Open Thread, January 2020

Hello Everybody, Frank here.

We tried an open thread not too long ago where you say what you think, and I say what I think. It seemed to work pretty good. When there are a lot of responses, it is impossible for us to respond to all of them.

Moving on. Some of the critical issues have not changed. By the way, today is Sunday, January 19, 2020. Happy Sunday everybody. We have a new year. Back when I used to watch TV, about 25-30 years ago, there was a TV show called 20/20. I liked that show. News has certainly changed a great deal. It's not news anymore, and it hasn't been news for a long time.

I would still be paying attention to what is going on in Virginia, very, very closely. Tomorrow is going to be a very important day in the great state of Virginia. I believe they call it a common wealth. Some folks call this a trial run for the rest of the country. It's not just the 2nd Amendment that's under attack, as if that's not enough. Your whole way of life is under attack. Pay attention to Virginia, plan accordingly. 

President Donald J. Trump. I guess technically he has been impeached and the trial is moving into the Senate. I will state here that I have lost all faith in my government. Our government, especially in Washington D.C., is blatantly and obviously corrupt. They're not even trying to hide it anymore. I saw pictures of the immaculate procession of the transfer of the impeachment documents from the house to the senate. If I were ever going to use disgusting, degrading profanity, it would be here to describe these events. But I'll just stick with - It's unbelievable! And I mean that in the truest sense of the words, IT'S UNBELIEVABLE.  But, Ladies and Gentlemen, the unbelievable is happening in Washington D.C. and Virginia. If you thought that unbelievable couldn't happen? Well it is. Pay attention.

Something else happened recently in Iraq that I have mixed feelings about. Our government executed a foreign leader. Under the general rules of engagement this is an unacceptable practice. I personally do not support the process. But. And this is a big But. This Iranian general has been responsible for the execution of hundreds of Iranian citizens. Some will say, okay, what's the problem here? Well, this general has also been responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Americans and our allies. Here is where I have my dilemma. Is it okay to kill a head of state? I say no. Is it okay to kill a soldier that has killed and is going to continue killing our soldiers? Absolutely. So here is my conclusion. If we had the technological ability to bring this general back to life, then I think we should do it. Then we should kill him again, and again, and again. And I think we should kill every one of their generals again, and again, and again. I know our country and our policies are not perfect, but our country has done more humanitarian good for this planet than any other country. Ever. When another country threatens my country, then I think we have every right to defend ourselves. Anybody that wears a uniform and threatens our country is putting themselves in harms way.

Moving on. More foreign affairs. The BREXIT thing is supposed to finalize by the end of January. If my math is correct, that is about 12 days from now. So do you think it's going to happen? Or is the government over there going to screw the people out of their vote again? 

Have they built the wall yet between us and Mexico? You know that we are under invasion from our southern border. It's not just poor, hungry Mexican people coming across our border either. We are under attack, Ladies and Gentlemen. Call it what you choose.

Another topic. The repo thing. Our Federal Reserve is pumping billions of dollars into our huge financial institutions on a regular basis. How come? If everything is hunky dory and peachy keen in the financial markets then why is this repo even occurring? If I were to tell my neighbors everything is great and my finances are solid, but then every night I go to my uncle's house and borrow money, does that really look like everything is okay?

Let's switch to another aspect of politics. Look at the remaining Democratic candidates for President of THE United States of America. Really, really take a look at them. Senator Elizabeth Warren will say anything. She will promise anything to anybody at anytime. Is that what you want? Joe Biden. When we scrutinize former Vice President Biden under a microscope, we see that he and his family are unbelievably corrupt. Is this what you want for a leader? That mayor fellow and his long term boyfriend? I'm sorry, but I just don't think America is ready for that. Since I live in America, I'm not ready for it either. The last one I'm going to talk about or discuss with you is Bernie Sanders. Senator Sanders is a rabid socialist. In other words, he is a communist. I know there is a difference between the two, but I stand by my statement. He is a communist. He will probably be the nominee. 

Now. Donald Trump, the current president of the greatest nation that has ever existed. He is by no means a perfect president. Let me qualify something here. I have never seen any of his TV shows, ever. Ok. The man likes nice things, is that a problem? He likes pretty women, so what's the problem? He is a business man, not a career politician. He has obviously sparked a fury through all of establishment Washington, not just the Democrats, but also the establishment Republicans. He has rocked the boat. I do not trust the Republican lead Senate. Most of them hate him. We'll see about his impeachment trial in the senate. Watch this very closely. You might see a slight of hand trick here. 

In my humble opinion, President Trump is what we need as a country. We need a strong leader. We need a man, and yes, we need a man, that will execute his combat enemies and not apologize for it. We need trade deals, we need fair trade deals with other countries. We need to stop selling our country to the highest bidder. NATO needs to pay. Why should I spend my tax dollars to defend Germany? And if we're going to send money, our tax money, to other countries, we need results from those countries. President Trump inherited an economy that was staggering, a military that had been gutted, not just the equipment, but our fighting philosophy had been removed from our military. I'm not sure if we are going to be able to recover, no matter what President Trump does,but he is at least trying to save our country. The Bushes, the Clintons and Obama? I hate to say this, but they sold us out. Like I said earlier, I'm pissed. I expect my government to lie to me on occasion. There are things we just don't need to know. But the Bushes, Clintons and Obama did you and me and every other American a gross disservice. They sold us to the highest bidder. These pieces of crap are still walking free. They will be walking free tomorrow also.

