Here yesterday. Fading today. Gone tomorrow?

With a good third of this country still blind to the Left and current Administration’s effective fostering of its demise, there is little hope but in miracles for its continuance in anything but name only. 

America, once the shining star of democracy and freedom, a place where individuals could flourish as themselves, is fast becoming an authoritarian land of mediocrity.  This essay considers the past, present, and likely future of America.  Americans can sit by and watch this happen, or they can speak up and attempt to change the course of our future.

Here was America

This country was founded by people tired of government telling them what they could and could not think, say, believe.  It was founded by people who believe in individual responsibility and rights to make such decisions for themselves, based on an underpinning of Judeo-Christian values. 

These founders created two essential keys to America’s brilliant form of democracy.  The first is our Constitution.  The second, found within that Constitution, is a government divided into three coequal branches. 

The 3 branches of government

The three branches of the federal government provide checks and balances on one another.  They provide a voice to the people while ensuring that our Constitution and rule of law are not violated.

The Legislative branch is a political branch.  It consists of the House of Representatives and the Senate.  Both representatives and senators are the elected representatives of the people.  The number of members of the House of Representatives is based upon population – states with larger population will have more representatives.  Because having only the House would be unfair to citizens in smaller states whose voice could be overridden by larger states, we also have the Senate.  There are two senators for every state regardless of size or population.

The legislative branch’s primary duty is to make law.  These elected representatives are intended to be the voice of their constituents in what they will focus on and what laws they will create.  Because there are differing political views and because these representatives are elected, this is a political body.  If the people are dissatisfied with their representation, they can elect different representatives.

The second branch is also a political branch.  The Executive branch includes the President as well as most federal agencies, departments, and directorates.  The primary duties of the Executive branch are to enforce federal law, and to provide for the protection of the American people. 

The third branch is not political.  It is the Judicial branch and it’s function is to hear and decide controversies involving federal law, treaties, and the Constitution and to decide such cases in a way consistent with the Constitution and our rule of law.  The Judicial branch is led by the Supreme Court which consists of nine justices appointed for life.  Unlike the political branches which are intended to be guided by and responsive to the voices of their constituents, the Judicial branch is responsive not to popular opinion but to the Constitution and laws of the United States.  As a non-elected body, they can and should ignore political arguments as they interpret our Constitution and laws consistent with our Constitution and founding principles.

These three branches serve as checks and balances on one another.  For example, if the Legislative branch creates a law that is not Constitutional, the Judicial Branch can declare it to be such and render it ineffective.  If the Legislature is dissatisfied with a Judicial opinion, they can perhaps write a law that essentially creates a statutory remedy to what the court denied.  The legislature can designate agencies within the Executive branch to create regulations that enforce statutes. 

            Other key constitutional provisions

The U.S. Constitution limits the authority of the federal government.  Within the Constitution, the specific powers of each branch are enumerated.  The Bill of Rights makes clear that these outline the limits of the federal government’s power  with all else reserved to the States or to the people.

The Bill of Rights consists of the first 10 amendments to the constitution and were created by our founders to make absolutely clear that ours is a government of the people.  It asserts that the Constitution protects citizen rights from the government.  These rights belong to the people and the federal government may not remove or limit them except in the most exceptional circumstances.  That is, the government does not create and cannot give and take away the rights of the people.  These rights include freedom of speech, religion, peaceable assembly, the right to bear arms, the right to be secure in ones house and personal belongings from unreasonable search and seizure, the right to due process of law, the right to a speedy and fair trial, the right to trial by jury, freedom from excessive bail and from cruel and unusual punishment, and other, non-enumerated rights.

As a result of the wisdom of our Founders, we the people are able to govern ourselves in a civil and orderly fashion.  We, not the government, decide who we will be, what we will believe, and are free to share our opinions no matter how many or few may find them reasonable or even accurate.  The federal government is limited; because the states are closer to the actual citizenry those citizens are closer to their government.  States’ laws, while they must comply with the U.S. Constitution, can and will vary depending on the will, politics, and policies of the people living in each state.

Here is America today

The Left, with the blessing of the Biden Administration, is dismantling the core institutions of our democracy without which this democracy will die.  This attack on our democracy is multifaceted.  I will suggest just some of the ways in which it is being attacked.

Let’s begin with the rule of law.  Rather than enforce (or not enforce) laws equally, laws are enforced dependent upon the political views of those breaking the laws.  Consider the current example of the protests at homes of selected Supreme Court justices.  These attempts at intimidation and to cause the Justices to change their opinion are in violation of federal law, yet the Biden administration not only allows, but encourages them to continue.   

At the same time, Biden unleashes his law enforcement agencies – FBI, DOJ – on American citizens exercising their free speech rights.  For example, despite asserting that counterterrorism laws were not being used against Americans speaking their political opinions, recent emails and other documents have revealed that lie perpetrated by this country’s Attorney General (see THIS LINK  )

The Biden administration has created a Department of Disinformation led by someone who herself is no stranger to disinformation.  But that disinformation was directed at Biden’s political opponents, so it is allowed.  The disinformation that is not permitted is anything that counters the preferred Leftist narrative, even if that “disinformation” is in fact true and conforms to science as well as evidence.

The core right to speak one’s mind is being cancelled and where not cancelled an environment is created which intimidates one into not speaking.

