Author: Richard L. Marrash

We’re All Human…Be Patient

/ Richard L. Marrash / Leave a comment

Let me introduce here a topic of discussion that should give all of us pause in these highly-charged times of political polarization. Controversial (or should I say, detrimental) actions and recklessly misleading rhetoric by self-serving politicians can drive us out of our minds, kindling within us an extreme sense of rage and outrage, leaving us with zero patience for those foolish people that support the purveyors of those depraved ideas that we absolutely detest. We can’t believe that rational human beings could espouse such blatantly contrary-to-fact drivel, or stubbornly assert patent nonsense in the face of hard evidence. Well, it should come as no surprise, they do! And they believe so in good faith, regardless of how decisively reality contradicts them–because their reality is different. It’s theirs! And we must admit that we each have ours, too, which we espouse just as passionately.

However…

That does not mean that every opinion is sound, or that every argument is valid just because some bombastic ideologue or social media influencer spouts it. Nor does it mean we have to accept what is clearly and demonstrably false. There is such a thing as objective reality–fact–not alternative fact (there is no such thing). A fact is defined as the actual state of something claimed on the basis of empirical evidence. We call that truth. The English word fact is from the Latin, factum, i.e. that which exists as the result of something having been achieved; a thing accomplished in the real world, a deed. Factum Est: It is Done. Distortion of reality we call an untruth, a falsehood. When it is done deliberately, we call it a lie. Denial of reality in the face of evidence, or the other hand, we view as a kind of mental disorder.

Often we have to work at getting to the truth: checking, investigating, researching before drawing conclusions based on the data before us. We won’t always like what we find, but we cannot deny it. The process is not perfect. Mistakes are inevitable, but despite the mistakes, genuine efforts made in good faith will usually result in something which subsequent efforts can build on. Progress takes time and effort, but at a minimum it requires respect for truth. Not everyone is willing, for reasons of their own, to put in the required effort. Most choose the path of least resistance and are content to let others, vetted or not, do the critical thinking for them. The results are visible in the current state of affairs in our communities and nation.

So listening to others who voice absurd claims that we find intellectually indefensible, illogical, or offensive does not mean that we need to accept their views. But we need to listen to them, hear them, and seriously consider why so many feel the need for validation even when many of their strong convictions defy ordinary logic. Many of our countrymen vent their list of painful grievances that have festered for a long time. Past leaders who they hoped would relieve their suffering continually failed them. In reaching for what finally appeared to be deliverance, they willingly accepted the claims (no matter how absurd or spurious) of whoever promised hope presented to them in language they could understand. The conclusion: we must listen more to our neighbors’ concerns. They have a case. Simply ignoring their concerns leaves them hanging, and can destroy what were once warm relationships and even tear apart a nation.

We might gain some insight on political squabbling from this New York Times article, The Parents Are MAGA. The Kids are Liberal. Can You Tube Help? It features one Texas family that went so far as to create a podcast on YOUTUBE for the purpose of confronting their differences (with an eye toward changing the other side’s mind). As they fought it out publicly, the encounter sometimes ended badly. The article points out how such quarrels can lead to serious rifts between family members, friends, even spouses and partners. Such negative outcomes can endure for a long time, tearing families and friendships apart. The article mentions the observations of experts in conflict resolution and family therapy, who were brought in to analyze the emotional dynamics among the children and the parents as they hashed things out. They pointed out the virtual impossibility of succeeding in the goal of “changing someone else’s mind by insisting on your facts”, especially when the points in contention form a deep part of the other party’s identity. One will get much further by truly listening to the other person’s point of view, and by recognizing that the matter in question will likely remain insoluble. Calmly accept that their unyielding stance has reasons that are valid to them. Nevertheless, by feeling heard instead of attacked, the latter might actually go away considering some of your points more carefully (you might do likewise, of course). They might even decide to change their mind, eventually, but it will be because they chose to do so. And it will probably take a long time. 

The best course of action (and the sanest) is to stay calm, practice patient acceptance of the other person’s right to their own worldview. Work on your own predisposition to be right in every instance. Pick your battles. Is it so important to overcome the other person’s convictions in every instance?  Remember that the other person’s inner life has been shaped by their personal experiences. Their need to protect that identity transcends any argument to the contrary, no matter the strength of the evidence. Know when to leave well enough alone, and be content with finding the common ground that will keep you connected. With family members especially, you still want to be able to say with all sincerity, “I love you.”

 Below is a wise quote I found in the Comments section following the article where a reader (Arthur, from Washington DC), agreeing with one of the commenters (Kiki C), made the following observation:

I heard a good suggestion:

“If you want to hate the world, watch the news.

If you want to love the world, travel.”

