I have not sent Christmas cards in years! I usually fight depression at this time of year, so getting cards out is a real challenge for me to begin with. That being said, I keep friends and family in my ongoing thoughts and prayers and every once in awhile, I reach out to let them know I'm thinking of them and that I am still alive. This year, however, it occurs to me that my lack of 'reaching out' means that those who may have tried to send me/my family cards probably did so unsuccessfully, as I have not yet sent out any change of address of cards?
Well, it's the thought that counts, right? Perhaps I will find it in me to send out a New Year's card, with the new address? In lieu of formal Christmas cards, for the time being, I'll just wish all who happen to pass this way a joy-filled Holiday celebration --however you choose to celebrate, a very Merry Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, etc.-- and may your Blessings in the New Year of 2020 be overflowing!
Love to All!!!
~M
P.S. I am thinking my next post will be some insight into the power of Internal Alchemy. ... And I received one of those 'happy lights' as a post-Christmas gift. Have to admit, I was skeptical at first, but when I used the lamp consistently, the tablet-style lamp actually worked for me. Cost has always been the main reason I've never tried this sort of lamp, but improved LED technologies have really bought costs, not to mention size and portability way down. The lamp when used for 20-30 minutes (up to 60 minutes) per day also seems to help set and maintain circadian rhythm as well. So bonus side-effect, this miracle little lamp seems to be helping with my chronic insomnia as well. Go figure? Beats Rx sleep aids for sure!
...A Place to Clear My Head and Reflect on What's Going on in the World Around Me.
Friday, December 27, 2019
Protests in Iran: The Ultimate Cost of FREEDOM .....
A little over a month ago 1,000 Iranian protesters were killed by Iranian Security forces. Civilian protests, in Iran, have ramped up over the course of the past several months as sanctions on Iran, by the United States and other Western allies, have taken an ever-increasing toll on the civilian population. A surprise hike in fuel prices sparked these most recent November 15th protests, for little of the funds given to Iran --several billion dollars in conjunction with the "Iran Deal" and 1.7 billion dollars in cash flown into Iran on pallets under the cover of night, both courtesy of the Obama Administration-- have filtered their way down to the actual people of Iran. While I do recall seeing a brief news blip covering the unfathomable slaughter of so many Iranian protesters on one news channel --in a single newscast-- aside from that, I have not heard much else about this atrocity until today. Today, however, I see several recent news stories are now following up in the aftermath of this tragedy.
“Some 1,500 people were killed, most of them civilians, during a two-week period of violence last month, when residents of the Islamic Republic protested against the government in one of the largest public demonstrations since the country’s 1979 revolution, the Reuters news service reported Monday.”1
I have been keeping these protesters in Iran in my ongoing thoughts and prayers. For a time, several years back, I had pen-pal in Iran. He was a student at the University of Tehran. I have not heard from him in in years, but I still keep he and his family in my thoughts and prayers. I recall his being hit in the head with a rubber bullet during a protest back then. He was subsequently hospitalized for several days with a concussion, during which time I did not hear from him and worried greatly for his safety and well-being. Fortunately, he recovered and was released to return to his ‘normal’ life. What seems to be different from these protests, aside from the high numbers of casualties, is the Iranian government’s response to these more recent protests ... “Since the protests began last month, international humanitarian organizations have accused Iran of using excessive violence against protesters. Last Friday, a group of independent UN rights experts said Iranian security forces were deliberately shooting to kill the unarmed protesters. The experts pointed to reports and footage showing Iranian security forces “not only fired live ammunition at unarmed protesters, but also aimed at their heads and vital organs ... Targeting these parts of the body shows that the security forces were aiming to kill or at least cause serious injury,” they [Independent U.N. sources] said, adding that they were “extremely disturbed that the Iranian authorities would use such tactics against peaceful protesters.” The UN experts said there appeared to be higher death tolls in areas with large ethnic minority populations.”1
Another disturbing fact is that an 7,000 additional civilians have reportedly been imprisoned, where they are now being tortured and denied medical treatment, including treatment of injuries suffered by Iranian forces shooting during demonstrations.
I have only the utmost admiration for these protesters who are willing to put everything on the line --even their very lives-- in order to stand up, with a united voice, to protest such extreme social and economic injustices at the hands of a brutal totalitarian regime. As I ponder these events currently unfolding in Iran, I cannot help but wonder how differently these protests might turn out, especially where longer term reforms are concerned ... maybe even a change of government ... were these citizens afforded the right to keep and bear arms on a larger scale? I mean, it would be a whole different ballgame if the citizens of Iran had access to real weapons with which to defend themselves and their rights to basic necessities, not to mention freedoms with regards to free speech and self-determination. Remember the architectural majesty, intellectual, scientific and artistic contributions made by the citizens of the Persian Empire? Perhaps, if nothing else, these more recent protests in Iran --and moreover the Iranian government's response to them ... “When the unrest broke out in the middle of last month, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei instructed the country’s security forces to do whatever was necessary to quell the protests, several senior Iranian officials told the outlet, on condition of anonymity. “The Islamic Republic is in danger. Do whatever it takes to end it. You have my order,” Khamenei told his inner circle, one of the sources said." 1-- should serve as a timely reminder for how truly fortunate, we in America, are that our Founding Father’s fought so vehemently to ensure our civilian right to “keep and bear arms” in the 2nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Sadly, I think we, here in America, tend to view issues like "gun control" (i.e., banning all guns) through a myopic media lens, in a knee-jerk response to tragedy in the moment, often failing to consider long-term consequences in favor of shorter, feel-good responses to isolated instances of gun violence. In light of what is currently happening in Iran, I think we would do well to step back and take in a wider perspective on the issue of gun control, considering for a moment that without the right to keep and bear arms, the America we know and love would not exist today (i.e., Revolutionary War contributions by dozens of civilian militia groups and also during War of 1812). Moreover, just because we, in America, are free today does not mean tyrants will not try and succeed in taking control of our country in our future. Witness recent events of 1) Congressional abuses of power and governmental overreach with respect to impeachment inquiries, with endless, unsubstantiated, lacking any tangible, fact-based evidence investigations into the Trump Administration; 2) Weaponizing of our intelligence agencies to spy on a Presidential campaign; 3) Granting illegal immigrants driver's licenses (thereby enabling them with a vehicle to cast a vote in our Presidential Elections); 4) New York City fining citizens $250 and up for speech it "deems offensive"; 5) An ongoing widespread movement toward limiting Free Speech on our college campuses, which are supposed to be focal points for disseminating all thoughts and ideas, not just the ideas Academia (a.k.a. the Left) happens to agree to with.
Make no mistake it starts small, primarily by limiting our right to Free Speech --He who controls speech ultimately controls thought. Then they endlessly divide the country with media driven mantras of identity politics, taking the focus off of the real issues facing "We the People" and the lack of any progress being made to date on said issues by our elected Congressional officials. The final and perhaps most crucial step towards fundamentally reshaping America is the widespread dissemination of a cancerous group-think --which kind of reminds me of the tactics used by the Cultural Revolution in China-- by way of a fact omitting, highly biased, propaganda-driven news media and control of 'desired' content on social media platforms --although, I do have to give Facebook credit for not bowing to pressure to pull all political ads in the lead-up to the 2020 Presidential Election. All too quickly, however, these little infringements upon our freedoms can take a scary turn for the worse! And I think we have begun to make this turn over the course of the past year. Actions such as a widespread movement to limit free speech in many public arenas, devaluing U.S. citizenship and rampant non-accountability to the U.S. Constitution and voters by our government officials --both elected (member of both chambers of U.S. Congress) and non-elected (CIA, FBI, United Nations --Samantha Powers--, etc.)-- all pave the way toward an ever-growing behemoth of permanent centralized government control over "We the People" by way of an ever-lingering bureaucracy (e.g., Department of State for life staffers, FBI and CIA career agents, etc.) and members of U.S. Congress who are not subject to term limits. Where in such a scenario an 'elite group' of individuals will ultimately determine nearly every aspect of our daily lives (i.e., how much our energy will cost, which types of energy we will continue to produce, what kind of car you can drive or even IF the every-man will even be allowed the privilege of owning a car anymore ... what our healthcare will look like across the board for everyone, where our jobs will go, who will be allowed to attend college). I mean all you have to do is to listen to the hard left turns being taken among the Democratic Presidential Candidates during their debates on nearly every single issue of merit, chief among these being open borders, medicare for all and the decriminalization of hard-core narcotics ... this in the midst of a nation-wide opioid epidemic??
