Guest Column

What’s wrong with Red Flag Laws

What’s wrong with red flag laws? Most Americans will agree that if a person is truly challenged by a debilitating psychiatric condition, they should not have a gun. Now, I’m not referring to people living with PTSD that is under control, or eating disorders. But if someone is suffering from paranoid delusions, or has schizophrenia, or some similar condition, then they probably shouldn’t own a gun.

Joe Biden's hate-filled speech

A heavily made up and properly rehearsed Joe Biden gave a hate-filled speech in Iowa on Wednesday. He was obviously using a teleprompter as his usual gaffs did not occur. Goodness knows how many hours of coaching it took for him to rant and rave like he did. He was short on solutions and long on hate for our President. Political junkies such as myself have seen a distinct change in the rhetoric of the Dems following the two horrific shootings this past weekend. Their number one agenda item, damning and discrediting our President has gotten new fuel. For the moment they are like rabid dogs. Not one Democrat is displaying an attitude of cooperation or a desire to rationally and calmly work out a compromise on a solution for even the simplest of problems. That is a losing position against a President who has done so much to fix or try to fix the ills of our country.

How blithely we ignored the fact that the Ohio shooter was a Bernie loving registered Democrat.

We have before us a good example of the atmosphere of our country. How quick we were to label the El Paso shooting a hate crime perpetrated by a "white national". How blithely we ignored the fact that the Ohio shooter was a Bernie loving registered Democrat. The fact is both men and more are sick. And the truth is that no law is going to fix the problem. We have been addressing the easy fixes, feel good actions and headline grabbing stories because the real problem will take years and commitment. We have lost our values, we are disconnected and divided, we are lied to by politicians and the media. None of those root problems will be solved by gun legislation. But we surely will be a nation of sitting ducks for bad actors.

If every person in power refused to use race as a weapon, could we start working together?

I find myself wondering, if we stopped viewing everything through the lens of race, perhaps we could actually accomplish some things. If every person in power refused to use race as a weapon, could we start working together? For example, Baltimore. They have problems, yet the first retort after the President pointed that out is that he is racist. How much smarter it would have been for Elijah Cummings to point to areas of success, explain the problems Baltimore faces and to offer constructive solutions. Telling the truth about a situation like Baltimore or the corruption in Puerto Rico has zero to do with race. Sadly for the residents of both places, and many others, accusing truth speakers of racism prevents our country from moving forward. Acknowledging the problem is the first step to recovery.

Democrat Party has moved all the way to the left

It certainly looks like the Democrat Party has moved all the way to the left. Watching Nancy Pelosi's recent news conference, even with her bold words and apparent confidence, you were witnessing a woman caving to extremists to hold on to her power. She actually verbalized that the Democrats have a progressive agenda. Pelosi also seemed to change her stance on impeachment. Only time will tell how the Democrat voters feel about the policies and positions of "The Squad" because it becomes clearer each day that they are driving the party's platform. As for Republicans, this knowledge should scare you and motivate you to get involved. It is unlikely that the majority of voters, on either side of the aisle, want the policy of our country to be driven by inexperienced congresspersons with views that are not in line with most Americans. How did the squad come to hold their power? You can thank the media which hangs on every word, gives them nearly unlimited air time, and talks about them endlessly. Ask yourself, what have these 4 women accomplished beyond self promotion and rabble rousing? Ask yourself will Nancy Pelosi be serving her caucus members by acquiescing to "The Squad"? Ask yourself, what is on the horizon from these 4 women? Embolden, they will probably push the socialist agenda even further, and further, and further. Is that what we have worked and fought for over the last 220 years?

The media strikes again

The media strikes again. Why are we calling the 4 freshmen, female Congress people a "squad"? Why not "gang" or "clique" or "alliance" or any number of other descriptive words? Because "squad" sounds good, benevolent, helpful, like police or firefighters, right? Those are squads. The 4 rabble rousing, ill informed, spotlight seeking, mean girl group is certainly not a squad. We need to stop allowing other voices to define what things are called because they will always try to influence our perceptions.

Donald Trump: America’s first wartime (Culture War) president

Trump’s lack of decorum, dignity and statesmanship: I don’t care. I can’t do without this President. He fights for America. My Leftist friends (as well as many ardent #NeverTrumpers) constantly ask me if I’m not bothered by Donald Trump’s lack of decorum. They ask if I don’t think his tweets are “beneath the dignity of the office.” Here’s my answer.