“Five Words that Changed America”

/ Richard L. Marrash / 2 Comments

That is the title of an opinion piece running today in the New York Times by opinion writer Jamelle Bouie. The author reminds us not only of the universality of the principles posited in the Declaration of Independence, but also how restricted their application was in the general understanding of the American colonists at the time. The following text is taken directly from his article. I recommend reading the entire piece, as well as the opinion pieces by various other authors who contributed to the story of today’s celebration. (See the link to Bouie’s article at the end of this post).

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

“This Declaration is a profound statement of values: of a universal aspiration for human freedom. As President Gerald Ford said in a speech marking the nation’s bicentennial, ‘The Declaration is the Polaris of our political order — the fixed star of freedom. It is impervious to change because it states moral truths that are eternal.‘

“As a matter of civic faith, this is what the Declaration means. As a matter of history, however, the story is much more complicated.

“As Thomas Jefferson wrote it, the Declaration was less an affirmation of human equality than a pointed claim about the nature of political authority and a powerful assertion of the right of revolution, informed by the Enlightenment writings of John Locke and other social contract theorists. It was meant as an argument about the preconditions of government — an assertion of the purity of prelapsarian life — not a road map for emancipation.“

The Declaration alone did not change everything, obviously. As we know from our American history, emancipation and equality for all would take a civil war and decades of painful struggles for social change and civil rights to arrive at where we are today–better than before, yet far from achievement of the desired goal: equality...for all. We are still a work in progress toward a more perfect union.

Today we are facing a shameless assault on what had been for so long iconic American values: fairness, justice, kindness, civility, and respect for difference of opinion. We had been, and for the most part still remain, a bright beacon to myriads of people around the world. We are Americans! And we stand together to maintain those shared values that have made our country the envy of every nation in the world and the destination of all those seeking freedom from tyranny and oppression (Life and Liberty) and freedom of opportunity (Pursuit of happiness). We are not a people who cherish malice and self-service, lies and deception, corruption and self-aggrandizement. We were founded for just the opposite reason, and we fought a bloody civil war to uphold those traditional values because we were “dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal“. We must remain so.

The nation known as the United States of America is the longest-enduring democracy in the history of the world. No other political entity or state based on self-government by its own people has ever existed as long or in as complete a form as the United States of America. We are unique in the history of mankind. We take just pride in our virtues, but one might ask, “Do we have flaws? Sure we do, and many corrections are needed to get it right. “Democracy,” as Winston Churchill said, “is the worst form of government–except for all the others!” So as we celebrate 250 years as a democratic republic based on equal justice for all and the rule of law, let’s dedicate ourselves to the proposition of overcoming the serious challenges to our democracy from those who sneer at our values and cynically look to serve only themselves. Their tool for doing that is by continually sowing dissension among us: divide et impera, divide and conquer. By standing together we can reject their bogus attempts to redefine us for their personal advantage and profit. Together we can reclaim our founding virtues, and stand proudly as Americans who think for ourselves, who cannot so easily be duped into giving up our birthright to those who despise it. We must come together, as our forefathers did, for we are Americans, and we will not give up our founding principles to political predators and self-serving opportunists.

Following ratification of the of the American Constitution in 1789, Benjamin Franklin wondered if we could keep our republic. We can reassure him, Mr. Franklin, we have kept it! And what a remarkable achievement it is: 250 years of government of the people, by the people, and for the people. So today, along with our families and friends, let’s celebrate our grand old flag and enjoy the blessings of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. May God bless the United States of America and keep her safe for our children and our grandchildren, for all our fellow citizens, and for all generations to come.

Link to Jamelle Bouie’s NYT article, “Five Words that Changed America”.

The Longest Day

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That’s the title of a great film that tells the story of a great generation–Tom Brokaw called it the Greatest Generation. Produced by the legendary Darryl F. Zanuck, the film is full of great actors and many lesser known ones, but it tells the story of D-Day, 6 June 1944, from both the Allied and the German perspectives. It tells of the very bad weather that caused multiple postponements and almost scuttled the invasion. And it tells of the anxieties of the Allied commanders, especially General Dwight D. Eisenhower, that the invasion–launched under several disadvantages–could very likely end in catastrophe. He had even written in advance an apology for “the failure” of the enterprise, code-named, Operation Overlord. On the German side, a few astute commanders were not convinced by Adolf Hitler’s insistence that the invasion would come at Pas-de-Calais rather than Normandy. In the film, one of the commanders, Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt, is asked why he does not voice his concerns to Hitler. His answer, dramatized in the film, but never actually uttered by von Rundstedt, is “Weil ich nicht bereit bin, dem Führer zu widersprechen / Because I am not prepared to contradict the Führer.” That response was meant to show the paralysis of the German command system and the reluctance to confront Hitler. Nevertheless, amidst all of the formidable obstacles, Operation Overlord went ahead–and succeeded. Eisenhower never had to use the letter of apology for failure of the invasion.

