New Year Reflections, Part I (What To Expect This Presidential Election Year)

The timing was perfect for Joe Biden and the D-MSMC (what I call the Democrat-Mainstream Media Complex).  A day before the third anniversary of what is now referred to simply as "January 6," Biden gave a campaign speech discussing the threat to democracy by Donald Trump, and how re-electing him will save our democracy.  The New York Times, the leading paper of the D-MSMC, followed suit with an editorial in the first Sunday edition of the year, on January 7, 2024.  

The Times:  "As president, he (Trump) wielded power carelessly and often cruelly..."  How's that exactly?  They don't say.  "He deepened existing divisions among Americans..."  I believe Obama started that, making everything a racial issue.  Then Biden furthered the divide, after promising to be a uniter.  Obama talked about the deplorables in a manner akin to Hillary Clinton.  Biden followed along, with his nonstop attacks on Republicans.  I don't care if he refers to them as "MAGA" Republicans, it's divisive.  

Biden:  "And our campaign is about preserving and strengthening our American democracy."  At least one site online says that 10 million people have entered the country illegally under Biden.  That's more people than in all of New York City, our nation's largest city.  That's more than the individual population of 41 states.  How does ignoring the sovereignty of the United States strengthen the United States?  

The Times:  "(Trump) has repeatedly demonstrated a deep disdain for the First Amendment..."  Okay, how about this:  "The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit on Friday ruled that the Biden White House, top government health officials and the FBI likely violated the First Amendment by improperly influencing tech companies' decisions to remove or suppress posts on the coronavirus and elections."  (Per the Washington Post, 9/8/23.)  This part bears repeating:  "remove or suppress posts on the coronavirus and elections."  That should make it clear why I refer to them as the D-MSMC, which clearly includes social media (except, perhaps, for "X" now).  

The Times:  "Mr. Trump's forays into foreign affairs remain dangerously misguided and incoherent...he displayed consistent admiration for autocratic leaders..." Let's compare.  Trump started no new wars.  He defeated ISIS.  He pulled us out of the bad Iran nuclear deal.  He told NATO allies to start paying their required fair share, or don't assume reliance on the US.  Lo and behold, they started to pay up.  He refused to fund the Palestinian Authority, as they used US tax dollars to reward terrorists, and their families, for killing Jews.  He refused to fund UNRWA, which is a ridiculous UN agency in Gaza, that acts at the behest of Hamas.  

Trump moved the US embassy in Israel to Israel's capital city, Jerusalem.  Trump recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.  Trump helped to bring about the Abraham Accords, establishing diplomatic relations between Israel and the UAE, Bahrain, and shortly thereafter Morocco and Sudan.  But, I forget.  The Times main concern is the Palestinians.  They did not approve of Trump's policies favoring Israel.

Biden?  A disastrous and embarrassing withdrawal from Iraq, leaving behind billions in American weaponry.  Lifting sanctions on Iran, allowing the flow of billions of dollars into the coffers of the leading state sponsor of terrorism.  Attempting to reenter the Iran nuke deal.  Restoring funding to the terrorist supporting PA and UNRWA.  Under Obama, Russia invaded Ukraine and Hamas went to war with Israel.  Under Trump, Putin did nothing and Hamas did not start another war with Israel.  Then we had Biden - Putin launched a massive invasion of Ukraine, and Hamas conducted an unprecedented attack on Israel.  

The Times says Trump has threatened "the deployment of the military and the Justice Department, to have his way."  What?  It was Biden's Justice Department which directed the FBI to investigate parents as possible terrorists, for daring to challenge the woke lies being fed to their children in the public schools.  It is Biden's Justice Department that is currently prosecuting the leading Republican candidate for president against their boss.  Coincidence?  I don't think so.  That shows support for our democracy?  Decidedly not.  