Speaking of misinformation, facts, and science, consider what the Left, including Biden, his administration, and Democrat legislators, is perpetuating in their many falsehoods about Roe v. Wade and its possible overturn.  First, overturning Roe v. Wade would not outlaw abortion but would return decisions about its regulation to the states where it rightfully belongs under our constitution (see part one above).  There is nothing to support the assertions that women nationwide would be denied abortions, nor that they would die.  Similar lies spread by the Left about Roe v. Wade can be found HERE.  

The abortion arguments also do not accept science which acknowledges that human life begins at conception.  The forthright arguments for abortion would begin by acknowledging that abortion kills a unique human; then the pro-abortionists could make their arguments in favor of justifying that homicide and explain how a “woman’s right to choose” includes and extends to the right to choose death for another human being.

Speaking of science, the Left completely ignored science as it used Covid to further its political agenda.  And of course the Left apparently finds the scientific fact that there are two sexes – male and female – to be some form of disinformation.  Rather, they would have us believe that someone who pretends to be the opposite sex from that which they biologically are is indeed that opposite sex and they demand that we accept that as a fact.  They are now instilling this false narrative in the minds of our children.

The Left instills in public schools not only the above unscientific and false information, but rearranges history with distortion, omission, and replacement of fact with narrative.  Children are denied the ability to become the best they can be because, in the name of equity, things like advanced placement classes are removed. Teaching sexuality and Leftist policy has become at least equally important as math, science, and history and more important than teaching critical thinking.

The Left creates identity politics, dividing the citizens, yet its policies are most detrimental to those it claims to champion – transgender policy hurts women; economy and entitlement programs hurt blacks and people of color.  Making race and gender primary job qualifications demeans those races/genders that qualify, and “equity” pushes the entire country down from a standard of excellence to one of mediocrity.

There is no tolerance of views that oppose the official government narrative.  Our President calls all members of the opposing Republican party terrorists.  He and his administration encourage social media to silence all who disagree. 

The President neglects his sworn duties.  He does not protect American citizens here or abroad.  He has wrecked the economy, and instead of taking responsibility for his actions blames any and everyone else in sight.  He laughs about inflation.  As gas prices rise, in good Marie Antoinette form, he cuts off American oil production and tells the people to buy electric cars.  As the administration sends loads of baby formula to illegal immigrants at our border, it seems unconcerned about the citizens in this country who cannot obtain formula, blaming the shortage on a variety of Republicans.

In the first year of Biden’s presidency, migrants were encountered over 1 million times, the highest number of illegal crossings since at least 1960 (source NY Times).  Over 2 million are expected in 2022.  Single adult males continue to make up the largest percentage of illegal border crossers.  Biden now works to end the Title 42 border polices, effectively opening our borders and inviting anyone to enter with no regard for our immigration laws and policies, for the effect that the millions illegally in this country will have upon the current citizenry – their job prospects, their life style, their tax burdens. Great as America is, it cannot take in the entire world; what the Biden administration is doing is a threat to the way of life of American citizens whom he swore to protect.

The Left, with the support and assistance of the Biden administration and the Democrat party, are destroying our basic constitutional freedoms.  They are making a joke out of our laws.  They distort the roles of our three branches of government as they attempt to turn the Supreme Court into another political body, as the Executive branch flaunts its disregard of our laws and our Constitution, and, as they encourage the legislature to support their own power rather than the will of the people.

The Legislative Branch has been dysfunctional for some time; the Executive branch has been both dysfunctional and autocratic since Jan 20 2021.  And now the Judiciary has been dealt a near or perhaps actual fatal blow.  The Constitution and the roles of the various branches of government are severely misunderstood and we are well on our way to mob rule rather than the reasoned rule of law.  This administration, rather than slow down, is ramping up its apparent desire to punish Americans and destroy their country.   

We are in deep trouble.  

And the Future is….

Without her institutions, America cannot survive.  While under attack and seriously wounded and weakened, these core institutions are not yet dead and so, perhaps, neither is America.  But time is short in which to reverse the trend to total destruction. 

We the people seem to have lost both our minds and our voices.  We must regain them soon or they, along with our right to be the individual each of us is meant to be, will be gone forever.

Read the Fine Print Before You Buy

President Biden’s speech to Congress last night was long on platitudes as he lulled many to sleep with the Lullaby of the Left.  (See "Lullaby of the Left" here)   What it was short on was specifics.  It was also a bit short on honesty.  And it left out important facts and issues. 

First, what was left out.

The speech didn’t deal with the border crisis or Biden’s problem of migrant hoarding (See essay here )  Yes, he gave some nod to the divisive issue of amnesty and to the Vice President’s alleged leadership on the crisis (even though she has yet to visit our southern border or hold a press conference or answer questions about what she is doing).

Biden did not mention the radical Left plan to pack the Supreme court or to make Washington D.C. a state.  Both these plans are blatant political acts designed to ensure permanent power for the Democrats.

He also said little about H.R. 1 which is the Democrats’ bill that is intended to remove state control of elections, placing full control in the hands of the federal government.  He did not discuss that bill’s provisions that essentially destroy any election integrity: simply another Democrat power grab.

The speech failed to give credit to the work that went before him to get a vaccine ready and distribution started or that the return to normal (due in large part to efforts that began with the previous administration) will hopefully return to the booming economy achieved by the prior administration. 

