Credit Given Where Credit is Due

Okay, so I've blasted the Donald a few times these last few days for using the phrase "son-of-a-bitch" in reference to certain professional football players. However, I have to give the man a "thumbs up" for how he is handling the tenuous situation with North Korea. We have coddled these Marxist hoodlums for decades, and we have handled them with kid gloves since the Bill Clinton administration. We have given and given, but all the North Koreans have done is take and take some more, without us reaping anything good from our efforts. If anything, all we have done is purchased the Kim-regime time to develop its own nuclear weapons, and no one in their right mind would agree that such an irrational, deranged actor needs nukes. Nobody, and I mean nobody, has stood up to the belligerent, paranoid, crazy little dictator, Kim Jong Un, like President Trump has, and it is about darn time someone did. Somebody needs to show this little thug that the United States means business. When we say we are going to annihilate North Korea and wipe it from the map, Kim Jong Un has to believe it, and Donald Trump, as crude and unsophisticated as he is, might just be the right man to get the point across.

Should We Support Donald Trump?

Donald J. Trump, President of these United States of America, was doing so well. His handling of the situation with North Korea is commendable, not to mention refreshing. His speech to the United Nations was spot on, and whomever wrote it for him deserves a huge raise. But, like he often does, Trump resorted to buffoonery, last week, when he alluded to certain National Football League players as sons-of-bitches.

Should Trump have addressed the NFL anthem protests? Yes, of course. It is a very divisive issue, far more divisive than just splitting our country down the middle. Some people agree with the players, some don't agree with the players, some agree with them but don't think they should take a knee, and some of us don't agree with them but say they have a right to take a knee. Personally, I have no problem with Trump calling them out, but I do have a problem with the President of these United States calling citizens, whom he represents on both a national and an international level, derogatory names in a public forum.

If the President, whomever he is, does what we see as being right by the country and by its citizens, we conservatives should support him, whether he is conservative, liberal, or moderate. If the President intentionally does something to further tensions and widen division in our once fair nation, it is up to conservatives to call him out on it. We have to get back to respecting decorum and tact, folks. It is that simple. When Trump does something right, applaud him and stand with him. When he does something wrong, do not be silent, and call him out on his error. We cannot have a civilized discussion about anything in this country until we all get our emotions in check and begin to think and act reasonably again. Donald J. trump, as President, has to lead the way and he has to lead by example.

We Need a Real Leader, Folks

Well, time to piss somebody off...again. :)

Let me put it this way:

The Ravens and Jaguars that disrespected our flag and country on foreign soil are selfish jerks. Period.

The players who knelt during the anthem prior to this weekend are leftist jerks that despise the very system that allows them to play a kid's game for a lot of money. Period.

However, I have found it hard to be overly angry with the players who took a knee this weekend. Although I disagree with their tactics, and find their "protests" as disrespectful as previous ones, I cannot blame them for being outraged at the President. Donald Trump is supposed to be our leader, the face of this nation, the voice for all Americans, even the voice of those with whom he disagrees. The office of President of the United States is supposed to be bigger and more important than any one man, including the man that is in office. Donald J. Trump alluded to the anthem protesters as "sons of bitches". Think about that a minute. There is a huge difference between any President of the United States saying that he disagrees with the stance taken by these players and flat-out calling them derogatory names.

Folks, seriously, I ask you, are we all back in middle school? I'm guilty, myself, of getting mad and saying some choice words, even stooping low enough to call folks bad names, but this is the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES we are talking about here. He is a living symbol, whether he likes it or not, of every living American, even of those with whom he disagrees, and even of those folks who hate him with every fiber in their body. Between Trump and Obama, we have two consecutive Presidents that have narcissistically elevated themselves above the office, practically creating an emperor-like status for themselves. They aren't supposed to do that and we aren't supposed to allow that, but we have! The President is supposed to adhere to decorum, utilize tact and discrimination, and hold himself above the fray, at least to give the impression that he is working hard for us and keeping the best interests of our nation in mind. We don't have that, folks. We don't. Meanwhile, all we have is a bad situation made worse, simply because someone wanted to show off by pointing a finger at a few jerks who were already realizing that their little "protests" were doing more harm than good.

I'll say it, again, and it will probably fall upon deaf ears, but we are in the middle of a 'cold' civil war, people. America as it was intended, for now, is dead, remnants of it living on only in the people who inhabit the land, now. We are in dire need of a leader, a real leader. We don't have that. Not meaning to be a pessimist, y'all, but we may never have a true leader ever again.

