6/30/12

“I support the Second Amendment because without it, there would be no First Amendment.”—various people

I have this friend, a visible one for a change, with whom I argue. He and I rarely see eye to eye. And like my invisible friend, with whom I argue, he sometimes espouses positions on important subjects that run ever so slightly contrary to mine, positions that we both feel are worthy of discussion.

My friend had stumbled across the above statement, and doubting it, as he cannot help doubting so many things, he challenged his opposition, on the net, to prove that the above statement was anything but total nonsense. How could any group of citizens, he wondered, no matter how numerous or well armed, stand against the most powerful military in the history of the planet, if it came down to that final fight between government oppression and us free folks?

Well heck, I had to chew on this one for a while.

You can find things like this quote on the internet all the time, on facebook and blog raving and such. It is a heartfelt statement, an act of faith, and subject to criticism and acrimony from people who fervently fear and dislike firearms, as well fear and dislike the people who keep them. I have read this statement before and pretty much support the notion, in an abstract kinda way. Abstract because I have no proof to use to support the statement. It simply hasn’t been tested…yet. So I really don’t know for sure if it’s true.

I can claim that it also hasn’t been disproved, despite the supreme confidence expressed by critics of this notion. (See how polite I can be?) For in the history of the world there has never before, or since, been a nation formed by folks who have written these two mandates, side by side, into the How-To-Run-The-Government cookbook.

The notion that the men who wrote the Constitution felt a need for the people to be armed to keep the government in check feels right to me. It feels logical to me. There are many preserved documents in which these men state this belief, and I can find no compelling argument from that time against it. Those first ten amendments to our Constitution were written by the founding fathers in the hope that they would protect our citizens from abuse by their own government. For as Jefferson suggested, governments always become more oppressive over time, and only the people can bring them back into line.

Lots of arguments against this notion are bandied about these days, thrown down by folks who make their own heartfelt statements that I think are nonsense simply because they run directly contrary to my thinking. So I suppose I could stand toe to toe with those I disagree with and scream and whine and splash spittle upon their glasses, and hope that I can wear them down with the volume if not the weight of my beliefs….or not.

Screaming doesn’t often convince people to change their opinion, any more than it makes an illegal immigrant learn English faster. So how’s about I just mention some of the many things I believe support the notion that the Second Amendment actually helps to preserve our freedom. And then I’ll shut up.

I’ll start with my friend’s suggestion that a bunch of common folk, no matter how well armed, cannot stand up against the strongest military know to humans. This does seem a bit much. But consider Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts way back in 1775. The English king possessed the most powerful military on earth back then, and he used that military to not only keep his own subjects in line, but those of our precious thirteen tiny colonies as well. On that memorable night of Paul Revere and Minutemen fame, the British army set out to confiscate the weapons of the citizens of Lexington and Concord. Presumably to keep them folks in line. That’s what oppressive governments do when you let them. What followed was a few years and many battles, and those armed citizens defeated the most powerful military force on earth and this country was born.

Sure, this was muskets, horses, and wooden sailing ships, and today we have tanks and rockets, and advanced nastiness that would have to be taken into consideration, but regardless, this is the beginning to my argument.

Then there is that ole disarming of the citizens thing. Pretty much every nasty government on earth, throughout all of history and continuing today, disarmed its citizens to keep the government in power. They did this so they can tax indiscriminately, order folks around, and when they feel frisky, to slaughter hundred or thousands or millions of their own citizens. I could give examples, but this is the story of all of recorded history. All of it. If you don’t believe me, look it up. It’s not hard to find, for it is universally consistent.

Apparently, these governments felt that armed citizens choosing freedom represented a threat to total government control. Maybe I should let them make my argument for me.

It’s also been said that a government that fears the people has citizens. A people who fear their government are subjects. Can you argue with this?

I will concede that the odds don’t favor a disorganized rabble armed with 22 caliber target rifles when faced with a military such as our government could field. But I think I can predict how an unarmed group of dissidents armed only with the First Amendment might do in that same situation. So maybe this boils down to dying while fighting for freedom, or standing patiently in line for your turn in the ovens. Seriously, when it gets this bad, which do you chose?

Cause I figure a fair number out there would actually chose the ovens. And that just leaves me muttering.