These 'elites', if they succeed in rigging the next election, will destroy America so that they can attain the power necessary to dictate nearly aspect of our daily lives ... They will do this if we do not wake up and seriously consider the future ramifications of current policies being proposed and enacted by the Left as they attempt to push us, step by step, towards a socialist America, killing one freedom and privilege after another until we no longer recognize our beloved America any longer. I see now, that's why Donald J. Trump won the Presidency in 2016, people were tired of not being heard by their elected of official, they were tired of being lied to and dismissed by the people they voted into office when one campaign promise after another never came to fruition. More importantly, Trump 2016 voters did not like where America was heading as nation, namely lawlessness and socialism. I also believe that the reason the Left cannot stand a President Trump is because Trump is undoing everything the Left 'accomplished' during eight years of Democratic rule under President Obama's Administration. We were pretty close to openly embracing socialism at the end of President Obama's term, because we were flat-out exhausted after eight years of lost jobs, stagnant wages, the decimation of our energy sector and rampant regulations that were driving entire industries and companies out of business, not to mention sending our jobs overseas. Americans were getting to the point where we didn't think there was any other way forward for America aside from the 'promises of socialism'. President Trump, however, has shown us there IS another way forward, a way that does not require us to bow to the historically failed policies of socialism.
The Left's current push towards lawlessness and leniency for some under the guise of compassion, without any concern for long-term consequences (i.e., the return of plague-like diseases to major metropolitan areas as hundred of thousands of homeless people live amongst their own waste and excrement, and huge spikes in assaults and other crimes against law-abiding and tax-paying citizens; or long-term consequences of an open border policy with respect to illegal immigration), while pushing for an extreme level of intrusive control over the lives of law-abiding, tax-paying citizens (i.e., proposals to confiscate all citizen firearms; medicare for all, while eliminating millions of employer, choice-based healthcare plans; and proposed laws to ban fracking, oil drilling, gas powered vehicles, etc. under the guise of 'saving the planet', again without concern for long-term consequences or any apparent cognizance of present-day scientific/technological realities w.r.t. to where we at with alternative fuels and the large scale viability of 'green' energy sources and while simultaneously failing to address the elephant in the room: China, the world's largest carbon emissions polluter) is merely a veiled attempt to gain and retain power, plain and simple. Unfortunately, all of the latter examples and the examples given in the two preceding paragraphs -- especially given the results of the 2016 election-- run completely counter to the true representative democracy and freedoms our Founding Fathers intended for us to have. Freedom of speech, diversity of thought and policy differences are not the enemies of our democracy; they are its life-blood! For in the process of a robust, fact-based debate the best ideas will rise to the top, and with good governance and a commitment to remain accountable to "We the People" these ideas will find their way into law.
Our Founding Fathers had a profound respect for a diversity of thought and the right of all citizens to express their thoughts and ideas, hence the 1st Amendment guarantee of Free Speech in the U.S. Constitution. To my way of thinking, protections for freedom of speech and diversity of thought are in point of fact the very cornerstone of our U.S. Democracy, and they are the primary reason the Founders settled upon the notion of a limited Federal Government, leaving all remaining rights reserved to each individual State to determine on their own. In order to back up this cornerstone right of the individual to "Freedom of Speech" (and thereby thought), the Founders included a supporting provision in the Constitution that would allow citizens the "right to keep and bear arms." That is to say, that the 2nd Amendment is designed to reaffirm the First Amendment. The Founders truly believed that this right, the "to keep and bear arms", is a crucial component to lend support to the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. With this right to bear arms, American citizens will not find themselves helpless in the face of tyranny and corruption as we are presently witnessing with the citizens of Iran. Our right to keep and bear arms ensures we will never again be ruled by “tyrants”(England of old), because if our government ever gets completely out of control --that is to say government is no longer accountable to "We the People"-- then we will have tangible means with which to remove them from office, by force if necessary. How’s that for a serious embracing reality check???
May God Bless and keep the people of Iran, granting them the strength to persevere in seeking their truth in face of such extreme adversity, as they fight for basic necessities to ensure their survival. With continued courage and Hope, may they ultimately realize the freedom to make their own choices and to thrive in pursuit of their own version of life, liberty and happiness.
___________________________________________________________________
1 “Times of Israel, Daily Edition” December 23, 2019
12/29/2019 I also find it highly ironic that the Left constantly emphasizes the importance of our diversity of color, gender identity and heritage as being the things we should most be concerned about when moving through our daily lives, while mocking our diversity of thought as if it is a plague to be eradicated and replaced with sanctioned group-think. Diversity of color, gender identity and heritage are all things we are born into this world with and therefore we have little, if any, control over. Our diversity of thought, however, is something that should be unique to each of us. Moreover, our diversity of thought should be sacred, something that we actually have a say in controlling.
Our Founding Fathers created America as melting pot, where people from diverse backgrounds and ethnicities could come together in a sharing expression of ideas in order to create a new and wonderful country where each individual has the right to purse his own version of Life, Liberty and Happiness, so long as she/he does not interfere with the rights of others. But in order for this idea of America to work, we need to stop crying "racism!", "sexism!", "xenophobia!" every single time we have a disagreement on issues of policy. These rants are for the most part convenient diversions designed to deflect from meaningful debate on substantive issues that affect all Americans. We need think of ourselves first and foremost as Americans, all working together for the common good of our nation. United we shall rise to unimaginable heights, but ever divided we will remain weak, distracted and subject to manipulation from both without and within.
[I apologize for multiple edits! Migraines have ramped up again ... Harder to think and write, but I wanted to take some time to write while I had a bit of free time. Best to Everyone!!]
1/20/2019 It was so very refreshing to witness many thousands of Americans --from diverse ethnic, cultural, gender and age backgrounds-- all unite around the Virginia State Capitol on this Monday, in support of our 2nd Amendment, constitutionally guaranteed "right to bear arms." The rally, despite media hype and hopes that the rally would quickly go sideways, descending into chaos and violence, ended peacefully in the mid-afternoon without incident. With most of the crowd cheering reaffirming chants of "USA!" ... a message of Hope for continued prosperity and unity in pursuit of the once elusive "American Dream." ... Finally, we have a stepping-off point for finding some form of unity within our terribly divided nation??? Thank you Governor Northam! Thank you, misguided media ...
“Some 1,500 people were killed, most of them civilians, during a two-week period of violence last month, when residents of the Islamic Republic protested against the government in one of the largest public demonstrations since the country’s 1979 revolution, the Reuters news service reported Monday.”1
I have been keeping these protesters in Iran in my ongoing thoughts and prayers. For a time, several years back, I had pen-pal in Iran. He was a student at the University of Tehran. I have not heard from him in in years, but I still keep he and his family in my thoughts and prayers. I recall his being hit in the head with a rubber bullet during a protest back then. He was subsequently hospitalized for several days with a concussion, during which time I did not hear from him and worried greatly for his safety and well-being. Fortunately, he recovered and was released to return to his ‘normal’ life. What seems to be different from these protests, aside from the high numbers of casualties, is the Iranian government’s response to these more recent protests ... “Since the protests began last month, international humanitarian organizations have accused Iran of using excessive violence against protesters. Last Friday, a group of independent UN rights experts said Iranian security forces were deliberately shooting to kill the unarmed protesters. The experts pointed to reports and footage showing Iranian security forces “not only fired live ammunition at unarmed protesters, but also aimed at their heads and vital organs ... Targeting these parts of the body shows that the security forces were aiming to kill or at least cause serious injury,” they [Independent U.N. sources] said, adding that they were “extremely disturbed that the Iranian authorities would use such tactics against peaceful protesters.” The UN experts said there appeared to be higher death tolls in areas with large ethnic minority populations.”1
Another disturbing fact is that an 7,000 additional civilians have reportedly been imprisoned, where they are now being tortured and denied medical treatment, including treatment of injuries suffered by Iranian forces shooting during demonstrations.
