Signs of the Times

As the election season draws to a close, I have been wondering about some of the signs people have in their yards.

The usual suspects are BIDEN/HARRIS and TRUMP/PENCE and an assortment of state and national seats for State Legislature and Congress. Not surprisingly, there is a big difference between rural voters and urban voters, with Trump signs dominating farms and small towns outside Milwaukee, Madison and La Crosse (I haven't been to Green Bay, Eau Claire or the Fox Valley lately, so I can't speak for those communities, but I'm assuming I'd find much the same).  

One thing you have to say about Trump signs, they are BIG.  You could say -- yuge!

As part of a Trump boat parade on the Mississippi River earlier this year, Liz and I flew a TRUMP flag on Muddy Waters.  I have since moved the flag to our backyard arbor where it flies proudly for our neighbors to see.

I take my walk every morning through southside neighborhoods, meaning I'll pass more BIDEN signs than TRUMP.  What's interesting are some of the other signs that populate those yards supporting BIDEN.  You'll find the ubiquitous "Black Lives Matter", "I Believe" and "Hate Has No Home Here" signs (do you honestly think they don't hate Trump?).  And we all know they don't care about all black lives, just those breaking the law. 

It seems to me that Democrats have taken to telling the rest of us how to live our lives, in addition to letting us know who they support.  It's almost like they think they are so much better than the rest of us freedom-loving, religious deplorables.   So in the interest of saving the planet, women's reproductive rights, gays or whatever, they want us to know the way to their utopia.  Their nirvana.  While some of them may be highly educated, I know they are certainly not smarter.

Yesterday morning I came across a sign that raised the bar on yard signs.  It read "Unity Over Division - Biden/Harris."  It got me thinking about Biden's message during the Democrat's virtual convention this fall.  In his acceptance speech he said "I will draw on the best of us, not the worst.  I will be an ally of the light, not of the darkness."  He also said, "United we can, and will, overcome this season of darkness in America."

While those words make for a good speech, let's get real.  Take a moment to remember how Democrats have been uniting us over the past decade.

Remember how we couldn't criticize President Obama without being accused of being a racist?  Rush Limbaugh and millions who didn't vote for him were viewed as part of the resistance for not going along with Obama's vision of fundamentally changing America. Hoping he failed was viewed as "toxic" and any disagreement was labeled "hate speech."  

Democrats have been pushing to defund the police since President Obama's first term, but it took the Minneapolis riots this summer for it to become mainstream.  It's hard to understand how allowing 100 nights of rioting, with destruction of private property and minority businesses can bring people together.  Unless it's for a call for more protection against violence.

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have called for the Green Deal to replace oil and natural gas.  I don't understand how paying $5 a gallon or more brings anyone closer together.  Unless riding the bus together qualifies as closer.  Disagreement over global warming even has scientists at each others throats, which is strange indeed for something called "settled science."  Didn't one of those yard signs say SCIENCE IS REAL?

From the first day of Trump's presidency, Democrats have been spying on his administration and planning his removal from office.  The American people have been subjected to four years of congressional hearings, false accusations of Russian interference and finally impeachment.  All in the interest of overturning an election that failed to elect a horrible candidate,  Hillary.

Education is usually a very unifying thing.  I remember wanting the best for our two boys and thought it was very important to support our schools.  I was not alone.  And yet, today education has been identified as one of the core reasons why so many young people hate our country and support socialism.  President Trump, during his Fourth of July speech at Mount Rushmore said, "Against every law of society and nature our children are taught in school to hate their own country.  And to believe that the men and women who built it were not heroes, but villains.  History has reversed our unalienable rights with slavery, oppression, racism and white supremacy."  On the issue of education, we can all agree, something has gone wrong.

Social media -- primarily Facebook and Twitter -- has done more to divide people than most wars being fought.  Tech giants like Google and Amazon are censoring content, controlling where we shop and manipulating how we search for information.  With the control Silicon Valley exerts, you would think we could finally agree on something -- was the latest Star Wars trilogy better or worse than the first trilogy? 

Pervasive censorship of thought and opinion has divided this country, and we should be deeply concerned about it.  If we live in a supposedly free society, then we shouldn't have cancel culture ruining comedy, limits on who can speak on campuses or Big Tech blocking important news stories like Joe and Hunter Biden's sell out to China and Ukraine.

Democrat Senators and Representatives are supporting violence against conservative judges and calling for a stacked Supreme Court.  The Botox queen, Nancy Pelosi, refuses to accept a targeted GOP stimulus package in the interest of eating expensive ice cream from her $10,000 freezer.  At least we are all united in our like of Haggen Daz coffee ice cream.  

Forcing people away from their employer provided insurance and onto the the government tit for health insurance will surely unite people.  Please don't look behind the curtain and question the destruction of the world's premier healthcare system leading to millions of jobs lost when hospitals and clinics close.

