Not To Minimize

Relative to my previous comments know I am disappointed the rogue IRS still gets $70 million and the student loan forgiveness is nothing more than a gift to wealthy taxpayers who allowed their dim-witted children to major in such unmarketable subjects as gender studies, film, art history and performance art. Seriously, let’s spend $240,000 to qualify for a job that pays $30K a year. Genius. Not only that, but what an affront to lower income students who chose the military or trade school rather than amass a lifetime of debt so they could party for four years at a swanky private school. And what about their parents’ generation who diligently paid off their debt, sacrificing home purchases, cars, and sometimes children until they could afford it. It’s insulting and outright pandering for votes. I get it! But again we did make some significant progress in debt reduction going forward.

Amid The Smoke and Mirrors

As I see it, it once again the GOP emerges from debt ceiling negotiations with some token spending cut promises. Left intact are student loan forgiveness and of course, the golden goose, Medicaid.  Although touted as a win, McCarty succeeded in knocking only $10 million off the proposed gift of $80 million to the IRS. That’s 12.5 percent. So the IRS can continue to be weaponized against working Americans while over 50% pay no taxes at all. That “pay their fair share” slogan seems to be reliant on some very fuzzy math. OK, I’ll give the GOP a marginal win in that the Dems didn’t get all that they wanted, and the proposed return of funding for federal agencies to fiscal 2022 levels, while limiting the growth in spending to 1% per year is a step in the right direction. 

Diabolical

It appears the Democrat plan for the ‘24 election is in a Biden-Trump rematch, employ the same tactics that worked before, hide the candidate, count on the machine they have constructed with vote by mail, vote by proxy, and ballot harvesting that they think they have the numbers to pull it off. And why shouldn't they with the sheer volume of people that pay no taxes, that are on some form of government assistance, or have something to gain from this administration, it gives one pause in this era of self-indulgence over national prosperity that they can succeed, yet again

An Inconvenient Circumstance

The profoundly compromised mayor of NYC Eric Adams, attempted to bus migrants to the sanctuary city of Salina, a suburb north of Syracuse, in upstate NY. Interesting that he is appalled when border states do it, but it’s a different matter when he essentially does the same thing. Apparently, they were to be housed in a Ramada airport hotel, and current guests were asked to leave to make room for 40 families of illegal immigrants. The move comes after NYC declared that they don’t have sufficient space to house the immigrants and are seeking other municipalities in the state to share the burden. Isn’t New York City currently experiencing unprecedented vacancies in commercial office space? I’m sure an executive office suite would be a welcome improvement over a shack in Honduras. NYC, however, is still required to pay for the food, laundry, shelter, security, and case workers for the immigrants, and it appears that the hotel may have cut a deal without the knowledge of the Salina town supervisor. In response, the adjacent county of Onondaga as well as two other upstate counties, obtained a temporary restraining order to prevent the transfer. Stay tuned. My, isn’t virtue signaling much easier when the southern border is thousands of miles away but rather inconvenient when the problem arrives on your doorstep? Like, say, Martha’s Vineyard, for example. So, in essence, New York City taxpayers are willing to pay for the care and feeding of migrants as long as it takes place elsewhere. Yet another classic case of “not in my backyard” and Democrat hypocrisy. And let’s see how long the deep blue voters in Manhattan tolerate this tax burden. And, incidentally, those NYC taxpayers are getting fewer by the minute in their mass exodus from the Big Apple.

Bewildered

I'm baffled as to why are major corporations, institutions of learning, the military, and politicians are promoting the gender bender’s causes with such fervor and vitriol. Certainly not for commercial reasons, to correct social mistreatment, garner votes, or recruitment; their numbers are just too small. What then? And I can understand  Disney, in the entertainment industry, where they have to cater to their employees, actors, and cast members at their parks who are disproportionately LGBTQ to some appropriate degree. But Annheuser-Busch; Target?  What were they thinking? The alphabet soup community apparently is not content with attaining a tolerance status from conservatives who have a “live and let live” perspective on their issues with which they clearly disagree. Rather, the majority see themselves as activists who will not be satisfied until they are viewed as normal, their lifestyle a mainstream choice.  They only seem content when they not only have achieved something for themselves, but have taken something away from conservatives, particularly the religious right. 

