The Mind Behind Who Is Mark DeNome
Hi Friends and Followers!
In the first month of 2020, I did the inner work of completing a program of personal recovery, which involved publicly admitting a list of mistakes, involving impatience, intolerance, self-righteousness, self-sacrifice, and self-pity. I came to recognize that all my mistakes had one underlying cause: self-doubt, so I’ve also been making some personal improvements related to self-love and compassion. In this second month of 2020, coincidentally black his-story month, I’ve been focusing on the things I love about my life and my story, and I hope to inspire persons of color and everyone really, to do the same.
Who Is Mark DeNome has been a son, grandson, nephew, cousin, brother, animal lover, baller, lacrosser, nature lover, reader, writer, teacher, student, lover, fighter, consoler, life saver, rescuer, emergency manager, government reformer, clown, dancer, water lover, outdoorsman, traveller, motorcycler, music and art appreciator, foodie, wino, holiday celebrator, and patriot. Part of my personal recovery this year though, has been re-learning to actually love me for my imperfect self, instead of deriving my worth from labels and pride in how others see me. Nonetheless, I am grateful for the pictures and memories reminding me of so many great memories of connection, compassion, courage, and laughter. Without these empowering experiences, I might not have had the strength to stay as positive as I ought to be, and also only as positive as I ought to be. Toxic positivity is a true threat to us rising against our oppressors. It’s everywhere, and I’m still studying it and strategizing how to overcome it.
Now, on leap day, I dare to dub myself with another label – leader, which I see as someone who chooses to do something uncommon in the face of adversity, especially if that something is done in an original way. In my early business planning, I had two advisors independently coach me that my role in the social justice movement would be to sway one or two handfuls of people to do just something. Ever since, I’ve been telling my tale, trying to be an influencer in a world that is certainly not short on people trying to be influencers. Though having little impact, I carried on in my little boat, with the winds of small wins, amid an ocean of criticism. What has enabled me to persist (besides privilege), is a clear conscience. There is nothing I’m not proud of – nothing from my past I can’t defend or that I’m unwilling to own, apologize for, and attempt repair. Here I am, world. Love me. Hate me. Judge me. Debate me. It’s your choice, but the fact that major efforts have been made to scare me and keep me quiet, and that still not one person has succeeded in challenging my ideas, ought to tell you that my ideas are tested, maybe even vetted, and that I command a certain respect – by the left and from the right, even as I call out the worst aspects of both sides.
We have become so divided, a product of the work of Russian oligarchs and our oppressors here stateside too. Perhaps someone ought to look at my story as a formula for how we can come together as a country and as a globe. Who Is Mark DeNome is a nobody, and at the same time, is everybody. So political leftists, you can judge me for letting my ego shine some, but I know I have a servant’s heart of gold. And you alt-righters, can keep subscribing to the #winning schools of #leadershit of basketball coaches, navy seals, or rudy guliani <*spits>, yet I know I have a level of grit beyond that attributed to leading a ship or holding most other positions of authority. I exhibit some of what Stacey Abrams calls leading from the outside.
And yet, while describing myself as a leader, I must also admit that as much I’ve asked and heeded help and flowed with the synchronicity of the universe, I really have only been figuring it out as I go, without much of a vision of an end state I was working to achieve. I appreciate all the advice, likes, shares, validation, and other encouragement, yet it’s plain to see that I failed. I failed to attract the advisors, partners, or team to guide me through the storm. Despite pushing forward through quite a bit of blowback (it would’ve been more if not for my white-male status, I know), I am ready to admit this path isn’t meant for me, probably because I never really wanted such a life for myself in the first place. So I’m scaling back the online presence. It has only brought me false hope that my messaging might get picked up by media, and resentment at the frivolous media content that does make it to the mainstream. Truth is, our oppressors aren’t going to give us the tools we need to overthrow them, and this is at least partly why Mark’s List has not found funding.