Beyond the obvious omissions, the speech was short on honesty.

Ian Haworth examines this problem in detail HERE.   Let me just mention a few of the more glaring dishonest moments. 

The President repeatedly misstated figures, including: the amount of our GDP that we invest in research and development; the amount of time/travel/discussions he has had with China’s President XI; the gun violence and mass shooting numbers per year;

Biden often fudged to imply something that he did not say.   For example, he bragged that everyone is now eligible to get vaccinated right away.  What he left out was that just being eligible to be vaccinated does not mean one will be able to do so or that vaccine will actually be available for that person.    

Similarly, Biden seemed to take credit for a current booming economy while not mentioning that all he has done is remove some of the economic blocks enforced by Democrats or that the job increases under his administration pale in comparison to the 12.6 million jobs that were added by the Trump administration after the initial pandemic caused collapse.  He lamented the number of women who have left the workforce but ignored that a driving factor behind that statistic is the closure of schools due to Covid.

There were many more moments of intentionally misleading statements.  But that is just part of the lullaby – it all sounds good, and so people don’t notice.

The big stuff and the small print.

What is really disturbing are the grand Leftist plans that the President put forth without any specifics or any honesty about what they will cost this nation.  Again, the platitudes are lovely, but the reality may very well be quite different; it is that reality that the President and the Left do not want you to notice and which they try to cover with their soothing bromide.

I am not an economist, and you can yourself find a number of articles online that explain the devastating details of Biden’s latest money giveaway plan.  But just a few things of note.

The $1.8 trillion (that’s $1,800,000,000,000.00) American Families Plan comes on top of the $1.9 trillion ($1,900,000,000,000.00) Covid relief law and the $2.25 trillion ($2,250,000,000,000.00) “infrastructure” plan.  That is a total of $5.95 trillion in new spending in just the first 100 days. 

This money comes from taxpayers.  Yes, Biden says that it will not affect the middle class, but the reality is that it must, and it will.  He promised that he will only tax corporations and the wealthy, wealthy apparently being any family that makes more than $400,000 per year.  He ignores the fact that large corporations have ways of moving their tax base out of this country.  Then where does that money come from?  If not the middle class, then from the small and family-owned businesses that do not have the options that large corporations do.  And what will that do to employment opportunity and for the economy? 

Our national debt is currently around $28 trillion ($28,000,000,000,000.00).  It doesn’t take a rocket scientist (or an economist) to see that we are likely headed for economic collapse if Biden’s Leftist wish lists are passed.  It doesn’t take a genius to see what effect this debt will likely have on our children and grandchildren.

The President’s comments on his climate change and “infrastructure” agenda focused on how they will build jobs.  Yet he failed to even consider the research as well as real-world examples of how what he is proposing destroys rather than creates jobs.

Perhaps the worst is the continuing lie of “unity”.

By the end of the speech, those who were still awake heard a lot of platitudes about unity and America and how great we are.  Except that the entire speech that was given to that point was full of divisiveness and clear partisanship.  To that point the agenda that the President put forward would not maintain American greatness but would drastically remake this country and likely not for the better.

Read the fine print.

I look at this speech as something of a sales pitch by a deceitful salesman.  I want to see the fine print and read it carefully.  Every American should do the same.  Platitudes and pretty words might make us feel good but the Devil is in the details. 

And then there is the rebuttal.

I think that Senator Tim Scott said more in his 15 minutes than the President said in over an hour.  Sen. Scott seemed to be truly speaking from his heart, not just reciting a list of campaign promises that would lull the audience into ignorance.  If you missed his rebuttal, you can watch it HERE. 

What does Sen. Tim Scott get for his honest rebuttal that disagreed with the Biden agenda?  An attack from the Left calling him “Uncle Tim”, an obvious reference to Uncle Tom, a derogatory reference for a subservient Black person.  But that shouldn’t surprise us:  you will recall that candidate Biden said to Blacks that “If you don’t vote for me then you ain’t really Black.” 

The Biden-Left agenda has no room for dissenters.  It is about power and not really about America or her people.  Read the fine print before you sign on. 

Is the Biden Administration Guilty of Migrant Hoarding?

Today’s excellent blog post is by guest author Susan Sobaky.

Is the Biden Administration guilty of migrant hoarding?

As an animal lover and advocate, I can usually find an animal analogy for most human situations and behaviors. In the case of the crisis President Biden has created at the southern border I can only compare it to the same behavior that results in animal hoarding. So I will call it migrant hoarding. Please note, I am talking about behavior; I am not comparing people to animals.

Let’s look at a definition of animal hoarding:

“An animal hoarder is defined as someone who has accumulated a large number of animals and who: 1) fails to provide minimal standards of nutrition, sanitation, and veterinary care; 2) fails to act on the deteriorating condition of the animals (including disease, starvation or death) and the environment (severe overcrowding, extremely unsanitary conditions); and often, 3) is unaware of the negative effects of the collection on their own health and well-being and on that of other family members.”

Frost RO, Steketee G, Williams L. Hoarding: A community health problem. Health Soc Care Comm. 2000;8:229–234.

To characterize what is happening at the border we could define it as migrant hoarding and use the above definition, just exchanging the word “migrant” for “animal,” change “veterinary care” to “medical care,” and change in 3) "other family members" to "the entire country."

