Sugar Creek Publishing

Journalists are warned to confirm sources for their work. Sadly, not all of them do it, but they should. Of the words and phrases we hear everyday, language, some are not understood by their actual definitions, but are seen, through the lens of those who coined them. Take the phrase “The Final Solution”, for example. Anyone familiar with World War II links them to Adolf Hitler. The two words hardly sanitize the practice of murdering millions of people in an attempt to produce an Aryan race. His avowed goal is odd, isn’t it? Hitler hardly fit the description he praised. Instead of blond and fair skinned, he was dark and swarthy.

Today, another term assails us. “Political correctness” is so much a part of every discourse that few recognize its source. Do you? People routinely use the term with a cavalier attitude, applying it to almost every instance of assumed discrimination. Yet, once you understand its roots, you may demand that proponents grab the soap and wash out their political mouths!

According to both political scientists and sociologists, “political correctness” roots in the ideology of Karl Marx. Basically, it requires a radical inversion of the prevailing traditional culture using cultural Marxism to achieve a social revolution. Such a social revolution is the kind envisioned by Karl Marx as an inversion of the social order and a commensurate inversion of the structure of power.

Since those pushing for “hope and change” cite the term redistribution of wealth, we need to be very alert. Is it any wonder that historically savvy onlookers view the current events in Washington with great suspicion? I see Marxism as a social cancer. It begins with a few cells (and/or people and groups) and then, over time, grows exponentially —- often unrecognized until it threatens the entire organism. Don’t ignore this movement, readers. It threatens America.

Decades ago, Richard Carlson starred in a TV series titled “I led three lives”. Plots focused on a man who held down a regular job, worked undercover for the US government, and functioned within the Communist party. The theme is not new. Covert operations have never been limited to military personnel. I, for one, hope that our government has thousands upon thousands of agents now working tirelessly to uncover plots against this nation. The inordinate risks they take keep us all safe.

Coined phrases can enrich language or sully it. The incessant use of political correctness, then, can be considered a form of misinformation. Some see the value of repetition. Haven’t you noticed that when a statement is repeatedly, it assumes a life of its own? It happens, and there are so many examples that it would take a book to list them. The book, sadly, would be outdated in no time, since the practice of rampant repetition seems endemic given all means of communication today.

What happens if you challenge someone on the veracity of a widely disseminated fallacy or blatant lie? An accusation immediately prompts a proclamation of innocence. What was that phrase from Hamlet? Ah, yes “Methinks he doth protest too much.” In addition, when you cite facts to back up your argument, you immediately find yourself the target. Suddenly, facts don’t matter. The reply is name-calling.

If you doubt this, just watch the news a bit closer. Watch the exchanges between opposing sides, and you’ll see how the side without facts resorts to calling the other side names such as insensitive, uninformed, backward, red neck, provincial….. The list goes on interminably.

We should all take it upon ourselves to eliminate “political correctness” from the national vocabulary. Although it can take generations to take meaningful action to remove elements of discrimination from society, it can be done. Old wounds can heal. We move ahead.

Begin with yourself. Refute the use of “political correctness” as an operative term in everyday speech. If you take a side, get your facts straight — but be prepared to fend off personal slurs. Unless you are speaking with a person with better than average manners, you will find yourself the “bad guy” (or gal, as the case may be). Many, when faced with facts, can only reply with name-calling. How sad.

Political change often comes as the direct result of social change — a term used to describe the clearly stated goal of some in Washington today. They pledge to issue in massive change. As I have stated before, change applies as much to weather as diapers, the former is natural, the latter — of necessity. Methinks the aroma wafting from inside The Beltway more closely resembles the latter.

The ongoing effort to upend America and change her “fundamentally” should scare you to death. America’s fundamentals are solid as the bedrock beneath our topsoil.

As a people, we need to set our feet firmly on the principles of our Founding Fathers and vow to be Americans first and ignore partisan labels. There’s enough blame on both sides of the political aisle to sink our ship of state. Don’t allow that to happen!

When we pledge to save this previous republic, we insure our future — and, more importantly, that of generations unborn. Reserve the initials “PC” to personal computers. Don’t utter “political correctness”. It is not a term for freedom loving people. Think about it.

The Reel Thing!  — Think you know James Stewart?  Maybe not…

Who among us hasn’t winced or gasped in a particularly emotional scene of a war movie? I surely have. Undoubtedly, you have a favorite war movie. Actually, I have several. Thankfully, film is about as close a most of us will ever come to top-secret war planning, a frenzied fight for survival, or the grisly reality of a battlefield.

The saving grace of such films is that they constantly remind the general population that America’s freedom and way of life came at great cost — both in terms of money and lives.

