
An Open Letter to The State of Tennessee
We’re All Paying the Economic Price of Christian Nationalism Michael “Gene” ScottJanuary 16, 2026 I live in Johnson City, Tennessee. Our State Senator is Rusty
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We’re All Paying the Economic Price of Christian Nationalism Michael “Gene” ScottJanuary 16, 2026 I live in Johnson City, Tennessee. Our State Senator is Rusty

🎵 What Am I For? A song about losing the work—and finding what’s left. We’re all sinking in private.The door doesn’t open anymore.No one tells

He counts toys. We count crimes. Michael “Gene” ScottDecember 26, 2025 🧸 Where Did All Those Children Go?“Tell me who’s been playing with the thirty-seven

A Christmas Song of Hope Michael “Gene” ScottDec 25, 2025 May you and yours have a peaceful, restoring day with friends and family. I wrote

How the Big Beautiful Bill Gutted Rural America By Michael “Gene” Scott December 23, 2025 2027: Sarah Can’t Find a Doctor Tuesday morning, rural Kansas.

Two men. One washed beggars’ feet. The other gold-plates toilets. (Listen while reading) Jesus walked into leper colonies. Trump won’t shake hands without sanitizer. Christ

From Sitcom Laughs to Governing Strategy “I see nothing! I hear nothing! I know nothing!” Sergeant Hans Schultz, the bumbling guard at Stalag 13 in

A girl stands quiet at the gate.She’s learned to wait, and wait, and wait. An American Reckoning Verse 1 – The Builders They built a

Rent or Food, We Have to Choose Jane reads the letter by the stove Nine hundred dollars she ain’t got That’s rent or food —

Will the Fat Lady Sing? Slid into town with a Bible and grin Sold us hope in a four-year spin Said he’d fix what the

– The Nap Strikes Back (VERSE 1) He used to bark from a TV stage, “Sleepy Joe’s too old for the age!” Mocked the man

The lamb was slaughtered; the wolf survived. I wrote “Machine God” because silence felt like agreement. I grew up in the ’60s, when faith still

A demented soul lost in an echo chamber … Boss of the Bunker is a protest song about what happens when people trade thought for

The Foolish Drooler Declares Your Grocery Bill a Hoax … We keep electing grandpas who should be fishing or golfing, their caddies dropping balls next

A song about what we did. What we chose. Michael “Gene” Scott · Dec 04, 2025 Men in the water. Hands raised. One still clutching

Waitin’ on a savior out of gas. The song’s not about the man at the podium. It’s about the people in the lot. The sixty-year-old
[Verse 1]Eleven strangers on a boat off Trinidad at dawnA missile from a cloudless sky and then another oneTwo men in the water reaching for

The picture tells the tale … Empty Chair Verse 1He stood like the lights were too brightArms down and his face turned to stoneHe didn’t

Outlaw Country for Folks Who Don’t Kiss the Ring Happy Thanksgiving! We are blessed beyond belief. America. If you’ve travelled, you know. After a month in

Fluorescent lights. She said what he did. No tears. Voice flat. That’s how women testify. Hold still. Save the shaking for the car, the shower,

They killed Jamal Khashoggi for his voice. This song is about our silence. Two days ago, in the Oval Office, a reporter asked President Trump

Smart women infuriate the president. Had he lost to a smart black woman, he’d probably be living in a Saudi Arabian pedo-hut with his butt-slapping rich degenerate Aye Rabb buddies.

Wussies on both sides of the political spectrum actually fuel the culture wars … Michael “Gene” Scott Oct 31, 2025 🎸 “Snowflakes Left and Right” — A

For the Ones Who Wouldn’t Shut Up This isn’t music.It’s what I should’ve screamed. At the meeting.At the protest.At the funeral.When silence felt like survival

The Ghost of Ronald Reagan Has Filled the President’s Pants … I woke up this morning to this headline: President Trump has terminated all trade negotiations

You can’t build a country on the backs of small pitiful men. 🎵 Small Fearful Men Style: Country Noir, Haunting, Sorrowful, PoliticalTempo: 75 BPMKey: F♯ minorInstrumentation: Acoustic guitar, slide guitarVocal: Deep,

Preach Love. Or Preach Hate. What history teaches us about how radical love and radical hate both provoke violence—but only one path leaves a legacy
Here’s the Proof The Quote: “I think the single dumbest phrase in military history is ‘our diversity is our strength.’” —Pete Hegseth The Reality: Every major American

When Your Hometown Becomes the Training Ground: A Song for October 2025 On October 1, 2025, President Trump stood before hundreds of military commanders at