Not convinced? Let’s look at some pictures (taken from Google Images).

These 2 are animal hoarding situations:

These 2 are migrant conditions at the border:

Animal hoarding generally starts with good intentions. As stated on the ASPCA website, “Animal hoarders often appear intelligent and clearly believe they are helping their animals. In addition, many hoarders possess the ability to garner sympathy and to deceive others into thinking their situation is under control. They often are blind to the fact that their animals are suffering under their care.”

Hoarding, whether animal or migrant, may start as the caring, humane thing to do but in both cases can get out of control quickly. I think the Biden administration thinks they are doing the humane thing by continuing to let thousands of migrants into the United States, and they are trying to deceive us into thinking the situation is not a crisis and they have it under control. They have lost sight of the potential damage this action is doing, not only to the migrants, but to the citizens of the United States, not to mention the billions of dollars in cost and resources.

An animal hoarder could be arrested and charged, potentially with animal cruelty or abuse. They could go to jail or pay a hefty fine. As I consider the similarities of animal hoarding with what is happening at the border, migrant hoarding, I wonder how is the Biden administration getting away with it? 

Silence – of the Lemmings

To my friends and others who did not support Donald Trump’s reelection bid and were so vocal until Jan. 20 of this year, but since then have gone silent:  What happened to you?

While Donald Trump was president every day all you could do was make ugly statements about him and his supporters.  You couldn’t wait until Joe Biden and his “unity” took over.  All would be well.  And you all rejoiced when he was sworn in, taking that time to also get in some final digs at President Trump.

Then…..silence.

No daily support for the actions of Biden and his administration like the daily tirades when Trump held the office.  Not even a whisper of support, or of opposition to what he is doing.

Do you know what he is doing?  I realize that the mainstream media (who through the voice of CNN just this week admitted that their goal had been to remove Trump from office but now they have moved on to other targets) has not reported much of anything about what Biden and his administration are doing.  But bits and pieces do come to the surface. 

You were so delighted when he was sworn in.  Are you equally delighted by the border crisis, the record number of daily crossers and the surge that increases daily, or the money such as 60 million per week to house unaccompanied minors that might otherwise be spent on American citizens and legal residents? 

Are you content with the fact that in effect we now have two different justice systems:  one for those favored by the Left and one for those despised by the Left?  Are you delighted by the ongoing riots in Minneapolis and Portland?   And how do you feel about that unity that doesn’t exist and that seems to be defined as simply silencing anyone whom this administration does not like?

Are you delighted by Biden and the Democrats’ tax and spend bills that will put your children and grandchildren in debt forever?  And by the fact that rather than helping legal residents of this country, much of our tax dollars and other resources are going to those here illegally or to strengthen borders of other countries? 

Are you content with cancel culture raging?  With corporations deciding what you should think, and if you don’t behave as they wish (their wishes being the same as those of the Left) they will take action against you.  That action may be cancelling the All-star game to the detriment of a large minority population; it may be requiring you to attend some sort of racial justice training where you must admit your blame for being who you are if you are not among their chosen racial groups. 

Speaking of racial groups, are you OK with benefits, jobs, even medical care being meted out based on race with Whites being summarily excluded?  How about the fact that Disney and other large entertainment providers will now not even consider scripts that do not include the preferred quota of specific ethnic groups?

Are you OK with reparations?  With infrastructure that includes benefits that have nothing to do with the traditional definition of infrastructure?  Are you OK with executive orders that limit your Constitutional rights and freedoms?  What about packing the Supreme Court in order to make it just a political rubber stamp for the Left?

I know that if Donald Trump were doing one iota of what President Biden and the Democrats are doing that you would not be silent, especially because the media would be drilling into you every day how horrid it was and filling you with so much hate that it had to spill over.

So I have to assume that one of two things is true:  either you are perfectly OK with fundamentally transforming America from the Democracy that it is to a Socialist country in which your freedoms will be greatly diminished and the power of the government greatly enlarged, or you simply have no idea of what is going on. 

Alexander Solzhenitsyn in his “Warning to the West”, noted that following turmoil a very dangerous state of mind can arise in which people will give up and give in quickly in the belief that it will bring about national unity. 

Let’s remember that, as some Left-leaning media (including NBC and CNN) are now admitting, they stirred up fear beyond what was necessary.  CNN admits its goal was completely anti-Trump.   So, after four years of fear mongering and of having the media daily drill down on what they decided was crisis after crisis, it may not be a wonder that many of you believed some wonderous unity would appear if you voted against President Trump.

Perhaps what you are thinking is that some sort of blessed silence exists.  Afterall, the media make it seem that there are no problems anywhere, and especially not in the current White House or the policies of the Democrats.  But, in the words of Solzhenitsyn, “I would not wish that kind of blessed silence on my worst enemy.  I would not wish that kind of national unity on my worst enemy.” (Speech to Americans, June 30, 1975).

So, if your silence is because, out of relief from the mostly media manufactured turmoil of the past four years, you are no longer paying attention believing there is some blessed unity and peace, please wake up and pay attention.  Let people know what you think.

If your silence is because you are fully supportive of the Leftist Socialist agenda, then why are you not daily asserting your delight?  I would like to hear you speak out about how and why you find that is something worth supporting.  I cannot understand why anyone who truly understands what socialism is can support it.  I would argue that you may be “woke”, but you are not awake.