Biden:  "Political violence is never, ever, acceptable in the United States political system - never, never, never.  It has no place in our democracy.  None."  Well, his allies in the D-MSMC apparently did not get that message during the summer of nationwide rioting in 2020, calling the "protests" mostly peaceful.  I am curious as to how such peaceful protests resulted in nearly $2 billion worth of damages to businesses and government buildings around the country.  And when rioters pulled down a statue of Christopher Columbus in her native Baltimore, what did then Speaker Nancy Pelosi have to say?  "People will do what they do."  She didn't say that about January 6.  

Here is a precious line by the Times:  "Democracy in the United States is stronger with a formidable conservative political movement to keep diversity of thought alive on important questions, such as the nation's approaches to immigration, education, national security and fiscal responsibility."  Excuse me while I stop laughing.  If the Times truly believed one word of that, then 95% (99%?) of their editorials and Op-Ed columns would not have a left-wing point of view.  

I'll conclude with this.  I have my own complaints about many of the unnecessary and improper comments made by Trump.  But this simply sounds like a replay of all the allegations made against Trump in 2016, when we were assured that the world would end if Trump won.  The world didn't end.  Peace broke out in new places.  Wars didn't.  The economy was good.  We were energy independent.  Methinks that Biden and the Times are "crying wolf."    

Year End Reflections, Part VIII (Happy New Year?)

Erin Aubry Kaplan is a regular Op-Ed contributor to the Los Angeles Times.  Her 12/29/23 year-end column is titled "Why I'm not wishing you happy holidays."  She explains:  "We need every bit of our attention focused on what's going on - Israel's merciless war on Gaza, the dangerously stagnated international effort to combat climate change, our frighteningly partisan judicial system...and we cannot avoid what's shaping up to be a terrifying 2024..."  

So, basically, many of the leftwing talking points.  Nothing about the millions entering illegally.  Nothing about crime.  Nothing about people's concerns over "Bidenomics."  Nothing about trying to eliminate fossil fuels, with apparently no understanding of the thousands of products made with petroleum.  And nothing about the Biden family corruption, or the very anti-democratic efforts to keep Trump off the ballot.

No, after telling us the leftwing talking points, she, of course, turns to Trump, and "the realization that Donald Trump could win a second presidency."  She then suggests that evangelical Christians push racism and xenophobia and a belief in racial superiority.  We can thank Biden for being the most divisive President in history for pushing this racial division and DEI nonsense.  

Kaplan:  "...this is troubling.  That 30% to 40% of my fellow Americans actively support or are willing to accept such a dark vision of this country - our country - is colossally depressing."  I agree.  How can so many people still support the Democrats, who are doing everything possible to undermine our democracy and eliminate the idea of national sovereignty for the USA.  Imagine the Secretary of State of Maine, leftwing Democrat Biden supporter that she is, thinks it is somehow supporting democracy, by taking Trump off the ballot.  I guess the Left is proving to us "if you can't beat 'em, cheat."

After acknowledging that she will be criticized for not realizing the greeting is about family and love and affirmation and "nothing to do with Trump," she still can't bring herself to extend New Year's greetings.  Here's why:  "The long campaign to dismantle pluralistic America isn't taking a holiday and I can't either."   

I don't know how much longer our country can exist if it continues to be governed by the progressive/Marxist people running the Democrat party.  Nevertheless, I have happily wished many a "Happy and Healthy New Year."  Even in the darkest times, we need to be beacons of light.

So a Happy and Healthy New Year to all my friends and readers of the blog!

Year End Reflections, Part VII (What a Surprise)

Just as I was already preparing a post in my head about how the D-MSMC is so focused non-stop on Gaza, with far less concern about Israel and the hostages, I picked up today's New York Times.  On the front page, the lead article was "'Screams Without Words':  Sexual Violence on Oct. 7."  I'll let the article speak for itself, other than a few sentences by me at the end.  The Times says they conducted a two-month investigation "relying on video footage, photographs, GPS data from mobile phones and interviews with more than 150 people, including witnesses, medical personnel, soldiers and rape counselors."

