Feeding the Federal Machine

President-Elect Trump's appointment of Betsy DeVos, a devoted proponent of school choice has sparked a full-frontal freak-out by public education unionists.

I'm currently involved in a Facebook debate with a teacher who insists that our "Democracy" depends on generously fueling the socialist school system, horrified at the thought of competition.

My initial salvo: 
Encouraging private schools does not have to destroy public schools. Competition tends to float all boats.

Her response: However I have not seen any research based evidence from your point of view. I am very open to hearing all sides. I believe competition is good, I just understand that competition does not have room for special needs, or other issues that take away from the bottom line. Again police, fire department, military.

Mine:  While I don't consider police, fire dept. or military to be an apples to apples comparison with education, I think the mere existence of a myriad of private security providers proves the need and desire for the option. I think of education as a non-emergency service, like restaurants and tax-preparers and cleaning services, and retail stores, etc. If government can facilitate education better than the private sector, why aren't these tax-payer funded, as well?  Justice is also a consideration. When I unschooled my daughter for nine years, I paid over $2,000 in school taxes every year, but did not utilize any local school benefits. Thankfully, I discovered that my daughter could receive a robust education using a free library card and low or no cost learning opportunities in and around Fort Worth, but imagine what I could have done with $20,000! I don't have a problem with a society deciding to authorize a state to demand taxes for education, but I believe a parent ought to be able to use those funds for the methods that best serve their own children.

Hers: Our society and democracy is not based on "Me" We did not become who we are with the "This is mine, don't touch." That is what we have become in the last 30 years. Very self centered. We have forgotten that many people before us paid their taxes as well when they had no children, or their kids had already gone through school. They were paying their taxes to help us all as a country. We can not now turn our backs on those that come after us. Even though that seems to be the belief by the last 2 generations. We will not exactly be known as the "Greatest Generation" that is for sure. If you choose to "unschooled" your child, that was your choice. No said you couldn't . If you choose to pay for private school, that is your choice. To be part of this society, you have to contribute if you are able to help the greater good.

I countered with the following:  Actually, our nation was founded as a Capitalist Republic - a meritocracy (through hard work), facilitated by the individual power of unalienable rights. I realize we have become a Democratic Socialism over the years, which is what you have described,but that's not how it started. I prefer to protect our unalienable rights in a Republic, creating wealth in a free market (rather than just redistributing it) which is doing the MOST good.

I added some learning resources, as well: Democracy vs. Republic and On Democracy vs. Liberty

Why are we surprised at the recent election debacle, let alone the sad state of public schools, when our tax dollars are being spent to fund an industry that creates professional teachers who don't know the difference between a Republic and a Democracy? 

Teachers' unions are not interested in teaching the facts as much as they are interested in sustaining the perpetual money machine that funds their job security, even if it means perpetuating the fallacy that we live in a Socialist utopia that properly denies parents the right to choose the best education for their children. 

It's not just our hard-earned tax dollars that are feeding this dystopian machine, it's the liberties of future generations. Some people think that's a fair exchange. I will continue to fight against it.

Brave New Day

The Star Spangled Banner is the only national anthem that contains a question: “Oh, say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave, o’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?”

Someone has answered that question:

“Because we are the brave
Yes we are the brave
We'll fight tyranny
In the name of the free
We are the U.S. of A

For those unaware
That flag is still there
It's our future to save
This land of the brave
The U.S. of A”

In the summer of 2015, I discovered the band Madison Rising:

“America’s most patriotic rock band is on a mission to reignite authentic American culture through great rock music. Since the release of their first album in 2011, the band has worked tirelessly to create an entirely new genre of music – patriotic rock. Combining a brilliant classic rock sound with inspirational tributes to our men and women in uniform, it is clear that this band is on a mission to not only make great music, but to also send a message that American culture is alive and well. Executive Producer: Richard Mgrdechian”

Their lead singer was Dave Bray, a former Navy corpsman and sniper in the Marine Corps, traded his uniform for a rock guitar and microphone, becoming lead singer for Madison Rising in 2011.

I can’t remember how I discovered Madison Rising’s Star-Spangled Banner, but it inspired the Patriot in me. I played this video for all of my Intermediate school students the first time they came with their classes to the Library. We stood for the entire song, and the majority of the students loved it. I played the audio of this song every time classes came to the Library all year long, at full volume. I never tired of seeing 5th and 6th graders rocking out to our National Anthem!