CCN Town Hall Aftermath

How about this slant: CNN has been criticized for hosting the Trump Town Hall in which the former president had his way with the inexperienced moderator Kaitlan Collins who was unprepared to go toe-to-toe with Trump in his natural habitat? You remember me texting about this a few days back. In the aftermath, Trump’s popularity has soared, and he is currently trouncing all of his potential primary opposition candidates, as well as Biden, in the polls. CNN may have provided Trump with a good platform, but amid their network ratings plummeting since he left office, the best lifeline that CNN could be thrown is, at the least, a Trump candidacy. But conceivably, the best opportunity to restore their ratings to former glory would be a Trump presidency.  How about the irony of that? 

A Point Well Made

Sebastian Gorka, he of the booming voice and Relief Factor plugs, and former assistant to President Trump, made an interesting point this morning. Donald Trump, through all his faults, is the only candidate who can right the ship. His premise is that Biden will only continue with the status quo and perhaps spiral even further into progressive ideology and its failed policies. Any new president on either side of the political spectrum will begin campaigning for their second term on day one, and is less likely to rock the boat and more likely to continue pacifying deep state government agencies to curry favor. Trump is the only one capable of doing what is required, and that is dismantling these entrenched government bureaucracies that reek of corruption. He has no party apparatus that he is beholden to and constitutionally cannot seek another term. As more information leaks out of the Durham probe, it is apparent that the FBI has been acting as a secret police arm of the Democrat party and has interfered in the last two elections. Whistleblowers on the left are canonized, whereas those on the right that seek to expose these deep-state actors are ruined. Internal policies of verbal communication with no paper trail have been exposed, and our  justice department has been weaponized. . And all Americans should be concerned instead of turning a blind eye towards corruption when it benefits them.

NRA

In yet another bonehead move by state legislators, on this occasion the New York and Virginia state variety,  have introduced bills to remove the National Rifle Association from their accredited lists of certified firearms instructors. With over 125000 certified instructors nationwide, the NRA has long been the gold standard for firearms instruction programs for citizens, police and even has an award-winning Eddie Eagle” program to teach young children the importance of gun safety, specifically what to do if they encounter a firearm at home or in the hands of friends and classmates. Sure, let’s continue to allow video games, television, and movies to promote irresponsible gun violence but at the same time eliminate real-world instruction on how to safely handle a firearm. This in a country that has roughly 120 firearms per 100 citizens. Duh. And what do they propose to fill the instruction void?  The state of course. All firearms training will fall under the purview of the state. Isn’t that reassuring? I’m from the government and I’m here to help. Sure, that’s a great idea. But we all know the two-pronged impetus behind these measures. The first is simply another attack on the NRA as a lobbying power by eliminating a source of revenue to weaken them further as a voice for gun rights. Remind me again how many mass shooters and criminals are NRA members?  And the second prong is more government power over you by adding yet another fee to what will become mandatory firearm training and registration. I’m all for training, just not the government using it as a back door to gun registration and a source of revenue. They’ve already proposed a special gun tax, an ammunition tax, gun registration, background checks on ammunition purchases, and limitations on how much you can purchase. I recently purchased the lowly .22 caliber ammunition, hardly a threat to anything but a squirrel, and in addition to having to produce my driver's license, was asked my occupation. Intrusive, perhaps? Correct answer: None of your business. I should have responded “Illegal alien” and all would have been right with my government. Recall how exactly did a four-time deported illegal alien, who had previously been visited by law enforcement for shooting an assault rifle in his suburban backyard, obtain the gun and the ammo to murder his neighbors?  The government has already auditioned for this public safety job and they suck at it. And as if to demonstrate how far the left has to go to demonstrate that they are lacking any logic whatsoever, New Jersey expanded their list of “sensitive-places”, formerly known as “gun-free zones” to virtually everywhere in an attempt to prevent permit holders from carrying concealed weapons. Surely the criminal element will adhere to these rules as well, seeing as shopping malls, one of the most popular destinations for deranged mass murderers, is on the list. As if anyone with a concealed carry permit has committed any mass shootings. In fact, statistics show that registered concealed carry permit holders are less likely to commit crimes, less than that of police officers. Isn’t that an inconvenient fact? Apparently recent life-saving interventions by citizens carrying concealed weapons in thwarting active shooter events goes against the narrative and must be stopped. We can’t have that. Perhaps we need to institute a common sense examination for all elected officials. From imposing laws more restrictive for tattoos than disfiguring permanent “gender-affirming” surgery for minors without parental consent, to open border policies allowing unskilled mostly male immigrants to flood into the country and strain our social services to feel-good restrictions on the rights of law-abiding citizens that leave us helpless against the criminal element, the news is chock full of illogical government actions that leave us, the suffering taxpayer, scratching our heads.

