Is this the Swamp, part 2?

"We have a real mess in Washington right now, and if we don't fix it, we will (as Ben Franklin feared), lose the Republic."

When Donald Trump said he wanted to go to Washington to "drain the swamp", some thought that was only a campaign slogan, similar to MAGA. I mean, come on Mr. Trump! Washington can't be that bad! We all know there are some inside politics played in Washington, but a swamp? Well guess what? Donald Trump had it 110% correct. Not only was there a swamp waiting for him, but this swamp played for keeps. No rules, just sludge. And the swamp permeated just about every organization in Washington, even the DOJ, DHS, and intelligence agencies. 

Ever wonder why Donald Trump thought the 2020 election was rigged? Because everything else in Washington was slanted against him. The media, social media companies (especially Twitter), big money, the DNC, and (believe it or not), establishment Republicans. Rigging an election, fit the mold perfectly.  

What is being revealed right now by Elon Musk and Matt Taibbi is beyond shocking. It is jaw dropping, mic dropping, and everything else one could imagine to stun the audience. From what has been revealed so far, the FBI was working with Twitter (and probably other social media groups), to put their finger on the scale of justice. To tilt the election. To get rid of, and maybe destroy Donald Trump.

For reasons I will never understand, the swamp won, and Donald Trump lost. Donald Trump came into Washington as a disrupter, to drain the swamp and make America great again. But his calculus was wrong. The Swamp is made up of many people who are insular and protective of the status quo. They are out for enrichment of self, as well as self-aggrandizement. They don't give two poops and a holler about America - only themselves. Case in point. Donald Trump came to Washington as a wealthy man. He left not as wealthy. Most Democrats come to Washington not wealthy, and leave ultra rich (check out Nancy Pelosi).

So here we are. Our great country of MAGA is now just an expensive, crime infested mess. The Swamp wanted Joe Biden as POTUS. We got him, and now everything is broken. Biden does not just live in the Swamp - he is the Swamp. Don't think so? Just wait until Hunter's laptop is unwound when the Republicans take over the House. Biden's crimes against the state will make Donald Trump look better than a choir boy. Any American worth his or her salt, will know we have been had during the last Presidential election.  

Is this the Swamp, Part 2? I think I just answered that question. Anyone who thinks otherwise, might have been taking too many THC gummies. We have a real mess in Washington right now, and if we don't fix it, we will (as Ben Franklin feared), lose the Republic. 

  

Biden's "Woke" team of morons

"One final word about Sam (the flamer) Brinton. He finally got fired. I guess even for Biden, having this 'they' stealing luggage from terminals was too much to take. Will that take down Biden's ESG score? Time will tell." 

Did you hear the big news from California? Hint: It is not about Sam Brinton stealing luggage. This might be very huge news. Scientists at the Lawrence Livermore Labs in California, have finally able to mimic how a star produces nuclear fusion. So? If we can do that, economically, and safely, this might be the silver bullet we have been looking for in energy. Zero carbon footprint, and this will produce more energy than is used to extract that. This is so big, our ill qualified Energy Director, Jenifer Granholm, called a presser to talk about it. Or did she? She had a presser alright, but she wanted to discuss how "woke" the Energy Department has become. SMH...

This is how Biden's entire team of morons is wired. No qualifications for the job, but all have the gift of gab when it comes to "wokeness". Plus (and this is a huge plus for Smokin' Joe), they all are expert "gas lighters" also! Such a deal! And the worst gas lighter they have, is Mayorkas. His days are now numbered at DHS. He, as Hunter's laptop, are at the top of their list once the new Congress is sworn in.

Also yesterday, the ceremonies continued for the wonderful event called the "Respect for Marriage Act". This act allows anyone to marry anyone else, or anything else. Primarily it is targeted at gay folks. The hypocrisy of this act comes from the fact that Biden and company, are still playing footsie with the Saudis. They don't have a "Respect for Marriage Act" in Saudi Arabia. They simply toss gay people off of rooftops. And China? Biden's Crime Family's BFF? Don't even get me started on their human rights issues.

At least our military is "Woke". Really? And how are people reacting to this new found "wokeness"? See the recruiting goals from last year? Most services missed their goals by a lot. None however, more than the Army. The Pentagon's response? Yes, that is a concern, but the folks that remain in the military are being trained the right way! Equity, diversity, mandatory vaccinations, and gender fluidity. Are we ready to fight a war? To win a war? Who cares? What in the world do wars have to do with Biden's military? Our military is ready for something. Just look at our exit from Afghanistan.

