Sugar Creek Publishing

IN DEFENSE OF COMMON SENSE
By Hetty Gray

November 21, 2013

# 170

“Messianic?”

When we witnessed the federal elections of 2008, the “buzz word” seemed to be Messiah. An African-American candidate for the highest office in the land not only stood as history making, but also proved that American society was colorblind. For all the rancor and angst that peppered our past, most of our judge people on their actions and character, not their color or ethnicity.

Countless Americans stepped forward to cast a vote for the first black president, despite the fact that the vetting process was nearly absent from his background. Words bear meaning. The phrase “fundamentally transform America” uttered in campaign speeches meant something.

Today, we see the meaning clearly. A runaway bureaucracy that peers into our most private information…. An administration bent on taking over one-sixth of an economy envied by countries across the planet…. The IRS targeting groups asking questions like “What is the content of your prayer?”
Four murdered Americans and the top of the U.S. State Department mouthing, “What difference does it make?” to a question of how these men died….

America was fundamentally sound when this president took office. He is bound to adhere to it. It reads:

Section. 2.
The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.
He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.
The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.
Section. 3.
He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper; he shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the Officers of the United States.
Section. 4.
The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.

Note the bold text. The president does not have the power to change a law. He is bound to execute that law. Hmmmm….. Now that he finds that “his” health care law is seen for what it truly is — a power grab in the finest tradition of central planning — he takes it upon himself to adjust the law, delaying very painful portions of it until after the next mid-term elections.
The public will awaken, but not as fast as many of us would like. To have delayed the “employer mandate” only propels the disaster to a later time slot. Critics who have read the behemoth legislation tell us that it was designed so that private insurance would be found “defective” and “insufficient” in an insatiable push for “one payer.” That’s the ball game, folks.
They will control everyone’s health care. When the government controls our health care, it controls us. Someone other than our family members and our physicians will make the decisions on what care we receive or whether we receive it at all. Nice, huh?
If you want to control a people, you grab the most important aspect of their lives — their health. Is this becoming clear now? A federal government in charge of your life is not a fundamental America. It is so far from it that it should make any thinking person shudder.
What is most frightening is the percentage of our populace totally unprepared to be responsible civically.
This is central planning on steroids. Central planning has never worked —not anywhere on this planet.
A bigger United States government is destined to be both inefficient and nonresponsive. Spare me the supposed apology over the health care debacle in which our current chief executive laid the blame on the public that didn’t understand and the opposition party fighting tooth and nail to expose the Affordable Care Act for what it is — a fiasco. The president said we didn’t understand. Oh, please…. We understood. That’s the problem. In essence, it is his problem.
Messianic? That’s not what I would call his posture. To me, it’s “Messy Antics.” Think about it.

IN DEFENSE OF COMMON SENSE
By Hetty Gray

November 11, 2013

“The Eleventh Hour”

This morning, in fact moments ago, we mark the 95th Anniversary of the end of what was deemed to be “the war to end all wars” — World War II. Indeed, at 11AM on November 11, 1918, war-weary Europeans and Americans alike marked the signing of the Armistice that ended that horrendous conflict.

It was the eleventh hour of the twentieth century to that point. However, it was not the first instance of the phrase. That roots in the Bible, to the book of Matthew in the New Testament.

According to one linguist, “The Eleventh Hour” is an expression referring to the last moments before a deadline or the imminence of a decisive or “final” moment. Usage of this term may be traced back to the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard in the Gospel of Matthew as well as to the last moments of the First World War, which ended on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th Month of the year 1918.

America mourned over nine million dead and 12 million wounded in World War I. Exact counts are difficult due to disease, primarily the Spanish Flu that claimed nearly one-third of the total deaths among all participating nations.
Sadly, the story does not end with military losses. Total numbers of military casualties coupled with civilian casualties number over 37 million. Let’s take a hard look at the American statistic. It was nearly 2% of the population that was, at that time, 92 million. Historians tell us that at least two million died from disease or were listing as “missing.”

Historian Michael Clodfelter maintains that “The generally accepted figure of noncombatant deaths is 6.5 million.” The figures listed below include about 6 million excess civilian deaths due to war related malnutrition and disease that are often omitted from other compilations of World War I casualties. The war brought about malnutrition and disease caused by a disruption of trade resulting in shortages of food; the mobilization for the war took away millions of men from the agricultural labor force cutting food production.
Today bears the revised title. The original commemoration, the one most familiar to those of us over sixty, is “Armistice Day.” Changed to Veterans’ Day in 1954. My 6th grade art teacher at Thomas A. Hendricks Elementary, had all students create Poppy Posters.

I lament the fact that I pitched my art folder about ten years ago. I wish I had kept it, but that’s another story. I am not sure if the teachers in the other schools gave a history lesson along with the assignment, but Mrs. Liles did. I still remember it, too.