When Will It Stop

Perusing the news, you'd have to conclude only in our brand of democracy could all this strife and chaos come to pass, where deviants, malcontents, anarchist, racists, and their derivatives, protected by our constitution are allowed to act out their agendas. The result when enough of them reach critical mass, our surviving law-abiding citizens, our patriots, will be punished and marginalized. Our detractors are steadily reaching that critical mass and our democracy is wavering on the brink. The great American Experiment is about to be rendered untenable. And we, the people, are the perpetrators through our elected officials; we have defiled our constitution, demeaned our founders, and forsaken our birthright in malice and complacency. And further pushed by a compliant media who should know better. None of these detractors should have been given a public forum, let alone glorified by the mainstream media, and should have acted as a gatekeeper. Instead, it’s all about clickbait, advertising revenue, and pushing an agenda that remains unfathomable. When the republic falls, when the second amendment is abolished, they will then come after the first amendment. Look at Serbia most recently. After experiencing  US-style mass shootings, the populace rolled over and allowed what the nexus is playing as a gun turn-in, but if you read closely it is an outright confiscation. No voluntary turn-in carries the weight of government prosecution. And on the heels of disarmament comes the threat of home invasion without warrant and intrusions into privacy. Never give a government that kind of power. It never ends well. Shame on us!

Tainted Journalism

Hilarious watching the supposedly impartial media squirm when the narrative doesn't go their way. Christine Amanpour, CNN’s chief international anchor, expressed her views on the recent Trump Town Hall broadcast on her network. “ I would have dropped the mic at “nasty person” she said at a commencement speech at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Bravo, Christine, way to set an example. So basically you’re telling these budding journalists to follow your lead and when an interview gets heated, call it quits and head for the exit. She elaborated: “We know Trump and his tendencies, everybody does, he just seizes the stage and dominates .”  If you knew your subject so well and you are supposed to be a professional journalist, what you’re telling me is that you were basically unprepared for the onslaught. As you recall Kaitlan Collins was eviscerated by Trump, showing her inexperience in trying to play “gotcha” journalism with a seasoned campaigner in his element. And furthermore, Ms. Collins repeatedly interrupted Trump, attempting to steer the Town Hall in the direction of controversy, and in being adversarial, incurred his wrath, thus the nasty person comment. It was a Town Hall format where the questions come from the audience who are there to hear the candidate’s response.  It is not an interview format where the moderator gets to interject their own political agenda. Moderator not interviewer. Ms. Collins was trolling for a sound bite to make a name for herself and paid the price for her inexperience by being eaten alive by a formidable opponent. And Amanpour would have done no better, evidenced by her criticism of allowing Trump a forum. Her solution?  “Revert back to the newspaper editors and TV chiefs of the 1950s” and impose censorship. So much for journalism. 

Sad State Of Affairs

WSJ again yesterday: article interviewing youth voters regarding Biden’s prospects for a second term. “Too old” is the oft-repeated mantra, and this comes from a demographic that has been found to be only 29% politically astute. But the Democrat plan is working. The most often cited reasons for returning Biden to office are: abortion issues, LGBTQ rights, and student loan forgiveness. Democrats are pandering to a generation concerned mostly about themselves, and they need to be taught what responsibility means rather than fostering dependence. Progressivism is apparently all about sex and cash. Sorry, but your inability to carve out a living wage from your choice of college major in gender studies in addition to your sexual exploits, orientation, and proclivities should not be a concern of the taxpayers footing the bill. Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has proposed raising the voting age unless those under the age of 21 can pass a citizenship test or have served in the military or as a first responder. Although wildly unpopular with the left, for it targets their voter base the youth, who have no skin in the game, but are more than willing to reap the benefits. A sad, disappointing bunch they are.