Earlier this week, I watched a re-broadcast of an interview of one of the few remaining American veterans of D-Day. Veteran foreign correspondent Christiane Amanpour interviewed US Army veteran Jake Lawson who was attending the D-Day memorial ceremonies at Normandy in 2024. He was over 100 years old. Jake left no doubt about the reason for the sacrifices of so many young American and Allied soldiers and sailors in that war. “We all knew, every one of us, why we were fighting: for freedom from tyranny. And to kick Hitler’s ass out of Europe. And we did.” Jake Lawson passed away the following year.

On the anniversary of D-Day, my family has always remembered my paternal uncle, George A. Marrash, United States Army, who served in the 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. Uncle George deployed in the Normandy invasion, and was severely wounded in the Normandy campaign about 9 July 1944. He was evacuated to England where he died of his wounds on 17 July 1944. He is buried in a military cemetery in his home state of Pennsylvania.

Today, I also want to pay a special tribute to another member of my family, who served during World War Two. I would like to recognize and salute my maternal uncle, Sam Sadie, United States Marine Corps. Uncle Sam is 100 years old, a little frail, but still lucid and wise-cracking as ever. After his service in the war, Sam returned home, went to college on the GI Bill, and became an English teacher in the Fairfield Connecticut public school system from which he retired in the late 1980s. Although very few of his contemporaries remain, like them, he has not forgotten why he went to war in 1943.

We must not fail to remember what the Greatest Generation did for all of us, America and the world. Their achievement made possible the uniting of the Western world around the principles that created the United Nations, which emphasized respect for the rule of law in both domestic and international relations and the Bretton Woods agreement that established the global monetary system that has fostered trade and economic progress. The postwar realignment of the World War Two Western Alliance, saw the creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which brought together the Western nations in an alliance that has prevented the outbreak of a major war in Europe for almost eighty years, holding back Communist expansion in Europe and across the globe. That is, until February 2022 when an expansionist post-Soviet Russia under Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine bringing an unprovoked war full of violence and death.

All that the Greatest Generation achieved had given the entire world an unprecedented eight decades of relative peace and stability despite the periodic flair up of violent conflicts. That relative peace and stability appears to be unraveling now. Heretofore we have exemplified to the world a society founded on justice and fairness and individual freedom under law. But that world that we have known is being undermined systematically and the values it has maintained for most of the last century and the start of this one are being jettisoned. Greed, self-indulgence, personal ambition, fanatical partisanship, and blatant disregard for ethical and moral norms are rampant. Hypocrisy is at its zenith, and decency is casually scoffed at. We can do better than that. We must do better for our children and grandchildren and the rest of our posterity.

Americans have never failed in the past to respond to our better angels by respecting one another and seeing beyond our personal differences–that is how we truly can make ourselves great again. Let’s rise to the challenge and rebuild our nation around ethical civic behavior, respect for the rule of law, rational policymaking and reliance on education and scientific exploration to advance our progress, and the fostering of compassion and decency toward our fellow man. For in the final analysis, we are all children of God.

IN MEMORIAM (uncles, father-in-law, father, great uncle):

George Marrash, US Army, 23rd Inf. Reg., 2nd Inf. Div., WWII, DOW France, 1944

Tony Marrash, US Army, WWII

Louis Gramesty, US Army, 8th Air Force, WWII

Elias T. Marrash, Auto-Ordnance Co., Thompson Submachine Guns, WWII

Elias Tamey, US Army, WWII

Honor the Fallen … and remember why

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I haven’t posted in a few months. Health issues, especially my worsening eyesight, have sidelined me–and frankly, the relentless domestic political discord and chaotic foreign policy have left me mentally exhausted. I have said my piece in previous posts, and I don’t know that I have anything more to add. But on this day, this day of remembrance, I have chosen to simply re-post my previous Memorial Day comments–as a reminder of why they gave their lives. It bears repeating.

Remembrance is also a reminder. The worst can happen again. In the words of Wendell Phillips, the nineteenth century radical abolitionist and uncompromising champion of democracy and civil rights, “The price of liberty is eternal vigilance.” If you are interested in my thoughts on our contemporary world, read my verse meditation in the tab above “Meditationes Privatae” https://agathopsis.net/contemplations/ It has the Latin title, Adversus Veritatis Contemptores (Against Those Who Despise Truth). I wrote it in November 2020 when denial of the presidential election results began spreading. My feelings haven’t changed. The introduction to my website, Agathopsis, says that this site is dedicated to the search for truth. Sadly, truth has become an obsolete commodity, seldom in demand by the general “consuming” public. The desire now is for whatever nonsense serves to benefit “my team,” whatever fiction gratifies me with what I want to hear, no matter the cost, nor to whom. What a pathetic, unworthy legacy to follow in the footsteps of those we honor today.

