Religion, Politics, and Culture: Explained and Defined
While browsing television options in an Idaho hotel last week, I ran across this juxtaposition of programming.
Yep, the Crave channel is offering More Sex, Less Stress followed by Boy Scouts: The Sex Abuse Coverup.
Gee, what’s next Bill Clinton: the Monica Years followed by Jeffrey Epstein’s Weekend Getaway? No wonder people in our society are so confused about morality.
BY Chief
Disney Corporation sports subsidiary ESPN made headlines again for all the wrong reasons earlier this week. ESPN has a blog on its website called “The Undefeated.” It’s for blacks, by blacks, about race topics etc. Honestly, I do not have a huge issue with it, even though some of the writers like Malcolm Metcalf have an obvious racial bias against white people. It is usually off to the side of the website, and never really made a focal point. However, controversy has been stirred up and it’s a doozy.
The Undefeated was going to air a race focused special called “Time for a change, we won’t be defeated.” The special would feature ESPN personalities, Jay Harris, Michael Eves, Maria Taylor, and Elle Duncan. Suspiciously missing from the list is Sage Steele. I say suspicious because she hosts the flagship show “SportsCenter” during prime time and is one of their more visible hosts. Steele was upset, and understandably so. Here are some snippets from the Wall Street Journal article about her expressing her disappointment.
ESPN anchor Sage Steele has told management she believes she was excluded from a special the network aired on race last month because she wasn’t considered by certain Black colleagues to be an authentic voice for the Black community, a person familiar with the matter said.
Ms. Steele, one of the network’s most prominent on-air personalities, voiced her concerns to ESPN President Jimmy Pitaro in early June, saying the incident showed the network has a divisive work environment, the person said.
Ms. Steele said colleagues told her she was considered for the special by the executive in charge, Michael Fountain, until two of the other on-air personalities involved, Elle Duncan and Michael Eaves, complained, saying Ms. Steele wouldn’t be accepted by what they considered the Black community, according to the person familiar with her account to management.
Sage Steele claims she was excluded from ESPN race special thanks to colleagues complaints
So, let me, as a middle age white man ask, how is someone not an authentic voice for the black community? In addition, how is a black person, Steele as shown in the photo is black, not accepted by her own community? Well Steele answered that question for me, she burns “The Mouse” pretty badly with her response….
“I found it sad for all of us that any human being should be allowed to define someone’s ‘Blackness.’ Growing up biracial in America with a Black father and a white mother, I have felt the inequities that many, if not all Black and biracial people have felt—being called a monkey, the ‘n’ word, having ape sounds made as I walked by—words and actions that all of us know sting forever. Most importantly, trying to define who is and isn’t Black enough goes against everything we are fighting for in this country, and only creates more of a divide.”
Well as an outsider looking in, no shock there, you cannot be black in this country unless both parents are black, live in the hood, don’t have a good job, and are on some form of assistance. Actually, I would have enjoyed hearing her perspective, she also has interviewed scores of athletes over the years and I’m sure her rolodex of contacts are huge. Seems like a no brainer to me.
Well the truth is ESPN brass doesn’t like Steele for her political opinions, she has said she doesn’t feel comfortable speaking about BLM, she spoke out against folks not standing for the national anthem, and made waves for tweeting her disappointment about protestors blocking airports due to Trump’s anti-immigration order. While she doesn’t come off as political, if you don’t tow the party line, you are part of the problem.
In that regard, Eves and Duncan are perfect, just like Joe Biden, neither have any beliefs; instead, they just parrot what is put in front of them on the teleprompter. In speaking to a couple of cable watching friends of mine, all of them said Eaves is an empty suit who really has no role at ESPN, and Duncan is pretty much useless. The ratings they draw likely are composed of mostly of drunks who pass out with their TV left on.
My main question is how come Disney gets a pass time and time again? No one is writing about this, only small anecdotes here and there. Which is funny because with today’s cancel culture, how come their founder gets a pass? He was a devoted racist even putting his views in black and white and technicolor! Disney is in deep trouble financially. I am sure their theme parks will finally re-open someday. Meanwhile, they get to host the NBA games later this month.
Sage Steele, if I was you, Fox has a growing sports network called FS1 they could use someone like yourself. Leave the mouse.
The Chief
There will be a lot to unpack in this article, but I want to highlight a few key issues as to why race relations will never get better here. I ask you set aside any preconceived notions and put aside your bias and take this in before jumping to a conclusion. It actually is painful to write this because race relations actually got a lot better up until Barack Obama took office in 2008. It can actually be argued he set us back several generations.
This kind of cuts both ways, the Rodney King incident, as well as the war on drugs has put scores of minorities (black, Hispanic, Asian etc.) in jail for crimes some could argue are petty in today’s world. The Rodney King incident caused the black community as a whole to no longer trust police; and as a result they mostly do not cooperate, and in some cases even shield perpetrators from justice.
