Archive for July, 2018

253 – Taming of The Not So Few

Monday, July 23rd, 2018

IN DEFENSE OF COMMON SENSE
By Hetty Gray

# 253

July 23, 2018

“Taming Of The Not So Few…”

Begging pardon from the bard (a/k/a William Shakespeare), I see a current movement beginning to lure in America’s impressionable youth with promises of something for (literally) nothing.

We are fortunate to have someone in the White House who owes nothing to lobbyists, wealthy donors, Wall Street or the Business Round Table. Well, as Dana Carvey’s character (The Church Lady) would have said, “Well, isn’t THAT special?” Yes, indeed it is, and more so than most people know.

Talk about David and Goliath…. It’s what we see today, and you should be scared of its consequences.

A “Ditto Head,” a Rush Limbaugh listener since the 1980s, I am proudly claim the moniker of a continual and dedicated student of the Limbaugh Institute for Conservative Studies. Boiling down what seems to most as an ugly stew of “news,” Rush brings not only wisdom, but also brevity, to complex situations. Using his experience as a consummate student of our storied and exemplary history, Rush gives his audience a clear view of current events and changes in American society as a whole.

Looking back over recent presidential elections, I note a distinct change in media coverage. News should be facts. Anchors, reporters and columnists should inform the public of the facts and let the public come to a conclusion. Not so today. What once was factual news has morphed into commentary. Facts have been eclipsed by “feelings.” Try defending feelings in court.

What this does is disenfranchise every American of his or her ability to judge a situation for itself. Critical thinking is nearly extinct. Unlike the dinosaurs, it cannot be resurrected as entertainment.

A continual liberal push insinuates that Donald Trump and his staff colluded (not a crime incidentally, according to Alan Derschowitz) with Russia to interfere with the 2016 presidential election and propel the GOP to victory.

Where were critics when Obama and his cohorts meddled with Israeli elections? Widely known, it was tolerated and not exposed for what it was. Why? Well, Democrats rarely defend Israel. Instead, they take the side of the Palestinians (thugs as they are) and refuse to support our greatest ally in the Middle East. How many times have you heard a Democrat come to the defense of Netanyahu?

It is not new that countries attempt to subvert the political process of an adversary in order to gain ground. This has gone on since Biblical times. To spout all the current garbage as if this is the first time in history that the United States has tried to undermine a despotic or abusive government in order to spread freedom is ludicrous. It is standard operating procedure for intelligence agencies around the world.

Do we do it as a nation? You bet we do, and it is routine. Business as usual, as it were. Have the Russians adopted this as a new tactic? That’s laughable. Russia interjects itself here in America, not only in elections, but also in other ways that continue to go unnoticed by the general public.

If you doubt that this is the first time that Russia has tried to spread its disruptive influence the United States, just consider these examples. The first focuses on fiction, spawned by real life.

Richard Carlson starred in a popular TV series that aired from 1953 to 1956. I was only 9 when it began, but I remember it well. “I Led Three Lives” recounted real life. Citizen, Communist, Counterspy is its base. The book is Herbert Philbrick’s classic memoir of his life in espionage.

Once a Boston-area advertising executive, Philbrick accepted the FBI’s overture to infiltrate the Communist Party in the United States. What’s more, Carlson portrayed the spy with his actual name, Herbert Philbrick. Grounded in truth, that series — sixty years ago — exposed what we have witnessed in the United States over the last few decades.

Sometimes, truth is really stranger than fiction.

Viewers were privy to the challenges Philbrick faced maintaining those same three distinct identities — counterspy, citizen and Communist. Awash with intrigue, it kept its audience on the edge of their seats for three full years. It is interesting that the series premiered only a few years after Senator Joseph McCarthy initiated his famous hearings in Washington, D.C. How did they come about?

At a speech in Wheeling, West Virginia, on February 9, 1950, McCarthy proclaimed that he was aware of 205 card-carrying members of the Communist Party who worked for the United States Department of State. This speech set off an era of paranoia and accusation and propelled McCarthy into the national spotlight. (ushistory.org) But, those hearings are another story….

