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Category: Politics

How Many Times Will It Take Before We Learn that Soldiers Are Not Peacekeepers?

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national guard

President Donald Trump has sent up to 4,000 National Guardsmen and 800 Marines to Los Angeles to combat and contain what he says is widespread, wanton violence. Remember, this is the man who asked if soldiers could shoot protesters in the leg. Trump is a petty little tyrant who loves to foment violence as he sits behind the safety of his desk in the Oval Office. I am of the opinion that the Toddler King is deliberately trying to stir things up so he can declare martial law. This will allow him to rescind many of the Constitutional protections we have. If this happens, there will be bloodshed in the streets of not only Lost Angeles, but other major cities.

The LA police department is more than capable of handling what have largely been peaceful protests. We must not forget that Trump is opposed to protests. Just today, he warned people that if they protested his big, beautiful birthday parade on June 14, that their opposition would be met with violence.

We must never forget that soldiers are trained to use lethal force to eliminate their enemies. Simply put, they are trained to kill. Soldiers are not peacekeepers. War has never begotten peace. At best, it brings, for a time, a cessation of hostilities. Only peace begets peace.

What troubles me — well, hell, lots of things deeply trouble me these days — is that millions of Americans think it is okay for Trump to illegally use the military to advance his political and personal agenda. Years ago, Polly and I took her parents to Mexico. We took a drive around Juarez, the murder capital of Mexico. As we were driving down the street, three soldiers, armed with assault rifles, came around the corner, scaring the shit out of my mother-in-law. She immediately demanded to be returned to the United States, which I gladly did. Seeing soldiers with assault rifles on Mexican streets is not uncommon. In the United States, however, we don’t often see such things. We live in relative freedom and safety. Trump doesn’t want us to feel free and safe. He wants us to fear whatever “enemy” he has conjured up. Most of all, he wants us to fear him. What concerns me is Trump’s base; you know, the millions of Americans who seemingly are blind or indifferent towards his lawlessness. January 6 showed us what can happen if you stir up a crowd of zealots. Imagine what happens if he does this on a national level? Civil war is possible, even likely, if we do not neuter the MAGA movement and elect leaders who take seriously their pledge to support and defend the Constitution of the United States.

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

An Open Letter to Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin

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david hogg 2

Ken Martin is the chairman of the Democratic National Committee. The Party is facing conflict over David Hogg, an officer in the DNC, saying that he intends to raise and spend 20 million on primary challenges of some Democratic congresspeople. This, of course, outrage establishment, centrist Democrats.

In a May 15, 2025 Zoom meeting, Martin said:

I’ll be very honest with you, for the first time in my 100 days on this job … the other night I said to myself for the first time, I don’t know if I wanna do this anymore.

Addressing Hogg, Martin stated:

No one knows who the hell I am, right? I’m trying to get my sea legs underneath of me and actually develop any amount of credibility so I can go out there and raise the money and do the job I need to to put ourselves in a position to win. And again, I don’t think you intended this, but you essentially destroyed any chance I have to show the leadership that I need to. So it’s really frustrating.

Mr. Martin,

I am a registered Democratic voter. For the past three presidential elections, I held my nose as I voted for Hilary Clinton, Joe Biden, and Kamala Harris. None of these candidates were my first, second, or third choices in the primaries, but come the general election, I played the part of the dutiful son, voting for candidates that largely did not represent my values. All three candidates were centrist, corporate Democrats, much like Barack Obama and Bill Clinton before them.

In the 2016 presidential election, the DNC deliberately scuttled Bernie Sanders’ attempt to be the Democratic candidate for the highest office in the land. I almost left the party over this, but decided not to, hoping that change and reform would make the DNC more aware of the poor and working-class people they have largely abandoned for 30 pieces of silver from corporate donors.

It’s 2025, and now you and your fellow board members are trying to remove David Hogg and Malcolm Kenyatta from their respective DNC offices. You tried to suggest that board members should be neutral, but it’s hard for me not to laugh considering what the DNC did to Bernie Sanders in 2016. Here’s what I do know, if you vote Hogg and Kenyatta out of office, I’m done with the Democratic Party. And I know that I am not alone when I say this. You are misreading the lay of the land if you think that removing them from office will be inconsequential.

