Sugar Creek Publishing

IN DEFENSE OF COMMON SENSE
By Hetty Gray

# 314

June 30, 2025

“The 4th – Creeping Danger”

Perhaps no day is more seminal to this discussion as “The 4th of July.” The fireworks, parades and allegiant celebrations aside, nothing is more tentative than the freedom that Americans take for granted every day. Every day, you ask? Yes.

Daily plans vary among us, but no entity places unreasonable limits on our activities. We work, take care of our homes and children, travel for leisure, and save for retirement. Nothing out of the ordinary for us.

Yet, if you contrast today’s atmosphere with that of my generation, the stark differences defy logic. This did not happen by accident. This happened by design. The ugly truth is that it was forecasted the same year that President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. The date was November 23rd. The year was 1963.

Yet the groundwork was shouted out in public barely three weeks before Kennedy’s election in the fall of 1960 — before an international audience. This is how it went down.

On 12 October 1960, head of the United Nations Filipino Delegation to the Lorenzo Sumulong spoke in defense of “the peoples of Eastern Europe and elsewhere which have been deprived of the free exercise of their civil and political rights and which have been swallowed up, so to speak, by the Soviet Union.”

Research affirms that, upon hearing this, Nikita Khrushchev (First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union) quickly came to the rostrum, being recognized on a point of order.

There he demonstratively, in a theatrical manner, brushed Sumulong aside, with an upward motion of his right arm—without physically touching him—and began a lengthy denunciation of Sumulong, branding him (among other things) as “a jerk, a stooge, and a lackey”, and a “toady of American imperialism” and demanded Assembly President Frederick Boland (Ireland) call Sumulong to order. Boland did caution Sumulong to “avoid wandering out into an argument which is certain to provoke further interventions,” but permitted him to continue speaking and sent Khrushchev back to his seat.

According to some sources, Khrushchev pounded his fists on his desk in protest as Sumulong continued to speak, and at one point picked up his shoe and banged the desk with it. Some other sources report a different order of events: Khrushchev first banged the shoe then went to the rostrum to protest.
In any event, the scene brings to mind a quote from Shakespeare. “Me thinks thou dost protest too much.” Actually a misquote from Hamlet, this statement is widely used to criticize someone whose words defend an indefensible position.

Why take this up in anticipation of July 4th? I do so due highlight the dangers that began to infest this nation more than 60 years ago. Oh, I can hear the flippant comments from many. They will brush off my statements, yet a glaring danger is among us. Consider the facts below.

In 1963, the Communist Party set goals for the USA.

Capture one or both of the political parties in the United States.

Get control of the schools and teachers’ associations. Soften the curriculum.

Gain control of all student newspapers

Infiltrate the press.

Gain control of key positions in radio, TV and pictures (movies).

Eliminate al laws governing obscenity by calling them “censorship” and a violation of free speech and press.

Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography, degeneracy, and promiscuity as “normal, natural and healthy.

Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with “social” religion.

Eliminate prayer or any phrase of religious expression in the schools on the grounds that it violates the principal of “separation of church and state.”

Discredit the American Constitution by calling it inadequate and old-fashioned.

Discredit the American founding fathers as selfish aristocrats (and racists).

Belittle American culture and discourage the teaching of American history.

Discredit and eventually dismantle the FBI.

Infiltrate and gain control of big business and unions.

Transfer some of the powers of arrest from the police to social agencies. Treat all behavioral problems as mental health or social problems.

Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce.

Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents.

Repeal the Connally Reservation, allowing the World Court jurisdiction over nations and individuals alike.

Take in sum, these goals are not only sobering, but they also invoke a visceral reaction in those of us old enough to remember life before the 1960s. If many of them sound familiar, it is because —- day by day, week by week, month by month, year by year — they are recognized as current conditions today.

From experience, I can tell you that accurate American history has not been taught in American high schools for decades. If you doubt me, dig up a history book used post-World War II and see for yourself.

President John F. Kennedy was a patriot, a veteran, a war hero in World War II, and a staunch defender of American liberty. Sympathetic to the underprivileged and underserved, he voiced an interest to remedy the shortcomings of government. Once feared because of his faith, he stepped forth to stand for America, not the Catholic Pope, as many had feared. Sadly, his hopes were not to be.

When President Lyndon Johnson ushered in his “Great Society,” women were financially compensated for having children without a husband. At that point, what had always been a strong family unit in the black community began to slide into what we see today – the majority of black homes without a father. There is no way to sufficiently describe the damage wrought by the absence of a father in the home. The goal of dismantling the family unit? We are seeing it witness the results today.

This is just one example of how the Communist Party continues to chip away at America. Like a beaver, it takes a bit over time. Akin to Frank Sinatra’s song, “High Hopes ‘Just what makes that little old ant think he’ll move that rubber tree plant…’” Unlike the ant, the Communists embrace Low Hopes.