When I decided that I would use this song as part of my Our Nation’s Foundations curriculum, I friended Dave Bray on Facebook and told him my plan to use his song. He replied that I should contact the public relations manager at Madison Rising, and within a few weeks, I was thrilled to receive a package of posters, and CDs to use in my school library.

From motorcycle-usa.com:

By the time Dave Bray’s voice bellows out the first words, an unexplainable wave wells up inside you, be it pride, be it patriotism, it stems from hearing a symbolic song in a fresh, harder, edgier way. It reminds one that despite its faults, we still live in a powerful and proud country.

But reinventing a song that strikes such an emotional chord in people is risky business. Madison Rising’s lead singer, Dave Bray, was keenly aware of this, but for him the challenge it proposed outweighed the risks. Here’s how he explains why the band took on a song like “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

"Well, that was another that I kind of took on because somebody told me I couldn’t do it. They said we can’t touch “The Star-Spangled Banner,” it’s too reverent, people get too bent out of shape about it. We knew it was going to be scrutinized and I knew it was going to be scrutinized, so when they told me I couldn’t do it, I just sat down. I was on a train back-and-forth for three hours, back-and-forth to New York and I was like, all right, I need to get working on this song. So that’s what I did, until I got it to a point that I liked and it ended up turning out really good.”

Inexplicably, in early 2015, Richard Mgrdechian made the decision to replace Dave Bray with Rio Hiett, an Air Force veteran. It was a shock to MR fans and a stunning blow to Dave Bray. Immediately, a Facebook group called We Support Dave Bray! was started for his fans to gather and give each other comfort and encouragement. This is part of what Dave posted on We Support Dave Bray

For those of you who truly care:

I have been truly blessed to be a part of Madison Rising...to me, it was so much more than just a band...It was a place for me to profess my love of God and Country in a way that was exciting and entertaining to people of all generations. It was meeting other like-minded Patriots, Veterans, Young Marines and American families who, in turn, would carry on the good word and the mission of the band.

I still stand by what I said, when I said that "Madison Rising is a continuation of my service and my loyalty to this Country".

I loved the job, the music and the mission and did them all to the utmost best of my ability.

I left everything I had on every stage I played. My family and I gave 5 years of blood sweat and tears to this project. We lived, breathed, ate, and even slept MR...My wife, Becky, who for the last few years has worn many hats by working tirelessly as the Director of Operations, booking, logistics, social media, outreach, PR and customer relations as well as being a stay at home mom for our two young boys. She has been not only the backbone of this operation but also our family.

We've been asked to step down from the positions we so truly loved..and since then, the unbelievable amount of prayers and support that you have given us as a family has been unwavering and continual. Your outreach and love is what has kept us strong throughout these seemingly impossible times...but your prayers....your prayers have been the key to our strength and what has bound us together as a family. They have been felt and heard in ways that only The Almighty himself will chose to deliver on in His own due time.

Believe me when I say that the prayers of the people and the hands of God are truly at work.

It is my firm belief that without God...there is no country.

AMERICANS were once a people and a nation who were "with God"... And it was known, just the same, around the world, that God, was "WITH" our Nation. A people who were steadfast and strong in their belief and their faith. A people who knew that by putting God first in all things that the rest would be blessed.

Today, God is slowly being taken away from our Country and our people...His presence is being wrung slowly and relentlessly from within each and every generation in the name of diversification and political correctness. It is sure to be the demise of America if we don't stop the spread of this decay.

I know in my heart that many of you are seeing this happen and are feeling helpless...you are not alone...but helplessness is not going to fix this problem.

I'm here to tell you that inside each and every God fearing, Freedom loving, Flag waving Patriot that I've met along the way...is a Warrior. I know this because I've met you, I've shaken your hand and I've seen that Warrior spirit in your eyes.

So with that, I will close by asking you all to remember to keep close to your heart the things that are truly important in your lives...Faith...Family...and Love...but forget not Forgiveness...for we are all flawed human beings with our own crosses to bear.

Stay the Course...

Finish the Fight...&  Never Surrender!!!

I haven't given up...And neither should you!!!

I WILL see you all very soon on the other side of Freedom....In faith and arms my brothers and sisters...

