Paradigm Shift: this time I believe change IS possible ....

 God Bless, keep and guide the brave men and women in the country of Iran who have awakened from slumber and now struggle to have their voices heard toward the end of taking control of their own lives.  Their courage in the face of extreme adversity gives hope for a brighter future for their country, their children and their children's children.  I sense a benevolent energy acting their behalf this time, an energy I have not felt before.  This time, I truly feel as if change IS possible.  You all will be in my constant thoughts and prayers, where prayer for me involves focusing on intentions and actual energy channeling by way of the Creator.

Winter Wonderland at 1400 Pennsylvania Ave., D.C.

I have to admit, it takes just about everything I have to get my own house decorated for Christmas before December 25th each year.  Thus, I've never really paid much attention to how the "People's House" (a.k.a. The White House) is decorated each year.  I know the First Lady is usually responsible for setting the theme and overseeing the decorations.  Well, this year I have heard so much negative press about the White House decorations that I just had to check them out for myself.  I found a "White House Christmas Special 2017" on HGTV and sat down to watch with my daughters. 

Image By Way of Getty Images

At the end of viewing I have to say, I was most impressed.  I love the theme of "time honored traditions" and the simple elegance with which this theme was swept through each unique room in the White House.  My daughters especially loved the East Hallway with white arching tree branches and up-lighting.  Reminded them of fresh snowfall in a winter wooded wonderland.  This is often the view looking out into our backyard when we are fortunate enough to receive snow.  Very cool!  Not sure what kind of colored glasses the press/media is wearing these days?  Maybe charcoal grey? But my daughters and I all think the negative press on this year's White House decorations is way off base.  We think the First Lady, Melania Trump, did an amazing job bringing the White House to LIFE this Holiday Season.  We especially love the wreaths adorning each of the White House windows: awesome!  Great job, Mrs. Trump!

Image By Way of IBtimes.co.uk

A Weaponized FBI?

And how about the entrenched power structure at the FBI??? Pretty scary when any agency fails to comply with oversight requests from the U.S. Congress, particularly when these requests --and the denials thereafter-- appear to be pointing toward a deep-seeded, long-term political bias.  Meaning the FBI may have been 'weaponized' in order to advance a prescribed political agenda in favor of one political party over the other.  Congressional oversight of the  FBI is part of the system of checks and balances.  In the absence of compliance with this oversight, the FBI is basically a rouge agency accountable to no one who "we the people" have elected to represent us and "That should scare the hell out of everyone!" ~Tucker Carleson

1/10/2018 Strikes me as odd that so many high level, committee members in the U.S. Congress are announcing their intention to retire rather than run for re-election in 2018.  Last count I heard nearly 3 dozen Republican lawmakers plan to retire.  That's a pretty significant number.  The better part of me cannot help but wonder if the overuse of government intelligence surveillance, for the supposed purpose of thwarting terrorism, has been gathered and disseminated by a weaponized FBI in order to put many Congressional members at risk for blackmail. Where the price to be paid for said blackmail 'evidence' is that key Congressional members must step-down from their seats ("retiring"), thereby opening the field for a sweeping Democratic insurgence in the 2018 mid-term elections???? Stranger things have happened ......
1/15/2018 Maybe it's just me, but if evidence has recently come to light that the FISA program has been repeatedly abused by intelligence sources toward nefarious ends, wouldn't you want to complete a thorough investigation BEFORE re-authorizing said program for another six-years?????? Or at the very least grant only a short-term extension to cover the program until the investigation is complete.  This kind of nonsense is why we need term limits in the U.S. Congress, I think.  They can't see the forest for the trees anymore .... An inevitable myopic vision seems to eventually settle upon all career politicians.

Justice for All?