But hey, if a yard sign says Biden/Harris will unite, not divide who am I to argue?

thanks to Independent.co.uk

The laughability of thinking Biden/Harris would bring us together does raise a good question.  As we go into the 2021 election -- and more importantly after the election -- what do the people of America have in common?  Can we agree on anything?  

We can't even agree on whether riots are bad.  People for some destructive reason are calling them peaceful demonstrations.  Tearing down statues are acceptable when the left does it, and those protesting the removal of those statues are labeled white supremacists.  

We have never been more divided on taxes, education, health care and race relations.  Politics has found its way into movies, television, music and theatre.  It used to be that I could boycott Barbara Streisand, but now it's hard to watch or listen to almost anything.  It has found a way into our culture to the extent that we are fighting all the time.  Half of us are going to be happy, the other half mad as hell.

When it comes to politics, the Democrats don't accept defeat.  Too many are poor losers who change the rules to make winning easier next time. Don't believe me?  

Look what happened when Trump won the first time.  Protests in the streets, and threats of violence.  The left chanted "Not my President!" encouraging young people, anarchists and Marxist organizations like Black Lives matter to attack restaurants, department stores and innocent minorities trying to defend their livelihoods.  If he wins again, more of the same is guaranteed, only amped up to higher levels.  

Our Founding Fathers so deeply feared the tyranny of the majority that they rejected the idea of a direct vote for President and created the Electoral College, where big and small states were given an equal voice.  Thankfully, it has prevented large states like California and New York from determining who wins elections.  Democrats, who are not happy winning the popular votes, but losing the election are aiming to do away with the Electoral College and replace it with something called the National Popular Vote.

Making it hard to find common ground is a lack of institutions we can all believe in.  Think about how sports used to unite cities and states around a common goal.  To win the Super Bowl, World Series or NBA championship.  Support for your home team in a common goal can make our differences disappear.  Not that long ago we all shared pride in our country when we won an Olympic gold medal.  

For a hundred years or more, institutions like the Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts found common ground that united parents and children of different income levels, race and nationality.  It was great spending a week at summer camp, where our sons and daughters learned about taking care of our environment, helping those in need and loving our country.

But what has happened?  Politics (always from the left) has ruined these great institutions.  The right defends tradition (church, holidays and our history) and wants them to remain.  The left is constantly looking to remove them.  How are we to agree on anything if we can agree on making America great again?  

Professional sports' attendance and viewership are at all time lows.  The Boy Scouts are being sued in retaliation for supposed sexual abuse, but they became a target because of their emphasis on religion, patriotism and encouraging masculine character.  They will be lucky to survive.

So it's tough to find a way back from the edge.  

I'm just barely old enough to remember John F Kennedy as president.  When he said "ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country" everyone understood that it was a call for the public to do what is right for the greater good.  

I wonder -- if the Democrats won't listen to Republicans, will they listen to one of their own?  And do Americans love America more than they hate Trump?

Following Tuesday's election, we will all know.

The Great Escape

Far from the madding crowd, as the saying goes, I haul the 30 pound anchor to shore and force one of its flukes into the sand, hoping for a solid hold.  We have beached Muddy Waters on a long stretch of sand south of La Crosse.   Behind me on the boat, Sue and Liz are laying out food while Mark secures the anchor rope to the boat's rear cleat, preventing the boat from floating downstream

"I think that will do it," I say, watching the boat hold ground despite the rise and fall with each wave that comes onshore. 

The river is absolutely alive with boats today --  like a hatch of mayflies during the 4th of July -- racing in all directions to get a prized sandbar.  For some, they will join the beach party at Crater Lake, while others hunt along pool 8's twenty-three miles of open water and silted islands for the perfect stretch of sand.  

Our sandbar is a deserted patch of dirty sand gently sloping up toward tall grass and a collection of cedar and silver maple trees.  To our right, a large tree has fallen, uprooted in the soft sand with dead branches extending into the river, where they collect debris moving down stream.

"Have we been on this sandbar before?  It looks pretty nice,"  says Mark, his body a silhouette against the bright mid-morning sun. He stands and looks toward a muddied dark shape ten yards from the boat.  "What is that over there in the water?"

I wander over to what appears to be a cement anchor for a channel marker.  Its shape is a lot like the traffic barrels you see in construction zones.   Only it's not orange, and it's made of concrete, not plastic.  I had read somewhere they can weigh up to 1500 pounds.  If the anchor's adjustable chain is still attached, I can't see it.  Maybe it's buried in the sand.  

For some reason, it is beached on the sandbar, like an unexploded torpedo awaiting detonation.  Reminiscent of the siren songs of dangerous wing dams submerged throughout the river, this anchor would crush anything that hit it.  Fortunately, the majority is above water and can be seen by approaching boats.