Other parts are a result of my own failures. So yeah, I’m sorry. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to have a bigger impact, that I wasn’t good enough, or maybe that I just didn’t think I was good enough. But I’m not sorry for doing what I did or saying what I said, and I’m also not sorry that I’m choosing to implement boundaries for my own mental, physical, and financial wellbeing. I believe it’s time for me to spend more time doing what serves me, instead of what always doing what serves the movement. It’s time for me to have faith that more people will step up and keep spreading the Light and help it all work out. It’s time for me to let go of the fear of what could happen if everyone expects everyone else to do something and so nothing gets done, even if that is what has basically been occurring forever. No, it’s time for me to let go of the resentment I have about those who aren’t sacrificing as much as I have. After all, for thousands of years, women and people of color have had to constantly dial back the degree to which they devote themselves to fighting injustice to only what was tolerable to mainstream thought. This is perhaps the most important realization one must have about power, privilege, and progress. Me, I’ve been trying too hard to ring bells that weren’t ready to ring, pushing against the natural order, and bearing a big weight without anyone really asking me to. It’s time for me to create a vision of a future that I do actually want, and time for me to be done making plans that just seem to interfere with my personal journey. I’m sure I’ll have more to say, always. That much I know. But also I know that if I don’t commit myself to intentional happiness, I won’t be healthy enough to succeed in whatever does enter my life next that is meant for me.
I planned the daily posts of the last month as a little last hurrah, a big social media release before a big emotional release as I let go of that heavy weight and pick up the new peace I’ve been finding. Thank you for allowing me to share a bit of who I am, and I hope you found my childhood photos uplifting. I don’t really have much in the way of social media posts lined up to show continued momentum for my business, so from here it might be going quietly into the night, like a beautiful viking funeral. Except it is not that, because for now, I’m only a guy who looks like a viking. While my name might mean warrior, my approaches come from a place of love, for all parties involved, even if I did make a strong argument for justified violence (oh you didn’t know that was in my book Being Truth’s Servant, did you?!). Inaction by congress to bust monopolies and hold TheRump accountable for thousands of abuses of power makes it clear that our government has been overtaken from within, and We The People must take it back. I also call for forms of civil disobedience up to defacement and destruction of icons of luxury and wealth, too. “Any man who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust… is at that moment expressing the very highest respect for the law,” says Martin Luther King Jr. What can I say: when words fail, all that’s left is deeds.
So yeah, I’ve said about all I can now, but it’s not my place to decide when it’s time for violence, not my place to spark it, and not my place to set myself on fire either. I’m not meant to be that kind of leader; my role in the movement is one of support. Sure, I’m ready to join in the fight when it comes, yet I wait, and try to focus on relearning how to live and let learn, as difficult as it is for me to sit back and let y’all learn of this world of shit we are in, at the pace decided by our trusty (debatable) news media. As Lin Manuel-Miranda points out, “Dying is easy; living is harder.” For me, living means spending the next few weeks learning about alternative living in one of the thousands of intentional community across the country. This kind of farm, factory, and simple living is sometimes referred to the peaceful revolution. The goal is to see if this is where I belong during these times of controversy and courage. At a minimum, I aim to learn and understand, so that I might help others understand, and help us unite against the oppressive class.
Don’t know what I mean? Check out Mark's List at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1J1qEOiCJpihIxSYGOwrVjgiM3bY7cB3A/view?fbclid=IwAR2vAaIuYHTG6rWZXUsU1lVkw84JBiwHVJTq8KfmcrtV2dsh6Mox49adVrg! Don’t forget you can contribute or even sponsor additional work to help fill out this database of government accountability!
Peace, Love, and of course, Light! – Mark DeNome
P.S. Below are the daily posts I shared each day this month.
2/1: It’s black history month and also my birthday month, so Im gonna be sharing snippets of the mind behind Mark’s List. Who Is Mark Denome is first and foremost a son. The first several weeks of my life I had a hematoma from my big head coming thru the birth canal. My parents separated when I was a toddler, and after that I was blessed with twice the love and twice the fun hopping between family get-togethers when I was doted upon. Now y’all know where my caring and confidence comes from!
2/2: Who Is Mark Denome is very much a grandson, blessed to have known two sets of grandparents and even two sets of great grandparents. These loved ones have been inspiring teachers and role models, specifically in how they persevered through difficulties like world wars, cold wars, aging, and loss. My MeMe predicted I was going to heal many people. She is to thank for all these childhood photos, and tells a story that her brother used to joke that my tan skin was from all the camera flashes more than it was from my Italian ancestry.
2/3: Who Is Mark Denome is a nephew to several uncles and an aunt who have been like siblings. Im grateful to have such role models, from whom I learned of the lives of military pilots, truckers, attorneys, social workers, and telecom consultants. From these loved ones, I also learned how to hunt, fish, ride dirt bikes, and play ball in the yard.