If you are a movie buff, then the mention of Jimmy Stewart brings forth all manner of mental images… Elwood P. Dowd in Mary Chase’s film version of the classic play about the huge white rabbit “Harvey”… George Bailey in “It’s a Wonderful Life”… Jefferson Smith in “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington”… Virginia farmer Charlie Anderson in “Shenandoah”… photographer L. B. Jeffries in the Alfred Hitchcock Classic “Rear Window….

A five-time Oscar nominee, he amassed a venerable reputation over his career. Jimmy Stewart has always been a favorite of mine and I recently read a mesmerizing book on him by World War II war correspondent Starr Smith.

While many of us are familiar with his acting career, few of us are aware of his role as a World War II bomber pilot. Reporting to Draft Board # 245 in Los Angeles in February of 1941, he was — at 138 — underweight by five pounds. While many men sought to avoid the draft, Jimmy Stewart relished the opportunity. In fact, he was the first Hollywood star to enter military service prior to, or during, World War II. An avid pilot who held a commercial license, he volunteered to serve his country in the US Army Air Corps (now the US Air Force). Of particular interest to Hoosiers is the fact that his first flight experience was in Indiana — riding with a traveling barnstorming pilot.

After serving as a pilot in bombardier Training at Kirtland for six months, he transferred to Hobbs for four-engine training. An instructor on the B-17, he went to Gowen Field for nine months and then made Squadron Commander of the 703rd Squadron of the 445th Bomb Group at Sioux City, Iowa.

Heed his own words about the planes he flew stateside in the early 1940s:
“I put the B-24 to a severe test one night in Iowa: ‘I was making a landing in a thunderstorm and, between lots of lightning and some bad judgment on my part, I flew the poor bird into the ground at 120 miles an hour. The nose wheel gave way and was never found again, but, other than that, she just bounced and settled down with a groan. I remember the B-24 very well and, although it came out of the war with a rather questionable reputation for some reason I think most of those who flew the airplane have a very soft spot in their hearts for the machine. I learned four-engine operation in the B-17. But while I was instructing in that airplane the change was suddenly made to the B-24; the transition didn’t seem at all difficult, which speaks well for the bird. In combat, the airplane was no match for the B-17 as a formation bomber above 25,000 feet, but, from 12,000 to, 18,000 feet the airplane did a fine job.”

By 1942 and the rank of 2nd Lieutenant, he was a four-engine flight instructor at Mather Field, California, and oversaw pilots on both the B-17 and the B-24 heavy bombers. After constant requests for overseas duty, Captain James Maitland Stewart finally arrived as Operations Officer for the 703rd bombe Squadron, 445th Bombardment Group of the Eighth Air Force in Tibenham, England.

Starr Smith tells how the men in his unit were apprehensive about having a major film star for their superior, but those fears were put to rest in short order. Efficient, fair, and a talented leader, Stewart fit in with his men and earned their loyalty and respect. By 1944, he transferred to the 453rd at Buckenham and flew — as he had throughout his overseas career — as the lead pilot in B-24 Liberators.

Many web sources cite that his record included 20 combat missions as command pilot over enemy territory, including bombing raids to Berlin, Brunswick, Bremen, Frankfurt and Schweinfurt. He led the 2nd Combat Wing — the 389th, 445th and 453rd groups — to Berlin on March 22, 1944. Historians deem the most memorable mission of his career as flight leader of a 1000-plane raid to Berlin for which he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross with two Oak Leaf Clusters, the Air Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters, and the French Croix de Guerre with Palm. Early in 1944, he transferred to the 453rd Bomb Group, one of the 445th’s two sister groups, as group operations officer. Stewart held the rank of Colonel at war’s end and returned to the states in 1945. His first post-war movie was Frank Capra’s 1946 film “It’s a Wonderful Life” — a classic work with a timeless message.

Jimmy Stewart remained with the Air Force Reserve and made Brigadier General in 1959. In 1966, during his annual two weeks of active duty, he participated in a bombing strike in Vietnam as an observer on a B-52 bomber. Sadly, Stewart’s stepson, 1st Lt. Ronald McLean was killed at age 24 in the Vietnam War. Clearly, sources were nearly verbatim in text when it came to biographical information on James Maitland Stewart. In poring over seven sources for this information, I found that one in particular was most helpful. Titled, Something about Everything Military, the website should be of interest to anyone wishing to research war topics for the United States. Consult www.jcs-group.com.

Stewart retired from the Air Force in 1968 and received the Distinguished Service Medal and — ultimately — the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Like other World War II veterans, Jimmy Stewart seldom spoke of the war years. I was especially struck by the words of one of his daughters, Kelly Stewart.