The Socialist agenda is being implemented at such an accelerated speed that there is daily less and less hope that America, once the greatest nation and beacon of freedom to the world, will soon be much more than some historical relic that no longer exists. 

You who did not support Trump, your voices were loud and frequent for four years.  But now the cat has your tongue.  And if you don’t speak out soon, the America that allowed you to speak your mind will be gone and you will become nothing more than one of the many lemmings following the Left to the detriment of you and all those you will leave behind as you fall to your death in the sea of despair that is the ultimate result of socialism.  It is those who seek power through this transformation to Socialism who are leading you to your and your nation’s demise.  Please wake up.

The Power Hungry Are Never Satisfied

I want to begin by recommending the well written and highly thought-provoking article by Mark T. Mitchell entitled The Death of God and the Death of Higher Education. LINK HERE 

I want to use one paragraph from that article as the jumping off point here.  That paragraph reads:

This quest for power is the characteristic feature of modern “higher” education. Students are taught that the world is divided into various groups whose primary identity is reducible to power differentials. A common pursuit of truth is replaced by overt and covert power struggles. In this new and barren world of power, the pursuit of the good, true, and beautiful is replaced by grievance and accusation. Concerted efforts to locate and correct injustice (a concept derived from a theistic account of the world) have been replaced by sweeping claims of “systemic” injustice, in which the entire civilizational edifice must be destroyed in the name of justice. But justice torn from its theistic grounding is merely a blunt instrument of power disguised in the moral language of a rejected world. Such a notion represents a self-refuting enterprise that will usher in not justice but unrestrained power cloaked in the God-haunted language of equality, social justice, and anti-racism.

I find this to so clearly encapsulate the social culture in which we are living today.  Everywhere one turns it seems to be all about power, with those in charge disguising their hunger for power as some sort of humanitarian and social justice that must be complied with to avoid showing yourself as some sort of anti-humanitarian who must be cancelled from the approved culture.

               Ramping-up Hatred

What are identity groupings about other than to create one group that holds power over another?  Rather than see all humans as one’s brother, identity politics teaches one that they are either a member of a victim group or of an oppressor group.  The oppressors are accused of working to maintain their own power and are encouraged to apologize for and relinquish it, while the victim groups are led to hate and attack their perceived oppressors in an attempt to obtain more power for their own group and then to wield that power over other groups whom they are taught to hate.

The President, who ran on the promise that he would unite us as one, has instead ramped up the identity hatred.  Now we have government programs that specifically exclude one race from their benefits, simply because of that race.  When we did similar things to Blacks a century ago, this country worked in a bipartisan fashion to correct that and treat all people as equals, regardless of race.  But now that those in power can benefit and retain their power by pushing identity hatred, they argue that the same sort of discrimination is OK because they have deemed the White race, against whom these new laws discriminate, to be members of an offensive identity group solely because of their race. That is racism pure and simple, a hatred created to benefit not the oppressed, but those currently in power.

Democrats claim that this discrimination is humanitarian and equitable.  It is anything but.  It is not humanitarian or just, but simply an ugly power grab based on hate.

               Silencing Voices and Facts

Those in power (including government, big tech, and corporate America) can tighten their grip on power if they silence opposing voices.  So we have cancel culture in full force, not based on facts, not based on equity or fairness, not based on humanitarian ideals, but simply on exercising and retaining power.

Consider the Georgia voting law.  It actually increases opportunities to vote, especially for rural and minority voters in that state.  Despite it being the very opposite of Jim Crow, President Biden, most Democrats, most of the mainstream media, many corporations are calling it just that.  Their claims are lies. 

Anyone who does even a cursory reading of the Georgia law will see that, contrary to our President's assertion, the new Georgia voting law does not prohibit giving water to voters waiting in line; rather it requires that poll workers be the ones to distribute it.  It also requires all 159 counties to have at least one vote drop box for mail in ballots.   It expands early voting access for most counties. It does require verification of identity for those requesting and returning mail in ballots which does not deny authorized voters the right to vote but does insure the integrity of their vote.  This is all a far cry from the Jim Crow label that the Democrats including the President and many in the media have placed on it.

But facts do not matter to those who are governed by their own quest for power.  The lies about the Georgia law have been exposed.  Nonetheless, led by the lies of the President and his urging, MLB has pulled the All-Star game from Atlanta.  That of course will hurt the largely Black population there, so the lie-based grab for power is hardly done in the name of standing for minorities or humanitarian efforts in their behalf.  It is simply a show of power and a punishment for passing a law that requires more standards of election integrity than would benefit those seeking to retain and strengthen their power.

The power hungry do not care about facts or about the consistency of their own values.  When it was convenient to attack the Trump administration the Democrats and their cohorts the mainstream media, big tech, big corporations, were all about decrying deplorable conditions at the border.  Now, when the border crisis is over 100% worse than it ever was under Trump (or any other president) these same people don’t even notice.  Trump was bad.  Biden was good.  Only facts supporting that narrative will be acknowledged.

               Powerful Join Forces Against Individual Rights

There is a frightening coalescence of government with private sector as both seek to cement their hold on power.  For example, President Biden cannot Constitutionally require “Vaccine passports” for internal movement of our citizenry.  But rather than stand for the Constitution and its protections for the people, he instead is urging big business to create such requirements, something that they can and likely will do.  They can withstand those who oppose such curtailment of our rights, and the President and the rest of the Democrats can deny responsibility but retain power.