Hogg is right when he says the Democratic Party needs a spring housecleaning. This was clear to me when Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez attempted to become the ranking member on the House Oversight Committee. Ocasio-Cortez’s attempt was turned away, and the seat went to a 75-year-old man with cancer, Gerry Connolly. Months later, Conolly died. Why was Connolly given the seat? Seniority. He was next in line, the thinking went.

Enough of the seniority nonsense and waiting your turn. We need young, fresh candidates to successfully run for office. We need these same young people to shake up the good old boys network that currently controls the Democratic Party. Until we stop being the “nursing home party,” we can expect to continue to lose elections and, worse, lose congressional seats. If Democrats want to retake the White House and Congress, they must stop trotting out the same ancient politicians, thinking that the American people won’t notice who ISN’T running for office. Well, count me as someone who IS paying attention, and unless there is a big turnaround, I have no intention of spending more of my time and money supporting a clueless political party that has lost its way.

I have bitten my tongue numerous times over the years, as Democrats promoted policies and agendas I disagree with. I have screamed and cussed as Democrats supported the military-industrial complex and gave tacit approval of Israel’s genocidal war against the Palestinian people. Time after time, I wondered why I support a party that has largely abandoned liberal, progressive values. And what do some Democrats want the party to do? Move to the center or even right-center. Are you fucking kidding me? We need to own these values, letting the American people know that Democrats are on the side of poor and working-class people. Of course, this is hard to do when most Democrats are sucking on the teat of corporate and big-money donors.

Let me be clear, Mr. Martin, if Hogg and Kenyatta go, so do I. No, I won’t become a Republican. Republicans are wholly given over to fascism and lawbreaking, supporting the toddler king, Donald Trump. That said, it is evident that our two-party system is broken beyond repair. MSNBC can keep telling me that Republicans are the problem — and they are — but the Democratic Party has more than enough blame and culpability to go around.

Sincerely,

Bruce Gerencser

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Another Lie-Filled Press Conference by Forest Management Expert Donald Trump

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forest fire prevention

Donald Trump, the orange-haired toddler king, gave another lie-filled press conference today. In a matter of minutes. Trump told numerous lies, uttered threats, and reminded the American people that he is the stupidest man ever to sit in the Oval Office.

The toddler king mentioned his big military parade scheduled for Saturday, warning protesters that they would be met with state-sanctioned violence if they dared to protest his big, beautiful parade. Of course, Americans have a constitutional right to protest peacefully. Evidently, Trump has never read the U.S. Constitution. Either that, or he doesn’t think the Constitution applies to him; that, as president, he can do whatever he wants to do and no one can stop him.

Trump also took several swipes at California Governor Gavin Newsom. In particular, Trump, posing as a forestry management expert, decided to opine on the fires that plague California:

I’ve been meeting with heads of other countries, and they are forest countries. They call themselves Forest Austria and others, and they say we’re a forest nation. We live in a forest, and they don’t have forest fires, and in one case, he said, you know our trees are much more flammable than California, but we don’t have forest fires because we clean the floor. We sweep the floor of leaves of dead debris of trees that fall because after 18 months the tree is like real, it’s like tinderwood, and it goes up, it virtually exposed, Well, we don’t take the trees out. California is a disaster. What they’ve done in California, they don’t do anything, and if you did, you wouldn’t, you almost would not have forest fires, and you could say, you, in theory, you shouldn’t have any forest fires. And we spend billions and billions of dollars a year because uh, people don’t clean the forests, and we’re going to clean the forest, we’re going to start cleaning them.

Trump has been talking about this nonsense for years. Here’s a man who has never mowed or raked a lawn and has no understanding of biology or forestry, yet he thinks he is in a position to give “expert” advice on how to end forest fires.

donald trump forest fire

Let me conclude this post with a personal story, one that would educate the toddler king IF he knew how to read. Yes, I know he can read, but he doesn’t do much of it, and it is clear, at least to me, that Trump lacks basic comprehension skills. Either that, or he has dementia.