Leadership means having a clear vision for the future. It means making tough calls in difficult times in order to advance the agenda you were hired/elected to move forward. In the case of the U.S. Congress that means advancing the agenda of "we the people", not "we the establishment." The outcome of the Alabama election has made two things readily apparent to me:  1) The American people are finally starting to awaken to the behind-the-scenes power-wielding machinations employed by the elites on the left, in the Democratic Party, and they are tired of being played, tired of being used --witness the Roy Moore's comeback, losing by a mere 0.7% (the last count I saw, with over 91% of precincts reporting);  and 2) The leadership of the Republican Party --chiefly Mitch McConnell--have failed their party, their candidate in the critical Alabama Senate race, and failed their Commander in Chief, by throwing their candidate immediately under the bus at the first hint of trouble, in the absence of any due process, for an allegation of misconduct not only suspiciously timed but dating back well over thirty years.

I have to say, given the outcome of this crucial Senate race, coupled with Senator McConnell's poor legislative track record to date, that the time has come for the Majority Leader to resign from his duties so that he may be replaced with a more effective leader capable of advancing the President's agenda.  Perhaps the upside of this election outcome is two-fold.  First off, Roy Moore wasn't forced to withdraw from the campaign in the face unproven allegations, which he adamantly denied.  His supporters rallied in the absence of solid and timely evidence, and in the end the easily-spooked Republican Party came back around to support Moore's election bid.  So in the end, the nation dodged a bullet by not setting the dangerous precedent for future political elections that well-timed moral hit-jobs involving allegations of sexual misconduct can force targeted politicians out of key races after being tried solely in the court of public opinion. Then secondly, another upside is the fact this election only serves to fill the remainder of the former Senator's (Jeff Sessions) term, that remaining term being only two years of a standard six year term --Sessions having already served four of the six years in a given term.  So in two years, the Alabama Senate seat will be up for election once again.  All of the above being said, #1) above gives me enormous hope for both political parties moving forward.  The ability to think critically, logically towards the discernment of truth is crucial to the survival of our representative democracy.  In the absence of this independent reasoning and thought on the part of the electorate an elite 'ruling' power structure settles itself into place, being near impossible to remove once it is established, and this elite power structure is not focused on the needs of "we the people"; it is focused on selling influence and maintaining power in order to advance an elitist agenda.  Sadly, today in Washington D.C. there are elites participating in a well-established power structure on both sides of the political aisle.  Perhaps this is why we need to begin a discussion about the benefits of term-limits where seats in the U.S. Congress are concerned?

On a different note, I also think that the time has now come for we, as a nation, to begin having the discussion that would allow us to prioritize claims of sexual misconduct and the appropriate repercussions thereof, for not all offenses are created equal.  Not all offenses should result in the immediate destruction of a man or woman's entire career in the absence of any due process.  Don't get me wrong, I think the #MeToo movement is truly empowering.  It has allowed .. is allowing women and men to step out of their silence and suffering in order for their voices to be heard.  This movement has begun a long overdue conversation in our nation, a conversation with the potential to move us further toward a truly egalitarian society, which is rather remarkable in and of itself. That being said, we really need to get a handle the ramifications of sexual misconduct allegations in the absence of  any prioritization.  Prioritization of sexual misconduct allegations --even though there will likely be many grey areas-- would allow us to begin building the frame-work for prosecution in order to ensure justice for all.  For in the absence of prioritization, the positive progress this #MeToo conversation has made thus far can just as quickly run right off the rails, with countless opportunities for abuse in the face of false or unproven allegations.  Having this important conversation will also allow us to put past allegations (e.g., Senator Ted Kennedy, President Bill Clinton, Senator Tod Akin) --and the response of individuals from each political party-- into perspective when discussing current allegations (e.g., Judge Roy Moore, Senator Al Franken,  Senator Trent Franks and Representative John Conyers).  It may also help to shed some light on the motivations behind a radical change in behavior where some groups are concerned (i.e., rank-and-file Democrats). "Hypocrisy is the homage vice plays to virtue"?

12/14/2017  I heard that Roy Moore has requested a recount of the election results, as allowed by Alabama State Constitution for closely contested races.  

Justice isn't really blind, it just operates within a bubble of political expediency these days?

