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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What Really Accounts for Our National Greatness?

The genesis of this nation -- what became the United States of America -- was the putting into governing practice a wonderfully startling idea: That "greatness" in a man was attached to what he (or she) made of themselves, not something dependent on their conditions at birth.

Our first President was known for his genuine nobility -- an actual character of honesty, humility and strength. Our oft-considered greatest President, Abraham Lincoln -- a man born in what today would be seen as intolerable poverty -- for his intelligence, thoughtfulness and hard-won learning. Our greatest early spokesman to the world, Benjamin Franklin, was a self-made man known for his thoughtful view of life and his original scientific thinking. -All this at a time when the commonly held idea of "nobility" -- one held throughout Europe and Asia -- was simply a "good" birth, wealth and fancy clothes with little or no thought to honor, intelligence, moral integrity or accomplishment.

And yet who are we as a people and a nation more like today? Which society?

What place has "honor" "honesty" "integrity" "intelligence" "originality" "accomplishment" in our scheme of things?

We accept as normal having candidates for public office who outright lie to the people. We hang on the words of people who have no accomplishments apart from birth, wealth, physical attractiveness and fancy belongings. We sneer at actual accomplished except in a few, narrow, fields of endeavor.

If we want to again enjoy the rich lives of our predecessors during the times of America's earlier "greatness" we must first as a people recognize what made that America great to start with. -We must strive for and emulate those things: Honor, honesty, intelligence, originality and genuine accomplishment. For some time we as a people have largely denied that such things exist or ever really existed. And some still do.

It is time for this to change.  This is another key area in which we as a nation must return to our roots.

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The Needed "Cleansing" of our Republic

These day's most of us do relatively little Bible quoting. But there are times when a certain verse, or a series of verses, comes to one's mind. -As do these words spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:

"They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace." (Jer. 6:14)

In context, with side notes, the Berean Study Bible puts it this way: “For from the least of them to the greatest, all are greedy for gain. From prophet to priest, all practice deceit. They have dressed the wound of My people with very little care, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace at all. Were they ashamed of the abomination they committed? No, they were not at all ashamed; they did not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; when I punish them, they will collapse,” says the LORD."

I'd not speak for the God of the Bible as to how he will act -- or is acting -- re what is happening in our republic, "one nation under God." That's His business both as to his acts, and who he might assign to speak and act on His behalf. But that text quoted above does do something else: It allows for a rather different approach than the "oh, let's all be friends!" pieties we so often hear today when hurt is done to a free people. -Pious nonsense such is, in part, because it only goes one way. The hurters call for it when their hurting is done. "Mercy! Mercy!" they then (and only then) call out.

Solomon spoke to this unfortunate reality with these words: There is "a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace."

So, yes, mercy and kindness and goodness and forgiveness all have a part, and all have their time -- for such will eventually bring healing. But it is equally so that such sometimes need to be placed 'on hold'. That first the festering wounds must be cleaned. For only then can a true healing take place.

What does that mean in practical terms for you and me? What does this mean for our leaders who truly do want to see a healing?

That this may not yet be the time for quietude, or gentleness -- or even (quite yet) forgiveness. -That first 'the money changers' need be driven from the temple. That a cleansing of the offices of government must first take place.

No, not a pogrom. Not a French style retribution with gallows and guillotine. But a removal from any position in government that would allow such people to continue to do harm to the many.

That perhaps too much latitude has been given to those attached to the old regime who were allowed to remain in places of trust.

When such has been revealed -- when such has been determined -- it is time for them to go.

As did President Trump in recent days with the Vindman brothers.

No, such is not "retaliation." It is a necessary cleansing. A necessary prelude to a healing.

I say that the removal of these men from their offices and responsibilities should not be the end, but merely the beginning. -That of removing the 'unhealthy tissue,' the diseased and corrupted flesh. That the cleansing of the people should not be done, as Jeremiah said, "lightly," but with thoroughness, vigor and strength.

Mercy and kindness will have thier time and place too. Yes. But first this.