Below is my previous summary of why the sacrifice of those we remember today matters, not just to us, the American nation, but to the world, which has for over eighty years looked to America for principled leadership and protection of the rule of law. Where are those values today?

REMEMBER THE FALLEN

Remember why they fell, in what cause: Freedom from political oppression, from religious fanaticism, and from vicious and diabolical prejudice.

In Europe: They fought fascism, and the fascist dictators who were masters of “Big Lies” and deadly actions that turned most of Europe into killing fields for the sacrifice of the innocent to the false idol of the master race and other specious and self-serving myths.

In Asia: They fought to resist the falling dominoes of countries threatened by communist dictatorships and savage coercion into collective action on behalf of the state and the “people.”

In the Middle East: They fought mindless, violent fanaticism that knows no bounds, having defined the will of Providence as its exclusive possession and determined to bring all the world under its rigid theocratic heel.

They fought and died. They held back the tide of evils that continue to threaten us today. Indeed, those evils are gaining strength and spreading their poisonous atmosphere in every direction. The sacrifices of our fallen brothers and sisters in over a century of conflicts cry out to us to keep faith with them. Do not stay silent in the face of evil: lies, deceit, wanton aggression, and lawlessness.

REMEMBER THE FALLEN … AND IN WHAT CAUSE THEY FELL

______________________________________________________________

IN MEMORIAM (uncles, father-in-law, father, great uncle):

George Marrash, US Army, 23rd Inf. Reg., 2nd Inf. Div., WWII, DOW France, 1944

Tony Marrash, US Army, WWII

Sam Sadie, US Marine Corps, WWII

Louis Gramesty, US Army, 8th Air Force, WWII

Elias T. Marrash, Auto-Ordnance Co., Thompson Submachine Guns, WWII

Elias Tamey, US Army, WWII

Chaos, Cringe, and Stay Tuned

/ Richard L. Marrash / 2 Comments

Remove an illegitimate ruler, a ruthless dictator, from power in a neighboring sovereign country. No easy task, but it was carried out with extraordinary skill and professionalism by United States military personnel–a surgical extraction–without the loss of a single American life, and with minimal damage to citizens of the target country, Venezuela. The action has been praised by several regional governments, and by citizens and supporters of the Opposition party that had won election in 2024, but had been denied the right to govern by the ruling regime. Ousted by a loss in the election, but maintained in power by force, Nicholas Maduro, was ruling Venezuela illegitimately. That criminal status was underscored by a multimillion-dollar reward for his capture by the first Trump Administration, followed by the Biden Administration, and continued under Trump 2.0.

The winner of the 2024 election and subsequent recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, Maria Corina Machado, pursued by the usurper regime, had to flee the country, as did many of her compatriots. Previous contacts with the Trump Administration had indicated that the latter would welcome her return to assume her rightful position as the elected head of state. But following the successful operation that resulted in the capture and removal of Maduro, it appears that the Trump Administration has lost interest in Machado and the Venezuelan opposition movement. Rather, it has declared that it would collaborate with the government of Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, “if she does the right thing.” According to President Trump, the popular, democratic, election-winning Ms. Machado will no longer do. “She doesn’t have the support within, or the respect within, the country. She’s a very nice woman, but she doesn’t have the respect.”

Clearly, reestablishing democracy and legitimate governance is not a priority of this administration. That should come as no surprise. The President has always been a transactional player. The deal is what matters to him, and the deal in Venezuela is oil. The former dictator, Hugo Chavez, had nationalized the country’s oil industry and expropriated the property of U. S. oil companies. The latter, in fact, had created Venezuela’s oil sector. And now, according to Trump, “we will run Venezuela.” That means working with the same illegitimate regime that has been ruling the country under Nicholas Maduro.

So much for Trump’s “America First” policy and his repeated campaign promises to stay out of foreign entanglements, especially military actions to effect regime change. We are now going to “run Venezuela”, and while we’re at it, we might consider going after Columbia, Ecuador, Paraguay, and how about this: taking possession of Greenland. Taking Greenland! Property of the Kingdom of Denmark, our NATO ally. Good Lord! Destroy NATO in one fell swoop, and with it the longest stretch of global stability–eighty years of keeping the peace since the end of World War Two. Trump’s policy advisor, deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller, the likely influence behind these ideas, announces the intention to use our power to rule the Western Hemisphere, including control of the Arctic approaches by grabbing Greenland. Such naked imperialism would simply mean that we are handing China and Russia the playbook so they can emulate us in their own zones of influence. That’s not a wise strategy, nor is it intelligent foreign policy trade-craft. “O judgment! thou art fled to brutish beasts, And men have lost their reason.”