"I'm guessing it's a cement barrel that holds a buoy in place.  But I don't know what it's doing here."  I bend down to see it it will move at all.  Not a chance -- it would take a crane to life this out of the water.  With a shrug, I turn back to the boat, kick the sand from my feet and climb aboard.   Brunch is about to be served and nothing beats food on the river.  Except maybe the drinks.



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It's July 2020, and Liz and I are not waiting for company anymore.  My previous posts longed for visitors who would ring our doorbell, announcing the start of socialization again, something that was stopped in mid March.

Although we don't get unannounced visitors, we have had out-of-town friends spend a couple weekends with us.  To be honest, there are times when I feel like I should pull the shades so the neighbors don't see us socializing with other people.  You never know when the next Karen may appear.  And when we go out with friends in the car, we make a quick get-away before they can call the county health department.

But while the lockdown in Wisconsin is officially over, most things have not returned to normal. Far from it.

With the increase of the three B's --  bars, beaches and bad behavior -- cases of the Wu flu are increasing in 20 states, with dramatic spikes found in places like Florida, Texas and California. Which is bad.  Despite the increase in cases, the death rate continues to drop.  Which is great.  We have a friend who reminds us of the daily damage by posting percentages of deaths, infections and recoveries.  It's all recorded in a little black book, where she keeps her calculations based on reports from state and national government agencies.  Impressive, as Darth Vader would say.

Some people on the left think avoiding the Wu Flu is the same as getting over the flu.  A typical response from the media is that if you don't support the continued lockdown, you are part of the problem.  You're selfish and think only of yourself.  We must avoid spreading the virus to others.  Which is false -- isolation only delays the process needed to gain immunity.  I remain skeptical of claims that promise a vaccine.  We don't have a vaccine for HIV, malaria or the common cold, why do people think there will be one for this virus?

Schools remain closed, and it's questionable whether they will reopen in the fall.   Despite multiple reports -- from actual doctors -- indicating children have little to fear from the pandemic, and are less likely to transmit the virus to parents or teachers, many schools continue to believe the doom and gloom from CNN, CBS or ABC.  I've heard the school district in La Crosse talk about how teachers are scared of going back to school.  What are they afraid of?  Don't critics of Trump always use science to validate their arguments?  Science is saying, send the kids back to school.  The risks of NOT sending our kids back to school, with its learning, structure and purpose is far greater than the virus.  So maybe it's not the virus after all.  Perhaps teacher unions just hate Trump more than they love students?

Speaking of being afraid -- aren't you glad the health professionals didn't feel the same way as teachers when this pandemic started?

Sports remain suspended or cancelled.  The NBA is in flux, with playoff teams going to Orlando to determine the league champion.  An attempt to place all teams, coaches and media in a bubble, where living quarters, food and contact with the outside world is limited, is a very strange way to finish the season.  Baseball has yet to start training camp, and the NFL is holding its breath that a shorter pre-season allows America's game to be played.  College sports have been cancelled, with little hope that football will be played this fall.  At best we may see falls sports played next spring.

A full out assault on summer fun remains intact.  Swimming pools, baseball diamonds and tennis courts remain empty.  Movie theatres remain closed (except drive-in theatres) partly because people are afraid to sit next to someone, partly because there are no movies to show.  Vacations remain cancelled because states are either banning tourists or telling visitors to quarantine for two weeks. Teacher to student: What did you do on summer vacation?  Student:  I stayed in my hotel for 14 days and watched Netflix.

Wearing a mask has become a worldwide debate, with many wearing homemade masks, hoping they are either protecting themselves or those around them.  Politicians choose to wear them when on-camera, not so much when the media disappears.  One of the great mysteries this summer is why people are driving around (by themselves) wearing a mask.  Or watering their flowers wearing a mask.  Or walking their dog wearing a mask.

The internet is full of jokes about masks like this one:

"Today I was in the bank when two men came in wearing masks...  Everyone felt a huge relief when they told us it's only a bank robbery."

At times like this you have to find time for a good laugh or some other kind of escape wherever you can.  For some, it's a bad joke, for us with a pontoon boat -- it's a day on the river.



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The stern of the pontoon boat and motor loom above us as we cool off in the water.  This sandbar extends maybe 20 to 25 feet into the water, allowing us to walk out without having to worry about the current taking us down river. We can wade up to our waist or go deeper to our chest.  My feet can feel the ripples in the sand from the constant wave action, although Sue says she doesn't like the feel of a thin layer of mud on the bottom.  But it doesn't stop her from joining us in the water.

We have finished our food and drinks and are relaxing in the cool water coming from a backwater slough that eventually enters the main channel.  At the mouth of the slough is a skinny sandbar that stretches for at least 100 yards.  It is packed with people and the pontoons, flat bottom boats and cruisers that brought them here.

It's a common sight on this Sunday afternoon.  Now more so than ever -- with the pandemic robbing people of alternatives, they are turning to boating as a great way to have family fun.

"I've decided to put everything in God's hands," Sue says, who is always proud of her strong faith.  "The election will either go our way or not.  I hope he's listening because with this election goes the country."

 

"I don't know if I'm ready to leave everything in God's hands," replies Liz, taking a handful of water and splashing it on her arms.  "But I do feel like Trump could use a little help.  With the media, Hollywood, our education system and Never Trumpers against him, I feel like it's going to take a miracle."

I decide to join the conversation. "That miracle is Joe Biden.  The man can barely carry on a conversation, and when he does the media does their best to say "that's just Joe being Joe."  Everyone on the left wants him to stay out of the public, and a few have even called for him to avoid the upcoming debates.  Can you image electing a president without televised debates?  What does that tell you?" 

"That they hate Trump?"  Sue laughs... the insanity of it all.

My eyes wander to the American flag we have on the back of the boat.  It is gently flapping in the early afternoon wind.   There's something about a flag on a boat that just brings joy to my heart.  Do boats in other countries fly their flags?  I don't know, but there's nothing better than to see the stars and stripes flapping in the wind as a boat heads down river.

"Sue, you talk about faith -- I have faith in the American people.  Not everyone has swallowed the Marxist Kool aide.  Not yet.  This country still bleeds red, white and blue.  So I'm hoping patriotic voters who don't want to see their country destroyed get out and vote."

It's a conversation that dominates way too much of our time together.  With less to do because of the virus, it's hard to avoid watching it on television.  Or movies.  Or Facebook.  Or the radio -- our alarm clock wakes us to an early morning show that leans decidedly to the left.   You can't get away from the constant drumming of new virus infections, hospitalizations and the growing number of people dying.   

 It's just everywhere and can really get depressing. 

Liz and I have said many times how thankful we are that we can escape to the slow rhythms of the river, adding chapters to a book that includes majestic bluffs, red and gold sunsets and sombre shadows that fall from tree lined shores.

I'm reminded of the Corona beer ads that feature people stepping back from the busyness and stress of work.  "Find Your Beach,' the ads implore.  Well, for us and our friends that beach is right here on the shores of the Mississippi River, where life is good.  Grab a glass of your favorite adult beverage, add some ice and you're ready to go.  Before you know it, many hours have passed and you haven't thought of CBS, the New York Times or NPR once.



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As if the Wu flu isn't bad enough, 2020 has unleashed two new hounds from hell -- Black Lives Matter and Antifa, radical leftist groups bent on destroying our country.

Seizing upon the horrible death of George Floyd, Black Lives Matter screams systemic racism, while Antifa burns buildings and destroys historic statues.  Not wanting to miss out on the fun, city council members and mayors demand cities "defund the police," or allow police-free "autonomous zones" to take over city blocks.

As Seattle's mayor said, sounds like a summer of love, doesn't it?

Ironically,  Black Lives Matter has never been about black lives (little b) since they don't fit the racist narrative.  I could get behind a movement that actually valued black families and unborn babies.  I wonder how many people realize the number one killer of blacks is abortion, not the police?  But Black Lives Matter has no interest in strengthening the family.  If they did, they would do something about the young children shot or killed in Chicago, Philadelphia and New York.  Or the black police officers who are killed in the street defending everyday people.

The current embodiment of BLM (big B) looks to pressure corporations into donating big dollars and recognizing white privilege and systemic racism America.   I don't get it.  Systemic racism?

In the late 1960's and 70's, the federal government changed national policy from one of equal rights for all, to one of racial preferences for blacks and other minorities.  It was called affirmative action.

Since the 1960's there have been boocoo dollars spent on the "War on Poverty."  These programs were designed to lift blacks out of poverty. 

In the 1980's affirmative action was supplemented by "diversity" as a legal justification for giving preferences to non-whites over whites.

If there is any systemic racism in the United States, it is the legal discrimination against whites -- officially sanctioned as affirmative action and diversity.  The idea that white supremacy exists today is a joke.  Our top athletes, earning millions of dollars, are black.  We just had eight years of a black president and a black attorney general. 

A strange way to discriminate against blacks if you ask me.

Antifa is nothing more than a destructive force, whose aim is to destroy western society.  They rebel against any authority, established order or ruling power and advocate violent means to do it.  The more destructive and violent the better.  You see them burning buildings in Minneapolis and pulling down historic statues that represent a part of America's past -- like it or not.  Antifa's not interested in knowing anything about these statues, which is why they destroy slave owners AND those who freed slaves.

For you readers who support this destruction, you only need to look at history to know what comes next.  Some day, Antifa is going to run out of books to burn.  Eventually, there will be no more statues to tear down.  And soon there will be a ban on movies that don't follow a prescribed culturally appropriate message.  And when they do, they will come for you.

As Rush Limbaugh likes to say, don't doubt me.

The cancel culture, which isn't part of Antifa, but just as intolerant, is already getting people fired from jobs because they ask "Don't all lives matter?"  Or because someone believes there are only two genders -- a view contrary to the "luminaries" that populate newspapers and tech companies.  Better known as the woke crowd. 

For these groups, it appears that efforts to defund the police and destroy opposing views are the only ways to redeem America.  God help us if Black Lives Matter and Antifa succeed.



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"I've got it!"

Liz sounds so proud as she leans back and brings her feet to the surface, trailing sand and mud.  Nestled between her feet is a fresh water clam.  It's shape and color is rather drab -- brown and gray.   It resembles a smooth rock with semi-circular striations of a lighter color.  I take the clam in my hands and try to pry it open, but with no success. 

I lower my hands into the water and let it slowly disappear into the brown water.  "Believe it or not, I have a client who told me about her grandmother who used to go toe clamming in Stoddard.  She would walk along the shore in shallow water feeling for clams with her toes.  She said her grandmother had a pearl ring from one of the clams she found."

The conversation reminds me of an exhibit in a river museum in Davenport that clams actually have a long and colorful history on the Mississippi River.  In the 1800's the pearl button business thrived -- so much so that Muscatine, Iowa was known as the pearl button capital of the world.  Recently, more than a million pounds of shells were removed from the river in Wisconsin and shipped to Japan for use in their cultured pearl industry.

"Speaking of finding things, I've found the horn on your boat," Mark is on the beach bent over looking underneath the deck between two pontoons.  "It's right here."

I leave the ladies and wade through the water to look to where Mark is pointing.  Sure enough, tucked up next to one of the pontoons is a small black box.  A simple L bracket holds it securely in place.  For over a year, the horn hasn't been working on the boat, and I've tried to find the problem by checking wires (which fortunately are located right next to our stash of liquor), checking fuses and  hitting the reset button below the horn switch.   But nothing ever helped.

Mark says, " The problem is that the horn probably catches a lot of spray and wave action.  From what I can see, there is no shielding to protect the opening of the horn from catching a mouthful of water."

Perhaps an answer to my problem?  

"Great!  I'll just buy a new horn and it should be good to go.  It should still be covered by the warranty."  I smile thinking I can't solve all the problems of the world, but at least I can get my horn fixed!

Which is the way of the river.  When the world is going to hell, an afternoon wading in the muddy waters of the Mississippi does something to the hardwiring of your brain, allowing you to look at things and find solutions.  You're not overwhelmed by the weight of the problem, instead you're reminded that this river has been here for millions of years and will be long after Black Lives Matter, Antifa and the Wu flu pandemic are gone.  "Old Blue" has seen our struggles and hardships since the founding of this county.

Undoubtedly, we are experiencing hardship with what's happening to our country.  And we are facing cultural changes that will alter what it means to live in America.   But like Sue said, we need to put our faith in God. 

And to focus on the important things in life --  like beached anchors, fresh water mussels and broken boat horns.

The Unbearable Guilt of Being White

On the heels of my last post talking about some college-aged youth being unprepared for losing November's election, comes the realization that many are also unprepared for being white. 

Apparently when Lady Gaga sings "I Was Born This Way," it only applies to the broke, evergreen, black, beige, chola or orient-made, gay, straight or bisexual.  How do I know this?  Because MTV and other "entertainers" want people like me -- a white male -- to feel guilty about my skin color and improve myself by ignoring what I see in the mirror.

 

Case in point -- a video of millenials pushing "New Year's Resolutions for White Guys" posted to their news Twitter account. 

Can I hear an "Amen!" brothers?

While normally, I appreciate people looking out for my well-being, I think this is one time that I will ignore their leftist musings and follow the advice of another MTV star -- Taylor Swift -- and just "Shake It Off."  I have enough things to worry about during the Christmas season -- like does this star on the top of my holiday tree upset my neighbor, or does wishing a client  "Merry Christmas" send him into a seasonal depression.  I don't need to complicate things any more than they are.

In many ways, I wish these social warriors were still fighting the war over gay marriage.  Since that fight went down with a knockout in the first round, they've been looking for new battles to fight.  It's just one white male's point of view, but I think their attack on white privilege is just another example of how much they hate this country's founding.  To these young minds of mush, America's problem with race has deep roots.  So deep that they go back to our country's beginning when the evil white man from Europe tried to exterminate one race (native Americans) and enslave another (blacks).

