The Video Chairman Nadler Doesn't Want You to See!

New York Congressman Jerrold Nadler, Democrat of course, has claimed that the protests throughout our nation are generally peaceful and it is a "myth" to characterize them otherwise.  Of course, this "gentleman" also previously denied the existence of the fascist group Antifa. This blatant lie regarding the "peaceful protests" is further promulgated to the ignorant public by socialist Democrats in the main stream media.  They want you to believe that any violence being done is by police on peaceful protesters simply exercising their constitutional rights. 

Nowhere does the U.S. Constitution or common decency allow arson, physical attacks, looting, running over people with vehicles, and the destruction of public and private property.  That should be obvious, but I know real civics is no longer taught in school these days so I figured I'd address this as a public service announcement.

I think that the brave law enforcement officers that are trying to protect people and property have been exceedingly patient and very measured in their responses to the horrific violence perpetrated against them and public/private property. 

This small but very vocal minority of mainly snot-nosed white millenial rioters has been allowed to go on for way too long.  The vast majority of silent Americans will eventually stand up and do something about it.  I pray that this includes capturing the House, Senate, and Presidency in less than 100 days.

This inexcusable rioting should now be met with all necessary force, including reciprocal lethal force as required, to shut it down in Portland, Seattle, and wherever else it occurs.  When industrial fireworks are launched at property with people inside and the doors are blocked intentionally by rioters like what has been done at the Mark Hatfield federal courthouse in Portland, this alone amounts to lethal force on the rioters behalf.  This is not protesting and if you don't know the difference between that and rioting, then you are part of the problem.

In related news, Somalia, Afghanistan and Venezuela have issued travel warnings for the former United States.

The 21 Tenets of Faith for the Woke Crowd

To be an accepted member of the congregation of the enlightened woke leftist faith, one must have unwavering and inarguable belief, regardless of all facts and evidence to the contrary, in all of the following tenets of the "faith":

1. The Orange Man is evil.

2. The "protests" are peaceful.

3. BLM (the organization) is legitimate and really cares about all black lives.

4. There is no deep state.

5. Jeffrey Epstein really did kill himself.

6. There are many more than two sexes and they can be fluid.

7. There was Russian Collusion.

8. The Chinese Government is our friend.

9. Socialism is great; it just hasn’t been done right yet.

10. The 1619 project is true and based on solid research.

11. All police are evil - ACAB right?

12. Systemic racism exists everywhere.

13. White people are bad.

14. Reparations are owed.

15. Conservatives are evil.

16. God doesn’t belong anywhere in society.

17. The Corona virus isn’t being used as a political weapon.

18. The mainstream media reports the truth and CNN is a legitimate source of objective news.

19. Trump was not spied on by Obama.

20. George Soros isn’t a bad guy and isn’t bankrolling traitorous and seditious organizations.

21. Abolishing the police and prisons will make for a safer, and more lawful society.

And of course the greatest commandment, under which all of the other tenets fall, is the United States of America is bad!

If one does not believe in this woke doctrine, then one is a heretic and an enemy to be cancelled... or worse.  One can only wonder how much crazier the left woke crowd will become if Donald Trump does win reelection.  Their righteous faith will cause them to rise up with even greater anger, chaos, and destruction if a majority of voting Americans don't tow their dogmatic woke line.  The wailing and gnashing of teeth will be tremendous, if this comes to pass. 

Actual prayers to God for His protection and healing love to once again make us one nation under God may be the very best way to weather this wrong-headed and sometimes evil "faith" confronting our country. I am not saying that this "wokeness faith" is of Satan's designs, however, I have to think that Lucifer is smiling at the destruction and hate that it is sowing.

Tony Perkins: Like a Mob to the Flame

I was going to express my thoughts on this very topic, but The Family Research Council's Tony Perkins somehow surreptitiously got into my mind and wrote exactly what I was thinking.  No sense in me reinventing the wheel here.

"It looked like something out of a 2015 news report -- a picture from ISIS, maybe, torching its way through Mosul. But the charred pews and collapsed roof were not the work of Islamic terrorists, but America's own. Over the weekend, the rioters, the same ones who wanted us to believe their cause is justice, came for our churches -- using gasoline, lighters, gallons of paint, and vans to drive their message of destruction and chaos through the heart of America's faithful..."

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I Am From...

I am from a modest, cozy white house with a huge fireplace that my grandpa built with beautiful stone. 

I am from a small town in southern Oregon where the pear trees in the orchard behind our home bloomed.

I am from an elementary school where my best friend of second grade is still my best friend forty-five years later.

I am from a place where honor and doing the right thing were taught and simply expected.

I am from Rainy Pass high up in the remote, wild, and beautiful north Cascade Mountains on the Pacific Crest Trail.

I am from Boy Scout Troop 530, back when the Boy Scouts still helped boys become good men.

I am from giving my dad backrubs to ease the pain as he battled cancer.