Trump versus the NFL: Breathing Life into a Dying Fire

Imagine that you are a firefighter. You and your crew have been fighting a relatively small fire- small, but dangerous and very threatening, nonetheless. You all worked very hard to the point of almost having the fire completely out, with only a few smoldering embers remaining. All of a sudden, without warning, a huge sustained gust of wind comes along and blows away some of the ashes and soot, and breathes new life into the fire with you have worked so hard to extinguish. The remaining fuel erupts into a blaze, and now you and your tired crew set about, again, to fight the conflagration.

Having to once again fight a fire which was nearly extinguished would probably frustrate you and anger you, would it not? This is but a metaphor for the current situation in our country regarding professional football and one Donald J. Trump. Unless you've been living way off the grid, you probably know that a few professional football players, over these last two seasons, have decided to not stand for the National Anthem at the beginning of ballgames. Fans took sides, some continued watching while others chose to boycott professional football, one season passed, a new season had come around, and things had actually started to calm down- that is, until Donald J. trump decided it would be fitting to blow some hot air onto the smoldering fire. Now instead of the occasional flickering flame and a few smoldering chunks of what was once part of our collective sanity, the entire country is once again up in flames over one the stupidest, most selfishly asinine notions ever advocated for during our lifetimes, that protesting the one thing that is supposed to bind us together as fellow countrymen will suddenly bring us all together in perfect equality and freedom.

The one thing that is supposed to bind us all together, really, is that we are all Americans, that we all live together in the most prosperous country the world has ever known, that we all are born with the opportunity to take what we are given and make ourselves better people, individually, and a better country, collectively. Both the NFL and its interests, as well as President Donald J. Trump and his interests, have shown that neither of them have any real interest in what is best for all Americans. Each individual involved cares nothing about the average, regular everyday American, nor do they care about the outliers among us nor anyone in between the middle and the extremes. They surely do not care about this country and the ideals upon which it was founded, that all men are created equal and have the opportunity to pursue their own life, liberty, and happiness, regardless of the station in life into which they were born. Our Founding Fathers provided us with a well-thought out paradigm upon which we could build a nation that emphasizes and encourages personal liberty, while also considering the respect for the rule of law, respect for the rights of everyone, and respect for that which binds us together as Americans. Just as things were starting to settle down, Donald Trump gave the anti-American protests the air they needed to flare-up again.

How would a conservative president have handled a situation such as the one with the NFL-player protests? That is a good question to ask and upon which to ponder. I would like to presume that a truly conservative president would have kindly addressed the players grievances, and perhaps invited some of them to the White House to discuss their concerns, rather than verbally attacking them at a campaign rally or fundraiser. I also wonder how a conservative NFL commissioner would have handled the protests, but I can merely speculate on this, as well. Perhaps, a conservative NFL commissioner would have kindly addressed this and done what he could to put a stop to it before it got out of hand. Like I said, one can merely speculate. Meanwhile, our country is in the middle of a cold civil war, and both sides are doing their darnedest to stoke the coals that are burning under the surface of our national identity, threatening what remains of our American unity.

Nazis are not Conservative!

Just a couple of points:

1) Y'all do know that Nazism is a left-wing ideology, right? "National Socialism"? Hitler's vision was fascistic, staunch nationalism combined with a centralized planned economy and an emphasis on the needs of the state above the rights of the individual.

2) The Nazis and the Communists hated each other, but there were two primary reasons for that. One, each group wanted power and did not want to share with the other, naturally. Two, the Russians were the driving force behind international efforts to spread communism around the world, and many Germans viewed the Slavs, Russians, Poles, Czechs, etc., to be a subhuman species (the name "Slav" is a cognate of our word, "slave".

So, learn, pay attention, and you'll see that these jackasses wearing swastikas are not "conservatives", just severely misguided fools with terribly low senses of self-worth. They have more in common with the idiots waving the hammer and sickle than they do with any conservative-minded person.

Politics is about POWER!

Not feeling very well, today, so I'm going to be brief. We all know that Democrats, liberals, socialists, and progressives of all types LOVE big centralized government. Why? Because big centralized government gives them the POWER to implement their pet programs and experiment on people and society. They get to play with our lives while we are the ones that suffer. True conservatives don't want power, and they don't want centralized government. True conservatives want to shrink the size of government and put the POWER back into the hands of the constituency. In part, this means getting rid of unnecessary bureaucratic agencies that act as independent legislators that are not subject to the will of the people. A lot of the problem we are having with the federal government is the entrenched progressive bureaucracy, and we have to elect representatives willing to dismantle it piece by piece. Y'all think about that. God bless and have a great rest of your day.

No. Corporations Are NOT Capitalist!

Dan Bongino, my favorite podcaster, said it best the other day, when he said, “Corporations are nothing but tax collectors for the government.” When he said that, I immediately yelled,”Yes!” I am so happy that there is at least one other person in this world who understands this concept. While Mr. Bongino may be, to some degree, for corporations, I cannot share this sentiment. Corporations stand against everything that conservatism and capitalism both represent. Please bear with me as I explain my thoughts on this matter.