I have only the utmost admiration for these protesters who are willing to put everything on the line --even their very lives-- in order to stand up, with a united voice, to protest such extreme social and economic injustices at the hands of a brutal totalitarian regime. As I ponder these events currently unfolding in Iran, I cannot help but wonder how differently these protests might turn out, especially where longer term reforms are concerned ... maybe even a change of government ... were these citizens afforded the right to keep and bear arms on a larger scale? I mean, it would be a whole different ballgame if the citizens of Iran had access to real weapons with which to defend themselves and their rights to basic necessities, not to mention freedoms with regards to free speech and self-determination. Remember the architectural majesty, intellectual, scientific and artistic contributions made by the citizens of the Persian Empire? Perhaps, if nothing else, these more recent protests in Iran --and moreover the Iranian government's response to them ... “When the unrest broke out in the middle of last month, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei instructed the country’s security forces to do whatever was necessary to quell the protests, several senior Iranian officials told the outlet, on condition of anonymity. “The Islamic Republic is in danger. Do whatever it takes to end it. You have my order,” Khamenei told his inner circle, one of the sources said." 1-- should serve as a timely reminder for how truly fortunate, we in America, are that our Founding Father’s fought so vehemently to ensure our civilian right to “keep and bear arms” in the 2nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Sadly, I think we, here in America, tend to view issues like "gun control" (i.e., banning all guns) through a myopic media lens, in a knee-jerk response to tragedy in the moment, often failing to consider long-term consequences in favor of shorter, feel-good responses to isolated instances of gun violence. In light of what is currently happening in Iran, I think we would do well to step back and take in a wider perspective on the issue of gun control, considering for a moment that without the right to keep and bear arms, the America we know and love would not exist today (i.e., Revolutionary War contributions by dozens of civilian militia groups and also during War of 1812). Moreover, just because we, in America, are free today does not mean tyrants will not try and succeed in taking control of our country in our future. Witness recent events of 1) Congressional abuses of power and governmental overreach with respect to impeachment inquiries, with endless, unsubstantiated, lacking any tangible, fact-based evidence investigations into the Trump Administration; 2) Weaponizing of our intelligence agencies to spy on a Presidential campaign; 3) Granting illegal immigrants driver's licenses (thereby enabling them with a vehicle to cast a vote in our Presidential Elections); 4) New York City fining citizens $250 and up for speech it "deems offensive"; 5) An ongoing widespread movement toward limiting Free Speech on our college campuses, which are supposed to be focal points for disseminating all thoughts and ideas, not just the ideas Academia (a.k.a. the Left) happens to agree to with.
Make no mistake it starts small, primarily by limiting our right to Free Speech --He who controls speech ultimately controls thought. Then they endlessly divide the country with media driven mantras of identity politics, taking the focus off of the real issues facing "We the People" and the lack of any progress being made to date on said issues by our elected Congressional officials. The final and perhaps most crucial step towards fundamentally reshaping America is the widespread dissemination of a cancerous group-think --which kind of reminds me of the tactics used by the Cultural Revolution in China-- by way of a fact omitting, highly biased, propaganda-driven news media and control of 'desired' content on social media platforms --although, I do have to give Facebook credit for not bowing to pressure to pull all political ads in the lead-up to the 2020 Presidential Election. All too quickly, however, these little infringements upon our freedoms can take a scary turn for the worse! And I think we have begun to make this turn over the course of the past year. Actions such as a widespread movement to limit free speech in many public arenas, devaluing U.S. citizenship and rampant non-accountability to the U.S. Constitution and voters by our government officials --both elected (member of both chambers of U.S. Congress) and non-elected (CIA, FBI, United Nations --Samantha Powers--, etc.)-- all pave the way toward an ever-growing behemoth of permanent centralized government control over "We the People" by way of an ever-lingering bureaucracy (e.g., Department of State for life staffers, FBI and CIA career agents, etc.) and members of U.S. Congress who are not subject to term limits. Where in such a scenario an 'elite group' of individuals will ultimately determine nearly every aspect of our daily lives (i.e., how much our energy will cost, which types of energy we will continue to produce, what kind of car you can drive or even IF the every-man will even be allowed the privilege of owning a car anymore ... what our healthcare will look like across the board for everyone, where our jobs will go, who will be allowed to attend college). I mean all you have to do is to listen to the hard left turns being taken among the Democratic Presidential Candidates during their debates on nearly every single issue of merit, chief among these being open borders, medicare for all and the decriminalization of hard-core narcotics ... this in the midst of a nation-wide opioid epidemic??
These 'elites', if they succeed in rigging the next election, will destroy America so that they can attain the power necessary to dictate nearly aspect of our daily lives ... They will do this if we do not wake up and seriously consider the future ramifications of current policies being proposed and enacted by the Left as they attempt to push us, step by step, towards a socialist America, killing one freedom and privilege after another until we no longer recognize our beloved America any longer. I see now, that's why Donald J. Trump won the Presidency in 2016, people were tired of not being heard by their elected of official, they were tired of being lied to and dismissed by the people they voted into office when one campaign promise after another never came to fruition. More importantly, Trump 2016 voters did not like where America was heading as nation, namely lawlessness and socialism. I also believe that the reason the Left cannot stand a President Trump is because Trump is undoing everything the Left 'accomplished' during eight years of Democratic rule under President Obama's Administration. We were pretty close to openly embracing socialism at the end of President Obama's term, because we were flat-out exhausted after eight years of lost jobs, stagnant wages, the decimation of our energy sector and rampant regulations that were driving entire industries and companies out of business, not to mention sending our jobs overseas. Americans were getting to the point where we didn't think there was any other way forward for America aside from the 'promises of socialism'. President Trump, however, has shown us there IS another way forward, a way that does not require us to bow to the historically failed policies of socialism.
The Left's current push towards lawlessness and leniency for some under the guise of compassion, without any concern for long-term consequences (i.e., the return of plague-like diseases to major metropolitan areas as hundred of thousands of homeless people live amongst their own waste and excrement, and huge spikes in assaults and other crimes against law-abiding and tax-paying citizens; or long-term consequences of an open border policy with respect to illegal immigration), while pushing for an extreme level of intrusive control over the lives of law-abiding, tax-paying citizens (i.e., proposals to confiscate all citizen firearms; medicare for all, while eliminating millions of employer, choice-based healthcare plans; and proposed laws to ban fracking, oil drilling, gas powered vehicles, etc. under the guise of 'saving the planet', again without concern for long-term consequences or any apparent cognizance of present-day scientific/technological realities w.r.t. to where we at with alternative fuels and the large scale viability of 'green' energy sources and while simultaneously failing to address the elephant in the room: China, the world's largest carbon emissions polluter) is merely a veiled attempt to gain and retain power, plain and simple. Unfortunately, all of the latter examples and the examples given in the two preceding paragraphs -- especially given the results of the 2016 election-- run completely counter to the true representative democracy and freedoms our Founding Fathers intended for us to have. Freedom of speech, diversity of thought and policy differences are not the enemies of our democracy; they are its life-blood! For in the process of a robust, fact-based debate the best ideas will rise to the top, and with good governance and a commitment to remain accountable to "We the People" these ideas will find their way into law.
Our Founding Fathers had a profound respect for a diversity of thought and the right of all citizens to express their thoughts and ideas, hence the 1st Amendment guarantee of Free Speech in the U.S. Constitution. To my way of thinking, protections for freedom of speech and diversity of thought are in point of fact the very cornerstone of our U.S. Democracy, and they are the primary reason the Founders settled upon the notion of a limited Federal Government, leaving all remaining rights reserved to each individual State to determine on their own. In order to back up this cornerstone right of the individual to "Freedom of Speech" (and thereby thought), the Founders included a supporting provision in the Constitution that would allow citizens the "right to keep and bear arms." That is to say, that the 2nd Amendment is designed to reaffirm the First Amendment. The Founders truly believed that this right, the "to keep and bear arms", is a crucial component to lend support to the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. With this right to bear arms, American citizens will not find themselves helpless in the face of tyranny and corruption as we are presently witnessing with the citizens of Iran. Our right to keep and bear arms ensures we will never again be ruled by “tyrants”(England of old), because if our government ever gets completely out of control --that is to say government is no longer accountable to "We the People"-- then we will have tangible means with which to remove them from office, by force if necessary. How’s that for a serious embracing reality check???
