Lullaby of the Left

A lullaby is something that is sung to someone to get them to sleep.  It calms (lulls) them with soothing sounds.  When we want children to sleep we sing them a lullaby.  Once they are sleeping we can perhaps do some things that their awake presence would keep us from getting done.

What I think is that we are all being lulled by the media’s lack of hysteria about political issues and specifically in contrast with the previous administration.  For four years we were kept awake with the constant frenzy of hyperbolic claims about the dreadfulness of the president’s words and actions.

Now, we hear calm words like “unity” and “humanitarian”.  There is no frenzy, no turmoil, no histrionics.  In fact, there is almost nothing.  A calm.  Nothing to see, nothing to hear.  Just go to sleep.  Pay no attention to what is really going on.

So what is going on?  First, there is a crisis at the border.  A humanitarian crisis as well as an immigration crisis.   We have a border which President Biden has insured is so porous that it in effect does not exist.  Even his advisor, speaking in Spanish so apparently not primarily to Americans, “mistakenly” announced that our borders are open.   Pay no attention though.

Hundreds of thousands of unvetted immigrants, many unaccompanied minors, are released into our interior without even a cursory check on health (including those whose state tests later show as positive for Covid) let alone any real questions about reasons for entering.  What Biden once called cages are now overflowing at over 100% capacity.  While admitting anyone who actually gets to our border, we are also sending millions of dollars to those who remain in countries that do not provide for them what is available to American citizens. 

We are told this is just Biden the humanitarian, taking care of the world.  Nothing to wake up over.  Don’t concern yourself with the very unhumanitarian effects of overcrowded cages, unaccompanied and trafficked minors, deadly consequences of huge caravans and lengthy treks, along with the overwhelming effect on this country and its citizens.  Things are fine.  Afterall, detention centers are now “welcome centers.”   Just go to sleep.

Cosmetic changes abound as part of the lullaby’s pretty pictures.   The Act which destroys women’s sports, mandates radical curriculum in schools, denies the scientific distinctions between sexes replacing them with gender choice and other similar mandates, is called the “Equality Act.”  If anything, it destroys the equality that is supposed to exist of and for all Americans.  But nothing to see, the name should calm you, go to sleep.

The 1.9 Trillion Covid Relief Bill primarily has nothing to do with Covid Relief.  Fewer Americans will get stimulus checks.  But it provides funding for any number of Leftist agenda items.  Just one example: there is a “racial justice” portion that provides 4 billion in debt relief to farmers of color.  Apparently white farmers with debt are not entitled to relief.  This seems a blatant violation of the Civil Rights Act which prohibits discrimination based on, amongst other things, race, color, and national origin.  But beyond that it is in effect a payment of reparations and some activists are celebrating it as just that.  But, go back to sleep, nothing to see here.

The Voting Rights Bill effectively destroys any hope of election security or integrity.  Any efforts to insure that only those entitled to vote actually vote are referred to by the Left as attempts to disenfranchise people of color.  That’s like saying enforcing a no cheating rule on a test is wrong because it prohibits everyone from getting an A.  But, just accept the cosmetically pleasant title: “Voting Rights.”  Ignore the fact that it actually disenfranchises legitimate voters by diluting the effect of their vote.

Moreover, this act fundamentally changes voting in that it takes away a state’s power to control its own elections as it creates a set of national voter registration and mail-in voting standards with the feds, not the states, keeping those rolls up to date.  It is grand dictatorships that allow the central power to govern elections; America is built on the concept of very limited federal power and a retention to each state of those powers not specifically designated to the federal government.  But, no worry, nothing to see here, move on and go back to sleep.

Last night in his first speech to the nation since his inauguration, President Biden did not mention anything about the above actions taken while you were sleeping or the rest of the Left agenda lurking for when you awake.  He has yet to make himself available for questions on any of these matters, including whether it is his agenda or if he is just providing his signature.

His speech only addressed vaccines and possible opening following Covid.  After essentially blaming his predecessor for Covid and giving then-president Trump no credit for his Operation Warp Speed that got us the vaccines in early December, Biden essentially took full credit for ending Covid as he told us we would unite and be able to have small groups gather on July 4^th – maybe.  He made a big deal of telling us that every American would be registered for vaccine by May 1; he more softly admitted that it did not mean that we would get the vaccine by then and there was no indication of when that might actually occur.

