LIZ CHENEY ON TRUMP
I could never vote for Liz Cheney but I would certainly embrace her and welcome her into the human race. Her selfless service on the January 6 Congressional Committee is alone impressive as has been her condemnation of those involved in planning the insurrection, including the Republican former president who she has sworn to do everything in her power to keep out of future office. Her recent decision to campaign against any Republican who is running for high office who believes in the Trump lie of a 2,000-election steal is even more impressive as is her declared threat to run against Trump, if it becomes necessary, as a way to keep him out of office. And she declared that if Trump became the Republican presidential nominee, she would leave the Republican Party, which suggests to me that she just might be morphing more toward a less conservative and more centrist politician, in which case I might reconsider my decision to never vote for her.

A CONSERVATIVE’S REPUBLICAN CHRISTIAN NATION?
Speaking of the Republican Party, there is no such creature any more. That creature began dying a slow death decades ago beginning with the implied but not so subtle racism of Richard Nixon all the way up to the overt racism of Donald Trump. And the only intervening Republican president who can arguably be innocent in participating in the Republican party’s demise is George W. Bush, who had his own unique share of problems. Now, prominent Republicans are calling for a Christian Republican Party and a Christian nation. They want to make Christianity the official American religion in violation of the Constitutional requirement of the separation of church and state, which, if allowed, would effectively destroy America’s democratic experiment. And those who consider themselves Republican moderates better start thinking, acting and talking out loud like Liz Cheney before all hopes of the Republican Party’s resuscitation are dead.

THE OPENING OF 6 BRICK’S
I do not use marijuana but I have always advocated for its legalization primarily because of its relative harmlessness and the disproportionate penalties existing laws impose on Black and Brown folks from arrests to imprisonment and re-entry to the employment market. And I’ve also understood that the illegal sale of marijuana played a major part of the economic life in Black and Brown communities especially as a counterbalance to not only the employment barriers encountered by those who were released from jail or prison but also to those who used marijuana. So, I have been very disappointed by the fact that legalization of marijuana has, for the most part, led to the enrichment of rich and powerful White folks and shut out most Black and Brown folks. Which is why I was so pleased to attend the grand opening of 6 Brick’s, a Black-owned, woman-owned marijuana dispensary business on North Main Street in Springfield on the 24th of September and to see the large turnout the opening attracted. Expect a more in-depth future article on this Springfield and Massachusetts first.

WHEN CHIEF JUSTICE JOHN ROBERTS LOST HIS SOUL
By what authority does Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts claim that the role of the Supreme Court should not be called into question just because people disagree with it? In my lifetime, I have never witnessed a more illegitimate Supreme Court than the one over which Roberts presides. And the best hope for retaining its legitimacy went out the window with the shenanigans of Senator Mitch McConnell who manipulated normal Senate procedure to pack the Supreme Court with radical Republicans. Before that, Justice John Roberts appeared to function as the fulcrum of the Court. We could always hold out hope that he would maintain a certain balance that would keep it from sliding into illegitimacy. He was our last hope for a modicum of legitimacy for the high court that we have looked to for years to maintain a judicial balance. But as soon as the Court reached a Republican super-majority, Roberts jumped ship and joined the Republican majority in decisions that are pushing us back to the stone ages of our constitutional republic. Black folks have always had reason to be concerned about the direction of the Supreme Court as it has chipped away at the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and spread electoral chaos across the country that is impacting voters of every race. And they are poised to launch a more expansive gender attack after thoroughly gutting women’s rights to make decisions about their own bodies, rights that women have long fought for and assumed secured beyond repeal. And the Court is beginning to show a willingness to peel away at the sacred constitutional provision that separates the church from the state. The next thing you know, my Jewish friends, they will come for you when this chipping away at the separation rule merges with the current Republican plan to make America an official Christian country. You might want to rethink being sidetracked by such straw issues like your opposition to affirmative action and get back to the much more important issues of saving our democracy. Ditto for members of other religions and races and my other White friends whose silence is nothing less than compliance.

IT’S MORE THAN A CONSPIRACY THEORY
Oftentimes, a conspiracy begins as a temporary expedient and takes on a life of its own. And nowhere is the phenomenon more evident than in Springfield area politics and, most recently, in the response from the sore losers in the race for 8th District Governor’s Council, which was won in the primary by an obscure School Committee woman from Berkshire County who bested Springfield’s local darling, Michael Fenton, who spent tons of money only to be defeated by Tara Jacobs, who spent a paltry $10,000. The word is that Fenton and his backers, many of whose names you could pull out of a hat and be right every time, are launching a “silent” campaign to get people to vote for the Republican candidate, whose name I don’t even recall, in the November election. Don’t be fooled, folks. Tara Jacobs cares for the people. The machine that is trying to get you to vote for the Republican candidate, who they opposed in the primary, only cares for the machine that is showing some cracks and should be broken up so others can participate in what has, for decades, been a closed business.

MAYOR DOMENIC SARNO MUST HAVE A BONE FOR A BRAIN
A quote from The Republican regarding the activation of Springfield’s court-ordered police commission (September 20, 2022): “Commissioner(s) met yesterday afternoon with members of the City Council Public Safety Committee to provide an update on its progress so far. (Cee) Jackson and other commissioners – chairman Gary Berte, and members Madeline Fernandez and Norman Roldan – all expressed frustration about a lack of administrative support and its requirements under the consent decree agreement between the U.S. Department of Justice.” What more could anybody expect from a mayor who relishes power so much that he cannot help operating in his own worst interest. He has no ability to comprehend that a strong police commission, well informed, would operate as a shield against claims of malfeasance against himself, his police chief and the police department as a whole. He’s like Trump. He will march down the path to perdition long before he recognizes that he destroyed himself.

SPEAKING OF SARNO’S PATH TO PERDITION
It has just been revealed that the attorney the City Council rejected as the legal advisor for the Police Commission and the police department on its compliance with the Justice Department Consent Decree has been retained by the city anyway and paid out of the general fund budget after the City Council voted not to fund the position because the attorney Mayor Sarno and his police chief hired has a rather blatant conflict of interest because he represented Springfield police officers who were accused of misbehavior. Is the U. S. attorney paying attention! It’s like a criminal enterprise here in Springfield City Hall.

A BREATH OF FRESH AIR
I recall some years ago when Anthony Gulluni came to our office to ask us for our support in his campaign for District Attorney for Hampden County and even though he jumped into the campaign later than many others, I asked him if he realized that he was the instant front runner based upon his last-name recognition alone. He was a fresh-faced youngster with a law degree who exuded uncertainty but I could tell he was sincere and could grow into the job, which it appears he has done. I was never more impressed by him than when he rebuked the behavior of Mayor Sarno and his police chief on their premature comments exonerating the police for shooting Orlando Taylor and on Mayor Sarno’s demand that the police video of the police shooting be made public before the family had even had the opportunity to view it. District Attorney Gulluni gave the family a private viewing before he publicly released the tape, which made his decision to exonerate the police, after a thorough investigation, more palatable. And Gulluni’s recent initiative to prepare young minorities for legal careers was also impressive. His sincerity came through and his comment highlighted by The Republican shows it. He was quoted as saying to the minority group at an event he initiated: “We hope you seek assistance, seek inspiration, seek role models…and that’s what we want to give you. All of you represent the future of our bar in this region. I want our bar to look like what this room does.” What more could you ask of a good man? I hope Gulluni remains as district attorney for years to come…or at least long enough to contend for Congress when Richie Neal retires. (For more evidence reviewing the character of the man, see page 7.)