May God Bless and keep the people of Iran, granting them the strength to persevere in seeking their truth in face of such extreme adversity, as they fight for basic necessities to ensure their survival. With continued courage and Hope, may they ultimately realize the freedom to make their own choices and to thrive in pursuit of their own version of life, liberty and happiness.
___________________________________________________________________
1 “Times of Israel, Daily Edition” December 23, 2019
12/29/2019 I also find it highly ironic that the Left constantly emphasizes the importance of our diversity of color, gender identity and heritage as being the things we should most be concerned about when moving through our daily lives, while mocking our diversity of thought as if it is a plague to be eradicated and replaced with sanctioned group-think. Diversity of color, gender identity and heritage are all things we are born into this world with and therefore we have little, if any, control over. Our diversity of thought, however, is something that should be unique to each of us. Moreover, our diversity of thought should be sacred, something that we actually have a say in controlling.
Our Founding Fathers created America as melting pot, where people from diverse backgrounds and ethnicities could come together in a sharing expression of ideas in order to create a new and wonderful country where each individual has the right to purse his own version of Life, Liberty and Happiness, so long as she/he does not interfere with the rights of others. But in order for this idea of America to work, we need to stop crying "racism!", "sexism!", "xenophobia!" every single time we have a disagreement on issues of policy. These rants are for the most part convenient diversions designed to deflect from meaningful debate on substantive issues that affect all Americans. We need think of ourselves first and foremost as Americans, all working together for the common good of our nation. United we shall rise to unimaginable heights, but ever divided we will remain weak, distracted and subject to manipulation from both without and within.
[I apologize for multiple edits! Migraines have ramped up again ... Harder to think and write, but I wanted to take some time to write while I had a bit of free time. Best to Everyone!!]
1/20/2019 It was so very refreshing to witness many thousands of Americans --from diverse ethnic, cultural, gender and age backgrounds-- all unite around the Virginia State Capitol on this Monday, in support of our 2nd Amendment, constitutionally guaranteed "right to bear arms." The rally, despite media hype and hopes that the rally would quickly go sideways, descending into chaos and violence, ended peacefully in the mid-afternoon without incident. With most of the crowd cheering reaffirming chants of "USA!" ... a message of Hope for continued prosperity and unity in pursuit of the once elusive "American Dream." ... Finally, we have a stepping-off point for finding some form of unity within our terribly divided nation??? Thank you Governor Northam! Thank you, misguided media ...
Wednesday, December 18, 2019
Impeachment Articles are an Absolute Insult to the Intelligence of the American People
I have to say, the two Articles of Impeachment coming out of the 'House Impeachment Inquiry' are an absolute insult to the intelligence of the American People! I mean come on, these articles do not even contain the alleged initial crime which was supposed to have granted Democrats some semblance of legitimacy for launching an 'impeachment inquiry' in the first place, namely that the "President engaged in a quid pro quo with the newly elected President of Ukraine by withholding monetary aid in exchange for ???" ... in exchange for something, or so the Democrats claim. Think their prevailing argument centered something around their claim 'President Trump wanted the Ukrainians to dig up dirt on Joe Biden in order to aid Trump in defeating a potential opponent in the upcoming 2020 Presidential Election', which is a Big SPIN in my humble opinion and a SPIN for which the Democrats have failed miserably to make any fact-based case for during their blatantly partisan inquiry.
When the Democrats realized the verbiage "quid pro quo" was not resonating with "We the People" --because most people do not understand what quid pro quo means?-- they focus group tested for a new catch-phrase allegation, settling mid-inquiry upon the words "Bribery" instead as the alleged criminal basis for proceeding with the gravest of congressional actions: impeachment of a sitting President of the United States. The whole thing would actually be rather hilarious, were it were not so incredibly sad! The House inquiry wound up being a partisan witch-hunt conducted largely behind closed doors, without the benefit of allowing the minority side (Republicans) to call any witnesses and to a large extent with severely limited opportunities for Republicans to truly engage in meaningful questioning of the 'witnesses' called by the Democrats. At the end of the day the Democrats utterly failed to produce one single witnesses with factual evidence that the President engaged in an actual crime. That is so very profound, especially where the extreme measure of impeaching a duely elected President is concerned. Every witness call by the Democrates offered volumes of feelings, conjecture, speculation and opinion, but no actual facts were ever brought to bear in their hearings. Hence, the subsequent absence of the crimes of "Bribery" or even the original "Quid Pro Quo" in the final "Articles of Impeachment."
The whole process was particularly painful to watch as the Democrats strong-armed the inquiry process in a marked deviation from historical precedence, repeatedly mocking the President for his failure to legitimize their proceedings, yet again (i.e., Mueller probe) with his presence. President Trump's refusal to partake in the Democrat's partisan inquiry was, quite frankly, just common sense on the part of the President for his participation would have lent credulity to these sham proceedings. By not showing up to participate, the President most certainly avoided a perjury trap ... especially given the fact the President had already released the transcript of the alleged 'criminal phone call' in its entirety, with both he and the President of Ukraine giving statements that their was in point of fact "no quid pro quo" or bribery. President Trump merely wanted to verify that should he give monetary aid to Ukraine that it would not be funneled off by heretofore corrupt political operatives, or even worse yet used to interfere in the upcoming 2020 election, as the "Steele Dossier" had done in the 2016 election to the benefit of the Hillary Clinton Campaign. The Ukrainian President was not even aware that the release of monetary aid had been momentarily delayed while the administration ensured that Ukraine was on target to "pay their fair share into the United Nations" --per White House sources. The fact that the Democrats were citing a delay of aid for a ~whopping fifty-five days~ as "a threat to our country's national security" is really rich, given the fact that the previous administration never released a single dime of monetary aid --only ever sending blankets and MRI meals--to Ukraine to help them protect themselves militarily from blatant Russian aggression in the aftermath of Russia's seizing the port city of Crimea.
Aside from the dripping hypocrisy of apparently "prayerful" and solemn Democrats grandstanding in front media microphones at every opportunity with claims that "our Constitution is at stake", "our Democracy is at stake" and near the end Nancy Pelosi even went so far as to claim at a townhall that "civilization as we know it is at stake", the pinnacle of hypocrisy had to be Adam Schiff and the revelation his staff --and possibly he, himself ... but we will never know this unless Adam Schiff himself is called to testify-- had contact with the alleged whistle-blower prior to said whistle-blower filing their complaint with the IG. Adam Schiff then failed to recuse himself from the proceeding in light of this revelation. Moreover Schiff subsequently refused to allow Republicans to question the whistle-blower behind closed doors to get to the bottom of Schiff's involvement with the whistle-blower and possible collusion to impeachment the President of the United States. That's some pretty serious criminal, conspiratorial stuff if you ask me!!?!!
????????????????????????????????????????????
The conclusion of the proceedings, with supposed 'unbiased' constitutional legal scholars lecturing "We the People" as to the validity of the Democrats plan to move forward with the drafting of formal "Articles of Impeachment" --which would be subsequently voted upon by a full vote held on U.S. Congress House Floor, despite !the absence of any fact-based crime!--- was completely ridiculous! The only constitutional legal scholar who made any truly unbiased, brilliant conclusions was the Democrat lawyer, Johnathan Turley. Turley stated during the closing remarks of the panel --as he was the very last scholar to testify-- that even though he was a Democrat, one who did not vote for President Trump and frequently disapproved of Trump's rhetoric, that he found no constitutional basis for moving forward with impeachment. Furthermore, Turley concluded that only the U.S. Congress members responsible for conducting this sorely wanting and clearly biased impeachment inquiry were the ones guilty of "an abuse of power" ... And therein lies the crux of the matter. This blatantly biased, partisan driven, non-evidence based, lacking any formal criminal charge impeachment on the part of Democrat members of the U.S. Congress is in actuality the very "interference in the 2020 Presidential Election" the Democrats are claiming to avoid by pursuing impeachment of President Donald J. Trump. Surely, the bell of hypocrisy cannot sound any louder or resonate any clearer than this? Yes our democracy is indeed at stake, but the true threat is posed by elected members of the U.S. Congress who are willingly abusing their power, while simultaneously ignoring the will of "We of People" and doing very little to see our truly meaningful needs (e.g. healthcare, Rx drug costs, trade negotiations, education, border security, etc.) that we put them into office for in the first place.
