A Time for Truth

Yesterday was Father’s Day. I thought I might approach today’s topic by talking about fathers in the family as an essential ingredient for civilization. That’s true. But the urgent situation doesn’t give us enough time to solve things by means of that necessity only.

So, with that fatherhood idea in the background, this message is for those who already learned enough about living in a civilized world.

Truth is always better.

Jordan Peterson’s Rule for Life #8: Tell the truth, or at least don’t lie.

Also,

Thou shalt not bear false witness against they neighbor.—Exodus 20:16

Some things we’ve known for a very long time, but as humans we keep re-testing. As if, “Maybe it’s different now, for me, in my circumstances.”

Hint: It’s not different. You don’t make things better—in the long run—by lying.

So when some new power monger comes at you with a threat of ruining your life if you don’t bow and speak untruths that they dictate to you, would your life be better off if you lie?

Back in the day, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were told to lie by kneeling to display their worship of the king as their deity. They didn’t. Their honor was at stake. Their standing with the God they worshipped was at stake.

August Landmesser, the man who didn't salute Hitler
image from here

Bowing down has meaning. Often religious meaning. Certainly it is submissive. By doing it you grant power to the entity to whom you are bowing down. If you’re doing that while it is a lie, you are granting power to an entity you do not wish to serve.

Sometimes it’s another gesture, maybe a salute, or taking a disrespectful knee when the national anthem is playing.

What am I referring to? A power-mongering movement disguised as a gesture of goodwill.

Black lives do matter—as well as all other human lives. God is no respecter of persons. God-given rights are granted to all humans. In our country, founded on the idea that all of us are created equal—rather than granting certain classes or individuals special rights before the law, as has been common historically—that should be obvious to us.

But suddenly it’s uncomfortable to say so. More than that, it’s dangerous to say so. People have lost their livelihoods for holding such a belief.

Something is very wrong.

It’s bigger than this issue, but this is one that illustrates our dire straits. Here’s what it is. While black lives matter, Black Lives Matter is a coercive force intent on taking down our civilization and replacing it with a tyrannical racist regime. And they’re working to force you to submit to them.

Bad guys have a pattern that includes depending on people of goodwill to act as expected—to humbly do what it takes to get along, to be sympathetic, to examine themselves and recognize their own imperfections. To say, “excuse me,” even when the other person bumped into them; to assume maybe they were in the way. People of goodwill are expected to be apologetic for the sake of civility.

With the bad guys, your very act of saying, “Maybe you’re right; I’m certainly not perfect” is used, not to improve the relationship between you and the bad guy, but to give the bad guy ammunition to use against you.

The solution? Tell the absolute truth. At the very least, don’t lie about some pretend sin you’re accused of in the hopes of getting exoneration and moving on. You’re not dealing with civilized people; this isn’t a small thing to be dispensed of with an “excuse me.”

If you have never enslaved anyone, you do not help anyone by apologizing for slavery to someone who has never been enslaved. If you’ve been falsely accused, expect to be convicted of the crime once you confess to it. Don’t give a false confession.

If you’ve treated people of all races equally, not only before the law, but as a natural part of your community of friends, acquaintances, and coworkers, then do not say, “Please forgive me for my inherent racism.” Why are you speaking that lie? Your words and life have already revealed your heart. If that isn’t enough, then you’re dealing with something completely outside of civilization.

The bad guys are not looking for ways toward peace; they are looking for ways toward power.

And right now Black Lives Matter is an entity seeking and gaining power—not for the sake of benevolent rule, but for the sake of ruling in violently coercive tyranny.

A few days ago Tucker Carlson discussed this on his show. It was frightening. Polls show this political force actually has higher approval than the president, or the Democrat candidate for president, or really than either party. People have been told by a lying media that approval of Black Lives Matter equals recognizing the struggles of a particular race—and, since you don’t want to appear racist, then of course you must support this movement.

