The Mason Missile, November 24, 2021

Greetings, Americans! My novel, Soldier Of The Cross, is still on the market, on Amazon.com. (https://www.amazon.com/Soldier-Cross-John-Oliver-Mason/dp/0578988402/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=john+oliver+mason+soldier+of+the+cross&qid=1637014919&qsid=144-5381896-0671915&rnid=2941120011&s=books&sr=1-3&sres=0578988402%2CB01NBBUMIH&srpt=ABIS_BOOK) But I urge you to check first with your local neighborhood bookstore, which is where grassroots literary talent is fostered and is connected to the community. Alas! Kyle Rittenhouse, the little boy whose mommy drove him from Antioch, Illinois to Kenosha, Wisconsin, carrying an AR-15 assault rifle like he was acting out a Rambo fantasy, and killed two unarmed men and wounded another-was found “not guilty” in his murder trial. I had a sense Rittenhouse would walk, since the “judge,” Bruce Schroeder, told the jury to call Rittenhouse’s victims “rioters” and “looters.” (The prosecution did a sloppy job of preparing as well; did the state deliberately try to undermine the case against Rittenhouse?) Now Rittenhouse is a hero for the neo-fascist elements who will be emboldened to start shooting at progressives, LGBTQ+ people, and people of color, sensing they could get away with it. Rittenhouse himself has been offered congressional internships by Madison Cawthorn (North Carolina), Paul Gosar (Arizona) and Matt Gaetz (Florida). Cawthorn went so far as to say in a Twitter message, “Be armed, be dangerous, and be moral.” (https://www.complex.com/life/republican-lawmakers-are-giving-internship-offers-to-kyle-rittenhouse) Truly, the Republican Party is in a sunken place, and sinking deeper and deeper. The results of the 2021 election were pretty disappointing. The Democratic candidates constantly warned of the danger of trump-and he remains a danger-instead of concentrating on issues related to people and their communities. The republicans, however, talked the same trump themes, such as the evil Critical Race Theory (Do the even know what that is?), mask mandates, etc. That seems to be the new formula the Republicans are using, which I call “trumpism without trump,” hitting on the fears that trump evokes among his followers, without mentioning his name-but the Republicans have played on racial fears for decades, and now the mainstream republicans see that trump’s influence is a danger to the party, but they’ll take the votes of his followers. Now, Fox “News” and the other right-wing propaganda sites are talking about how they’ll win the House back in 2022 (while it’s still 2021) eleven months away, and they’ll use that to attack the Biden administration: and some of the mainstream news media are hinting at that idea. Excuse me, but the election is NEXT year, plenty of time for us progressives and pro-worker activists to analyze what went right and wrong this year, and to organize our grassroots campaigning to educate our neighbors and co-workers about the issues we’re facing-abuse of LGBTQ+ people and people of color, homelessness, the terrorizing of school board members and election officials this year, organizing unorganized workers, etc. t-p is not on the ballot so we don’t have to bring him up; rather, we discuss our opponent for whatever office, and provide a more viable alternative. We decide NOW how the election turns out. IT happens all the time in our elections; the media hints that our guy will lose, and the republican has it in the bag already-all the way through to the election. It’s like psychological warfare, to try to bring down the morale of progressives, trying to depress us and ready to give up before the poll are open. We must change our thinking on this-the Republicans DON”T have the elections in the bag, we CAN and WILL organize and educate our neighbors for the election, and we WILL increase our numbers in the House. (Doesn’t that sound better?) Stay safe, stay strong, and stay together! America will be free! Bye!