One final word about Sam (the flamer) Brinton. He finally got fired. I guess even for Biden, having this "they" stealing luggage from terminals was too much to take. Will that take down Biden's ESG score? Time will tell. 

  

A hand down, not a hand up

"So just like the homeless we saw living on the streets in San Francisco, Hawaii has their homeless living on the beaches. Kind of like Tom Hanks in the movie 'Castaway'."

The Bird is finally back in his nest. I was away doing some research in another part of the country. Like - a "long way away" type of research. We went on a long awaited (for reasons beyond our control), cruise to Hawaii. I have said many times, that going on a cruise is more of a journey than a vacation. This time was no exception. Anyhow - what was learned about our 50th state, follows.

Our first landing was on Kona. Besides seeing the volcano from the ship, being on this part of Hawaii was just like the postcards - it was an island paradise. We went on a tour, conducted by a native Hawaii driver, who was both funny and informative. Riding on the bus, politics was the last thing on my mind. I was too busy looking at this island wonderland. But soon, I was taken back to reality.

On the way to a coffee plantation, I noticed a huge camping location on the beach. I thought that was interesting - a campground looked very out of place on a beach. There were surfers, sunbathers, and then - campers. On the way back from the plantation, we once again passed this campground. My curiosity got the better of me. In the middle of a story the bus driver was telling, I kind of interrupted him. "Why does Kona have a campground on a beach? It looks odd."

He got kind of quiet, and then explained something which made a lot of sense when it comes to how "blue" Hawaii is. "We have people who are down on their luck due to the economy. Rather than hassle them, we let them live where they can. Some choose the beach, because in Kona, nobody owns the beaches - they belong to everyone." 

So just like the homeless we saw living on the streets in San Francisco, Hawaii has their homeless living on the beaches. Kind of like Tom Hanks in the movie "Castaway". But here is the thing - in both San Francisco and Hawaii, where the average cost of a house is $1.5M, a big part of the population is left out. No upward mobility. In Hawaii, if you don't have the cheddar to buy any kind of house, find some sand, and pitch your tent. It was the clearest example of "rich man, poor man" that I have seen in any state. No middle class - just rich and poor living right next to each other. One in a huge beach house, the other in a tent on the beach.

Will this ever change? Will Hawaii ever become red instead of blue? Maybe at some time, when the people stuck in tents on the beach get tired of hand outs. Sometime, a hand up is all folks need. Opportunity. That being said, that might not be in the cards for Hawaii. They are mostly agribusiness and tourism dependent. If your skills do not lie in those two areas, opportunity in Hawaii might never come knocking. 

Bottom line? Hawaii is what it is. A nice place to visit, but to live there, is not my cup of tea. If you are mega-rich, maybe. But for most of us, Hawaii is a bridge, or should I say an island, too far. 

  

The (first) day everything changed...

"We are like the country was on December 6, 1941. Or September 10, 2001. Soft, vulnerable and unprepared. Have we learned from history? Hell no." 

Many call it our day of infamy. It was our first real "sucker punch". Did we deserve it? Not in the eyes of the vast majority of Americans. For the Japanese at that time, they might have had a different view. We were standing in the way of Axis expansionism. Some Japanese thought they could negotiate us into submission to their will. Others - not. In any event, on a sunny Sunday morning in December of 1941, the world, our world, changed.

The Japanese scored big. But not as big as they wanted to. Took out our battleships, other Navy ships, and many aircraft. But not our carriers. If they had taken out our carriers on that day, things might have turned out differently. But the damage caused was horrible enough. 

But what it really did, was to wake up a country who tried to support our allies without getting totally involved. Kind of like our support for Ukraine right now. When evil stalks the land, sitting on the sidelines can only work for so long. Ronald Reagan knew that. He did not want another Pearl Harbor on his watch. He took a broken Navy he inherited from Jimmy Carter, and modernized it and grew it. As a defense contractor for the Navy at that time, it made my days very busy. But a good busy it was. 

"Peace through strength". It was a great motto, and a great path for us to be on. We finally really woke up from the sucker punch from December 7, 1941. Or did we? Our "peace through strength" started to wane under Bill Clinton. Instead of trying to guess our enemies next moves before they happened, we were lulled into a false sense of security. Our military that Reagan started to rebuild did very well, thank you, under Bush (41) in the Gulf War. But after Bush (41), the "water started to leak out of the tub." Clinton, who once said he "loathed the military", had not changed much.