As a result police look skeptically on young black men, and in some neighborhoods police even refuse to patrol out of fear for their own safety. Bottom line, the bias cuts both ways. When JJ Clavo was murdered in Del Paso Heights, the community did not help assist in finding the murderer, and the same holds true when a young/old white man in Folsom or Granite Bay goes on a crime spree and is not shot…there will always be a bias. But neither community is helping the matter
Think Sharpton, Jackson Jr., Marcos Breton, and Benjamin Crump (the prominent civil rights lawyer) these guys decide to take a narrative they think fits the crime and run with it, and worse yet some in the media are more than happy to run with it. Examples include; hands up, don’t shoot! He was reaching for his wallet…not a gun. You can add Barack Obama too this as well saying, “If I had a son he would look like Trayvon Martin!” This did nothing but fan the flames and like anything else in this country, the partisans took sides and a screaming match ensued. Members of Congress even took to the dais and spoke about how the deceased or the police were 100% in the right and if you viewed it any other way you were a racist, or you hated the police!
In Florida, Trayvon Martin is viewed as a martyr. He attacked a night watchmen and ultimately paid with his own life. Regardless of what human piece of waste George Zimmerman (the watchman) did, we should not be honoring this kid. Michael Brown in Ferguson is getting a statue in his name and he is being compared to Martin Luther King Jr. Are you kidding me! This kid was hocked up on drugs and tried to steal a police officer’s service weapon to kill him. This guy is no civil rights icon and frankly he got what he deserved. Eric Garner in New York, he of “I can’t breathe fame.” He was a known criminal with a very long rap sheet to boot, including major drug usage. I will add, I think the police went too far, but at the same time when you have a record and a history, police treat you far different than someone with no record…check the stats. Stephon Clark in Sacramento? He had every drug in his body and quite a sum of alcohol, and now they are talking about naming a library after him? Huh?
In the cases of Martin, Brown, and Clark; those who defended them wanted to make sure their criminal histories, drug/alcohol abuse, and personal life info were not allowed anywhere near the trial, as to not cloud the judge/juries minds. However in the case of Amber Guyger (white police officer who entered wrong apartment and shot a black man), the prosecutor wanted all her texts/love life/history, everything you could think of included because…well somehow this was different. I guess justice for all, unless we wish to tip the scales!
From the first minute, they made this into a racial crime, white police officer killing an unarmed black man, and in a sense it was true. Black Lives Matter did their usual, essentially portraying all white people as police sympathizers. Guyger, in the eyes of this young, white, male, made a major mistake that night. While I believe her testimony was a large steaming pile of crap, I feel bad for her in certain ways. First, her life is over. She, like the police officers in the other shootings, will be remembered as such for the remainder of her life. God may forgive but people do not.
Second, those clapping, whooping & hollering, and rejoicing after the guilty verdict should be ashamed. It is a courtroom not a local tavern or bar. Just remember, while Guyger may have been found guilty, her family was in attendance. Imagine the officers acting as such after being cleared of wrong doing??? Then BLM shouted and took to the streets after the sentencing phase the following day…there you go again, when you don’t get your way act out! While I will admit a sentence of 10 years, likely only being 5 years served seems a little light, just remember that the victim’s brother said he didn’t want the officer to go to jail. Also, a known police officer in prison has a target on their back for the duration of the prison stay. Lastly, this is Texas, where you are also sentenced by the jury, as opposed to a judge…most people do not want to send a peer away for a long time, especially someone with no criminal record.
I have mixed feelings about a lot of this as many of you probably do too. The optics of the bailiff stroking Guyger’s hair and comforting her do not look great; as anyone who wasn’t law enforcement would be getting handcuffed at this point. I have zero issue with the victim’s brother hugging Guyger, and the two of them showing raw emotion, actually this could have been a healing moment.
I also didn’t care for the judge (Mrs. Kemp) hugging the defendant either. In this case, I do sympathize with the victim’s family. They lost a loved one and what happens? A police officer is convicted of murder, gets a light sentence, and a hug from the judge?
I don’t think many defendants have ever gotten so lucky. I have no issue with the judge giving Guyger a copy of the Holy Bible, actually in most of these cases, I believe the defendant should read the good book in hopes they can turn their life around and be a change agent. Fear not, a group has already filed a complaint about this judge for her actions regarding the Bible. Glad to see the atheists and agnostics decide to weigh in, and now the judge will face a commission investigating her actions. Were this in California, the judge would get a harsher sentence than the defendant.
Race in this country will continue to divide us, even long after all of us, the living are dead. To be very clear, America has a very rough history in regards to slavery and rights of others, but it is the year of our Lord 2019 and we are moving in the wrong direction. It will take leadership from all sides and making adults act like they have an IQ above that of a piece of lunch meat. I would like to see a citizen review commission created in place of the current internal affairs model that the police currently use. My reasoning is simple, “policing your own” pardon the pun will always be looked at through jaundiced eyes. Next we need so called “journalists” to quite the sensationalism. You are stoking the flames of hate and causing an unnecessary uprising. This goes for political types as well. So called leaders of the black community should focus on getting their people out of poverty and more importantly focus on the future. However none of this will happen. We no longer believe in the rule of law, instead we only believe in selective information that we deem to be factual. You have your “facts” and I have mine. You can look at any of the above examples and fallacies exist in every one….stoked by a media and partisans looking to push an agenda. Rather than trying to punish a white police officer, maybe take a page from the Jean family playbook, forgive and allow someone to move on? Except that is not in our DNA anymore. Everything now is “gotcha” and punishing one to atone for the sins of the whole. The charlatans such as Breton need to find real work and quit stirring up the natives. Also we need to be very wary of the prophet seeking profits (Sharpton, Jackson and Crump.) Race relations will never get better in this country until we try to move forward, and as I tell people, we must get into a car with a gas pedal, no brake pads, and no mirrors, the past is the past. Leave it there. We can never apologize enough, and frankly reparations are not a means to an end, just a temporary band aid.