Similarly, corporations make statements, cancel or refuse to sell certain products including books, make hiring decisions, censor, and take other actions based on the pronouncements of the “woke” Left.  Their actions, many of which would be unconstitutional if done by a governmental entity, are allowed because they are not the government.  Yet their actions are supportive of and fully in sync with those holding office and seeking to keep it and the power that goes with it.

               Equity Is Not Equality

Equity and fairness are not equality.  It is the equality, the extent to which it exists in this country as well as this country’s continued aspiration to ever improve its existence for all, that makes this country what it is.  Being equal, having equal opportunity, does not mean that results will be equal.  It does not mean that life will be fair.  But it does mean that everyone will have a fair shot at being the best they can be.

Equality does not divide people into identity groups, some of whom are given more equality than others.  Today this is being done in the name of things like “systemic racism” or similar perceived systemic injustices.  I have yet to be convinced that such systemic injustice exists, but if it does, it will not be cured by creating new systemic injustices.

               It’s Really All About Power, Not Humanitarian Ideals

I also have yet to be convinced that this president and his progressive administration really give a damn about any of the causes they claim to be pursuing for humanitarian or social justice reasons.  This is the party that created a minority underclass in our cities, dependent on, and therefore voters for, Democrat power. 

This is the party that is creating dangerous and inhumane conditions at our southern border while claiming that opening the borders is somehow humane.  Tell that to the trafficked children, to the Americans who are being displaced from jobs and homes and other due to the influx of illegal migrants that cities and towns simply cannot handle. 

Tell that to the taxpayers and to the next generations of taxpayers who cannot pay for these inhumane policies.  Just as they cannot pay for the trillions of dollars in spending that is supposedly for the good of the populace but in actuality simply furthers the power goals of the progressives.

It is not humanitarian to deny human individuality.  That is what cancelling those who disagree does.  That is what perpetuating lies does.  That is what identity politics does.  And that is what we are teaching our children to do:  deny human individuality, indeed make those who do not somehow benefit you and your power into inhuman caricatures and place them in a group that you can then justify as worthy of inhuman treatment. 

Power is a heady thing, and those who hold it right now seem to be willing to do anything to keep it.

 

Not Really Much Pressing Going On At Today’s Presser

 

Today I watched President Biden’s “press conference” if you could call it that.  This was frightening on so many levels.  Let me touch on a few.

First, it was clear that Biden was not really present, not in the moment and not in the bigger picture of the issues about which he was supposedly talking.  He lost his train of thought too frequently and too often read an answer to a different question than that which was asked.  And yet this man is our president, the leader of the free world.  That should alarm us all.

A commentator before the press conference noted that Biden had been practicing for this event for several days.  Wow.  If he had been practicing the names of those reporters who were listed in his notes to call on, he did not do very well.  If he were practicing the canned answers that he clearly had available in his notes, he did not do very well.  If he were practicing receiving signals from some aide in the room or otherwise connected to him, he did not do very well.  And, on another note, how can one practice answers to what are supposedly spontaneous questions?

The syrupy answers he gave were full of nothing more than campaign talk and promises.  He said he would address and fix any number of things but gave specifics to none – no details about the problem or the nature of the promised fix.  Just promises:  I will get to that, I plan on making progress on that, I will get to all those problems, don’t worry.

He said his focus was on Covid and seemed to tell us that he could only address one issue at a time.  Yet it was not clear what he is actually doing for Covid.  He had no problem taking credit for the number of vaccines given, something that is possible primarily due to the previous administration’s Operation Warp Speed.  The number of vaccines promised by the end of his first hundred days just continues that which Trump began; we should note that administration of the vaccine began prior to when Biden took office.  Yet Biden did not have the common decency to give any credit to his predecessor, even though he kept telling us that he himself is a “nice guy.”

Any actual seemingly factual information that Biden presented was for the most part erroneous.  For example, the surge at the border is not the same as it has been in years prior to his taking office.  Unaccompanied minors have come to the border in far greater numbers than those stated by Biden. According to statistics published by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, authorities encountered 9,457 children without a parent in February, a 61% increase from January, not 28% as Biden stated.  Moreover, while some seasonal trends in migration do exist, migrants interviewed by The Associated Press have expressed their understanding that the country would be more permissive to migrants under Biden than under Trump, and thus they come.

Biden kept telling us that he is such a humanitarian, a good guy.  He seemed to deny that there is any problem at the border.  Yet the cages are overflowing.  Unaccompanied minors are being sent by the thousands to large spaces like convention centers to live in crowded and unhealthy conditions.  Covid positive migrants are being bussed throughout our country.  Illegal immigration is off the charts.  Migrants are being bussed and dumped around the country in cities and towns that do not have the resources to care for them or the issues associated by this sudden influx.  This is not nice, and it is not humanitarian.

In campaign, not presidential, mode Biden made sure to trash the previous administration as well as current Republicans.  His figures about the Trump tax cuts were inaccurate and then he used those misleading figures to make a case against Republicans and their concern for the working class, a class that was in many ways lifted by the Trump administration and a variety of Republican policies.

