The Problem With Democracy

I have been thinking a lot lately about the inefficiencies that can result from change of administration when we elect a new president in the U.S. Let me say that I love our form of government and think the Founding Fathers were the smartest guys around. The genius of what they created in our founding documents is unsurpassed in human history. But I find it troubling how much can change every 4-8 years around here. I’ve been struggling with this because I appreciate our democratic republic so very much. Recent events have highlighted the difference one man can make in one of the branches of our tripartite government. Could the founding fathers have been ok with this? It just seems so very inefficient. One minute we are building a border wall. The next we are allowing a steady flow of outsiders in. One minute we are holding back the enemy with a small force. The next we are abandoning our own people behind enemy lines. All without any input from the American people other than a vote to eject one person.

No matter how I consider this apparent flaw I come back to the way our founders considered Everything when they hammered out our Constitution that sweaty summer.

I keep coming back to the fact that it all has to do with the grossly unconstitutional massive expansion of our federal government over the past century. Part of that is the creation of a fourth branch of government never devised by the Constitution, the administrative branch (extending from the executive branch like Medusa’s snakey hair). This has allowed overreach into the lives of private citizens into areas of private property (one of the three basic tenets of our Declaration!), health, and livelihood (read pursuit of happiness, again from the Declaration). Without the massive growth of the federal branch the states would be governing themselves. The small involvement the federal side was intended to have would be balanced with state rights. It would be impossible for the federal government to roll out its military indiscriminately without a sufficient amount of states’ support. Consider that. It is unlikely we would have such a military presence in the world. Our Founders tended toward isolation, cautioning against foreign engagement.

Abiding by the wisdom of our Founders, striving to return to that true form of democratic republic is the only hope to halt the slide into a country where the government has ultimate control over the citizenry. It is also the remedy to the schizophrenic inefficiency of the roller coaster that ensues when a different man takes the reins every 4-8 years.

Public Service Announcement: Did You Know You Cannot Sue Amazon?

In January I burned my hands severely (second and third degree) using oven mitts manufactured in China and distributed by Amazon. They failed catastrophically in normal use. As a result I learned how impossible it is to sue the Chinese manufactures who send so many cheaply made (and hardly ever quality checked) products to the U.S., or Amazon from where we obtain so many such goods in present day society. Very eye opening that we have No Legal Recourse.

Third degree burn

Grace

I am telling you this because I once wondered if I really was, because I lived with someone who made me feel I was, and told me I was. My friends and a professional all confirmed I was not but instead was suffering the effects of living with a person who was acting, if not crazy himself, certainly unconventionally and unreasonably.

Communication with a person with narcissistic tendencies can make you feel crazy. You will bring up a promise they made only to hear them say they do not recall it or deny having said it. All the time. Even if you go as gray as you can while for parenting they will still try to pull you in, telling you they cannot take the children to a counseling appointment during their parenting time so that you cancel it, then asking the following day what time the appointment is.

I say this so you know that you are not alone. I don’t know you but would hazard to guess that if you are reading this, it is not you but them. stay strong and don’t let them make you actually crazy.

*This post is in no way meant to belittle anyone suffering from mental illness. The term “crazy” here is used in the broad and generic sense. We all need to take care of our mental health just as we do our physical.

I listened to a podcast on Spotify by Renée Swanson about living on breadcrumbs and it really resonated with me. I lived on so little emotionally during my twenty year marriage. Just ask was positively elated growing up in Michigan if the weather was nice for a whole weekend, during my marriage I was happy if we had a peaceful time when things didn’t blow up chaotically. I always thought it was me and worked so hard to fix myself snd the relationship but now I understand there was nothing I could have done. I learned this when I sacrificed my home, friends, house, and career to uproot my family and move to a state where my husband did not have a job just so he might be happy. News flash: he wasn’t. People like him will never be happy.

Also check out Rebecca Zung on YouTube. Education will bring light to your situation. Praying for you tonight.🙏🏻💕

Thought and Comment on Afghanistan

This is not about whether or not America should have had troops in Afghanistan now if ever. It is not about whether it is right for the US to consistently include democracy building in its engagement goals. The fact is if your “friend” did to you what Biden has done to our allies you would not consider them stupid or incompetent. You would see them as they asshole they are.

In the wake of the absolute debacle of a withdrawal from (or if you are cynical, deliberate abandonment of) Afghanistan a lot of people have claimed that the Afghan military was weak and didn’t even care to fight. In actuality, some 50,000 Afghans have died over some no American combat casualties in over a year In contrast, 66,000 Afghan military have lost their lives. This proves they Have been fighting for themselves.