Good time to shift gears here. How about all of these investigations? How come no one is in jail? How come there have been no major indictments? One example. President Trump knew that he was being spied on before he took office. That was three years ago. How come no one has even been arrested? The reason no one has been arrested is because no one is going to be arrested. Another example. The Clinton server. Another one. The Weiner laptop. How come there have been no indictments or arrests? I think the reason is very simple. That whole quagmire in Washington D.C. with it's tentacles extending to every county court house in this country is corrupt to the core. Let me qualify. There are some good people that work at all levels, but for the most part, the middle and upper level management all the way to the top, is beyond the definition of corrupt. This cannot be stopped. It is our whole system. It goes back to the beginning. Therefore, there will be no arrests. 

The problem is that this has now been exposed. You know it, I know it and millions of others know it. This is part of the reason they are going to take our guns. See the picture now? They have all of our data. If you have a driver's license, they know where you live. If you have a credit card, they know what you buy. If you have a cell phone or telephone of any nature, they know what you say. The list goes on, not to mention banking and medical.

They have been exposed. They are afraid, and they should be. They don't know what to do, so they're going to clamp down. Any excuse will do. January 20th in Virginia? That'll work. Summer time is coming, a hot summer. Elections are coming. Voter fraud. Just pick one. They will shut us down. Because they are afraid of us. They can shut down the internet, telephones, easily. Which means power, banking, medical, transportation. If you don't care. Fine. If you do care, if you don't know what to do? Screaming the sky is falling will do you no good when it starts to fall.

So what do you think, boys and girls? You can put this in a religious context if you choose. But the termites have eaten the foundation away while we continue to paint the house again. Do what you need to do. Get your head screwed on right. Get good with God. Get good with your family, because they are the only people you can truly trust, but you can't trust all of them either. 

Tell me what you think. If what you think can help another man, then do so. The comments will be moderated as always. Mild language will be tolerated. Most ideas are acceptable. No, we are not going to line up and shoot a bunch of people, that will not be accepted. But most ideas are acceptable. 

I hope we make it through this, but I don't believe we will. Take care. May God and Peace be with you.

We'll talk more later,  Frank

Unbelievable

Unbelievable. This is a word that is heard around our house frequently now days. Why? There are so many events that happen in our world almost daily that we find unbelievable. Recently? The false representation of a young man's actions that

lead his Catholic school to temporarily shut down. The reactions of the media and some members of congress to the false allegations, without corroborating the information, was unbelievable. Literally. The immediate, strategic, hate filled rants blew up into a national confrontation in a matter of hours. The problem? It wasn't true. It was portrayed as something almost totally opposite from reality, but that doesn't seems to matter much anymore. It doesn't matter if something is true or not, spreading rampant lies doesn't matter any more. What matters is if you can portray information in a manner that will support your viewpoint or purpose, be it good, bad or otherwise.

I ran across this statement recently and it stuck with me. "You do not fear investigation unless you suspect it will give the wrong answer." Remind you of anything happening in our country? Special counsels, collusion, liars, deceit,

undermining the integrity of our government. Why should anyone be afraid of an investigation or questions if they have done nothing wrong? Now days it doesn't seem to matter if you have done anything worth investigating or not, it may happen anyway. For years. And who knows what the end result may be. It may ruin a life, end a career, cause the loss of home, family and friends. All based on lies.

All of these events have existed for many decades in our country. I didn't want to believe it and many days, I still don't want to see the latest layer of unbelievable corruption and decadence that haunts the halls in Washington, D.C., as well as every office of the country that houses any elected official be it national, state, county or local. One gift President Donald Trump has given us is the peeling back of the curtain that helped to maintain the illusion of honesty, integrity and character in our government offices. I once thought of the nation's capital as a place of hallowed halls where the focus was the well being of the nation's citizens. I know, naive, right?

How did it become okay to prevent someone else from voicing an opinion if it differs from your own? When did discourse about differing ideas become hate crimes or reasons to doxx or revile someone on social media to the point of oppression? When did it become almost criminal to be white, Christian, male, veteran, etc.? The list goes on and on. When did it become wrong to be okay with being that pale skin color, that the very appearance of it should bring shame, guilt and a wish to be dead? When did being what we consider to be a regular ole' American become a terrorist, racist, hate monger?

Unbelievable.

Frank has a new saying. "This is where we are." This is the new reality in our country. Like it or not, agree with it or not, wishing it away won't make it so. Tap yourself on the forehead and try to wrap your mind around the new normal, get beyond your normalcy bias like I am trying to do, and wade through the cognitive dissonance that has become the staging area for the changes that have created the new "this is where we are" reality.

I find the reactions of many of our elected officials, from both sides of the aisle, and media personalities to be sickening. Truly sickening. But what I have to come to grips with, is the reality of the condition of our country. There are many people that truly believe what they stand for, just as vehemently as I hold my beliefs. Does that make them wrong? Does that make me wrong? How can it? If I have the right and privilege of choosing what I believe and support, why don't they? Even if I find their choices to be unbelievable in the extreme. Like Frank says, "this is where we are."

In some ways, it seems that this is a good time to hunker down, go totally dark, exist in the world as grey men and avoid all unnecessary contact and attention.

On the other hand, it also seems like a good time to stand up and join with others in stating the obvious attacks, retribution, lies and deception that appear to be growing at a phenomenal rate. Keep your eyes open and your wits about you. Always follow Ol' Remus's advice to avoid crowds. Don't take for granted the truth of what you read or hear without doing what you can to verify. It is getting harder and harder to see the truth anymore. I have become very skeptical about anything I read or hear, choosing to wait a few hours or days to see if the information stays the current narrative or is shown to be another illusion meant to draw the attention and emotions of the audience in a particular direction.

Hang in there. The ride continues to be bumpy and full of unbelievable events. Believe it. This is where we are.


Until next time - Fern