Similarly, he claimed lack of bipartisanship of the Republicans while admitting that he, by his own choice, is not meeting with them.  He completely distorted the substance of the Voting Bill and what it is that each side is really fighting for.  (The reality is that Democrats would remove all state control and nearly all methods of ensuring only legitimate voters vote, while Republicans would maintain and strengthen a variety of procedures that ensure election integrity.)

Beyond the many misstatements (some would say lies), some of which are noted above, Biden seemed to take credit for what is already going on as if it were some great accomplishment of his own.  I mentioned the vaccines above.  Another example is his promise that he would now require that calls regarding minors at the border would occur within 48 hours.  According to Border officials, that requirement is already in place and was followed throughout the entirety of the prior administration’s control.

Biden wanted to show us he is a nice guy.  In fact, he told he is a nice guy – over and over and over.  That he is not like his predecessor because he is so calm and nice.  Well, great.  But that does not mean that he can lead the country or that he has any clue about what is really going on.

But the press conference is not solely about the president.  It is also about the reporters.  Anyone who watched a Trump presser is aware that the press core would not let him finish a sentence without attacking him with one or another allegation.  There was little if any respect shown for the man or the office.  Despite the press hatred for him, Trump called on reporters from both the Left and the Right, as well as the foreign press.   He answered their questions directly along with their antagonistic follow-ups and was clearly on top of what was going on, whether you liked his answers or not.

Here, we had very few reporters called on, and apparently someone (Biden or his handlers) had listed the names of whom would be called.  They were on one of the papers on Biden’s podium.  Whether these reporters’ questions had been vetted beforehand we will likely never know. 

What we do know is that the reporters were not the same attack dogs that attended Trump pressers.  Where was the Jim Acosta style reporter to harass and interrupt before the president could get a word out?  Indeed, where were any interruptions or meaningful follow ups?  Today’s “reporters” allowed the President to ramble for as long as he wanted, even if what he was rambling about had absolutely nothing to do with the question asked.  And those questions – could they have been any more friendly and soft?  Perhaps the press lost its ability be assertive in its questioning when faced with this clearly fragile and perhaps senile old man. 

In the end, this presser was about what I expected it would be – a big lot of nothing.  Biden knew nothing.  Biden said nothing – nothing that was true or specific or more than a fluffy promise.  The reporters asked nothing.  It was to some extent (how much we will never know) rehearsed.  Just a big lot of political show.

Which brings me to perhaps the most frightening thing of all:  why don’t the people see what is going on?  Why don’t they see this presidency for what it is?  Do they really fall for Biden’s syrupy smooth talk and his promises that he will make us all happy?  C’mon Man!  Wake up.  Biden is cluelessly destroying America but we the people are allowing him to do it.  And no one seems to notice or to care. That is terrifying.

 

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.  

The Silence of the Sheep: A Tragedy

I keep wondering why there is so much silence from the previously vocal and seemingly politically interested folks.  You know, the people who loved to quote the Left’s mistruths about Trump and his supporters.  The folks who voted for niceness and unity. 

I realize that they have in essence been instructed to go silent if they disagree with Biden or the Left agenda.  I realize they may believe such silence is a form of unity (which in the Biden-Left world means silence of all differing views).  But really, how could they be so vocal about even the slightest piece of nothing if it involved Donald Trump and yet remain so silent on even the most outrageous words or actions of Joe Biden?

Not a peep when Biden makes the most sexist and demeaning remarks or when he makes clearly erroneous statements about important issues about which the facts are undeniably clear.  Little more than a tut-tut when we learn that Cuomo is directly responsible for the deaths of thousands of seniors.  No notice when Biden’s AG nominee will not condemn the idea of having a head of the civil rights division who has blatantly declared that one racial group is superior to another, or  that he will distinguish as less important/not domestic terrorism recent attacks on government courthouses and other buildings if they happened at night.  Nary a flutter at the volume of racially motivated actions and appointments coming out of this White House. 

OK, maybe those were not big enough to notice.  How about the full out attack on women’s sports?  How about a Coronavirus package that will add significantly to the national debt, but has very little to do with Coronavirus but instead seems to bankroll extreme Leftist policies?  How about the on-going and ever more aggressive acts of cancel-culture?  How about an immigration “policy” that simply opens the doors without really any significant criteria, no consideration of criminal history or purpose for entering this county, not to mention a total disregard of possible Covid transmission – a consideration that at the same time is denying our children a real education and destroying small businesses everyday due to safety precautions – precautions that apparently do not apply to immigrants, legal or illegal?  How about Biden’s “Equality Act” which the Catholic League has labeled the “most comprehensive assault on Christianity ever written into law”?  Or the indoctrination programs in schools and government offices that are not only filled with misinformation but that teach hatred towards specific identity groups and hence work to divide and destroy our country?

Indeed, every action coming out of this administration since January 20^th (and there are many more than those listed above) seems to be designed to turn America on its head if not destroy it altogether.  And yet there is silence.  Silence on the drastic effect on taxes and employment and simply on the American dream. 

Where are all those people who just last year had such loud voices?  Do they really approve of all that is going on?  Do they know what is going on?  Or are they just sheep, doing as told with no thought of their own?  When told to bleat loudly and angrily they did so.  Now have they been told to quietly and contently baa?  It would seem so.  And like silent sheep, they are being led to slaughter; the tragedy is that they are taking the entire country with them.