Bush (43) had barely taken office when 9/11 hit. It was not a Pearl Harbor. It was not military against military. It was terrorists against civilians. Even though the death toll was about the same as Pearl Harbor, it did (like Pearl Harbor), start our entry into another war - the "War on Terror". For a while, we took that new war very seriously. Then Bush (43) was out of office, and we had Barrack Obama. "Lead from behind" became our new marching orders. And once again, our military started to wane.

Then came Donald Trump. Like Reagan, he wanted a strong military. Why? He understood "peace through strength". But for Trump, a strong military was just part of his "MAGA" initiative. Unfortunately, an unfriendly Congress for the last two years of Trump's administration, thought that Trump, not the world's bad guys, was the enemy. That finally resulted in Trump losing re-election, and Obama's henchman, Joe Biden, become our new POTUS. And our military was turned into a DNC "woke" organization, instead of trained protectors. 

And that is where we are today. Are prepared from another Pearl Harbor or 9/11? Not a bit. We now have open borders, where anyone and anybody can come into our country. All kind of bad stuff can come out of this. But once again, the "sleeping giant" slumbers. Only under Biden, we are no longer a giant. We have shrunk in our stature and our readiness.

We are like the country was on December 6, 1941. Or September 10, 2001. Soft, vulnerable and unprepared. Have we learned from history? Hell no. 

  

Department of Home World Security?

"In any event, I will keep my ears open next time this subject comes up in media. Truthfully, the few times I have heard about it, I have not paid very close attention. Why not? I did not know if it was a real story, or something out of Babylon Bee." 

Before I get into the main course, let me first set the table by going back 2001. Specifically, 9/11/2001. The terror attacks. It was because of those attacks, this nation woke up and decided to take security more seriously. Thus was born, the Department of Homeland Security, better known as DHS. It has worked okay (just okay) until two years ago. That is when we had (some say a traitor) someone named Alejandro Mayorkas, appointed by Biden to that position. Since Mayorkas appointment, our "security" in the homeland, has been anything but. But with the new Congress coming in, his days might be numbered. 

Every now and again, I will hear or see an article (some done by valid sources), that we (as a globe), need to establish a Department of Home World Security. Now before you hang up the phone and call me a nut ball, please hear me out. A global Department of Home World Security would handle many emergencies, ranging from a rogue asteroid, to a super volcano eruption, to (gasp) a visit from ET. Right now we have very little in cohesiveness should there be a global emergency. Even the UN had brought this up. This is something we need to have fixed, sooner rather than later.

Speaking of asteroids hitting the Earth, did you know that an asteroid hit southern Canada (not far from Northern Minnesota) earlier this month? It was small, and burned up in the atmosphere prior to impact. But here is the news story. Our asteroid trackers picked it up (as small as it was) before it hit, and knew where it would hit. This is a huge development. This along with the successful "encounter" we made on a bigger asteroid, which changed its path, offers a ray of hope we might not have to go the way of the dinos.

Back to forming a Department of Home World Security. Now that I have described the "pie in the sky" on why to form it, the real hard part begins. Like, who will head it up? The UN? No, their pet rock right now is climate change. We would need to put our tribal instincts aside and try to come together as a species to figure this out. I know, I know. Russia is at war in Ukraine right now, and Red China might invade Taiwan at any time. How do we take the good guys and the bad guys, mix them together, and come up with a plan? Ouch. That is really going to be tough.

And if won't just be the power thing - it will also be the resource issue. Who contributes what. Who owns what? Who controls what? If ET comes calling, they might have fixed their tribal issues many thousands of years ago. We might come across as primitive to them, as bush people out of the Amazon are to us. They might decide just to exterminate us, rather than trying to deal our squabbling.

In any event, I will keep my ears open next time this subject comes up in media. Truthfully, the few times I have heard about it, I have not paid very close attention. Why not? I did not know if it was a real story, or something out of Babylon Bee. 

In the meantime, my interest will be pegged on our Department of Homeland Security. Before we tackle something globally, we must first fix this mess at home.  

This the season to be giving - and taking

"In 2023, the red states will continue to prosper, and the United States government will have some degree of sanity restored. Minnesota will continue to bleed money out of its blue veins, as the one speed bump we had in the Minnesota House - is now gone."