One witness saw a woman forcibly bent over while she raped from behind.  "Every time she flinched, he (a Hamas terrorist) plunged a knife into her back."  

The witness saw another woman "shredded into pieces."  As the Times recounts it:  "While one terrorist raped her...another pulled out a box cutter and sliced off her breast."  "One continues to rape her, and the other throws her breast to someone else, and they play with it, throw it, and it falls on the road."  Then they sliced her face.  

Another witness tells of seeing a group of five terrorists raping a woman, and she screams.  "I still remember her voice, screams without words."  "Then one of them raises a knife and they just slaughtered her."  

Others tell of terrorists "talking, giggling and shouting" while taking a knife and "literally butchering her."  Others tell of a woman's vagina sliced open.

Still other described women and girls found "naked or half naked, some mutilated..."  

Another described having "seen several bodies with cuts in their vaginas and underwear soaked in blood, and one whose fingernails had been pulled out."

These atrocities were committed by Hamas, a terrorist group that not only finds support around the world: but also, incredibly, finds support for their involvement in a future Palestinian state in Gaza.  It should be mandatory for every protester in this country to be arrested when violating the law (such as blocking traffic), and the sentence should be a requirement that they view all the photos and the videos documenting these unspeakable, abominable and atrocious acts.  And preferably with their hands bound behind their backs, like many of the victims were found.  And, sorry to say, but let the protesters have some sense of what these victims experienced, by having to also watch while naked.  

Year End Reflections, Part VI (My Beef With Tucker Carlson)

I've known for sometime that Tucker Carlson is an isolationist.  I happen to disagree with that philosophy, because I think it is dangerously naive.  Still, he is not alone in holding that viewpoint, as is his right.  But recently, it appears that he crossed over into antisemitism - and that is not acceptable.  In speaking with Saagar Enjeti on "Breaking Points," Carlson attacked fellow conservative Ben Shapiro and others on the right for something he either does not understand (which I doubt, because Carlson is not stupid) or willfully ignores.

Carlson:  "...there are people on the 'right' who have spent the last two months every single day focused on a conflict in a foreign country as our own country becomes dangerously unstable, on the brink of financial collapse, with tens of millions of people who shouldn't be here in the country, we don't know the identities or the purpose of their being here."  He then expresses his concern for those things making it impossible "for my kids to live here."

Then he makes this incredible assertion:  "I'm shocked by how little they care about the country (including Ben Shapiro).  And I can't imagine how someone like that could get an audience of people who claim to care about America, because he doesn't, obviously."  Carlson, that is just reprehensible!

Let me give you a little background, Carlson.  I know you are not Jewish.  Shapiro is an observant Jew.  All Jews who pray know that Jerusalem and Israel are mentioned in our prayers.  You may have felt bad for the people who were brutally murdered on October 7, but myself, like many, many Jews, felt it to our core.  This was the worst attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust.  And whether you like it or not (I don't give a damn if you don't), we Jews understand that Israel is not only our Biblical homeland, but since 1949 it has been a safe haven for Jews suffering from oppression around the world. 

The first two weeks after October 7, I had a difficult time sleeping.  When I would get up during the night to go the bathroom, I would go to the family room and turn on the TV and watch i24News, out of Israel, for an hour or two.  Maybe you understand that, maybe you don't.  If you don't, I don't give a damn.  And, apparently you are not terribly concerned about the worst antisemitism since the Holocaust, as you believe Jews are behind the "white replacement" theory.

So, let's clarify a few things.  Ben Shapiro is a strong conservative and a strong defender of America.  But you are willing to take this relatively brief window of time, when Shapiro and many Jews, have been focused on Israel and the growing antisemitism, and conclude that Shapiro does not care about America.  I have written this blog since 2009.  Over 640 posts.  But since October 7, 12 of my last 15 posts have been about Israel and antisemitism.  I assume you would conclude from that number that I don't care about America either.