Sadly Botham Jean was killed by mistake, and he will never come back to this earth, and Amber Guyger will go away to prison and will never be the same, as she will always be connected to this tragedy. Additionally how sad that we as a country used Botham Jean, Amber Guyger, and the judge as puppets in a sick, twisted game to litigate race relations.
Sound off in the comments!
Chief
Photo: Auburn, CA 10-09-2019 credit Sacramento Bee
For those of us in the shadow of the State Capitol, it’s just another day. However, if you live elsewhere in the State, things are anything but normal.
A PG&E employee was driving a truck Tuesday evening in Northern California’s Colusa County – before the electricity cutoffs – when a bullet shattered one of the vehicle’s windows, the California Highway Patrol told The Associated Press. The driver was not hurt, according to the AP.
CHP is investigating the incident, which occurred north of the town of Maxwell as the staffer headed southbound on Interstate 5, according to authorities. A white pickup may have pulled up beside the PG&E truck before the shooting, CHP Officer J. Sherwood told the San Francisco Chronicle.
PG&E pleads for employee safety amid outage; police report gunfire at vehicle
More than a million people in California were without electricity Wednesday as the state’s largest utility pulled the plug to prevent a repeat of the past two years when windblown power lines sparked deadly wildfires that destroyed thousands of homes.
The unpopular move that disrupted daily life — prompted by forecasts calling for dry, gusty weather — came after catastrophic fires sent Pacific Gas & Electric Co. into bankruptcy and forced it to take more aggressive steps to prevent blazes.Lights out: Power cut in California to prevent deadly fires
The drastic measure caused long lines at supermarkets and hardware stores as people rushed to buy ice, coolers, flashlights and batteries across a swath of Northern California. Cars backed up at traffic lights that had gone dark. Schools and universities canceled classes. And many businesses closed.
Why have forest management when you can just pull the plug at random?
“I wish we weren’t in a situation where, in maybe one of the wealthiest jurisdictions in the world, we are turning power off to large swaths of the population every few weeks,” said Michael Wara, director of the Climate and Energy Policy program at Stanford University. “But it is better than what we’ve been through, and I very much hope that we get through this fire season without a repeat of 2017 or 2018.”
PG&E declared bankruptcy in January, in part because of potential liabilities from its role in some of the 2017 northern California fires and the 2018 Camp fire that killed a total of 129 people and destroyed tens of thousands of homes.
“Is it a huge inconvenience? Yes. Is it going to be dangerous? Yes,” Wara said. “There are lots of risks on the other side. Someone could die because they have a medical device.
PG&E should have been maintaining and updating its infrastructure before the crisis reached this point, said Mindy Spatt, a spokeswoman for the Utility Reform Network.
“PG&E should be held to higher standards than this,” she said. “No one wants to see another fire like the fires we’ve seen in the past, but we have to remember that the problem that these shutoffs are hopefully going to address are PG&E’s negligence and incompetence, and PG&E’s propensity to ignite fires.”
Now PG&E customers must bear the burden of navigating possibly days without power, with businesses losing money and people in possibly unsafe situations, Spatt said.Record power shutoffs in California are set to become the new normal
“Consumers would rather have their power shut off than have their homes and businesses burnt down, but they would also rather have a utility that didn’t start fires,” Spatt said.
The shutoffs are part of its wildfire mitigation plan, mandated by the state and agreed to by the California Public Utilities Commission, the state’s top power regulator. — Kevin Stark
Why Is This Happening? Answers to Your Questions on the PG&E Shutdown
Folks, when you live in a socialist state, you get socialist utilities too. We keep being told the lie by the ruling class that wind and solar are the way to energy independence so what happens on a sunny, windy day—conditions that we are told are best for energy production—why we cut the power off to people in the state’s flyover country.
But elites take care of their own. Tesla is prominently mentioned in two articles that I saw about the scheduled blackouts yesterday.
One article mentioned that the scheduled outages stopped just short of Tesla’s production facility in the San Jose area and the other was to juice-up before the lights go out.
The electric automaker issued a preemptive over-the-air advisory overnight to many vehicle owners, telling them to charge up ahead of the planned outages, which utility Pacific Gas & Electric began rolling out Wednesday to try to lessen the risk of wildfires.
California’s power outage means problems for electric cars. Tesla says charge up, quick.
“A utility company in your area announced they may turn off power in some areas of Northern California beginning October 9 as part of public safety power shut-offs, which may affect power to charging options,” the message read, according to social media posts. “We recommend charging your Tesla to 100% today to ensure your drive remains uninterrupted.”
So what ever happened to Elon’s promise that his cars could be charged as they were driven by solar cells built into the car? Actually, Toyota was promising something similar a few years ago but I digress…
I still haven’t heard whether Oakland participated in the lights out festivities.
All of this bowing to the environmentalists goes back to the oil spill in Santa Barbara back in 1969. Up until that happened, nobody cared about the environmentalists. From that point forward, they increasingly gained access to influence public policy in California. Now nobody dares to act without their blessing.
Environmentalists purposely destroyed the logging industry in California and now we have tens of millions of dead and dying trees in our forests and nobody to cut them down. This is why we have decades of fuel gathering on the forest floor.
While PG&E did spark some fires, many in our State are the result of arson and nobody has been arrested for most of the manmade forest fires.
Any way you slice it, government failure is to blame for the current mess.
Back in the 1960’s, the Beach Boys admonished us to be true to your school. As a youth, I thought this song was about cheering for the football team and supporting your community. Boy was I wrong.
It turns out to be much more serious than that. If you thought being true to your school is what I thought, don’t go to Wisconsin. Such a casual view of school can get you thrown in jail. Say the wrong thing and you’re in legal jeopardy. No, really.
Anyone who delivers a speech at an event hosted by the school district in Appleton, Wisconsin, must submit the speech in advance and then swear under oath they will not deviate from the script. And that includes students.
“The opportunity to speak at a school event is a privilege, not a right,” the Appleton Area School District wrote in a statement.
The new guidelines require all speakers, including students, to submit their entire speech in writing two weeks in advance of delivery.
Speakers are also not permitted to wear “jewelry, clothing or accessories that reasonably could be understood to communicate a message to the audience when the speech is given.”
But the swearing of an oath is perhaps the most disturbing part of Appleton’s crackdown on free speech.
“Speakers that submit proposed speeches shall be required to certify that they will deliver the speech as written, except for minor and immaterial variances from the text of their proposal,” the district wrote. “Certification shall be in writing and shall be sworn under oath.”
The oath must be signed by student and adult speakers and must be witnessed and sealed by a notary.
Christian Crackdown? Students Must Submit Speeches, Swear Oath to School
The oath states, among other things, “that I am affirming the statements to be true and correct under penalty of law.”
Lest you had any doubts about this draconian policy…
Their new policies and procedures are meant to silence people of faith – specifically Christians.
Why did the district do this?
The new regulations were implemented after a Christian school-board member invoked the name of Jesus Christ during a graduation ceremony last June.
Oh how terrible. And worst yet, this school board member had the gall adlib his prepared remarks by deviating from the script. He “told students to ‘never succumb to the pressure of being politically correct’”. “He also changed the district’s prepared statement of ‘best wishes’ to ‘God bless.’”
The article ends with this controversial endorsement of the US Constitution and the First Amendment.
Every freedom-loving American should be appalled by the actions of the Appleton Area School District.
Heaven forbid the day comes when an American teenager or a pastor is dragged off the stage by security forces simply for uttering the name of Jesus Christ at a graduation ceremony.
To which I can only add a hearty and appropriate, “AMEN.”
Original article can be found here.
Two stories caught my attention today that are different but related. The common thread is the decline of our country due to departing from the principles of our founding. The first story is from Fox News and I do take issue with the author, as I hope to explain below, and the other is thought provoking.
Fox News is running a commentary piece today titled Judge Andrew Napolitano: Trump violates Constitution – Spends unappropriated funds, raises taxes on own
That question has been asked lately with respect to President Trump’s planned use of federal funds to construct 175 miles of sporadic barriers along portions of the nearly 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico common border.
After Congress expressly declined to give him that money, Trump signed into law – rather than vetoed – the legislation that denied him the funds he sought and then spent the money anyway.
The question regarding presidential power has also been asked with respect to Trump’s imposition of sales taxes – Trump calls them tariffs — on nearly all goods imported into the United States from China. These are taxes that only Congress can constitutionally authorize.
And the question of presidential power has been asked in connection with the presidentially ordered mistreatment of families seeking asylum in the United States by separating parents from children – in defiance of a court order.
This question of presidential power is not an academic one. Nor is it a question unique to the Trump presidency, as it has risen numerous times before Trump entered office. But the audacious manner of Trump’s employment of presidential powers has brought it to public scrutiny.
The Judge also goes on to mention the War Powers Act and other powers ceded to the President by Congress.
In principle, I agree with the Judge’s concerns. However, as the Judge also points out in his article, the government has been cut loose from its Constitutional moorings for about the last hundred years. We have flipped the Constitution from a national government of enumerated powers (government allowed to do only those things specifically mentioned in the Constitution) to one of virtually unlimited power where only those things specifically forbidden by the Constitution are not allowed.
The Judge also points out that “power abhors a vacuum” and “I have written before that the Republicans who rejoice in this will weep over it when a Democrat is in the White House.”
To which I respond, “Hey Judge, why in the heck do you think we hated eight years of Obama so much? He was using Executive Orders and government regulations for all sorts of illegal and immoral things.”
What I hope Trump will do is undo Obama’s Executive Orders—which he has been doing—and then, unlike Obama, get the Congress to codify his actions into law to put them beyond the ability of another President to undo by Executive Orders. Hence my hope for Trump’s reelection and Republicans to take back the House in 2020.
Folks, I hate the idea of Executive Orders, continuing budget resolutions, and judicial legislation. We have a severe case of all three because Congress will not do their Constitutional duty.
Frankly, I would be OK with Congress rescinding some of the extra Constitutional powers of the President, but only if they are will to do their job. Truthfully, I don’t have any confidence in either Party being willing to truly govern.