Goodness, gracious, I thought Trump told us that we would look after our own country’s needs and avoid dangerous adventurism abroad. I guess the promises during the election campaign were meant only as suggestions to gain the approval of the America First crowd. The MAGA spin doctors have been working overtime to normalize this issue. Other issues like the turmoil in our domestic sphere have gotten their own special pro-Administration interpretation.

To be fair, there is a good case to be made for removing Maduro and obtaining compensation for the looting of American oil resources. The goal is legitimate; the means by which it was achieved might not be. The U. S. launching of a military operation against a South American neighbor will be challenged. International law has to be respected even though Venezuela’s criminal regime has pursued several provocative policies including the courting of our powerful global adversaries, providing them oil as well as a strategic outpost right on America’s doorstep. There are compelling reasons for acting against the Venezuelan dictatorship, especially being so close to our shores. Precedent goes back to the Monroe Doctrine (with a cute play on words giving us the Donroe Doctrine). But all the same, the Administration has engaged in saying one thing, then doing the opposite. They are not the first to spin their actions, but they have taken that conduct to a whole new level.

The first full year of the Second Trump Administration has played out in ways that bedevil any rational attempt to explain policy. Policy? Policies? What policies? Certainly nothing coherent or enhanced by objectivity and vision for the long-term health of the nation. The only throughline is Donald Trump’s whim at any given moment. The deal maker wants this or that when he wants it. And the Constitution, the law, the Judiciary, the Congress, and anyone who disagrees with him be damned.

The Trump Administration’s balance sheet is mixed. Some achievements have been successful: closing the porous southern border, for example. But ICE operations to arrest and deport illegal immigrants have been excessively aggressive, and in too many instances have targeted peaceful working residents, who pose no threat to the community, or even American citizens. This is still supposed to be America, the land that most of our ancestors came to as immigrants. Yes, over the past few decades, too many have come illegally. But they are illegal, not inhuman. There is no reason to harass them unmercifully or to deny them due process of law. The law and the Constitution seem to have little effect on Trump and company. No one objects to removal of criminal offenders and “the worst of the worst,” but what we have seen does no credit to the government or to those who turn a blind eye to injustice. Moreover, the economy will not benefit from the loss of so many of those who have been working in the unpleasant jobs that very few other Americans will accept.

Economists warned the government about levying tariffs across the board. Some tariffs had to be walked back right away because of the economic blowback, and others have caused problems already, such as in the agriculture and construction sectors. More are going to feel the squeeze in the future. Most expert opinion declared the tariff policy a bad idea, even if some surgically targeted tariffs could be useful when applied to support specific foreign policy objectives. Well-thought-out policy, however, is not a regular characteristic of this Administration.

Not simply abroad, but also at home, the President has deployed the military to make America great again. He has sent National Guard troops into American cities. He claims that crime is out of control in cities led by Democratic politicians, a claim in defiance of crime statistics for most of those areas–most report that crime rates are down from previous years. But Trump asserts that the Guard is there to support local law enforcement. In most cases, the latter have declared that they have no need of National Guard assistance. No matter. Trump says that urban crime where Democrats are in power requires a military response.

During the 2024 election campaign, Trump and his supporters insisted that they would release all of the Jeffrey Epstein files. That case, they claimed, had failed to disclose all of the malefactors and their wicked deeds. Yet that presumably urgent legal matter has since gone silent, as the Department of Justice and the Administration apparently have decided against fulfilling their campaign slogans. You can draw your own conclusions.

Support Trump, if you choose, that is your right. Disagree with him, if you choose, that is your right, too. Although, if you disagree, you should not, as an American citizen, have to face slander and punishment. But in these unbelievably perverse times, a United States Senator–retired Navy veteran who flew numerous combat missions in the Persian Gulf wars, and later a renowned astronaut–has been threatened with recall to active duty for the purpose of being tried by court martial. For what? For reminding the military that they have a duty to refuse to obey an illegal order. Everyone currently serving and who has served in the military understands that duty. The current Secretary of Defense (or of War, if you so choose) emphatically stated the very same thing on television only a few short years ago. But Secretary Pete Hegseth, a Republican, chooses to attack Senator Mark Kelly, a Democrat, for making the same point. He threatens him with court martial to reduce him in rank and to reduce his retirement compensation. As an American, a politically Independent voter, and a veteran myself, I consider this an outrage–a cowardly play by a petty man so lacking in fitness for the position he holds that he has made the once-venerable Pentagon into a laughing stock. Virtually no one on the Republican side in Congress has had the courage to stand up even for the sake of their institution, the First Branch of Government, to denounce such despicable overreach. Mark Kelly is a man of honor and integrity, whose long years of service to this nation have exemplified the courage and character that we all respect. The same cannot be said of his detractors.