Look around at those of our politicians who commit their entire careers to gun confiscation, and you will find they always favor placing government in control of everything, coincidentally with them in charge with the rest of us, in order for us to serve them. Do you really think they have our best interests in mind? Certainly we can find politicians of every stench who are capable of turning our government against us, but even when these are the ones who originally oppose gun confiscation, once they turn nasty the first place they go is into the gun confiscation camp.

Realistically, we are not facing the ovens in this country in the near future. But we still have a government capable, and clearly on the path of growing far more oppressive than it already is. When my government is tolerable, I ignore it. When it becomes annoying, I’d like a First Amendment to preserve my right to shout my objections on the street corner, and when my government goes totally evil, I’d like something more than pitchforks to carry into the streets. So yeah, I do think that there is merit in that opening quote.

Right now, in California we have a few politicians who have spent their adult lives trying to end the Second Amendment, and low and behold, they favor more and more and more government control of our lives. Feinstein, Boxer, Pelosi. Nationally, think Schumer. Think Clinton and Clinton. Think Obama. Think Holder. All enemies, demented enemies of the Second Amendment, and low and behold, avid advocates of government control of our lives and their permanent place at the top of the heap, with the subjects at the bottom. The First Amendment says I can rant against them. Someday, perhaps only the Second will give me the chance to stop them.

6/22/12

My phone plays a truly horrid tune when I set the thing on alarm and it goes off as directed. Nauseating horrid tune. It does achieve the desired result in that it will awaken me. Five thirty in the AM. Slide open the curtain.

Overcast. Breeze through the window smells of the sea. Cool breeze. Very fresh cool breeze.

A very few joggers and dog walkers already out. The homeless guy is still there, sacked out on the cement, using the railroad tie as a pillow. Just beyond him is quiet water. The sun is up somewhere, and I can see just fine. The overcast flattens the light and confuses the distances. Some minor clanks waft up from the back door of the deli below. The hum of an air conditioner fan somewhere.  A rare car drives past. But the sense is of quiet. 

The square sails of the moored museum ship hang limp. A seagull makes small circular waves that soon fade to nothing. A scatter of lights across the bay. The jump of a fish. 

I don’t generally do cities. Cities are too big and they leave too small spaces into which I can retreat. Too many people, buildings, cars…..and the fears rise in my throat and it’s time to leave. Now, please.

But somebody put this city in a nice place. On this bay next to that ocean. And as long as I can cling to only this thin slice of the city and kinda pretend that the rest of the city lurking behind me isn’t really there, I can do this for a bit, and even enjoy it. I’m enjoying the early morning when this city is here for me, and the others can have it later.

San Diego. Been here four times before over the years. Once was pretty much terrible, save for the zoo visit. Dropped the girl off for her first year of college another time, and that was bitter and sweet. Did two conferences here, and they were tolerable. And discovered the Bay and the joy of hanging off the balcony and just looking at the thing, and I could do this again. So here we are. 

Another conference, and this has been a good one. The time spent on the balcony has been the highlight. Lunch break from the lectures, and back in the room. Sun out now and the light defies belief. This cannot be possible. The water sparkles. Every detail sharp and clear. The fresh cool breeze. Boats crisscross the bay. The walkway along the water is packed with walkers. The smell from the seafood restaurant. Navy ASW helicopter roars past on turbine driven rotors. And then I saw it.

I’ve seen pictures of this. I know they do it every time they come home. I just wasn’t expecting to ever actually see it.

The USS Makin Island, LHD-8 sailed into the bay, made the slow starboard turn around the point of land occupied by the naval air station, and then passed by heading south toward its berth.  I don’t get to see an amphibious assault ship every day. This was my first, actually. The navy has eight of this class. They look every bit an aircraft carrier, only truncated at 840 feet long and 40,000 tons. The flattop can launch helicopters and Harriers. And then down below the various hovercraft and amphibious vehicles wait for the marines the ship carries, and heaven help those folks trembling ashore.

This ship has been out there for seven months, doing the sort of things for which we all should be thankful. Those of us who wish to see this country survive should be thankful, anyway. The rest who maybe don’t know how thankful they should be, well I hope you never find out what could happen if you got your way.

Anyway, when an aircraft carrier comes home, the sailors in dress white line every edge of the flight deck, all the way around the ship, and they stand there as the ship sails into port. They did this for us today. I’ll tell ya…if that sight doesn’t put the lump in your throat, you been gone far too long. We have pictures. But even without, we won’t ever forget.

Guys and gals aboard…..Thanks for your service.