Trump offers Palestinian Authority $50 Billion Dollar Deal.

President Trump, working through peace-plan architect Jared Kushner, has just announced a key element of the long-awaited ‘Deal of the Century’. It consists of $50 BILLION dollars in economic aid to the Palestinian Authority (PA) as an integral component of a peace plan with Israel. And what was the Palestinian response? Absolute rejection. But why?

Girls and women are being robbed of the rewards of their labor

While women are protesting any attempts to protect unborn babies, unwanted attention by men, unequal pay and more, they are largely silent on a trend that could decimate women's sports. That trend is the inclusion into sporting events the transgendered or transgendering male. Born a male with greater muscle mass, physical size and testosterone levels, these "girls" are sweeping the competitions in which they participate. They are depriving girls, who have worked very hard to reach the top of their sport, of their rightful rewards. Recognition of women's sports has been slow and painful. Poorly funded in high schools and less recognized in sports coverage, every advance has been hard won. I wonder how long women will remain silent on the subject before they start pushing back? We need to be compassionate regarding the struggles of the transgendered community. We do not have to allow them to walk all over the rights of girls and women. This is yet another area of our society where a lot of hard work will be needed to figure out an answer. Meanwhile, girls and women are being robbed of the rewards of their labor.

The fallacy of the Bernie Sanders agenda

The fallacy of the Bernie Sanders agenda is his lack of understanding of our government and of human nature. Our government has become so bloated, self serving and dysfunctional that even the smallest and most logical actions are difficult or impossible. In Bernie's world, the welfare of all the people is primary. It would be hard to name any action taken in recent years that was made based on the welfare of all the citizens rather than on the protection of the status quo and government jobs. Human nature is such that some are ambitious, some lazy. Some people are fair and some selfish. Some people are loving, some hateful. Some people are greedy and some generous. How does Bernie think things can work out? Ultimately, those in power within the government will be receiving the benefits and the people will suffer. It is foolhardy to think it can be otherwise. As Winston Churchill once said, “The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings. The inherent virtue of Socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.” In a perfect world, Bernie might be on to something. In the real world he is essentially peddling snake oil, it sounds good but it doesn't work.

Immigration crisis in America

Let's say you want to remove a visitor who has overstayed his or her welcome in your home, how would you approach the situation? Assume for the sake of argument this is a family down on its luck with young children and that you live on a limited income. First, a few gentle hints. Then, perhaps, a frank discussion. If that yielded no result, you probably would seek the help of law enforcement. But what if they refused to help? What options would you have? You could turn off water, electric, refuse to buy food but if reasonable negotiations failed, would you resort to force? The situation described above is exactly what we face as a nation. The trouble is that the vast majority of individuals are not personally, directly impacted by the immigration crisis. We are physically removed and emotionally manipulated to believe the liberal talking points. There is no mistaking the fact that what we are tolerating as a country is only due to the lack of enforcement of existing laws and Congressional gridlock. And most Americans are blissfully unaware of the truth about the situation thanks to selective reporting by the media. What a shame that a childish grudge is doing irreparable damage to our great country.

In the abortion debate, all the "rights" are given to the woman and none are given to the child

In the abortion debate, all the "rights" are given to the woman and none are given to the child. The only thing that can be gleaned from this fact is that an unborn child is not a human being. If it was considered a living human, abortion would be considered what it is, murder. Isn't it hypocritical to charge the murderer of a pregnant mother as a double homicide? I guess you can have it both ways. Pro choice advocates talk about a woman's right to choose. Nobody will state the obvious, a woman does have a right to choose. She can choose to prevent the pregnancy (except in the cases of rape or incest). The need for most abortions stems from the lack of personal responsibility. Part of being a woman, like it or not, is that you can conceive, carry and give birth to another human being. Yes, another human being. So your choice to have an abortion deprives that other person of their future choices. It is good to bring this issue to the public forum. Now may be the time to make some changes to Roe v. Wade and to decide when a fetus becomes a person. Roe v Wade was born of a sexual revolution and it is questionable if it was designed or intended to go to the extremes we see today.

