“Remember, Remember the 2nd of November.”

As I sit here on the bus listening to one of my favorite artist “VS,” I look around at the other riders wondering, "Do they know what their Republic is currently mired in? Do they even care?"

The major character in one of my favorite movies of all-time "V for Vendetta" blamed the citizens in England for allowing the country to fall under a totalitarian government because the citizens willingly surrendered their freedoms of speech, religion, and the press so they would be protected by the government against liberals, Jews, Islam, gays, lesbians and terrorists. It appears when cast on the wall of life, fiction and reality has become one.

I watch as citizens first began protesting having a community center built two and half blocks from Ground Zero, which is their right to "demonizing" Islam and those that practice it which is racist, prejudice, and xenophobic. I also hear politicians campaigning for placing poor people in prison buildings for being poor and unhygienic, politicians who want to repeal the 17th Amendment and oil companies like Chevron attempting to infringe upon journalists 1st Amendment Rights.

As the president begins the withdrawal of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, there are individuals in our government--"Bastards of War" if you will--that would rather deploy them to Iran and North Korea because they complete the tri-fecta of George W. Bush’s cartoonish theme of the “Axis of Evil.”

The Declaration of Independence and the Constititution protects everyone except illegal immigrants. If we’re not careful some will attempt to re-write them to protect everyone except Asians, Latinos, African Americans, Jews, Muslims, Native Americans, the sick, and impoverished. When this occurs, I should relocate to North Korea where they make no pretense of loving liberty, and they can be taken literarily and without the aura of hypocrisy.

As I sit here on the bus listening to one of my favorite artist and as I look around at the other riders, I wonder, "Do they know what their Republic is currently mired in? Do they even care?"



Anthony P. Johnson

“In A Whisper.”

It is important to remember that democracy is more fragile than communism, socialism, oligarchy or a totalitarian government because democracy can dissipate in a whisper when those at the seat of its government are inept and corrupt. Democracy will become extinct if we continue to misinterpret among the citizens derision, hate and destruction for freedom of speech and of religion.


Anthony P. Johnson



* This article appears in the August 24, 2010 Metro Newspaper.

An Open Letter to the Neighborhood Churches

I wish each one of you could adopt 25 children and teach them the 3 R's, the difference between right and wrong, encourage them to graduate from high school, earn a college degree, and develop into a productive servant in their community. I wish you could adopt parents who are not equipped to raise children and teach them the meaning of parenting.

I wish you were more immersed and involved in the community where you're located and you'd see the impoverished, drug and violent infested, and illiterate reign. I wish the residents who battle these diseases of our society the best that they can had you as an ally for support, encouragement, and guidance.

I know you could provide more resources in the neighborhoods that have been inflicted with this pestilence because some of you have been there for 15 or 20 years or longer. It appears that those that you primarily serve seem to be only your parishioners that don't always reside within the community. I assure you there is absolutely nothing wrong with providing for those of your membership, but is it possible to aid those residing in the neighborhood that don't attend your religious denomination?

I wish you were more open minded--I wish you were more accepting of same sex marriages--I wish you were more of an asset to the community than just being located there.

I wish...I wish and will continue to wish because wishing is the prelude to that what might become real. And when I'm finished wishing, I'll pray--pray for a miracle that those who do God's work will truly reach out to those most in need and start the community work that has been sorely neglected.




Anthony P. Johnson

“The Worst…Really?”

If President Obama is the "Worst President" in history according to former vice president Dan Quayle's son, Ben Quayle, then George W. Bush must be one of the "best."

If President Obama is the "Worst President" in history for his historical Health Care, Financial and Wall Street Reform, then Mr. Bush is the embodiment of virtue. I guess we should be building schools and erecting monuments for a president that lied to involve the Republic in two wars that have resulted in the death of thousands of Americans, his participation in torture, his perversion of the U.S. Constitution and how he bought about an economic collapse that will take at minimum a decade to recover from. Genius!