I realize MTV has been missing from my viewing sphere for some time (that would be over 30 years -- since the days they actually showed videos) -- but based on this video, I have to say that this channel serves no good purpose other than to keep some of these dimwits off welfare.  It scares the hell out of me to think these are the same people who will graduate from the lollipop shrine of college and someday leave mom and dad's basement.

There are so many things about this video that remind me of the stupidity exhibited during an episode of Beavis and Butthead that I don't know where to begin,  But in the interest of spending as little time thinking about it as I can -- here I go.

MTV's suggested resolutions:

Realize that America never was "great" for minorities.

Can we all just agree that Black Lives Matter isn't the opposite of All Lives Matter?  Black lives just matter.  There's no need to over complicate it."  Another adds, "Cops weren't born with blue skin.  Right?  I mean, yeah.  They weren't born blue.

White people need to learn what "mansplaining" is, and then stop doing it.

Nobody who has black friends say they have black friends.

Oh, and if you are a judge, stop prioritizing the well-being of an Ivy League athlete over the life of the woman he assaulted.

We all love Beyonce, and yes, she's black, so of course she cares about black issues.  I'm talking to you FOX News.

I'm still not convinced these "youts" aren't just saying stupid stuff to gain recognition.  Could they really be this ignorant?  But, like I told the tatted high school senior with a pink mohawk -- if you really want attention, you should forget looking like something out of a Mad Max movie, and instead graduate at the top of your class.  THAT will get you noticed.

Why is it that so many of these kids think the only way to achieve success is to look the part of a loser?

Another case in point are the guilt-ridden routines coming from late-night comedians struggling with the new normal.   The Colberts, Stewards, Fallons, Kimmels, Olivers and not-funny-in-prime-time Saturday Night Live have been left in the dark over why the vast wasteland located between California and New York rejected Hillary Clinton's presidential bid to be cast as the main character in Woody Allen's movie "Take the Money and Run."

I was feeling so good about Trump's presidential victory that I thought it would be fun to watch an episode of Samantha Bee's Full Frontal.  I was wrong.  It didn't help that I was in a great mood.

Little did I know what I have been missing by not watching this show.  Now I know:  America's Canadian sweetheart wasted no time blaming white America for electing Donald Trump.  (Apparently these days, to have a career in mainstream comedy you must mock the left's chief bogeyman -- the straight, white male.)

Bee's militant comedy went like this -- "It's pretty clear who ruined America.  White people.  The Caucasian nation showed up in droves to vote for Trump, so I don't want to hear a God da..... word about black voter turnout.  How many times do we expect black people to build our country for us?"

Bee added, "And for the white Americans who didn't vote for Trump... you're not off the hook either.  If all 3.3 million Muslims in America have to be held accountable for every radical terrorist, then white people better be ready to take responsibility for their peers, too."

Bee had a message for the 53% of white women who chose “a vial of weaponized testosterone” over the first female president. “Way to lean out,” she told them, before concluding with a call to action: “Let’s get off the floor and get busy. Especially you white women. We’ve got some karma to work off.”

My first reaction is --  wasn't Hillary Clinton white?  My second reaction was -- this is what passes for comedy these days?  My third reaction was to turn the channel.

There's a moment in time when you realize some people just aren't worth saving.  Like when I see a  spider running across the floor.  I don't stop and direct it into a plastic cup and take it outside so it can find it's way back into my basement.  No!  I kill the monster and flush it down the toilet.

Here's the real problem with race -- the left doesn't want anything to do with solving it. 

Apparently that applies whether you're black or white.  I'm amazed at how many white liberals talk about white people being the problem.  Don't they realize they are just as white as I am?  Is there a magical elixir that is sprayed over their sleeping bodies at night that seeps into their skin?  Do they wake up in the morning and see something the rest of us don't?

Actually, I think these misguided youth, professors and celebrities have been poisoned into thinking whites have certain unearned advantages just because of the color of their skin.  Out of guilt, they try to correct these injustices by blaming whites for all the social injustices of the day. 

Out of stupidity, they put it on YouTube, MTV and national television for the rest of us to see.

Like global warming, which keeps changing its definition to fit the current weather pattern, race relations are never allowed to heal.  So eight years of Obama haven't improved race relations.  They have made things worse.  Why?  Because Obama and his ilk have no intention of "healing" the injustices of the past.  They want to continue milking that cow until it's as empty as Bill and Hillary's sex life.

The result is false narratives like "Hands Up!  Don't shoot." or "Black Lives Matter" which perpetuate the racial divide and keep blacks and whites from ever sitting down and agreeing on a solution.  What a shame and wasted opportunity to improve race relations!  This will go down as Obama's greatest failure.

Since it is approaching the end of 2016, here are my white male resolutions concerning race --

Be glad you live in the United States.  No one has done more to help more people in the world than the good 'ol' US of A..