Will we, as individuals, recognize what is happening and thwart this ominous plan? To negate decades of teaching lies and bring truth to Americans is a tall task. Sadly, as much as I want this to happen, it will take more than one person to begin to counter the damage already done.

This list gives voice to the dangers posed by today’s left. No matter the arguments from the apologists and the leftists, it is what it is. I encourage you to read the list again. Share it.

As you prepare to celebrate the 4th of July, remember that freedom – while precious – is not free. A view of Arlington National Cemetery or the Normandy American Cemetery only gives a glimpse of the numbers who died defending freedom. Truthfully, it is impossible to fully appreciate the losses.
Recently, a veteran made a statement that said it all. “If we let Communism take over this country, then every soldier died in vain.”

Pay attention. Fight back against the have systematic brainwashing of our young people to hate their country. A daunting task? Yes But, in sum, there are more of us than them. Defend your country. Defend your schools. Defend your places of worship. Defend your family. Complacency is our dangerous mindset.

Do more than think about it.

IN DEFENSE OF COMMON SENSE
By Hetty Gray

June 1, 2025

# 314 “It figures…”

This is a column written about 20 years ago, but — reflecting on a sermon heard Memorial Day — it bears repeating! Here goes!

Her name was Edith Wiley. Some of you may remember her. She taught mathematics at Shelbyville Jr. High School for many years. As for me, I had her in the late 1950s. She was a little bit of a thing, but she ruled her classroom with the control of a seasoned military officer. To picture her, simply visualize Irene Ryan, Granny on “The Beverly Hillbillies.”

Miss Wiley as what my Grandmother called a spinster. She never married, but she took a keen interest in every child that walked into her third-floor room. She worked hard to explain the responsibilities of handling money. Although she followed the textbook, she also gave us lessons designed to prepare us to be “grown ups.” In short, she wanted us to have good lives.

Consider the extras that we learned from her. She taught us how to budget our money. We were assigned a set amount of “money” and then had to figure out how to make it last until the next payday. There was a jar on her desk and we each drew out a piece of paper on which was written an unexpected expense. It was up to us to adjust the money in order to cover it. It might be a medical bill or just a repair bill that was not foreseen.

She taught us how to use a checkbook and to balance it properly. Consider how she explained interest rates. She drilled it into our heads that most people pay interest. A strange statement? Not according to Miss Wiley. To her, if you were an apartment dweller, you paid rent to a landlord, and if you held a mortgage, you paid rent to the lender for the money borrowed to purchase a house. When I went home and told my Father, he agreed, but said that he had never heard it put in such simple terms. Edith Wiley was a “nuts and bolts” teacher, and she knew how to separate the important from the trivial —or, as a farmer would say, “the wheat from the chaff.”

Miss Wiley preached the value of savings. She claimed that every dollar saved would double in about ten years. We should save, even if we could put away only a little at a time. She told us that money was a touchy subject with parents, because no two families were equal in terms of dollars and cents. Nevertheless, the core facts held true. With that in mind, she encouraged each of us to be frugal and recognize that money “didn’t grow on trees.”

Do today’s young people understand the difference between a 15-year and a 30-year mortgage? Often, the slightly higher monthly payment of the shorter-term loan, when figured over the term of the loan, saves a lot of money – in the tens of thousands of dollars. (Bear in mind, this was in the 1950s.)

Do high school students know the facts about health coverage? College loans? Teens realize that they need car insurance, but do they understand the difference between whole life and term life insurance? Do they know which policy holds cash value? Do current teens understand the complete cost of car ownership?

Miss Wiley had a penchant for the automobile. I can still hear her! She loved to drive her “machine,” but she complained that passengers offered to pay only for gasoline. “Don’t they know that my machine uses oil and tires? Oil needs to be changed. Tires wear out. Gas money is just a part of it.”

When she admonished us about good driving habits, she took a logical step back to her pet peeve – tires! She chided us, especially the boys. She knew that it would not be long until we would learn to drive. “When you drive your parents’ car and peel the tires to show off at an intersection, you take miles off the tread!” She shook her head when she lamented that she had heard enough tread wear from outside her classroom window to drive to Alaska and back!

That said, she had a core purpose. She wanted us to comprehend that math would endure as a valuable tool in our everyday lives. She knew that women would use math both at home and at work. Men would figure board feet of lumber, square yards of concrete, invoices, commissions, gas mileage and taxes. Every job involved math. To her, math wasn’t a class to be passed and forgotten the day after the final test. Math lasted a lifetime. She was right.

If you really think about it, you used math countless times without even thinking about it. Perhaps, faced with an unwieldy problem, you honed your math skills. Never skip an opportunity to talk with children about the importance of math. They will thank you for it. Oh, maybe not now – but later! It’s time that our schools taught the basics of math, using pencils and paper so mistakes can be seen clearly and explained well. It takes a lot of brain power to wield a pencil on paper. Lots of brain cells are at work.

Make sure your children and grandchildren understand the value of math for everyday living. Mastering math makes good sense — common sense.

Think about it.