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Ah, California! - A lesson for the rest of us

In California thieving is officially okay.
No, no, they won't say it is. But it is nonetheless. For if what a person steals is worth less than nine hundred and fifty bucks it goes pretty much unpunished. Maybe there'll be a fine. Usually not even that. Thieves like this. The victims of the thefts usually not so much.
This past week a young couple who had just a few months back moved into a new home in the small city of Visalia, CA, were arrested. That for doing something that the state of California's legal codes still sees as a no-no and punishes. They beat several thieves up with a baseball bat.
Having been the victims of theft their very first night in the community, and then again the next, and then again and again, they decided to do something about it. They placed an unchained down bicycle in their yard and then they lay in wait.
When a thief appeared -- as they knew one would -- they jumped out of hiding and beat him with that bat. Then they did the same thing again and again, night after night. And each time they made a video of their actions and posted it on YouTube.Earlier this week that couple were arrested and charged with assault with a deadly weapon and conspiracy.
None of the thieves were arrested. That, the police say, was because the couple never made an official report of the crimes.
Is there a lesson in this? Yes, I think there is.
Laws, at least in theory, are put into place to protect the law abiding from the criminal. Such allows the non-criminal to go on with their lives safe in the knowledge that The State is looking out for them.
When a state does what California has done, and that other states are today doing -- it allows theft to go unpunished while tightening the 'screws' in one way after another on the law abiding -- "law" in its customary sense is turned upside down.
The results of doing this are what we see above.
Who, as you read that story above, did your heart naturally root for? The homeowners? Or the thieves?
Yeah, me too.
Ah, California!

Why I More and More Support our President

Some people love President Trump. Others, with equal passion, despise him.

As anyone who follows me here on Facebook, or reads my pieces for American Thinker knows, I am in the first camp. And I'll add, increasingly so.

But in many cases this is not primarily for the reason of some others who feel just a strongly as I do about the excellence of America's president.

Trump arouses strong feelings both ways for TWO very different reasons.

The first of these is style. And there Trump is truly unique.

American presidents are supposed to represent the American people. But the commonly accepted assumption is that they are not supposed to do so with a common person's style. -There they are to emulate the elite few. Carefully chosen and articulated words. Somber pontification.

Yes, exceptions for this have been allowed. The Clintons, for instance (Both Bill and his "co-president" Hillary) could, with little negative comment from the inteligencia, drop their 'g's when speaking to less educated whites, or pick up the most frankly absurd fake accents when speaking to American blacks. But to actually, on a day-to-day basis, speak to Americans as they daily speak to one another -- this was seen as verboten.

The "why" of this is not hard to fathom when one realizes that the nation's self-seen elites see this nation as theirs, and the presidency naturally their's as well. To them the so-called "common man" is an ignoramus. Someone to just put up with. And to the extent possible simply ignore.

Getting back to myself I enjoy seeing and hearing the president talk as he does. But this mostly -- frankly! -- because its fun to see someone willing to be themselves, and to see them give the proverbial 'bird' to our know betters.

In truth I tend to speak more like those hated "elites." What can I say? I do. My career was at a Harvard institution, working day by day with professors and instructors there. And there I felt, at least speech-style wise, right at home.

Some people like to be excited by crowds and rallies. Such is human nature. And the President's enthusiasm for the same appeals to many greatly.

I'm glad for it -- We the (everyday) People being led and encouraged by one of our own -- but, again frankly, I don't like crowds. And I'm not a large group person.

I'm a once New Yorker who never cheered on the Yankees, and a once Bostonian who never ever cheered for the Patriots football team.

No, nor for their competition.

Cheering and crowds just aren't my thing.

My respect for President Trump and my connection to him is based on another reason entirely. -One that, again, many hate him for. That is his willingness to think things afresh. To accept what is so over what is supposedly so, or (worse) what people wish was so, know is not, but haven't the courage to admit to being a fiction or even an intentional lie.

This was so for the economy. For the damage done by the paper philosophy of "free trade." For the bolloxed numbers that made such appear to create general wealth, when in fact it only enriched the few, and that at great cost to the many.

About whom government largely serves -- its own. And that being especially so for the nation's Party systems. That the people are to them just cattle. Or worse, sheep -- to be fleeced.

About the truth of the importance of military strength. That "niceness" itself doesn't cut it. And that weakness makes one food or fodder for the strong.