Democrat Bench

Did you see the poll that asked Democrats who their choice would be if Biden was unable to run for a second term?  Coming in at number 3, that tired old warhorse Hillary Clinton, despite favorability ratings nearly as low as Biden’s 36%, falling 10% after her loss to Trump. A surprising second place was awarded to the master of the word salad, none other than Kamala Harris. Really? She too is sporting favorability ratings even lower than Biden’s. And at number one, she of the toned arms, the K-mart wardrobe, the vegetable garden planted in the White House leach field, the never before proud of America, former University of Chicago diversity officer: Michelle Obama. Apparently, her favorability ratings are hovering around 68%. And her qualifications for the position are…..please remind me. Seriously. That’s the best the Democrat Party can muster? 

Remember When

Remember when people who went to church, those who practiced their faith, folks once thought to be religious, or perhaps even devout?  They were pillars of the community, generally conservative, with strong family ties. And you do remember religion, regardless of denomination, that taught you discipline, morals, ethics, and a sense of belonging to something bigger than you?  Remember the Ten Commandments? Well, Politico doesn’t. They were practically giddy in reporting how an 11%  reduction in Americans associating with religion, particularly in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin, states “essential to the democrat firewall for 2024” was “good for the party”. Simply put: they equated being less religious with being more Democrat. Gains were also reported in suburban white enclaves where religion is “fading in size and importance”.  And we wonder why suburban white kids are so depressed, having lost their religious anchor in a torrid sea of gender confusion, white guilt, CRT, and easy access to weed. Like, what are your pronouns, dude? Bravo, isn’t that something to be proud of? So in essence, when conservatives consider the left to be a hoard of godless heathens, they have been right all along. And shouldn’t that cast a pall over the left’s progressive policies? To make matters worse for the woke, statistics show that regions that became more religious tended to become more Republican. So if you follow the transitive property of progressivism, if God is good, and people that believe in God are Republicans, then Republicans are good. Therefore……well, you know the rest. 

Biden At Howard Commencement

And you wonder why college students are committing suicide in record numbers. Witness NC State’s suicide rate. If we Covid-cloister our children, tell them they are inherently racist, preach to them that they carry white guilt, tell them climate change is an existential crisis, confuse them as to their gender identity, allow drug culture to thrive, show them that merit and hard work are trumped by the color of your skin, and their job prospects are dim, it’s not surprising that we have record levels of depression and anxiety. We are irreparably damaging  entire generations.

Welfare Gone Awry

In the Wall Street Journal last week, Senator Marco Rubio wrote an editorial critical of SNAP recipients’ ability to purchase sugary soda and junk food using their benefit cards. Recall SNAP is an acronym for the government’s supplemental nutrition assistance program, a much less stigmatizing name for what was formerly known as “food stamps.” And like every other handout in this country, we want to make it easier and less embarrassing to suck off the government teat by sending out prepaid cards and calling it something other than what it is: public welfare. But I digress. In the letters section of the editorial page, the Journal provoked the ire of the lefties who wrote in to take offense to Senator Rubio suggesting that the government should be able to tell the poor what to eat. “Who does he think he is?” was the indignant response from one blue state-dwelling socialist. Allow me to intervene. America has the fattest poor people in the world. Anyone who suspects that giving the poor free access to a supermarket will suddenly result in healthy food choices is probably the same idiot that thought free access to Obamacare would result in a rush to preventative healthcare services and improved health outlooks. Nope. They still buy Mountain Dew to wash down their ding-dongs just as they continue to use the ER as their primary care physician. As Forrest Gump’s mother said: “stupid is as stupid does.” Access does not equate to education, people. Or in other words, throwing money at it will not solve the problem.  Witness public school expenditure, for example. So back to Rubio, and for you progressives out there, try to follow the logic. if we, the tax-paying public, are paying the tab for your food choices, and your food choices are resulting in obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and a host of other ailments that will require medical attention, we are also paying for your medical care, then shouldn’t we be responsible for managing your health?  And if you don’t like it, then please feel free to drop out of the program. Interestingly, the left wants government to be a nanny state and have its hand in every facet of your lives, but when we talk about managing your diet, suddenly it’s all about freedom, baby. Where is the nutrition guru Michelle Obama on this issue? It’s nonsense. This is a combination of simple economics and motherly advice. If you’re going to make me pay for your meal, then you eat what I tell you, because it’s good for you. And I would rather not pay for your insulin or your cardiac bypass. And you may recall when Arizona attempted some years ago at tying drug use to state benefits. Fail your toxicology screen and no check.  That proposal met with similar outrage. This makes you wonder, maybe not you on the left, but at least those of you capable of stringing a few neurons together: what is the purpose of these social programs?  Is it for the betterment of the poor, or is it to foster dependency on the government to guarantee a self-perpetuating bureaucracy?  