No. Don’t fall for this bait and switch. Having sympathy for a group, instead of individuals, may be unwise in itself, but still it does not require you to give up approval of your nation with its freedoms, prosperity, and civilization. It does not require you to bow down to Marxist thugs whose plan is to dismantle everything you know as civilization and replace it with tyranny—with them in charge—along with the natural results: poverty, and savagery.

That’s the choice you’re making by supporting them. At least have the presence of mind to do it consciously.

Here’s something to think about: blacks do not need you, as a person of a different color, to grant them the right to matter.

There’s a PragerU video out this past week, combining part of a talk by Jordan Peterson on privilege with a 5-minute video by black former cop Brandon Tatum on the wrongness of supporting the idea that you’re required to feel guilty about some invention called “white privilege.”

In Peterson’s part, he says that we have all kinds of privileges, and we shouldn’t apologize for them. Here are his words:

I think the idea of white privilege is absolutely reprehensible. And it’s not because white people aren’t privileged. We have all sorts of privileges. And most people have privileges of all sorts. And you should be grateful for your privileges and work to deserve them, I would say.

But the idea that you can target an ethnic group with a collective crime, regardless of the specific innocence or guilt of the constituent elements of that group—there is absolutely nothing that is more racist than that. It’s absolutely abhorrent.

He talks about the kulaks, farmers in the Soviet Union in the 1920s.

They were the most productive element of the agricultural strata in Russia. And they were virtually all killed and raped and robbed by the collectivists, who insisted that, because they showed signs of wealth, they were criminals and robbers. One of the consequences of the prosecution of the kulaks was the death of 6 million Ukrainians in the famine in the 1930s.

He makes the point, “The idea of collectively held guilt at the level of the individual as a legal or philosophical principle is dangerous.” The 20^th Century has plenty of history to teach us that.

But, as you’ve probably noticed, history is one of the things the thugs are tearing down.

If you’ve paid attention to history, you know that punishing children for the crimes of their fathers was common in the ancient and pagan world; bringing it back is not progress.

Brandon Tatum, in his part, talks directly to those white people who think they’re more sensitive than all. To them he says,

Woke white people, I’d like to ask you a favor: Please stop asking for forgiveness for your white privilege. You’re not fooling anybody. You’re not helping black people, or any other minority. And your public confessions don’t make you look virtuous. They make you look disingenuous, which is a really nice way of saying fake, phony, and fraudulent.

He debunks the white privilege myth. Those things he’s supposed to have suffered? He hasn’t. Not only that, he says,

In many ways, in today’s America, blacks have more privilege than whites. It’s been my experience that whites bend over backwards to give blacks every possible advantage. If two people are equally qualified for a job, the black person will usually get it. Big companies and prestigious universities fall all over one another trying to sign up talented black people. If you deny this, you’re denying reality.

But his main point is that, you people apologizing for your skin color, you’re doing it for self-serving reasons:

To acknowledge your white privilege is supposed to make you feel bad. Only it doesn’t. It makes you feel good, because, by acknowledging your white privilege, you’re declaring yourself to be enlightened. And, as a virtue bonus, it also makes you a better person than those whites who don’t acknowledge their privilege. White privilege, which is supposed to make you feel bad, ends up making you feel good.

Meanwhile, the real damage is to blacks. What makes whites feel good makes blacks angry. More than 50 years after the Civil Rights movement, the message is, “You’re still oppressed.” How can this not create a victim mentality?

He takes on the idea that the type of privilege you get from skin color matters more than plenty of other factors:

screenshot from here

Let’s take this for example. A black lawyer and his wife have a baby. And a meth addict single white woman has a baby. Which kid has privilege? The white one? Because he’s white? Come on, now.

Finally, he tells us what’s really going on:

So let’s be real. White privilege is an attempt by the left to divide Americans by race. It’s all theory, and all nonsense. If you want to fall for it, go ahead. It’s a free country. But don’t try to sell it to me.

I’m an American who deals with my fellow Americans one-on-one. Try it. It works.

screenshot from here

Brandon Tatum feels a lot more a part of my community than a person of my color who is a Marxist America hater. Maybe ideas and behavior matter a whole lot more than melanin content.

Candace Owens has been called a traitor to her “black community” for speaking out against Black Lives Matter, and in favor of personal responsibility. Here’s how she answers:

The criticism that I often get is, “Candace, how can you not support your community?” My answer to that is, How could you think that that represents my community? My community is not a group of men that do drugs. It’s not a group of men who taser police officers. It’s not a group of men who assault police officers, or who don’t want to listen to basic instructions.

My community is the larger American community, the community built on law-abiding citizens, who want to make sure they can raise their children and their families in a country that they recognize. In a country that is not run by radicals. In a country that is free of autonomous cities and states being built of radical individuals and socialists screaming, and demanding justice, and setting fires, and rioting and looting businesses. That is not the America that I recognize. It is not the America that I want to raise my children in. It is not the America that I want to see my family live in. And so I use my voice to speak out against it.

My question is, Why don’t you?

The people trying to sell the “white privilege” idea? They’re the racists. They hate you for your skin color. And they intend to rule over you by force. Do you really think that would be an improvement over our constitutional republic?

My concern is that, while we’re not looking, while too many people are pandering and mollifying and patting themselves on the back for their wokeness, an evil force is gaining power in our country, and that power doesn’t care about laws or elections or civilized expectations.

Don’t give in. Don’t sympathize with their false narrative. Don’t play nice to get along. Don’t kneel and mutter a lie.

Speak up with truth—or at the very least don’t lie.

Random Observations

Today’s post is a few short observations on what’s been going on in the news, and whatever else comes to mind.

 

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I’m glad Trey Gowdy is on the team of truth. Jonathan Gruber didn’t have a chance, repeating a scripted line given to him as PR damage control. He never said he didn’t believe the things he repeatedly said about manipulating through deception to push Obamacare through; he said it was wrong to say those things, even to those who agreed with him, because word leaks out.

If you have to lie about your policies and their likely outcome in order to persuade people to go along, maybe they’re not such good ideas. Watch 6 entertaining minutes here: Post by C-SPAN.

 

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Whites aren’t privileged. Most people, of any race, are just doing their best to get by, get along, get ahead, against great hurdles—often placed there by too much government interference. If some are less privileged, or “underprivileged,” we need to help with urgent needs, and teach the principles that lead to self-reliance and success. Start with the formula for overcoming poverty in America:

1.      Don’t have sex before age 20.

2.      Don’t have sex until after marriage.

3.      Stay married.

4.      Obtain at least a high school diploma. 

 

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Hypocrisy is exemplified by those who claim there’s a huge portion of the American people who don’t value life if it’s black. That may be true, but totally opposite of how they mean it. They fail to call attention to the raging black-on-black murder rate in places like Chicago; apparently it’s OK for black criminals to kill other blacks, but it isn’t OK for white police officers to kill during dangerous arrest situations. And they fail to value the lives of black babies: 40% of black pregnancies are aborted; 75% of black babies are born without two married parents, which leads to endemic poverty and crime. See formula for overcoming poverty, above. 

 

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Even if Jeb Bush were right that Common Core was the best standardized education system that mankind could come up with (which it isn’t), he would still be wrong. Because it’s standardized. There is nothing in the US Constitution about education. That means it’s not an enumerated power; it is therefore left to the people and to the states. Anything done at a less local level than necessary will do more harm than good. If Common Core is so good, then put it in the free market and let individual school districts (or better yet, individual teachers, or individual families) decide whether to use it in part or whole. If it can’t tolerate competition, it isn’t good enough. I already know better than some bureaucrat in Washington how my children learn best, and I’m the expert on what I want my children to learn.  