She explained how terrible the war had been and why we children needed to remember the costs of war and why it was so important to respect the men who served in the military. I wonder. Do teachers impart that tone of patriotism today? When I was a little girl, the best Poppy Day poster in the city won a certificate. I am sure that Mr. Fort signed it. He was known for his calligraphy.

Yet, it is important to note that the tradition roots not with the United States, but with Canada. Colonel John McRae was present in one of the first German uses of chlorine gas, the Second Battle of Ypres. Less than a month later, after seeing how quickly poppies grew over the graves of the fallen, he penned “In Flanders Fields,” one of Canada’s most famous and beloved poems.
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
There is nothing glamorous about war. Today, Syria is the latest nation known to use poison gas on its own people. Nearly a century later, soldiers face an old enemy. Mustard then, sarin today, both gases prove lethal.

Serious, life-altering injuries are far from pretty. Death lurks daily, often in the form of IEDs, improvised explosive devices — modern booby traps. Inhospitable climates and terrains challenge the most physically fit soldier.

Yet, no matter the generation, countless American men and women still step forward, risking their lives to defend the nation that President John F. Kennedy touted as the world’s “keystone of freedom”. Incidentally, Kennedy uttered those words in Ft. Worth, Texas, barely three hours before his death on November 22, 1963 — fifty years ago this month.

If America will not stand for freedom, who will? If brave, unwavering American servicemen and women will not put themselves between us and evil, who will? The current lack of cultural respect for military service shocks and appalls people my age. Oh, it shocks younger folks, too, but their education is not likely to have contributed as mightily as ours did.

And just who are our veterans? The following list cites deaths in the more famous of our wars, but it does not include every historical conflict on American soil.

The Revolutionary War 25,000
War of 1812 20,000
Mexican-American War 13,283
American Civil War 625,000
Phillippine-American War 4,196
World War I 116,516
World War II 405,399
Korean War 36,516
Vietnam 58,209
Persian Gulf War 258
Afghanistan 2,145 (ongoing)

We have not achieved a total victory since World War II. We have sacrificed blood and treasure to insure freedom for untold numbers of people around the world. In basic terms, there is no such thing as a partial victory. A military either achieves total victory or no victory at all.

Organizations such as “The Wounded Warrior Project” step forward to care for our wounded veterans at the same time that government continues to diminish funds to support them.

Ours is not an easy position and current foreign policy instills more and more unease in formerly strong allies. At this pivotal point in our history, in our “eleventh hour”, we cannot sag in our pressure against those who seek to destroy us. Tenacity is difficult. Half-hearted efforts are tempting.

Is this our eleventh hour? If so, we have back up — our military.

We must hold forth to the world our unwavering support for freedom and our example of its priceless value to people everywhere. If America is to see halcyon days once again — times of tranquility and happiness with a future reflecting more stable times — we must give our military personnel unwavering support. They serve as the only protection between we the citizenry and the evil that threatens every freedom we hold most dear. Freedom bears a cost, but its loss is unfathomable — and fatal.

Thank God for our veterans. Don’t neglect or forget them. Remember the phrase, “Lest we forget.” Our veterans, old and young, are our heroes, one and all.

IN DEFENSE OF COMMON SENSE
By Hetty Gray

# 167

October 29, 2013

“Heads?”

Well, now…. It’s about time for tales of Ichabod Crane and such. Ghouls, goblins and scary faces will abound on our streets this coming Thursday night — weather permitting. It’s always sad to see a dreary, rainy Halloween night that finds parents slopping through water and carrying the little ones who so wanted to show off their costumes. Hope for good weather this year!

All that said, let’s treat ourselves to an upscale version of Halloween and take a look at some of the interesting characters afoot daily in Washington, D.C. these days. Hmmmm…. Read the following descriptions and guess who is behind the mask.

First of all, we have the power broker. Armed with his smirk and arrogant posture, he weighs heavily over those below him in rank and is no friend to the critic. Accustomed to living high, he would never think of toning down his lifestyle. Taking advice is not in his repertoire and assuming knowledge where there is none is an everyday occurrence. His toothy grin belies an inner smoldering. The last thing he wants is not to get his way.

Our second character is a squirrel. He chirps away softly as if that tone of voice could disguise his name-calling of peers and strange commentaries. In truth, if he hadn’t been one before, it seems that he has lived among nuts long enough that he has actually become one. It doesn’t take a lot of imagination to see him moving his eyes quickly and boxing with his front feet and sparring with the air to gain attention as a mainstream media darling. The other, larger animals that encounter him find him not only stubborn but also unapproachable. When challenged, he balks and surrounds himself with others that fear a loss of power in the forest. His accomplices have one goal — to be on the power broker’s list of favorites.