Looking back with the luxury of time

One of the few advantages to growing old is the opportunity this presents to realize that the events we watch unfolding in real time will someday be a history that folks will evaluate, argue over, and likely rewrite time and again to suit their new realities. I remember my own internal debate when the start of the second Gulf War rolled around, and I thought the timing was all wrong. I figured we’d need to fight that war at some point, for Saddam would eventually do something to us that even the worst of America’s critics couldn’t excuse. Only then would going to war have been the “right” thing to do.

But nobody ever gets credit for a preemptive strike, because if successful, the ever-vocal critics will always claim it was unnecessary. I knew that anyone who could recite, “It’s Bush’s Fault” would never agree with his decision to start that war, even though they would be the first in line to condemn the man when Saddam did finally attack us. Their criticism was the only completely predictable element at the time.

I remember most of these same arguments during my generation’s war, Viet Nam. We thought we had it all figured out, back then. We got our information from some pretty reliable sources, and all of that information told us the war was wrong, that our country was wrong, and certainly that the men sent there to fight were really, really wrong. So I had it all worked out. America was unequivocally wrong to fight that war.

Some time passed before I realized that the information I had used to form my opinion on that war was a bit slanted, because the pretty reliable sources I relied upon were reliable only to the degree that they always criticized this country. They were not reliably correct, but merely consistent in their opinion.

In the four decades subsequent to that war, I’ve noted other opinion, and viewed previously unavailable information, and I’ve also had time to think. For myself.

For example, that photo of the crying Vietnamese girl burned by napalm, walking naked down the dirt lane, black smoke plume behind, that Pulitzer Prize photo taken in 1972, has resurfaced for its 40^th anniversary. We all remember that photo for it was the personification of all that America did during that war that was wrong. That photo of that little girl proved that America was the bad guys and everything America did was bad. And the pretty reliable sources all proclaimed this, and we took their clue and criticized our country.

The story that follows that photo evolved over the decades. Now we know that Phan Thi Kim Phuc, the nine year old girl injured in that attack was treated for about a year in a South Vietnamese hospital before returning to her home village. After the communist takeover, she wanted to go to school to become a doctor, but the government wanted her for propaganda purposes so they forced her to quit school and recite their monologues for the cameras.

Later, she traveled to Cuba to continue her education. She now relates talking with the photographer who took that photo while she was in Cuba, and she describes how careful she needed to be because the government was always listening, and she feared punishment.

She married, and while flying from Moscow back to Cuba, she fled the plane during a refueling stop in Canada and asked for asylum. She later became a Canadian citizen.

So the poster child for the enemies of America finally was able to flee communism and sought freedom in the West. And those nasty Americans, who fought that war to try to stop the spread of communism around the world, to help people like Phan Thi Kim Phuc find freedom, still face the criticism of those would like to see more people living under communism. All of this makes perfect sense, looking back on the history.

I have stated that we shall not have a true picture of the value or harm of the second Gulf War until decades have passed. Those who have led the criticism of Bush’s conduct of the war, the liberal professors, mass media, and deceitful politicians who would sell out anyone to keep themselves in office, are the same pretty reliable sources of information they were back during Nam. If we are listening to them now, we won’t much like what our nation does in that region. But what will we learn in the next 40 years about this latest attempt to preserve our freedom? Might be, this country could turn out to be “right” after all.

An oldie, but goodie from several years ago. Nothing has changed.

"Barbarism is the natural state of mankind. Civilization is unnatural. It is a whim of circumstance, and barbarism must ultimately triumph."  Robert E Howard

I have enjoyed civilization, so I shall mourn its demise. And no, I haven't gone round the bend. Civilization is still breathing. But when it went in for its last physical, it was showing alarming signs of wear.

Like beauty, civilization is in the eye of the beholder. Not everyone views it the same. Some folks, such as the fundamentalist Islamists, are delighted with the social and cultural progress of their society, even if it stopped progressing in the 12^th century. And those purveyors of a socialist workers' paradise no doubt believe their dream world is the epitome of human development.

I'm hopelessly caught up in my own provincialism. I like the version of American civilization that I have known, that has evolved and thrived so well for the last few hundred years. As a society we have blossomed within its confines. Unfortunately, circumstances have changed, and American civilization, as we know it, is in decline.

Since my thoughts are limited to 600 words a week, please bear with me while I oversimplify things. I figure kids are born with only the makings of a barbarian. Then somebody takes them and educates them and trains them and turns them into something else, a civilized being. And if enough of the population gets turned into civilized beings, we end up with a civilization.

