Monthly Archives: September 2017

Whose Lives Matter?

Common Sense, Ethical Behavior

I will never forget when one of my co-pilots told me I didn’t understand what it was like to be a black man in America.  He was black, a former Air Force pilot, and was the son of parents who were a surgeon and an Ivy League college professor respectively.  He had grown up in the exclusive enclave of Upper Montclair, NJ, and was himself a graduate of prestigious Rutgers University.

I looked at him for a moment and said: “And YOU don’t understand what it is like to have been the only child of parents who divorced when I was four years old, who grew up in semi-poverty, with a working mother who was never home, and who lived in rented rooms in other peoples houses, or in a converted garage, and didn’t have a room of his own until he was a senior in high school.  You didn’t have to work, starting at age ten, and work your way through school.”

After a moment, he apologized, and said that it was true, he was just caught up in the victim mentality of the times.  This was in 1973, eight years after the passing of the “Civil Rights Acts” of 1964-65.  “Affirmative Action” was well under way, and African-Americans were being given preference in many areas of our society.

Continue reading Whose Lives Matter? →

Taking A Knee?

Common Sense, Ethical Behavior

It started with Colin Kaepernick, yet another troubled bi-racial individual who was rejected by his parents and raised by caring white people.  In spite of that fact, he developed a hatred of his country based on a concept that it is basically racist, and treats people of color unfairly.  Sound vaguely familiar?

Anyway, Kaepernick, an individual who had been paid millions as a professional athlete but was now a third string quarterback, decided that he could no longer respect our flag or our national anthem, and the country they represent.  So, sporting an extreme “Afro” he conspicuously went down on one knee as the national anthem was being played before the start of a San Francisco Forty-Niners game.  Many people were outraged by this act of disrespect to our national symbols.

In the weeks that followed, more highly paid athletes began to follow suit, especially National Football League players.  The result? Viewership of NFL games has dropped by seven percent.  I predict that it will drop further.  Most people agree that Kaepernick and his kneeling contemporaries have the right to express their political views.  They just don’t want to be forced to have to watch it in a public forum of that type.  Athletic events are a bit of escapism from the daily lives we all lead.  Work, school, family financial issues etc, are all left behind as we root for our favorite team or athlete. Continue reading Taking A Knee? →

True Colors……….

Common Sense, Ethical Behavior, World Politics

The basic difference between the Democratic and Republican politicians is that the Democrats almost always vote as a block, whether they are in the majority or not.  The Republicans on the other hand have always had mavericks.  People who campaign one way, and then vote “their conscience” when it comes to representing those who put them in office. Sounds like a noble concept to some.  However it is, in my opinion, a fatal character flaw.

We are all entitled to our opinions, and are guaranteed freedom of speech by the First Amendment to our Constitution.  Politicians, however, are elected on a compact with the voters.  That compact is that they will faithfully represent the will of the voters, not decide that they are too ill informed or ignorant to understand the complexities of an issue.  A classic example of this behavior is the refusal of Senator John McCain of the State of Arizona to support the Trump Administration on yet another important issue.

McCain has once again stated he will not vote to repeal and replace the disastrous program called the “Affordable Care Act” (commonly referred to as “Obamacare”) even though he campaigned last year on the promise to do just that, and the people of his state are suffering under some of the largest increases in policy premiums in the nation.  He apparently puts his position as a deal breaker ahead of the wishes (and indeed the best interests) of his constituents. Continue reading True Colors………. →

Lectures From The Left?

Common Sense, World Politics

It is more than a little amazing that the left in this country, from the former president on down, have the hubris to lecture the present administration about anything, let alone the healthcare disaster called “Obamacare” and the state of international affairs.