Collins Trumped

Watching liberal talking heads explode after Trump skewered the barely post-pubescent and woefully unprepared Kaitlan Collins on the CNN Town Hall has been more than entertaining. Speaking of which, wasn’t Ms. Collins hosting an entertainment segment for the Daily Caller not too long ago?  CNN really needs a deeper bench. Apparently, she took a page from the Katy Couric handbook and attempted to buttonhole Trump at an inopportune moment in the Oval Office during the Trump administration and after suffering backlash from the White House, was promptly recruited by Zucker to CNN where she appeared on the Morning Show with none other than Don Lemon. The lefties just love a turncoat. But other networks featured their own unlikable personalities such as Morning Joe, the laughably leftist know-nothing, and the phenomenally abrasive Joy Behar who both seemed on the verge of mental breakdown in expressing their outrage over CNN giving Trump a prime-time TV spot to do what he does best: extemporaneously swat away partisan attacks. No teleprompter, no screened questions, no notes, in direct counterpoint to the bumbling Joe Biden performances. And don’t even get me started about Kamala Harris and her propensity for concocting word salads. But the aforementioned Joe and Joy actually had the temerity to suggest that allowing Trump to speak was somehow anti-democracy and bad for America. And these claims despite Ms. Collins repeatedly interrupting Trump, and even the post-debate analysts attacking conservative Representative Byron Donalds when they heard opinions contrary to their own partisan narratives. Interesting definition of democracy. What has happened to America when the leading presidential candidate for the GOP is attacked and his free speech is threatened with censure by the mainstream media? If he is so toxic, allow him to speak and let the voters decide. But to even suggest that silencing a presidential candidate is somehow in keeping with the constitutional guidelines set forth for our democratic republic shows just how far we have strayed.

What's Going On Here

In just getting around to reading Wednesday’s Wall Street Journal, their token liberal columnist William Galston squawked: “GOP Should Yield on the Debt Ceiling”. Why is that? The risk, of course, is default, which poses dire consequences for the economy if the Treasury runs out of funds and is “unable to meet their obligations fully.”  Bad things will happen, like downgrading the US bond rating, raising interest rates, and delaying payments to social security recipients and the military. “Serious, perhaps catastrophic”, “driving off the fiscal cliff”, and “probably plunging the US into recession”.  Yadayadayada. Mr. Galston believes that the rift between the two parties is “too deep to resolve between now and June” and proposes suspending the debt ceiling until September, kicking the can down the road, as is typical of these negotiations. He also states that everything will be fine because “Biden has said that he’s willing to discuss fiscal policy as part of the budget negotiations” separate and apart from a discussion on the debt ceiling. Sure he will. Give me what I want and maybe we can discuss concessions later. Uh-huh. But come on, man. If this is such an apocalyptic crisis, then why isn’t Biden willing to compromise, and offer the Republicans something in return?  After all, what they are asking for is some fiscal restraint, asking for spending cuts instead of plowing ahead with an irrational budget that got us into this mess in the first place. Remind me, how much money have we sent to Ukraine? But Biden has made it clear that he intends to make no concessions. He rambled on about all the people that won’t get their free stuff, singling out Medicaid in particular, a program rife with fraud and bloated beyond its original intent. Not a good example, but appealing to his base. And of course, he blamed Trump and the “MAGA Republicans” for causing the crisis with their tax cuts that “benefit the rich and big corporations.” Pay your fair share! Yawn. The progressives really need to come up with some new material. Perhaps something with a shred of truth to it. And someone please explain percentages to them, for God’s sake. So why is it always the job of the Republican Party to make concessions and cave to the will of the party that is actually steering the country toward economic disaster?  With millions of foreigners queuing up at the border to inject unskilled, unvaccinated, and illiterate, mostly male immigrants into a country teetering on the brink of economic catastrophe, Mr. Biden should consider what his priorities are. Or maybe he has.