Education presents to the child's mind the tools with which to think, problem solve, and expand. Training provides the distinction between good behavior and bad. Training gives a moral context so people are constrained to live peacefully together, and education equips each individual to advance their existence, to make the most of their talents and their life. The mix of training and education, in varying proportions, determines the differences between civilizations. I like the mix we used to have. The new mix…well maybe that's the reason I keep smelling smoke.

I'm still oversimplifying, so hang in there. Fundamentalist religion-based civilizations lean toward training their citizens. The same proved true for the functional arm of socialism, communism. Education (thinking) threatens the leaders of such societies, so they limit it.

American civilization used training as a base, and then added education as the opportunity for people to excel. This was coupled with an economic incentive that rewarded excellence and extra effort, and provided for the highest standard of living on earth.

Our training used to come from individual families, and local churches and schools. And our education was also kept close to home. This worked well, for those who participated. Those who didn't were left behind. This is part of the natural order. But somebody set out to fix that, by giving up on the development of individuals, and concentrating on uniform training of the herd.

Local influence on citizen development is shrinking. Now training comes from the government, through the schools, to the child, and from those folks who run entertainment and media. When thinking gets in the way of the trainers, education is pushed aside. Education allows some to forge ahead, so in order to accommodate those left behind, it must go. That which benefits the talented and hard working has lost value, to be replaced by a system intent on producing an equality of mediocrity.

So our civilization is morphing into a 21^st century version of feudalism. That is, unless we are instead, overrun by the one mired in the 12^th century. 

5/16/12

His cat’s name is Diamond, but she apparently likes Kitty Cat better. Most good cats earn nicknames, and Kitty Cat is a good cat. Dad got her for Mom, he says. She used to keep Mom company. They were good friends, and Kitty Cat still goes to the door and looks into the garage whenever the car comes home, because that’s where Mom would come into the house. Mom doesn’t come into the house anymore, hasn’t for several years and won’t ever again, but the cat still looks for her. Every time the door opens.

Now Kitty Cat keeps Dad company. Took her a while, but without Mom around, Dad would do. He had always fed her and kept her box clean, so he was useful. Now she watches him eat and helps him read the paper.  She is Dad’s shadow.

Kitty Cat will run and hide whenever anyone else entered the house. Shy around strangers, she would say. After a while she’ll come to investigate, but only from a distance. She prefers her own person. This morning Kitty Cat walked up to me and said hi, and then rubbed her chin against my leg. And she let me pet her. I’ve known her for ten years, and she has never before asked to be petted by me. But her bowl was getting a bit low, and I guess she figured I could be useful for such things, so I put fresh food in the bowl, and she ate.

I don’t know if Kitty Cat knows that Dad is in the hospital. I don’t know what Kitty Cat knows about anything. She’s a cat, so her thoughts are hers alone.

Every morning, Dad turns on the hose in the back of the house and fills the birdbath so the outdoor neighbors can drink. Then you get to see the quail, doves, woodpeckers as they stop by. And Dad cuts the grapefruit in half, the ones that fall from the tree unused since he no longer can eat grapefruit because they mess with his meds. The scattered halves of grapefruit on the ground feed the birds and bunnies. And the birds and bunnies feed the coyotes, for that is the way of things. Three coyotes stopped by for water the other day. There is no sign posted to keep them away, so that’s how it is. Where water is concerned in the desert, everybody shares.

So this morning I filled the birdbath and cut up some grapefruit. The job must be done. And I pulled some of the weeds from around the barrel cactus, cause Dad asked me to do that the next time I visit. And I guess you can call this a visit. And I cleaned the filter for the air conditioner, and put more slices of my meat loaf in the freezer for when he comes home and he wants one for his dinner. Then it was time to go to the hospital and see that he eats his breakfast, and ask the doctor if they know any more about Dad’s future.

I’m an optimist. Not completely without justification, because my Dad was doing really well before he fell, and he is no quitter. So I’m operating on the premise that he will come home, to his cat and his outdoor neighbors, and his future. 

But I’ve never before had to pick up Dad in my arms and carry him out to the car to deliver him to an emergency room, so my hands shake just a bit as I type this.  And I don’t know what tomorrow brings. I like things better when I know what happens next. Always hated surprise exams. No time to cram. No time to get ready. Just show up and deal with it, for that is the way of things.

 That I can do.  But it wouldn’t be my first choice.