I am from Willamette National Cemetery where my father now rests after finally succumbing to that horrific disease when I was only twelve.

I am from a high school where my education back then still far surpasses what I see produced from many colleges and universities today.

I am from my Mom who taught me by example to take care of the family and work hard.

I am from Puerto Rico, Okinawa, and the Middle East, as I roamed the world with the Navy.

I am from Hurricane Hugo, Hurricane Fran, Typhoon Nelson, and Desert Storm as I helped those in need.

I am from longing for the quietness of the country while still having to work in the city.

I am from being scared to death holding my newborn baby girl and wondering if I would be a good dad.

I am from designing, building, and optimizing cell phone networks across the entirety of this nation.

I am from Oregon, California, Virginia, North Carolina, and Utah as places I have called home.

I am from a father, grandfathers, uncles, and myriad ancestors that fought for America and the very best of the ideals for which she stands.

I am from the loneliness and grief of burying my late wife who took her own life.

I am from coming to know our Lord and finding out that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, after the futility of atheism. 

I am from the overwhelming joy of loving a perfect woman for me, and her inexplicably loving me in return.

I am from longing for clear mountain streams with only the trout and deer as neighbors.

I am from a fishing rod that my beloved bought for me and I have still not found the time to use.

I am from an upbringing where women are to be respected.

I am from a place where as a child my elders were to be addressed as sir and ma’am.

I am from untouched and seldom seen wildernesses across the West.

I am from tickling my grandkids, watching Pixar movies with them, and threatening to take their X-Box.

I am from playing orange ball with my sweet Border Collie.

I am from a pair of old worn down cowboy boots and country music on my pickup’s radio.

I am from the saddle of a horse next to my beloved wife in Waterton National Park, and giving her a kiss in front of the Trevi Fountain in Rome.

I am from the gratitude that God blessed me to be born in America.

I am from the oath that I would support and defend her and her constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic; an oath that I never saw an expiration date on when I left the military.

I am from the ashes from which God made me and to which I will one day return.

I am from sin that His grace alone can redeem me from with His perfect love.

I am from being blessed far more than I ever deserved.

Black Lives Matter

Black lives matter. Absolutely they do! The amount of melanin in one’s skin pigmentation does not add nor diminish to the inherent dignity and worth of any human life.  Of course, black lives matter.  The phrase itself is uncontroversial and inarguable to my mind. Every person is a child of God and created in His image.  As such, racism is a sin and a pernicious evil that is not to be tolerated by decent people of any color.

Now, the organization of Black Lives Matter is another thing altogether.  They are founded by self-professed “trained Marxists” who seem bent on destroying capitalism, religion, social mores, the nuclear family, and the very foundation of America.   One prominent Black Lives Matter leader told a news reporter just two weeks ago that the group is willing to embrace violence.  And they have proven this repeatedly in the ensuing weeks.  

Black Lives Matter (the organization) is not about black lives.  They could not care less about the dozens of black people killed every single week in Chicago, Baltimore, Seattle, Minneapolis, New York, Los Angles, and elsewhere in our country at the hands of others that aren’t police officers.  (Every city of which is governed by Democrats, but that is an entirely different matter… or not.)  They certainly don’t do ANYTHING to help improve the lives of Americans of color.  Indeed, if they wanted to help black Americans, they would realize that capitalism, faith, and the rule of law has brought unparalleled prosperity and peace to people of color in this country, especially in the past three years.  But BLM, the organization, only wants to foster hate and division when a black person is killed by a police officer.  It is a pretext for “burning the whole thing down” as one member said.

If a police officer is wrong in using deadly force on ANYONE, I am right there with you in protest and demanding justice --- just like every other decent American is, regardless of color.  What the rioting, burning, looting, shooting, and destruction of property largely by snot-nosed suburban white kids marching under the BLM banner does is to harm this cause for justice.  They are not about justice.  They want an excuse to engage in chaos, anarchy, and mayhem.  That turns the vast silent majority of Americans against them specifically and dilutes a just message by righteous protesters that then becomes lost in the ashes of rioting.

Further, the idiot rioters further prove their ignorance of history, or perhaps just display the fact that they don’t give a damn about it, as they tear down or vandalize statues of Fredrick Douglas, Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, Columbus, and even a damned statue of an elk in Portland last week.  A freaking elk!  I was not aware that the elk were the most racist creatures in the forest.  The bottom line is that this not about black lives mattering.  It is about furthering a Marxist, godless agenda.

Teaching our kids that racism is a pernicious evil is the responsibility of all good parents.  Teaching them or allowing them to be taught that Marxist antifa and BLM groups which espouse violence and have very little to do with denouncing actual racism is a gross abrogation of parental duties.

I know this nonsense is commonplace as taught in our schools and colleges by teachers and professors with a militant leftist agenda these days.  America is always bad to these people and they indoctrinate and infect our students with this verifiably false load of crap.  Truth is the very first casualty in this socialist revolution that is bound to fail.