But vindictive legal action against political opponents is a hallmark of the Trump Administration. And it is carried out by sycophants who lack integrity, honor, and character. Such unsavory people can be found in both parties, certainly, but this Administration revels in retribution, carries it out with relish, and proudly brags about it.

A few days ago we passed the fifth anniversary of the insurrection of January 6, 2021, a violent attempt to prevent Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 election. When he took office in 2025, Donald Trump pardoned nearly all of the participants, including the most violent ones. A textbook case of criminal behavior and illegality, yet Pete Hegseth wants to charge Senator Mark Kelly with sedition for reiterating what Hegseth himself said–that the military must refuse illegal orders. Remember that at the Nuremberg Trials, Nazi military leaders and subordinates sought to excuse their murderous actions by claiming that they were “only following orders.” In the U. S. military, such a claim is no defense for carrying out illegal or criminal orders. I have no doubt Hegseth will attempt to spin the context to somehow arrive at something resembling a charge. Unless the JAG officers at the Pentagon are complete idiots, such a charge and any other attempt to discredit and demote Mark Kelly should be dismissed. But given the degree of hypocrisy at the highest levels of our government today, I wouldn’t put it past them to get creative in finding some way to dishonor a true American hero. In the long run, it doesn’t matter. The truth is there for anyone to observe. I salute retired Navy Captain Mark Kelly, currently United States Senator from Arizona, and offer him my profound respect.

The United States of America will survive even an immoral, self-serving, narcissistic despot and his pitiful brood of ass-kissing tools as well as his diehard worshipers. The real world is changing rapidly, and our country requires rational, well-educated and creative innovators to meet the challenges ahead. I believe that brilliant young Americans of all backgrounds will rally to the cause of their nation in the fierce global competition that has arisen. America’s future progress demands flexibility, adroit problem-solving, and scientific thinkers. Narrow minds and rigid ideologues need not apply.

Tighten your seat belts, America, and let’s get started. Welcome to 2026!

Remember Pearl Harbor

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They are nearly gone, the brave men and women of our armed forces who endured that terrible attack on our naval installation at Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian Islands on Sunday the 7th of December 1941. A few survivors still attend the annual memorial ceremony on the exposed bridge of the sunken battleship Arizona, but it won’t be very long before they are all gone–as will be the case with all of those who served in the Second World War. My family members who served during that war are gone now, except for my uncle, Sam Sadie, United States Marine Corps 1943 -1946. My uncle Sam will celebrate his100th birthday two weeks from today, on 22 December. He’s a little frail now, needs help most of the day, but his mind is sound. He loves his favorite baseball team, the New York Yankees, watches as many games as he can, and still makes wisecracks when something clever strikes him. And uncle Sam remembers December 7, 1941. He remembers Pearl Harbor.

Veterans Day 2025

/ Richard L. Marrash / 2 Comments

A smart, snappy salute to all who served in our Armed Forces. Today belongs to you.

You have earned the respect and gratitude of all of your countrymen. And you have my personal and unreserved respect. I am glad to have been counted among you although I can honestly say that my own service during the Cold War and into the Vietnam Era was largely unremarkable. I am grateful for all those great GIs who served before my time (WWI, WWII, Korea) and for those superb warriors who came after me (Afghanistan, Iraq, and across the Middle East). I include all of you who have served in many other locations from Europe to the Far East, taking on thankless and often hazardous duties. We honor you.

You have kept us safe, and made the world a better place despite global political controversies, domestic disputes and flawed foreign policies, and at times even in the face of fickle and sometimes grudging support from some of your own countrymen. You stood fast, and stayed true to your oath to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States.” We are better for it as a nation, and we owe that to you.

God bless all of you, Veterans, and God bless the United States of America.

With the highest esteem,

SP5 Richard L. Marrash, United States Army, 1961 – 1965

George Washington’s Warnings

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President George Washington warned in his 1796 Farewell Address about dangers that lay ahead for the US – warnings that seem startlingly contemporary and relevant 229 years later. I have republished below the article by Robert A. Strong, which first appeared in THE CONVERSATION, September 8, 2025 8:00am EDT.

(Please note: There are live links to many of the documents and issues mentioned in the article. Unfortunately, I could not get the hyperlinks to show in color, but if you hover your cursor over the point that interests you, it will show that the link is live.)

George Washington’s worries are coming true

President George Washington warned in his farewell address about partisanship, sectionalism, excessive public debt, ambitious leaders and a poorly informed public. Mike Rosiana/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Robert A. Strong, University of Virginia

The United States will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the country’s founding document, in 2026. Twenty years later, America will celebrate the 250th anniversary of President George Washington’s Farewell Address, which was published on Sept. 19, 1796.

The two documents are the bookends of the American Revolution. That revolution began with the inspirational language of Thomas Jefferson, who wrote much of the Declaration of Independence; it ended with somber warnings from Washington, the nation’s first president.