05/07/12

I really should stop doing this. Which this, you might wonder? Well, in this case I was wandering aimlessly around the folder in my computer that somehow hangs on to all those newspaper columns I wrote during that brief ten year stint as a “local interest” freelancer. Bumping into those archived random thoughts just gets me stirred up all over again.

The low angle sun filtered through a verdant canopy of trees surrounding our trailer on a quiet Saturday AM. Steam lifted slowly above the coffee cup waiting on the table next to the computer. A hint of breeze fresh off the sea tiptoed in through one window and out the other. The thick flannel shirt was a perfect choice. And the drum line of woodpeckers scattered through the forest lent short staccato riffs, pitch dependent upon the diameter of the dead trees they were ventilating.

A full battery in the computer meant I had some time to meander through the electronic memory, which frankly is much better than my own. I do this sometimes. Re-read columns I wrote years ago. Most I haven’t seen in a while, and many I don’t even remember. Some were forgettable, and perhaps I should delete a few, but I won’t. You should own up to your mistakes as well as enjoy the good times. Something over 500 essays in that folder, and they can’t all be good, but each once meant something more than just meeting a deadline. 

I haven’t read many of these columns since I wrote them. Like old friends, I am pleasantly reunited with a few memories. Others are like waking up in the quiet dark late at night, cold sweat and trembling, bad dream or bad reality. This morning I found one of these.

Remember early in the two thousands when Hillary Clinton morphed into a native born Yankees fan solely so she could run for the US Senate from the great state of New York? This was shortly after they had to drag her out of the White House kicking and screaming when her beloved hubby timed out. I hear you can still see the marks her fingernails left in the woodwork near the backdoor. The Senate would be her stepping stone to her birthright, the presidency. Hillary always wanted to be the czar rather than remain as Rasputin, the real boss but without the title. 

But in New York State, she would first have to defeat the odds on favorite, former mayor of the only city of note in America, Rudy Giuliani. Post 911 hero and all around charming fellow, Giuliani should have walked into the job. Except for that pesky prostate tumor, which forced him out of the race. Hillary trumped the empty suit that ran in Giuliani’s stead.

Anyway, I wrote a column way back then, a sorry tale of the fear and desperation I felt at the realization that Hillary would now have a real opportunity to become president. I figured she wouldn’t run seriously against Bush in 04, but that she would be a shoe-in by 08. And if she were elected then, we’d see major change in this country. A Hillary presidency would be my worst nightmare coming true. All those promises she’d make that were lies to the gullible designed solely to put the woman I called “The Harpy” in charge of this country. Socialized medicine, gun control, reckless foreign policy, more government interference in every aspect of our lives, the beginning of the end of individual rights and freedoms for the sake of “society”.  

You can imagine my relief when Obama beat Hillary in the primary before the 08 race. Rasputin was smote. The worst threat to freedom in decades defeated by that kid. I figured the worst he could do was parade forth the usual Democrat pabulum of government gifts to attract the union, minority, and lazy voters. What real harm could he do to the nation? 

And I went back to hoping that the Republicans would nominate someone, anyone who wasn’t a religious zealot or a total sellout to a few massive industries, so at least we could have had an interesting race. And they nominated another empty suit (and the biggest target ever made available for Media ambush.)

So Obama was easily elected, and he brought us socialized medicine, his virulent hatred of the Second Amendment, radical liberal justices to the Supreme Court, an anti-American foreign policy, and government intrusion with the intent to eliminate individual rights and freedom and assure his puppet masters enduring control over this country.

There may be a lesson in this. Be careful what ya ask for would be a start. 

The guy is run by the most corrupt political organization in recent memory, that mob that controls the cesspool of Chicago and thus the state of Illinois. His closest friends and advisors are radically anti-American, communists, racists, or crooks. And yet some voters still have not figured out why he set up our next few generations with debt that they will never be able to pay down. He has crippled the nation for the sake of short term political gain, and the harm he could bring with a second term staggers the imagination. 

In his mind, the new middle class will all work for the government, with benefits and pensions aplenty to keep them happy. These folks will ensure the perpetuation of his mob’s rule, right up until the money truly runs out. Then we get Greece. Here. Riots in the streets. Marshall law. Totalitarian rule. And no, Germany won’t try to bail us out. America, as only a fading memory. 

Yeah, but it was nice while it lasted.

04/30/12

 “It’s never the doctors or the scientists at the gate.

It’s always the barbarians.”

