Unforgivable

"At the end of the day, none of us will really pass the purity test. Even the ones ripping down and destroying statues. God help us."   

A man whom is a frequent speaker in the Twin Cities area has an interesting story and history. He make a big mistake when he was younger. So big, he spent many years in prison. But now he is out, he has turned his life around, paid his debt to society, and hell bent on doing good for the rest of his days. But - is he truly forgiven? He can't vote. He has this blot on his record. As good as this man in right now, and he is very good, is he truly forgiven?

We are in the middle right now of a very important national debate. And it all started with a demonstration in Virginia over a Civil War statue. Then all of a sudden, everyone with a history in this country is suspect. All history is being scrutinized. Everyone is getting the acid test, the purity test. And many of the people in our history are not passing the test. Get ready folks - this is far from over. 

We already know some black minister in Chicago asked the Mayor to remove a statue of George Washington. Why? Big time slave owner. Was that a sin back then? Probably would have been, but it was common. What about all the good things Washington did for this young country? Tough toenails. As the saying going, one "oh crap!" wipes out a whole bunch of good things done. The verdict on Washington? Unforgivable.

Next up? The signers of the Declaration of Independence. It is a bit unclear how many who signed this founding document were slave owners. One area I looked at thought it is was only 1/3 of them. Another thought it was 41. In any event, if slave owners had been exempt from signing the Declaration, we would have been in big trouble - and probably also still living under a king.

What we have learned from seeing how our President has been pummeled is instructive. One can have nothing to do with owning slaves, not belong to a hate group, not be a racist, and still be guilty as sin. Just ask President Trump. Our national purity test continues. Forgiveness for the unforgivable? Not here. Not now. 

Two of the darlings of the Democrats are also in the on-deck circle. The architect of the New Deal and the builder of the Great Society. FDR may have helped us win WW II, but he unlawfully imprisoned thousands of innocent Japanese Americans while doing it. Unforgivable. LBJ may have signed the Civil Rights Bill of 1964 as well as crafting the Great Society, but how he treated and talked about people of color behind the scenes was cruel beyond description. Unforgivable. 

Just like many of the people we learned about in the Bible were flawed, many of the people in our history were also flawed. My thought is once we get done re-writing our national history, and getting rid of everyone who does not cut the mustard, we will then go after the Bible. Lots of work to do there.

Speaking of the Bible, besides being full of flawed people, the Bible also has a very important lesson for all of us. We are not to live in the land of the unforgivable - rather we are to practice total and absolute forgiveness. Why? Because we all need it.

At the end of the day, none of us will really pass the purity test. Even the ones ripping down and destroying statues. God help us all.   

Mixed Race

"We can accept the fact that we are all blended (that includes you Barack, who at the least is half white and half black), or we can look for fissures in the cracks to divide us further. We all came to this country to assimilate and then congregate - not segregate. There are no clearer terms I can use." 

Interesting discussion at lunch today. What race are we? Why is that important? Well, it seems that race is the discussion de jour. Why today? Because many of us are of mixed race. That would be including President Obama. And maybe even President Trump. Maybe every President. In any event - most of us are "Heinz 57".

What is the bottom line on race? Only one race that counts. The human race. Did we muck up the race thing in the 1700's and 1800's? Yep. Did we still muck it up in the 1900's? Unfortunately, yup again. However, we should have it down to a pat in the 2000's. So here is the news flash. Thanks to saliva DNA testing, we are all of us, a mixture of something.

That led me to a story I told at lunch. Of all the trips I took to England, one of my most memorable was when I was seated in the breakfast nook before my team came to meet me. As I was reading the paper and drinking my very expensive coffee, a young lady came up to me. She asked, "Are you an American?" I responded that I was. Then I asked her how she knew. She said, "You look so blended. We can always tell Americans as they look blended."
Bingo!

Over the generations, there has been quite a bit of in-breeding from many different countries. What? Most of us are mutts. Mixed everything. Even many of those who are Hispanic or black. I remember years ago when someone asked Colin Powell about this African-American heritage. He said his family is not from Africa - they are from Jamaica. He said, that is where his parents are from. He was born in American is American.

Then I think of a friend of ours who is married to someone from South Africa. Technically, since she was born and raised in South Africa and now lives in America, she should be African-American. One minor problem - she is white.