2/4: Who Is Mark DeNome is a first cousin to 11 (soon 12!) mostly boys. Im first and therefore the favorite! MeMe would write songs for all of us. This one is my go-to lullaby for rocking infants to sleep, "Ashley, oh Ashely, you're our little girl. Ashely, oh Ashley, you're our pride and joy. Mark will show you how to ride a bike - ride a bike way high up in the sky. He will teach you how to fly a kite. Best of friends you'll be! Taking off in your super jets, that you made from your lego sets. Flying kites, fishing, riding bikes. Best of friends you'll be!"
2/5: Who Is Mark DeNome, while functionally an only child, gained several beautiful siblings (and siblings-in-law!) later in life. Nowadays, I find brother, sister, or the nonbinary ‘sibling' to be wonderful terms of endearment for helping kindred souls feel love and camaraderie. Doing so makes me feel good too, because it reminds all involved how easy it is to find ourselves in another!
2/6: Who Is Mark DeNome is an animal lover. My childhood household had cats, rabbits, and sometimes dogs, but my main dog was a black lab named Dakota who loved soccer, frisbee, and swimming in the crick with me. Putting her down when she could not longer walk without wincing is still the ugliest cry Ive ever had. Animals are family too!
2/7: Who Is Mark DeNome is a baller. I owe a lot to my mom, yet arguably the best thing she did for my growth was to keep me involved in sports seemingly year-round. At first it was baseball and futbol, but I found affinity for most individual and team activities. Sand volleyball has proven to be my favorite form of sweat therapy.
2/8: Who Is Mark DeNome is a lacrosser. My primary sport in high school was lacrosse. It’s a beautiful game of grit, fitness, and finesse that Native Americans used to settle disagreements between tribes. I was on the second ever team in the state of West Virginia, and we used to wear ties to play against the prep schools of western Pennsylvania, who considered us hillbillies. For a short time, I was a walk-on at UMBC under Don Zimmerman, then dropped that pursuit to focus on academics and emergency responder work. I did help keep the UMBC club team alive as a freshman vice president, and was also on the first DC area team, the DC Patriots, which I have watched expand into a full blown league. I grew up watching the Gait brothers and then the Powell brothers, yet my favorite players today are the Thompson brothers. Other famous lacrossers include Jim Brown and Robert Mueller.
2/9: Who Is Mark DeNome is a nature lover, having grown up in West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania, the great outdoors has been a big part of my upbringing, which involved play in snow, sun, rivers, lakes, mud, rocks, mountains, forest, and more. Heck yeah I used to run barefoot and bath and pee and poo outside! Still do actually, and proud of it.
2/10: Who Is Mark DeNome has been a reader since I was little. Mom used to catch me up past bedtime with the light on – not playing, but reading. You’d think I’d be a fast reader but I’m not. I’m a nerd nonetheless. Yesterday I was enlightened by an hermana here in Costa Rica that, “Knowledge is what the mind thinks it needs to solve its insecurities. Heading into the Information Age, many are using knowledge for a sense of security the same way that most use money.” They added that the full moon here last night “provides a liberation from the need to know, and an allowance of more understanding” instead. So I’ll be carrying forward the mindset that knowledge and science is a helpful intermediate, but the ultimate focus must be in understanding of deeper truths.
2/11: Who Is Mark DeNome is a writer. As a kid I wrote a couple short stories, poems, and essays, my favorite being an essay I wrote at 18 on the social construction of gender. A lot of my writing for the two books I wrote as an adult, took place on quiet evenings when I would be barely bothered by the sounds outside of people passing to and from bars and parties. Writing has been a major source of healing. It has been my form of prayer as well. Check out my books on Amazon.
2/12: Who Is Mark DeNome is a teacher, and also a student, eager at opportunities to learn. In my last 48 hours in Costa Rica, I have learned part of Dueling Banjos on the ukelele, visited the National Costa Rica Museum, the Pre-Columbian Gold Museum, read a book titled "Embarrassing Moments in Spanish," and was taught to be cautious of assuming allyship after using the term queen-maker to describe myself. In many cultures, the teacher is considered forever a student, and the student always a potential teacher. We are always learning, whether we make time for it or not. When was the last time you found joy in learning or in sharing your learning with another?
2/13: Who Is Mark DeNome is a fighter. I fight for truth and fight against oppressive ideas. As a kid, I was a fan of most good warrior films (my favorite being Gladiator), and took an interest in kickboxing. In 2014, I tore my ACL learning judo, and after that healed, I took up krav maga, which is a form of self defense street fighting that is essentially MMA without rules. Lately, that which I have been focusing on fighting, is my self. I'm constantly seeking balance between fulfilling the ‘ego death’ needed for self-actualized zen, and the ego I intentionally put forth knowing that what gets people’s attention more than inconvenient truths is the being behind those ideas.