Years ago, I pastored an Evangelical church in southeast Ohio. The church had a tuition-free school for church children. Back then, before I had much environmental awareness, we had a burn barrel we used for burning trash. One day, several of the boys were burning trash. The barrel was full, but they decided to pile some trash on top, light it, and then walk away. Well, some of the burning trash fell out of the barrel, setting the neighbor’s field on fire. Frantically, the boys came running, telling me the field was on fire. By the time I got out there, the neighbor was standing near the burning fire. When I suggested calling the fire department, she replied, “Let it burn.” And so we let it burn. Hours later, the fire petered out, leaving what appeared to be scorched land. However, the next spring, the field was filled with new trees, bushes, grasses, and flowers. The fire cleared away all the undergrowth, allowing for new plants to sprout and grow. Thirty years later, the field is filled with large trees and bushes, all because some foolish schoolboys set it on fire.

Fallen tree leaves and needles are an important part of our ecosystem. They provide nutrients, along with food and shelter for all sorts of animals. Occasionally, due to lightning strikes or human error, these leaves and needles catch on fire. These fires are actually good for forests, as anyone with a fifth-grade science education knows. It’s evident, that President Trump is NOT a good candidate for the game show, “So, You Think You Are Smarter Than a Fifth Grader.”

For more on Trump’s press conference, please watch the following video:

Video Link

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Quote of the Day: In Hitler-like Fashion, Donald Trump is Looking for His Reichstag Fire

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trump as hitler

If you are unfamiliar with the Reichstag Fire:

The Reichstag Fire was an arson attack on the Reichstag building, home of the German parliament in Berlin, on Monday, 27 February 1933, precisely four weeks after Adolf Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor of Germany. Marinus van der Lubbe, a Dutch council communist, was the culprit; the Nazis attributed the fire to a group of Communist agitators, used it as a pretext to claim that Communists were plotting against the German government, and induced President Paul von Hindenburg to issue the Reichstag Fire Decree suspending civil liberties, and pursue a “ruthless confrontation” with the Communists. This made the fire pivotal in the establishment of Nazi Germany.

By John Pavlovitz, as posted by Jill Dennison

In the wake of the unthinkable images and footage coming out of California over the weekend, it’s easy to feel insulated from the chaos if we happen to reside somewhere else in the country, as if our geography protects us.

Watching heavily-armed troops spraying civilians with rubber bullets and bombing them with tear gas for rightly protesting I.C.E.’s indiscriminate round-up of people working in local businesses, sitting in traffic, and showing up for their legal immigration appointments, it’s critical that we remember something.

This isn’t about Los Angeles.

It’s not about the bluest of the blue states receiving the wrath of a vindictive president.

It’s not about an outspoken Democrat Governor being intentionally targeted.

This is about the future of our Republic.

Los Angeles is a test by this corrupt Administration of how much illegality the American people will tolerate, how willing we will be to abide authoritarianism, how easily ordinary people will allow an arm of the government to be weaponized against us. It is a barometer of the intestinal fortitude of our citizenry.

Trump is always looking for his Reichstag Fire; his reason to bring the hammer of the Military down upon the nation. Declaring Martial Law has always been his endgame and his strategy as transparent: create an emergency where one did not exist and propose to bring Law and Order to a lawlessness and disorder of which he is the sole author. As California Governor Gavin Newsom correctly declared on his X account: 1) Local law enforcement didn’t need help. 2) Trump sent troops anyway — to manufacture chaos and violence. 3) Trump succeeded. 4) Now things are destabilized, and we need to send in more law enforcement just to clean up Trump’s mess.

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

I’ll be Damned if I’ll Stop Calling for a “Free Palestine,” Even If You Lie and Call Me an Anti-Semite

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israel destruction of gaza

The difference between anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism:

  • Anti-Semitism is “hostility and prejudice directed against Jewish people” (OED).
  • Zionism refers to the movement to create a Jewish state in the Middle East, roughly corresponding to the historical land of Israel, and thus support for the modern state of Israel. Anti-Zionism opposes that.