And The World Turns

Interesting to listen to Megyn Kelly support Tucker Carlson over his feud with FOX. Wow, that’s getting ugly in a hurry. And then she moved on to the Trump case where he was found guilty of sexual abuse and defamation. That for all the world sounding like a hit job of epic proportions. How do you mount a defense to a crime without witnesses, police reports, evidence, or even a specific date when it allegedly occurred? And although the infamous Access Hollywood audio was played in court, we didn’t get to hear the Anderson Cooper interview where E. Jean Carroll fantasized about rape being “sexy”. And least we forget Tara Reade, who accused Biden of rape, had a case of at least equal if not more credibility than Trumps, but it was widely dismissed by democrats with Joe Biden offering a simple denial despite admitting to and apologizing for, inappropriate contact with his female staff. So it’s official, we are now a banana republic where our political enemies are persecuted by government agencies. Moving on, and then to have our mentally compromised President accuse the Trump administration of causing our debt and the MAGA Republicans of refusing to acquiesce to his plans to increase spending is just farcical. Especially given the mounting evidence that the Biden crime family has been on the take with influence peddling since his days as vice president e.g. Shell corporations, Chinese payouts, precise metering out of the spoils by percentage. Meanwhile that Democrat shill AG Merrick Garland drags his feet on the gift-wrapped Hunter Biden case in comparison to the ferocity and expediency we see with the Trump and Santos indictments.

NPD

This is a new one on me NPD, Narcissistic Personality Disorder. A trait Andrew Doyle advises in his book New Puritans as a phenomenon of this hyper-individualism age. Those surmised to be inflicted, aided, and abetted by Covid in promoting isolation and withdrawal are overwhelmed with insecurities and warped eccentricities. What was, what is, is seen by them through a filter of personal preferences and biases? Reality is what they perceive reality to be. It no longer counts for what factually it is, but what they feel it is. Left with the aid of their little devices spewing conjecture and fantasies adinfinitum to determine what is relevant and what is not. In this malaise of Self, our Millennials, and their post generations appear most inflected. 

Whistling Past The Graveyard

Economic freedom from the Heritage Foundation: US ranks 25th. Cato Institute Human Freedom Index: US ranks 23rd. Education of developed nations the US ranked 17th. Our military recruitment will fail to meet its goals in four of the six service branches. Biden wants to raise the debt ceiling once again but is adamant that he will not reduce government spending. Crime is running rampant. Our southern border is being overrun. Does anyone actually believe that our unemployment is the lowest since 1969 at 3.4 percent? You do recall that Obama changed the way we tabulate unemployment when he stopped counting people that weren’t actively seeking employment. Our workforce has diminished appreciably. All the signs are there, and we are failing to recognize them. Woe is me! Wake up people, we are circling the drain, a nation in decline. 

Suspicious

There’s one disturbing pattern that seems to be emerging with every mass shooting incident in this country that should concern us: Lack of information. We hear about the scene, the carnage. We get interviews from the terrified survivors. We hear heart-wrenching stories from the victim's families. But we are getting less and less information about the shooters. On Trey Gowdy’s slot on FOX last night he interviewed an FBI agent, a woman who might as well have had “Democrat” tattooed on her forehead, who offered no information aside from repeating that the Allen, Texas shooter was a “right-wing extremist” multiple times. That seems awfully convenient for this administration’s narrative now doesn’t it? Based on what?  Why would a Right-wing extremist randomly target a shopping mall?  Wouldn’t an abortion clinic, an immigration center, a gay pride event or a Democrat fundraiser be more appropriate to fit the media’s cartoonish whitewashing of conservative ideology? And here we are over a month after the Nashville shooting at the Christian school and we are yet to hear any information from the apparently exhaustive manifesto of the transgender shooter. Why is that? And what about the Las Vegas shooting?  We know nothing about motive, much less how this miscreant smuggled an entire armory into a Vegas hotel yet managed to evade security cameras. You remember that one, where his computer miraculously vanished from what was supposed to be a secure crime scene. And in Cleveland Texas, an illegal immigrant with four deportations was somehow able to acquire an assault-style weapon and managed to retain it even after police were called to his home previously for complaints about him shooting in his yard. And yet the response is “We have to ban guns.” Yeah, that will work seeing as law enforcement and government have so competently enforced the existing gun laws to this point. So we leave everyday Americans to fend for themselves and when they do intervene, as a former Marine did on a New York subway car, suddenly the law is applied to the letter and the Good Samaritan ends up incarcerated. It’s upside down. This country is spiraling out of control and our elected officials appear feckless in their ability to protect us. 