Why I’m Not Watching the Impeachment

I have better things to do with my time than to watch political theater when I’ve already seen the show before and fully understand its underlying themes. 

In this political theater version of The Impeachment Sequel, the Democrats continue to act out their very real mental disturbances caused by Trump Derangement Syndrome.  That, and they try to expel their insecurity-caused fear that Donald Trump may run for office again and so they must forever disqualify him.

In addition to being some sort of attempt at Trump hate catharsis, this Impeachment does serve other purposes such as distracting the populace from the many things that President Biden is doing that are potentially dangerous and harmful to this country.  It also shows us that the Democrats have no intention of losing their narrative method of distorting truth as a way to sway the public to their thinking.

For example, in a high-tech Hollywood-like video in which the Democrats replayed Trump’s words at the protest on Jan. 6, the film included his calls to fight for this country and the Constitution but conveniently left out the most important words in which President Trump called for the march and protest to be and remain peaceful. 

And, of course, there are the individual narratives (some would call them lies).  The now infamous and Hollywood like performance of Rep. Ocasio-Cortez about her “near-death experiences” on Jan. 6.  Or the statements by Maxine Waters (and similarly other Democrats) that she never uttered the words that most have seen or listened to on tape calling for violence against Trump and his supporters.

But then, such misleading presentations are not surprising when you are holding an impeachment that the majority of actual and leading Constitutional Law scholars in this country assert is not constitutional.  It is not surprising when the judge for the “trial” is also a partisan Democrat senator-participant who is firmly on record as believing Trump must be impeached.  

This is nothing more than a show trial.  There is nothing to see here unless your desire is to watch the Democrats display their disrespect for our Constitution, their pathological hate for one man, their hate for American ideals, and their disregard for the actual business of the people that they ought to be conducting.

Instead of the distraction of this political theatrical re-run, try considering some of what it is distracting you from.  There is so much; let me list just a few that you might have missed.

There is the walk-back of the promise of immediate jobs for the tens of thousands of pipeline and oil workers that Biden’s executive orders have put out of work.  When will jobs for these people who need to support themselves and families now become an actuality?  Oh, sometime in the future; no time soon, but it will be worth the wait his press secretary tells us.  Worth it for whom?  The workers’ starving children?  How can this not remind one of Stalin’s five-year plans that repeatedly promised the current sacrifice would be rewarded in the future?

There is the cancelling that continues in all spheres.  People silenced by social media, by their employers, and by new executive orders that are effective not only in current and present silencing, but in creating a fear that essentially works to silence the potential of future speech opposing Left views.  Again, we are reminded of Stalinist Russia where those who spoke out against the Soviet plan were threatened and harassed, sometimes beaten and arrested, expelled or put to death.  While we may not have gone as far as Great Terror Russia, the current silencing/censoring/cancelling from the political Left and its symbiotic partners serves to quash those who might otherwise speak out.

This instilling of fear is further amplified by such things as the recent Bank of America data share in which it provided the government with the names of ANYONE who, from their banking records, showed they were in DC on or around Jan. 6.  When the federal authorities asked, Bank of America turned over the results of its internal scan to federal authorities.  The profile requested and provided included: "1. Customers confirmed as transacting, either through bank account debit card or credit card purchases in Washington, D.C. between 1/5 and 1/6. 2. Purchases made for Hotel/Airbnb RSVPs in DC, VA, and MD after 1/6. 3. Any purchase of weapons or at a weapons-related merchant between 1/7 and their upcoming suspected stay in D.C. area around Inauguration Day. 4. Airline related purchases since 1/6."

That is, if you were visiting your mother and used your BOA card to buy a coffee and bagel on the morning of Jan. 6 you were reported to the feds by BOA, and they felt no restraints about their ability to call you in and question you as if you were a terrorist.   BOA apparently did not notify its customers they were being spied upon.  And indeed, people who had done nothing wrong other than being in DC on the 6^th were called in and interrogated before being cleared. 

If this does not give you the sense of some sort of a police state, then let me suggest that you also look at the militarized encampment that our capitol has become; an encampment not to protect the people, but to keep them from their government.

There are of course the many international proclamations and orders that have been made by President Biden, all with little thought or even time for consideration.  They are either simply a spiteful reversal of Trump policies, regardless of the pros or cons of those policies, or they are a response to Leftist demands that must be met immediately because they address some alleged “crisis” either of environment or immigration.  Yet even a cursory review of many of these actions by independent experts reveal that their long-term effects will be anything but good.

And, finally, let me mention the Time article that sets forth the collusion between politicians, big Tech and big Corporations to ensure the outcome of the election to be against Trump.  The article brags that this action was heroic because these people took it upon themselves to adjust the will of the people to ensure an outcome that they, not necessarily the people, favored.  And let me just suggest that any dictator similarly sees as heroic any actions that ensure his retention of power regardless of their suppression of the will of the people.

So, no, I am not watching the political theater.  I am hoping that it may finally assuage the irrational if not psychotic Trump-hatred, but I am pretty sure it will not.  I would rather reflect upon the above and many similar activities that the Left engages in right before our eyes.  My reflections include not only how they are destroying the good of this country, but also how to open the eyes of my fellow citizens to what is going on in this comedy that is really a tragedy for America.