It is evident, at least to me, that more than a few Democratic legislators are moving to the center, and even dipping their toes in the putrid, polluted water of the Republican Party. I am at the point where I am done with the Democratic Party at the national and state levels. Few are the Democrats willing to stand for liberal progressive values. One such issue is the current war between Israel and the Palestinian people.

Many Democrats, fearful of losing the support of pro-Israel voters (and donors), are now painting people such as I as holding anti-Semitic beliefs. How did they come to this conclusion? Some of us on the left dare to call things as they are. Yes, Hamas’ attack on innocent Israeli citizens was immoral and deserved a swift response from Israel. We saw similar circumstances when the United States responded to Al-Qaeda’s 9/11 attack on American civilians. If former President George W. Bush had just gone after Bin Laden and his fellow terrorists, I would have little objection. However, Bush/Cheney and Rumsfeld dragged the United States into a two-decade-long war that caused hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths and bombed Iraq back to a third-world country. A war, by the way, that cost trillions of dollars and accomplished nothing other than violence, bloodshed, and death in Iraq and Afghanistan. And now, decades later, knowing that Saudi Arabia played a big part in the 9/11 attacks, the United States is best buds with them, selling them billions of dollars of offensive weapons.

Isreal could have focused its attention on Hamas — you know the terrorists who slaughtered Israeli civilians. Instead, they are now fomenting a genocide against innocent Palestinian men, women, children, babies, and unborn fetuses. Israel has deliberately targeted innocent people who had nothing to do with Hamas’ attack. As a result, Israel has killed at least fifty times the number of civilians killed by Hamas. Their genocidal actions against the Palestinian people are, without exception, immoral.

Yet, when people such as I dare to point this out, both Republicans and centrist Democrats say I am being anti-Semitic. When people say this, we know that they have drunk the Kool-Aid and are unable to parse the difference between someone being anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist. I am the latter, not the former. I do, however, object to Israel’s immoral treatment of the Palestinian people. I object to their slaughter of innocent people. I object to their illegal settlements. I object to their roadblocks and identity check stations. I object to their indifference towards the starvation of Palestinians, who are starving as a direct result of Israel’s incessant bombing of Gaza. I object to their refusal to accept a two-state solution. I reject the United States’ blind financial and military support of Israel — all because Israelis think a few verses in the Old Testament command them to do so

We must not cower and silence our voices when pro-Israel politicans — Democrats, Republicans, and Independents — use a pejorative definition of the terms anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism. What concerns me is that many politicans want to trample the First Amendment, and make it illegal to criticize, demean, and condemn people who are dare to call Israel’s war against the Palestinian people what it is is: genocide.

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Bruce, Do You Support the Deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia?

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kilmar abrego garcia

Several people have asked me whether I support Kilmar Abrego Garcia — the man deported to El Salvador by the Trump administration? Garcia’s arrest and deportation were deemed illegal, forcing Trump and his merry band of fascists to facilitate the return of Garcia to the United States.

My response is short and to the point: I support the rule of law. If Garcia broke the law, he should be prosecuted. However, it is the Trump administration that broke the law when it detained and deported Garcia without proper court hearings. The Trump administration kidnapped Garcia and shipped him off to a country where he has no legal recourse or standing. This decision by the Trump Administration was punitive and heartless, a denial of laws that have governed our country for much of our history. Of course, this lawbreaking is by design. The goal is to collapse the Federal government, unleashing brute, lawless fascism on the American people.

If the courts decide Garcia is here illegally AND a criminal, then I support whatever outcome the courts decide. Again, we (allegedly) are a nation of laws. We have a border and immigration problem, one that has been festering on and off for decades. The difference now, of course, is that the Trump Racist Collective has turned people of color — legal citizens or not — into enemies of the state.

It is up to the federal courts to decide the disposition of Garcia’s case. It will be interesting to see what the U.S. Supreme Court decides. If the court concludes that Trump and his fellow racists are right and Garcia does not have equal protection under the law — including habeas corpus — his deportation is the least of our problems. Without the rule of law and the consent of the people, our republic ceases to exist.