When we saw “Obamacare” shoved down the throat of the American public during Obama’s first two years in office we were told by arrogant Democrats that it was the dawn of a new era in quality medical care for ALL of the American people.  We were told by the president that we had nothing to fear from his grandiose scheme.  We could all keep our doctors and medical plans if we were satisfied with them.  PERIOD!  From the disastrous rollout of the plan, when the website set up to allow applicants to enter their information crashed in the first hours of it’s coming online, to the unbelievable rate hikes and withdrawal of numerous medical insurance companies from markets which they had served for years, and finally the admission by the man who was in charge of setting it up that only the stupidity of the American voter allowed Obamacare to pass, we knew we were in trouble.

Yet he was right, and the stupidity of the American voter was proven once again when Obama was elected for a second term.  Obamacare has been in a death spiral ever since, but that is exactly what Obama had in mind when he proposed it.  That it would fail spectacularly, and the public would clamor for anything else, even a “Single Payer Healthcare System” (aka: Socialized Medicine thru National Healthcare).

While all this was going on, the Obama policy of withdrawing from a position of international leadership to “Leading From Behind”, allowed a rise in the influence of former and current Communist regimes worldwide. Namely Russia, China, North Korea, Cuba and a new entrant, Venezuela.

Continue reading Lectures From The Left? →

The Emmy and Reality

Common Sense, World Politics

Last night, one of the events that celebrities look forward to occurred.  The annual Emmy Awards.  This year, Master Trump Basher Steven Colbert took every opportunity to mock and slander our President.  He was aided and abetted by a pantheon of the Hollywood elite, who laughed and applauded at every cheap shot Colbert took.

What all these people don’t seem to understand is that at least 50% of the American population don’t agree with them, those people who voted for Trump in the 2016 election. That’s poking a stick in the eye of half your possible audience.  Not smart.  As the NFL is discovering, fans have a choice.  If they don’t choose to support a team of highly paid athletes who have forgotten who REALLY pays their salaries, the money will stop rolling in.

If half the paying public decides to decline to watch the programs where advertisers are paying millions to display their goods and services by being television series sponsors, that money stream will begin to dry up as well.  No money, no series, no jobs.  It’s as simple as that.  However, can these people who spend their lives pretending to be somebody else figure that out?

The last eight years was a constant Hollywood orgasm of praise for our first minority president.  He could do no wrong.  He was hip.  He was cool.  He was one of them and they adored him.  When Hillary Clinton was nominated, they had another chance.  She wasn’t hip or cool, but she was a Democrat, and of course she was a WOMAN!  Another liberal first. But then she lost.  La La Land went berserk, and Hollywood on the Hudson followed suit. Those hicks out in “Flyover Country” couldn’t do this to them.  The error must be reversed, and they would do everything in their power to help the Democrats do just that!

So here we are.  Facing some of the most serious challenges in our history.  Twenty Trillion in debt and rising.  Radical Islam on the march, and “Rocketman” threatening us with ICBMs armed with nuclear weapons.  Civil unrest becoming more prevalent in our big cities and illegal immigration being excused as justified and even necessary.

Dream on denizens of Hollywood East and West.  Your bubble is about to burst.  Big time…………….

Here We Go Again!

Common Sense, Ethical Behavior

Now let me get this straight.  An individual with a long drug rap sheet is caught in the act of attempting to sell heroin.   When confronted by officers he rams a police car and another vehicle, and attempts to run over officers while trying to flee the scene.  After a high speed chase he is shot and killed by a police officer.  All of this is caught on film by dash cams and other sources.

This happened in 2011, at the height of the actions of the Eric Holder DOJ to sue any jurisdiction which was suspected of being racially biased towards blacks or other minorities.  Although the case was reviewed by the local, state and federal authorities, no charges were brought against the officer involved in the shooting. Then, in 2016, City Attorney Jennifer Joyce brought charges against the officer involved.  The judge who heard the case found that insufficient evidence existed to convict the defendant.  Result?  Protests by the Black Lives Matter group and others, property damaged, the American flag burned and police injured by the “protesters” (aka “rioters”). Continue reading Here We Go Again! →

Testing or Armageddon?