2/14: Who Is Mark DeNome is a lover. I’m blessed, in all my party-boyness, to have had ten satisfying romantic partnerships (hopefully there is one more in my future!), though they might not have seemed satisfying after they ended at first. Our learning about love seems ever ongoing. My dad used to call this day Valentime's Day, but I like to think of it as Validations Day. A validation I use to sign my books is "You Are Great, Always!" Another I like is, "You are love. You are loved. You have everything you need inside of you.
2/15: Who Is Mark DeNome is a consoler. As a child, my mom used to take me to see my usually bubbly MeMe whenever she was despairing over life’s troubles, so at a young age, I learned to be a reliable listener, confidant, coach, and true friend. Later, I was steady for MeMe and other loved ones through the passing of my grandfather. Three years later when MeMe was finally eligible to Medicare, we got tattoos together, and I memorialized my steadiness through storms with a tattoo. Whether it is partners sharing about their traumas, family and friends facing medical crises, or just people needing someone to show up to share in times of joy or times of sorrow when asked, these memories of catching and consoling others become more valuable than any gift or sexual gratification. What are some ways you Show Up for others?
2/16: Who Is Mark DeNome is a life saver. I worked and volunteered over ten years as a paramedic across the state but mostly in and around Baltimore County, where I saw some stuff. I worked eight cardiac arrests just in my first month as a medic. The pay isn’t near what it should be, and eventually it became too exhausting trying to improve the culture of equality and ethics of the public safety services in my county and at my own company. That and dealing with change without proper change management, it all was too much for me to try to keep up with as a hobby. Nevertheless, I think back fondly of this use of my energetic twenties, and about my friends still doing the almost-best job in the world.
2/17: Who Is Mark DeNome is a rescuer. As a kid, I used to give a side eye to the narcissism of the public safety prestige, but through emergency medicine, I got caught up in it, and I’m glad I did. How else would I have had the experiences destroying fire gear, chopping holes into fire-stricken roofs, cutting cops out of wrecked cruisers, and swinging from helicopters?
2/18: Who Is Mark DeNome is an emergency manager and government reformer. As a responder and consultant, I completed a long list of FEMA courses on incident command, and even helped develop one for the technical specialists at the national laboratories and the US Dept. Of Energy. Known to be a visual and original thinker always wondering ‘why’ and always offering a better way, I often white-boarded diagrams to investigate, clarify, and advance concepts and capabilities for clients like the DOE and the Maryland Emergency Response System. I also led a team that evaluated IBM on a billion dollar software development project for Veteran’s Affairs (their third attempt in thirty years), and had our contract cancelled after we reported that the project was improperly planned and already thirteen months behind schedule (we were right). This was under Obama, while under TheRump, a truthteller like me was plainly run out without recourse. This all sounds boring huh, and a bit whiny? Well, I can’t be a superhero like you see on TV, cuz those Tony Stark, Jack Ryan, Jesus Christ male savior characters you idolize aren’t real. Nope, ya get folks like little ol’ me, but when I drop knowledge, it gets ten likes, while a guy who spent all his life practicing how to swing at a little white ball gets ten million. That’s how I came to realize government can’t be reformed until we are, and that friends, is why I wrote the book, Being Truth’s Servant.
2/19: Who Is Mark DeNome is a clown. I’ve done some serious work in my life, which is probably why I’ve preserved some of my boyish parts and make sure to give myself permission not to be serious all the time. My knowledge of the darker parts of the world and of human nature have also caused me to be careful not to bring more kids into it, yet I sure do act like a big kid sometimes – just ask my family! We all need humor in our lives, the appropriate kind. With humor, we must remember that satire and other jokes are only funny when making fun of power and privilege. Making fun of disadvantage is just bullying. This all reminds me of a song lyric, “The world is upside down. Everybody lunatics and clowns. No one speaks the truth. And madhouse runs the town.”
2/20: Who Is Mark DeNome is a dancer. I’ve received a few lessons in different forms of dance, yet have found that practice (and alcohol!) is the best teacher. The beauty of dance is flowing with whatever movements come into your head, and oh do they – some good, some bad, and all ridiculous. At my mom’s 50th birthday I dislocated a finger attempting breakdance. My friends have given a name to this alter ego: Jason Waterfalls. They sing, “Don’t go Jason Waterfalls” to the tune of TLC’s “Waterfalls.” Mostly though, I find dance, and the couples who do it well, to be more beautiful than any waterfall.
