America the Wise

In 2016 we the people voted for borders. The elite mocked us for this suggesting that our motive was small-minded, intolerant and hateful.

We the people, in turn, called them on this name-calling with a stark denial that small-mindedness and "hate" had, for most of us, anything at all to do with it.  -That our actual reasons were a mix of simple practicality along with the desire to preserve our nation's unique qualities and culture. -One based on personal liberty and individual responsibility.

Oddly the age-old concept of a 'gated nation' was resisted and ridiculed by people who themselves often chose to live in gated communities -- but none-the-less we the people had it our way, electing a man who shared our values and had the strength and wisdom required to make those shared values the controlling principles in both the law and the land.

This resulted in, not a diminishment, but an increase in the volume of the ridicule -- both for our elected president and for we who elected him.  -Not just here in America, but in many nations abroad -- especially the border removers that make up the controlling bureaucracy of the European Union.
Then came, yes! the coronavirus. And with its coming little by little everything started to change.
President Trump had cut off traffic first from China -- the coronavirus' initial source and center -- then from other nations to where it had moved as an uninvited migrant.

Only now -- better late than never for sure, but very late none-the-less -- are the world's other nations starting to emulate the wisdom of our president and of the people of our nation, and close off their own borders. They are doing so begrudgingly and often hypocritically -- this as they deny their own actions and continue with their anti-border rhetoric.  But closing their borders they are. By necessity. Knowing that doing so is, in reality, a matter of life and death.

America, be glad of your own actions. For because of them you have bought yourself time.

America, be proud of your people -- for they once again showed themselves wiser than the world's "kings".

America, continue to trust in your founding principles. And to see Divine wisdom in what you have, by His grace, been allowed to become.

America, stand tall! Stand proud! Remain strong!

And let us do so standing together.

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Adding Light to Some Likely Dark Days

Its oft said that the world today is smaller than it used to be.  Modern travel and communication make it so. And this, note, was being said even in the days of 'just' radio and three-network TV.

If radio and TV made the world "smaller," then today's world must be seen as micro-miniaturized. For today we can (and do) talk and communicate around the world, in pretty much real-time, more easily than granny and grampa did across the room.

There's a cost to this, however. A real one. And it is to our peace of mind.  No small thing. For the fact is that relatively few people today seem to be able to stay positive.

"The whole reason people read the papers is to hear about other people's problems."  -That's a quote (as remembered) from the 1954 film "Hobson's Choice."  And if back in 1954 that rang true -- and it did -- how much more such is true today when people seem to have far fewer positive things to fill their lives.

Having one 'crabby' friend or relative always seemed to be every person's fate, but being surrounded by such can be, and for many people is, tiresome.   And today such 'crabby people' seem to be almost coming out of the woodwork.

If you try to stay positive and hopeful you will often be told that you are naive. That you are "foolish" or "easily mislead."  Try to actually counter the nay-sayers and you may well find yourself under direct attack.

And if all this negativity were only about small matters such would be sad and bad enough. But today negativity is for many a total, almost all-encompassing, point of view. It is how such view the entire world around them. And if you do not go along with that, If you dare to see the good or, worse from their point of view, see an upside in anything, you yourself will often become the target of their nay-saying.

Is there a defense against this depressing negativity?  Yes, there is. And it is threefold.

First, we must search for all the facts on the subjects we choose, or feel forced, to focus upon.  Nay-sayers tend to only find and believe the negatives. The bad. The wearying. Bright spots -- and there almost always are some such -- are either darkened or totally denied.

We need not join in that.  If we see something positive we can (and should!) say it.  Fearlessly.

No, not with undue exaggeration, but honestly.  For it, too -- the positive --  is a part of the story. Often a big, if neglected, part.

Two, learn to laugh at life's ill twists and turns.

The best humor often is just that -- wry humor.  Humor discovered in otherwise dark things. Indeed some of the world's most historically oppressed peoples credit their community's developed sense of humor as the key, not just to their joint survival, but to a greater than typical ability to find joy in life.

We can do that too.

And three, we can choose friends and associates who choose to do the same.  Limit the negativity. Deny others the opportunity to drum such endlessly into our heads until our joy in life, too -- like their's -- disappears.

This includes the media, certainly. Today's Harpies of Horror. But others, too, closer to home.

That old "friend" for instance -- he or she who sometimes leave us wondering how they ever came to be seen as a "friend." Those that never have a good thing to say about anything, and who themselves gravitate to, and sit at the feet of, all the sponsors of, and spokespeople for, negativity.

Right now, especially, all the above is of added importance. This because some genuinely dark days may be ahead.  And many of us, even if we are not as greatly impacted as some others may be, may find ourselves in a sort of 'soft lockdown.' Limited to our home with the only break to our boredom and concerns being available from 'out there' in the ether.  -The home of the Dark People. Those without hope or light.

If so, let us choose carefully. And to the extent that we can be so, let us each be a light in a dark time. Being so ourselves, and seeking out others who we sense themselves need such light.

In short, let us be true friends to one another. Adders to, not diminishers of, each other's hope and happiness.

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Elizabeth Warren. Out TG! (And, no, not at all because she is a "strong" woman)

Particularly upon the collapse of Elizabeth Warren's campaign we started to (again) hear that the real problem for her was a supposed society-wide misogyny -- a dislike for women. Or at least, we are being told, for smart and bold women. For women who "do not know their place."

I say that is total bunk. I absolutely loathed Liz Warren. The thought of her having any power over any human being was enough to make me shudder. But such was hardly because of her being a 'she.'

The truth is I have always preferred women with strong personalities coupled with high intelligence and a deep independent streak. -That just as I prefer those qualities in men. And while I make no claim that such a 'liking' is universal, I'd say that it is very common, and more so now in America than at any time I can think of in the past.

At risk of offending... The dull like the dull. The fearful and weak prefer their own kind -- or to feel protected by a supposed 'daddy' or 'mommy' type figure. Or to have a polite, even-keeled, totally non-threatening person of either gender over them.

And it's that last phrase that to me really represents the fulcrum here: That of having someone 'over' us.

Some want that. Others don't. America traditionally has not. Neither to order us about OR to protect us from the risks that naturally come with living our own lives.

For me? Doing the later -- living my own life in my own way -- has always been what I suppose one could call "A#1." And doing that with a strong, thinking, independent woman at my side is -- and has been -- to me the ideal.

The thought of doing so with Elizabeth Warren at my side would be horrifying. And in this I think I am far from alone.

And thus (Thank God!) we saw her failed campaign.

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