Communism is not new. It is an old, and crippling ideology dating to the 1890s in which only the elite exert power and hold resources while the populace at large is left with a life robbed of freedom, ambition, or dreams of personal success.

In the words of Karl Marx, “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.” So, if you work, you do not reap the rewards of your labor. Instead, your effort and largess go to someone who “needs” it more than you do. So much for the work ethic….

Socialism is one step down, but on the fast track to Communism. To this date 42 candidates for office at the local, state and federal level are endorsed by the American Socialist Party. These elected “wanna bes” stand on the shoulders of others among us. You see, purveyors of Communism remain alive and well and dwell among us — happily tenured among the faculties of institutions of higher learning from coast to coast. Now their “blatherings” have earned a platform that endangers us all.

Oh, they are the classic “snake oil salesmen (or women, if you are into the gender specific language) of the day. They promise free tuition to public universities, free Medicare for all, etc. They promise….

Sounds good to someone educated to believe that America stands at fault for other countries’ poor living conditions. America at fault? Oh, yes. Untold numbers of our young people have little or no respect for America. Never mind that millions of our men and women sacrificed their lives to free people around the world. Those bits of history are viewed inconvenient to them.

Never mind that America stands as the bastion of freedom for the world. Never mind that in the midst of any major natural disaster, Americans are first to respond. Never mind America’s history of hard work and innovation. Never mind the truth….

And if you think that the influence stops with academia, you need to think again. From their inception in the 1920s, unique men produced Hollywood movies. Studio moguls, to a man, were either immigrants or children of immigrants. These men knew the value of freedom and used their films to further the message of Americans as heroes… of faith as the anchor to life… the rewards of hard work… the value of compassion and sharing… of America as the best place on earth….

Once these men were dead and gone, it didn’t take long until studio ownership fell to people with an agenda. Suddenly, gratuitous violence replaced implied violence. Blood and gore became the order of the day. As a result, children were desensitized to violence in its harshest form. Cheating, glorified, disappeared as “wrong,” and became just another way to get ahead.

Remember when the James Bond films had maniacal foreigners as adversaries? Remember when power-seeking bad guys tried to take over the world? Remember how England’s “007” foiled their plans? Remember those movies? Well, consider the recent Bond plots….

Now, the villain genre is capitalism. Business is evil. Any idea how that has warped the wordsmith’s intent? Ian’s Fleming’s James Bond character actually roots in a proficient spy working for Winston Churchill. That man was F.F.E. ‘Tommy’ Yeo-Thomas GC, codenamed “The White Rabbit.” Think that Churchill could have been lured or persuaded by Communism? Hardly.

Yet, subtleties of the films extend the Communist reach to one more area: entertainment. They inch their way into the corporate psyche. Now, we have education and entertainment linked in what I consider a perverted effort to undermine America as my generation knows it. And what defines my America? As Clark Kent would say, “Truth, Justice and the American Way.”

Our great-grandparents’ generation fought the Civil War. Our grandparent’s generation fought World War I — The War to end all wars! Our parents’ peers fought World War II and Korea. My generation fought Viet Nam. Current military stationed worldwide stand ready to defend each of us — to a person — including all those hell-bent on spreading Socialism in America today.

Who are the wealthy entertainers who push to take away our guns? How about taking guns from their bodyguards? And those who try to push electric cars with limited range? Owners of private jets that consume huge amounts of fuel.

Carbon footprint? You bet. But that is not the only dirt left in their wake. An old adage claims “the wages of sin are death.” Well, the wages of socialism and communism are enslavement and despair.

Double standard? Yeah, but what else can we expect? Nothing is more important to the would-be socialists than political success. These people are persistent, but thankfully they are few. It is up to each of us to counter their false messages and prevent them from gaining a firm foothold among the voting public.

As we approach the 2018 mid-term elections, be mindful of why America remains the envy of the world. We are free. We value truth. We defend our friends and prove to be very dangerous to our enemies.

This president stands up for America. This president leads through strength. Only this president’s resolve and our military stand between us and peril. This must prevail. Donald Trump faces the few. They are determined to destroy him. Who are his defenders? We are!