The above are just summaries of some of the more major “accomplishments” of the Left while the people have been sleeping.  They have put us to sleep with their cosmetic coverings and their soothing words, words like humanitarian, unifier, good, quiet, peaceful.   But if you really listen, their lullaby is less sweet than some we may be more familiar with; it seems rather more like this old Icelandic song:

Beeum, beeum, bambalow, Bambalow and dillidillidow.

My little friend I lull to rest.

But outside

A face looms at the window.

That face is the Left. But don’t look there. Just go to sleep.  Pay no attention to what the Left is doing while you sleep.  Because if you do, you are likely to find yourself in shock as you awake to Biden and the Left’s “Brave New World,” a world that also had a pretty cosmetic motto (“community, identity and stability”) for its dystopian existence.

Is anyone there? A Rant.

 

I am watching my country and all that it stands for disintegrate around me.  I do not understand why so few others seem to notice or to care. 

I recall not that long ago when everyone was strident about nearly everything that was going on.  The media was of course then encouraging the discontent and the hatred.  Then the media told us that all would be fine once Biden was elected.  I guess people listen and accept what they are told.  But look around – one glance should assure you that the media is not always right (or honest).

Of course, unlike the daily crises created by media commentators when Trump was elected, today much of what is going on is not reported or, if it is, even crises are so downplayed as to become just a big nothing.  But eventually they begin to leak out.

But people, look around you.  Hate and intolerance are on the rise.  Immigration is a mess and a crisis (even though the White House does not want us calling it that).  Cancel Culture is rampant.  Victimhood is idealized.  Radicalism is applauded.  And those who believe in traditional American values, the U.S. Constitution, and our basic freedoms have graduated from being “deplorables” to being “Neanderthals.”

Biden and his people insist there is no crisis at the border.  But even the mainstream media now at least have to mention that there might be a problem.  Ya think?!  We have the Obama/Trump “cages” now called “facilities” at full capacity.  We have unaccompanied minors being shipped across the country without any real inquiry about to whom they are being delivered, a definite gift to child traffickers.  We have mobs arriving at the borders wearing Biden tee shirts and demanding immediate fulfillment of his promise to open the borders.  DHS is anticipating a 20-year surge of illegal immigration. 

The Biden administration is looking to transform the southern border into a rapid-processing site where foreign nationals can arrive and expect to be quickly released into the U.S. interior.  In contrast to Trump’s historic lows in illegal border crossings we currently are arresting daily historic highs of illegal immigrants; rather than return them to their country or to the other side of the border to await legal entry, we simply release them to go where they please.  These new immigrants, both legal and illegal, will likely receive benefits that were once restricted to citizens and paid for by tax dollars.  In some instances, the Biden administration provides incentives to favor hiring of new immigrants (legal or illegal) over Americans. 

What this crisis gives us is de facto open borders.  An open border, in contrast to a closed or a controlled border, is one that allows free movement of people across with little or no restrictions.  Borders between the states are examples of open borders.  Most countries, however, at a minimum control the borders which delineate the boundaries of the land that encompasses the country.

I understand that there are some on the Left who desire open borders.  But at present the United States has immigration laws that, in a variety of ways, control both the number and characteristics of those who enter this country.  Yet, these immigration laws and the policy and reasoning behind them are for the most part currently being ignored or overridden by executive order along with executive inaction.  

Whether out of altruistic or sinister motive, or simply due to lack of logic and understanding, the Biden administration has effectively opened our borders to any and all who would enter.  At the same time Biden has closed our capitol, filling it with military to protect the administration and lawmakers from imagined threats. The irony is that we desperately need that military protection at our country's borders, but no one is noticing.

Beyond the border crisis there is the current belief, being fostered by the Left, progressive politicians, as well as big tech, that is is perfectly OK to silence, cancel, censor those people and beliefs whom the “woke” find offensive.    Does no one understand that this goes against the very core of American culture: the ability to hold and speak diverse views? 