“Starr Smith’s book has opened a door for me into this part of my father’s life. Mr. Smith conveys with great skill what it meant to fly in the Eighth Air Force during the war; to be Operations Officer of a Bomb Group; what was involved, for example, in the planning and execution of missions. Above all, Mr. Smith, who worked with my father during that time, shows us what he was like as an individual in his role of pilot and leader. I know the war held terrible memories for my father, as it must for anyone who lived through that combat. But he was also deeply proud to have served his country. He would feel honored by this book.

I recommend the book highly. Jimmy Stewart, Bomber Pilot by Starr Smith (Foreword by Walter Cronkite) is well worth your time. James Maitland Stewart is a vivid reminder of what it means to love one’s country and put one’s life on the line to defend her.

IN DEFENSE OF COMMON SENSE
On Line Edition

# 4 – “Sacrifice, not service!”
Week of October 26, 2009

I cannot understand the logic of designating September 11th of every year as simply a day of “service”. If we are to set aside that sad date on our calendars, we should consider other, more rational options.

I suggest the following options to those who wish to change this historic holiday to a day to serve others. Tender these suggestions to those who must have forgotten the thousands of innocent men, women and children who were senselessly murdered on September 11, 2001.

Option # 1: Support

Ask Americans to support law enforcement and fire departments. It is a travesty that we pay the very people who are most critical to our survival in an emergency so little. In a time when athletes pull down salaries rivaling payrolls of businesses employing hundreds, the brave men and women who put their lives on the line to save ours often must have a second job or have a working spouse to take care of their families and put a little away for their old age. Support is definitely a good choice.

Option # 2: Safeguard

More than ever, we need to adopt an attitude of continual vigilance. I worry when our intelligence services personnel are threatened with criminal prosecution for having protected us so brilliantly for the past eight years. It is not an accident that the forces allied against us have failed to pull off another heinous attack. The idea that our “values” would hamper us from using all available resources to head off another 9/11 is ridiculous. If you were to check into history, President Abraham Lincoln abandoned the writ of habeas corpus during the Civil War. I suppose these suit-happy chaps would have served Honest Abe with a subpoena, too. Safeguard is a great choice!

Option # 3: Speak Out

When did we get to the point that doing what is right was relegated to the realm of so-called “political correctness”? If you see something suspicious or hear something threatening, report it immediately. Your keen observation could be critical. Don’t delude yourself into believing that we are too remote or rural to be at risk. What better way to terrorize America than to set in motion a series of simultaneous attacks on small towns across mid-America?
Speak out.

Option # 4: Show Strength

America needs to signal that she will not tolerate any group or any nation bent on destroying her. Some world leaders openly express that wish. It is up to us to encourage our Congress to achieve peace through strength. Maybe we have forgotten that all-important “big stick”. Be strong.

Option # 5: Substantiate

Do not accept anything you hear or read on its face. Check it out. Go for the facts. Confirm the information. Don’t be afraid to confront the person or organization responsible for false or misleading information. In the words of Ronald Wilson Reagan, “Trust, but verify.”

It is right to defend America. War isn’t pretty. People die. Often, innocent people die. Ridding the planet of Hitler, Nazism and Fascism cost millions their lives. The unspeakable attacks of 9/11are mere samples of what the world will suffer at the hands of radically militant Islam. Ruthless and determined, these enemies remain relentless. They are patient. As Americans, we are easily angered, but complacent over time. The terrorists count on that. Don’t be led astray by baseless threats or assumed safeguards. Substantiate!

Option # 6: Stand

Stand for your beliefs. Do not let anyone dilute your core values or your allegiance and love for America. Patriotism is not a dirty word. You take for granted every day a lifestyle that is the envy of countries around the world. Be firm in your stance. Verbalize your love and respect for your country. If you disagree with your elected officials, let them know. Don’t sit at the kitchen table and complain. Write, e-mail or call them. Be heard. Don’t be passive and assume that everything will work out for the best. Without voter input, elected officials are left to their own decisions, and those decisions could be diametrically opposed to the majority of their constituents — if they are silent. Stand for what you believe.

Option # 7: Savor

Savor your blessings as an American. Never take for granted the fact that you are free. It could disappear if we neglect to any threat to our freedom
— whether from within or without.

While each of these options is credible on its own, the best strategy is to combine them all. Don’t be goaded into accepting any commemoration of 9/11 that ignores the fact that thousands died and ARE dying daily. These selfless men and women fight and die to protect you and your family and spread freedom around the globe to insure that others breathe and live free.
Don’t be a bystander. Get in the game. The stakes are too high if you sit on the sidelines. This is every American’s fight. It is YOUR fight.