Sadly, there is real racism in America, but it is far more the exception than the rule.  It is NOT systemic, even in nearly all of the police forces throughout our nation.  We should be concentrating on eradicating real racism through an education of actual facts of history and current events instead of made-up and debunked agenda-driven programs like the 1619 project and BLM rhetoric.  How does a nation elect a black president and people of color to all offices throughout this country if it is overwhelmingly racist?  

What happened to George Floyd was horrific.  That said, the officers involved were fired, jailed, and will face punishment for their parts in his murder.  Every single decent person that saw that video agrees with that, regardless of color.  Mr. Floyd did not deserve to die and I fully support the righteous anger of the PEACEFUL protesters to that purpose.  They are preaching to the choir though, as I said, every decent person already agrees with them. 

We achieve nothing when Americans are busy hating America. Further violating the rule of law will only usher in a new Jacobian version of the “French revolution” here on American soil, except the ending for the radicals will be much different here.  Despite what the progressives teach in schools these days, there is a distinct difference between the American Revolution and the French Revolution.  Our revolution led to a representative republic based on the ideal that all men are created equal.  The French revolution, which the mob today is emulating, led to the Reign of Terror.  

It is heart-wrenchingly sad when so many ignorant, arrogant, and thuggish people want to burn down the nation simply so they can “govern” over the ruins.  The overwhelmingly vast majority of Americans are better than that, and while once again we are a sleeping giant, the righteous anger of Americans of all colors will eventually cause us to stand up and protect this divided nation from a small vocal and dangerous minority of anti-American would-be insurrectionists from within.  The first step is for good people to stand up together and say enough.  History has proven in past such incidents that We The People will indeed do so. 

Sooner rather than later would be better.

He's Baaack!

A little less than two years ago, I decided to mothball my blog, Saving Common Sense.  I had enjoyed writing and conversing for over nine years over the interwebs via that blog with many fine people of all faiths, colors, creeds, sexual orientations, and political persuasions.  Indeed, I met many good people, some of which I consider friends to this day because of that blog.  And yes, some of those friends are left-leaning in contrast to my own unabashedly conservative, God-fearing, pro-American views.

While I always support the right of people to disagree with me and express their thoughts or feelings on any given subject, in line with our first amendment rights, it grew wearisome as the precursors to today’s cancel culture were already being exhibited on the very pages of my own blog by some commenters.  It was because of the hate and unadulterated anti-American vitriol that was being lobbed daily on these very pages in the comment sections that I decided to shut down activity on my beloved blog on 9/11/2018.

Over the course of the last two years there have been many times when I thought to myself regarding some current event or happening in life that I should return to blogging once again.  Lately with the ever-increasing wellspring of militant leftist hate and destruction and the direct effects of it on my own family, I thought now is the time to return to blogging.  If nothing else, I figure it will be cathartic for me to put my thoughts to printed word.  As such, rather than simply start a new blog, I figured I would re-imagine my old blog and build upon it, just as we do throughout all of the junctions and turning points in our own lives by building on past experiences with new growth and realizations throughout life.

But what to call the new blog?  I have always been a proud American and student of American history.  I realize that America is not without its flaws, just like every last single country on this earth.  The difference is America has always championed the ideal that all men are created equal, even if this was not realized for all Americans from the beginning.  That said, America does always try to right its wrongs, and because of that, it is the beacon of prosperity and liberty that it is today for a vast majority of Americans.  I have traveled to many countries during my life and have seen some wondrous sights, experienced amazing cultures, and met fantastic people, but I have come to realize that I far prefer the liberties and freedoms that have made America that shining city on a hill to so many people in the world, which given the chance, they would flock.  In light of that, I thought that I am indeed unabashedly American; hence the name of the new blog.

It is my intention to keep things a little different this time though.  I am not going to allow the high-jacking of my own site by leftist trolls who insist upon ideological purity and agreement with their manifesto or otherwise branding dissenters as “enemies” to be attacked or destroyed.  In the past, I tried to let a free flow of comments without moderation rule the day; that will not be the case in the new iteration of my blog. 

As always, I am not afraid of contrary or dissenting opinions.  Indeed, I am human and fallible.  If you can make a cogent argument supported by actual facts, perhaps I may be convinced of the error of my ways.  If you make comments that are intentionally bombastic, inflammatory, and hateful, then I will put your comment in the dustbin where it belongs so that it never sees the light of day on my blog.  You can post that drivel on your own site, thank you very much.

I look forward to sharing my thoughts with you and hopefully hearing yours in return, again even if they are contrary to my own.  I hope to have a thoughtful discussion on current events, politics, faith, life, and hopefully on more light-hearted fare such as joyful life events and travel.  I hope all people of good will shall join me on this latest journey.  Cheers!