We applaud people who share their “traumas”, but only if those who do so are sharing in a way that fits with the woke.  Thus, the White House applauded Meghan Markle’s self-centered tale of victimhood but seemed unable to comment on the ever-growing number of women accusing Gov. Cuomo of sexual harassment. 

And speaking of those accusations, when required to speak about Cuomo, the Left and its media prefer to focus on the growing number of “MeToos” rather than the hundreds (or is it thousands?) of elderly who died as the result of Cuomo’s early Covid orders, orders that he then covered up along with the death numbers.  The Left would prefer not to begin a discussion about those deaths because it is likely that it will then lead to revelations about at least 4 additional Democrat Governors who acted similarly.

Speaking of Covid, it has become abundantly clear that the handling of the pandemic by governors and others was driven by politics and not science, no matter how much they claim otherwise.  Similarly is the handling of the vaccinations, and the processes of re-opening, returning to schools, etc.

Athletics are also reopening, but with new rules that essentially destroy women’s sports.  In addition to Biden’s effective discrimination there, we see nearly every action that he takes in the name of “equity” having a discriminatory effect, usually against those groups that are out of favor with the Left. 

Moreover, the actions of this administration seem to be taken so as to check off some box on the “woke checklist” without any real thought or understanding of the effects of those actions.  In addition to the above I point you to the “Equality Act” and its other sections beyond the evisceration of women’s sports (the Act also exempts itself from the Religious Freedom Act when it comes to forcing its agenda), or the latest Covid relief bill (a 1.9 trillion fulfillment of Leftist dreams that have nothing to do with Covid and which are paid for by our tax dollars) or the Voting Rights Bill (that essentially destroys the likelihood of election integrity). 

I point you to the proposed mandatory curriculums such as training in the biased and discriminatory Critical Race Theory and promotion of the Left view of sexual orientation and gender identity, along with training and promotion of guilt simply for being White and conservative.  Reparations are definitely on the table.  And I encourage taking a look at the radical agendas of most of Biden’s appointees and hires.  Their pronouncements of hate speak volumes about Biden’s promised “unity.”

Now I do understand that there are those who favor the radical agenda of this White House.  But I find it hard to believe that the majority of Americans are as radical as this agenda or care so little about America as one who supports it must. 

I know that there are many who voted for President Biden solely because they did not like President Trump (or at least the President Trump that was portrayed by the media; I suspect that many have no idea of what Trump actually did while president or the many positive effects that his actions had on this country, especially minorities, as well as on the world).  But do these people have any idea what is going on, and if they do, are they really OK with it?

I want to knock on every American’s head and ask “Hello – anyone home?  Do you know what is going on?”  Because the silence is deafening.  And it is not only a silence of any disagreement; it is also silence of any in agreement (except of course from the vocal woke Left).  Just silence.  Is no one looking, listening, paying attention, thinking?  

With Covid vaccinations we hear more and more talk of “herd immunity.”  Actually, I think we are already a herd – of lemmings headed to the sea.  And yes, another phrase comes to mind here:  “Ignorance is bliss.”  I hope that those who are not paying attention are enjoying that bliss now, because the radical changes taking place unchecked under this administration will ultimately leave us and our country with nothing but despair.  

Dumbing Down in the Name of Equity

Education.  It used to be a place where students would not only gain instruction in both general and specific topics.  It was also most importantly where students learned to question and to reason – to do the critical thinking that is necessary not only to expand one’s own mind and reach one’s own potential but is also necessary to understand others in society and to work together with those others to move society and mankind forward.

That is not education today.  Today we only allow students to learn that which meets the approval of a woke culture under its false promise of “equity”.  Questioning what is taught is frowned upon if not overtly disallowed.  No room for new or independent thoughts.  No tolerance for diverse views.

Consider the following examples (just a few of many available): 

·        A Virginia school district has cancelled Dr. Seuss for “racial undertones.”

·        Boston Public Schools are suspending Advanced classes because too many students in them are White or Asian (no evidence that the student makeup is based on any sort of discrimination).

·        English teachers across the country have cancelled Shakespeare as well as Greek classics because of “racism, homophobia, classism.”

·        Tom Sawyer has been cancelled due to racism.

