The photo at left has been floating around the internet. Like all information, particularly from that medium, we must be careful to not take it at face value, as there is indeed much “Fake News” out there. However, I imagine that it is true there are a number of Marine Corps members who would be proud to serve at the White House under President Trump, a man who views them as part of the solution, not part of the problem.
Monthly Archives: February 2017
The Russians Are Coming!
The 1966 movie “The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming!” staring Brian Keith, Theodore Bikel, Jonathan Winters and Alan Arkin, among others, was a very funny movie. If you didn’t see it, try to find it, because it has amazing parallels to what’s happening today.
The plot revolved around a Russian submarine captain wanting to have a look at the New England coastline through his periscope, and accidentally running aground on a sandbar. What happens next is a classic example of misinformation spread by hysterical people causing a panic. The movie ends in a bit of pre-Gorbachev “Glasnost” when the New Englanders and Russians become friends after an incident lets them see the goodness in each other.
The Tyranny of the Minority.
The founding fathers of this country fought a revolution to free themselves and our fledgling nation from the tyranny of the monarchy and parliament of England. Our country, from it’s very inception, was based on the concepts of personal liberty and responsibility. For nearly two hundred years that system worked, but in the early 1960’s something very unsettling began to occur. Call it “The Tyranny of the Minority”, and it works like this:
Say you have a belief that is out of the mainstream viewpoint. You’re an atheist for instance. That’s fine. You have a right, according to our Constitution, not to practice a religion or believe in a deity. The problem occurs when you demand that the rest of society conforms to that belief system. All symbols or practices of religion must be removed from public life as they are “offensive” to you and those who subscribe to your beliefs. Forget that “In God We Trust” has been our national motto since 1956 and has been on our coinage since 1864. Forget that references to God are replete in the Declaration of Independence and our Constitution. Forget that The Ten Commandments are chiseled into the facade of our Supreme Court Building. Forget all that. YOU are offended, so all the rest of us must kowtow to your wishes. Continue reading The Tyranny of the Minority.
“Gravitas” and Goebbels.
During the 2000 Presidential election cycle, the national media simultaneously learned a new word, one which I had never heard before, or being used by any of the talking heads on television. The word was “Gravitas”, and was used to describe an attribute that the media apparently felt Republican candidate George W. Bush lacked. Your class assignment today is to look it up.
The fact that this obscure term was suddenly on the lips and computer screens of most of the mass media gave rise to a couple of questions. Who came up with the term? And, how did it spread faster than a runny nose at nursery school? The answer to the first is the campaign of Democratic candidate Al Gore. The answer to the second is that it quickly became evident that the main stream media was totally under the influence of the liberal left, who was supplying them with “talking points” to use against the Republicans. That, my friends is not an example of a “free press”, but rather more akin to Pravda and Izvestia, the state organs of the former Soviet Union. Continue reading “Gravitas” and Goebbels.
You OWE Us, America…..
Read the sign the guy at left carried in a Phoenix protest rally against deporting illegal aliens. Think hard and long about what it says. To all who dismiss those of us who want secure borders and approve of “The Wall” to help achieve that goal, I have a few questions. They are, in no particular order:
Do you lock the doors and windows of your home, particularly at night?
Why?
If you came home from work one day and found a couple you didn’t know sitting on your couch, watching a pay for view movie on your big screen TV, and eating food from your refrigerator would you be upset?
Why?
If you found their suitcases in your guest bedroom, and discovered that they had taken personal items from your closet, would you mind?
Why?
If they told you that they intended to stay, and that they expected you to pay for their food and drink, medical and dental expenses, and educate their children when they came along, would you agree?
Why not?
After all, you weren’t using the guest bedroom, and they needed a place to stay, and anyway liked your house better than theirs. You make more money than they do, and drive a better car. Don’t you think that’s unfair?
Why not? Are you xenophobic or something?
That is EXACTLY the argument being made by the open borders crowd, except they don’t expect to have to foot the bill for the “migrants”. They want YOU to do that for them. Get it?