I guess my other 630 posts over 15 years would not mean anything to you.  My constant defense of American values would not mean anything to you.  My repeatedly saying that the USA is the best country in the history of the world, would not mean anything to you.  If you were a man, Tucker, you would give a very public apology to Ben Shapiro and all the other Jews on the right who you claim do not care for America, simply because you willfully ignore the history of the Jewish people.  

I'll finish with this, Carlson.  Jews will continue to focus on Israel, given the very existential threat to the country from Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah and Iran.  And I will do so in my blog.  And Jews will also focus on the growing antisemitism/outright Jew-hatred in this country, making us wonder if America will continue to be the best country in the world for the Jewish people (outside of Israel).  I will also continue to focus on that.  So, good for you being a Christian in a Christian country, with none of these concerns.  Instead of attacking us, why not try to be grateful for the fact that you have two less things to worry about than we do.       

Year End Reflections, Part V (More Politics)

First, some interesting information.  Where did people move from 2022 to 2023?  Texas ranked first with 473,000 more people.  And, no surprise, Florida was second with 365,000 more people.  The California minimum wage goes up to $16 per hour as of January 1.  Unfortunately, the ADL (Anti-Defamation League) reported an increase in antisemitic incidents from 465 in 2022 to 2031 in 2023.

Fox reported that a 10th grade Seattle High School had a class on "Ethnic Studies World History."  The class was given an exam of True-False and multiple choice questions.  Here was one question:  All men have penises.  True or False?  Here was another:  Only women can get pregnant.  True or False?  A student who answered True to these questions was told those answers were incorrect.  Does anyone really need any further proof of the sickness of leftwing ideology?  MEN CANNOT GET PREGNANT!  MEN, AND ONLY MEN, HAVE PENISES!  But the truth is not a value for the left.  All lies in support of their agenda are deemed worthy.

Los Angeles County District Attorney, far left George Gascon, recently appointed one of the assistant DAs to be his chief of staff.  Nothing unusual there.  Until we find out that this woman, following the death of George Floyd, called the LAPD "barbarians."  And she referred to them as "an occupying army."  No surprise that she called for defunding the police.  And it was reported that she has a T-shirt that reads "the police are trained to kill us."  Exactly how is the DA's office supposed to work with the police to prosecute criminals, given those attitudes?  Oh, that's right.  Gascon is one of those DAs who does not believe in prosecuting criminals.

Boston Mayor, Michelle Wu, decided to have a holiday party for the members of the City Council.  But not all the members were supposed to be invited.  However, her assistant inadvertently sent the invitation out to the entire Council.  The invitation read:  "Electeds of Color Holiday Party."  Said Wu, in defending this nonsense:  "It is not at all divisive, it is creating spaces for people and communities and identities with shared experiences to come together."  This is yet another example of the evil of "identity politics."  But if that is deemed to be acceptable, then I would not object to an "Electeds White People Holiday Party."  

Of course, I object to all of it.  I believe, as MLK said, that people are to be judged based on the content of their character.  Why is skin color important?  Another way to look at it is what Dennis Prager often says.  The world is divided into only two groups - the decent and the indecent.  

On the good news front...California enacted a law banning concealed carry in 26 different public places, making it all but impossible to actually carry a gun outside of the home.  No, that's not the good news.  The good news, as reported by the AP, is that a Federal Judge blocked enforcement of that law.  As the AP reported it, the Judge felt "that would have banned carrying firearms in most public places, ruling that it violates the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and deprives people of their ability to defend themselves and their loved ones."

As readers know, I always like to read the "Letters to the Editor" in the newspapers.  One letter in the 12/20/23 New York Times was by a Jewish man described by the paper as a "distinguished emeritus professor of anthropology at the State University of New York."  The writer says he is "a Jew by culture and ancestry, albeit a secular one."  He tells us he "abhors contemporary violence by both Hamas and Israel."  Typical leftwing view that all violence is the same and is bad.  Violence in the defeat of evil is not bad.  It may be unfortunately necessary, but it is definitely not bad.  