There really is something very magical about this time of year. Many people, no matter how cozy they are with a buck, become cheerful givers in December. It brings out the best in many of us, who gladly give some of our treasure to others, many of whom are in need. The old Biblical adage it is more blessed to give than to receive, really takes hold around Christmas time. 

Now that I have addressed the givers amongst us, dare I address the takers? Like, who in the world would be a taker during Christmastime? I will give you a hint. Some work in St. Paul, and some work in Washington, DC. They are the ones who have done nothing to help us amass any wealth, but are the first in line when it comes to taking some of it away. How so? 

For uncommitted money, this is the most dangerous time. For the feds, the old Congress is about to sunset. But - it is still November, and that leaves December and over half of January to perform dastardly their mischief. All kinds of crapola can be passed and signed into law by grandpa. And then it will be up to the new Congress to untangle as much of this goo as they can, if it can be at all. Meanwhile, we could end up with things as heinous as unfettered citizenship for illegals. Let that marinate for a while. That could change everything, for ever more.

Then of course, we have the Minnesota Democrats, some of the biggest thieves in the world. They are eyeing our surplus tax dollars, with evil intent. Keep in mind, this is NOT THEIR MONEY - it is ours. But the takers in St. Paul don't give two shouts and a holler about this minor detail. They are already planning to spend bunches more on education and climate hoaxes. Both are black holes with no bottom. Rather than ditch Social Security taxes on seniors, reducing tax rates, and giving us a gas tax holiday, they are ready to grab us by the short hairs - and squeeze.

These taxers, the minions have elected, make Scrooge look like the giving tree. These "citizens" have ice water running through their veins for the makers, and all kinds of faux compassion for the takers. We tried to vote the bums out, but there are way too many blue pill aficionados in Minnesota, who like to re-elect the crooks who broke the system (and our wallets) in the first place.

In 2023, the red states will continue to prosper, and the United States government will have some degree of sanity restored. Minnesota will continue to bleed money out of its blue veins, as the one speed bump we had in the Minnesota House - is now gone.

Walz will continue to fail, and consequently, so will we. 2023 promises to be a tough year up in the northland. We get the government we deserve, and I guess we deserve entropy. Proper stewardship of valuable tax dollars is now a thing of the past. We are stuck with Jessie James guarding the bank.

   

Thankful - to be an American

"Even though every day I try to remember how blessed we are to live in this country, tomorrow I will celebrate those blessings with a renewed passion. Am I proud to be an American? Every day. But especially tomorrow. It is going to be a wonderful day. A wonderful day to be an American." 

Those who have traveled outside these United States have learned the same truth I have learned. As nice as it is to visit far away lands, very few places (if any) are better than living in the USA. How so? Check out our southern border. We don't have people trying to escape from this country - on the contrary, we have hundreds, sometimes thousands a day, trying to sneak in. Why? The story of America has spread far and wide. We are the shining city on the hill - the beacon of freedom and liberty, for all to see.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. It is a day to count our blessings, and to be thankful for them. Truthfully, the amount of blessings we have in this country are almost beyond measure. Really? Are we that perfect of a country? Not a bit. Still much work to do, to become a "more perfect Union". Put putting that aside, we are still very good. Damned good, if I may let my language slip for a moment.

That being said, I am constantly reminded of that famous statement attributed to Ben Franklin. When asked right after the Constitutional Convention of 1787, what kind of a country do we have now - a monarchy or a republic, Franklin responded, "A Republic - if we can keep it." What did he mean by that? Just like a good marriage takes work to be successful, having a wonderful country like ours also takes work. And sacrifice at times. Letting our country coast in neutral is more than dangerous - it can be deadly to our form of government. These days, we really need to remember that.

Even in our own neighborhood, our country stands out, and gleams like a fine cut stone. Canada, as nice as it is, is basically a socialist country now. People at one time thought Canada and the United States were like twins. No longer true. And Mexico? Been there lately? It has turned out to be lawless and corrupt. Which is a shame, as it has such a rich heritage. Good, hard working people. Now it is a nest bed of drugs, trafficking, and gangs. Shame.

Even though every day I try to remember how blessed we are to live in this country, tomorrow I will celebrate those blessings with a renewed passion. Am I proud to be an American? Every day. But especially tomorrow. It is going to be a wonderful day. A wonderful day to be an American.