After chairing the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia and serving eight years as president, Washington announced in a newspaper essay that he would not seek another term and would return to his home in Mount Vernon. The essay was later known as the “Farewell Address.”

Washington began his essay by observing that “choice and prudence invite me to quit the political scene” while “patriotism does not forbid it.” The new nation would be fine without his continued service.

But Washington’s confidence in the general health of the union was tempered by his worries about dangers that lay ahead – worries that seem startlingly contemporary and relevant 229 years later.

A yellowed newspaper page from 1796 that contains George Washington's Farewell Address.
George Washington’s Farewell Address printed in the Virginia Herald with this introduction: ‘The importance of the following Address has induced us to lay it before our Readers; as early as possible, for their gratification.’ Courtesy of The Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association, CC BY

Focus on the domestic

Washington’s Farewell Address is famous for the admonitions “to steer clear of permanent alliances” and to resist the temptation to “entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of European ambition.”

Important as those warnings are, they are not the main topic of Washington’s message.

During the four decades that I have taught the Farewell Address in classes on American government, I have urged my students to set aside the familiar issues of foreign policy and isolationism and to read the address for what it says about the domestic challenges confronting America.

Those challenges included partisanship, parochialism, excessive public debt, ambitious leaders who could come to power playing off our differences, and a poorly informed public who might sacrifice their own liberties to find relief from divisive politics.

Washington’s address lacks Jefferson’s idealism about equality and inalienable rights. Instead, it offers the realistic assessment that Americans are sometimes foolish and make costly political mistakes.

Rule by ‘ambitious, and unprincipled men’

Partisanship is the primary problem for the American republic, according to Washington.

“It serves always to distract the public councils and enfeeble the public administration,” he wrote. Partisanship “agitates the community with ill founded jealousies and false alarms, kindles the animosity of one part against another, foments occasionally riot and insurrection” and can open “the door to foreign influence and corruption.”

Though political parties, Washington observes, “may now and then answer popular ends,” they can also become “potent engines by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion.”

Washington’s fear that partisanship could lead to destruction of the Constitution and to the rule of “ambitious, and unprincipled men” was so important to him that he felt compelled to repeat the warning more than once in the Farewell Address.

A man in old-fashioned clothing, standing on a pedestal surrounded by elegant sculptures and images.
Portrait of George Washington standing on a pedestal holding his Farewell Address in his right hand, 1798. From the New York Public Library, photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images

Politicians’ ‘elevation on the ruins of public liberty’

The second time Washington takes it up, he says that “the disorders and miseries” of partisanship may “gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual.”

Sooner or later, he writes, “the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation on the ruins of public liberty.”

So why not outlaw parties and rein in the dangers of partisanship?

Washington observes that this is not possible. The spirit of party “is inseparable from our nature, having its root in the strongest passions of the human mind.”

Americans naturally collect themselves into groups, factions, interests and parties because that’s what human beings do. It’s easier to be connected to local communities, states or regions of the country than to a large and diverse nation; even though that large and diverse nation is, by Washington’s assessment, essential to the security and success of all.

The central problem in American politics is not a matter of devious leaders, foreign intrigue or sectional rivalries — things that will always exist.

The problem, Washington warned, lies with the people.

Excesses of partisanship

By their nature, people divide themselves into groups and then, if not careful, find those divisions used and abused by individual leaders, foreign interests and “artful and enterprising” minorities.

Political parties are dangerous, but can’t be eliminated. According to some people, Washington observes, the competition between parties might serve as a check on the powers of government.

“Within certain limits,” Washington acknowledges, “this is probably true.” But even if the battles between political parties sometimes have a useful purpose, Washington worried about the excesses of partisanship.

Partisanship is like “a fire not to be quenched, it demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into a flame, lest instead of warming it should consume.”

Where is America today? Warmed by the fires of partisanship or consumed by the bursting of flames? George Washington suggested that provocative question more than two centuries ago on Sept. 19, 1796. It’s still worth asking.

Robert A. Strong, Emeritus Professor of Politics, Washington and Lee University; Senior Fellow, Miller Center, University of Virginia

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Voodoo Medicine

/ Richard L. Marrash / Leave a comment

I’m making a very brief post today. I simply want to bring to your attention the attached essay by Dannagal Young published in the Opinion section of today’s edition of the New York Times. The writer recounts her personal experience as someone who out of desperation tried everything to cure the pernicious brain cancer that afflicted her husband, including misguided remedies. The latter were offered by those dismissive of scientific medicine and, not surprisingly, were totally ineffective. I suppose Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s MAHA initiatives to disparage vaccine therapies and defund important NIH and CDC research are driving or encouraging the public’s return to a time when superstitious practices were accepted ways to cure disease. To quote the writer:

