Sense & Nonsense
For days the American public has been subjected to an astonishing spectacle of the United States Senate delving into the life of two teenagers 30 years ago. The Senate has a constitutional duty to "Advise & Consent" on presidential treaties and appointments. They did not deliberate or advise. They did consent to the appointment of Judge Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court just like they would have without "The Spectacle". Nothing changed and few ever thought it would. Was it, in Shakespeare's words, "Much ado about nothing"?
It wasn't about confirming a presidential appointment, but it wasn't about nothing either. It was a political clash reflecting a bitter divide within the US government. The purpose of "The Spectacle" was to extend and intensify that divide in the US citizenry just before an important election. It was powerful political theater designed to promote hatred and anger among the American people. Why would the United States Senate, want to do (or even allow) that?
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- Created: 06 October 2018
About 45 years ago, a four-term Democrat Congressman from a safe district sat in my shabby office and said he wanted me to know he was not going to run again (he did) because Congress didn't matter any more. We were not close friends. Of course I knew who he was but had never talked with him in person. I was surprised at his candor and attributed most of it to grief over the recent death of his wife.
That evening, he talked at length about the Civil Rights Act of 1964 containing specific language to prevent discrimination based on race. In practice, it actively and openly discriminated against white people in favor of black people (affirmative action), something expressly prohibited by the actual legislation. His complaint was that it didn't matter what elected officials did, the untouchable Civil Service bureaucrats would do whatever they damned well pleased. Think about that for a minute.
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- Created: 07 September 2018
All Americans are losing their First Amendment (and all other) freedoms equally. Democrats blame Republicans; Republicans blame Democrats; Independents blame everybody but themselves; some blame massive immigration, guns, unions, schools, religion, congress, the president, the Supreme Court, drugs, poverty, social media, etc. It is an endless list of blame, anger and frustration.
But placing blame does not solve the problem. In fact, it obscures it. The loss of freedom goes on and on as the nation careens toward bankruptcy, civil war and anarchy. The same thing happened after the Russians overthrew the Tsar about 100 years ago. What happened next in Russia is similar to what is happening in the USA now. I would suggest reading "The Russian Revolution" by Richard Pipes if you doubt the similarities.
To summarize the Russian Revolution, Academic Elites (called the "intelligentsia" at that time) led by Lenin, took the philosophy of Marx and Engles and convinced the Russian citizenry that they would destroy the Tsar and give all property to the citizens to expand their already prosperous communes. Political power would reside with local "soviets" (which seem to be something akin to our current Town Hall meetings). That all sounds wonderful in theory.
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- Created: 05 September 2018
Read more: From Russia with Love - Lessons from 75 years of Blood, Terror and Tears
by Harold Byler
Donald Trump is not a conservative. He is a pragmatist, i.e. someone who is practical and focused on reaching a goal with a straightforward, matter-of-fact approach. When he sees a problem and understands it must be fixed, he doesn't see the problem as liberal or conservative; he sees it only as a problem. That is a quality that should be admired and applauded, not condemned. He does not consider party alliance to be more important than our nation.
Viewing problems from a liberal perspective has resulted in the creation of more problems, more entitlement programs, more victims, more government, more political correctness, and more attacks on the working people at all economic levels.
Viewing problems from the Republican conservative perspective has brought continued spending and denial of what the real problems are, caused by weak, ineffective leadership.
Immigration isn't a conservative problem and it isn't a liberal problem. It’s a problem that threatens the structure of our country. It demands a pragmatic approach, not an approach that is intended to appease one group or another.
The collapse of the economy isn't a liberal or conservative problem, it is an American problem. It will not be fixed until it is viewed as a problem that demands a common sense approach. The Democrat and Republican politicians’ way of fixing things has had no lasting effect.
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- Created: 16 October 2016
A Local and National Issue
Either the federal government is limited to the powers enumerated in the Constitution or it is not. If not, then we are no longer governed by the Rule of Law.
When the rule of law fails, we are then governed by the rule of powerful people who ignore contract law, property rights and the dignity of the individual citizen. Those powerful people apply laws selectively to reward their friends and punish their enemies. Selective application of the law is the root of government corruption.
Selective law enforcement can occur at every level of government - from the tiniest school district to towns, cities, counties, and states on up to Washington DC. Corruption destroys the moral authority of government and leads, inevitably, to collapse and chaos.
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- Created: 12 February 2016
Interesting ... Maybe Useful Article Count: 6
Things you might not know that may or may not matter.
Collapse Experiences Article Count: 4
Personal stories and pictures of social collapse in the United States of America, Argentina, Russia, and Chile.
About Sense & Nonsense Article Count: 5
The Who, What and Why of Sense & Nonsense
Greek Report Article Count: 1
Real- time account from a typical Greek citizen as Greece collapsed during 2011 and 2012.
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