SCOTUS

No CBS, Sunday Morning, you’re wrong in projecting a false narrative of what the Supreme Court’s authority is. The Justices do not have the latitude to interject their personal biases in cases before them; their charge is whether or not its prosecution is consistent with the edicts of the Constitution. That speaks to their code of ethics. The criteria to be a justice is to that end. They have no authority to legislate or condone legislation. Politics has no place in SCOTUS! Although, politicians have tried to make it so to suit their political ambitions. Further on the same show Ted Koppel was out of his depth in his interview with Henry Kissinger, Kissinger’s lucidity at hundred years of age trumped Koppel’s lame attempts at political steerage. 

Morning Irritant

Again I made the mistake of listening to NPR this morning. They were interviewing a typically self-important, leftist policy wonk from American University in a department named explicitly for the study of “polarization” and “radicalization.” As we’ve discussed, if you’re a hammer, everything starts to look like a nail, and this bloviating young woman perfectly illustrates that theorem. She pontificated at length on the rise of radical far-right extremists, in particular the Proud Boys, who are now apparently responsible for everything from the “deadly insurrection” to probably being present on the grassy knoll.  No mention of Antifa violence or BLM protests, that surge of summer violence that actually did result in deaths, of course. Apparently, left-wing politics always gets a pass. But the height of absurdity occurred when this genius expressed concern about the proliferation of the Proud Boys at protests where, despite no reports of violence, she suggested that their presence itself was a threat of violence. And in listing the sites of protest, she just casually mentioned “drag readings for children,” as if protesting that inappropriate show is a crime against humanity. Enough. The culture war is at full tilt, and traditional morals and scruples are under siege by the left. And it extends all the way from the teachers union to the corporate boardroom.

Tone Deaf

Banks are teetering; the stock market is volatile, layoffs are starting, and job openings are declining; inflation remains stubborn despite rising interest rates, yet full steam ahead with the progressive agenda of tax and spending policies. And under our warped economic yardstick claiming we are at full employment despite stats showing more Americans remain on the sidelines. And our border is under assault, injecting more unskilled immigrants into the system. Simply not sustainable. The Biden Administration is tone-deaf. 

Get Real Megan

I can’t believe that Megan Rapinoe, the outspoken LGBTQ activist and, admittedly, an outstanding female soccer player, favors allowing transgender women to compete against biological females. Huh? Recall that in the confusing lexicon of alphabet-soup gender assignments, a trans-female is a biological male. It doesn’t matter how many hormones you take or how much surgery you undergo, your chromosomes are your blueprint, and you get what you get. End of discussion. Fact. But what is truly remarkable about Ms. Rapinoe’s position is that it comes after the US Women’s National Soccer Team was recently spanked 5-2 by FC Dallas, a boys under-15 club, in a tune-up scrimmage in preparation for the women’s World Cup.  In case you missed it, I said a boys under-15 club as in 15 years of age. Tell me again how there is no difference between the sexes. The loud-mouthed, lavender-haired Rapinoe has already won her share of trophies and accolades, but she is now condemning biological women athletes to a future of looking up at trans-women from the lower steps of the podium. 