Bravest He Gets is a Tweet in His Bed “Submissive Stephen” starts with a man at 2:00 a.m.—all-caps fury, fingers flying like bayonets, a digital

How Republican “Family Values” Became a Shield for Scandal A documented pattern of hypocrisy — from hush money to handcuffs. Disclaimer: This article is based

A Protest Song for the American Contradiction We live in a country that counts painkillers like confessions and tracks prescriptions like parole violations—while AR-15s move

“Spray-Tan Soul, Panic Stare” isn’t subtle—and it’s not meant to be. This track plays like a lyrical bodycam: raw, unflinching, fully loaded—hush money, mugshots, stolen

When politics licks boots instead of leading, satire is the only weapon left. Washington is theater, not governance, where loyalty outweighs law and sycophants replace

Eviction taped to the door, bills on the windshield. Three jobs, still short on first and last. This is what inequality sounds like—not numbers, but

This song started with a question I couldn’t shake: What would Lincoln think if he saw America today? Malice Toward All, Charity for None turns

Remind us that our true citizenship is in a kingdom the world cannot see. First United Methodist Church (Johnson City, Tennessee) is blessed with three

Don’t Believe You’re Lying Eyes! When it comes to reading comprehension, context is key. But what happens when the context is curated? Cropped? Controlled? Long

For the Kids Who Can’t Punch Back RFK Jr. is selling salvation with the track marks still visible under his sleeves. The hardest part wasn’t

A protest song for a broken system… Don’t know about you, but I’m about fed up with this blatant authoritarian blitzkrieg. Writing songs about it

It’s not the past. It’s the present. There’s a particular kind of blindness that comes from being too close to the threat—a refusal to see

“Temu Hitler” is a protest song built from anger, memory, and truth. It names what most try to soften: a system that redraws maps to

When Stephen Miller sneered at protesters in Washington, D.C.—mocking them as “elderly white hippies” who “need to go home and take a nap”—he meant to

We’re drowning in ABSOLUTELYs. Forty-seven times in one day. I counted. That’s either a linguistic epidemic or we’ve all joined the same cult. My new
TRIGGERED! [Intro – Melodic Trap Beat with Guitar] Yeah, yeah They started it first Now look who’s hurt Yeah [Hook – Simple & Hypnotic] MAGA-WOKE

Dear Readers,Saw this tee-shirt for sale, which inspired this tune. Enjoy! [Verse 1] There’s a sleeping giant up in the mountains highBeen resting peaceful underneath
FROM TUDOR POISON PLOTS TO BIG PHARMA LIES! One family. Five centuries. The deadliest secret. History remembers the poison. But not the testers. GENE SCOTT

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility…” Eighth grade, 1970s Illinois. Six

—MAGA Civil War Erupts Over Epstein Files July 16, 2025 In an extraordinary rebuke of his own base, President Donald Trump lashed out at

Barbie, Superman, and the Snowflake Apocalypse When grown men with law degrees are lighting dolls on fire for YouTube views, something’s broken in America. The

The Man Who Trusts No One: Inside Trump’s Hall of Mirrors Mar-a-Lago after dark. AC humming. Fox News on mute. He’s sitting there scrolling through

Another Bait. Another Switch. The list exists. They buried it. And now they’re acting like we imagined the whole thing. No names, no files, no

In an age where private jets leave longer contrails than government accountability, and bunkers are booked out faster than therapy sessions, a singular fear unites

In a world where water is memory and hope is rationed by the drop, a mysterious transmission leads three scavengers across the wasteland toward an
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

Trump’s Budget 2025 & The Chainsaw Cuts to Medicare and Medicaid: What’s Really Happening? Excerpt: Trump’s 2025 budget talks a big game about protecting Medicare

Some kids never really grow out of who they are—they just grow into it. My son was one of those kids. From the time he

Modern Patriotism in Crisis: National Identity, Nostalgia, and the American Myth Let’s talk about modern patriotism in America. Not the sticker-on-a-truck kind. Not the TikTok

by Gene Scott Ruby Freeman and the Fragility of American Democracy In 2020, Georgia election worker Ruby Freeman dedicated her efforts to helping her

Elon Musk built his empire by betting on the future. So why is he selling a dead-end, self-defeating argument on foreign aid? His attacks on

Tennessee, we have a problem. And it’s not some distant tragedy, not some “big city” violence we can ignore. It’s here. It’s in our schools.