Can the few be tamed? Ah, yes. But only with effort. Our goal is “The Taming of the Few.” Are you up to it? Think about it.

252 “A sad truth…”

Friday, July 6th, 2018

IN DEFENSE OF COMMON SENSE
By Hetty Gray

#252

July 6, 2018

It is with angst that I space my columns out over time. Often, my spark dims with the current news. I feel as if I am living in “The Twilight Zone,” but Rod Serling is nowhere to be found.

I revel in national holidays. Celebrating America is first on my list, so when I view someone climbing the pedestal of The Statue of Liberty — sparking a response by National Park Service personnel (at their own peril), I am a loss for words. What this woman did was rob countless men, women and children from visiting one of our most iconic sites on the 4th of July. Good timing with her mindset, absurd from those of us who love our country.

My faith sustains me, and not in a small way, as I reflect on the happenings that continue to grow in the United States. The very freedoms that set us apart from the rest of the world are used in ways that defy reason.

It is not simply a case of glass half full or half empty, either. Freedom of speech is sacrosanct for us. Our military defends the rights of the most misled and uninformed to say what they will. Aside from screaming “Fire!” in a crowded theater, these folks and their warped ideals try the collective patience of our people.

Perhaps just as worrisome as watching the officers pluck the aforementioned woman from a fragile (yes, the copper is thin and subject to damage) statue was a series of interviews with young people asked if they were proud to be an American.

Had that question been asked when I was a young person (granted, that was a half century ago), a negative reply would have been unthinkable. Ah, yes, the systematic mantra of leftist teachers and textbooks has done its job. We now have untold numbers of our young people who have no appreciation for American exceptionalism or of the history of our people.

I made it a point to give my students a little advice as I taught both in high school and college. I emphasized that history is not a litany of names, dates and places. History stands as a series of warning signs for us.

If we do not heed history, we risk repeating it. No nation is faultless. Human, we remain, one and all. When I was a young person, there were subtle differences between the two major political parties. However, few people questioned love of country. The Democratic Party did stand more for the working population than the Republican Party. Today, tables have turned. We now see a Democratic Party that triumphs entitlement options, illegal immigration (yes, illegal), and gender identification.

Please. You are born with certain parts. They define gender. Choice may be legitimate in the drive-through lane, but not in the delivery room. The proverbial pendulum has swung so far askew that it defies explanation.

Socialism sounds wonderful. Everybody is equal. It harkens back to Orwell’s thesis that “all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”

That we have a growing segment of our young people considering Socialism a positive lifestyle is not only scary, it is extremely dangerous. If elites can convince them that government control bests individual freedom of choice in the workplace, we are in for a very rough ride. America was built on the blood, sweat and tears of forebears who didn’t expect a free ride. They made their own way and what a way they bestowed on us!

Control, for those who push socialism, is far easier if their audience is blind to the horrible effects socialism can have. For a contemporary example, look no further than Venezuela! What a sad state of affairs that is!

Consider the current happenings in San Francisco, a beautiful city founded as a major port of working people, a city that endeared itself to Americans with its stunning vistas and cable cars.

Today, the “city by the bay” loses major conventions because of the homeless, opioid community and the violence that plagues its streets. Some workers even pay to ride to work less than a block of two from their homes. It is really that bad.

Throw in the “sanctuary city” status coupled with tolerance for criminals to roam the streets and you have a toxic mix. And what of leadership? The holier than thou politicians who spout how they “care” about the poor — in fact — do little to remedy the situation. Where do they live? How do they travel? Security? You bet. Yet, they clamor to disarm the general population. Guns don’t kill people. People kill people.

The would-be car jacker who encountered an armed mom as he tried to flee a gas station with her two small children in her car learned the hard way. Licensed to carry, she reached into the console and shot him in the face. He stopped yards away. Hers is the face of self-defense. She is a hero.

Violence seems to the order of the day when the minority party moves ever closer to November, and not just the venomous words they hurl with abandon. A California Congresswoman repeatedly calls for attacks against anyone who works closely with or lends support to our president. Where on earth is putting country before self? Where is the common root of America — patriotism? It is not dead, but it is in peril.

