IN DEFENSE OF COMMON SENSE
By Hetty Gray
# 321
“Sacrifice – Not a New Concept”
March 11, 2026
In my dining room, tucked away safely in a drawer, is a small leather pouch. It bears heavily on the complaints heard today about paying a bit more per gallon for gas at the pump. What is that little item? It is a Ration Book from World War II.
My grandparents and parents ran their households with limits on certain goods. A ration book contained the elements of trade. I addition, citizens went through their homes and took metal items to the curb to load onto trucks that went through every neighborhood coast to coast. What fueled those donations was a fervor to help out our soldiers in the European and Pacific theaters of operation.
We can expect an undulating price structure for Brent crude and above. Above all the griping and political posturing that does nothing to help President Trump, we need to hear the call to arms. Our arms. Folded and holding steady to back the fight.
This fight is not new. From the 7th century to the present, the radical portions of the Koran have fueled the zeal of those who want nothing less than to take over the world. Of the three main world religions, only Islam has not experienced a reformation. Both Christianity and Judaism have done so. It is hard to imagine any other human 7th-century experience or practice being able to exist in the modern world.
My question is where are all the so-called “feminists” in all of this? To sit silently and say nothing exposes their true motives. As an octogenarian, I grew up among women who valued staying at home and rearing children. Those who worked in many professions never turned their backs on family. Those widowed in the war held the respect of their peers and their communities, often benefitting from the kindnesses of others for difficult chores around their homes. Today’s women pushing “women’s rights?” They say nothing. They espouse selective programs and adore the coverage of the mainstream media – all the time ignoring the honor killings, cruel punishment, and forced marriages of girls as young as twelve years. It is reported that after a young teenage Iranian girl put on a bit of eye makeup, authorities gouged out her eyes. That’s probably the tip of the iceberg. Do you hear that on the news? Not on mainstream channels
Speaking of the media. Those of us who have lived a long time remember when news was news and not opinion. Not all elements of any government are always pretty, but ignoring shortfalls is a disservice to everyone.
Ownership of the main networks tells a lot of the story. I remember when the name Walt Disney meant wholesome entertainment and love of children. Contrast that with the current state of affairs. Sad. It’s no accident that woke and broke rhyme. There is no defense for not telling the American people precisely what is happening at any given time. Yet save the newer channels and podcasts, mainstream viewers are left out in the cold. This lack of information is not only pitiful, but is also dangerous.
When teaching at the college level, I would tell my charges that their idea of sacrifice was not getting fries with the special. And so we find ourselves at the center of storm that is corporate creation.
When the negotiators heard the Iranian representative say that Iran had stores of 60% enriched uranium, our government knew that it only takes a week or two to enrich it to the 90% level of a weapon. In striking when he did, President Trump very possibly saved us from nuclear strike. Could another enemy donate the ICBM to launch a nuclear bomb? It doesn’t take a genius to figure out the answer to that question.
It’s been three generations since the flame of liberty and patriotism fueled love of country and country and God in America. My grandparents came to America legally in 1895. They learned English. They had no assistance. They worked and saved. Those parents spawned Tom Brokaw’s “Greatest Generation”– my parents’ generation. Those soldiers fought the Nazis and Imperial Japan and won. My father had one friend who helped liberate a concentration camp. Tell that man that The Holocaust never happened.
Many of those men went on to fight in Korea. My generation fought in Viet Nam and my children’s fellows fought in the Middle Eastern conflicts and some still serve today. The armed services is their career choice. Each – to a man – puts life on the line and defends this nation. Those servicemen fight today, but they lack the fervent support given through World War II. Today, may folks back at home take a dim view of love of country. At least, that is their message when they speak publicly. How sad….
We need a return trip, but in order to get there, we need to teach accurate history to our kids. Depriving them of it is a fatal exercise. Now there’s a challenge for you. I had more civics in the 5th grade than I hear cited from some in Congress today. People on the street might be able to name a mayor, but when interviewed by reporters, they cannot name the three branches of government, let alone their representatives in state legislatures and Congress. Add the wonderful world and American history I had in high school, and my classmates understand the world. It’s always been a dangerous place.
Take a deep breath and let the war play out. We cannot fathom what would happen if a regime such as the one in Iran since 1979 were to have a nuclear device in hand. Strike while the iron is hot is more than an old saying. If we have to pay a higher price for petroleum products, that sure beats radiation burns. Hiroshima should be a dark memory from the end of World War II, not the mirror image of a rogue fanatic regime with a vengeance to destroy the West. That is their aim. Listen. They tell you that in no uncertain terms. If you want a belief, then believe what they say: “Death to Israel. Wipe Israel off the map. Death to America.” Every president since 1979 did nothing. Kicking the can down the road brought us to a flash point. Finally we have a leader that nobody did just that: lead.
Every conflict involves loss, but to have so few in defeating Iran’s terrorism and nuclear threat, speaks volumes for President Trump. All talk and no action? Hardly.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. I tire of listening to the leftists in this nation favor aliens over citizens, praise prosecutors who release violent felons back onto the streets only to vent in public as if they have the high moral ground.
Give them an “A” for effort but put that “a” before moral: amoral.
Think about it.