Elon Musk’s Power, Politics, and the Cracks Beneath Leonardo DiCaprio stands at the bow of the Titanic, arms spread wide, wind in his face, shouting,

I wrote this song two months ago — but as soon as it was recorded — a female graduate student at ETSU was stuck by a
by Herman Garcia In the Tri-Cities area, we face a significant issue with racial profiling by law enforcement. This problem became painfully clear during the
(Note: We’re following up our recent blog “The Story of Howard Atkins” with Howard’s advice to anyone headed to one of the worst prisons in
By Phil Gray In the early hours of September 16, 1814, as smoke from the British bombardment choked the sky over Baltimore Harbor, Francis Scott
I met Howard Atkins in 2016 during a Kairos (Christian ministry) weekend at Northeast Correctional Complex near Mountain City, Tennessee. Later, when I began teaching

As a bicyclist / songwriter who’s undergone three (3) knee replacements, this popped into my head today as I rode to the post office dodging
We’ve been fooled before, but we don’t have to be fooled again. The power is in our hands, if only we’re brave enough to use it.
Here is the latest video. (Copyright MSNBC). I apologize for laughing. Seriously: We need to pray for this poor guy. I’m not being ironic. I’m
ALERT! Let’s play The Republican Game and foment chaos instead of working for the American people: John Wayne Gacy and JD Vance appear to be

Kerpow! He now lives in a battle zone of his own making. Where truth and lies collide: the air thick with dread, fear, old Fox
Nobody’s ever seen anything like this, folks. Nobody. No president, no leader—nobody’s had to deal with what I’ve dealt with. But look at what’s coming,
In their early twenties, Robb and Gene were thrust into a world where technology had become an inescapable presence. AI assistants were no longer just

I used to think that word-lovers like me had to awaken those with honest minds to rethink their loyalty to a television “personality” with no
Was pleasantly surprised last night by Josh Shapiro’s and Tim Walz’s speeches. There is hope! They both see the lunacy in the opposition’s policy of

Governor Bill Lee of Tennessee, an ultra-conservative state in the heart of the Bible Belt, has banned the Bible in Tennessee prisons along with all

This video honors our classmates we’ll miss at our Western High School (Buda, Illinois) 50th High School Reunion this summer. You are not forgotten. And

Happy Mother’s Day! This is celebration of the special life of Lana Ferguson Scott, born in the mountains of East Tennessee in 1948. She was
Dear Editor, The Saturday paper listed The Wager as the current #1 non-fiction bestseller, and I’m enjoying the true story, a frightening account of life

The Big Guy is always available. Reminders are everywhere we look. But we must first let Him in. He believes in our freedom to choose
If you are too weak to handle a large-caliber, bolt-action rifle or join the military, there is always Viagra.

This cover of the BB King classic is dedicated to Facebook, Fox News, and the Republican Party, which I used to admire when truth and
Wrote this song on 6-5-23, the twenty-first anniversary of my brother’s death. Miss him. ~ James Mitchell Scott 10/8/59 – 6/5/2002 ~
Verse 1 Woke up this morning With coffee on my mind, But a bad boy in the pipeline Put my plans in a bind. When
I’ve never shared an entry from my personal diary before, but today I got up and read the newspaper and discovered: On November 8, 1923,
My wife and I bought an old house – built in 1940 and composed of drill-proof Portland cement, two-by-sixes that are actually 2” by 6”,
In high school, I worked two summers on the Hennepin Canal, a relic of the 19th Century connecting the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers allowing mules
Looked like the GOP would gather new seats in the mid-terms. They had it nearly sewn up. But then they stripped constitutional rights and freedoms
You should read it! It’s a gruesome yet beautiful, redeeming love story about this crazy homeless liberal dude with long hair, one set of
Growing up on a hog farm, I saw hogs eat each other. Especially when the “lunch” hog was sick, injured, or different in any way.
Review of Jellybeaners by Fine Brand » 14 Apr 2022 Children are crying and in shock. Vane Sarge Walker arrives at the scene along with the Mount Vernon
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Dear Readers, I teach creative writing two days a month at a local state prison: Northeast Correctional Complex, Mountain City, Tennessee. I wrote a column
Fifteen years ago, a close friend of ours in Southern Illinois, Dana Simpson – a dedicated nurse who devoted thirty years to caring for others
Motorcycling is a genetic thread running through my family’s history. Grandfather Lawrence “Goofy” Scott delivered moonshine during Prohibition on a 1920 Harley Model J, bragging
One of our church pastors – we’re blessed with a tag-team, a hard-working couple with big hearts, and vivacious children – decided to make a
Dear Readers, Here’s the latest cut, inspired by a motorcycle ride through lovely Western North Carolina. Thanks for listening, praying, and washing your hands! Jesus
We complain, blame God for Pain. Forget to give thanks for Pleasure. We suffer floods, curse His name, Forget to praise the sprouting Grain. Our
Giorgia – a graduate school girlfriend – elevated her quiet nature into an imminent road hazard whenever we strolled down the sidewalk. Male drivers –

