October 31, 2025
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Deep Something

The site for ranting and reporting by John Masters

Congress

This category is for posts related to actions by the Congress of the United States (House and/or Senate), and any member’s of Congress.

Image of closed rural hospital
Economy Featured Politics Congress Election Presidency 

This Is What You Bought With Your Vote

B. John 195 Views 0 Comments , , , , , ,

Millions of Americans voted for Donald Trump in 2024, believing he would deliver for farmers, the working class, retirees, and the forgotten small towns. But as his administration’s policies take shape, those same groups are paying the price. Hospitals are closing across rural America. Farmers are watching debts rise as export markets disappear. Working-class families face climbing health costs. Retirees are seeing threats to the Social Security and Medicare benefits they worked their lives to earn.

This essay traces the immediate fallout of those choices, showing how the policies now harming these voters were exactly what Trump promised to do. It’s not betrayal. It’s follow-through. The question is whether Americans are ready to face the consequences of what their ballots actually bought.

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Featured Politics Congress Religion Society Stoicism 

A Way Out of No Way: John Lewis and the Moral Will

B. John 2465 Views 1 Comment , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
This entry is part 17 of 47 in the series Journey Through Stoicism

“Lewis did not need a theory of justice. He lived one.”
Five years after the death of Congressman John Lewis, his words and witness still call us to the hard, necessary work of moral courage. Drawing from Christian theology, the Black church, and the discipline of nonviolence, Lewis embodied a philosophy of action that mirrors the core of Stoic thought—and resonates just as deeply with the teachings of Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism. He did not merely protest injustice. He met it with clarity, hope, and a soul unshaken by cruelty. His legacy extends beyond American history. It is human wisdom.

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Not Predators but Pilgrims.
Featured Politics Congress Presidency Religion Society Methodism Hate Groups Economy 

No Longer as Predators, But as Pilgrims

B. John 2626 Views 1 Comment , , , , , , , ,

In the wake of a cruel and deeply unjust budget bill passed by the U.S. Congress, I feel compelled to speak out—not just as a citizen, but as a Christian, a United Methodist, and someone at retirement age who will soon depend on the very programs now under attack. This essay is a moral response to a political failure. It is a call to conscience. We are not meant to live as predators. We are meant to walk together, as pilgrims.

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Justia
Hate Groups Racism Featured Politics Congress Election Religion Society Gay Issues 

The Call to Justice is Urgent

B. John 1045 Views 0 Comments , , ,

Progressives stand at a critical juncture where the call for justice is louder and more urgent than ever. My faith compels me to see the injustices that surround us and act against them with conviction, guided by Christ’s example of righteous defiance in the face of oppression. While persistence is essential, there are moments when persistence alone is not enough; sometimes, our witness demands a more forceful resistance, a willingness to dismantle the systems that perpetuate inequality and cause harm actively.

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Photo of Cathy Castor and Rocky Rochford.
Featured Politics Congress Election 

Castor-Rochford U.S. House District 14

B. John 1254 Views 0 Comments , , , ,

Deep recommends Cathy Castor for U.S. House District 14. Rocky Rochford’s campaign warns against socialism, but many of his policies ironically lead to the kind of oligarchic control that limits freedom for most Americans while benefiting the wealthy. Democratic policies, led by Cathy Castor, seek to build a fair society where people have access to healthcare, education, and economic opportunity without being subjected to corporate overreach or authoritarian control. Rather than pushing toward socialism, these policies aim to protect the middle class and uphold democratic values against the real threats of corporate dominance and rising inequality.

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Kathy Castor
Featured Politics Congress Election 

2020 Votes – Florida Congressional District 14

B. John 432 Views 0 Comments , , ,
This entry is part 3 of 9 in the series 2020 Election

Florida Congressional District 14 is between Democratic incumbent Kathy Castor and Republican Christine Quinn. I am not a huge fan of Kathy Castor. Not that I have opposed much of what she pushes, just that she doesn’t seem to push much, nor very hard. Quinn, on the other hand, has no grasp of major issues. Time and again, in interviews, she demurs and claims to not know much on the topics.  “When asked about immigration, Quinn says she’s not equipped to give a short, succinct answer. But when asked if she supports the wall Donald Trump has proposed along the U.S. Southern border, she backs that idea with enthusiasm, adding her fear is that the undocumented could be bringing over diseases that could compromise our health system.” She reminds me a bit of Louie Gohmert of Texas.

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Liz Cheney
Hate Groups Racism Featured Politics Congress Society 

Liz Cheney-Claims Tweets Not About Race-Douchebag

B. John 1372 Views 0 Comments , , , , ,
This entry is part 1 of 54 in the series Daily Douche-Bag

So how could pass up bestowing a Douchebag Award on Liz Cheney (R[acist]-WY) for going on TV and doing her best to pretend that it is the Democrats who are racist for pointing out the racism of Trump’s recent tweets.  Cheney accused CBS host Margaret Brennan of unfairly bringing race into a discussion after Donald Trump told four non-white Democratic congresswomen to “go back” to where they came from.

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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R[acist]) and Donald Trump
Featured Racism Politics Congress Legislature Presidency Society Hate Groups 

DeSantis-Douchebag Award Winner

B. John 1376 Views 0 Comments , , , , ,
This entry is part 2 of 54 in the series Daily Douche-Bag

I hate to keep hitting on Trump’s naked racism displayed on Twitter a few days ago, but the complete lack of rebuke from the Republicans is astonishing and disturbing. One of these Congress members is going to be attacked, and her blood will be on the hands of Republicans who will claim it’s not their fault. Ron DeSantis went out of his way to grab hold of Trump’s coattails in 2016, and he continues to cling. He has been completely mum on the issue.

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Florida U.S. Senators Marco Rubio and Rick Scott
Society Hate Groups Featured Politics Congress Presidency 

Rubio-Scott – Douchebag Award Winners

B. John 1225 Views 0 Comments , , , , , , , ,
This entry is part 51 of 54 in the series Daily Douche-Bag

Rick Scott and Marco Rubio (R(acists)-Florida) have both won individual awards, but will give them a joint award this week thanks to the complicity with Donald Trump’s latest example of naked racism in calling for U.S. Citizen Legislators to “go back where you came from.” I would classify Scott and Rubio as nothing short of medical miracles as they seem able to walk upright without spines.

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Feature Photo for Castor Office Detention Protest
Congress Featured Places Tampa Politics 

Immigrant Child Detention Protest

B. John 541 Views 0 Comments , , , ,

Tuesday morning I received a Move-on email announcing a protest against the Child Detention Centers at the local office of U.S. Representative Kathy Castor. I decided to attend. News stories estimated the crowd at a few dozen, I’d put it a little higher, but it was not a huge crowd. It seemed somewhat hastily called, so that may account for it.

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Politics Congress Society Crime Crack Pots 

FDLE Serves as Rick Scott’s Personal Goon Squad in Election

B. John 1384 Views 0 Comments , , , , , , , ,
This entry is part 50 of 54 in the series Daily Douche-Bag

With all the votes now being counted, Rick Scott is seeing his lead slipping away in his race for U.S. Senate, and so, as any good Republican would do, he sued to try to keep from counting all the votes. Scott has apparently ordered the FDLE to investigate the Broward County Elections Office mostly because they are now counting all the ballots.

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