IN DEFENSE OF COMMON SENSE – On Line Edition

# 3 – “The way it was…”

Mid-October found me motoring down scenic US 52 to a speech at a festive Franklin County gathering in charming Brookville. Along the way, Mother Nature displayed a virtual greeting card of vistas painted in soft hues of brown, gold, and orange. Occasionally, a bright crimson tree popped up — a delightful surprise in a pleasant, but predictable woodland palette.

Passing through every small hamlet along the road was thought provoking, but never so much so as when I drove through New Salem. On the east side of the road stood a solid building. One story high, its architecture spoke volumes. Heavy limestone and pale brown brick had stood the test of time and whispered of the days when local businesses thrived — unthreatened by the huge enterprises seen today.

Mentally, I pictured early automobiles parked in front. Passengers alit and drew back the heavy front door only to disappear inside with the observer left to imagine what happened next. No doubt, management serviced patrons that varied in background, occupation, and social station.

Theirs was, indeed, a valuable relationship. Similar ones are rare today. In fact, I wonder — if pressed — if I could name one with which I am familiar. You’re probably wondering what kind of a business this was. I’ll get to that… Patience, please?

It has been at least two years since I focused on what I truly believe to be the truly endangered species. Of course, I’m speaking of small businesspeople. Hardy souls who worked very hard to build their businesses and took such personal pride in accomplishment are disappearing with every passing day.

The pleasure of doing business with an owner and staff who know you by name is — in most cases — doomed to be nostalgic. It should be a fact of life today, but it is not. When you consider all the financial troubles facing America, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that the problem roots in not that we still do business, but HOW we do business.

Today, countless entities still offer the services that beckoned people to that little brick building. Folks still walk in and sit down across the desk from the person in charge. The difference is that today’s expectations are low and results are abysmal. The security borne of successful transactions in that little building built confidence in families and extolled thrift. Even more important was the fact that parents, living by example, not only passed on solid values of hard work, honesty, but also reinforced the importance of fulfilling obligations.

Oh, would that it were true today! Yes, the little brick building encouraged folks to do the right thing. It instilled in them immeasurable self-respect and personal pride.

Honesty and accomplishment are values worth being chiseled in stone, and it didn’t escape me that is precisely how the little building proudly displayed its name to all passersby — chiseled in stone: NEW SALEM BANK.

Yes, things were far different when small local banks held sway over home and farm loans. Once upon a time, people saved their money and small banks helped them buy land or a home, start a business, or simply live out a dream that required more money than they could scrape together on their own.

The scenario was predicable for generations. A borrower needed about 20% down to secure a loan. A good job and a solid credit rating were important, but, undoubtedly, there were exceptions. Credibility counted for something.
I imagine that people who had experienced “money problems” did receive loans when a bank official recognized their personal mettle and merit.

One serious look at the “no money down, no interest, no payments for a set period of time” loans that spawned the financial morass that spiraled out of control this year makes someone who understands economics cringe.

What responsible bank loan officer would devise such a system? Probably very few…. However, government pressure and a social bent that people had a “right” to home ownership relegated these loans were to the equivalent of throwing gasoline to an already burning fire. Whoosh!

A small banker would never have considered loaning money without solid collateral, but the world of the small banks ceased with deregulation and buy outs by bigger banks.

Perhaps if we had failed to allow bank mergers, this would never have happened. I remember when women once “bundled” their babies — tucking them in tightly so that they didn’t roll around in a crib or cradle. How appropriate that “bundling” was the term used to package high-risk loans and sell them to larger banks. Like the baby in a bundle, banks that bought these loans found little room to move.

Face to face banking always works, but when large banks — virtually salivating at the prospect of quick profits “buy up” paper from smaller banks, well, you get the picture….

Balloon payments come due. Homeowners default on mortgages. Banks foreclose. Cash flow evaporates. Banks fail — and along with them — America fails to live up to the work ethic that built her economy. Oh, for the days when you had to “face up” to your ability and succeed only to the degree that you were able.

Once upon a time, that wasn’t just a pipe dream. It was — as the title implies — the way it was…. Think about it.

“Looking out…”

There’s something very cathartic about washing windows. You begin with a view that’s not too clear, a condition that changes with some elbow grease. You see things more clearly through a clean window. If we see our personal environment better through a clean window, then what of the world’s window on America?

A view of America is not hard to put into words. It is, quite simply, freedom for all. Not a bad description, is it? The caveat here is that freedom is NOT free. America — through the blood and sacrifice of her brave fighting men and women — has freed more people from tyranny and oppression than any other nation on the globe. Peace is not achieved passively, but by constant vigilance and defense.