I stole this one. From a guy who sells a book and some other stuff he claims will help folks survive the coming end of western civilization, as exemplified by the crumble of the good ole US of A. I guess this guy figures that once we fold, what passes for civilization in Europe and those few other hangers on out there will join us in our death rattle. And then we all slide back into the abyss.

Historically, most successful civilizations of any merit outdistanced themselves from the barbarians of their time. They did it by overachieving, and they simply out-competed their, ah, competition. They worked harder, built more and better, originated and excelled. The folks living in these civilizations benefited mightily from this situation.

And then eventually, each advanced civilization succumbed to its own success, and the barbarians returned and pounded on the gates until the civilization fell, and mankind backslid for a while.

Ah…Western civilization. It was pretty cool while it lasted. I liked it. And I’m not alone. There are actually millions of people out there who benefited from and enjoyed that thing we call civilization. And if folks are to be judged by the power of the enemies they overcame, good ole Western civilization beat down some pretty fierce and nasty folks to put us on top for a while.

Of course it never lasts. Not once in the history of mankind has one civilization held onto number one for more than a blink of an eye. One by one they all fell. And the barbarians, who while they may change names to protect the innocent, never really change, were always there waiting at the gate for their chance to overcome once again. Like rust, barbarians never sleep. And like the inexorable gravity, the force downward eventually overcomes whatever good tries to flutter ever upward.

You can now watch a TV program, what they like to call reality TV, wherein some company builds survival shelters so incredibly wealthy folks can wait out the apocalypse, with armored walls and air cleaners and the necessities of wine cellars and a large screen TV. Apparently, somebody thinks that one of the more important achievements of western civilization is that which one can view on a large screen TV. And that it is worth saving.

You’ll notice I keep talking about the barbarians at the gate, fierce enemies just waiting for their moment to attack. But what really happens when civilizations crumble isn’t so much the barbarians who lay siege and by weight of force and ingenuity destroy any civilization at its best, but instead consider an enemy which simply has to lay the straw upon the camel’s back. The reality is that the only way the barbarians can catch up is when the civilization slows down, or in our case, drops into reverse. Civilization dies from within, not from without (?). We teeter, and the barbarians simply give that last little shove, and down comes humpty dumpty, and that’s generally messy. And when folks finally realize where they screwed up, it’s too late to put the egg together again.

And what, you might wonder, is the sign that we have slowed down to the point of regression that will inevitably lead to our collapse? Consider the American Revolution. Remember the saying, “Let George do it”? Those folks who didn’t show up when needed to fight for their own freedom, for they either preferred living under the oppression of a despot thousands of miles away, or they simply didn’t care if they lived under the oppression of a despot, regardless, they used to say that. Freedom meant little to these people if it also meant duty to others who live for freedom and responsibility for one’s own life. They didn’t chose to accept discomfort, or some risk. Let George fight the British. Let somebody else do the work. Freedom wasn’t worth the effort to these folks. Fortunately, George didn’t need one hundred percent participation, for had that been necessary the king’s face would still be on our coins. But he did need a fair number to show up. When that fair number dwindles, and the sit on their hands folks predominate, the egg is already cracked.

When freedom isn’t worth the effort, the barbarians win.

When you teach generations of children that the things that elevated their civilization to greatness, and the things that netted them their wonderful lives, were in fact the things that our predecessors did wrong, and that we should be ashamed of our success, then we stop trying. 

And then the barbarians win. 

When short term profit or the acquisition of power sells out your own civilization, the barbarians win.

When the notion that our civilization thrived and surpassed its competition because it offered opportunity to anyone willing to try becomes instead complacency and entitlement, the barbarians win.

The famous intellectual and philosopher Ann Landers once noted, “Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don’t recognize them.” 

And when politicians promise to give folks this or that so they won’t need to work, they are not only lying, but they are asking the citizens to surrender their civilization and their freedom to a culture of dependency. 

Then the barbarians win.

Now you might wonder if we will shortly surrender to the Chinese or to the twelve century religious fanatics.  Heck, it don’t matter. There’s lots of rabble at the gates. Don’t ask who will take over; ask instead why we slowed down, why we stopped trying. 

The politicians sold you easy street. The short term profit cheaters sold you out. The barbarians didn’t win. We let them win, because we let those politicians and short term profiteers run our lives and give away our freedom.  Wouldn’t ya think people would wanna wake up to this now, not later when it is too late? Just askin’.