To my chagrin, the beauty of American federal government that I explained to my students has morphed into a puzzle that seems to have no solution. It’s a game of “us against them.” Sad? Yes, but more than sad, it’s very dangerous.

Certain ingredients define a country. Four are critical: One: Secure, defined borders — without borders, there IS no country. Two: Law — without rule of law, there is no order or safety for the people. Three: Language, without a common tongue, the country lacks the glue that holds it together. (Remember, worldwide, all airline pilots speak English.) Four: Military strength — without a strong military, the country is at high risk.

We now witness the fraying of the first three with the full support of the Democratic Party. This should scare the socks off each one of us. If, as some critics claim, Democrats that oppose enforcing current laws governing immigration harbor an underlying motive — an influx in high numbers of new voters dependent upon the government programs of which they are so fond, then they are beneath contempt. If a strong country is a healthy country, how is America today?

When you add in the specter of leadership that scorns those of us who believe in God and view faith as a weakness, you compound the problem with a fatal flaw that could doom the American dream.

Misled and uninformed youth will follow the lead of a “pied piper.” The old slogan of hippies “Never true anyone over forty” needs updating. Those who protested and cursed their parents and grandparents now serve in positions of leadership. Scary? You bet it is. So long as our schools and universities continue to allow teachers to rail against America and turn out graduates with no respect for country, the risk to each of us grows exponentially.

If you seek a real challenge, try to convince a young person who has become an “America hater” that he or she is wrong. Good luck. In an ironic twist, it reminds me of how shocked I was to see small Chinese children taught to kill Americans or Palestinian children taught that all Israelis are pigs to slaughter.
Seeds planted with purpose can bring forth a bitter harvest.

It is not a problem easily solved or in short order. The first step will be the hardest, reforming education to be just that — not indoctrination. Teaching should root in facts, not feelings. Teaching should extol patriotism, not alienation. And God should not be off limits in any school setting.

Armed with visceral hatred for any modicum of control, these progeny of the ’60s generation place law enforcement in their crosshairs and systematically instill attitudes to dispirit and enrage their followers — often with deadly consequences. When respect for authority dies, so does a society.

Is it hopeless? No. I remain confident that if enough Americans stand for what is right and move against the ranting and raving of the left, we can turn this around.

Watch and listen to the messages before the coming mid-term elections. The left will concentrate on hate and fear, labeling the GOP as “phobes” of every kind. Winning at any cost is at the heart of their campaigning and the possibility that work will win out over welfare and that the economy will thrive fuels their insatiable quest for power.

I applaud the efforts of the Trump administration to revive American pride and praise the exceptionalism admired worldwide. You don’t see people surging to immigrate (legally or illegally) to socialism countries. There is a good reason for it. Socialism does not work.

Today, politicians of the ilk of Bernie Sanders, praise Socialism as the “end all, be all” of life. It’s far from it. Socialism stifles entrepreneurship, dampens ambition, and collapses the stable order of society.

Free education, guaranteed housing, everybody has a job…. It may sound good, but there is not one instance of it having worked — anywhere, ever!
Border security also needs to stop the flow of drugs into this country. We are losing young people to drugs at an alarming rate — those among us who should have the burning desire to succeed.

There is no better way to weaken this country than to cripple a large segment of its youth. So far, the cartels are doing a bang up job. Evidently, they have the cover of very powerful forces. Someone, somewhere, is making what (to omit a perfect term) a ____ load of money off the drug trade. The question is just who are they?

So, where are we? We are at a crossroads. I refuse to give up on America. We all need to pray that things turn around and America regains her treasured, strong relationship with her people — true to its motto, E Pluribus Unum. One of many, one….

In truth, I cannot imagine what our Founding Fathers would think of today’s state of affairs. They were men in their 30s. Together, after much discussion and prayer (Yes, prayer!), they crafted documents that would forge a government that positioned America as the beacon for the world — a government truly of, by and for the people. I believe that America is that “shining city on a hill” that President Reagan described.

The Founders would never understand the mindset of many young people today. My question is just what kind of young people are we turning out today? Critical to our survival is the answer. Think about it.