IN DEFENSE OF COMMON SENSE
By Hetty Gray
# 277
March 8, 2020
“Metamorphosis”
No, readers, this has nothing whatsoever to do with Franz Kafka. Those of us who had this charming story in college probably never want to suffer through it again.
Recently, the “left field” (nothing to do with baseball, either) seems to have narrowed down to a pair. It is interesting that the party changed rules to allow Michael Bloomberg onto the televised debate stage yet they stonewall Tulsi Gabbard who had one delegate before Bloomberg landed his delegate after winning over that bastion of population, American Samoa. This would be funny were it not so serious.
What precisely all this portends in murky at this point, but it does illicit a high degree of skepticism among those who believe in God and the U. S. Constitution. Oh, no doubt the two men left to duke it out for the nomination will claim an allegiance to both, but perhaps their actions speak louder than their words.
How is it, I ask, that Biden, an avowed Catholic is not “pro life?” And what of self-proclaimed “democratic socialist” Sanders when he banters all manner of nonsense as if he as president could ignore every modicum of the Constitution and do just what he wants?
Should he win the nomination, any debate with President Trump would be entertaining to say the least. For example, consider the following bits of wisdom from Bernie:
In the October Democratic debate:
On Global Warming:
“Today, the scientific community is virtually unanimous: climate change is real, it is caused by human activity, and we have a moral responsibility to transform our energy system away from fossil fuel to energy efficiency and sustainable energy and leave this planet a habitable planet for our children and our grandchildren.”
Evidently, the scientific community takes issue with Bernie.
“There are two ways to interpret ‘habitable,’ and in that context it could mean that life can’t survive,” Princeton’s Michael Oppenheimer, who has worked extensively with the United Nations’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, told the Wire. “That is not a prescription that most scientists would agree with, or description.”
On Fidel Castro:
Vintage Bernie (1985)
“In 1961, [America] invaded Cuba, and everybody was totally convinced that
Castro was the worst guy in the world,” said Sanders.
“All the Cuban people were going to rise up in rebellion against Fidel Castro. They forgot that he educated their kids, gave their kids health care, totally transformed society,” he said.
“You know, not to say Fidel Castro and Cuba are perfect – they are certainly not – but just because Ronald Reagan dislikes these people does not mean to say the people in these nations feel the same,” continued Sanders.
On Hamas:
Sanders is off on the number of Gazans killed in the 2014 Israel-Hamas conflict by just a little bit…
In an interview with the New York Daily News, Sanders blithely asserted that 10,000 Gazans were killed during the conflict, then after heavy pressure he attempted to walk it back by saying, “I did not know the exact number, but it turns out that, according to the United Nations, over 2,000 civilians were killed, and some 10,000 people were wounded.”
Consider Joshua Yasmeh’s assessment of Bernie’s claim.
Bernie Sanders Knows NOTHING About Israel — Or The Rest Of The World For That Matter
Bumbling buffoon and apparent Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is a complete and utter moron. The man doesn’t know a damn thing outside of his pre-scripted talking points about big banks and income inequality. To Sanders, the world is flat; America exists in vacuum, and the Middle East is but a distraction. That’s why he knows nothing about Israel. He knows nothing, because he doesn’t care to know.
After telling the New York Daily News in an interview that the Israeli army had killed 10,000 Gazans during Operation Protective Edge in 2014, he drew scorn from both sides of the aisle demanding that he correct his grossly inflated numbers.
The Atlantic sums up the socialist septuagenarian’s interview with the Daily News as follows: “Throughout his interview, Sanders seemed taken aback when he was pressed on policy—and not just on the matters that are peripheral to his approach, like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict or interrogation of detainees, but even on bread-and-butter matters like breaking up the big banks, the Democratic presidential hopeful came across as tentative, unprepared, or unaware.”
Man- Made Global Warming – Bernie’s View
Sanders thinks that a 65-degree temperature on Christmas Eve is evidence of man-made global warming. Here are his words:
Nobody can recall a Christmas Eve where the temperature was 65 degrees. Why is it that we’re not effectively addressing climate change?
Oops, Bernie, old pal…. maybe you can’t remember, but the Weather Bureau certainly does!
It was 62° in Burlington, VT on Christmas Day in 1964 and 80° in Baton Rouge, LA on Christmas Eve, 1970.
Sanders still thinks the New York subway uses tokens.
When talking to the New York Daily News Editorial Board, Sanders was unaware that people now use metro-cards to get on.