Broken down in simplest terms, I believe conservatism is based on three principles: no more government than is absolutely necessary, personal liberty tempered with personal responsibility, and being fiscally responsible on individual and group levels. Capitalism is, in my opinion, based on three simple concepts: the acquisition and disposal of private property, the individual's assumption of responsibility in dealing with other buyers and sellers in a capitalist system, and (the most defining feature of the three) the principle of risk and reward. Risk and reward is the most important feature because it is the personal responsibility of the individual capitalist to do the research, and make sound decisions based on that research, before consummating any sale or purchase. The idea, as we all have heard, is that the greater the risk, the potential for gain is greater, and the potential for loss is also greater. It is all about the individual assuming responsibility for himself and bearing the gains and losses himself, without putting any burden on anyone else. That, in my opinion is the purest form of capitalism. Since capitalism requires a person to be free enough to make his own decisions about when, where, how, and for how much a transaction may occur, capitalism is the perfect economic complement to conservatism. They both boil down to personal responsibility. When personal responsibility is hindered, discouraged, or even completely removed from the course of a transaction, the capitalist assumes less risk and also reaps less reward, which makes him no longer a true capitalist. Corporations, while well-intended, I must argue, are not capitalist, nor conservative, in nature.

“But,” one may ask, “aren't corporations designed to provide benefits to the individual shareholders based on the assumption of risk taken by merely investing in corporations? Aren't shareholders merely taking advantage of the law of large numbers and associating of their own free will? Aren't the shareholders the ones who assume the risks, and either reap rewards or bear losses?” I must admit that the answer to all three questions is, “Yes.” However, using what I believe are the most basic tenets of both conservatism and capitalism, I argue that while corporations may appear capitalist in nature on the surface, they are, in fact, more socialistic, sometimes fascistic, in their nature.

Currently, the highest rated United States corporate tax bracket is thirty-nine percent of the value of amounts between $100,000 to $335,000, and the lowest is fifteen percent of the value of any amount totaling $50,000 or less. Anything over $18,333,332 is taxed at thirty-five percent, which is commonly known as the topmost tax bracket. If a corporation makes a net profit of, say, $300,000, the United States government takes $117,000 off the top, before any profits are paid as dividends to the shareholders. Think about that. The company pays $117,000 in taxes to the government before any shareholder gets paid. To take it a step further, suppose a corporation rakes in $200,000,000 in net profits. How much does the government get? Take thirty-five percent of that $200 million and one can determine that the government will take $70 million of that $200 million, leaving the shareholders $130 million to split among themselves, provided a dividend is declared and actually paid. It seems the federal government makes out fairly well, does it not? Yet, is it not often the case where big-government advocates deride corporations and call for more corporate taxation, calling for these “super-rich” companies like Exxon-Mobil and others to “pay their fair share?” Heck, looks to me like corporations are already paying more than their fair share!

See, this is how the scam (yes, I call it a SCAM) works. In return for the corporation assuming the form of a separate legal entity and absorbing the personal responsibility that is supposed to be borne by the individual shareholder (as it would be under a truly capitalist system), the corporation pays the government for the right to exist as a corporation. The government, itself, invests no money, takes no risks, regulates by way of fines and fees virtually every aspect of a corporation's existence, and then takes claim to a certain percentage of gains before any of the owners get their bite of the profit pie. Not only that, but the owners i.e., shareholders, have to pay personal income taxes on any dividends paid, and must pay in tax upwards of twenty-eight percent on any gains on the sale of stock in a corporation. In other words, corporations and their owners are subject to a form of double taxation, yet, the money making opportunities can be so great, shareholders continue to let the government extort profits. Corporations are more than monstrous, they are HUGE, and they are a huge business for the United States federal government.

Don't Blame Islam. Blame the Leftist-Progressives!

NOTE: Hey, folks. I know I haven't written much. Life has been hectic and I have spent most of my days either dealing with injury or sickness or both. I would truly appreciate any prayers that any of you may offer on my behalf. It is in my very best intentions to keep up-to-date on this blog, but it is very hard, some days. Keeping up with world events is stressful, and I am having to exercise caution so as not to aggravate my condition. I hope you enjoy this post. My prayers are with the victims of last night's bombing and their families. May their deaths not be in vain and my God heal the bodies of the hurt and the hearts of the broken. Amen.

So, there has been another horrific terrorist bombing in a European city. Parents bought tickets and took their children to see a popular stage performer, only to become victims of a homicide bomber as they attempted to exit the arena. European leaders and other leftist-progressives responded in routine fashion, saying that they are shocked and appalled by such a senseless tragedy. Every time one of these bombings occurs, the same people ask the same question: why would someone do such a thing? What is truly sad is that leftist-progressives know the answer, yet they do nothing to even address the problem.