I think we are rapidly moving to rule by either an aristocracy or dictatorship. The viability of the two party system is coming to an end. Again, I assert that Trump will likely be the last Republican President ever. The Democrats have put their thumbs on the electoral scales to such an extent that a Republican winning a national election will be mathematically impossible any more. The Republican Party has run its course and will never be an effective political force in American history once Trump leaves office.
This brings me to the second article today, Fall of Rome: Are there lessons we can learn?
The story slug line sums it up “Bill Federer recounts eerie similarities between ancient city, modern America.”
Federer takes a survey of reasons that the Roman Empire fell and it sounds eerily like today’s news.
The article dedicates several paragraphs to each of the following topics:
The article is long but for those that care, this is an ominous warning of what lies ahead. I implore you to read it in its entirety.
Judge Napolitano raises three points to whack Trump: the border wall, tariffs, and immigration. I wish to respond briefly to all three.
Every elected official and military member in our country takes an oath that states in part “… I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic…” The core question is what do you do when your country is being invaded, your laws are being ignored and/or not enforced, and Congress refuses to do their job? The Judge rightly states “power abhors a vacuum” so if you are Commander and Chief, what do you do? Congress and the Judge would have Trump do nothing. Trump was elected on the promise to fix the problem and Congress won’t act because they want to deny Trump a political victory. Congress has chosen to break their oath for short-term partisan political reasons. Trump is acting because he feels that he needs to defend the country.
Tariffs used to be the backbone of funding the national government. It was the primary method of taxation that the founders wanted the national government to use. Once again the Judge is correct that tax policy should be set by Congress. However, there is another factor in the tariff controversy; namely, the defense of the country, which brings us back to the oath of office again. Congress has failed to protect our country from being at the mercy of other nations. This brings me back to the article from Federer.
Rome’s economy stagnated from a large trade deficit, as grain production was outsourced to North Africa.
Gerald Simons wrote in “Great Ages of Man – Barbarian Europe” (NY: Time-Life Books, 1968, p. 39): “As conquerors of North Africa, the Vandals cut off the Empire’s grain supply at will. This created critical food shortages, which in turn curtailed Roman counterattacks.”
For “grain” in the above quote, try substituting “manufacturing–including that required for national defense” and use “China” in place of “North Africa”. Here’s my rewrite:
America’s economy stagnated from a large trade deficit, as manufacturing–including that required for national defense–was outsourced to China.
“The Chinese could cut off America’s source of manufactured goods at will. This creates the potential for critical shortages, which in turn would curtail American’s response.”
Of all powers in the world, China is the largest nation that we potentially could go to war with, so how does it make sense to be wholly dependent on them for our way of life? Both Congress and previous Administrations have been OK with this dependence on foreign powers for our manufacturing and military technology. Without technology manufactured by both Russia and China, our military cannot operate. Without these two nations we have no Internet, communications, missiles, ships, tanks, guns, aircraft, absolutely nothing. We produce nothing and consume everything. This situation is nuts.
Trump is trying to loosen the grip of China on our economy and national defense. Again, Congress is not keeping their oath of office and refusing to act in the best interest of our country. Once again, Congress offers no leadership on this issue.
The statement by the Judge is just an outright lie. The Judge stated, “…the presidentially ordered mistreatment of families seeking asylum in the United States by separating parents from children – in defiance of a court order.”
Sorry Judge but the people in the detention facilities entered the country illegally. They could have filed for asylum in the United States without illegally entering our country. Those that enter by the front door don’t end-up in these places.
Second, no President purposely “orders the mistreatment of families”. Obama reversed the kids in cages thing that you knuckleheads keep wanting to crucify Trump for.
Oh, and a judge ordered it. So what? It’s not the judge’s job to make immigration policy or to enforce it. Many people crossing illegally are doing so with children not their own. That’s the problem with folks hopping the fence. You need to retroactively sort the bad apples from the harmless ones. Not everyone under 18 years of age is a saint, MS-13 anyone? Some adults have criminal histories and if they enter with children they will be separated. If they don’t like it then stay home.
This whole narrative is a bunch of crap. I won’t say it never, ever happened, but we are a good people and it’s not our practice to harm others—unless they’re unborn.
We all agree that the immigration system is broken, but again, Congress has failed to put forward a solution to fix it. Both Republicans and Democrats have simultaneously held the Presidency, House, and Senate and failed to pass a bill, thus in my mind, both parties are without excuse. Bottom line is some people would rather have the issue to campaign on than fix it. If you don’t like what Trump is doing—and like it or not, he’s the only one who is acting—then tell Congress to do their job and keep their oath of office.
I keep telling people that the Democrats are squandering their best chance to get things done that would be good for the country. Trump is willing to work with them but they are not. Whatever history says about Trump, it will not be singing the praises of Congress.
To close with another quote from Federer that sounds eerily like today:
The Roman emperor usurped so much power, that the Roman Senate, instead of ruling Rome and defending the rights of the people, existed only to maintain their own positions. Common people were discourage from getting involved in politics.
The Durants wrote in “The Lessons of History” (p. 92): “The educated and skilled pursued business and financial success to the neglect of their involvement in politics.”