“What do you mean, ‘How do you ride the subway these days?’” Sanders cluelessly said. “You get a token and you get on.”
The subway made the change from tokens to metro-cards in 2008, and Sanders told the editorial board he last used the subway in 2015. So much for his memory on the subway. Sadly, that is not his sole shortfall.
Sanders does not understand the concept of collateral.
It makes no sense that students and their parents pay higher interest rates for college than they pay for car loans or housing mortgages.
Collateral is defined as “a property or other assets that a borrower offers a lender to secure a loan.” For instance, in the case of a mortgage “the lender can take possession of the home through a process called foreclosure and sell it to get back the principal it lent you.” Source: Investopedia.
Professor Mark Youngkin puts his rebuttal this way:
Actually, given the default rates on student loans vs. car and home loans, it makes perfect sense.
#itscalledeconomics
Sanders doesn’t understand how the Supreme Court works.
A Sanders Tweet:
Any Supreme Court nominee of mine will make overturning Citizens United one of their first decisions.
This tweet is egregiously false to the point that even the leftist ThinkProgress blog had to call Sanders out on it:
“The problem with this tweet, however, is that it betrays a serious misunderstanding of how the Supreme Court operates. Unlike a legislature, which is free to take up or ignore particular issues at their leisure, court cases must clear numerous procedural hoops before they are decided, and this is doubly true for the Supreme Court of the United States. In reality, it would be nearly impossible for Sanders’s nominee to ensure that any particular case was “one of their first decisions.”
Sanders believes the conspiracy theory that Sandra Bland was murdered by racist cops.
Back in December, Sanders said in a statement, “There’s no doubt in my mind that she, like too many African-Americans who die in police custody, would be alive today if she were a white woman.”
Problem is, Bernie, the evidence is quite clear that Bland’s death was due to suicide.
Here’s a real gem:
Sanders wants the U.S. to be more like China.
China – not exactly seen as a model when it comes to human rights – provides 14 weeks of paid maternity leave. The US provides zero.
Hollywood replied: James Woods
China has notoriously killed female infants for population control, you utter moron.
Biden
Lest we forget that there’s another candidate vying for the nomination. Let’s turn to Biden
Source: The Federalist
While celebrating his Super Tuesday victories on stage in California, Biden mixed up his wife and sister on stage.
“By the way, this is my little sister Valerie!” Biden said as he grabbed his wife’s right hand. “And I’m Jill’s husband,” he added when reaching for his sister’s.
During a March 2 campaign stop in Texas, Biden appeared to forget the Declaration of Independence.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident,” Biden began. “All men and women created by- go- you know- you know the thing.”
The “thing” Biden was referring to of course, is the Declaration of Independence.
I don’t know about each of you, but I learned that piece of wisdom when I was a child! And I have never forgotten it.
Biden could not remember it.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.
He claimed that he was looking forward to Super Thursday. Not so, Joe. Tuesday.
Another parcel of thought from February 24th in South Carolina:
“My name is Joe Biden. I’m a Democratic candidate for the United States Senate.” Three decades off, Joe, and that was your vice presidency in 2009.
Biden needs a bit of help with geography, and not in the USA.
In a December, 2019, in a meeting with the Des Moines Register, Biden stressed that millions of Venezuelans were fleeing for neighboring Bolivia. Bolivia, however, is on the opposite side of the continent located south of Brazil, far from Venezuela in the north.
Venezuelans are fleeing, but to Columbia. The United Nations estimates more than 1.3 million Venezuelans have sought refuge from the collapsing socialist state in their home country.
Hmmmm…. Socialist country. Now, where have we heard Socialism lately?
He doesn’t have much more success with the United States.
At a fish-fry fundraiser last Nov. 2nd, hosted by Democratic Rep. Abby Finkenauer in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Biden confused Iowa for Ohio when talking about infrastructure.
“How many unsafe bridges do you still have here in the state of Ohio?” Biden asked a group of Iowa voters. “I mean Iowa, and I was just in Ohio because they have more.”
Now, remember before reading this that President Trump is the only US chief executive in history to fund Historically Black Colleges and Universities. All funds going to these deserving institutions were meted out annually, but only after they came to the government for help.
Now, let’s see what Joe knows about them.
At an Oct. 26 South Carolina town hall, Biden claimed to have started out at Delaware State University, a historically black college in his home state as opposed to the University of Delaware where he actually went to school.
“I got started out at an HBCU, Delaware State. Now I don’t want to hear anything negative about Delaware State here. They’re my folks,” Biden said during a South Carolina town hall.