Lack of strategy has resulted in a void that has backtracked our foreign policy to the pre 9/11 environment that allowed the Taliban and terrorist organization Al-Qaeda to rise to power, terrorizing people in the region and elsewhere and oppressing women to abominable extent.

US presence in Afghanistan contributed to leaps and bounds advancement of women there. It opened the doors for private philanthropy to address human rights needs. All of that has been reversed. We have surrendered our equipment and know-how; abandoned almost 100,000 people who assisted the US over the past 20 years; and given up the ground of supporting females of all ages.

I have a friend who was a very big whig diplomat, now retired. He lived and worked in Afghanistan, China and many other foreign locations during his illustrious career. He and I do not typically see eye to eye politically but this situation has aligned us in thought and opinion. I asked if he thinks this equates with Saigon as many have pronounced (which he would have lived through while I did not…though I was an adult by the time 9/11 occurred). He said with passion this is worse. He was absolutely aghast and confirmed that this has been completely bungled under typical foreign policy procedures.

“The women and children raised their happy voices with all the rest.” The Bible, Nehemiah 12:43. God cares about women and children and suffering. The US made a way for equality and education and life in a dark war torn place. It is a dark day and international setback that now the people return to weeping and fear in oppression.

Random Thoughts

Why I am buying real books again. No, it is not so my one year old puppy can nibble on them, though that may have happened! My friend & I visited Costco the other night (yes, it was a big Friday night!) and I purchased 3 classic books in hardcover. I had orders two more. They are stacked on my HS son’s computer desk in a suggestion to encourage him to read these important works (DM me for my essential reading list!). For a long time I veered toward paperless. We have always been library patrons (yes, mostly through overdue fines, my main philanthropic contribution through the years) & frequent visitors, particularly as former homeschoolers. I wanted to save trees and money. However, recently, it had come to my attention (alarmingly!) that it may be dangerous to depend upon the internet for our sole or primary source of information & research. Here’s why. We have to look to who is controlling the information database and what might be the agenda and value system of these controlling groups/entities. This hit me like a ton of bricks recently when trying to provide research sources to one of my older children supporting our decision not to vaccinate. It alarmed me that information and studies I had easily found a few years back have either been eradicated or bombarded by the governmental pro-vaccine push of statistics and “studies.” Contained among these is heavy condemnatory opinion pieces slandering those who choose to keep their bodies feee from foreign matter produced in laboratories (because we should definitely trust laboratories after the recent events!).

Why I have started answering my phone with my firm’s band instead of my own. Because so many people take it upon themselves to solicit me with everything from professional listings to SS scams every day. Unfortunately, due to the dubious nature of these people I found the need to filter.

Why I do not support mass transit public transportation government initiatives…while on a recent business trip to my long time home Denver, Colorado I learned some interesting history. Pre WWII there had been an extensive commuter railway system between Denver, Boulder and their outlying “suburbs” at the time. Following WWII these were dismantled due to modern highways. Fast forward to a push to now build “light rail” infrastructure along these very same lines to the tune of millions and billions of taxpayer dollars. To me this little historical bit underscores government inefficiency and highlights why the market and private enterprise is the better avenue for infrastructure initiatives.

On the Narcissist

When you are dealing with a narcissist co-parent people who have never experienced one will say things like: it will all turn out, the kids will be fine, just be nice and he’ll come around, and… just sit down and talk to him about it.

These reasonable advice givers do not understand that the more you attempt to reason with the narcissist the more inclined they are to do the opposite of what you are asking. This makes no sense of course. The only reason is because they want you to react. This is what fuels them. It is sick and crazy but true.

They long for the day when they had you in their grasp and could turn the situation from a pleasant morning or evening into a hellish one so fast it made your head spin as you sat in your puddle of tears on the bathroom floor wondering what you did wrong and vowing to yourself that you would fix whatever character flaw it could have been so you could have a healthy happy relationship.

If you’re there now and reading this, hear me: IT IS NOT YOU!

The only true way to escape a narcissist is to get the hell completely away from them. Sever ALL ties.

But if you made the big mistake of having children with a narcissist you cannot do this while you are forced to co parent.

The narcissist will demand and be able to convince the court to grant him equal parenting time even though he has NO interest in parenting. Your babies will be left unattended and untended. You will helplessly hear stories from them of their father leaving them alone morning and night to pursue his own superstar sports activities. You will hear them beg you to not make them go to their dad’s but you will be forced by the court to leave them on his door step as they cry to you not to leave them.

You will see them dressed in rags in their school pictures taken while with him.

They will raid your pantry and fridge out of hungry desperation when they return to your care, having been forced to eat only meat, as raw as possible, for the last week.

You will suggest to them that they talk to to their dad about wanting to spend time with him without other women present and you will cry your heart out when they tell you they did and he ignored their requests.