People are so interesting and predictable

People are so interesting and predictable. Florida Governor DeSantis and the people of Florida, south Florida especially, are in a twist over illegal immigrants possibly being sent to their neck of the woods. Now would be a good time, better late than never, to contact Marco Rubio and give him an ear full. Remember, that after previously supporting the wall, in March he voted against the emergency declaration on the southern border. This is the only result that we could have when we are invaded and our government refuses to stop the invasion and refuses to return the people to their own country. This is on Congress 100%. What the heck did we expect? Time will tell the full story. Will gang and criminal activity rise? Will social services be overwhelmed? Will school districts have additional burdens? Will diseases thought eradicated start showing up? And, will we ever know? Do you trust that those details will be reported? If there had been truthful coverage on the border all along, Americans would have anticipated this and probably would have been speaking out.

We are in a trade war with China. Why?

We are in a trade war with China. Why? Because for years and years we allowed the Chinese to have an advantage over this country and its businesses. We never called them out for cheating. President Trump inherited many poorly negotiated or outdated deals and is trying to fix them. China isn't happy, it rather liked the status quo. It seems that most experts feel Trump should stay the course. Interestingly, China has stated that the Chinese people are prepared to make the necessary sacrifices. I wonder if the American people have the same ability to make short term sacrifices for long term gains. Sadly, I have no confidence that they do. I expect the first time the price of eggs inches upward there will be liberal commentators and members of the public who will wring their hands and blame the President rather than standing behind him. It's a good thing they live in 2019 because they couldn't have dealt with the rationing of WWII.

$180 million are earmarked for Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador

$180 million United States dollars are earmarked in FY 2019 for humanitarian aid and economic development for Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. Yet, hordes of people from those same countries are allegedly fleeing poverty and crime. A CBS's 60 Minutes report says that coyotes are paid around $9,000 for every man, woman and child brought into our country. How does a family of 4, fleeing poverty, come up with $36,000 to get safe passage? It just doesn't add up. Someone is financing those migrants. Who? Why? Both are questions that need answering. President Trump is 100% right, we need to stop aid to those countries until we are able to insure that it will be used as intended. It is painfully obvious that our money is not reaching the people in need. The bottom line is that our current strategy is not working. We send money to make their lives better and they still flood into our country.

Does anyone think that the CEO of a business would be fired if he or she improved the work place environment

Does anyone think that the CEO of a business would be fired if he or she improved the work place environment, raised the income level of the company, worked out better deals for selling their product, improved buildings and equipment and raised wages. Of course not. The CEO would get a raise and probably some shares of company stock. In the real world results matter. That CEO might get hired on his resume' but if he didn't perform as expected he'd be out the door. This is the world our President understands. We the people looked at his resume' and hired him for the job of President of the United States. So far we are pleased with his performance and prepared to offer him another 4 year contract. There are no other candidates with his credentials.

Prayers for Pro-Life MP Mark Warawa

This is the message sent out by Canada’s Pro-Life Mark Warawa: "My dear friends, I am very sick in the hospital and need your prayers for a miracle. You can see how yellow my skin is. The doctors believe I have pancreatic cancer. I have procedures tomorrow morning and some additional tests over the next few days to see if cancer has spread to other organs. If it is just in the pancreas, I will need surgery and 6 months of chemotherapy. If cancer has spread to other organs, there isn't anything medically to do and life could be short.

Netanyahu Razor-Thin Win Moves Israel Right

With 97% of the vote counted, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-of-center Likud party has sustained a razor-thin win, defeating Benny Gantz’s left-leaning Blue and White party, receiving 37 seats to Gantz’s 36, but the victory is actually much greater than it appears.

Showtime

The complexion of politics would be different if people applied logic, instead of emotion, when evaluating their differences. One case in point is the plight of unfortunates gathered in caravans, to crash our southern borders illegally, for a better life. The problem lies within their country of origin, not with our dilemma for securing our borders within archaic immigration laws. Using asylum as a means to enter the country is a scam and doesn't cut it.

Netanyahu Vows to Annex West Bank if Re-elected

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has just pledged to annex Jewish settlements in the West Bank if re-elected, which is essentially throwing red meat to his conservative base. With elections in Israel set for Tuesday, April 9, final polls show Benny Gantz running slightly ahead of Prime Minister Netanyahu. Will this last-minute policy shift be enough to put Bibi over the top? Let's consider 6 key questions with my some quick answers: