The Fool on the Hill

"Who is the fool on the hill today? Soon, the number of fools on that hill might be too many to count. But they will be there. For all to see."     

Back when I was a youth, the group Sergio Mendes & Brazil 66 released a song called Fool on the Hill. It had a nice beat, and I kind of liked it. A young lady I was just starting to see, gave me that record on one of our first dates. She said the song reminded her of me. What does that mean? I am just going to leave the rest of that story, right here. I still wonder what she meant by that...

What and who is a fool on the hill? I have thought about that over the years from time to time. To me, a "fool" is someone who just does not get it. Someone who is clueless. We have all known a fool (or fools) as sometime in our lives. Sometimes we too, have been foolish, done foolish things. It is always good and natural to try and hide our foolishness ways. But to be a fool on the hill, means (to me at least), your foolishness is on display for all to see. 

Much has been made of the age of our president as of late. Even Charlamagne recently had some disparaging words about the president's age. And it was not just him. It seems that this subject is circulating around the black community. The black community, which has always been a slam dunk supporter for Democrats in just about any election, is very soft right now on support for this current president. He is too old to run again - way, way too old. And because of his age, he tends to act foolish. 

But that about age - the thing none of us can stop or change. Policies can be modified, but age is an absolute. Being more foolish as you age is something many cannot help. That being said - the president right now may be a fool, but he is not the biggest fool on the hill.

The biggest fool on the hill would be the president's son, Hunter. And all of a sudden, after years of festering, all the garbage in Hunter's laptop, is coming home to roost. And thus, the indictments are starting to pile up. It looks like the fruits from all those years of foolish behavior and deeds, are now knocking at Hunter's door.

Hunter, the biggest fool on the hill, might have allowed his foolishness to taint many members of his family. Is this the match which will light the Biden Crime Family on fire? It could be. This might be the wet blanket which will put a pall on the 50 years of Joe's government service. If Joe was a big player in this scheme, if he was in fact the "Big Guy", then age or not age, Joe will be standing on the hill of fools right next to Hunter.

Who is the fool on the hill today? Soon, the number of fools on that hill might be too many to count. But they will be there. For all to see.     

Ronald Reagan, where art thou?

"The Republicans should be able to win big this next election. Did I use the word 'should'? That is, if the Republicans can stay away from the circular firing squad and remember who the real enemy is." 

What a mess! And I mean a mess! I was at a church meeting last night, so I was not able to watch any of the unwatchable debate. That was a blessing. I did however, see some of the highlights (or should I say lowlights) once it was over. Who won last night? Joe Biden. Who lost last night? Ronald Reagan. Reagan? Why do you say that? The eleventh commandment. The four people at the debate last night, walked all over that commandment, spit on it, and did it dirt. So much for not speaking ill of another Republican. 

Since I am "venting my spleen" just a bit, here is another issue I have with the Grand Old Party. I am not a George Santos fan - far from it. However, he was part of our very skinny majority in the House. He already declared he was not running for re-election. He was a dependable vote for the majority. Kicking him out of the House and cutting our majority down to 3, was stupid. The Democrats would have NEVER done that. And then, because Kevin has hurt feelings, he just resigned. That takes our majority down to two people. I guess we don't "take one for the Gipper" anymore.

Back to the debate. Some say that Christie was the "adult in the room" last night. If so, I would say "barely". The smartest thing that Trump has done since his term was up, was to stay 100 miles away from these debates. He has not been hurt by these debates - not one little inch. But the remaining four who were on the stage sure have. It is one thing to highlight a policy difference you might have with a fellow Republican; it is quite another to call that person fat. Or corrupt. 

Right now, if we can keep Donald Trump out of jail (based on the many Deep State falsehood charges), he should "run the table". It has become quite evident that despite all of Trump's personality flaws, and how they piss some people off, he has the chops to do the job (again). And the left, falling for this "dictator" BS, is enough to put me in stitches from laughter. Trump has always known how to troll the left, and he did it again with his statement "I will be a dictator for one day" statement. The left went after that bait harder than a Northern Pike goes after a wounded frog. 

The Republicans should be able to win big this next election. Did I use the word "should"? That is, if the Republicans can stay away from the circular firing squad and remember who the real enemy is. Failure to do so, will give us another four years of dementia and corruption. With our borders being wide open for another four years, it will effectively end our country as we knew it. 

That is the real enemy folks - not other Republicans. My momma always told me, if you can't say something nice about someone, keep your mouth shut. And Will Rogers said, "It is better to keep your mouth shut in an argument when you are accused of being an idiot, than to open your mouth and take away all doubt." Or Ronald Reagan - "Don't speak ill of other Republicans." Come on team - we can do better!

    

Tied up in knots

"Any standing, the loony left once might have had, is now gone with the wind. It is too bad an event this horrible had to expose these people. But expose them it did."  

I hate to say it, but I am delighting in seeing how the Democrats, in particular POTUS, is (are) tied up in knots. Why? Over what pray tell? The Israel thing. The war. The abuse and raping of Jewish women. The party of the "me too" movement from years ago, does not know how to respond to the new party of "no Jew". All of a sudden, the Jewish people are persona non grata - even though forensic evidence has shown them to be absolute victims from the carnage of October 7th. 

Islamophobia is the new buzz word in the party of victimhood. At one time being an antisemite would be a good place to start. But no longer. It seems that being an antisemite went out with the Dodo Bird. Now it is Muslims and Islamists all day long. AND - if you support Palestine from the occupiers (Israelis), that is another feather in your cap. Only one problem - the Israelis are not occupiers in Gaza. Israel owns the land. But who cares about the details? 

Ready for this one? The video evidence of the attack was shown at the UN, to try and engender some angry reaction - any reaction. And it did! But only with Hillary Clinton, Kirsten Gillibrand and some other women from the old Democrat Party. To them, what happened was jaw dropping - totally unacceptable. The very embarrassing question was then raised - women's groups - where are you? Or as Bibi put it, "Where the hell are you!" Not a good day for the party of victimhood.

Did you hear how Joe Biden condemned this horrific act of violence against Jewish women in Israel? No? I didn't either. Seems the cat got old Joe's tongue. There was some kind of equivocation statement coming from the White House that all sexual violence should be condemned. Then one of the oddballs from the Squad said something like this violence happens on both sides of the war. WRONG!

I, like most, have not seen the videos of the carnage. I have heard about it. The rapes were combined with heinous acts of debauchery. Carnal acts which are too gross to describe. I will say this - cutting off a woman's breasts during sex was only one of the horrific things which were done. Many women were killed either during or right after the rape. Some of the heartless souls who committed this attack, might have even participated in necrophilia.

Here is the bottom line. There is rape, there is violent rape, and then there is the carnage which happened on October 7th. The violence against women on October 7th, made the previous "me too" infractions look like a kiss on the cheek. Where are the protesters who hounded Brett Cavanaugh for doing basically nothing? Hello? NOW? Code Pink? Emily's List? Any of the performance artists on the left - where are you? 

Here is the bottom line. As horrible as October 7th was, one of the things it did do was open up the hypocrisy of the loony left. Opened it up just like a filleted fish. Any standing, the loony left once might have had, is now gone with the wind. It is too bad an event this horrible had to expose these people. But expose them it did.  

New state flag contest

"Anyhow, I like my flag. I hope it wins. If not, whatever flag wins should be flown upside down. Why? It is the international sign of distress. Thanks Tim Walz, for giving us this mess."       

I probably should have disclosed this earlier. I have entered the new state flag contest. Since the resident vexillologists have determined the previous finalists were (how do I say this nicely) - underperforming, I have decided to throw my hat in the ring. It did not take me long at all to come up with a flag which really shows the true essence of Minnesota. Forget the North Star and some prairie farmer tilling up rows of farmland - I think I have it nailed down. Today, Minnesota is all about fleecing the makers and edifying and enriching the takers. So, my flag shows dollar signs, just flapping in the wind, waiting to be blown away.

I am amazed that someone else had not come up with this one. I mean, this is a state which just a year or so ago, had overtaxed the makers by almost 20 billion dollars. And instead of giving most of it back, the current overlord of this state, along with a myriad his willing socialists in the legislature, peed all this overtaxed money away. Well - that is not really true. The makers did get pennies on the dollar back in the form of a "rebate".

I have often wondered how the DNA of our current overlord works. It is so different than the Governor of Florida (for example). We like to wring every last penny out of the subjects who live in this state. Florida on the other hand, likes to enrich its residents. And that seems to work just fine, thank you. The number of people moving into Florida is staggering. The number of people who have moved out of Minneapolis over the past three decades is almost 100,000.

I just read an article about life in the overtaxed prairie state of Minnesota. The current demographers are projecting a further diminution of population over the next ten years. Not with everyone - the bleeding hearts will continue to beg the takers to live here. Don't think so? Just take a drive down by Cedar Riverside. And - with the takers, will come more crime. But don't worry - the bleeding hearts have successfully gotten rid of many of the local cops. Now the downtown area is a "no-go" zone after dark. Some areas are even a "no-go" zone all day long.

Anyhow, I like my flag. I hope it wins. If not, whatever flag wins should be flown upside down. Why? It is the international sign of distress. Thanks Tim Walz, for giving us this mess.       

Conflicting messages by conflicted people

"But wait? What about our windmills? Won't they help? To make a difference which really makes a difference, we are years, maybe decades away from wind energy being a player. Until then, we have coal - and lots of it."

Did you know, our somewhat haughty Climate Czar (whatever that is), was over in Dubai representing our country at the climate conference? This is the conference that Biden intentionally skipped, as he did not want to get called out over his oil drilling. So, Biden sent Kerry instead. Kerry - he is the guy with numerous houses, cars and a private jet. And then, when the conference was almost over, Kerry dropped a bombshell on the crowd. "We need a worldwide ban on coal! Like right now! As a mature person, I can't believe we are still drilling for coal and letting it kill people!"

Another conflicted statement uttered by a conflicted person. Here is the problem Mr. Kerry. In our world, coal is still king in many countries. It is the lifeblood of industry and heating. In fact, this year, we are projected to use 8 billion metric tons of coal - for the first time ever. Banning coal, would plunge parts of our world into total darkness. But John Kerry does not care. He has a private jet which is powered by fairy dust. Zero carbon fairy dust. 

But wait! Kerry and company are part of the band of ideologues who are advocating for electric cars. You know - the cars which run on batteries. But wait! What charges the batteries? Fairy dust? Not quite. The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) last week published an ominous forecast. Half our gird faces problems this winter due to (get ready for it) - shortages of power. And that is with hardly any EV charging stations. But who cares? We still get 18% of our energy for our grid from coal. So, does it not make perfect sense for John Kerry to want to make that 18% illegal to mine? Ladies and gentlemen, these are the morons who are currently in charge of our country. They don't think.

But wait? What about our windmills? Won't they help? To make a difference which really makes a difference, we are years, maybe decades away from wind energy being a major player. Until then, we have coal - and lots of it. Will there come a time when we no longer need coal to power our grid. Yes - but not now.

Why then, do we still get conflicting messages from the conflicted people who are running our government? Are they really that naive? That clueless? Here is the bottom line. Even Joe Biden is starting to get it. To take some political pressure off himself about the high price of everything (which he caused), Biden has authorized as much oil drilling as Donald Trump did. Wala! All of a sudden, the price of a gallon of gasoline has fallen down close to $3. Oil, the evil fossil fuel that candidate Biden threatened to kill, is now Biden's best friend.

Our advice to John Kerry? Just shut your pie hole! You are not helping! Just retire, go live in your mansion on Martha's Vineyard, and then go wind surfing. Leave our coal alone. We need it. Believe it or not Mr. Kerry, you need it also.   

Is there joy in Mudville?

"We were made for joy. We are wired for joy. Joy belongs in us, and we need to have joy. How do you know when you have unbridled joy? Trust me - you will know."   

I have told this story before. Many years ago, while serving in the Navy and stationed on Okinawa, one of my shipmates was named Joey. There was something different about Joey - not in a bad way at all. As the saying goes, sailors are capable of bitching and moaning about many things - and on Okinawa, living on an Army base, that list was long and sometimes endless. Except for one thing - Joey did not partake in the moaning and groaning. He may not always have been happy, but he always had joy. How was that possible?