But if at first you don't succeed (i.e., Removing President Trump from office or at the very least tarnishing his brand in the eyes of millions of American voters), then you must try, try again ... And as I write this, I bear witness to yet another attempt by the Left to RIG the upcoming election by granting drivers licenses to illegal immigrants in the States of New York and New Jersey ... Gee, how many of said recipients do you suppose will be able to use this timely form of identification in order to vote in the upcoming 2020 election? There are an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the country to date --and that count is very likely a low estimate, some estimates are as high as 21 million illegal immigrants in the U.S.A. 11 million votes could surely go a long way towards swaying an election, don't you think? I'm not just speculating here, there is evidence that an estimated 55,000 illegal immigrants voted in previous Presidential Elections in the state of Texas, and that's just the one state I happen to know about, surely there are other similar cases across the country. In closing, I am left wondering what can be done to prevent the voting of illegal immigrants in our elections, particularly Presidential ones? Will anyone truly be checking the voting roles for verified citizenship? Can the Federal Government do anything meaningful --not to mention timely!-- to protect the sanctity of our constitutional right to vote??? Timing is, after all, everything ......
In light of all of the above, I truly believe we are witnessing the implosion of one of America's longstanding political parties ... Perhaps something better, a party that genuinely returns to its roots of truly serving "We [all] the People" will arise from the ashes?
When the Democrats realized the verbiage "quid pro quo" was not resonating with "We the People" --because most people do not understand what quid pro quo means?-- they focus group tested for a new catch-phrase allegation, settling mid-inquiry upon the words "Bribery" instead as the alleged criminal basis for proceeding with the gravest of congressional actions: impeachment of a sitting President of the United States. The whole thing would actually be rather hilarious, were it were not so incredibly sad! The House inquiry wound up being a partisan witch-hunt conducted largely behind closed doors, without the benefit of allowing the minority side (Republicans) to call any witnesses and to a large extent with severely limited opportunities for Republicans to truly engage in meaningful questioning of the 'witnesses' called by the Democrats. At the end of the day the Democrats utterly failed to produce one single witnesses with factual evidence that the President engaged in an actual crime. That is so very profound, especially where the extreme measure of impeaching a duely elected President is concerned. Every witness call by the Democrates offered volumes of feelings, conjecture, speculation and opinion, but no actual facts were ever brought to bear in their hearings. Hence, the subsequent absence of the crimes of "Bribery" or even the original "Quid Pro Quo" in the final "Articles of Impeachment."
The whole process was particularly painful to watch as the Democrats strong-armed the inquiry process in a marked deviation from historical precedence, repeatedly mocking the President for his failure to legitimize their proceedings, yet again (i.e., Mueller probe) with his presence. President Trump's refusal to partake in the Democrat's partisan inquiry was, quite frankly, just common sense on the part of the President for his participation would have lent credulity to these sham proceedings. By not showing up to participate, the President most certainly avoided a perjury trap ... especially given the fact the President had already released the transcript of the alleged 'criminal phone call' in its entirety, with both he and the President of Ukraine giving statements that their was in point of fact "no quid pro quo" or bribery. President Trump merely wanted to verify that should he give monetary aid to Ukraine that it would not be funneled off by heretofore corrupt political operatives, or even worse yet used to interfere in the upcoming 2020 election, as the "Steele Dossier" had done in the 2016 election to the benefit of the Hillary Clinton Campaign. The Ukrainian President was not even aware that the release of monetary aid had been momentarily delayed while the administration ensured that Ukraine was on target to "pay their fair share into the United Nations" --per White House sources. The fact that the Democrats were citing a delay of aid for a ~whopping fifty-five days~ as "a threat to our country's national security" is really rich, given the fact that the previous administration never released a single dime of monetary aid --only ever sending blankets and MRI meals--to Ukraine to help them protect themselves militarily from blatant Russian aggression in the aftermath of Russia's seizing the port city of Crimea.
Aside from the dripping hypocrisy of apparently "prayerful" and solemn Democrats grandstanding in front media microphones at every opportunity with claims that "our Constitution is at stake", "our Democracy is at stake" and near the end Nancy Pelosi even went so far as to claim at a townhall that "civilization as we know it is at stake", the pinnacle of hypocrisy had to be Adam Schiff and the revelation his staff --and possibly he, himself ... but we will never know this unless Adam Schiff himself is called to testify-- had contact with the alleged whistle-blower prior to said whistle-blower filing their complaint with the IG. Adam Schiff then failed to recuse himself from the proceeding in light of this revelation. Moreover Schiff subsequently refused to allow Republicans to question the whistle-blower behind closed doors to get to the bottom of Schiff's involvement with the whistle-blower and possible collusion to impeachment the President of the United States. That's some pretty serious criminal, conspiratorial stuff if you ask me!!?!!
????????????????????????????????????????????
The conclusion of the proceedings, with supposed 'unbiased' constitutional legal scholars lecturing "We the People" as to the validity of the Democrats plan to move forward with the drafting of formal "Articles of Impeachment" --which would be subsequently voted upon by a full vote held on U.S. Congress House Floor, despite !the absence of any fact-based crime!--- was completely ridiculous! The only constitutional legal scholar who made any truly unbiased, brilliant conclusions was the Democrat lawyer, Johnathan Turley. Turley stated during the closing remarks of the panel --as he was the very last scholar to testify-- that even though he was a Democrat, one who did not vote for President Trump and frequently disapproved of Trump's rhetoric, that he found no constitutional basis for moving forward with impeachment. Furthermore, Turley concluded that only the U.S. Congress members responsible for conducting this sorely wanting and clearly biased impeachment inquiry were the ones guilty of "an abuse of power" ... And therein lies the crux of the matter. This blatantly biased, partisan driven, non-evidence based, lacking any formal criminal charge impeachment on the part of Democrat members of the U.S. Congress is in actuality the very "interference in the 2020 Presidential Election" the Democrats are claiming to avoid by pursuing impeachment of President Donald J. Trump. Surely, the bell of hypocrisy cannot sound any louder or resonate any clearer than this? Yes our democracy is indeed at stake, but the true threat is posed by elected members of the U.S. Congress who are willingly abusing their power, while simultaneously ignoring the will of "We of People" and doing very little to see our truly meaningful needs (e.g. healthcare, Rx drug costs, trade negotiations, education, border security, etc.) that we put them into office for in the first place.
But if at first you don't succeed (i.e., Removing President Trump from office or at the very least tarnishing his brand in the eyes of millions of American voters), then you must try, try again ... And as I write this, I bear witness to yet another attempt by the Left to RIG the upcoming election by granting drivers licenses to illegal immigrants in the States of New York and New Jersey ... Gee, how many of said recipients do you suppose will be able to use this timely form of identification in order to vote in the upcoming 2020 election? There are an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the country to date --and that count is very likely a low estimate, some estimates are as high as 21 million illegal immigrants in the U.S.A. 11 million votes could surely go a long way towards swaying an election, don't you think? I'm not just speculating here, there is evidence that an estimated 55,000 illegal immigrants voted in previous Presidential Elections in the state of Texas, and that's just the one state I happen to know about, surely there are other similar cases across the country. In closing, I am left wondering what can be done to prevent the voting of illegal immigrants in our elections, particularly Presidential ones? Will anyone truly be checking the voting roles for verified citizenship? Can the Federal Government do anything meaningful --not to mention timely!-- to protect the sanctity of our constitutional right to vote??? Timing is, after all, everything ......
In light of all of the above, I truly believe we are witnessing the implosion of one of America's longstanding political parties ... Perhaps something better, a party that genuinely returns to its roots of truly serving "We [all] the People" will arise from the ashes?
Monday, November 11, 2019
Veteran's Day 2019
Super busy with school these days. No time to post on the Day, but I did find time to send a personal message out to all of the veterans in my life. The words of our President on this Day really resonated with me ...
"Veterans are our living Heroes" ~President Donald J. Trump
I could not agree more! Thank you, all veterans, for your service and dedication to our country, our freedom and our unique way of life. We are the Land of Free Because of the Brave! God Bless and keep you, one and all.
Tuesday, October 29, 2019
“10 Things that All Americans Can Celebrate Together"???