Justice operates in a bubble these days? Perhaps the blame in the delivered verdict in the Jose Garcia Zarate case lies with the prosecutor who opted for a higher charge of outright murder over manslaughter or involuntary manslaughter --especially in light of the ricochet evidence.  Perhaps this initial mis-charging was intentional in order to guarantee a desired outcome, in a sanctuary city, in support a prescribed political narrative? I am left wondering if such a verdict would have been possible in any other non-sanctuary city? The defense knew what they were doing when they opted to have the trial venue remain in the city of San Francisco.

 Image Source:
"Daily Caller"

Given the overshoot in charging, coupled with the apparent mental state of non-well being of the defendant, I suppose the outcome in this trial is not entirely unexpected.  That being said, justice has not been served for the victim, Kate Steinle, or for her bereaved family, not to mention the American people at large.  The bottom line is Zarate should not have been in this country.  If authorities in San Francisco had cooperated with Federal officials in honoring the government's detainer request, Jose Garcia Zarate never would have been on the pier that fateful day and Kate Steinle would still be alive and with us here today.  Sadly, the jury was never given this crucial piece of information during the trial, namely that Zarate was a 7 time convicted felon who had been deported from the country on 5 different occasions, only to return the U.S. time and time again through a porous southern border.  The verdict in this case and the political pontificating of the Defense attorney aside, this case at its core shines a glaring light upon the fundamental problem with sanctuary cities scattered across our nation, namely that  they aren't safe places to visit, live, work or play and the people who run them are perfectly okay with this fact and any unfortunate consequences thereof.  To the latter officials any casualties resultant of their sanctuary city policies are merely necessary sacrifices in a war of battling political ideologies.  To their way of thinking, "we the people" and law-abiding legal immigrants are expendable.  If that isn't a wake-up call to logically thinking people across this country, then I don't know what is??!??

Kate's story really hits home for me, because my family and I were visiting San Francisco, walking in the vicinity of that same pier exactly one week prior to this tragic shooting.  Timing is everything?  My proximity to this story really got me thinking about "sanctuary cities" and illegal immigrants.  After much thought and soul-searching I discovered, like most Americans, I fully support legal immigration.  Furthermore, I think I would be willing to support an increase in the number of legal immigrants we allow into this country, on a yearly basis.  However, I would only support this increase with the pre-requisite condition that our government finally and effectively addresses stemming the tide of illegal immigrants flooding into the country, on a daily basis, particularly dangerous individuals and repeat violent offenders.  A border wall --partial wall in strategic locations-- may just be the best place to start.  To those of you who claim "If you build a thirteen foot wall, they will find a thirteen foot ladder", I would say awakened Americans are no longer willing to subscribe to the "narrative of absolutes."  In the world of logical reality, meaningful actions and accountability, the choices are no longer all simple black and white, all or nothing.  In point of fact, if you build a thirteen foot wall, you actually wind up stopping everyone who doesn't have access to a thirteen foot ladder. And at the end of the day, that just might be enough to truly make a difference in reducing the number of illegal immigrants flowing into our country and committing crimes much to the detriment of law-abiding citizens and legal immigrants alike.

Contrary to the narrative of absolutes, the desire to commit to the development and implementation of a comprehensive immigration program --that will actually be enforced!-- toward the end of curtailing illegal immigration does not automatically make decent, law-abiding citizens bad people or "haters".  Nor does it mean the we want to put an end to all immigration or that that we in anyway dislike all immigrants in general; it just means that we want to be safe in our own homes, communities and cities --even when traveling.  It means we want to reward immigrants who come into this country through the proper channels and vetting process.  That's how we make immigration work for everyone in our country, citizens and legal immigrants alike.  But 'reasonable' people nowadays don't address real-world problems with real solutions, do they?  They cower under the feel-good cover of subscribing to accepted political narratives, in the absence of all independent thought, logic and reason.  The time has finally come to wake-up America!

12/3/2017 Apparently, it is actually a Federal crime not to cooperate with Federal Immigration officials on detainer requests.  Thus, the Attorney General could take meaningful action towards tackling the very problems posed by "sanctuary cities" by prosecuting those San Francisco officials directly responsible for the release of Jose Garcia Zarate.  The question is will Sessions finally take a stand --after eight years of his predecessors looking the other way-- in order to actually enforce the laws already on the books?