About who are peacemakers and who are predators. Especially in the Middle East.

About real science vs fake.

About real families and their importance, instead of lets pretend families that are dependent on the states -- the work of others -- for their very survival. And who too often through poor parenting make once livable communities hell holes that make honest men and women flee or hunker down behind locked doors and gated windows.

President Trump not only speaks to such things, but he acts according to them. And by as possible making our government do the same he empowers and uplifts right minded Americans of every class and group. Yes, and unites us as a people.

Maybe it is the last of these things that makes some people hate him the most. For a united America will never follow those whose powers are based on division, nor will workers follow those who wish to enrich themselves by taking and promising to others what those workers have worked hard to earn and/or create.

In short for me it is not President Trump's style that makes me support him so strongly. That I just quietly enjoy with some amusement. But it is his *doings* that make me support him so. The dreams he is allowing the people to awaken and dream once again. Personal dreams. Dreams of a good society where all can equally prosper according to their own work and natural talent.

Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

His support for that America. The one I love.

"Allez vous faire foutre"

About a year and a half ago, when our president withdrew the United States from the Paris Accords/Climate Change agreement, France's president, Emmanuel Macron, promised that “France will not give up the fight.” And he invited American "scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, responsible citizens who were disappointed by the decision of the president of the United States" to come to France where they would find a "second homeland."

I expect the number who did that was roughly equivalent to the number of Hollywood types, who after promising to do so, actually kept their promise and moved to Canada.

Now, a year and a half later, the people of France are expressing *their* opinion on this and a whole bunch of other, not unrelated, subjects. And they are expressing those opinions loudly enough that French President Macron felt the need to send 8,000 policemen (along with armored vehicles) to Paris to quell both their complaints and the complainers themselves. And at the same time to pretty much close down the French capital's more upscale business and shopping areas as well as that famed city's tourist attractions.

President Trump, as is his way, has not remained quiet about about all this. But French President Macron has.

The later's "quiet", however, has not been complete. There are people who he has been speaking to.

Whom?

France's business leaders. France's big union leaders. And that nation's politicians.

Tonight though, after a week of nearly complete public silence, President Macron plans to address the French people.

There are several points to all the above that are worth taking note of.

First, the "who"s in all of this. As in who is on whose side.

Doing so we'll see that in France it is pretty much the same as it is with us here.

On one side are the business leaders -- the internationalist 'big wigs' -- along with the leaders of the major unions, and of course, there as here, the politicians. And these are all strongly supported by pretty much all the major media.

On the other side, both there and here, are the common people. The nobodies. Those who have been pushed out, and pushed about, and told to -- and fully expected to -- just remain silent and accept things as they are.

All, of course, for (as we have been endlessly told) "the people's own good."

For a long time all that was heard from the people of France was... silence.

But no longer. Today the average working Frenchman has begun to speak. To give an answer. And that answer is pretty much always the same.

"Allez vous faire foutre."

Roughly translated into English that means...

"Screw you."

We might wonder, though. Are the above "facts" really, as in my introductory expression, "fun" facts?

The answer is both "yes" and "no."

Rebellion, in truth, is often as ugly as the things done to raise it. And the battle of words -- what most of us still prefer -- can, and sometimes does, turn to something uglier: Violence and the destruction of property.

Those things are certainly not fun.

But it has also been observed -- and this throughout history -- that that the end result of even such violence is often in the long run greater peace, along with greater life opportunities for a greater number of people.

The battle in France has now taken that turn. Or begun to. It is"on the streets."

So far, here in the USA, it is still mostly in our homes. In softly spoken words. In humorous expressions.

These next several months, though, promise to be interesting. Very interesting.

Here, as in France, the powers that be are retrenching. International business interests and politicians are even vocally uniting against the people, and against the man we elected to do OUR will. The will of "we the people."

We are expected to be silent. We are pressured to be the same.

Unpopular truths are not to be spoken.

We -- the common man -- the "nobodies" -- are ridiculed. We are called names. We are made to feel alone. Outcasts.

But many of us wear that as a badge. As a thing of honor.

We "deplorables."

We who really have the power. If only we know it and are willing to bear it.

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