And so would you be if you were threatened that your face would be smashed.

You will watch as your kids are moved around from cruddy apartment to cruddier apartment when they could be living at your home.

And you will die a little when he tells you he’ll be moving them into his girlfriend’s home.

You will hear your kids speak of the grand promises made by him and you will know that he will let them down like he did you time and again.

You will watch their dad strongarm them into not taking medication prescribed by their doctor and prevent them from attending counseling sessions.

And time and again you will hear attorneys tell you it is just not enough to change the situation. There must be bruises, real evidence of abuse.

And that is the really sick part. The brokenness of the system.

That allows your beautiful family to be ripped apart.

So save yourself heartache that will never heal and do not have children with a narcissist.

The Narcissist

If you thought the narcissist was bad while you were together (looking back since you did not see it then), calling you crazy, “forgetting” he or she said things, accusing you of an affair in front of your children after you go out fir drinks with colleagues (never mind his weekend “team building” over the top corporate events), reading your diary, searching your drawers, refusing to respect privacy, and causing a general unpredictable environment where things could up of be great one moment and escalate to apocalyptic fights the next…well, all I can say is, get ready for when you leave and especially when you learn to stay calm and appear unaffected. The following are personally experienced possible occurrences.

He will leave his phone behind while you attend a family function together which someone will give you to take to him (Do Not Take It!) and he will send the police to your door claiming you stole it. He will use one of your children’s phones that you pay for to call them and tell your children this lie.

He will make up abundant lies about you to tell your children and others. You will constantly wage a war of truth. You will have constant fact checking meetings with your children to make sure they understand the truth.

You or your children will make simple requests, to assemble a bicycle for example, and his girlfriend (or boyfriend) will tell him or her that this is an outrageous request and he will refuse.

He …or she…will do Everything in his power to disparage you, and will attempt (and succeed sometimes) to separate your children from you, isolate them, and reprogram them.

Unmasked

Is this week really any different from last?

Not in any real way except that the CDC has awakened to political pressure if not reality.

It was good to see my Catholic church finally do away with its mask mandate even if it did wait for CDC to dictate it. I am more impressed with the Baptist church where my girls participate in AWANA which never paused in its mission throughout the “pandemic,” conducting vacation Bible school when no or very few other area churches were and never requiring masks. This is a church whose children’s and youth programs are run by older ladies too so it is especially significant.

I am troubled by the fact that this test run of government control over churches was such a success, the willingness of the church to bow to government mandate.

I do not think our Founders who were adamant about the freedom to follow our individual conscience when it comes to practicing our faith or Jesus, who reached out and touched very sick people every day and encouraged his disciples to do so too, would approve.

In fact, placing public health and safety above all other values is a very dangerous proposition completely out of line with both our nation’s founding ideas and my Christian faith.

The “pandemic” has prompted people to demand whether people have had the vaccine and postulate that someone might have COVID when they miss an event for illness. All of this borders on HIPAA violation in my humble opinion.

In any event, why is COVID, coronavirus, Wuhan flu, whatever you want to call it, any different than Polio, Whooping Cough, smallpox, flu, typhus, TB, or any number of the diseases that have plagued humanity? What is so different that we must stop the economy, hinder education, violate privacy and mask ourselves? Looking at statistics, I don’t think the numbers of deaths or contagiousness are a very good response. Why should this disease alone warrant a “vaccine passport”?

This level of ridiculousness is astounding. Today, after the CDC decreed we may unmask, I needed to pop into World Market very quickly for a gift bag. Barely anyone was in the store. A young worker gal rushed up to me and asked if I had a mask. I said you know we don’t need to wear them anymore. She said haughtily well you do in this store! I pulled one out and wore it. Checking out, another would be patron entered the store, was beset upon by the same gal & said BS, and left. I informed the clerk that I would resume my shopping when they lifted their mandate. The clerk replied, “we will when it is safe for everyone.” Really? When is Life going to be “safe” for Everyone? That seems rather unrealistic. Should we stop driving in cars because they are a number one killer?

Later I needed to go into our local grocery, Publix, twice (!) and did not wear a mask either time (as has been my regular practice). The employees were friendly and helpful and never demanded a mask. Statistically speaking, you would Think the grocery store where people need to shop sick or healthy would be more adamant than a specialty goods store!

Getting back to the “safe for everyone” comment…this situation has prompted many stupid comments. Amon them: Canadians saying “everyone just needs to stay home until this is over”; a Colorado resident stating that it was no big deal that restaurants has gone out of business because, like the stock market’s ups and downs, others would reopen; and I’m sure without much pressing we could think of numerous others…

Being lectured from the pulpit on Christmas Eve and Easter Sunday were the worst. So it was really great to be back to “normal” today, some devout parishioners even accepting the Eucharist on their tongue in the traditional manner of their youth. And singing. I missed the singing! Along with the faces.