God made all people in his image, so no one should be discriminated against.  Including whites.  If your church espouses a course on white privilege, it's time to move on.  (The same applies to colleges and their America-hating communist professors.)

If you have liberal friends, tell them to stop looking at the color of one's skin.  We're all the same on the inside.

Don't waste your time on bitter comedians who forgot to up their dosage of Prozac after the election.  They're not worth your time.  Watch Young Frankenstein, the original Ghostbusters and Planes, Trains and Automobiles if you want a good laugh.  Better yet, anything with Danny Kaye.  It will do wonders.


'Nuff Said! -- from the great Nina Simone, singing three days after the murder of Martin Luther King, Jr. .

The New America

I have said many times before that one of the reasons I write this blog is to leave something behind for my children and their children to read.  By doing so, they will have a better understanding of who I am -- what was important to me, a little family history and a trail of cultural change that may some day seem too good to be true.


This is one of those days where I feel like my two boys will never understand how much life has changed in the years since they were born.  They will say, "Dad's doing drugs again!  This could never have been the way things were!"

Sadly, I'm telling the truth.

America used to be a country where dreams were made, where free speech, religion and traditions were not only accepted, but cherished.

Recently, schools, courts and our current mass media have been relentless in tearing down so many important things that someday there will be no record of them.  History books will conveniently alter why this country was founded; significant people and monuments will be removed and movies will be made rewriting who the good guys were and what they believed. My children's children will grow up believing that "this is just the way things are."  Ignorant to the fact that there was a time when this nation was great and people were proud to be known as Americans.

I've chronicled President Obama's attempts to slam American exceptionalism.  In his mind, American exceptionalism is something that needs to be apologized for because it makes other countries feel inferior.  The weaker we appear on foreign policy, human rights and economic strength, the happier he is.

Exceptionalism, as told in my household, is the foundation on which we have fought wars, for which we died and for which we are proud to display the flag.  It's not about bragging about our accomplishments -- its about believing we have a God-given right to be free people.  Free to do our best without the interference of government.

It's a contrast that in recent months has never been greater.  It's a sign that we are living in a new America.

Take the recent decision by the Supreme Court to rewrite law and allow Obama Care subsidies to continue.  Or to define marriage as something other than a union of one man and one woman.  Some may say the I'm just a sore loser -- which I am (I hate to lose).   But I firmly believe that activist judges are taking power away from Congress to write laws and removing state legislatures from having the authority to do what its voters want.

Its too easy for someone not happy with current affairs to challenge it in the court of law, where it is defeated then appealed again and again until it reaches the Supreme Court.  Once there, nine judges -- under the influence of cultural change and political pressure -- will make a decision that 99.9% of America hasn't voted on.  It's a concentration of power that our founding fathers could not have wanted.

Thank you President Obama, Harvard law professor.

Another  change can be found in recent treatment of blacks and illegal immigrants.  President Obama has made it clear he supports racial unrest by promoting false narratives about police brutality in St. Louis, New York City and Baltimore.  Instead of exhibiting a strong leadership role as America's first black president, he consistently picks at the scab of racial inequality to further his belief that white America has an unfair advantage.  WHITE PRIVILEGE! And this coming from a president who is supposed to represent all of us.

Racial issues are so out-of-control that the removal of the Confederate flag from South Carolina has morphed into something censoring old television shows and Academy award winning movies.  Historic Civil War monuments are spray painted and vandalized.  Public employees are removing confederate flags from cemeteries in Georgia.  Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson are being removed from an awards dinner because they owned slaves.

We are truly living in a new America:   When something offends someone, it's beyond being politically correct. It justifies the need for change.  Activists maybe can't change history, but you can bet they don't have to honor it.

Free speech is classified as "hate" speech if it doesn't conform to the left's view of gay marriage or "black lives matter".  It's gotten so bad that someone, who is offended at a flea market by the sale of Civil War memorabilia, calls the police to complain.

Thank you President Obama, community activist.

His unconstitutional executive orders to allow illegal immigrants into this country have contributed to higher crime rates and a higher risk of a terrorist attack.  Rest assured when a black man (usually someone who has broken the law) is shot dead, you will be forced to watch weeks of non-stop coverage from the drive by media.  But let an illegal alien kill an innocent woman?  Good luck finding a story from ABC, CBS or NBC.

I read today that the Obama administration has stripped the requirement for naturalized citizens to defend this country.  In the past, candidates for citizenship normally declare that they will "bear arms on behalf of the United States" and "perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States" when required by the law.  Today, that requirement is no longer necessary.

Why would Obama allow this?  Never before have laws been rewritten, ignored or blatantly broken without consequence or challenge.  How can people ignore such a blatant abuse of power?  Our freedoms are being threatened every single day and nothing is being done about it.