AI Is Upon Us

So whether we like it or not, AI is creeping insidiously into our daily lives, particularly Chat GPT. Now having a wealth of information at your fingertips in seconds seemed like a good idea. After all, look at all the benefits we have reaped from having a smartphone constantly attached to one of our appendages. Social media, an increase in anxiety, depression, suicide, the ability to coordinate looting and riots, and ready access to drugs. Good stuff like that. But now the Wall Street Journal reports that AI is invading medical practices by offering to lighten the burden on overworked physicians by answering their emails from patients. As if your yearly encounter with your primary care physician is not dehumanizing enough, with only seconds of eye contact interspersed with flurries of data entry on their laptops. And sometimes they even touch you. Or was that the nurse, the PA, the NP, or perhaps housekeeping…..you never know; everybody wears scrubs. But with the introduction of MyChart, physicians now find themselves bombarded with patient requests for everything from prescription renewals to diagnostic advice on ailments. Enter Chat GPT. Now, of course, Chat GPT isn’t flying solo…..yet. The physician supposedly  still edits and reviews the AI’s responses. But in a true sign of things to come, they decided that the responses were too clinical, too cold, and didn’t reflect a folksy Norman Rockwell ideal of a family physician, you know, all the things that our physicians of today are not but wished they were. So programmers installed software to make Chat GPT seem caring and interested. If personal information was noted in your chart or technical information recorded in your database, that information could be accessed by Chat GPT and used to “personalize” the correspondence.

Things like if you were on vacation recently or perhaps had a new grandchild, Chat GPT would kindly ask if you enjoyed your vacation or congratulate you on your grandchild, making it seem as though your physician actually remembered your last conversation and took a personal interest in your life when in actuality it was Chat GPT, and it couldn’t care less. Granted, your physician may not care either, but the goal is to have you think they do. Good for business? Probably. Disingenuous?  Perhaps. Spooky? Absolutely. And that should scare everyone. Who can you believe?  Who can you trust in the age of AI?  And it’s going to become more pervasive. Welcome to the Matrix, people.

Miss Direction

Interesting to take note of this recent shooting in Texas where an illegal immigrant was shooting his AR-15 in his backyard at 11:00 PM, and when his neighbors asked him to please stop so they could put their kids to bed, he methodically executed five of them in their home. The liberal response, of course, is to call for more gun control. “Ban assault weapons,” “weapons of war,” they scream. Meanwhile, it turns out the illegal immigrant in question had been deported five times, returning illegally most recently in 2013. He was also somehow able to procure an assault weapon as an illegal immigrant, something you’re not supposed to be able to do. In spite of the suggestion by the liberals that anyone can stroll into a gun store and emerge with an arsenal of their choosing, it is already required by law that the purchaser fills out an application and undergoes a criminal background check through the NICS system. The situation gets murkier when the democrats insist on issuing illegal immigrants driver's licenses that act as ID, suggesting residence and legal immigration status. So how exactly did he come into possession of a firearm? Further, it has become apparent that this was not the first time this idiot was discharging a weapon, capable of accuracy out to hundreds of yards, while intoxicated in his own suburban backyard. What exactly was he using as a backstop besides the heads of his neighbors?  Where was law enforcement, or were they not called because of the immigration status of all the participants in this tragedy?  How many laws do you have to break before the Democrats determine that another slew of restrictions will be equally ineffective?  Perhaps rather than taking away the rights of American citizens, we should do more to assure that those rights are not extended to non-citizens, particularly those that repeatedly flout our laws.

The Constitution

Let’s keep our eye on the ball, preserving our Constitution, as written by our founders, at all costs!  History has proven beyond any question those founders knew what they were doing in crafting a new concept of governance. Although the United States is a relatively young country, we have the oldest written constitution still in use, and there is a reason for that, because it is a government of the people, by the people, for the people. Waxed by statesmen of the times, said to be the American idea, an idea that demanded an organization of a government of all the people, by all the people, for all the people; the concept of freedom for all of its people. And, it stands today as the bulwark of our American brand of democracy. To allow it to be flaunted, to misinterpret it, is an affront to our very sovereignty and society. Make no mistake about it, our progressive, socialist detractors of many stripes realize that bulwark has to be breached if they are to succeed in fundamentally changing these United States of America. Don't be distracted by the many cuts inflicted by their identity politics of the day; measure their impact on thwarting our sacrosanct Constitution, for without it intact and practiced, we are weak and vulnerable. Know, our Supreme Court is the branch of government solely assigned by the Constitution as the arbiter to assure all our laws and regulations are consistent with the constitutions edicts. Let’s make sure they discharge their responsibility accordingly!