Recently, I have been trying to come up with a list of “10 Things that All Americans Can Celebrate Together.” Up until yesterday, I would have cited our sporting events as a possible list contender ... Two decades ago this undertaking would not have been such a daunting endeavor, but sadly in the current United States environment of political divisiveness compiling such a unifying list is no longer a straightforward, simple endeavor. That being said, four years ago I think we all could have rallied around the idea that bringing down a top ISIS leader was actually a good thing. Four years ago, I think we would have all agreed that ISIS was and IS still a terrorist group responsible to the loss of far too many innocent lives. Four years ago, I think we all would have agreed that ISIS has little, if anything, to do with the religion of Islam … the distinction between Islamic (of Islam) and Islamism (using the religion of Islam to justify a warped political ideology) being crystal clear. Alas, these days we, as nation, find ourselves trapped within a circus carnival house of smoke and funny mirrors, with the mainstream media being the carnival operators. Illusion is truth and truth is now allusion? I have always held that truth is a matter of perspective and sadly we, in the Divided States of America, seem to have lost sight of any meaningful objective perspective these days.
Bottom line, despite the bizarre rantings and ravings you will bear witness to in the mainstream media: the aftermath of taking out the number-1 ISIS leader, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi , and his number-2 associate by means of a coordinated and decisive military action DOES indeed make the world a better, safer place for 99.9% of the people on the planet, and a failure to honestly acknowledge this glaringly obvious fact borders on the obscenely immoral to my way of thinking. Why would any sane, rational thinking human being ever trust a single word these mainstream media Bozos –in keeping with the carnival theme-- utter again moving forward? Instead of praising President Trump for taking out a really horrible and evil extremist leader, in the name of saving countless thousands upon thousands of future innocent lives, the mainstream media, aided by politically divisive pundits and elected ‘leaders’ on the Left, choose to focus instead on “the President’s tone”, or the fact that “President Trump initiated a withdrawal of U.S. Troops prior to the execution of the military operation to take out Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi .” Well, I’ve got news for you ... In the first place, despite what the Left would have us believe, we still live in a world where ACTION speaks volumes louder than mere words –despite the Left’s best ongoing efforts to convince us otherwise. President Trump is, first and foremost, a man of ACTION. His promise to defeat ISIS necessitated the military operation in northwestern Syria as the next logical step –given the intel and reaching an accommodation with Bashir Al-Assad-- towards the end of accomplishing said promise. Did anyone ever stop to think that the likelihood that Bashir Al-Assad would have allowed U.S. Military troops into northwestern Syria is highly unlikely, had not the U.S. been in a position of removing troops from Syria in the first place??? Oh that’s right, people who word-spin for a living have a difficult time actually thinking ….
As for the President’s tone and his “words being used in future ISIS recruitment videos”, while I do not think it is ever wise to speak ill of the dead, the actions of Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi in this lifetime do not merit much in the way of any respect. Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi was probably the furthest thing one could ever possibly imagine from being an “Austere Religious Scholar” [thoughtless word-spinning brought to you by way of the Washington Post]. This evil-inspiring ‘leader’ single-handedly unleashed waves of unspeakable violence upon hundreds of thousands of innocents. President Trump in recounting the death of this truly evil man – a cowardly man who did not hesitate to use three of his own children as human-shields and then took their lives along with his own when cornered-- speaks with clear and concise words that these terrorists can easily understand, stripping away any notion of glory, honor or righteousness from the heinous, depraved deeds of ISIS carried out in the name of Islamism. The President’s words are, if anything, antithetical to future ISIS recruitment. Anyone who cannot see this must have a few screws lose somewhere???
The difference between words and actions is simply this: that actions typically speak for themselves, while words on the other hand can easily be misconstrued … And in point of fact, the Left tries to leverage this distinction on a hourly, daily basis. Although, the mainstream media surely does their best to also use their words in an ongoing effort to bend, twist and distort speculations as to the motivations behind President Trump’s actions for just about everything he does. But at the end of the day, honest people will see through the unimaginative --ever notice how the mainstream media these days all use the exact same catch-phrase talking point (a.k.a. the sanctioned "words of the day") in their daily broadcasts across multiple networks and platforms? It's like they're all merely puppets being controlled by some unseen external universal ventriloquist ...it's actually downright scary?!!-- paper-mached, word-spun facade being fabricated by the Left. The prospect of this happening, people exercising the ability to think independently, absolutely infuriates the Left, because they have decided that “We the People” are “basically stupid and as such we should just shut-up, accept, obey and follow.” Perhaps that’s why the Left –politicians, media and academia alike-- is now, more-so than ever before, so BIG on pushing the idea that “words [alone] matter.” Because the Left, largely by way of the mainstream media and academia, currently have the ultimate stranglehold on words in modern day America? “If you can control speech, you will control thought”? Which brings me to my parting thought: The Price for Freedom in our modern age seems to have become a courageous willingness to seek empirical facts toward the end of unearthing organic truth, to step outside the box of mainstream orthodoxy in order entertain the uncomfortable in contemplating ideas not widely considered ‘popular’ and then to speak up, loudly, on behalf of a truth that will ultimately benefit –as opposed to control-- the American People as a whole, the ruling class be damned. Freedom is not worth having that is not worth fighting for … and this fight, this struggle to maintain our Freedom is ongoing. It requires vigilance on the part of “We the People.” For without our First Amendment right to “Free Speech” --and thereby Freedom of Thought-- none of the remaining Rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution will hold their ground.
10/30/2019 I am reading over the "Federalist Papers", looking for some insight as to what the Founding Fathers might have been thinking with regards to impeachment proceedings, and it occurred to me that the Founding Fathers could never have imagined the state of affairs we are presently witnessing in our modern-day United States of America: the elitism, the self-serving nature of politicians, the outright lies and manipulation --aided by a corrupt, propaganda driven media-- all toward the end of preserving power at the expense of the governed. It is truly shameful! One is left wondering, what if anything can ever be done to set our representative democracy back onto its true course? I suppose, President Trump has gone a long way towards injecting some small measure of course correction. I am thankful for that, even though this Independent did not vote for a President Trump the first time around. The future has yet to be written; therefore, let us, as citizens, remain engaged and ever-vigilant. As I write, I see the news stories covering the ongoing protests in Hong Kong where brave young protesters are fighting for their own right to self-determination in the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness and it truly gives me hope. May God continue to Bless and Guide them in their struggle! And may the protesters in Hong Kong serve as a source of awakening renewal and inspiration for us here in the United States, that we may not fall into a slumber of complacency, taking the freedoms that have been entrusted to us by former generations for granted.
10/31/2019 This clearly partisan 'impeachment inquiry' -- given today's vote in the U.S. House of Representatives-- is ripe with hypocrisy? That is to say, does not the timing of this informal inquiry --especially given the flimsy, unsubstantiated charges to date ... I mean we have the ACTUAL transcript now and investigating potential interference into the 2016 election to prevent it from happening again is NOT A CRIME-- itself "interfere with an upcoming election"??? Such an impeachment inquiry leading up to a Presidential election is unprecedented in our nation's history. This is truly such a sad state of affairs, and it not at all what our Founding Father's had envisioned when they contemplated the rare occasions in which impeachment would potentially be invoked.
11/01/2019 Federalist Papers, "Federalist no. 57" .... "What then are we to say to the men who profess the most flaming zeal for republican government, yet boldly impeach the fundamental principle of it; who pretend to be champions for the right and capacity of the people to choose their own ruler, yet maintain that they will prefer those only who will immediately and infallibly betray the trust committed to them?"
Bottom line, despite the bizarre rantings and ravings you will bear witness to in the mainstream media: the aftermath of taking out the number-1 ISIS leader, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi , and his number-2 associate by means of a coordinated and decisive military action DOES indeed make the world a better, safer place for 99.9% of the people on the planet, and a failure to honestly acknowledge this glaringly obvious fact borders on the obscenely immoral to my way of thinking. Why would any sane, rational thinking human being ever trust a single word these mainstream media Bozos –in keeping with the carnival theme-- utter again moving forward? Instead of praising President Trump for taking out a really horrible and evil extremist leader, in the name of saving countless thousands upon thousands of future innocent lives, the mainstream media, aided by politically divisive pundits and elected ‘leaders’ on the Left, choose to focus instead on “the President’s tone”, or the fact that “President Trump initiated a withdrawal of U.S. Troops prior to the execution of the military operation to take out Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi .” Well, I’ve got news for you ... In the first place, despite what the Left would have us believe, we still live in a world where ACTION speaks volumes louder than mere words –despite the Left’s best ongoing efforts to convince us otherwise. President Trump is, first and foremost, a man of ACTION. His promise to defeat ISIS necessitated the military operation in northwestern Syria as the next logical step –given the intel and reaching an accommodation with Bashir Al-Assad-- towards the end of accomplishing said promise. Did anyone ever stop to think that the likelihood that Bashir Al-Assad would have allowed U.S. Military troops into northwestern Syria is highly unlikely, had not the U.S. been in a position of removing troops from Syria in the first place??? Oh that’s right, people who word-spin for a living have a difficult time actually thinking ….