So what is all this buzz about race? One thing I heard repeated many times and the Bird has also said - the only race which counts is the human race. From a DNA standpoint, we are all of us much more similar than dis-similar. Why we continue to parse each other solely from race is way beyond me.

We can accept the fact that we are all blended (that includes you Barack, who at the least is half white and half black), or we can look for fissures in the cracks to divide us further. We all came to this country to assimilate and then congregate - not segregate. There are no clearer terms I can use. 

Rename Washington!

"Destroying history is the only way to change it. Don't believe it? Just ask ISIS over in Syria and Iraq."

It took me for a while, but I am finally getting with the times. I really do get it now. This is like going to the doctor to have a wart removed. Zap - and it is gone. An ugly part of you is gone and nobody will ever know that it existed. That is, unless they see a picture of you when you had the wart. What to do then? Find all those pictures and burn them.

Washington D.C., our nation's capitol, is named after a very despicable man. A life long slave owner. Did he do other things for our country which were historically great? Who cares? He was still a slave owner. PLUS - some knucklehead had the stupid idea to plaster his face all over our one dollar bills! So we have to fix this, and fix it now!

First things first. We need to rename Washington. Preferably after someone who did not own slaves. Not even one slave. We thought of Thomas Jefferson, who also did wonderful things for this country. Nope - sorry. Another slave owner. In fact it was hard to find anyone who owned a farm back then and also who did not own slaves. That is when a bolt out of the blue flashed in front of me! We can rename Washington D.C. to Georgetown D.C.!

Georgetown? After which George? King George III of course. The King of England during the Revolutionary War. He did not own slaves, and he was not a rebel either. He was a perfect gentleman (maybe a bit nutty at times). Plus as a bonus, we can put his picture on our one dollar bill to replace that slave owner Washington! 

While we are at it, I have some more ideas. Lake Calhoun has already been taken care of. We are now calling it an Indian name few can pronounce. We are good there. Next, I want Reagan Airport to be renamed. Last year I saw a old time western Ronald Reagan starred in. He shot an Indian (actually more than one). So Reagan goes also. We will rename the airport after Obama. Then we need to get rid of the eagle as our national bird. From time to time, they will grab a kitten or puppy to feed their young. We should have done what Ben Franklin wanted us to do. Have the wild turkey as our national bird.

I know there have to be other injustices, but that is all I can think of this morning. And the next time someone comes up to me and says, "Those who do not learn from history are bound to repeat it", I am going to bust that person in the chops! What a crock that is. Destroying history is the only way to change it. Don't believe it? Just ask ISIS over in Syria and Iraq.

Once again, ruling against the people...

"They will become unused relics. Monuments for all to see for decades to come. Examples of what statist progressives have done to waste valuable money when they rule against the will of the people."

Even though the media, local and national, are focused on the "no hate" rallies (mostly attended by those who HATE our President), I am going to write about a real social injustice this morning. What would that be? Stealing taxpayer money which will become a TOTAL waste of money. And no matter how many times the majority of people have shouted from the rooftops, WE DON'T WANT THIS DAMN THING!, it seems we might get it anyhow.

Yes, I am once again talking about the worthless Southwest Light Rail Train (SWLRT). The bad penny which keep showing up. Now the unelected, unaccountable, merry bunch of thieves better known as the Metropolitan Council, have somehow cooked the books enough to get Minnesota's portion of the money needed to get this project off the ground. Then (as the newly appointed Chair of the Met Council said this yesterday), go to Washington and fight for the federal portion (about a billion dollars) that was (at one time) promised to this project.

First off, there is not a snowball's chance the $1.9B to finish this project will be enough. All the other trains have come in over budget. Next (and this is my favorite), the lying bunch of snakes on the Met Council never tell the whole truth. Which is? The operating costs, and who pays for them. Who is that? The taxpayers, the majority of whom will never set foot on this choo choo train. And the operating costs for this boondoggle will be huge.

Should this project receive its federal funding (and I hope, hope, hope it WILL NOT), and finish on time in 2021, guess what else will be happening about the same time? If the futurists are correct, we should be entering the transition period of going to the driver-less car. The real future of transportation. 

With the onset of the driver-less car, that will be the shiny new penny. Instead of having a fixed route with a fixed schedule (like trains have), the driver-less cars will have neither. Total flexibility. And what pray tell will happen to our SWLRT, Blue Line, Red Line, and North Star lines? They will become unused relics. Monuments for all to see for decades to come. Examples of what statist progressives have done to waste valuable money when they rule against the will of the people.

One more thing before I wrap this up. It is not only our transportation which will be changing by 2021, it is also our work. That change is already starting. The normal 8 to 5 in a downtown environment is starting to fade. What will replace that work? I wish I knew. But it will be different and maybe non-traditional. It might be home based, internet based, small cell manufacturing based - who knows? Plus, all the trains which we will have built terminate at a station in downtown Minneapolis. A place which very few might be working, shopping, or going to for entertainment.

2018 cannot come soon enough. The candidate who I am supporting for Governor, Jeff Johnson, has made this one of his highest priorities - to stop this madness. The first step in stopping the madness is to get rid of the Met Council - and Jeff will do that. Like I say, 2018 cannot come soon enough. 

The end of nuclear war...

"During the Trump Administration, to truly make America great again, we need to have our defenses made great. No time like the present. This would be like our moonshot from the 60's. Yes, we can do this, and we can do it now!"  

I have been accused in the past, of living too much in the past. To that charge I plead guilty. I really enjoy talking about the Reagan years. In particular how this former "B grade actor", who somehow got into the White House (and stayed there for eight years), convinced the Soviet Union it was time for them to break up and go home. And a big part of this charade to get them to do so was the now famous (and non-existent) Star Wars ABM system.

To keep the Soviets believing our Star Wars ABM system had teeth, the Gipper would also tell the American people this new system was going to revolutionize nuclear war. That is, revolutionize it so much it would end it. Make it obsolete. All of a sudden, the 1960's kids, who grew up practicing "duck and cover" in the event of a nuclear attack, had hope for the future. Nuclear war was about to become obsolete. But that was before we found out Reagan's Star Wars was about as real as the George Lucas Star Wars movies.

What would I like to see for our future defenses against an ICBM attack? First, let us look to see where we are today. We all know about the THAAD system. Been around for a while and has gone through some upgrades. We also have our BDM system and the Patriot system. Plus we have mobile BDM sites - they are located on everyone of our DDG ships and some of our AEGIS class cruisers. So right now we are not totally helpless - we have something. How good would it be in the event of an attack? Depends who you ask. Bottom line - not invincible.

I would love to see our future defense grid to be named after Ronald Reagan. We could call it the Reagan Defense Shield. Our new defense grid I believe, would be more of what Ronald Reagan envisioned. Maybe not using space based lasers, but ground based as well as lasers on ships and aircraft. I know we are currently working on this concept. I also believe our new Reagan Defense Shield would have rail guns, particle ray weapons, electrothermal technology, and so on.

Could you imagine our world right now if we had the Reagan Defense Shield up and running? We could tell that nut ball kid from North Korea to go stuff himself. Our country, our allies, would be safe from nuclear attack. From any kind of missile attack. I think if we can make it through this latest crisis with the Norks, it should be a wake up call for us. We need better. Our current grid is good, but not great. A Reagan Defense Shield would be great.

During the Trump Administration, to truly make America great again, we need to have our defenses made great. No time like the present. This would be like our moonshot from the 60's. Yes, we can do this, and we can do it now!  

Oh, that damned statue!

"I am sorry three people had to die yesterday. I am sorry this 1920 historical statue has be destroyed for PC reasons. I am sorry our President, who had NOTHING to do with what happened yesterday, and is getting all the blame."

Did you know that Donald Trump was responsible for three deaths in Virginia yesterday? That is what the MSM is reporting. Well, maybe not directly, but indirectly. Why? All those racists in the Republican Party. And they have been racists in the south for decades. Maybe not all of them, but the Alt Right, for sure.

Whereas the Democrats are and always have been the party of caring, all the Republicans have wanted to do is "keep those colored folks down on the farm." Really? I think it might be time to look at some cold hard facts.

First off, the statue. The Robert E. Lee statue at Charlottesville in particular. The one which was the epicenter of this weekend's protest. This statue has been situated where it is for a number of years now. How many? Since the 1920's. And since then, Republican Governors, for 50 years (1920 to 1970), let this symbol or racism stand.

Who were these racist Republicans? Let me list them from 1920 to 1970 - and it is a long list:

Elbert Trinkle, Harry F. Bird, John Pollard, George Peery, James Price, Colgate Darden, William Tuck, John Battle, Thomas Stanley,  James Almond, Jr., Albertis Harrison, and Mills Godwin.

Whew! That was quite a list to recite! And not one error! Well - except one. They were not all Republicans. In fact, not one even one of them. They were all Democrats. 

In fact, one of those Governors, Harry F. Bird, also went on to become a United States Senator. Oh - not to be confused with Senator Robert C. Byrd from West Virginia. There was no relation between the two Senators, except they were both Democrats.

Speaking of another Senator Byrd from another southern state, can we look at Robert Byrd's record for just a minute? This fine Senator, who served in the Senate until he was minutes from death, had an interesting history. Not only was he a leader in the KKK (yes, a Democrat of good standing), he had this interesting quote from a letter written by him to Senator Theodore Bilbo in December of 1944:

"I will never fight in the armed forces with a negro by my side. Rather I should die a thousand times, and see Old Glory trampled in the dirt never to rise again, than to see this beloved land of ours become degraded by race mongols, a throwback to the blackest specimen of the wilds."  

That ladies and gentlemen, is racism in its purest form. From a man who became almost worshiped in the Senate. In all my years as a conservative, I have NEVER heard anything CLOSE to that type of speech. If anything, I have heard just the opposite.

What happened yesterday in Virginia was not about Republicans, Democrats or Donald Trump. It was about some very misguided and sick young people trying to make a point. On both sides. People who harbor hate. On both sides. 

The reason I had to bring up this painful history is only for one reason. Our past sins were not one sided. Many hands went into the injustices back then. But that was then, and this is now. We will never move forward so long as we insist of revision history. The sins were numerous and the forgiveness for those, sparse.

Do I care about Robert E. Lee? Only as a person of history. Do I want to see him liquidated as the Soviets would do to people out of favor? No. If we do not learn from history, we will be forced to repeat it. 

I am sorry three people had to die yesterday. I am sorry this 1920 historical statue has be destroyed for PC reasons. I am sorry our President, who had NOTHING to do with what happened yesterday, and is getting all the blame. Mostly I am sorry we are focused on this when right now we have much bigger things facing us. Like what? Like we might have to finish a war which has been festering since 1953.
   

Hating your guts!

"Time to come together. We have big, big issues facing us right now. Love and hate are both four letter words. Only one is bad" 

Back when I was a youth, a common thing in a dispute for one kid to tell another was, "I hate your guts!". Then when I got older, I would sometimes hear these words spoken in anger, "I hate you with a passion!". Some of the heated rhetoric from my youth involving the word hate was ignorance of the term. Why? Many of us had the words "hate" and "dislike" confused. However as we age, we realize just what a toxic word hate is. That is, most of us do.

Yesterday, when I was cutting the grass with my headphones on, I was listening to a sports show. One of the moderators said he hating something about some sport. Then he caught himself. He said, "In light what is going on today in Virginia, we can't use the word hate. It is a bad term. We will use the word loathe instead." I almost fell off the tractor. To me, hate and loathe are words which are like separated at birth twins. There is no difference what-so-ever.

So what is hate, and how did it erupt so violently at this rally yesterday in Virginia? What can cause someone to hate stranger, fellow countrymen, so much that he could run over them with his car? Or in Chicago where the murder count is through the roof. And most gunshot wounds are to the head. What kind of hate could cause someone to end another's life by shooting that person in the head?

Those in the faith know where hate comes from. Love comes solely from God. It is a God given gift to his creation. Hate does not come from God. Hate comes from the one most evil. It is not only evil, it is also harmful. Harmful? Yes. It has often been said that hate is a boomerang emotion. It affects the hater more than the hated. If you hate someone with all your heart (without doing that person harm), hate only affects the hater. It truly is the battery acid of the soul. 

One of our former pastors would often say that it is okay if you dislike someone. Sometimes a person might just rub us the wrong way. We are after all, human. But, we can disagree with someone without becoming disagreeable. We can still be nice to someone without being friends. But hate - that is a different issue. It is never okay to hate.

I grieve for all yesterday who were involved in the Virginia issue. There were way too many hateful things said and done to others. It is time to heal. Time to come together. We have big, big issues facing us right now. Love and hate are both four letter words. Only one is a bad one.