Recently, with the unexpected awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to our president, some commentators have analogized that the award has lost its true status and become simply a rubber stamp to European thinking. Yet, there is — as Paul Harvey would have quipped — the rest of the story.

How old is this prize and what is its genesis? The Nobel Foundation states that since 1901, the prize has honored men and women from all corners of the globe for outstanding achievements in physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, and for work in peace. The foundations for the prize were laid in 1895 when a famous Swedish scientist wrote his last will and testament, leaving much of his wealth to the establishment of the prize. For those of you who do not know his identity, he invented dynamite.

By the time Alfred Nobel was 17 years old, he had mastered Swedish, Russian, French, English and German. The son of a very successful Russian mechanical engineer who devised naval mines for the Tsar and his generals, Alfred not only loved English literature and poetry, but he also possessed curiosity about chemistry and physics. Later, inspired by the Frenchman who invented nitroglycerine, young Alfred mused about how to use the volatile chemical in construction. In the wake of his father’s mid-1800s bankruptcy, Alfred and brother Emil managed to salvage the remains of their father’s business and begin an oil business in southern Russia.

In 1863, the duo returned home to Sweden rich men. Alfred began experimenting on how to use nitroglycerine as a practical tool in construction. Safety was the prime issue for Alfred and, to his great anguish, both his brother Emil and several other workers died in early explosions. After that, Stockholm banned any further experiments within the city. Working elsewhere, Alfred came up with the idea to make the product into paste and form it into rods sized to insert into conventional drilling holes. At last, he achieved his dream — a product that would change history. Dynamite drastically cut the time-consuming work on canals, in tunnels, and any job requiring rock blasting.

According to the Nobel website, Alfred Nobel died in San Remo, Italy, on December 10, 1896. The contents of his will came as a surprise. His fortune was to be used for Prizes in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature and Peace.

The executors of Nobel’s will, two young engineers named Ragnar Sohlman and Rudolf Lilljequist set about forming the Nobel Foundation to take care of the financial assets and to coordinate the work of the Prize-Awarding Institutions. This didn’t come easy, because relatives contested the will.

However, understand that the Peace Prize is not awarded by the same kind of committees that award the other prizes. Instead, it is made up of five members of the current ruling Swedish political party. This accounts for its awarding to the likes of Yassar Arafat, who has more Jewish blood on his hands than most of us can comprehend.

Some claim that Nobel sought to assuage his guilt for all the deaths caused by his invention when used in warfare, but there is no clear evidence of him ever have made such a statement and it may be more assumption than fact. His reasoning and inspiration were lost with his last breath, so we will never know precisely why he left his estate as he did. Yet, questions still haunt researchers.

Did Nobel intend for the prize to be awarded for deeds or rhetoric? For deeds or intentions? A question without any clear answer, but it should prompt one to think. To me, when wishful thinking and utopian dreams of what might be — or could be — outstrip solid accomplishment; we are in the deep weeds.

Should we care how Europe views America? Well, its peoples certainly have changed their tune over seven decades. It’s too bad this current batch of Europeans don’t remember how their grandparents saw America when Hitler marauded over their continent. As for me, it hasn’t escaped my notice that it was the Swedes that suggested multiple choices children facing for punishment and mandated not keeping score in children’s athletic games. To them, evidently, losing is not a good thing.  However, to us as Americans, losing was, is — continues to be —  a character-builder.

Sadly, the background of Nobel and his prize does nothing to restore the Peace Prize’s formerly held high prestige. I, for one, do not know why the committee chose our president — and that’s more the pity. Once upon a time, the Nobel Peace Prize really meant something, and the deeds that inspired it were clear and undeniable.

Isn’t it about time we washed our window to the world? Clearly, it is more important that we see the world for what it is, and not what it could be. Look through it. What do YOU see? Think about it.

Welcome to the IN DEFENSE OF COMMON SENSE blog. After seven years as a non-paid columnist for The Shelbyville News, I branch out to the web to reach my readers. I thank each and every one of you who called, wrote, or stopped me in public over those seven years to tell me how much you liked my work. Such compliments not only humble me, but spur me to continue writing. “Swan Song”, the column whose rejection sparked my resignation from the paper, was written to address present legislation planned within the Congress and how I feel that it endangers our republic. Ironically, that title ended up applying to me. It was, sadly, my “Swan Song” as a columnist. Well, when one door closes, another one opens, so I am happy to stand at the virtual door to greet you. I hope you enjoy reading my work half as much as I do writing it. Welcome!

Look for a column soon!