In their never ending pursuit to identify another class of victims, the Democrat Party has decided to embrace those that reject God. While most of us had thought they did this decades ago, they formalized the arrangement earlier this week by passing a resolution to be welcoming and inclusive of those unwilling to bend their knee in worship of their Creator.
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) passed a resolution Saturday praising the values of “religiously unaffiliated” Americans as the “largest religious group within the Democratic Party.”
The resolution, which was unanimously passed at the DNC’s summer meeting on Aug. 24 in San Francisco, Calif., was championed by the Secular Coalition of America, an organization that lobbies on behalf of atheists, agnostics, and humanists on public policy. The group celebrated the DNC’s move as the first time a major party “embraced American nonbelievers.”
“Religiously unaffiliated Americans overwhelmingly share the Democratic Party’s values,” said the resolution…
The move comes as Democratic presidential candidates have ramped up their religious rhetoric on the campaign trail, but the party announced it is targeting “nonreligious voters” to try to beat President Trump, who solidified the evangelical vote in 2016.
Political pundits have pointed out Democrats’ so-called God problem in the past and their efforts to solve it.
Democratic Party embraces nonreligious voters, criticizes ‘religious liberty’ in new resolution
In 2012, the last election Democrats won, a headline from the convention read: “Democrats boo God.” In 2016, attendees heckled a preacher during the opening prayer. And on Saturday, Democrats took a shot at believers who use “religious liberty” to threaten the civil rights of LGBTQ Americans.
Below is the resolution in its entirety.
After passage, the Secular Coalition of America issued the following press release.
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) this past Saturday embraced American nonbelievers for the first time, adopting a resolution that recognizes their contributions to society and to the Democratic Party.
This move by the DNC, which was unanimous absent one abstention, demonstrates that they are living up to the big-tent inclusive values they regularly espouse, though it also shows they recognize the value of courting the largest, fastest growing religious demographic in the nation. It was first passed in the DNC’s Resolutions Committee on Thursday.Democratic Party embraces nonreligious voters at annual summer meeting
At nearly one quarter of the total U.S. population, nonreligious Americans—one third of which are Democrats and nearly half of which are independent—will represent a sizeable voting bloc in the upcoming election. This resolution marks the first time a major U.S. political party has specifically courted religiously unaffiliated people across the nation.
Let’s breakdown the math in the last paragraph.
25 percent of the US population is classed as “Unaffiliated.”
6. Atheists and agnostics account for a minority of all religiously unaffiliated.
America’s Changing Religious Identity
Most are secular. Atheists and agnostics account for only about one-quarter (27%) of all religiously unaffiliated Americans. Nearly six in ten (58%) religiously unaffiliated Americans identify as secular, someone who is not religious; 16% of religiously unaffiliated Americans nonetheless report that they identify as a “religious person.”
So, a quarter of a quarter of the US population is atheist, agnostic, pagan, secular, or whatever you want to call it. In real math, that means about 6.25 percent of the nation falls into this bucket.
Given the bombardment of secularism and evolution in our culture, I’m surprised the number is that low.
As always, Democrats don’t care what you believe—or don’t—as long as your first allegiance is to the All Powerful State.
By Chief
I was treated to a special on Fox News while at the local gym the other night. It was a series of reports from Los Angeles, Portland, San Francisco, and Seattle regarding the homeless issue. (Click on City name to view the video.) It was cringe worthy at best and flat out gross at worst. They discussed a vermin epidemic in San Francisco, Typhus outbreak in Los Angeles, a public health crisis in Portland, and a dire situation in Seattle where businesses are closing shop.
By the way, typhus, as described by our Governor, is a “medieval disease…in California….in 2019.” Think about that. We view ourselves as a state on the “cutting edge” of both medicine and technology and we have an epidemic of Third World diseases in our largest population center that we are powerless to stop.
The special showed makeshift tent cities, homeless camps, and some very elaborate dwellings built from scraps of cardboard and pallets. These camps are almost like their own city or municipality; complete with stoves, buckets used as a latrine, some set ups had a living room and a kitchen. These are not your typical homeless camps from years ago. The program also featured the incredible rat and vermin issues…which spread to the business districts nearby due to the sheer size of these camps. Keep in mind that these camps aren’t under an overpass anymore…they are behind businesses, in alleys, fields, parks etc.…they cannot just be shooed-off.
The process for their removal works similar to an eviction notice for a landlord, a sign must be posted to allow them to remove their belongings, and usually they get 72 hours to do so. Only then can a crew come through and throw away the piles of trash and feces left behind.
The program spoke about how this is all the fault of liberals, feel good policies and good money spent to solve the problem. However, the Blog Father and I disagree somewhat; we will lay it out later.
So, what caused all this? Well its complicated, but it’s a mixture of quite a bit. While electeds will say job loss, those folks look pretty raggedy for recently losing a job. Some say foreclosure…that crisis happened a decade ago. Some say insufficient wages to cover rents, and in some cases that could be true, have you seen rents in the Bay Area lately? Even that argument doesn’t hold much water once you consider that the same cities infested with the homeless are also home to “good paying” tech companies that are buying up land in that same area.
