliant article by Pema Levy and Ari Berman. All items within parentheses are added by this writer for clarification. Please subscribe to Mother Jones and support its 50 years of fearless journalism; it’s definitely worth the money. Call 1-800-438-6656 for subscription information. Sign up for newsletters at motherjones.com/daily-news-D.S. Mitchell, aka “Calamity”.

Excerpts from “Blame John Roberts for Everything”

By Pema Levy and Ari Berman

 

“Today, as the Robert’s court rewrites the Constitution in the image of Trumpian autocracy, it’s become clear that Robert’s promise (when he was testifying to the Senate at his confirmation hearing) to be a neutral umpire was a lie. We are watching a rigged game, and Roberts set it up.”

“Twenty years ago, John Roberts promised (the Senate, the country and the media) that as chief justice of the Supreme Court, he would be like an umpire, calling balls and strikes. The delusion was so powerful that for two decades the media defaulted to portraying him as a moderate institutionalist.”

“The Robert’s court has spent Trump’s second term not applying the law so much as clearing it out of his (Trump’s) way. In a matter of months, the court’s 6-3 GOP aligned majority has permitted a long list of lawless actions, including firing independent agency commissioners, using racial profiling in immigration sweeps, disappearing immigrants to authoritarian and war-torn nations, and defying Congress’ power of the purse.”

(This didn’t start yesterday,) “Robert’s has been embedding white-dominant authoritarianism into the country’s source code for two decades. It is impossible to imagine today’s crisis without the Robert’s court having first undermined the foundations of our democracy.”

“(Representative) Democracies are built on the right to vote and choose representatives. The United States finally recognized this right for all people with the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (and 1982).”

“As chief justice (Robert’s) has helped craft a string of rulings knee-capping (the Voting Rights Act of 1965 & 1982) laws, starting with his 2013 Shelby County v Holder. The decision overruled Congress and freed states with histories of discrimination to change their voting rules, spurring the creation of 115 voter suppression laws in more than 30 states. Many were inspired by Trump’s election lies.”

“After oral arguments in a Louisiana redistricting case, observers expect Roberts and the GOP justices to declare that the districts drawn to preserve representation for voters of color are either unconstitutional or subject to insurmountable barriers. It’s a decision that would turn the 14th and 15th Amendments-passed during Reconstruction to give formerly enslaved people citizenship and equal rights-on their heads, and turbocharge Trump’s gerrymandering push.”

“Such redrawn (gerrymandered) maps could shift up to 19 eats to the GOP in 2026 and runs the threat of creating a permanent GOP control of Congress.”

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