Money, Franco and Trump

April 26, 1937, a church bell in Guernica tolled an air-raid warning - a single German plane dropped a load of bombs, and flew away.

When it became apparent that Guernica had no anti-aircraft defense, the raid began with 23 bombers and several dozen other aircraft flying from nearby Nationalist fields, leaving some 200 dead and the town a charred ruin.

Guernice was Basque, and the Basques were a part of the Republic which treated the Basques with fairness, allowing them considerable freedom, and allowing the Catholic Church there to preach in Basque.

Later, when Franco and the Nationalists conquered Basque territory, under threat of death, no more Basque language sermons, and priests who disobeyed were summarily shot.

But the larger question concerning me right now, as I read and write, is this: from whence came the fuel for those planes?

As it turns out, from Texaco, and in spite of American neutrality laws, Texaco, and ultimately other American oil companies "sold" oil to Franco, along with Firestone tires and trucks from Detroit.

The head of Texaco, a creep and bully by the name of Torkild Rieber, was "banker" for Franco, extending essentially unlimited credit, and providing a huge lobbying effort to insure US neutrality (which Rieber and his gang routinely and easily subverted.

Of course, here in the States, the Roman Catholic Church sided with the Nationalists, in spite of the brutality of the Nationalists against the Basques.

The Republic wasn't without "sin," frequently killing priests and burning churches, as well as confiscating the property of the rich and redistributing the land, something feared above all else by the aristocracies of the world, including those of the United States.

The Church, and the rich, quickly realized that if they wanted to protect their landed and powerful privileges, they needed to side with Franco with his monarchial and clerical sympathies

And so the war raged on until Franco, a friend of Hitler and Mussolini, was victorious. His German and Italian planes and his American trucks fueled with Texas oil.

Once again, so very sad to note that great wealth in the United States was sympathetic to, if not outrightly supportive of, these dictators.

Today, many of our wealthy families, and the corporate owners of American business, support Trump. Given our history, and given the sickness and fear pervading the soul of the wealthy, along with their religious counterparts in the evangelical churches, it's not surprising, in the least. They gravitate toward those politicians who can front for them, and manipulate the government in their favor, protecting their interests against any and all forms of justice.

Rieber bankrolled Franco, and the rich here in the States continue to bankroll dictators around the world and the one currently in our White House.

Pro-Choice? Pro-Life?

A recent Pew poll suggests that more Americans are now on the Pro-Life side of things ...

Check out this thoughtful opinion in the New York Times ...

Time will tell, but frankly I was surprised, and further polls will give additional insight into what Amerians think and believe.

For a good many years now, Americans have raised questions about abortion and possible restrictions while yet supporting the continued legalization of it.

This morning, I watched a video feed about student protests at Notre Dame over Obama's visit, and one young man who said, "We can't afford to be sending the message that we value power and fame over our Catholic identity."

I already know that the Catholic Church would like to see abortion totally outlawed, and I know that conservative Christians would join their Catholic friends in the effort.

But what would happen if abortion became illegal?

Would abortion go away?

Would the wealthy simply fly their daughters to other countries?

Would the Catholic Church open up hundreds of orphanages?

Would poor women resort to homemade remedies and back-alley doctors?

Let's get graphic: a 12-year old girl raped by her uncle would have to take her pregnancy to term? And then what? Who would care for the child? And so on and so forth.

The Pro-Choice side of it enjoys the position now of opposing what's legal. That's an easy position to hold!

But I have a tough time imaging what it would be like if Roe v. Wade were overturned.

For myself, I stand behind all Pro-Choice legislation, because I am Pro-Life, and I believe that life is best served when we affirm the freedoms of Democracy - even when such freedom may run counter to personal opinion or faith.

I am no friend to the cultural instincts of the Roman Catholic Church, still governed by thought-forms and cultural inclinations shaped in the Middle Ages when the Roman Church called all the shots and used kings and queens to enforce Church beliefs and morality.

I don't think anyone in their right mind would want a return to the Middle Ages, nor would anyone want to see women once again become prisoners of anti-abortion politics, except the far, far, right which has a demonstrably poor record for women and for freedoms.

I'm curious how this will play out, but when I see a young man speaking so fervently of "Catholic identity," I really wonder, and I grow concerned.

Jesus said that we ought to be the "salt of the earth" - and that's a modest metaphor. To flavor life, but not to overwhelm it. Yet there are religious movements, often coupled with far right politics and Neo-con philosophies that would strip away our Democratic freedoms and install a theocracy, similar to the Middle Ages and today's Islamic theocracies - and it's not a pretty picture!

I stand up for freedom on all fronts.

And particularly the freedom of choice! And that is the highest form of being Pro-Life!