Travel may be the one expense that makes us richer. Although it is often fraught with short-term displeasure, the long-term effect – if you survive
A letter and booklet arrived in the mail this morning from the little Midwestern town where I grew up, the village mortician reminding me that
When Jellybeaners appeared in 2017 the overall death toll linked to opioids was 40,000 Americans per year. Now? It’s topping 50,000. Here are the current
The UK music site Tinnitist added The Tongues, and Potato Heads to its Top 100 Playlist. Click the logos for the entire album.
My first album will be released Friday 12 March. Available at the outlets below. Had no intention of doing this, but two factors led to
Have you ever noticed how everything is political now? Even Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head. So let’s focus on what’s important! Plastic! Tater heads! Mr.
Pearl was my first recording, issued seven years ago (4-2014). Verse 1 Justin was tired of it all, though he was only seventeen. Little Queenie
You saw. With your own eyes. How lies. Allow crazies to thrive.
Where are truth and love? Where are we now? Where has America gone? Where are we now? Is this the swan song? Where have the
We are a beacon. Once again. Verse 1 People sat on their hands in ’16.Didn’t care much for the Democratic Queen.But now their eyes are

When I was twenty-three, I found myself unemployed and living in my girlfriend’s room in her parents’ beautiful brick home on the South Side of

Whether we buy into the idea that humans are a virus or not doesn’t matter. What matters is how we react to the situation.
The church I attend is extremely generous with its time, talent, and resources, but it wasn’t always this way. When my wife and I joined in 1990, many of the congregants were “intellectuals” from the university (myself included) who thought highly of the impoverished, but didn’t do much to help them physically. We threw money at them, mostly. Kept our distance.
A certified rock star, whose stage apparel and song lists hang in Nashville’s Country Music Hall of Fame, graced Johnson City’s Down Home Saturday night
My son and his fiancé asked us over for a tasty mid-morning outdoor breakfast –– her parents were visiting on their way to Texas ––
Our church family now publishes amateur photographs — scenes inspired by the Holy Spirit — on its social media site. The response has been heartwarming,

Lots of bluster and fear mongering from the White House these days over immigration while the nation passes the potato chips and gazes mindlessly at
I’m now teaching a creative writing class to an interesting group of folk who spend large portions of their day reading and scribbling, so they’re
My energetic wife and I retired years ago, and we’re good at being together. A big house helps, and we both like holing up in
Grape-land never made our bucket list. We assumed it was hot, humid, dirty, overrun with tourists, smelly, and rife with Gypsies rifling pockets. All that’s
When I was twenty-three, I found myself unemployed, and living in my girlfriend’s room in her parents’ beautiful brick house on the South Side of
Whenever my life begins to feel too “cushy” – which is often since I’m a spoiled American Baby Booming corpulent white male with a loving/doting

You can’t make up this sort of thing. People would laugh and throw disgusting objects at you for inserting blatant — although natural — irony
Following a two-month visit to Western Illinois this fall – helping my active mother recuperate from hip surgery – my wife Lana and I were
Review by Aimee Jodoin (November 8, 2017)
Have you ever noticed that Trump-Era right wing American gun toters desiring a continuing global military presence are often the same folks wailing for limited
Haven’t written much the last seven weeks due to a trip to the northern climes, but I did enter Jellybeaners in several indie book contests. Here
Our current health care mess is more a political debacle than a substantial challenge to the intellect when it comes to solvency. Morally? We can do
Dear Readers, This piece is a reprint from the distant past: 2003. Its prescience equals a second look as readers are signing up for this
The polarization of America continues at a rapid pace, but we weren’t always at each other’s throats. Following WWII, soldiers of both political parties returned
Dear Readers, Today I’m simply re-posting recent articles — written by others — directly related to the opioid epidemic, which is the subject of my
We all knew the Betsy DeVos nomination was a done deal before the excruciating hearings confirmed our fears and made it clear she held no
Dear Senator Lamar Alexander, My favorite American, Ben Franklin, perhaps the most inventive and prescient of us all, made it clear that he trusted neither

The motivation behind Jellybeaners — to shine light upon the opioid epidemic taking Americans at the rate of fifty per day — remains front and center in the news, and burns