2/21: Who Is Mark DeNome is a water lover. I grew up with a ‘crick’ that encircled our homestead, which may be why I generate such joy from swimming holes, waterfalls, rivers, and open oceans. I was first introduced to the concept of the universal oneness as a teen when I read the book Siddhartha by Herman Hesse, which describes the OM sound of flowing water as all the voices of past lives. After that, water was an even more noticeable force in my life, whether it was wrestling sharks or having a near drowning in MD-HART training. To astrology lovers, this makes sense, as I am born under Aquarius (actually an air sign surprisingly enough). Also, given my new doo, I’ve been compared to Jason Momoa’s Aquaman character a couple times. I’m not upset. Momoa has been described as a die-hard feminist, and showed the manly men of the world how to apologize with sincerity after an off-the-mark remark about rape resurfaced from his past. I appreciate this because I have had to do the same (see chapter 1 of my book Being Truth’s Servant).
2/22: Who Is Mark DeNome is an outdoorsman. Growing up in West Virginia (may it always be wild and wonderful), I was exposed to many outdoor activities. I caught trout, killed deer, harvested berries, farmed vegetables, felled trees, and more. Sure, a majority of us in cities have grown accustomed to faucets and furnaces, but those utilities ought to be honored as rewards for human innovation and cooperation, not something to be shamed of. Many city folk I know still like to participate in the great outdoor activities necessary to the survival of our ancestors, like boating, hiking, hunting, gardening, and cooking. We strive to minimize our use of fossil fuels and otherwise reduce our impact on the environment, something that cannot be said about many of my rural peoples. We also honor how far humanity has come by our continued pursuit of knowledge and understanding, but nonetheless, we make a convenient target for my country folk friends who are simply looking for someone to hate more than they hate themselves. Want to know what ought to be detested by both my city and country people?
2/23: Who Is Mark DeNome is a traveller. I used to travel 25 weeks a year for work, seeing all but a few states, yet it surprised me the other day when I realized I’ve been to a dozen countries too. Not bad for a WV boy! Not much excites me like a foreign adventure, and nothing relaxes me quite like a couple hour open road (traffic is ew), whether alone or with the right person. If I had to choose one piece of advice for anyone soul searching, it is this: get out and learn to appreciate different cultures. It’s the best bridge to learn about oneself, learn how we are not so different, and learn what it means to be a human and a being sharing this precious Earth.
2/24: Who Is Mark DeNome is a motorcycler. I didn’t quite realize how much quads, trikes, and dirtbikes were a part of my upbringing, until I went through old pictures in preparation for these posts. Different family members always had some off-road vehicle that I would ride on, and some special quality time with my mom has been burning tread on the two wheelers (yeah, most people are surprised to hear my mom rides). In many countries, like in Asia or even Costa Rica, as I recently experienced, motorcycles are a primary method of getting around. When I stepped away from federal government work two years ago now, I planned to do the famous 'four corners' trip, stopping in cities to speak about social justice and our constitutional crisis. I joined forces with a band of musicians, and eventually my plan turned into their music tour, with some assistance by me. It was lovely experience, yet I cannot help feel some sadness that of all the emails we sent, it seems there wasn’t much of an appetite then to hear people like me sounding the alarm about our little situation. There still isn’t, really. I think it is pretty pitiful what this lack of civic-mindedness, civility, and courage says about us as a people. Maybe ask yourself if you can be doing more?
2/25: Who Is Mark DeNome is a music and art appreciator. I’ve always liked to sketch and paint, and I dabble in other arts some, like the time I asked my MeMe to teach me to crochet and that winter surprised her and the other women in my life with handmade scarves. Music is my favorite of the arts though. My only regret in life is that I didn’t learn an instrument from my grandfather, who could play the banjo with a fast roll like the Reno brothers. I’ve started to learn guitar, piano, and harmonica several times. There are just so many priorities in life. I do sing, or attempt to, often in harmony. When I was a server at Texas Roadhouse, I created a song that I would sing for customers on their birthday. In my next job, I created another one for airport passengers as an airport security officer with TSA. I guess I have always been one to take whistle-while-you-work a little too seriously.
