The Fierce Urgency of Prophetic Hope

  ©Wendell Griffen, 2024   The January 1969 issue of Playboy magazine included an essay from a prominent American theologian that contained the following haunting words. Why is the issue of equality still so far from solution in America, a nation that professes itself to be democratic, inventive, hospitable to new ideas, rich, productive, and awesomely powerful? The problem is so tenacious because, despite its virtues and attributes, America is deeply racist, and its democracy is flawed both economically and socially… Today’s dissenters tell the complacent majority that the time has come when further evasion of social responsibility in a turbulent world will court disaster and death. America has not yet changed because so many think it need not change, but that is the illusion of the damned… Those words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. were published in Playboy Magazine, almost a year after he was murdered, under this title: A Testament of Hope. The entire essay is republished in

Heather Cox Richardson has penned a report that depicts the Trump and Harris campaigns in starkly different ways. https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/november-4-2024.  It is hard to disagree with her observations. I agree that we should not ignore the hard truth about the fascist movement that Richardson and other observers have now - much too late - finally recognized in Donald Trump’s MAGA campaign. That does not mean Harris will win the election. It means that Trump and his supporters will never concede defeat if Trump and J.D. Vance lose. Trump’s backers will do ANYTHING to prevent Harris from being declared the winner of the 2024 election. They will flood courts with frivolous lawsuits. That has already started. They will incite and commit violence at polling places, against election officials, and news reporters. That has already started. They will claim victory BEFORE all votes have been tallied, and declare Trump and J.D. Vance President-elect and Vice President-elect.

I've been asked to explain why I recommend voting AGAINST Issue 2.  Matt Campbell wrote a solid article about the pros and cons of Issue 2 that ran in the September 30 issue of the Arkansas Times Blog. I am posting a link to the article, but also will paste the entire article so you can read it without being blocked by the paywall. Here's the link: https://arktimes.com/arkansas-blog/2024/09/30/confused-by-those-casino-tv-ads-heres-what-a-vote-for-issue-2-would-really-mean. Here's the entire article. Odds are you’ve seen or heard an advertisement in recent weeks about Issue 2, which goes by the rather unwieldy short title of “Countywide Voter Approval for New Casino Licenses and Repeal Casino Licenses in Pope County Initiative.” It’s one of three ballot measure that Arkansas voters will vote on in the November election. Honestly, you might have tuned out those ads, considering how often casino-related fights have been on the ballot in the last dozen years or more. Even if yo

  ©Wendell Griffen, 2024   Early voting begins across Arkansas on Monday, October 21. I urge you to cast your vote as follows in the interest of advancing fair and more effective government.   U.S. President                                                      KAMALA HARRIS U.S. Vice President                                             TIM WALZ U.S. Congress 1 ST Congressional District                       RODNEY GOVENS 2 nd Congressional District                       MARCUS JONES 3 rd Congressional District                        CAITLIN DRAPER 4 th Congressional District                        RISIE HOWARD State Treasurer                                                    JOHN PAGAN    Chief Justice, Arkansas Supreme Court       JUSTICE KAREN BAKER Arkansas Court of Appeals (District 6)          MOLLY MCNULTY Arkansas House of Representatives           District 69                                                    KWAMI ABDUL-BEY           Distric

  ©Wendell Griffen, 2024   It is only a matter of time before Donald Trump’s hateful fascist rhetoric incites some of his followers to engage in violence against immigrants, women, people of color, LGBTQIA people, members of the news media, election officials, and others who Trump thinks are standing in his way to get elected President again. Trump will use that violence to spark January 6 kind of attacks in states he is likely to lose, as well as in the battleground states. He is holding rallies in states he is likely to lose as a way of pushing his base supporters to treat the election process as a threat. By doing so, Trump and his handlers hope to suppress voter turnout among Democratic and independent voters. His staff has requested that Trump be given increased military protection and Secret Service personnel between now and Election Day. Trump wants to use the military as a personal security force that will obey his authoritarian orders and threaten anyone who he conside

  ©Wendell Griffen 2024   Voters in the United States have already begun casting ballots for the November 2024 general election. Our ballots will contain different candidates and issues depending on where we live. But each ballot will contain the names of Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, along with other lesser known and financed candidates, as candidates for President of the United States. I hope we choose Harris as the next President.  As Vice President since 2021, Kamala Harris is experienced, and competent, about top-level policy issues that affect the nation and the world. Her service as Vice President, United States Senator from California, Attorney General of California, and District Attorney for San Francisco, California, demonstrates that Harris is steady, serious, honest, and considerate of diverse points of view.  Vice President Harris's public service record is longer and better than any of the other candidates who will be on our