The letter writer continued and said his father bought Israel bonds for him and his siblings when they were younger.  But, "in the late 1960's and early '70's, when I had my own children and when Israel had become an expansionist power, I asked him to stop."  More leftwing lies; this time lies of omission.  Israel was able to gain more territory by defending themselves in war and winning.  That does not make them an expansionist power.  Good to know that a "distinguished emeritus professor" lacks all common sense and reason.  Which is what happens when leftwing ideology defines your world view.  Or, as I like to say, letting your beliefs dictate your reality.   

Year End Reflections, Part IV (Back To Politics)

(Note.  I'm sure my readers are well aware that since the attack on Israel on October7, virtually all my posts have been about that and the increasing antisemitism.  The atrocities of October 7, followed by the increasing Jew hatred, have really gotten to me in a way that few stories have.  Obviously 9/11 is another example.  Let's pray for no more 9/11's or 10/7's.)

The Colorado Supreme Court decided that Donald Trump should not be on their state's primary ballot  because he is guilty of insurrection, as defined in Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution.  This post will not go into a detailed legal analysis of that Amendment.  But the case was brought by a group of never Trumpers against the Colorado Secretary of State, alleging that the Secretary must not allow Trump to be on the ballot because of insurrection.

The trial court found that Trump was guilty of insurrection, but that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment did not apply to the office of President.  Therefore, he could be on the ballot.  The Colorado Supreme Court disagreed, by a 4 to 3 vote.  The Majority:  "President Trump incited and encouraged the use of violence and lawless action to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power."  And this:  "President Trump's speech on January 6 was not protected by the First Amendment."  

I admit to not having read this lengthy decision.  However, I am very curious to know exactly what words in the speech were deemed by the Court to not be protected speech; what words were deemed to create an imminent threat of violence or lawless action.  I also thought it was interesting that the Court found Trump guilty of insurrection without him being a party to the case.  I guess I should not be surprised, as the second House impeachment vote on Trump was conducted with no Judiciary Committee hearings first.  No evidence was presented prior to that vote.  

So I decided to ask another attorney, very leftwing, exactly how the decision would play out.  After all, other states have similar cases pending.  Do we now have a situation where each of the 50 states gets to decide who can be on the ballot?  Obviously, there would not be uniformity among all 50 states.  What if Trump were to win a sufficient number of electoral votes where he was on the ballot.  Would he only be the president over those states?  Would those states where Trump was disqualified from the ballot have a different president?

Back to that leftwing attorney.  Having no answer for the possible chaos created by the Colorado decision, he simply said the US Supreme Court will decide.  Then, as often happens, he reverted to Trump is bad, and therefore should not be on the ballot.  Explaining how that would work with 50 states was of no apparent concern to him.    

Is this how the Court is protecting our democracy?  Trump has never been convicted of "insurrection."  Trump was not involved in the Colorado case.  Four unelected judges decided to remove from the ballot the main opponent to the sitting President, and not let the voting public decide.  And, again, thinking forward, might we end up with a country having one president for some of the states, and another president for the rest of the states?  Is this what the Democrats call protecting our democracy?  Because none of it looks the least bit democratic to me.

The Court Majority:  "We do not reach these conclusions lightly.  We are mindful of the magnitude and weight of the questions before us."  I don't think so.  The office of the President of the United States is the one and only office that the entire country votes on.  (The VP is essentially a tag along.)  So I would ask the Court just how mindful they were of creating different qualifications for being on the ballot, qualifications that surely will not be required in many of the other states.

Let's think back to the 2016 election.  There were dire predictions about what would happen if Trump won.  The most serious was that Trump would start a nuclear war.  None of the awful predictions came about.  And Trump won.  So we had the Russian collusion hoax.  That didn't succeed in getting Trump out of office.  We had the first impeachment over a telephone call with Ukraine.  That didn't work.  We had the second impeachment.  None of these actions taken by the Democrats succeeded in removing Trump from office.  In 4 years in office Trump started no wars.  No one lost any rights.  