“I see what MAHA is offering. It’s not really about making America healthy. It’s about giving people the illusion of agency in a complicated and scary world.“

Take the time to read the essay; it’s worth it, if only to provide a moment to pause and think about what is happening to our public understanding of science and its methodology.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/20/opinion/cancer-science-maha-grief.html?unlocked_article_code=1.QU8.N-VT.PY3uxX7uI3cX&smid=url-share

This article is a cautionary tale, sorely needed today. It recalls to my mind a similar grasping for a magic cure for cancer back in the 1970s and ‘80s when people began touting treatment with Laetrile (some substance found in apricot or peach pits, if I remember correctly.) When it was debunked here in the USA, some people went out of country and began visiting a variety of charlatans in Mexico, who claimed they could cure cancer… and cheaply! No cure ever took place by using Laetrile, but the deaths of the patients did, i. e. cancer doesn’t give a sorcerer’s damn about religious rituals or conspiracy theories, it just keeps rolling along. Only continuous scientific and medical research—yes, some of it funded by Big Pharma (for those “in-a-perfect-world” types who feel they absolutely must point that out) but most of it depending on government funding—will solve the incredibly complex puzzles of the human body. Not by saying, “Abra Cadabra” or putting the tail of a newt under the patient’s pillow, but by slow, methodical application of scientific method. That the people of this nation appear to be sliding back into some form of pre-modern superstition (where science and medicine are reviled while Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his anti-science allies are allowed to destroy the bastions of the most advanced medical research on this planet) shows, to an astonishing degree, the colossal, cataclysmic ignorance in our public discourse and its elevation as our national standard for modern healthcare.

Operation Overlord-Epilogue

/ Richard L. Marrash / Leave a comment

For those who have previously read and commented on my D-Day posts, I offer my somber greeting on this annual memorial to the patriotic men and women of the “Greatest Generation”, those who served across the world in our armed forces as well as the civilians at home who stepped up to manufacture the war machines necessary for victory in World War Two. America was a nation united, not by ethnicity, religion, or political affiliation, but rather by a public culture of genuine belief in the worth and dignity of every human being and the liberal values embodied in our Constitution, laws, and social norms. And they possessed the willingness to make any sacrifice to preserve those values. For that, they willingly went abroad to fight and die to deter and defeat the tyrannical plague of Nazism and fascism that had spread across Europe and the Far East, and threatened to engulf the entire world in a vicious and racist authoritarian blight, cynically punishing freedom of thought and expression and individual liberty unhampered by any effective opposition. The latter had been eliminated through the mechanisms of propaganda based on dissemination and continuous repetition of lies, half-truths, disinformation, dehumanization of opponents, along with the weaponizing of social institutions: the churches, the judiciary, schools and universities, corporations, and the media. The goal of those measures is to create a public perception that sees what the authoritarian regime wants the public to see, substituting that false perception in the place of reality. And only that manufactured perception–no matter how bizarre or contrary to fact–is hailed as truth and truly patriotic. Anyone in opposition–no matter how soundly developed and grounded in fact their position–is deemed an enemy of the people. No criticism of the regime or the Fuehrer, the supreme leader, can be tolerated. By definition, what the leader deems good is good for the state. The leader is the state.

That is what the Greatest Generation fought to eliminate from the world: the tyranny of authoritarian government, the loss of liberty and freedom of expression, the assault on human dignity. That’s what the Founders worried about, by the way, and thought about long and hard, applying the grim lessons of European history to their deliberations. They devised a Constitution with safeguards against the unrestricted accumulation of power in the hands of an unaccountable government. They gave us a democratic republic, but they cautioned us to take care lest we lose it (Ben Franklin, 1787).

A true democracy can tolerate in its midst diversity of opinion and even that which it finds offensive. That’s what freedom of speech and assembly means. What a true democracy cannot tolerate is the insidious transformation of constitutional government and the rule of law into irrelevancies to be ignored or weapons to be deployed against critics.

Do you ever wonder if the Founding Fathers are rolling over in their graves?

I won’t belabor the point any more. Memorial Day was one week ago, a day when we remembered the fallen from all of our wars. Today remember the generation of World War Two, who fought the ugly blight of totalitarianism and hateful racist policies that saw the murder of countless innocent people across Europe and Asia.

Remember the heroism of D-Day, 6 June 1944, the beginning of the end of the Second World War.

If interested, read my previous D-Day posts for other details.

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IN MEMORIAM (uncles, father-in-law, father):

George Marrash, US Army, WWII, DOW France, 1944

Tony Marrash, US Army, WWII

Sam Sadie, US Marine Corps, WWII

Louis Gramesty, US Army, 8th Air Force, WWII

Elias T. Marrash, Auto-Ordnance Co., Thompson Submachine Guns, WWII