A Black Friday Gift

As I torch a celebratory cigar on my back patio in the Northern California rain, I am reminded of an old Irish blessing: 

"May your glass be ever full

May the roof over your head be always strong

And may you be in Heaven

Half an hour before the Devil knows your dead"

Well, Fidel Castro was not Irish, so "no soup for him!"

"A quote from Huber Matos, who had fought alongside Fidel Castro in the Sierra Maestra: ”I differed from Fidel Castro because the original objective of our revolution was ‘Freedom or Death.’ Once Castro had power, he began to kill freedom.”

Matos spent 20 years in prison for voicing these concerns.

For the Gen X’ers, Millennials and beyond, I hope that you take note of the Cuban-American celebration in Miami and elsewhere in response to the death of Fidel Castro.  These are the people with first hand knowledge of a "Progressive" government.  Despite the failings of such governments, the marketing of socialist dictators as freedom fighters has been very successful to the point that we can find Black pop stars like Jay Z wearing the "Che Guevara" t-shirt even though Che was a documented racist.

Fidel Castro was a Communist killer (but I repeat myself), although he would argue, at times, that he was a Marxist.  In other words, he controlled everything in Cuba:  healthcare, education, food, energy, housing, speech, media, the internet, etc.  It was great for Castro, his family and those loyal to him, but it was a disaster for the Cuban people.  Total control is the Progressives wet dream.  So when you hear the term “Progressive” in this country, take note that in terms of individual freedom, it means “Regressive” for the people.  Please be sure to take note of the politicians and commentators in our country who speak or write glowingly of this monster or cut him slack for his crimes against humanity.  Think long and hard about whether or not you really should be aligned with them and their goals.  The Progressives in the USA have been indoctrinating students for generations and following it up with strong entertainment industry marketing.  In recent interviews at the University of Maryland, students who thought Barack Obama had been a successful President were asked to list his accomplishments.  The best answer they could produce was that Obama was "COOL".  That, folks, is the power of marketing.  No factual evidence of success, but he was a "real funny and cool cat".  Good grief, Charlie Brown!

Lastly, if you want to know how fantastically enjoyable it is to live under a big centralized Federal government, realize that it worked so well for the Cuban people that many were willing to jump on ramshackled rafts made up of old refrigerators, doors, scrap wood and inner tubes to risk crossing 90 miles of shark infested waters to escape it.  So much for safe spaces.  Open a book.  The history is all there to be read.

Castro is dead.  The world is a better place today.  I'm looking forward to the day when his brother, Raul, joins him.  Change is coming.

We Won't Get Fooled Again or Will We?

“Meet the new boss, same as the old boss” – Pete Townsend

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHhrZgojY1Q

Donald Trump was elected to be the 45^th President of the United States on November 8, 2016.  In the days since, there has been a complete melt down of Hillary Clinton supporters in both their personal lives and their public lives.  I promised myself in June 1994 that I would never be shocked by anything ever again after watching OJ flee across LA in the White Bronco.  This week came close.  It was truly a surreal feeling watching Trump march into the White House to meet with President Obama as has been standard protocol following an election.  I would not have been surprised if when he was asked to comment on the visit, Trump turned to Obama, pointed at him and said “You’re fired!”

For the curious voyeurs and schadenfreude enjoying Trump supporters, it has been a delicious week.  Witnessing people in their 50's, 40's, 30's and even 20's crying over spilt milk is entertaining, yet troubling.  I want to address those who are the meltees.  I am a Baby Boomer and have pretty much given up on Baby Boomer Progressives and older as it is just not worth the energy to try to open their closed minds at this point.  However, they cannot be completely ignored since they run the national media and have tremendous power with respect to how issues are framed.  My hope here is to reach the Gen X’s, Millennials, Gen Z’s and maybe even some Gen Alpha’s with this commentary.  My hope is that you realize there is still hope for you.

Why the intense fear of a President Donald J Trump?

Let’s get in the “way back” machine and travel to 2009 when the “TEA Party” became prominent in the news.  The Tea Party was a grass roots movement which mobilized specifically in response to the Federal government’s attempt to implement universal health care, but they were generally against the expansion of the Federal government which crawls into one’s personal space and then charges one for the privilege.  In hindsight, you will agree that they had legitimate concerns, yes?   Do you recall how the Tea Party members were portrayed in the media?  They were “stuck in the past”, “cranky old white people”, “wearing tri-corner hats”, “fearful of changing demographics” and “clutching their sacred copies of the Constitution”.

Why was mockery and disparagement aimed at this group?  They were portrayed as a bunch of old fools and the country would be better off the sooner they were dead.  Progressives wanted to speed up the clock on that one and be done with them.  That being said, the Tea Party PEACEFULLY protested as is allowed under that Constitution, but what were they trying to stop?  They were attempting to stop a Federal government from forcing them to act a certain way in their private lives.  In other words, they did not want their individual liberties infringed upon.  The Constitution was ratified after long deliberation among the States and two of the main concerns were:

1) the balance of power between the large populous States versus small populous States and

2) the risk of tyranny by a centralized, all too powerful Federal government

The “separation of powers” within the Federal government structure were designed to ensure that a tyrant could not come to power and rule over subjects – like a King.  So, by design, that old document written by slave holders prevents my choice for President from using coercive powers against you and your choice for President from using coercive powers against me.  In addition, it allows for change, but change is supposed to be deliberative and difficult such that changes are not made on a whim.  Any President proclaiming he/she “has a pen and is going to use it” to bypass an elected Congress is a danger to the country.

I expect and hope that Trump will use the pen to reverse the frequent times that Obama used the pen enacting rules via executive over reach.  After those reversals, I will oppose any such action because it is a danger to the USA for any President to wield this type of power.

So, why do people actively work to diminish the Constitution by pointing out that it was written by slaveholders and could not possibly foresee today’s technologies, etc?  It is because they want to Lord power over you and me.  They are not preaching freedom, but tyranny.  You will by health insurance even though you do not need it.  You will not smoke.  You will not say words which I find offensive.  You will not set your thermostat above 68 degrees.  You will not burn wood in your fireplace.  They are fascists.  So please, instead of learning history from the likes of “insert a celebrity here”, please do some research.  Read about the arguments among Jefferson, Adams, Madison, Hamilton, etc, etc.  Yes, some of them owned slaves, but that does not diminish their knowledge of human history and man’s desire for liberty.

The Constitution was designed to limit the powers of Donald J Trump just as it was designed to limit the powers of Barack H Obama.  Who is against that document?  Progressives!  Who wants to preserve that document? Conservatives!  This political battle is not about race, gender, etc as the Progressives would like to imply.  It is about liberty of the individual and tyranny by a government.  If anything is to be learned over the next 4 years, please understand that the Constitution is the individual’s friend – regardless of which side wins.