The third person is a buffoon and loves the sound of his own voice. When he blurts out what he deems a cogent thought, his statement comes across as so absurd and out of sync with the surrounding society that he is judged a fool. The power broker keeps him in the background as much as possible — no easy task because his very position demands attention.

The fourth character presumes to inflict personal preferences on others, whether they want to accept them or not. This all-knowing individual must have been a body builder at one time, because one almost never glimpses the person in sleeved garb. I suppose that throwing one’s weight around does put on muscle. Unfortunately, it does not garner a lot of friends. Rich food appeals to this person, as too does lavish leisure — all the time championing the downtrodden. Ah, the perks of position….

Our number five is slight of build, but makes up for physique in unmitigated gall. If brazen behavior won medals, this person would take the gold in any competition. Wealthy and powerful, this person expounds on empathy and introspection with “the poor”. A fervent supporter of union workers, this person is thought to employ nary a union worker in successful family businesses. Subterfuge is not in this person’s vocabulary. Armed with an unusual thought process, this person’s public statements defy reality and challenge logic and common sense.

Number six is an action figure claiming to defend justice, yet is thought to have undermined justice at every possible opportunity. Far from Superman and “the American way,” this person is eager to taint any situation with a racial brush. In the public per-view, this person’s motives are, to many, highly suspect. In any case, the costume is unimportant because actions take center stage and they speak volumes.

It’s a treat for these folks to trick us. Their box of goodies always has a string attached and it affixes to our wallets. Ah, the glory of power unrestrained and underreported by what was once a proud, free, unbiased fourth estate. Those colonists who risked death at their own printing presses are thrashing about in their graves over the current condition of American print and mainstream broadcast journalism.

Now, it’s up to you to pull back the masks and “I.D” this group. With them around, there’s no need to fear ghosts or goblins. If they have their way, the United States will be relegated to an economic and social cemetery in due course. Think about it.

IN DEFENSE OF COMMON SENSE
By Hetty Gray

# 166

October 24, 2013

“Benched….”

Hmmmmm…… Let’s see how this shakes out, folks. The average middle-income American family pays through the nose for health care. Estimates for a family of four hover around $20K a year. Given that hit, they stay home and cannot afford to travel a lot or take advantage of earned vacation time. So, they are benched.

Is that true of the people who gave us this disaster? Will Reid, Pelosi and Obama be relegated to staying within the confines of their hometowns? I doubt it. Will private jets stay on the ground? Oh, sure…

The inequity of all this is nothing short of appalling. It’s like the gift that keeps on giving, but in this case the gift is taking your money under the guise of “fairness.”

It is no surprise that the individual mandate is about to bite the dust. It baffles one’s mind that a Canadian company did the website planning. Even if it did go to bids, why on earth wouldn’t an administration holding sway over a flailing economy assign the work in another country?

Oh, someone will say that it makes sense since Canada has government health care, but that is little solace given the current mess. I wish I had some words of wisdom but wisdom and the current administration are at odds with another. As my grandmother would have said, “a fine kettle of fish….”
This of fish here is not days old. It’s years’ old. It stinks.

Somehow, some way, we need to pick away at this monstrous plan that threatens our very lives. In the meantime, we find ourselves “benched.” A grass roots movement is afoot, but it needs all the help it can get. Don’t forget that only one in three among the colonists supported going against King George. Far more than thirty percent of us oppose that lovely Christmas gift from the Democrats. What an affront the law is to anyone who believes in the goodness of the holiday. The Affordable Care Act is far from giving. It is taking of the first order.

Pray for America. She needs it.

IN DEFENSE OF COMMON SENSE
By Hetty Gray

November 5, 2013

# 168

We’ve all experienced it — that itch we cannot seem to scratch to assuage the unsettling feeling. But there is another kind of itch — the one to discover the truth.

For our generation, the people who were in their late teens or early twenties on November 22, 1963, the itch is profound when it concerns what really happened that day to President John Kennedy in Dealey Plaza along Elm Street in Dallas, Texas.

We all know the result, but new facts emerge. All documents were ordered sealed for fifty years. I was 19 on that day. I sat, taking dictation from then Shelby County Prosecuting Attorney Phil Brown. The topic was a bad check from Louden’s Supermarket, today Mickey’s T-Mart. I even remember the amount, $41.15. That moment is welded in my memory. It is the same for countless Americans who sat, fixated by the news on that day….

The voice of Walter Cronkite announcing Kennedy’s death… The specter of Lee Harvey Oswald crumpling to the ground in the basement of the Dallas Police Station, killed by a Louisiana businessman named Jack Ruby. Oswald had killed 39-year-old Dallas Police Officer J. D. Tippit.

With Oswald dead, the government ordered an “investigation,” but after listening to many eyewitnesses on the television broadcasts, a legion of Americans judged the Warren Report as odd.

It has been fifty years this month. In truth, fifty years elapsed in a flash for people my age. With the records unsealed, professional ballistic experts who lobbied for a more thorough examination of the bullets and the old Russian army surplus rifle had the opportunity to start anew.

This week the Discovery Channel airs a series of programs on Kennedy’s assassination. Last night’s program airs again tonight at 7PM EST. The content is, to say the least, enlightening.

While conspiracy theorists have had a field day with the Kennedy shooting, the experts who delved into the documents found many never publicized facts.

Sealing documents to protect the family of a president is understandable, but the Kennedy assassination is thought to have changed the course of American history. Few can imagine what would have happened with the nation led by a pro-military Democrat who believed that people should do something for their country before they asked their country to do something for them.

Rumors flew and now we may, for the first time, learn how deep the mystery roots within the people who surrounded the president on that fateful day.

Why bring this up at this time? We are in the throes of another tragedy, this one claiming four lives. Ah, yes. Benghazi. When Ambassador Christopher Stevens, communications specialist Sean Smith, and former Navy SEALs Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty died, the current administration put forth a story worthy of a class B soap opera.

Anyone with a modicum of common sense questioned it. When Congressmen and women demanded details and asked to question the survivors, they were told that the government had all CIA personnel on site sign documents that they would not speak to members of Congress. In essence, they imposed a gag order of the people who knew precisely what happened.

I am old enough to remember Watergate. President Nixon was complicit in a break-in at Democratic National Headquarters in the Watergate Complex. The price for Nixon? He resigned. Nobody died at Watergate. Four Americans died at Benghazi and witnesses are banned from talking to Congress. How does that smell?

Congress, the legislative branch exists, along with the judiciary, to balance the power of the executive. Here, we have an end run around the Congress.

Are these records sealed? Must Sean Smith’s mother and the families of Stevens, Woods, and Doherty wait for fifty years to learn what happened to their loved ones? Whose fingers belong to the bloody smears spread across the column in photos of the burned-out remains of the compound meant to protect the main diplomatic building? If you were a survivor of any of these

four murdered Americans, would you not ask that question?

A second assault came against the CIA annex early in the morning the next day. It has been more than a year — nearly twenty-six months, but some of the mainstream media are beginning to take notice. Clearly, some stories loom so large that they demand in-depth investigation.

I rarely ask my readers to contact their Congressional representatives and US Senators, but Benghazi is deadly serious. Four good men died and to this day the American people have no answers.

I wonder if Hillary Clinton would have quipped, “What difference does it make?” if her husband, brother, or child had died that day? I dare say not.

Press those whom you have elected to insist, yes demand, a Select Committee to investigate Benghazi. We dispatch US State Department personnel to the far corners of the earth. Would you be comfortable in one of these jobs knowing that your government would not come to your aid or explain, God forbid, what happened to you if you died in the line of service?

Resolve to make sure that witness testimony is released from the gag order. We need to hear from the people who were there.

And what does the Chief Executive know? Nothing. Just like “Fast and Furious,” the IRS harassing conservative groups, and everything else that comes down the pike that might be uncomfortable. Comfort? He needs comfort? That emotion comes slowly, if ever. The loss is permanent.

There is little comfort to the Kennedy family today — even if details emerging from sealed files solve the fifty-year-old mystery. Will we stand by and allow stonewalling in the case of the four murdered Americans in Libya? I pray not. America stands on truth and justice. Benghazi demands both.

Think about it.

IN DEFENSE OF COMMON SENSE
By Hetty Gray

#165

“Adding and Subtracting”

October 8, 2013

The federal government has income of over $200 billion monthly and the interest on the debt is $18 billion. By law, under our U.S. Constitution, we must pay the interest on the debt first. So, what on earth is this about? Control. Now that we glimpse the dangers in the Affordable Care Act that the increases will top $600+ billion over ten years, we see that the new system said to save every family $2500 is simply not true. No savings, folks — just more spending and millions still uninsured. How’s that for the “new math?”

This same type of face off over the debt ceiling has gone on for decades. In fact, a similar White House vs. Congress event happened after World War II. President Dwight Eisenhower wanted to launch the interstate highway system and Robert Byrd (D-W VA) tried to stop it. This back and forth over the debt ceiling is nothing unique to today’s politicians, but remember that President Obama (then Senator Obama) voted against raising the debt ceiling in 2006 and today he demands it. He called it “unpatriotic.” Now, the shoe is on the other foot and his 180-degree turn says to raise that ceiling.

But, remember, this debt ceiling is painted red — bright red. Remember red, it equates danger and says “STOP!” Remember red, it means loss on a financial statement. Evidently, the majority leadership in the Senate has forgotten what a warning sign really looks like.

Ever try to correct a stubborn child who stands there with hands on hips like a sugar bowl refusing to budge? Well, we have him. He’s at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Either the Congress gives him everything he wants or he won’t play.

‘Nuf said. Think about it.

IN DEFENSE OF COMMON SENSE
By Hetty Gray

#164

“Muddy Waters”

October 2, 2013

No, I do not mean the blues artist — just the normal, everyday machinations of government at its highest (?) level. Just in case anyone hasn’t noticed, socialized medicine has not worked in the history of the world — anywhere. If the goal is long lines, months before seeing a physician, hours upon hours in waiting rooms for emergency rooms, badly needed drugs and treatments not covered in the plans, and doctors leaving their practices, then the whole debacle will be a raving success.

If the ACA is the “law of the land” as Reid and the president claim, then it should apply to everyone. The courts try case after case where a citizen claims “unequal treatment under the law.” Yet, sadly, that is precisely what we see when vouchers spew forth from the administration with abandon.

While countless American families and businesses “without connections” must comply or pay a fine, the “chosen ones” go their merry way untouched by the thousands upon thousands of pages of regulations. Forget that the most personal information for each of us will be in one place. Oh, joy.

And then there is a small item of income declaration. One real danger is the fraud that looms because there is no way to verify one’s income. Gee, that means anyone can lie and get a subsidy. Isn’t that a boon for people who want to get around the system and get something at discount? When you combine those who will sign up to get free, government paid care and those who move quickly to sign up to avoid a penalty or going to jail, you have a big swath of the population. My, that is comforting.

Add to that the fact that the “facilitators” do not undergo background checks and operate with very little training, and you see how deadly this legislation can be for the working population. It is, at its core, a redistribution of wealth: the nexus of socialism. And it’s done in the guise of “fairness”. Rot! Fairness is a term that has lost its true meaning. The ACA is not fair.

If I didn’t know better, I would think that I’ve been dropped into a bad movie about a foreign country. If a stick will not bend, it will break. Will that be the fate of the party who gave us this mess? Only time will tell.

I do not blame the House of Representatives for axing the medical device tax and asking that everyone in congressional members and staff participate. That is common sense. I’ve watched these tirades before, and it doesn’t escape me that it is very one-sided. Yes, there is a double standard.

It’s just fine when the administration resorts to personal attacks. My father said that if you don’t know much, you call names. However, facts are stubborn. As the old saying goes, “You are entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts.”

One can only imagine what would happen if a member of the minority caucus in the Senate called a member of the other party a nasty name. All hades would break loose. This whole thing would be funny, were it not so sad.

This is our children’s and grandchildren’s money the government is pouring down this rat hole. When the government defended the ACA before the Supreme Court, initial papers claimed that it was not a tax. Yet the opinion of the court affirmed it constitutional as a tax. It is so incongruous that it baffles the mind. I remember standing in the kitchen aghast at the lack of logic in the majority opinion.

I had a wonderful professor of Constitutional Law, and he warned that the high court has the ability twist the wording and ignore the simplicity and directness of the Founding Fathers who wrote it. He was right.

Yes, this voluminous act is the law; but, no, it is not being applied equitably. Yes, opponents demand that all Americans comply. No, the administration refuses to negotiate on any part of it. Standing on principle when it means that fairness applies to all is laudable. Refusing to budge on party line because you wield the power is shameful. If, as I believe, the ultimate drug is power, then this administration is blitzed.

It’s another, repetitive, instance of “do as I say” not “do as I do.”

It is evident that the ACA passed before anyone read it. So, what do we do now? We sit back and watch trillions of dollars evaporate before our eyes. That’s trillion with a “T”. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that even when the ACA is fully implemented, over thirty million people will still be uninsured. That is equal to or more than the number of uninsured people before the bill was passed. Some result….

The voices of reason and experience in the medical field, such as Dr. Ben Carson, are dismissed. We need to look forward. We change the players in 2014. We need to elect on ability and resolve paired with reason and patriotism laced with sound financial practice. Repeal is on the horizon, but a lot of debt will accumulate along the way. Don’t doubt that.

Not much for our money, huh? Good decisions do not come from muddy waters. They come from clear and sensible steps. If the entire ACA falls in on itself, it may usher in real reform, but at what cost? I’ve been told often — and by someone I truly respect — that “It’s very expensive to be stupid.” It is just too bad that generations unborn will pay the price. Think about it.

IN DEFENSE OF COMMON SENSE
By Hetty Gray

September 27, 2013

“The Amazing Disappearing of America”

# 163

Well, now, it is undeniable that a profound change is consuming the nation… a crumbling of the institutions and workings that built this country from its inception.