IN FAITH AND ARMS!

-Brave Day

This illustrates the faith and patriotism of a man who pours out his devotion to both in every area of his life, especially on the music stage. After a few weeks of prayer and family discussions, Dave launched his own brand.
I had the privilege of interviewing Dave Bray in the summer of 2016, and was impressed by his devotion to making every part of his life a living sacrifice to the Lord, using any and every talent for His purposes. 

Since going solo, the Bray family has faced the challenge of a medical crisis suffered by their eldest son, Ryken, in October of 2016, but after surgery, he seems to be well on the road to recovery.

I and all of his fans can’t wait to see what Dave will do next as a musician and a Patriot. No matter what happens, he inspires us all to make every day a Brave Day.

Doing the Next Right Thing: Giving a Warm Embrace

I don't remember when I started doing it. Before 2000.

I don't know how many I've done. Hundreds?

I crochet. Compulsively. For years, I used one of my favorite crochet patterns to create multi-colored afghans.

Waves and puffs create a visually interesting fancy blanket that my hands would produce about every two to three months. As soon as one was finished, I'd store it in a large plastic bag and start another.

One found it's home with a young mother who had just lost her baby. She said, sometimes when she was alone, she just needed a hug, and she'd just wrap the afghan around her and cry.

Eventually, I tired of the same pattern and tried something I called Marshmallow Parfait:

Lately, I've been using a simple, single crochet stitch to produce heavier, camplike blankets, but still using multiple colors that keep my interest as I anticipate which skein I'll use next. 

I've sold a few of my afghans, but mostly, I give them away to those who are grieving or celebrating. I gave one of my latest ones to a young woman who was grieving the recent loss of her father while celebrating her birthday and engagement. 

It's just what I do. I crochet afghans to give away. Yarn is a regular part of my household budget and shopping item, keeping me supplied for my habit. It doesn't hurt that Red Heart yarn donates a portion of every skein to the Red Cross, I guess. 

We do what we can, with what we have, and pray it makes a small difference.  

Check It Out! Library Blog: Biography - The Last Goodnight

Tired of predictable novels? Meander over to NonFiction section 921.

Biographies - you can't make this stuff up. It's real life, Baby. Even the main character didn't know what to expect before you turned the page!

I'm currently reading The Last Goodnight, by Howard Blum. This is an eye-opening revelation of one Secret Service spy, using her female "charms" to try to dismantle the Nazi war machine.

Betty Pack was a rebel for all time, let alone the 1930s and 40s. She was impetuous and deliberate, devoted and fickle, passionate and cold-hearted in one short lifetime.

She married on a whim, had children and abortions with the same cavalier unattachment, leaving her husband and offspring in the care of others while she pursued her real passion: espionage facilitated by fornication.

Every chapter of this tension-filled biography makes me cringe at the lack of scruples used to sabotage a war enemy. WWII was won as much in the bedroom as in the war room, apparently.

Military men, more than willing to violate their marital fidelity and patriotic integrity, succumbed early and often to a socialite who worked her body to obtain pillow talk that fed British and American intelligence needs as the war with Germany was ramping up.

Mrs. Pack was never more alive than when she was risking her life by seducing any and every randy male who had a tale to tell or access to a nugget of information needed at any given moment of her mission.

This true story makes me wonder how many other women, in how many other wars, willingly and enthusiastically offered up their sexual skills for the "greater good", and how many potential war "heroes" were compromised because they couldn't deny their base natures.

Fajitas and Margaritas for Thanksgiving

While I consider President Obama one of the most destructive Presidents in the history of our Republic, I have always appreciated his sense of humor. This year, his daughters had other plans for the traditional "pardoning of the turkeys" at the White House, but Mr. Obama got a laugh by telling the audience that, even after his final term is over, he plans to pardon turkeys every year, just for the fun of it.

My daughter couldn't make it home for Thanksgiving this year. In her text, she said the feast tradition in Houston, Texas, is "fajitas and margaritas". Sounds festive!

This got me wondering why we stick to traditions that may not make sense in the time and space we live in. My husband thinks fowl is foul, so I purchased a turkey leg for me and a small ham for him, but I fixed all the traditional side dishes and pies. Pies are my favorite tradition for any feast.