It’s amazing. Every one of these political folks fall over one another to get on camera and promise they have a plan to fix the issue…it just takes XXX millions of dollars a year…and a new fee or tax hike will pay for it! Pay attention to the word I used…. “folks” not Democrats, because there were likely several Republicans who voted for these very policies or fees! That’s correct, only recently was the GOP driven out of the inner city entirely, and the holdouts voted for these policies because “they were needed at the time, we thought it was the answer, or I needed to vote that way to fund the budget.” Because of these holdouts, the GOP is unable to make the argument that the Democrats “own it.”
This concept never seems to motivate the GOP. We always have a handful of weak-kneed turncoats who vote with the other side to allow the solution to seem bipartisan. Additionally, you can always count on a right leaning group or two to throw their name behind it because… well if it works, we can say we were a part of the solution. As a result, when the plan fails, the Left–who basically run the city government–can claim it was a bipartisan error, and “we all got it wrong.”
I have never understood the point of this needless compromise. If you make the other side vote in its entirety for some program…and it fails…with no opposition party support, they cannot call it bipartisan. At that point, the opposition can then say that our plan could have worked but we never got the opportunity. However, come to think of it, my side never has a solution so that would be a moot point, my guys just love to just vote “No”, and say it ain’t so. “Repeal and replace Obamacare” is the posterchild for the fecklessness of Republicans. Sadly, this is the rule and not the exception.
This issue is one where the tide is turning without any contribution from the GOP. Republicans won’t be picking up any new voters from this crisis, but it’s fun to see some of the natives getting restless. A prominent moderate Democrat radio host in San Francisco said the Democrats have been an abject failure on the homeless issue. A local Sacramento small business owner lashed out, saying she was tired of finding her store broken into, vandalized, having to shoo away homeless people, throw away cups of urine, feces, or syringes. She is moving to Austin, Texas by the way. The problem is very bad in downtown Sacramento. I have seen it first-hand. Residents in Los Angeles County want to know how the 118 million in new taxes were spent to combat the homeless when the issue has gotten worse. You now have moderate Democrats, independents, and Republicans on the same side of an issue.
Problem is there is no solution. You see, homeless people actually have the most freedom of any group in the country. They can camp wherever they darn well please, be a nuisance, create tons of trash, and face no repercussions. Liberal judges have granted them incredible rights to do as they please. Go to a big city and see for yourself. The touristy areas may be somewhat homeless free, but any business district is sure to be crowded with them. Hypodermic needles, syringes, urine, feces etc. all are common as well, because someone else will clean it up. Furthermore, they face no criminal charges since the politicians/Democrat voters passed Prop 47 which decriminalized almost every type of theft a homeless person is capable of.
Worse yet, our society actually attracts people into homelessness. As noted above you can pretty much do anything you feel like and get away with it, or if you need healthcare/dental care/eye care, just get arrested and the taxpayers will cover it free. In addition, we have places that will give you a couple square meals day such as Loaves and Fishes, or the “rainbow” Methodist church near me who proudly shares; they offer free breakfast and lunch on weekends. Also, there is Elk Grove Food Bank and various other charities that provide food as well for them to stock-up on.
Homeless folks also get taxpayer money given to them with no strings. Yes, they get Social Security money each month just for being a 30-year-old drug addict. They get paid out of the part of Social Security call SSI (Supplemental Security Income).
We spend millions on cleaning up their camps and the trash that comes with it. We provide them free needles to continue their drug habit. All of this is being done under the guise of we are trying to help them. We even are building housing to house them. Keep in mind all this is free for homeless people or those who game the system. The only adverse thing about being homeless is every so often they come to clean up your mess and you have to vacate the area with all your belongings for a few hours.
You see the issue here is despite all these well-intentioned laws and mandates, they never addressed the biggest problem within the homeless community…drugs and alcohol abuse. You see if you are under the influence of any of these substances, you cannot enter into any housing designated for homeless people. Thus, condemning them to the streets. It’s a viscous cycle, and this is a big reason why the situation is not improving. We can spend all the millions we want, and it makes no difference, literally. Some people want to spend even more! I see political types and nonprofits get in front of the camera constantly and always are offering up a plan, and it involves ample amounts of government money to make it work.
The City of Sacramento has been trying to remodel the Old Hotel Berry for years to house the homeless. Last I checked, they were just going to tear it down and figure it out later. However, in the end the City decided to remodel the Old Hotel Berry for 24.5 million in taxpayer dollars. Each room is for single person and that comes out to about $240,000 per unit. Each of the 104 units is between 151 – 317 SF.
The truth is that most homeless people would rather live down by the American River as there as very few rules when you live in a tent city.
To fix the problem I recommend repealing Prop 47 and criminalizing low level misdemeanors again. This will land more homeless in jail upfront but over time, the problem gets better. In jail, homeless people will be provided for materially and mentally in a drug free environment. This is cheaper and more cost effective for both the community and the homeless people. Reforming the laws will make the police and business owners keep a closer eye on their neighborhoods and not be apathetic like they are today.
Ideas such as this one will infuriate Republicans, but the government should hire a cleaning crew similar to what BART did in the Bay Area. The crews do major deep cleaning, and after that they do a normal clean every week; “poof” the smells of feces and urine are gone, and trash removed! The homeless don’t typically congregate in areas where they will be shooed away, so the problem will deteriorate over time.