Like any crumbling process, it begins slowly and never quite catches the eye of the wider public. It began decades ago when the so-called “Progressives” saw an opportunity to launch a long-term attack on freedom. Yes, freedom…

If anything, they are persistent. Meanwhile, the larger portion of the educated public (those in tune with the Founding Fathers and their wisdom), remain silent, consumed by their faith in the U.S. Constitution and its precepts. It is just that silence that dooms a society to dark forces.

Dark forces? Yes, dark forces. No force of light and good would launch programs to bait and switch persons who might have wanted a good job into the belief that Uncle Sam knows best. In the end, the very voters who keep these people in office are victims of their poor policies.

Once, factories in this nation churned at a frantic rate. In the midst of all that activity, more inventors came to the fore with newer and better products. The incentive to work was high. A person had to make it on his or her own, and that went for widows whose husbands died on the job. Few companies offered any kind of retirement. Folks were expected to save their money and insure their own retirement.

When FDR came up with Social Security, it was deemed supplemental income, not subsistence income. One by one, new programs arose until the days of LBJ brought us “The Great Society”. And what did that bring us? Are there less poor than in the past. Hardly. The key is that of the poor in this country, one would expect new poor to come into focus as others move up into the middle class due on their own.

The words “their own” has a new meaning and it’s not good. Once it meant that people had achieved solely due to their own work. Now, it means that those same people are “their” own. “Their” equals government. Today, we see a frighteningly large proportion of our populace totally dependent on the government and — to a shockingly high degree — unprepared to go out and work for themselves.

Oh, some will scream for a higher minimum wage, but that is not the answer. The answer is individual effort fueled by ambition — that “fire in the belly” that fueled and spurred forward the early colonists, pioneers on the trails west, and entrepreneurs of the 20th century.

Let’s take a quick look at why I cite “The Amazing Disappearing America.” First of all, the core industries that built America are, for the most part, gone. Gone are the sprawling mills that turned out the steel that built America. Gone are the railroads that linked both coasts. Gone are the wildcat oil fields that positioned America to stand on its own when it came to energy.

Granted, some of these industries imploded due to poor management and a lack of reinvestment and retooling. Old plants do not last forever. Copying on our success, foreign countries began building their own steel mills and other heavy industries.

And what do we have now? Small but well-funded groups clamor for the shutdown of coal-fired power plants. Oregon’s timber industry is dying. Most of the forests are on government land and growing number of government officials are complicit with them. It’s worse than the tail wagging the dog. It’s dangerous.

What if we were to launch a revival of the growth of America today? We wouldn’t be able to cut down a tree. God forbid we would want to scratch a line on the ground for a rail line. Remember, that the Allegheny Mountains were conquered by rail, not by road. An isolated east coast would never have witnessed the explosive growth spawned by the railroads.

Not a shovel of dirt would turn over for a new industrial plant. Not one shaft would have been dug into the coal-rich mountains, and the country would have been stagnant beyond belief.

And so, where are we today? We find ourselves hobbled by charlatans who want us to believe that every tiny change in temperature is the fault of man. If we closed down every coal-fired plant in this nation, the only result would be exorbitant utility bills. Since our prevailing winds are from west to east, where are these environmental wackos when China brings a new coal-fired plant on line every week?

If we sign a treaty to cut back on carbon emissions and Asia does not, who is the loser? Yep. It’s us. What good does it do us to assume a posture of “doing the right thing” when it results in our demise?

It’s time to kick the United Nations out of New York City. It would open up a lot of good office space with spectacular views and rid us of a lot of parking violators. Incidentally, they seldom pay their tickets anyway, so don’t worry about losing NYPD revenue if they leave town.

Looking at recent initiatives by that laughable body of diplomats with expense accounts in one of the world’s best entertainment cities, they have one goal in mind: America’s disappearance as a major economic and military power. If you disagree, you aren’t reading the signs. If anything, socialists are very patient. They are incremental in their processes and don’t care if it takes generations to accomplish their ends.

Well, their ends will be the “end” of this nation, if we, the people, don’t wake up and smell the coffee. Get accustomed to saying “good-byes”. We said one to the railroads, we said one to the great steel and textile mills, and now we say goodbye to timber.

Well, since the “greenies” are against chemicals, I doubt if new structures will be made from plastic and composites. Steel is out. They are ruling out timber, too.

Fuel is abundant in this nation. Estimates are coal for at least 200 years and a huge supply of natural gas. A two-century lead-time assures our scientists and inventors time to innovate and come up with alternative energy sources. Solar and wind are only viable with huge subsidies, but subsidy is another whole issue and deserving of its own column.