Christmas is just around the corner. I stopped "doing Christmas" in 2004 and have never regretted it, renouncing the traditions of the yuletide frenzy for the transcendent peace of Christ. See Christmas Challenge for the full story.

After Christmas comes Easter, with its own pagan traditions passed off as devotion. Does anyone actually believe that bunnies and eggs honor the death and resurrection of our Savior? Please.

What do we give up when we mindlessly observe traditions? We can pass on things like rules and laws and expectations that bind us and steal our freedom in Christ. The trappings of tradition may merely distract us from present opportunities. While we're still doing this year after year, we may be missing out on opportunities to enjoy or bestow even more meaningful blessings.

What do we surrender when we devote ourselves to tradition instead of being present in the moment?How does tradition betray our higher purposes?


From the Online Etymology Dictionary:

tradition (n.)

late 14 c., "statement, belief, or practice handed down from generation to generation," especially "belief or practice based on Mosaic law," from Old French tradicion "transmission, presentation, handing over (late 13c.) and directly from Latin traditionem (nominative traditio) "delivery, surrender, a handing down, a giving up," noun of action from past participle stem of tradere "deliver, hand over," from trans- "over" + dare "to give". The word is a doublet of treason. Meaning "a long-established custom" is from 1590s. The notion is of a customs, ways, beliefs, doctrines, etc. "handed down from one generation to the next.

For Thanksgiving 2017, I think I'll try fajitas and margaritas and see how it goes.

Christmas Challenge

It has begun. 

Christmas ads.

Many people are disturbed by Christmas promotion that happens prior to Thanksgiving.

I’m disturbed by Christmas.

Let me preface this by stating that it doesn’t matter to me whether you celebrate Christmas. But this article may reveal some things to consider with honesty and integrity.

Why do you celebrate Christmas?  Please do not reply that it’s the birthday of Jesus. This is a myth, instigated and perpetuated by the Roman Catholic Church to convert pagans, who worshiped Nimrod, born on December 25, and celebrated by decorating fir trees.

Christians are not commanded or even invited by any scriptures to celebrate Christ’s birth (never specified by date, perhaps for this very reason, but not on December 25, according to Luke 2:8). We are commanded to commemorate His death until He returns.

Please don’t say you participate in the covetous shopping frenzy in order to honor the sacrifice and gift of our Savior. Going into debt to buy gifts for all your friends and family does not qualify.

Unless you are Italian, decking your halls with red and green means nothing, least of all exalting Christ. And decorating with artificial lighting is a clear reference to the Angel of Light (Satan), masquerading as the Light of the World (Yeshua). Don’t even get me started on Santa Claus.

Now, if you choose to celebrate what is known as the Christmas holidays for the purposes of celebrating friends, family, decor, gift giving, and feasting because you love it, carry on!  But please do not deceive yourself and others by pretending you are celebrating the birth of Christ. Because you just aren’t.

By all means, celebrate Christ! But, please refrain from slandering His name by pretending that Christmas honors Him.

Let me suggest an alternative. Celebrate Christ every moment of every day with obedience. Honor his sacrifice with service at all times of the year. Rest in the joy and peace of knowing that Yeshua fulfilled every feast commanded by God. Gather together regularly in communion with fellow saints, celebrating the death, resurrection, and return of our Lord and Savior. You may decide to use the funds you normally spend for Christmas by donating them to charity.

I stopped “doing Christmas” in 2004 and have never regretted it. The first year I shunned all things Christmas, my husband admitted that he missed the festivities. I told him, “By all means, if you’d like to decorate the house, bake the cookies, plan the holiday meal, shop for presents, wrap the gifts, address the Christmas cards, decorate the house, and then clean up all the mess and pack it all up on New Year’s day, go right ahead. I’m not stopping you.” This was all on me, you see. He declined, and has not complained since.  

Our Decembers are spent in joy and peace and complete rest in Christ as I avoid all the hustle and hassle of the holidays. Once I was convicted by the Spirit to make this dramatic choice, I sold all my Christmas decor and gave the proceeds to a missionary who was serving in Ukraine during the Orange Revolution. The funds helped buy boots for Christians who were serving the safety and physical needs of those camping out in Kiev.

Again, if you can participate in all of the Christmas traditions, in obedience to the Holy Spirit, bringing honor to God, without sacrificing the joy and peace in your family, DO IT! Rest assured that I do not judge you! I just want you to know what you may be giving up by conforming to the world.  