While it is not easy to accept a form of reality most are not accustomed to in America…some problems are not fixable. Some people do not wish to work, or live in housing, or play the by the rules of others (drugs and alcohol are all they care about). They do not want to clean up after themselves and this is all due to a problem we created. We have provided all these services for free. Cities like San Francisco have decided to try to “round up the homeless and force them in shelters” but the ACLU responded to the idea by announcing that they will provide free representation in court to the homeless. So, we all lose out.
Buckle in and fasten your chinstrap, this one is getting messy. This is what a full-on nanny state looks like, meals provided free, housing provided free, clean up services…free…. clean syringe…. free… government assistance… free…. outside groups willing to offer legal assistance… free. A lesson again, once you allow people a certain freedom or benefit good luck taking it away even if it’s for their own good.
The Chief
I’m surrounded by dead people; both physically and spiritually. At work or at home, I just can’t escape them.
I get emails, instant messages, and other assorted communications on my phone and computer from or about people that died years ago.
LinkedIn sends me reminders periodically from people whose funerals I have attended or have solid knowledge of their passing. Last week, I was asked to congratulate George on his 15th anniversary of his job, but George died about three years ago. I went to the service in Arizona.
Yesterday, I got an instant message from someone that died earlier this year. Although she likely supported Bill Clinton for President, I have no reason to believe that she is in Witness Protection. Again, I went to her funeral to pay my respects.
Every so often on Facebook, I get asked to congratulate people on their birthday and wish them well, again they died years ago so why is their account still active. My mother-in-law died five years ago but her Facebook page is still live.
With all the personal data the tech companies collect about their users, you’d think they could find a way to archive or retire the accounts of the dearly departed. Alas, there is no mechanism for doing this. Apparently, they need the deadwood (no pun intended) on their user rolls to get more advertising revenue. No social media website that I have seen, offers a way to report someone going to their reward.
At work it’s not much better. I get to send collection letters to people that I know for a fact are dead because the legal department won’t get off their backsides and write an opinion that it’s not worth our time to pursue the account. We have to do this because we need to check a box with the State Controller’s Office or they won’t let us write-off the money. Lastly, we never go after anyone’s spouse–even though this is a community property state–nor do we go after anyone’s estate. There’s more hope that the CRA can rebuild the Republican Party in California than there is that my lettering efforts will result in collecting a dime from the dead.
I’ve spent the last few days having a conversation with the spiritually dead and that has gone about as bad as can be expected. I offer evidence and he offers feelings. I feel like I’m whispering as I pass the graveyard. This guy’s worldview is so foreign that I have been unable to shift the discussion toward anything spiritual. I guess I’ll continue to pray for the poor fellow and continue to be friendly. In another post, I might get into the details of the conversation, I think there’s some valuable insights into how the other side views reality.
Sadly, I’m surrounded by dead people. Solomon wrote that the dead know nothing and I get to prove him right daily. At least the ones at work have some small chance of a spiritual quickening. I wish God would remove the cloud of spiritual darkness covering their eyes.
Back when he was first starting out, Rush Limbaugh used to joke that the perfect place to hold the Homeless Olympics would be in Rio Linda, California. Rio Linda was often described as a place with cars on blocks in the front yard, random televisions and shopping carts strewn about, along with other assorted debris. In short, the place was a mess. Rush wanted the people there to clear the place up and take some pride and ownership of their neighborhood. Rush offered to leave them alone if they renamed the place Rio Limbaugh which they never did.
Concerning the Homeless Olympics, Rush envisioned various events while taking well-earned shots at homeless advocate Mitch Snyder.
Proposed events would be things like dumpster diving, races carrying a televisions (simulating their theft), relays pushing shopping carts, etc. Here’s an example from 1989.
“One of the things I want to do before I die is conduct the homeless Olympics,” he told his audience. Events would include “the 10-meter Shopping Cart Relay, the Dumpster Dig and the Hop, Skip and Trip,” he said as the audience erupted into laughter and applause.
Rush Limbaugh Gives Liberals the Business, Gets Plenty Himself : Radio: The conservative talk-show host, whose program is nationally syndicated, is a major commercial enterprise.
This quote above was from Limbaugh’s Rush to Excellence Tour.
At the time, one person wrote the Los Angeles Times concerning the above article and said:
Making fun of homeless people is a “traditional value”? Well, excuse me, but where I come from, that is nothing more than nastiness and meanness–behavior befitting a bully.
Limbaugh Olympics
If you thought this was nonsense, insensitive, and mocking the homeless, then guess what? You were wrong.
There really is a Homeless Olympics. However, it’s not called that lest Rush get some of the credit for the idea, the official name is the Homeless World Cup. It began in 2003 and represents 70 nations.
To be a player you must meet the following qualifications:
Also, must be any of the following:
Source: Homeless World Cup
California has one third of the homeless population in the United States due to its great weather and even better benefits. It’s no surprise to me that from the shadows of Rio Linda comes three athletes making the trip to England to compete in this year’s events.
Three Sacramento women will soon be representing Team USA in this year’s Homeless World Cup.
Now, she and two other women will be representing the U.S. in the sporting spectacle known as the Homeless World Cup where 500 players will be representing 50 proud nations.
Three Sacramento Women Representing Team USA At The Homeless World Cup
So thirty years after the prediction, Rio Linda folks are participating in a worldwide homeless competition to see who brings home (if they had one) the gold medal.