As for the President’s tone and his “words being used in future ISIS recruitment videos”, while I do not think it is ever wise to speak ill of the dead, the actions of Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi in this lifetime do not merit much in the way of any respect. Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi was probably the furthest thing one could ever possibly imagine from being an “Austere Religious Scholar” [thoughtless word-spinning brought to you by way of the Washington Post]. This evil-inspiring ‘leader’ single-handedly unleashed waves of unspeakable violence upon hundreds of thousands of innocents. President Trump in recounting the death of this truly evil man – a cowardly man who did not hesitate to use three of his own children as human-shields and then took their lives along with his own when cornered-- speaks with clear and concise words that these terrorists can easily understand, stripping away any notion of glory, honor or righteousness from the heinous, depraved deeds of ISIS carried out in the name of Islamism. The President’s words are, if anything, antithetical to future ISIS recruitment. Anyone who cannot see this must have a few screws lose somewhere???
The difference between words and actions is simply this: that actions typically speak for themselves, while words on the other hand can easily be misconstrued … And in point of fact, the Left tries to leverage this distinction on a hourly, daily basis. Although, the mainstream media surely does their best to also use their words in an ongoing effort to bend, twist and distort speculations as to the motivations behind President Trump’s actions for just about everything he does. But at the end of the day, honest people will see through the unimaginative --ever notice how the mainstream media these days all use the exact same catch-phrase talking point (a.k.a. the sanctioned "words of the day") in their daily broadcasts across multiple networks and platforms? It's like they're all merely puppets being controlled by some unseen external universal ventriloquist ...it's actually downright scary?!!-- paper-mached, word-spun facade being fabricated by the Left. The prospect of this happening, people exercising the ability to think independently, absolutely infuriates the Left, because they have decided that “We the People” are “basically stupid and as such we should just shut-up, accept, obey and follow.” Perhaps that’s why the Left –politicians, media and academia alike-- is now, more-so than ever before, so BIG on pushing the idea that “words [alone] matter.” Because the Left, largely by way of the mainstream media and academia, currently have the ultimate stranglehold on words in modern day America? “If you can control speech, you will control thought”? Which brings me to my parting thought: The Price for Freedom in our modern age seems to have become a courageous willingness to seek empirical facts toward the end of unearthing organic truth, to step outside the box of mainstream orthodoxy in order entertain the uncomfortable in contemplating ideas not widely considered ‘popular’ and then to speak up, loudly, on behalf of a truth that will ultimately benefit –as opposed to control-- the American People as a whole, the ruling class be damned. Freedom is not worth having that is not worth fighting for … and this fight, this struggle to maintain our Freedom is ongoing. It requires vigilance on the part of “We the People.” For without our First Amendment right to “Free Speech” --and thereby Freedom of Thought-- none of the remaining Rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution will hold their ground.
10/30/2019 I am reading over the "Federalist Papers", looking for some insight as to what the Founding Fathers might have been thinking with regards to impeachment proceedings, and it occurred to me that the Founding Fathers could never have imagined the state of affairs we are presently witnessing in our modern-day United States of America: the elitism, the self-serving nature of politicians, the outright lies and manipulation --aided by a corrupt, propaganda driven media-- all toward the end of preserving power at the expense of the governed. It is truly shameful! One is left wondering, what if anything can ever be done to set our representative democracy back onto its true course? I suppose, President Trump has gone a long way towards injecting some small measure of course correction. I am thankful for that, even though this Independent did not vote for a President Trump the first time around. The future has yet to be written; therefore, let us, as citizens, remain engaged and ever-vigilant. As I write, I see the news stories covering the ongoing protests in Hong Kong where brave young protesters are fighting for their own right to self-determination in the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness and it truly gives me hope. May God continue to Bless and Guide them in their struggle! And may the protesters in Hong Kong serve as a source of awakening renewal and inspiration for us here in the United States, that we may not fall into a slumber of complacency, taking the freedoms that have been entrusted to us by former generations for granted.
10/31/2019 This clearly partisan 'impeachment inquiry' -- given today's vote in the U.S. House of Representatives-- is ripe with hypocrisy? That is to say, does not the timing of this informal inquiry --especially given the flimsy, unsubstantiated charges to date ... I mean we have the ACTUAL transcript now and investigating potential interference into the 2016 election to prevent it from happening again is NOT A CRIME-- itself "interfere with an upcoming election"??? Such an impeachment inquiry leading up to a Presidential election is unprecedented in our nation's history. This is truly such a sad state of affairs, and it not at all what our Founding Father's had envisioned when they contemplated the rare occasions in which impeachment would potentially be invoked.
11/01/2019 Federalist Papers, "Federalist no. 57" .... "What then are we to say to the men who profess the most flaming zeal for republican government, yet boldly impeach the fundamental principle of it; who pretend to be champions for the right and capacity of the people to choose their own ruler, yet maintain that they will prefer those only who will immediately and infallibly betray the trust committed to them?"
Tuesday, October 01, 2019
In an Alternate Reality, Not so Far, Far Away .....
In an alternate reality, not so far, far away ... An evil seed festers within the core of our representative democracy, rendering the actual will of “We the People” ineffective and wholly inconsequential. The question of import: Who will you choose to believe and what, if anything, will you “the People” choose to do about it?
Change your perspective and you change your LIFE .... and quite possibly the lives of those around you.
Dark Party Operative 1, a.k.a. “Collin”: “Here’s the twenty I owe you. Trump beat the Mueller gauntlet after all. That was pretty unexpected, not to mention anti-climactic. The media my have over-spun that one a bit?”
Dark Party Operative 2, a.k.a. “John”: “Perhaps, but the media these days seem to have perfected the art of spin. Still, our efforts are not for naught; we’ve managed to shadow the bulk of Trump’s first term in office with ongoing controversy and lingering hints of illegitimacy, all thanks to the 24-hour news cycle and our well-oiled propaganda arms in Academia and the mainstream media. And let us not forget to give the credit due to our liberally biased social-media. Where would we be today without their able assistance in getting our message, and our message alone, out to the public?”
Collin: “Yeah, but it’s still over a year until official 2020 election, and thus far “the people” seem less than enthused with the bulk of party candidates. Not to mention the fact our best hope --Biden-- is proving to be an absolute train-wreck. And what happens if Republicans actually manage to get somewhere with respect to investigating the origins of the 'Russia Probe'?"
John: “Not to worry, the Republicans are pretty straightforward when it comes to conducting investigations. They always ensure they’ve dotted all their “i” ’s and cross all their “t” ’s before moving forward. What’s more in-party bickering always seems to ensure they move a snail’s pace.”
Collin: “Indeed, you’d think the Republicans would have figured out by now how to leverage the plethora of ‘technological’ information available for the purposes of heavy-handed persuasion to ensure Congressmen abide by the party’s approved agenda. Works like a charm; witness our party’s lock-step stance and voting record on almost every issue.”
John: “[Laughs].. And yet, the public perception persists that the “Republicans are evil, while Democrats are merely stupid.” But, hey I’m not complaining the ongoing misconception works rather nicely to our advantage, wouldn’t you say? Besides, the Republicans don’t have the media to spin narratives for them. Thanks to our mainstream media the American notion of "innocent until proven guilty" no longer matters. These days, with media spin in the 24-hour news cycle, all it takes is any semi-credible allegation of misconduct and you're automatically 'guilty' until you find some way to prove yourself innocent, and that always takes a long, long time --given our purposely bloated, ineffective bureaucracy-- and a lot of money. From a financial standpoint alone, we win when financially cripple someone, whether or not we wind up winning from a prosecutorial standpoint."