Education vs. Schooling

It seems that today was "you've run out of excuses not to educate your own child" day on social media.

A friend posted the following status to accompany this photo of her son: 

What you learn on a hike with [this boy] (he's the one with his favorite machete):

1) "Those big red ants are actually endangered. Seems the fire ants have moved in and are overtaking the big ones. Fire ants are too small for the big ones to really bite so..." 2) "If you see a wild hog, start running and make lots of noise. They're actually more scared of you." 3) "Yes! A bow dart tree! These are perfect for making a bow and arrow. You can always tell a bow dart tree from its yellow pulp" 4) "Wait. No, that's for a bear. If you see a wild pig, Mom, just run!! 5) "Stomp really hard when you walk so you can scare all the snakes away" (He only said that for his benefit because it's funny to see me scared in the middle of nature.)

This boy is a very old soul. 

A few years ago, he was a student at the school where I work as a para-Librarian. I enjoyed the few times we shared meaningful conversations. I responded to the post with these words: "I miss that boy". 

In light of some of my conversations with his mom about educating our own children, she responded: "And if I could do it all over again, I would let them homeschool me." 

During the Rush Limbaugh radio show, parents called in to ask him for advice about their children being bullied by peers and teachers for supporting Donald Trump. While Rush mentioned the admirable homeschoolers he had met in marketing his children's book series, Rush Revere: Time-Traveling Adventures with Exceptional Americans, and advised one mother to remove her child from her kindergarten class, he stopped short of recommending home-based education, even when the mother admitted she had considered it. 

Later, I saw a revealing clip from the new movie, Captain Fantastic, highlighting the vast difference in learning between a homeschooled child and schooled teens, featuring an impromptu quiz on the Bill of Rights. The movie is about a single father who chooses what some may call "extreme parenting", spending 24 hours a day with his children, acting as their teacher, mentor and guide while instructing them on life-skills and natural law. 

In the late afternoon, on Fox News, the president of Oklahoma Wesleyan University, Dr. Everett Piper, reiterated his essay titled This is What You Get, describing the consequences of cheating our children out of being taught absolute truth. 

I was asked to explain the Millennial Generation's cry for "safe spaces," their demands for "trigger warnings," their repudiation of "micro-aggressions," and now even their insistence that the results of the presidential election be reversed, because they, our privileged progeny, don't like it.

My response in brief: Why would you expect anything different? 

This is what you get when you send your kids off to colleges and universities that teach politically correct pablum rather than the time-tested truths of a free people and civil society. This is what you get when you entrust your sons and daughters to sit under the tutelage of faculty who proudly pan a Judeo-Christian ethos and praise its antithesis. This is what you get after years of teaching the next generation "it doesn't matter what you believe as long as it works for you."

The time has come, my friends. 

If you want your child to be truly educated, and not merely schooled, make the accommodations and sacrifices necessary to provide a home-based learning environment.

As a parent who wants the best for your children, you are equipped and qualified to mentor them into adulthood. Don't reject this right and privilege by entrusting their minds to complete strangers who probably do not share your values. It's not hard. I promise. If you're worried about getting a full day's curriculum in, stop it. It will take you and your child two hours maximum to achieve and exceed the learning that takes place in a seven-hour school day, without the distractions, disruptions, disrespect, and dystopia of a classroom. 

And all you need is a library card. 

Check It Out! Library Blog: Reinventing the Library

It's not just for books anymore.

"Maker-Spaces", " Internet Surfing Center", "Museum", "Learning Community", "Homeschool Hub". There are many great reasons to visit the Library.

This excursion was a weekly treat when I unschooled my daughter over a decade ago. A gaggle of home-based educators and their children could be found awaiting the opened doors of the local library any day of the week.

My autodidactic child would go on a treasure hunt to discover the 50-book limit to borrow, then dump the full milk crate onto the living room floor just to admire her bounty. She only read a few pages of some of the volumes. Others transformed her existence while she lounged on the sofa, oblivious to her actual surroundings. She learned something from each and every one, becoming my teacher over our shared lunch.

We attended a few of the story/craft time offerings, only to discover that most of the programs were designed for very young children, below the age of school attendance.