No total recall when it came to the name of the man Obama put forth for the US Supreme Court.
Again, classic Joe. And on late night TV — no less.
In a Sept. 25 appearance on ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” Biden stumbled when talking about the Supreme Court and seemed to have forgotten the name of the last Supreme Court nominee under President Barack Obama.
“Back when, when they were holding up before Trump got elected, they were holding up, uh, um, the nomination of the president put forward for the Supreme Court,” Biden rambled before Jimmy Kimmel jumped in to provide the name.
“Merrick Garland,” Kimmel interjected.
“Merrick Garland, a really fine man,” Biden said.
Oh, and one of my nostalgic favorite Biden gaffes:
‘Make Sure You Have the Record Player On at Night’
Responding to a question about his opposition to reparations for slavery during the third Democratic primary debate in September, Biden pivoted to discussing gaps in education and encouraged teachers and parents to “have the record player on at night.”
“They don’t — they don’t know quite what to do,” Biden said, referring to parents not knowing how to raise their children and then offered some advice. “Play the radio, make sure the television — excuse me, make sure you have the record player on at night. … Make sure that kids hear words.”
Assessing his own mental condition:
Biden forgot which building he was speaking in during a stop at Dartmouth College on Aug. 24, 2019, in New Hampshire.
“I want to be clear, I’m not going nuts,” Biden told the crowd Friday after stuttering. “I’m not sure whether it was the medical school or where the hell I spoke. But it was on the campus.”
And his “state of mind” in reality…
While speaking to reporters in Keene, New Hampshire on Aug. 24, Biden praised the beauty of Vermont when asked about his impression of the New Hampshire town.
“I love this place. Look, what’s not to like about Vermont in terms of the beauty of it? And what a neat town,” Biden said. This is like a scenic, beautiful town. They mayor’s been a good guy. Everybody has been really friendly. I like Keene a lot.”
And his timing? Locale is a problem here, too.
Biden Says He Was Vice President During Parkland Massacre.
On Aug. 10, Biden claimed he was still vice president during the shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, which happened on Feb. 14, 2018. Biden, however, had been out of office for more than a year at that point.
“Those kids in Parkland came up to see me when I was vice president,” Biden told reporters in Iowa, according to Bloomberg News.
A campaign official told Bloomberg that Biden meant to refer to the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, which occurred in December 2012 and killed 26 people, 20 of whom were children between the ages of 6 and 7.
Gender Identity or Quantity?
A Turning Point USA field staffer confronted Biden in Iowa on Aug. 9, asking him, “How many genders are there?”
“There are at least three,” Biden said, trying to appease the liberal wing of the Democratic Party that has been pushing society to abandon two-gender biology.
The staffer pressed Biden on the question. “What are they?” she inquired.
“Don’t play games with me, kid,” Biden said before grabbing the young staffer’s arm to explain his previous support for gay marriage. “By the way, the first one to come out for marriage was me.”
The next time you think about education, process this pearl of Biden wisdom:
‘Poor Kids Are Just as Bright as White Kids’
The former vice president said he misspoke when he told the Asian and Latino Coalition in Des Moines, Iowa, on Aug. 8 that “poor kids are just as bright and just as talented as white kids.”
“You Can’t Go to a 7-11 or Dunkin’ Donuts Unless You Have an Indian Accent”
Consider the impact of this statement made in 2006. A party that claims to be the most inclusive and most tolerant has a sitting US Senator profiling an entire population as proprietors or managers of convenience stores or donut shops. Isn’t it interesting that the truth jumps out when Biden is speaking casually?
And lastly, as a government teacher, I give you my favorite:
“We Believe in Truth over Facts.”
“We choose unity over division. We choose science over fiction. We choose truth over facts,” Biden told the receptive crowd at the Des Moines Register Political Soapbox.
And if this one didn’t scare you, consider his Democratic peer and her agreement.
Biden’s new ideas regarding facts are in line with the beliefs of Ocasio-Cortez, who has been on record saying facts don’t matter as long as people are morally right.
“There’s a lot of people more concerned about being precisely, factually, and semantically correct than about being morally right,” the New York congresswoman said on CBS’ “60 Minutes” with Anderson Cooper in January.
As you reflect on these two men, remember that there is a segment of our population who vote like sheep — voting for the party and not the person. Pray for the nation. The last thing we need is what either one of them offers.
Oh, and the column title, “Metamorphosis?” Well, The Hanging Gardens of Babylon have now morphed into “The Haranguing Garbles of Babble On.”
Think about it.