Despite mounds of evidence, and the repeated patterns of the same terroristic strategies and motivations over and over, the leftist-progressives refuse to acknowledge Islamic terrorism. They cannot understand the fact that Western society and culture have been under Islamic jihadist attack for decades, and it is unfortunate, I dare say, that part of the problem lies with another simple fact: that the leftist-progressives, themselves, are the ones most insulated from exposure to terroristic acts of aggression. They are not the ones who mingle at such things as pop music concerts and Christmas festivals with the common folk. They do not have to walk alone through dangerous neighborhoods at night, the same European neighborhoods that, just a few years ago, were comparatively safe. They do not attend Bastille Day festivities, and they do not frequent discos. And, since they are willfully ignorant of what is occurring in our Western world these days, they do not have to recognize that there is a very serious problem. Admitting that there is a problem would be to admit that their policies have failed. In their view, all they have to do is be goodhearted and kind and generous and implement policies that make them feel good about themselves. They simply believe that if they continue to allow in migrants and refugees from impoverished, war-torn, despotic Muslim hellholes, the migrants and refugees will be eternally grateful and positively add to the good of all mankind. Yet, we who have eyes can plainly see that such is not the case.

How ignorant and blind does one have to be not to see what is occurring in Europe? How does one not notice the changes in one's own country? How does one continue, day in and day out, to ignore the fact that innocent people are dying because some do-good leftist decided that no one can be turned away at a nation's border, despite having virtually no way to closely examine the foreigners and verify who they really are? Gee, that sounds awfully familiar, does it not?

Are we living in a world gone mad? Yes, we are. Leftist-progressives are unwilling to admit that they are wrong about Islamic extremists. They cannot admit that they are wrong in believing that people who despise Western culture will assimilate into it freely and willingly. We are at war with them! Why is it so hard to recognize that and admit it? Islamists hate Western society. They despise personal choice and they hate personal freedom, because such concepts contradict the notion of “submission” to a god who demands his pound of flesh from every human being. This is that to which they dedicate themselves and their children, a god who demands that his followers kill the innocent for him.

Remember this if nothing else: leftist-progressives want power above all else. With power, they can implement any insane policy that their demented minds can conceive. Anything that contradicts their humanistic and Utopian world-view cannot be possible; therefore, it cannot be recognized as real or reasonable. Their logic is skewed and their good intentions are misplaced; meanwhile, innocents continue to die and suffer. The only good news in all of this is that, at some point, it will come to an end. Either Western values will recover and win the day, or they will die, just as the victims of the leftist-progressives have.

The GOP just don't get it.

Societies over the course of recorded history have tended heavily toward monarchical rule. Republican governments and democracies aren't uncommon forms of government, but they do not tend to last nearly as long or be as stable and secure as monarchies. In fact, many a republic has grown unstable and devolved to where one man takes complete power and rules as a dictator. The United States has come close to this several times. Considering how many people put complete trust and faith in Barack Obama, and how many people, now, have placed all of their faith and trust in Donald Trump, I must ask the question: are we really that far from being a dictatorship? No, because we have been teetering on that cusp for roughly 230 years. The only things that have kept us from falling back into becoming part of one man's empire are the Constitution and those of us who defend it. Sadly, some of the people we just elected to serve in the U.S. government just don't get it. I cannot help but wonder if they, somehow, see themselves as benevolent monarchs, trying to do what they think is best for the masses.

Way, Way Down in the Rabbit Hole

Yes, I know that it's been a while since I've posted. Nothing in particular kept me away from here, I was just sick of all the pre- and post-election garbage spewing out of the mouths of dolts and malcontents, and I was trying to stay away from it. You know, to prevent further distress on my body systems. Yes, it has been an interesting first two months (roughly) since Trump became President of these United States, and I have made every effort to simply observe what is occurring from as far a distance as reasonably possible. I admit that I am still hoping the man succeeds at restoring order and civility in this country, but we all know the likelihood of that, don't we? The people who want to literally destroy America and its Constitution from within are not relenting. If anything, they are more vocal than ever, and the GOP, the alleged "conservative" of the two ruling parties, is more progressive than ever. People voted for Trump and they voted for Republican representatives in record numbers because they want two things: good jobs and less government interference in their daily lives. We're not getting that, are we, folks? So far, not really.

I guess I just wanted to run of at the fingers for a minute. Please pray for me, as I have rather severely pulled my lower back, and it is preventing me from doing much. Please, pray for our country and for its leaders, that they grow a pair and stick to conservative principles instead tucking their tail between their legs every time some liberal starts screaming her head off. God bless, you, folks. Maybe I'll write some more tomorrow.