Now, just a few years into an immersion into the virtual world of gaming and social media mania, Libraries, including those on school campuses, have begun offering Maker-Spaces (a trendy new term meaning Craft Tables) but focusing on the use of computers to create simple codes for animating tiny Lego creations. But don't be surprised if you stumble upon a diverse group of visitors rediscovering the joys of leather craft, woodworking, knitting or Prepper training!

You see, one of the downfalls of living in the virtual world is that you lose the fascinating interactions of actual humans and the productive use of your hands.

I'm glad to see this trend, especially in suburban areas like Lancaster, California, near Walnut Creek in the East Bay area. The city decided to transform the Library into a true Community Center, complete with regular events and gatherings for all age groups, guest authors and lecturers, a coffee shop, used bookstore, Arts and Science Discovery Center, Senior Center, Historical Society and more. It's not just a Library anymore. In fact, they renamed it to the Lafayette Library and Learning Center.

Maybe they should just call it The Heart of the City. 

Let's have one in every community. 

Doing the Next Right Thing: Cowboys with Character

On October 16, Tony Romo swallowed his pride and gave a gracious speech to the media about stepping aside for a new team quarterback. Jerry Jones even memorialized the event with a moving montage, almost as if Tony's entire football career is over. Romo admitted that the sports world is a Meritocracy- everything a player has is earned. He said Dakota Prescott had earned his spot as the captain of the Cowboys team. It was "his time" as he revealed his emotional decision.

From nfl.com: 

"I feel like we all have two battles, or two enemies, going on. One with the man across from you. The second is with the man inside of you. I think once you control the one inside of you, the one across from you really doesn't matter. I think that's what we're all trying to do."

I hope America's Team hangs on to Romo a good long time. There's a generation of young ball players who need his mentoring- and not just in the art of the pigskin.

You may have seen another video. The Cowboys' new quarterback, Dak Prescott, on the bench between plays, finished drinking from a paper cup of Gatorade, tossed it toward a nearby trash can, and missed.

After what appears to be a slightly disgusted response (to his own misguided aim? to the errant gust of wind?), he gets up to retrieve the cup from the ground and drop it into the garbage.

Even casual football fans have witnessed the chaos that is left behind after a hard fought game on the gridiron. Towels, cups, plastic drinking bottles, clipboards, Surface Pro tablets (ahem- Bill Belichick) litter the sidelines, forgotten in the joys of victory and agonies of defeat, left for the clean-up crew for disposal.

Not this man. Mr. Prescott didn't let one incomplete pass define him as a loser. His mama raised him right, and he shows his appreciation to her in this small act of character, three years after her death due to colon cancer.

From the Star-Telegram:

Being a mama’s boy is part of who Dak Prescott is. The strong relationship he shared with his late mother, Peggy, has been well documented, and carries on to this day.

Dak still sends text messages to his mom, who died of colon cancer in 2013 at the age of 52. It’s a way to stay connected to her, and he smiled at the thought of sending her a text on Saturday, the day before his NFL debut.

“That’s the moment I do look back and I kind of say to myself, ‘See where I am in life?’” said Dak, who chose No. 4 because his mom’s birthday is Sept. 4.

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/sports/nfl/dallas-cowboys/article101102607.html#storylink=cpy

Imagine that: two grown men playing for the same football team. Because doing the next right thing often looks like humility, but results in raising the status of responsibility.

Post-Truth Dystopia

The Oxford Dictionary has named the term "post-truth" the word of the year for 2016.

It's more than a fad, it is now our sad reality.

After eight years of the blatant cognitive dissonance created by outright deception: defining pulling out of Iraq and Afghanistan too soon and leaving those battlefields in chaos as success; declaring that you could keep your doctor and save money under Obamacare, etc... too many Americans have accepted this new age of pretty lies.

The recent Presidential election was an orgy of perjury. Voters ultimately resorted to choosing the best liar out of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. "Do I feel better when I believe the lie that Donald Trump is a Republican, or do I get all warm and fuzzy when I pretend that Hillary isn't a criminal?"

No wonder we ended up with TrumpPence.

"Feeeeeeelings! Nothing more than feeeeeelings!" The Barry Mann song recorded by Morris Albert in 1975 is playing in my head.