It is not unreasonable to see that the agriculture sector is next on the list. A safe, reliable food supply is critical to this nation. Check out the shortcomings in the food supply over the past few years and you will see that it comes from “organic” farms. What I want to know is this: what food is INORGANIC? For Pete’s sake, leave farming to the experts – the American farmers who feed both their nation and the world. Paying two to three times as much for something marked organic is — for want of a better word — stupid. We have heard some of these people laugh at the fact that they have sold their customers a bill of goods. They laugh all the way to the bank.

Minus steel, timber and coal, we are in a real fix when it comes to economic growth. Can you imagine any kind of retail or commercial expansion without those basic ingredients? I guess the environmentalists won’t think too much about plywood unless they need to board up the windows on their expensive beach houses as a hurricane bears down on them. Of course, rules are only for us peasants, not the ruling class. Unfortunately, what we see is more and more a ruling class among our leaders. They routinely exempt themselves from laws crushing us. The current health care law is but one example.

Jefferson, Madison, Paine, Henry, and Washington must be rolling over in their graves. Franklin, on the other hand, reminded one questioner curtly. When the woman asked if the country were a democracy or a republic, he replied: “A republic, madam, if you can keep it.”

Egad. I think Rod Serling was right. We are living in “The Twilight Zone” — not one of his making or a warped vampire series, either — but the Twilight of America itself. I remember one particular line from “Star Wars.”

“I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened.” (Obi-Wan Kenobi, referring to the Destruction of Alderaan)

Are you willing to stand by and do nothing as America is silenced? Email. Call. Write. Make your voice known.

IN DEFENSE OF COMMON SENSE
By Hetty Gray

# 161

September 18, 2013

“Attitude”

As many of you know, my Newfoundland Bear and I are a Certified Delta Society Therapy Team. We routinely visit extended care facilities, nursing homes and swing bed units in hospitals in both Indiana and Michigan.

It never ceases to amaze me how the elderly residents can “cut to the chase” and boil down situations in a few words. Would that our politicians adopt that behavior.

Recently, we stopped to visit a facility that had a number of fenced outdoor areas for residents. We had already been in the two main areas of this particular facility. As we walked back from a separate building, we padded down a sidewalk bordering one of these cozy patios. There, behind a lovely white picket fence festooned with red roses, a lady beckoned to me. She was taken with my canine partner. He is large. At 160 pounds and boasting a shiny black coat beneath his working vest, six-year-old Bear makes a strong first impression.

I asked her if she would like for us to come to visit with her. She enthusiastically replied, “Oh, yes!” Normally, we inquire at restricted areas and ask the staff to bring out a resident who would enjoy a pet visit. Actually, this was the first instance of a resident inviting us!

Minutes later, a nurse directed me to a secure door. You see, the lady was a resident in what is more commonly called a “memory unit.” People who suffer from dementia or Alzheimer’s Disease often live apart from those residents who either require skilled nursing care or are not able to live independently.

As we chatted, I told her about the Newfoundland breed. She was particularly interested in knowing about Riger, the Second Officer’s dog on the Titanic. I am always ready with famous “Newfie Stories.” As she petted Bear, she began to talk to me. When I remarked that it was a beautiful day outside, she bristled a bit. The following remarks are hers entirely, but I offer them in story form, rather than in quoted text.

She began…. You see those folks inside that room? They should get off their butts and get out here with me. Most of the time, dear, I sit outside by myself. I don’t mind the weather, except for rain or snow. I love to be outdoors and enjoy God’s wonders. The fields below are beautiful in the fall. I know that the farmers will be out there harvesting soon. I remember the farms when I was a girl. The equipment was not so big as it is today, but the jobs were just as hard.

To sit inside watching that stupid television set is such a waste of time. We never know how much time we have, so we mustn’t waste it. Not a day. The people here are so good to me. I’m not sure where this is, but it is clean and nice. I feel safe here. I used to be afraid, I think.

Can’t understand how anybody could want to sit on a chair and not come outside and enjoy this wonderful world out there. She pans the vista before us with her hands as if it is everything to her. And it is.

Somehow, I see her on a front porch of a farmhouse waiting for her husband to come home. She wears a wedding ring, and her eyes light up when she talks about the crops. I don’t know if she had been a farm wife, but she could have been. Given her age, she undoubtedly grew up around the time of the great Depression of the 1930s.

She had a lilt to her voice, a spontaneity and enthusiastic tone that you don’t hear from baby boomers and their progeny. Those people are so intent on who they are and what they are doing that “smelling the roses” is hardly on their schedules.

In a time when I worry about terrorist threats, indiscriminate government spending, the health care fiasco and disintegrating morals, it was comforting to sit down with an elderly woman who had her ducks in a row.

I could tell she was a loving person. I saw that in her eyes. Her tone of voice was soft and her smile was contagious. Few of us want to think about moving from our homes and taking up residence in a long-term care facility, yet I find that there are beacons of hope and love on every hallway.