One last thing. The people who have crossed our borders and entered our country illegally have committed a crime. Those who would abet that crime by providing “sanctuaries” for the illegal immigrants are, in legal parlance, “accessories after the fact”. That’s a crime too. If you don’t agree with our immigration laws, feel free to try to have them changed. However, until you accomplish that goal, you can’t just pick and choose what laws you will obey and which you will ignore. There are penalties for that as well, and there is a new Sheriff in town.
The Party of No?
The Democrats, for the entire period of the Obama administration, accused the Republicans of being “The Party of No”. The last three weeks seem to indicate the reverse is actually the truth. The Democrats, from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi have proven themselves to be nothing but petulant obstructionists. They have fought every Trump cabinet appointee. They have, with their allies in the national media, spread “leaks” from various government agencies which not only impugn the honesty of President Trump and his administration, but actively help to put our nation in danger. If this type of behavior had occurred at the beginning of the Obama administration in 2009, the screams of “racism” and “obstructionism” would have been deafening.
Award Insanity………
Last night at the annual Grammy Awards we once again had a spectacle of a group of self styled “celebrities” going onstage and being encouraged by the media, in this case CBS, to “speak out” against the policies of the Trump administration. So, a constant flow of singers and “rappers” paraded across the stage to receive their “Grammy” and then give disjointed statements about immigration, national security and “Islamophobes”.
In 1973, actor Marlon Brando refused to accept his “Oscar” and gave his acceptance speech time slot at the Academy Awards to Sacheen Littlefeather (aka: Marie Louise Cruz) a young woman in native dress who then gave a sixty second rant about the evils of the whites in their dealings with “Native Americans”. She was booed off the stage.
Ammunition.
Ammunition. No, I’m not talking about the kind you load into a weapon. I’m referring to the ammunition of concepts to use in the “War of Ideas”. There are many manufacturers of this ammunition. Unfortunately, many more of them are on the left than the right. Individuals like George Soros and other billionaires pour millions of dollars into the coffers of organizations and individuals whose sole goal is the destruction of this country and what it formerly represented.
Men (and women) in Black.
The United States Constitution was drafted between mid 1776 and late 1777. It was finally ratified by all thirteen former colonies in 1781, and has been the law of the land ever since. The framers of our Constitution were very wary of placing too much power in the hands of any individual or group of individuals. They had too much experience living under the despotism of the monarchs and parliaments of Europe, mostly England. So, they wisely divided power between three branches, the Executive, Legislative and Judicial. The President was supposed to either approve or veto laws passed by the two branches of the Congress, the House and the Senate. Finally, the Judicial branch, comprised of Federal Judges, including those of the Supreme Court, who were tasked with determining whether the actions of either of the other two branches were indeed “Constitutional”. That simply meant that the actions followed the plain language so laboriously crafted by the framers of that document. All this went well until the courts began to “interpret” the language of the Constitution. Let’s examine that situation.
Snakes……….
Snakes. Most people are at the very least wary of them. However most snakes are not dangerous. In fact many do very good good things where mankind is concerned. They are some of nature’s best “mousetraps”, helping to keep the world’s rodent and insect population in check, at the level nature intended. But some, the poisonous varieties, are very dangerous indeed. Of those, only the “rattlesnakes” give warning of a potential attack. It is no accident that one of the flags used during the American Revolution depicted a coiled rattlesnake with the admonition “Don’t Tread On Me” as a symbol. What the patriots were saying is: “I am dangerous if provoked, beware!”. Rattlesnakes rarely if ever strike without giving warning. If the person hearing it remains perfectly still, the snake, no longer threatened, will generally crawl away. I’ve seen this happen. Other venomous snakes, including the most deadly, give no warning at all. They strike, and frequently kill, in silence. Cobras, Black Mambas, Bushmasters, Adders etc, are among that group.
Let’s translate this to mankind. In “civilized” societies, it is considered necessary to make a formal declaration of war prior to attacking your enemy. If you don’t, as when Japan attacked us on December 7, 1941, or when Germany attacked Russia in Operation Barbarossa on June 22, 1941, it is considered a violation of international law, condemned by all but the aggressor and their allies.