Joey was a follower of Christ. I can say with certainty, back then, over there, many were not. But Joey was, and he was not ashamed of it - not one bit. Back then, my faith was paper thin. Joey did not care - he often invited me to go to church with him at the base chapel, when we did not have duty. 

Joey is one of those people who had an impact on my life. He was a friend to me. He liked me and loved me as a brother, even when I was very unlikable and unlovable. Joey weathered the ups and downs, but never lost his joy. I lost contact with Joey decades ago, but his impact on me still stands. And now that my faith is much deeper and stronger than it once was, I understand joy.

I have often thought about joy since meeting Joey. Like, what is it? What exactly is joy? Why do some have joy in their hearts and other do not? Vexing questions for sure. But one thing I have realized. Joy and happiness are not the same. They usually exist at the same time, but they are not the same. Why? Happiness is a temporary state. Some things can make you happy, some might make you unhappy. But joy in your heart is a constant. It is a gift from God. A gift from the Holy Spirit. As followers, we are to show our joy. It is the easiest way to witness who and what we are.

One of my favorite hymns is I've Got the Joy. It addresses two very important gifts from the Spirit - unbridled joy, and the peace that passeth all understanding. Some remember this hymn from church, some may not. Part of it goes as follows:

I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy,

Down in my heart,

Down in my heart to stay...  

If you have the joy in your heart, you are blessed, If you do not, it is something you can ask for, while in prayer. Joy is our beacon for others to notice - hopefully, for others to follow. It is the best medicine we can have while living in this troubled world. Is there joy in Mudville, as the old expression goes? Many times, there is not - but there should be. 

We were made for joy. We are wired for joy. Joy belongs in us, and we need to have joy. How do you know when you have unbridled joy? Trust me - you will know.   

 

Branding the hostages

"Knowing that Hamas tortured and branded the children held hostage, should fill the IDF fighters with even more of an angry resolve. I am sorry that innocents need to die in this military action - but if they do, it is all on Hamas. They lit the match."

Could someone please tell me again why it is wise to trust a group of cold-blooded killers like Hamas?  This is a group of thugs whose name translated literally means "violence". Now that the Israelis have some of the hostages back home, the tales of abuse are beginning to leak out. They were mistreated. Can't say their treatment was not in accordance with the Geneva Convention, as this group of thugs is not an Army. They are terrorists. As such, there are no Geneva Convention rules. 

And now after seven days of getting back about 100 hostages, the IDF is once again laying siege to the Gaza Strip. If this is what it takes to eradicate this bunch of soulless killers, then let "er" rip. After what Hamas did to Jewish babies on October 7th, nothing more should surprise me or sicken me. But it has. It seems Hamas branded the hostage children with the red-hot tailpipes from motorcycles. Why? So just in case some escaped, they could be identified as Jewish hostages.

Now that the war has picked up again, the gnashing of teeth in the Biden administration can be heard all over the land. Why? Biden is sitting on a civil war within his party. Some Democrats blame Israel for the October 7th attack (please don't ask me why), and other Democrats still support Israel. But the people who mystify me the most, are the ones in the middle. The "Rodney King" crowd. "Can't we all just get along?" Or "Can't we just forgive and forget?". Just the horrors of the Holocaust can never be forgotten, neither can the carnage of October 7th. As Bibi said after the attack, "Every member of Hamas is a dead man walking". 

Knowing that Hamas tortured and branded the children held hostage, should fill the IDF fighters with even more of an angry resolve. I am sorry that innocents need to die in this military action - but if they do, it is all on Hamas. They lit the match. Israel did not start this war, but they will finish it. 

One more thing. Have you noticed how Biden has changed on this war? Right after the carnage happened, Biden was almost a hawk. 100% behind Israel. Then the protests started. And day by day, you could see Biden start to weaken. The absolutes which were coming out of his mouth, now became equivocations and prevarications. In other words, Biden once again, turned into a 81-year-old squish. His support if Israel is now tepid, at best.

I would like to feel sorry for Hamas, but I can't. Time to reap what you have sown. The hangman is at your doorstep, and justice is about to be served. Sorry if this sounds harsh, but some of us can still tell good from evil.