Framed pictures of loved ones line shelves and dressers. Stuffed animals remind folks of the pets they left behind. Quilts and crocheted blankets echo love of caregivers or family members. Often, CDs play the music of the 1940s. The Big Band sound is not absent from their lives. If I were to guess, I would say that it transports them back to the days of their youth.

For those of us who graduated from high school in the 1950s and 1960s, it doesn’t take a lot of imagination to recall good times with classmates. We reel at the true impact of how many years have passed. So, how are we spending our time — really?

Back the lady on the patio and the other residents with whom we visit regularly… When current events arise, the responses are pretty standard.

“The government should live within its means. I sure did.”
“Seems to me that the politicians only want to get elected, not fix things.” “Sure no common sense in Washington these days.”
“The Lord said, those that don’t work don’t eat, but people still want good old Uncle Sam to do it all for them. That’s not right.”

Sage advice in few words, don’t you agree? Straightforward and to the point? You bet! Don’t lament growing old. It’s the ultimate waste of time. It isn’t always easy. The old saying “Getting old is not for sissies” comes to mind.

Aging is a natural thing and a blessing for those lucky enough to see it. Remember, it’s a privilege some never achieve. In essence, it’s not the number of years one lives that count, it’s the quality of those years. Are you seeking quality or worrying about quantity? Spend your time wisely. Do what you can to change what it is possible to change and deal with everything else as best you can. Shades of “The Serenity Prayer!” After all, in the end, it’s a matter of attitude. Think about it.

IN DEFENSE OF COMMON SENSE
By Hetty Gray

September 10, 2013

# 159

“Missing Mantra”

No, a mantra is not a pet, nor is it a new fashion. It is an oft-used expression that can become passé because nobody pays any attention to it. To put it in fable form, it is akin to “crying wolf”. Too many repetitions render it moot.

Transparency comes to mind. Just how many times have you heard that term in the last five years? Probably more than you would have liked, if I judge the situation correctly.

Other than Saran wrap (or some competitor’s product), the only transparency I have witnessed is the complete lack of ability on the part of the federal government at the administrative level to explain anything they have done. The reason could be that what they have done is highly suspect.

Let me try to understand why we (as a nation) would stand by for years as more than 100,000 people were killed by bombs, rockets, bullets, and beatings yet come forward when less than 2,000 were killed by chemical weapons. I am not equating anything but the outcome. Dead is dead. How a leader accomplishes those deaths does not make them irrelevant.

Genocide is not new. Ask those in Cambodia. Ask those who turned aside in Germany during World War II as the stench from concentration camps hung over the countryside. Ask the people of Africa who escaped the machete attacks on innocent people.

We seem “hell bent” to go after forces in a civil war because of 2,000 Syrian deaths. Yet, at the same time, we can claim no arrests or punishment for those who murdered four Americans in Benghazi.

There is always a call for the building of flags in New York to do something. So — yet again — we see what I call the “Untied Nations” appointing representatives of countries with long histories of human rights abuses to the Security Council. Some security, huh?

United it is not. Untied and unviable it is.

It seems to me that there is another “take” on transparency. It seems to me that transparent is precisely what this administration illustrates. No, not the transparency that allows anyone to see what the government is doing, but another type. What I see is that this administration and staff are just about as transparent as it gets. You can — literally — see right through them. The talking heads may give administration motives a pass, but there is nothing positive for the United States whatever action or actions are taken in Syria.

From the “get go” when this president apologized for America in Egypt, the whole pace of our diminishment has only increased. Present lack of leadership has led to these results: (1) America a diminished military power due to “sequestration” and systematic reductions in our military personnel and equipment. (2) America less a superpower. (3) America now a shadow of the economic engine that led the world. (4) America still dependent on foreign oil despite sitting on huge reserves at home.

If this is by design, then surely those in charge must be pleased with their successes. No matter how this Middle East problem will sort out, Russia has never been a friend to America. To see Putin take center stage and credit for the bungling of a lack of leadership here on the home front should make anyone cringe. Egad!

And so, where are we? We are not at a crossroads. We are well past that. Remember elections of 2002 and 2008? Each of those was a crossroads. Inattention on the part of the voting public and a want for government largesse gave us what we have today. Much to the chagrin on the generation motivated to work, far too many of us believe that there is — and should be — a free lunch.

The void in Washington, D.C. shocks those who believe in the America of the past and warns of what may come if the electorate fails to see the threat posed by a lack of leadership.

And is there an American mantra? I guess the current White House would put it in tow words. “Trust us.” Try again, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. I remember a more important phrase: peace through strength. We see none of the first and little of the second. Weakness, in the words of Donald Rumsfeld, is “provocative.” Think about it.