Another sign of the new America is how our military is under attack -- not from enemies in Iran, Afghanistan and Iraq, but from within our borders.  Home-grown Muslim terrorists are killing unarmed service men and it's being called a result of work place violence or the result of unmedicated depression.  Anything but the truth which involves calling terrorists radical Muslims.  And for no reason -- other than legacy building -- did President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry negotiate a horrible agreement with Iran that bypasses Congressional approval and brings the world that much closer to World War III.

Thank you President Obama, negotiator-in-chief.

Our culture has become so rotten that I'm embarrassed to turn on the television.  It's not  because I'm easily offended or in denial of my age.  I ashamed to see all of these reality shows, to hear cable news programs ripping each other, and to find ESPN advocating gay athletes and transgender Olympians for their "courage.".

The attacks on religion have been successful in removing all consequences of bad behavior.  I am reminded daily that life has little value (Planned Parenthood selling fetal baby parts for money), rules are to be ignored until you get caught (have you watched people drive lately?), and language has deteriorated to the point that anything goes (if rap and popular music are any indication our youth put more value on respect than on earning it).

Our level of tolerance for people with different views has dropped to zero, as the left has chosen to prosecute anyone who disagrees with them.  Instead of disagreeing and moving on, businesses are sued and people are beaten in public.

And have the people we send to Washington D.C.ever been worse?  Until our elected officials listen to their constituents and are forced to take the same health benefits that are forced on us (think Obamacare) I refuse to contribute a single penny to anyone's campaign.  Sex scandals, money deals and political maneuvering that horrify us while watching "House of Cards" are simply telling the truth that none of us want to believe.

Yeah, the new America sucks.

I can hear my kids telling me to back away from the edge of the cliff.  "It's not as bad as you think, dad.  Change is tough when you get old."  Ok, I guess that makes me feel better.

I admit, the older I get the harder it is to change.  But why does change have to be bad?  Must I forsake so many of the things that I like?  For the most part, new technology makes my life better, but how does removal of the Ten Commandments or acceptance of a perverse lifestyle make my life better?

And how does spending more money -- no! wasting more money -- than what we have make my future better?  Someone said something so true about government spending that I wish I could find the quote and repeat it here.  It goes something like this --    "If you spend your money on yourself, you are very careful what you buy and how much it costs.  But, if you spend someone else's money on someone else, you don't care what you buy and you don't care how much it costs."  The last part explains why our country is $18 trillion in debt.

So, while standing here --  ankle deep in the sewage of failed government ideas and a politically correct culture -- I propose the following attitudinal change.  I know it won't make you feel better, but it allows us to go down fighting, and in my book that's much better than just taking it in the chops.

Let's get this election right.  We need a conservative candidate, not someone from the establishment right or left.  I know there are currently 16 GOP candidates wanting to be president, but if we want to take this country back, we need to look no further than Carly Fiorino, Scott Walker or Ted Cruz.  And while we are at it, let's show the RINO contingency out the door.  I am tired of faux legislation that allows Republicans to say "we tried, but couldn't get the votes."  Their election promises to stop Obama were good enough to help them to a landslide last November, but the proof is in the pudding:  taking no action on Obama Care, accepting his DOJ nominee and getting out of the way of the recent Iran deal aren't fooling anyone anymore.

Stop being afraid of saying what you think.  I'm not suggesting that you lie or slander those you dislike.  But it's long past the time for people to stand up to the politically correct crowd and stand for something.  The next time some Democrat shouts "Black Lives Matter!" ask them why they support Planned Parenthood where 90,000 black babies are aborted every year.  The next time you hear someone claim Conservatives don't care about the poor, ask them why -- after eight years of Obama -- minorities and the poor have never been in worse shape.  And why the middle class is shrinking.  The silent majority must find their voice.

Let the radical left eat itself into submission.  I know not everything will be as obvious as Hillary's destruction of her email account, but sooner or later, people are going to realize that the left is only interested in controlling our behavior and taking our money.  Let everyone know -- left right, black, white, female and male.  We're all in the same sinking boat, so it's time to bail out the water or sink -- and I'm not ready to sink.

There are signs that things could change in the near future.  Fox News has wrestled the stranglehold that the liberals in the media had for so long.  Today, all of the great liberal forums -- newspapers, television stations and news magazines -- have been slowing fading away.  Their days of incredible influence are past and in some cases they are struggling to survive.

That leaves it up to us to tell our children that life is more than going to college and organizing gay pride parades.  Today's reality -- a welfare state on the rise, the threat of ISIS, and the uncontrolled illegal immigration -- will force our children to deal with this new America sooner or later. It is our final responsibility as parents to prepare them for it.

Because America will never be the great country it once was.

Let's not be the last one's to know it.