Biden won in 2020, but looks to be easily beatable in 2024.  So now we have 4 different politically motivated prosecutions.  But they don't seem to be working either, as Trump's poll numbers keep going up.  So here is the next idea - keep Trump off the ballot.  I honestly do not know how it could be any clearer - the Democrats do not believe in our democracy.  Or in any democracy.  

 (Afterword.  I have my own issues with Trump.  The silly name calling.  The unnecessary commenting on everything.  Costing the Republicans the 2 Georgia Senate seats.  Having a meal with antisemites like Nick Fuentes and Kanye West.  And personally calling state and local officials about the 2020 election results.  But don't tell me the Colorado Court cared about democracy.)

Year End Reflections - Part III (Is This The True Face Of Islam In America?)

We already know that the group "Students for Justice in Palestine" celebrated the atrocities of October 7, by calling it "a historic win for Palestinian resistance."  But the "Council on American-Islamic Relations" (CAIR)  bills itself as a moderate group, reflecting the interests of Muslims in America.  Therefore, it may surprise some to learn (although it shouldn't) what the executive director of CAIR, Nihad Awad, was found to have said.  As reported in an editorial in the 12/9-12/10/23 weekend edition of the Wall Street Journal, Mr. Awad claimed that his comments were selectively chosen to, essentially, make him look bad.

But The Journal said they were able to get a copy of Awad's speech before it was taken off line.  Here are some of his comments as reported by The Journal.  "The people of Gaza only decided to break the siege, the walls of the concentration camp, on October 7.  And yes, I was happy to see people breaking the siege and throwing down the shackles of their own land, and walk free into their land, that they were not allowed to walk in.  And yes, the people of Gaza have the right to self-defense, have the right to defend themselves.  And yes, Israel as an occupying power, does not have that right to self-defense."    

Clearly, there was no concern for the men, women, children and even babies who were brutally murdered by Hamas.  Awad said that Israel does not have the right to self-defense because he clearly does not believe that Israel has the right to exist at all.  He made that clear when he referred to the people of Gaza "walk(ing) free into their land."  What they did was break into land that is considered part of the territory of Israel.  By referring to that land as "their (the people of Gaza's) land," Awad is telling us that Israel should not exist.  This is no different from the chant "from the river to the sea Palestine will be free."  It would appear that the only rights that Jews have are to either be killed or leave Israel.    

Then, Awad attacks AIPAC (the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee) and "corrupt members of Congress."  Awad:  "We have to free so many people from the shackles of AIPAC and its affiliates who have sold the soul of America."  In an apparent attack on Biden's support for Israel, Awad goes on:  "For how much?  It is for how much AIPAC and its affiliates have been controlling the U.S. Congress...Unless we free Congress, we will not be able to free Palestine."

This is not much different from one of Ilhan Omar's many antisemitic comments, when she said "it's all about the Benjamins."  It couldn't be that Congress and the American people support Israel because of shared values, with Israel being the only democracy, and Western style country, in the Middle East.  

Awad:  "When we say 'if there is no cease-fire, there will be no votes for you in 2024 elections, we started to see the tone changing - and the position changing."  Also speaking with Awad was the director of American Muslims for Palestine, Osama Abuirshaid.  The Journal reports that at a rally on December 1, Abuirshaid said this:  "What they alleged that happened on October 7 turned out to be a lie.  Most of the (Israeli) civilians were killed by their own army."  Talk about a lie - disgusting!

And, proving that these people remain quite adept at propaganda, Awad said this:  "I ask young people:  be wise.  You are not in Palestine.  You are not in Gaza.  The language there doesn't work here."  It is the kind of language that we hear from the Muslim members of Congress.  They speak of the "human rights" of Palestinians, not of the atrocities committed against the Jews.  And, of course, they never say that it is Hamas that violates the human rights of the people of Gaza.  (Although, recent polling suggests that as much as 75% of the people of Gaza supported the atrocities committed by Hamas.)