Let freedom ring!🇺🇸

Distilling the News or How to Ruin a Country in 126 Days

Are you ready for your daily dose of what some call “conspiracy” and I call common sense?

This comedy of errors called the Biden “presidency” is making me want to read Ayn Rand’s 1,000 plus page philosophical work Atlas Shrugged again. What is happening before our eyes, bad policy gone manic, focusing the unimportant while terrible results occur from those policies, demonizing those who create and undergird the society and economy…was drawn out in detail through deep character development and similar plot occurrences in that great work of a book. If you have not read it I urge you to do so and note similarities to today’s goings on. The current volleying of bad policy piled upon worse policy is also redolent of Maoist policies, including the Cultural Revolution, which resulted in millions of deaths of Chinese citizens by the hands of its own foolish and/or evil government.

So now evidence is coming out that it may actually now be safer to go to work than stay at home due to all of the very expensive safety additions to a lot of the major workplaces…this news in just in time for those who still have a job to get back to a regular workday…if in fact they aren’t making more on unemployment or were employed in one of the oil industry jobs lost on Day 1 of the Biden “presidency”.

There has been for a long time rumor of human manufacturing of the COVID virus. If this were true, how convenient for the pharmaceutical companies which have made vast profit from the pandemic and will continue to profit from the government funded vaccination campaign (and boosters that will be prescribed).

Just to recap, Biden took over a world where the Middle East was essentially at peace only to have bombs dropping relentlessly a few months later. “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars…” (The Bible at Matthew 24:6.)

Biden canceled the Colonial Pipeline on Day 1 and as I write there is panic at the pumps a la 1970’s.

The Biden Administration pushed through a multi trillion dollar spending bill (that BTW) supports so many things it supposedly seeks to counter that is completely nonsensical, which incentivizes the populace to stay at home unemployed. Under principles of basic economics this will inevitably lead to inflation, probably hyper, of which we can see the evidence of the beginnings.

When Biden took office interest rates were extremely low. However those are forecasted to jump.

And if you don’t care about economics (impossible as it would mean you don’t care about life), what about the despicable human rights crisis at the southern border?

Do you like living in a country with high inflation and high interest rates and lines at the pump? This looks an awful lot like Germany before Hitler rise to power. It makes you wonder if bad times are being created according to a plan rather than accidental to make way for even more government control over our lives.

The Problem With Modern Day “Racism”

Of course it is admirable to fight against inequality of opportunity based on skin color. The problem with the way the modern movement is being handled is that it is actually emphasizing skin color and encouraging separatism, in schools and in society in general.

Further, the definition is being expanded so greatly. The ludicrous nature of the definition was highlighted in the following article (as well as other places). Everything Is Racist: The Definitive List! »
— Read on savejersey.com/2019/07/everything-is-racist-list-things-objects-people-political-correctness/

The fight against racism has become a referendum on American society and its roots in general.

As Christopher F. Rufo points out in the March 2021 edition of Hillsdale College’s Imprimis publication: “77 percent of conservatives are afraid to share their political beliefs publicly. Worried about getting nibbled on social media, fired from their jobs, or worse, they remain quiet, largely ceding the public debate to those pushing these anti-American ideologies.”

For heavens sake. All students are taught anymore is that President Jefferson was a slave owner. Do they receive a fully rounded version, including that in “[h]is own draft of the Declaration… he made it clear that blacks were human and that slavery was a moral abomination and a blot upon the honor of his country“? (All to Honor Jefferson by Jean Yarborough, May 2009, in Imprimis.)

Rufo said: Americans are naturally outraged that critical race theory promotes three ideas – race essentialism, collective guilt, and now-segregation-which violate the basic principles of equality and justice. Anecdotally, many Chinese-Americans have told me that having survived the Cultural Revolution in their former country, they refuse to let the same thing happen here.”

I cannot express it better than Rufo: “Above all, we must have courage-the fundamental virtue required in our time. Courage to stand and speak the truth. Courage to face the mob. Courage to shrug off the scorn of the elites. When enough of us overcome the fear that currently prevents so many from speaking out, the hold of critical race theory will begin to slip. And courage begets courage. It’s easy to stop a lone dissenter; it’s much harder to stop 10, 20, 100, 1,000, 1,000,000, or more who stand up together for the principles of America.”

I for one am not afraid, and my children know it & God willing will follow in my footsteps. I will defend this country, imperfect as she may be, and the values upon which she was founded, for I believe she is still, as Abraham Lincoln referred to our nation, The Last Best Hope of Earth.🇺🇸

Excerpt from my daughter’s Mothers’ Day card