Collin: "Yeah, you've gotta love the power of the media in our modern age. He who controls the media controls the narrative, and by default public perception. It's a win-win for us! "May you live in interesting times", indeed."
John: "Not to mention the fact we’ve got a strong first-line of defense with our loyalist well-embedded deep with the State Department, CIA, FBI and even more recently the DNI. These assets will keep us two steps ahead of whatever card the Republicans think they are about to ‘play’ next with respect to the ‘origins of the whole Russia probe’. Subterfuge alone will ensure Republicans never find the evidence they need in order to move forward with their ‘investigation’. Besides, just look at the number of tenured Republican Congressmen who have announced their intention to resign in the next election cycle. Anyone who had a clue where to look, not to mention how to look, will soon be out of our hair.”
Collin: "Yeah, you've gotta love the power of the media in our modern age. He who controls the media controls the narrative, and by default public perception. It's a win-win for us! "May you live in interesting times", indeed."
John: "Not to mention the fact we’ve got a strong first-line of defense with our loyalist well-embedded deep with the State Department, CIA, FBI and even more recently the DNI. These assets will keep us two steps ahead of whatever card the Republicans think they are about to ‘play’ next with respect to the ‘origins of the whole Russia probe’. Subterfuge alone will ensure Republicans never find the evidence they need in order to move forward with their ‘investigation’. Besides, just look at the number of tenured Republican Congressmen who have announced their intention to resign in the next election cycle. Anyone who had a clue where to look, not to mention how to look, will soon be out of our hair.”
Collin: “It’s true, the Republicans have always had an enormous deficit when it comes to their long game. I still don’t like it, though. Public opinion can be fleeting, even when we manage to rig the polling data. We need the shadow of ‘corruption and illegitimacy’ in the Trump Administration to remain fresh within the minds of the American people leading up to and well into the official election season, especially if Trump keeps-up this break-neck pace for getting things DONE on behalf of “the people” --i.e., undoing everything our party operatives did to set the stage for the American people finally being ready and willing to accept 'socialism', the ultimate state of control under the guise of looking out for 'the people'."
John: "Well, the whole class warfare thing always sling-shots the masses back in our direction. Sanders and Warren are doing an effective job of trumpeting that call at least. Unfortunately, the American public may be stupid (i.e., easily led), but you can’t leave them alone with their own thoughts for too long. We need to get a new message/crisis stirring in the public opinion again, now that the whole Mueller probe outrage has effectively fizzled out.”
John: "Well, the whole class warfare thing always sling-shots the masses back in our direction. Sanders and Warren are doing an effective job of trumpeting that call at least. Unfortunately, the American public may be stupid (i.e., easily led), but you can’t leave them alone with their own thoughts for too long. We need to get a new message/crisis stirring in the public opinion again, now that the whole Mueller probe outrage has effectively fizzled out.”
[Phone rings on John’s desk. He quickly answers the call, putting his hand up in a “just a moment” air gesture towards Collin. Upbeat at first, John’s enthusiasm for the machination master-minding at hand suddenly begins to fade.]
John: [Still on the phone call.] “Uh-huh, and you’re one-hundred percent certain on this. Alright. Thanks for the heads-up. Keep me appraised of any further developments. Bye.” [Hangs up phone with an air of gravity washing over his heretofore cheerful countenance.]
Collin: [Concerned.] “Who was that?”
John: “My top informant over at State.”
Collin: “And? ....”
John: “IG [Inspector General] Horowitz is mere week(s) away from releasing his report on investigations into the other side of ‘Russian Collusion’ ... meaning us.”
Collin: “Shit, I’d all but forgotten about that. Anything our guys can do to throw a few wrenches into the process, maybe buy us some more time to spin-up some new details toward the end of furthering our established narrative [i.e., that Donald J.Trump is a corrupt and illegitimate President, one who is doing damage to the Office of the President as well as the country]?”
John: “They’re working on it. Of course, they’re also open to suggestions if we have any.”
Collin: “Any of this going to lead back to Biden?”
John: “It might just and that’s not good, but maybe we can find a way to have that work to our party's advantage? So what do you suggest? We’ve beat the whole Mueller thing to a bloody pulp with our stick. Don’t think there’s much chance of restructuring any portion of that argument again. Besides the whole thing kind of left the media sitting with egg on their face. It’s time for a bright new, shiny distraction, and time is of the essence. We have to get our story out first!”
Collin: “Well, have we got any juicy phone call leaks coming out of the White House of late? We could leak something out to the media and see if it sticks; if nothing else, it might buy some time until we can cook up a bigger scandal to fuel the ongoing narrative.”
John: “No, those bozos in the Trump White House finally caught onto us and started keeping Trump’s calls with Foreign leaders in the coded system. If we were to leak from there they’d have a pretty short -list of culprits to choose from when assigning blame.”
Collin: “What about an anonymous whistler-blower complaint? It’s worked before.”
John: “Again, they’d still have a short-list to work with and it might wind up backfiring, lending credence to whole the notion of a fully functioning ‘Deep-State’.”
Collin: “That’s right, I forgot that the whistle-blower complaint form explicitly specifies that the complaint must be in reference to “first-hand witness of alleged wrong-doing”.”
John: “Unless ....”
Collin: “Unless, what?”
John: “We change the whistle-blower complaint form.”
Collin: “How so?”
John: “We simply remove the stated requirement for “first-hand witness” on the whistle-blower complaint form. By removing this requirement we greatly expand the circle of potential ‘whistle-blowers’, thereby providing cover for our people on the inside.”
Collin: “That’s brilliant, actually. It could just work. Our guy suddenly becomes the hero-whistle-blower, instead of the nefarious leaker of confidential Presidential phone calls with foreign leaders.”
John: “An the media can really run with this, really hype it up, lending cover for Nancy Pelosi, Adam Schiff et al to back up Jerry Naddler in moving forward with the illusion of impeachment.”
Collin: “Indeed, even if the whole ‘process’ never winds up going anywhere in the end, Congress can spend months circling the wagons, all for the sake of the ‘survival of our Democracy’, while affording Democrats tons of media opportunities to air grievances and advance our Party’s talking points. We’ll blanket the media coverage, sucking all of the oxygen out the room. The Republicans won’t be able to get a meaningful word in edge-wise.”
John: “I love it! But will Pelosi go for this?”
Collin: “Once I make a few phone calls, Nancy won’t have any other choice but to move forward with the whole impeachment charade. Sure she’ll try to stave off an actual impeachment vote on the House Floor for as long as possible, but in the end that won’t really matter. The entire point of this exercise is to make the American people think that Donald J. Trump is an illegitimate President, unworthy of the Office of the President of the United States and moreover that Trump poses the gravest threat to ‘precious democracy.’ [Laughs at the notion the people actually still believe they have any say in the matters of government]. That way, when they close the curtain on the voting booth in November 2020, no decent American with any sense of conscience could possibly find their way to voting for a second term of President Trump, right?”
John: “My only concern is that U.S. Government forms usually require a “date of change” record for any changes made to official forms. So how do we get around that one?”
Collin: “Simple, we’ll chalk it up to a clerical error, whereby the change-date is ‘accidentally’ omitted. By the time they get to the bottom of things, if they ever do, the damage will already have been done.”
John: “Alright, I’ll see to making the necessary changes to the whistle-blower form. You make your phone calls and identify the target conversation/whistle-blower and we’ll get the team working on the actual text for the complaint. We need this one to be a home-run. I think the public might be growing wary of all of our empty-to-date promises that the Democratic Party can deliver the actual dirt necessary for impeachment.”
Collin: "I'm on it ... [Picks up phone to dial]."
John: "And don't forget to somehow tie AG Barr into the complaint. If we can cast aspersions in Barr's direction, we might be able to force him to recuse himself --just like Sessions-- taking the wind out of the sail for investigations into the 'origins of the Russia probe' ... kill two birds with one little stone."
Collin: "I'm on it ... [Picks up phone to dial]."
John: "And don't forget to somehow tie AG Barr into the complaint. If we can cast aspersions in Barr's direction, we might be able to force him to recuse himself --just like Sessions-- taking the wind out of the sail for investigations into the 'origins of the Russia probe' ... kill two birds with one little stone."
[To Be Continued .....]
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