The problem with making decisions based on feelings is that you're acting like a blind person. When an entire society eschews Truth for feel-good lies, we become the blind leading the blind. Because without veracity, there is no foundation for communication. This is evident in the ludicrous atmosphere of safe-spaces to shield ourselves from perceived offenses.

We might as well be grunting at each other.

The Pendulum Swings Too Wide

I admit it: I was shocked when Donald Trump won the Presidency. I was sure that the Progressives had succeeded by indoctrinating the masses to fully embrace the politically correct agenda.

What I didn't anticipate was the visceral response rejecting it.

It wasn't a principled, patriotic, logical response to the last eight years of thwarting the rule of law. It was revenge, facilitated by Democrats who thought they were ensuring a Hillary win.

By voting for who they considered the weakest, most ludicrous Republican candidate in the primaries, Liberals granted an opportunist the platform to sell his brand of populism to the masses.

Instead of countering the Obama administration's repeated violations of the rule of law with a conservative Constitutionalist, the GOP settled for a demagogue with an ego big enough to draw angry voters in like a rare earth magnet.

Question: What's worse than spending the last eight years fighting the RINO and Democratic Establishment with limited grassroots commitment?

Answer: Waging a war against a whole new phalanx of Republicans who think we've won a conservative victory, plus the devoted Socialists thwarted by both Hillary and the GOP.


We've merely traded one oligarch for another and lost the high ground in the battle.

We Get the Leaders We Deserve

November 10 headline from cnn.com:

Protesters target Trump buildings in massive street rallies

“In response to Trump's victory, a shocking win fueled by the rural roar of a dismayed white America, tens of thousands in at least 25 US cities -- including New York and Nashville, Chicago and Cleveland, San Francisco and Seattle -- shouted anti-Trump slogans, started fires, and held candlelight vigils to mourn the result.”

Apparently, tolerance is reserved for reactions that fuel the Progressive agenda.

Many people are in shock today. According to fivethirtyeight.com, nearly six million Americans voted, and all but a handful endorsed someone wholly unqualified to serve as our President. We’re not shocked that Donald Trump has been chosen to sit in the Oval Office. We’re shocked that Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton were allowed on the ballot at all.

Poet Joe Tarzana, at tarzanajoe.com offers an ode to the election results:

Clinton Agonistes:

I wish I had the lyric wit

Of Ogden Nash or Byron

To write the words of wisdom

That this moment is requirin’

But though I can’t approximate

What’s Nashian or Byrony

I can still to call attention

To the most exquisite irony

A selfish predilection

For opacity and secrecy

Coupled with a staff

That was selected for obsequesy

By trying to conceal herself

Behind a server’s shield

Her questionable judgment

Was, to the world, revealed

The pundits minimized the case

And claimed they were disgusted

But voters, on election day

Pronounced she couldn’t be trusted

A tragedy for some to write

For essayists, a gift

A subject less for Shakespeare

But rather more for Swift

A time of sound and fury

For who loses and who wins

But our revels have not ended

For it’s now the play begins.

(Bonus Poem–I know the way for Donald Trump

to make Barack his pal;

Give him, as a parting gift,

free tee-times at Doral)

May I suggest another poem title? Trumpeting Buffooneries.

There is a remnant of American patriots who are stunned that a woman whose life history includes political corruption, condemning victims of her husband’s sexual assaults, failures as Secretary of State, ignoring the pleas of those who died in Benghazi, violating federal statutes regarding national security, and proudly defending partial birth abortion could be a viable nominee for President, given that her elitist character has been defined as cruel, vindictive and heartless.

We’re appalled that “the party of values” would put its stamp of approval on a man who brags about how he has abused business partners, tax laws, and women. A fully grown man caught peeking at his wife’s ballot on election day. A rude, crude, aging egotist whose distasteful character was trumped only by his demagoguery. A President-elect who vilified illegal aliens after trading in two former wives to marry one who violated the rule of law by working in the U.S. as a lesbian porn model.

We're aghast because: “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” John Adams, from BrainyQuote.

Only fools believe that an amoral or immoral President will fulfill the oath of office to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution.”

Republicans can claim the win for 2016, but the nation will suffer unimaginable losses for years to come because voters have decided that morality is irrelevant to government. And it would have been the same with a Democratic win.

“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8

When our public servants act as if they are above the law of both God and man, the nation finds itself under Divine Judgment.