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Trump Dump: Racist Representive Mary Miller Says Only Christians Should be Permitted to Pray before Congress

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donald trump dump truck

It’s deeply troubling that a Muslim [the man mentioned is actually a Sikh) was allowed to lead prayer in the House of Representatives this morning. This should have never been allowed to happen. American was founded as a Christian nation, and I believe our government should reflect that truth. May God have mercy!

— Representive Mary Miller, as reported by Huffington Post

Sikhs and Muslims practice two separate and distinct religions, and conflating the two based on how someone looks is not only ignorant but also racist. America was founded on the principle of religious freedom. It is disgraceful that someone who has such disdain for our nation’s values can serve in the halls of Congress.

— Statement by The Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Trump Dump: Lies, Lies, and More Lies

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donald trump dump truck

Prices are down, income is up, our Border is closed, gasoline is CHEAP, inflation is DEAD — Our Country is BOOMING! Companies are pouring into America like never before!

AMERICA IS HOT! SIX MONTHS AGO IT WAS COLD AS ICE! BORDER IS CLOSED, PRICES ARE DOWN. WAGES ARE UP!

President Donald Trump, as reported by Raw Story

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Trump Dump: Fear the Rainbow Horde

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donald trump dump truck

PRIDE MONTH ALERT: The Rainbow Beast Is Coming For Your Kids!

WARNING: Corporate America and government institutions are launching their annual siege on childhood innocence—and this year’s Pride Month agenda is more aggressive than ever.

KEY EXPOSURES:

Child Targeting: Libraries hosting drag shows for toddlers, schools replacing math with 57+ gender ideologies, and corporations selling Pride-themed cereal/toys to normalize the unthinkable.

Institutional Surrender: Churches flying rainbow flags over communion tables, HR departments enforcing pronoun cults, and Disney/Nickelodeon pushing “Gomorrahn storytelling.”

Pagan Conquest: “It’s ritual child sacrifice—with glitter and hashtags. ‘Give us the children!’”

WHY IT MATTERS:

Schools now prioritize DEI indoctrination over reading, writing, or science.

Libraries have become drag indoctrination centers—try hosting a “Heterosexual Heritage Hour” and watch the mob arrive.

Corporate Ads parade “two bearded men in lipstick adopting kids” as Hallmark-style propaganda.

THE BIG PICTURE:

This isn’t about “tolerance.” It’s a state-corporate-pagan alliance to reprogram society. They’ve swapped biology for “identity constructs,” swapped scripture for Harvey Milk sermons, and swapped parental rights for government-sanctioned grooming.

PARENTS: WAKE UP.

Are you raising your child—or offering them to the rainbow beast?

— Indiana Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith, as reported by Crooks and Liars

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Trump Dump: President Donald Trump Attacks The Boss — A Pushy, Obnoxious, Untalented Jerk

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donald trump dump truck

This series, titled Trump Dump, features outlandish, untrue quotes from Donald Trump, MAGA supporters, and Right Wing media. If you come across a quote for this series, please send it to me with a link to the news story that contains the relevant quote.

I see that Highly Overrated Bruce Springsteen goes to a Foreign Country to speak badly about the President of the United States. Never liked him, never liked his music, or his Radical Left Politics and, importantly, he’s not a talented guy — Just a pushy, obnoxious JERK, who fervently supported Crooked Joe Biden, a mentally incompetent FOOL, and our WORST EVER President, who came close to destroying our Country. If I wasn’t elected, it would have been GONE by now! Sleepy Joe didn’t have a clue as to what he was doing, but Springsteen is “dumb as a rock,” and couldn’t see what was going on, or could he (which is even worse!)? This dried out “prune” of a rocker (his skin is all atrophied!) ought to KEEP HIS MOUTH SHUT until he gets back into the Country, that’s just “standard fare.” Then we’ll all see how it goes for him!

— President Donald Trump, as reported by Huff Post

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.