At the end of 2000, the liberal left was in a frenzy. The claim was that that the Republican candidate had “stolen” the election from Democrat Al Gore. Rather than allowing a smooth transition from President William J. Clinton’s administration to President George W. Bush, they threw everything they could as roadblocks to prevent, or at least delay that goal. From the infamous “hanging chad” recount of Florida ballots to the juvenile removal of all the “W” keys from White House computer keyboards, it was a disgrace. In 2008, after Barack Obama was elected, there was a smooth and peaceful transition, made possible by the policies of the Bush administration.
Now, since Hillary Clinton has been rejected in her second attempt to gain the Presidency, there is another mean spirited attempt to delegitimize the results of the election by the Democrats. Again, the spectacle is both vicious and childish. Rather than allow himself to ride off into the sunset as our first minority President, Barack Obama and his White House staff have joined in the political mudslinging with gusto. White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest has entered the melee, implying that because then Republican Presidential candidate Trump had jokingly commented that if the Russians were indeed attempting to “hack” the DNC e-mails, perhaps they could find the 30,000 plus supposedly “personal” e-mails that Hillary had deleted from her illegal private server while serving as Secretary of State. I send and receive a substantial number of e-mails each year, but 30,000 plus of a strictly personal and private nature over a 4 year period? No way!
Also departing the White House on January 20th will be now former First Lady Michelle Obama. As was the case with her husband, she could have done so much more to bring our country together, especially where race relations and racial harmony are concerned. Like him, she failed miserably. I am of course making the assumption that she WANTED to do that. However from the very beginning, it should have been apparent that wasn’t high up on her “to do” list.
It is interesting that many women want a man who can freely show his softer (read female?) side. Except that is, when they feel physically threatened. Then, they want a testosterone charged Arnold Schwarzenegger type on steroids. That bi-polar attitude was the genesis of the so-called “Politically Correct” movement. Someone with more time on their hands than I have could probably trace the “girly man” concept back to the feminist movement of the 1950’s and 60’s. The parents who raised the baby boomer generation after WW-II and Korea wanted nothing more to do with war or conflict. They had seen and suffered too much.
The Obama White House has announced that a “secret” CIA report indicates that Russian President Vladimir Putin tried to influence the outcome of the recent U.S. Presidential election. In typical Obama fashion this “leaked” report gives no specifics, but is apparently filled with vague generalities about suspicions of Russian involvement. Isn’t it strange that the Obama administration was not overly concerned about then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of an unsecured private server for her e-mails and multiple eminently hack-able electronic devices while in that very sensitive position. The fact that the server and devices even existed was brought to light by the House investigation into the Benghazi affair, not because of an intelligence breach by foreign agencies. However, even the most partisan politicians have been unable to deny that there is almost a surety that such breaches did indeed occur.
One of the great debates that all countries on this planet must participate in is about immigration. The “Globalists”, represented by most people who identify themselves as “Progressives”, feel that there should be no national borders at all. Simply put, everyone, should be allowed to go anywhere, anytime. A one world “Kumbaya”. Any reasonable person must understand that concept simply can’t be accomplished or allowed. This would be the ultimate redistribution of wealth envisioned by Karl Marx, the father of the communist movement. What Marx, and all such visionaries conveniently forget to mention, is that to give something to one person, you must first take it from another. That brings us back to unrestricted immigration.
Claim: The unemployment rate is 4.9 percent. Fact: That number doesn’t include the tens of millions of people who have simply stopped looking for work and left the workforce. If you include those individuals, the actual effective unemployment rate is something north of 11 percent, probably much higher. In addition, due to the increasingly high amount of government intrusion into the job marketplace (minimum wage laws, “Obamacare”, over-regulation by various government agencies and uncertainty over tax policy) the vast majority of job “growth” has actually been job reduction since most of the new jobs are part time, requiring wage earners to work multiple jobs to make ends meet. They also have to work longer hours, since most employers aren’t willing to create “fill” jobs of 10 to 15 hours per week to accommodate new employees who are just trying to bring their income up from the 25 or 30 hour per week at their primary (but still part time) place of employment. The politicians might not have figured this out, but the average blue collar worker sure has, as evidenced by what happened on November 8th.
One of the primary reasons that the Democrats got shellacked in the November elections was that they couldn’t bring themselves to admit that is ILLEGAL to enter our country without our permission. It is also illegal to overstay your visa to visit. That is fact. That is the law. There can be no doubt about it. Some Democratic leaders and their supporters believe that concept is wrong. So be it. However, they have absolutely no legal right to disregard it by creating so-called “Sanctuaries” and allow people who are here ILLEGALLY to remain unmolested. To do that makes all our laws suspect and useless. Immigration laws are a federal, not state function. Thankfully, there is a mechanism to correct perceived injustices in our legal system. Legislation, up to and including amending the United States Constitution can change our laws, but it must be done LEGALLY.
There is a tale of three blind men trying to describe a creature by feel. They were taken to an elephant. The first felt a leg and said it must look like a great tree. The second felt the trunk and said that it must be a large snake. The last felt the tail, and was sure it must resemble a vine. Without full knowledge, there was no way they could come up with a rational conclusion.
One of my warm and fuzzy childhood memories is the night that they turned on the Christmas lights at the Denver Civic Center. You get a sense of how magical that was to a child by viewing the picture at left. In our family, it was a tradition for us to all pile in a couple of cars the night after Thanksgiving and drive downtown after dark to view the annual spectacle. After waiting in line on Colfax Avenue, we would finally have a chance to drive past the front of the Capitol building, and from that raised position view the vista across the way. We’d then make a right turn on 14th Avenue and drive down to get a closer view of the Civic Center steps. There was Santa in his sleigh with his eight reindeer, and prominently, a large creche with life size figures showing the “Reason for the Season”. There even was a large Menorah, whose candles were lighted in sequence during the Jewish celebration of Hanukkah. Back then, we actually were a “Christian Country”, but respected the religious customs of other faiths as has always been the case in our land.
Donald Trump announced last night that he is going to nominate James N. Mattis as the new Secretary of Defense. If there is one single indication of what President Trump has in mind to reverse the “Fundamental Transformation of America” initiated by his predecessor, this is it. Under Obama, hundreds of high ranking officers left the service, either forced to retire, or unable in good conscience to continue to accept and implement the orders of their “Commander in Chief”. They were aware that those who knuckled under and went along would be promoted, while those who disagreed would be demeaned, demoted or forced out.