·        Schools regularly condemn, punish, expel students for expressing un-approved views such as anti-abortion beliefs, Christian beliefs, conservative beliefs.  Students are sent home for wearing patriotic clothing displaying such things as the American flag.  A student who called conservative Black spokesperson Candace Owens a “Black trailblazer” was subjected to a schoolwide email condemning the student as racist.

·        The names “Abraham Lincoln” and “George Washington” have been removed from schools in California.

·        Schools are replacing traditional American history with the 1619 Project curriculum.  Written not by history scholars but by biased journalists, the 1619 curriculum “aims to reframe the country's history by placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of Black Americans at the very center of the United States' national narrative.”  It teaches that our entire country is based on a hatred of Whites toward Blacks.  It denounces the actual proven and factual history of our country as false and racist.  The premises of the 1619 Project have been shown to be erroneous.

·        More generally history instruction has taken a turn whereby America is seen to be an evil creation of White supremacists.  Students learn they should have no pride in their country.  White students are told they should be ashamed of their whiteness and feel guilt simply because they are White.

·        Critical Race Theory training, something that is notably both racist and inaccurate, is also a central part of public-school curriculums.  It focuses on instilling the belief that Whites are racist and that White supremacy is a continuing and systemic problem that cause a power imbalance and a subjugation of Blacks.  Basically, it teaches people of color to hate whites and teaches Whites to feel guilty and ashamed of who they are.

·        Teachers and professors who speak about differing perspectives or encourage students to discuss varying views on a topic are often censured or fired.

·        The hard sciences are not excused from the wokeness of the cancel culture.  Math has recently been accused of promoting White supremacy; demanding showing of work (thinking) or demanding correct answers is by some educators considered to be racist. 

·        Similarly, there are proper viewpoints that students are instructed to take about a variety of scientific theories.  Consider global warming:  while there are many theories about causes, effects, solutions, etc., many students are taught only the perspective of the Left-Green New Deal advocates while being told that questioning it or considering other perspectives is just plain wrong.  Science does not progress when it cannot be questioned just as the human mind does not grow when it cannot question.

·        Beyond the academics, the cancel culture reaches into extracurricular and other activities associated with education.  Students are taught that biological sex is subservient to gender identity.  Students are taught sexual concepts that are not scientifically accurate as young as kindergarten and are encouraged to choose and change their gender at will and without parental consent or even parental knowledge.

·        Women’s and girls sports currently are being eviscerated by the mandate that biological males are allowed to compete as women.  This essentially destroys the fair playing field and places women in a very real no-win situation – a situation that is both demeaning and destructive to their motivation.

These are just a few of the things that are going on in our educational institutions today.  This is happening at the behest of the Left and the woke and with the full blessing and assistance of the Biden Administration. 

This is a travesty, a tragedy, and simply unfair to the minds and souls of our young.  By not teaching students to think and reason, and by denying to those who can the opportunity to excel, we are dumbing down our educational system, our students, and in the end our entire country.

Education is supposed to be “the act or process of imparting or acquiring general or particular knowledge, developing the powers of reasoning and judgment, and generally of preparing oneself or others intellectually for mature life.”  This definition includes what I believe is the most important thing that any educational system or process can teach: the powers of reasoning and judgment, better known as critical thinking.  It is in that area that I believe the majority of educational systems in this country are utter failures. 

Today’s educational model does not teach critical thinking; moreover, it does not allow it.   Too often students are discouraged from questioning.  They are fed subject matter material, told to accept it, learn it, prove they heard what they were told by regurgitating in on tests.  Any aspect of critical thinking has been replaced by instilling a specific Leftist agenda and value system into the minds of our young. 

Students need to be exposed to more than one viewpoint, to alternate ideas, diverse authors, differing theories.  They need to be taught to solve problems, not just accept answers lectured to them.  They need to be taught how to analyze and assimilate facts and theories and viewpoints in order to discover and support their own conclusions. 

By not teaching or allowing students to question the information they are given, schools today deny the students the raw materials from which they could discover the joy of critical thinking and use it to realize their own full potential.  Not only does this not raise their thinking beyond a very basic level, it also creates the perfect environment for instilling minds with propaganda rather than knowledge.

The ability to question is necessary to preserve the freedoms of democracy.  Without questioning, when questions and diverse ideas are denied, democracy itself is being denied.