If President Obama is the "Worst President" in history then President James Buchanan should be canonized for sainthood as he stood pat and watched the Republic tear itself in two resulting in the Civil War as 2% of the population perished as a result. If President Obama is the "Worst President" in history then the impeachment of Andrew Johnson was a mistake, right?

If President Obama is the "Worst president" in history then Nixon was correct in his belief that the President of the United States is above the law and he did nothing wrong, right? He has been the Commander and Chief for almost two-years and he is being touted as the "Worst president" in history.

The worst! Really?


Anthony P. Johnson

“It Works Every Time.”

Many Americans are abandoning their principles of rationality by allowing fear mongering; racist demagoguery, and anti-religion fervor lead the country to what resembles the Dark Ages of Europe where degradation, pestilence, and strife were law.

People can always be brought to the will of “fake” leaders. How easy is it? All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce those that counter your argument as Communists, Maoist, Stalinist or Socialists as exposing the country to danger. I assure you this type of deviant rhetoric works every time in any country.

When citizens start taking their cues from Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin, two individuals that are so "intellectually inept" that Darwin would revise his theory of evolution after meeting them, you know the Republic is moving in a direction that will be sure to have a cataclysmic effect for a generation.

During the Dark Ages of Europe, if anyone was discovered practicing a religion other than Catholicism they would feel the fire under their feet--literally as they were burned at the stake, tortured or imprisoned. Today in America, there are citizens that continue the tradition of religious intolerance unless you're a "good Christian." In addition, the very people that use the Constitution to justify carrying guns into supermarkets, schools, and churches are shockingly quiet in that the same document supports practicing any religion without persecution. Yet, if one is for an example a Muslim they are branded a "terrorist" despite the fact that 90% of those practicing Islam world-wide including in the Republic are peace loving and law-abiding citizens.

We are moving backwards. We are allowing "perverts of anarchy" to decide the outcome of the Republic's future. We are moving backwards when we fail to hold elected officials accountable that are not concerned about the citizens or creating jobs for the aforementioned, or ending political corruption, improving our public schools, aiding the elderly and the poor, striking down poverty and addressing illegal immigration without rewriting America’s history; instead they submit and engage in racial and religious intolerance, xenophobia and perpetuate the elimination of the middle class and the working poor.

21st century America is looking more like the Dark Ages of Europe. We are moving back to a chapter in humanity when a dysfunctional society was built upon fear, illiteracy, poverty and superstitious rhetoric that decided the fate of one's life. Be careful citizens. Be very careful.




Anthony P. Johnson

"They're the Future...Really?"

When our justice system sentence 13-year-olds to life in prison without the possibility of parole, they have decided that the child's life was worthless from the day of birth.

What's even more morbid is many citizens in the Republic embrace the philosophy of "juvenile lifers." Some will argue that, "They did the crime, they must do the time," but the same individuals don't factor in the lack education, social economic background, mental disorders, and the circumstances of the crime that would motivate a child to commit an act of violence that would cause them to spend the rest of their lives imprisoned.

Even more haunting is 18% of juvenile lifers are from Pennsylvania which leads the nation, and some critics to think that number will increase over the next decade if we don't address and change these sentencing policies.

Conversely, "I believe the children are our future" rings hollow when many of their futures will be permanently spent as a resident at an already overcrowded penal system.


Anthony P. Johnson

"Removing All Doubt."

PA Republican candidate for governor, Tom Corbett, continues to open his mouth and reiterate his severe lack of knowledge in reference to the dwindling employment opportunities available for Pennsylvanians, proving once again how out-of-touch some politicians are with the grassroots population.

It appears Mr. Corbett is reading from the same script as the rest of his colleagues in the Republican party, many of whom believe that unemployed Americans would rather collect unemployment benefits than seek employment opportunities.

Mr. Corbett is looking more like Pennsylvania's version of Nevada's senate candidate hopeful Sharon Angle.



Anthony P. Johnson