 

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The  Republicans just won handily in the House and Senate—and state governorships and legislatures. The people are saying they repudiate Obama’s policies, and Democrat policies. PR threats about shutting down the government being blamed on Republicans are pointless. Refusing to fund what the president wants is not equivalent to shutting down government. The president, throwing a tizzy fit and saying the Republicans want no government, and then spending money to shut down things that aren’t even federally funded—remember when he shut down private parking at the privately operated Mt. Vernon, and shutting down access to private hotels and restaurants on the Blue Ridge Parkway (which wasn’t closed)? Remember hiring personnel to block the view to Mt. Rushmore from public roadways, to make shutting down national parks more painful? Yeah, that was our president.  

He also equated failing to lift the debt ceiling to failing to pay our debts. Because he’s willing to break contracts if he doesn’t have unlimited funds. 

I think the American public is beginning to realize he’s an ineffectual liar, and that the liberal media have been shilling for him. That’s why alternative news sources are turned to more than the old liberal dinosaurs.  

The point is, the Congressional Republicans ought to use their constitutional power of the purse to rein in the power monger’s overspending. 

 

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The Supreme Court just heard oral arguments on the Little Sisters of the Poor and some of the other 100 cases related to the Obamacare HHS mandate. We don’t know the results yet. But it should be obvious that, anyone who is forcing Catholic nuns to pay for abortion-causing drugs is on the wrong side. 

 

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Avoiding watching inflammatory video clips allows for a more open mind. This has been working for me since Rodney King days. When the grand jury came out in the Garner case in New York last week, my first thought was, “The grand jury must know more than the news is telling us. I wonder what it is.” I did not jump to the knee-jerk conclusion that the grand jury was wrong because of a 15-second video. Some of the additional information has come out. There was no damage to the trachea; there was no evidence of choking as cause death. What we may have thought we saw on the video looks different if you have enough additional information.  

That said, there’s something really warped about charging more in tax for an item—even an “evil” product like cigarettes—than the item itself costs. Cigarettes cost $4.50 a pack in Kentucky, but $14.50 in New York. And the government assumes they can charge that without causing a black market? And then they spend police resources stamping out black market sales rather than dealing with serious crime.

A wiser government would have let the free market handle cigarettes, leaving Eric Garner alive. A wiser Eric Garner—one who didn’t make a living selling on the black market, and one who didn’t resist arrest, and maybe one who had better maintained his health—might also still be alive. The loss of a life is tragic. But there’s no evidence that it’s racially caused. 

 

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So, let me get this straight: torturing of enemy combatants is so evil that America must risk the lives of people working in her service to atone for that badness. And “torturing” doesn’t include maiming, permanently injuring, or endangering life. However, killing an enemy combatant, without trial, without indictment—even when said person is a US citizen—and sometimes killing innocents nearby (euphemistically referred to as collateral damage) is OK.  

If you were a person given two choices: be captured and “tortured” for information by Americans or Islamists, you’d clearly choose Americans. If you were a supposed enemy combatant, unless you were into suicide missions, you would likely prefer being taken captive by Americans—where you have the guarantee of relative comfort and health and life—to being taken out by a drone, possibly along with your son and friend. 

Our president and cohorts seem to think the use of enhanced interrogation with the guaranteed limits listed above is beneath American values, but execution without trial along with possible innocents is copasetic. 

I’m not willing to say there should never be drone strikes against our enemy in the war against terrorists. But I do have a problem with a president who decides to be judge, jury, and executioner against an American citizen; if there is probable cause, there should at least be an indictment. As for torture—real torture—that’s already against the Geneva Convention for prisoners of war. But terrorists are non-uniformed enemy combatants, to whom the Geneva Convention rules do not apply.  

Since they are human, however, shouldn’t we avoid torturing them? Define your terms. If torture is sadistic, cruel and risks permanent damage or health, then I have seen no evidence that the US has done that. But I wouldn’t be sad if our enemies thought we were willing to torture. If we must do PR with the enemy, it should be to make them fear us more, not less. 

I would not use the term torture for making someone really uncomfortable temporarily for the purpose of extracting valuable urgent information. What we’ve seen evidence of might not seem nice, but it’s not even in the same category as beheading innocents. So, in summary, Dianne Feinstein’s report is hypocritical, politically motivated, and mainly untrue.