Common Sense, Ethical Behavior

More bombs go off in London.  Anti free speech protesters battle police in Berkley, CA, costing that city hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars which could best be spent elsewhere.  Looters ransack stores in Miami during and after Hurricane Irma.  North Korea launches another missile over Japan and threatens nuclear war.  Chaos seemingly reigns world wide.  Is Armageddon next, or are we simply being tested?

America became the country it was, and I underscore was, because of that magnificent document crafted by the founding fathers, our Constitution.  We began to go astray as a nation when we allowed unelected judges to “interpret” the wording of that document to suit their own political ideologies, and to add so-called “rights” and privileges which simply don’t exist.

Continue reading Testing or Armageddon? →

Inconvenient Facts and Inconvenient Truths

Common Sense, Ethical Behavior

In the aftermath of the recent catastrophic hurricanes the inevitable looting began.  Were these desperate people just trying to get food and water for themselves and their families?  Or, were they just on an illegal shopping spree at the expense of already devastated store owners?  The photographic evidence speaks for itself, and it speaks volumes.

For the last fifty years and more, every time there has been a natural disaster or a man made crisis in this country, the looters have followed, and they have come in greater and greater numbers.  The national media, not wishing to expose the magnitude of the problem, has given it minimal coverage even as businesses, many of them minority owned, have been trashed by hoards of criminals.

Continue reading Inconvenient Facts and Inconvenient Truths →

9/11………Forgotten Already?

Common Sense, World Politics

As I write this, the remnants of Hurricane Irma are pounding our home in South Carolina with heavy rain and winds. Thankfully, we are only experiencing a small taste of what those in the Caribbean and Florida have suffered through for the past week.  The wrath of nature is indeed awesome to behold. Unfortunately, so is the wrath of man.

On this day sixteen years ago, over three thousand people, mostly American citizens, died at the hands of 19 young men.  These men had four things in common.  They were all from the Middle East, they were all affiliated with al-Qaeda, they all hated America and the western culture we represent, and they all were Muslims.

In the intervening years since that awful September morning several things occurred.  We, for too short time, came together as a country united against terrorism.  We prosecuted two wars against tyrannical groups in the Middle East, losing hundreds of billions of dollars of national treasure and thousands of lives of our brave men and women in the military, shattering the lives of many others in the process.  Then, inexplicably, something happened.

Continue reading 9/11………Forgotten Already? →

No Fair. No Fair!!!

Common Sense, Ethical Behavior, World Politics

We have, for time immemorial, heard the plaintive cry of children: “No fair, no fair!”  Well guess what Progressives, and the “Snowflakes” you have produced?  Life isn’t “fair”!  We are all dealt a hand at birth.  For some, it might be a Royal Flush.  For others, not even Two of a Kind.  We are not equal in wealth, position in life, or intelligence.  We are only equal in potential, but that we must create for ourselves.

In the words off an old Hoyt Axton song: “The winners all grin, and the losers say:  “Deal the cards again….Deal the cards again!”  The problem is, life doesn’t work that way, except in the minds of the Liberal/Progressive elite.  You must play the original hand you are dealt, in the smartest possible way.  History is replete with examples of individuals who have survived and prospered under incredibly adverse circumstances.

Unfortunately, the left in this country and elsewhere believe in the concept of equal results, not equal opportunity.  The only way that can happen is if governments mandate a policy of taking from some to give to others.  Rigging the game. Governments rhemselves produce nothing, they only consume and redistribute the money that others have earned or created.  Governments can only survive by taxing the population to pay for their various programs.  You  only need to look at Cuba and Venezuela  to see what happens when Socialist/Progressive policies take over a nation.  Two of the most prosperous countries in the Caribbean and South America were transformed to places where even the basic essentials like toilet paper are unavailable.  The only ones who thrive in those societies are government officials and government employees.  Since Roosevelt’s “New Deal” policies of the 1930’s, we have seen that cancer begin to grow and metastasize in our country.  Obama expanded goverment size and control, and doubled our national debt in only eight years.  If we don’t cut out the cancer, and soon, it will destroy us.

Continue reading No Fair. No Fair!!! →