2/26: Who Is Mark DeNome is a foodie, and a wino. Alright, maybe I’m more of a garbage disposal than a food critic, but I’m just like you in my love of good food and drink (sometimes maybe just a tad too much!) I know my way around the kitchen, with a love of hosting and providing for others that I get honestly from family, especially my dad. Lately, as part of my efforts to do things that scare me, and also to exhibit the virtue of nekkhamma (restraint), I have been restricting my diet. It’s paying off, as Im under 90kgs/200lbs for the first time since before my knee surgery in 2014. I even fasted the entire day Friday, and found it easier than I expected to function 30 hours without calories! Maybe if this economic depression does come, as I have predicted, I will be better prepared to withstand it, mentally. It helps that I practiced some nekkhamma as a teen, like when I renounced soda. Then as an adult, I avoided or at least paused before eating pork, partly because I thought muslims might know something we don’t about just how close our cousin the pig is in relation to us; and partially because I wanted to see what it might be like for muslims to live in a country with a bacon crack addiction. Thankfully, vegetarian options are arising in more major cities across this country. Hopefully our hindu and muslim critics see a glimmer of hope that some of us are trying, and that we may even be redeemable after granting stewardship of our great experiment in democracy, and all its technological and military influence over the globe, to the likes of TheRump.
2/27: Who Is Mark DeNome is a celebrator of holidays and other joyful anniversaries and events. Raised in a christian family (methodist of Irish descent on one side, and catholic Italian ethnicity on the other), I mostly attended non-denominational churches, until I decided at age twelve that even that wasn’t for me. Still, I came up cherishing the family and neighborly affinity associated with christian holidays, and I excitedly honored all the pomp and ceremony and sentimentality. I took to studying different religions as a teen, and amped it up during different periods of personal growth. I have found that my knowledge of comparative religions has made me a unique teacher of virtues and philosophies that transcend any one religion, just as more people are rejecting organized religion and seeking greater spiritual guidance, and I share my learnings in a book called Being Truth’s Servant. I do come from a line of teachers who look forward to holidays too, for more than just the day off! My lifelong learning of spirituality continues – I have read another fifteen books already in 2020. One of the conclusions I am certain of, it that no religion ought to be exempt from paying taxes or exempt from providing financial statements to the public, as are many of the charities evaluated on Mark’s List.
2/28: Who Is Mark DeNome is a patriot, evidenced by my devotion to the principles of freedom, liberty, and justice found in my writings, and also by my commitment to this land and the people on it. In the more than two years since I exited TheRump’s regime, I have been in four countries I considered better places to live, and four times I returned (the latest time leaving a place where I had an open invitation to stay longer and stay coronavirus safe!). I returned because I believe in us. I believe we as a people can create a better country, and create a better world.
I am also a patriot in how diligent I have been in protecting classified information all my career, how careful I have been not to partner with or be exploited by foreign partners, and how I have placed country above the wellbeing of myself and those who care about me, by choosing to speak out in spite of harassment and other personal detriment. I knew that like a SWAT team, the first through the door gets shot, but together the team can defeat the threat. Some say I’m acting like a martyr, or even a prophet, and they suggest it remarkably snidely. Well, like other government workers with clearances, I chose the life of a martyr long ago when I signed up for security clearance, and all the consequences that come with it. Facilitating in an incident command system course once, I reminded a group of nuclear responders that national security must be a higher priority than our lives. That never changes for us. Meanwhile, TheRump disgraces this sacrifice, and our country, and each one of us. I tried to say as much as best I could. Unlike every other person with an opinion, I was on the inside, and I saw. My speaking out ought to mean a little more. Have you been paying attention?
I am a patriot in how I have spoken and written publicly against our dubious military history. While I do hold a great appreciation for the soldier sacrifice, the movement that fueled TheRump was based on fear brought about by a bunch of militarized police and soldier types brainwashed toward hate and violence by what they considered ‘patriotism.’ There are ways to exhibit the utmost patriotism outside of military service, and while many national security types are veterans, I’m glad my personal interests resided more in the healing realm, leading me into medical professions, public health, and public good.
Lastly, and perhaps most patriotically, I do not actively advance any religion or political party, as these organizations are destructive to true democracy, and to our country as the founders intended it. Our founders gave us the best government that existed at the time, yet today we are designated a Flawed Democracy (according to the Democracy Index). Meanwhile, there are fifteen countries that have been able to achieve the designation of ‘full’ democracy. This is the kind of data you can find on Mark’s List. Check out Mark's List at https://drive.google.com/…/1J1qEOiCJpihIxSYGOwrVjgiM3…/view…! Don’t forget you can contribute or even sponsor additional work to help fill out this database of government accountability!