Same, Same

When I was in Vietnam, I was introduced to a new phrase, “Same, same.”  At first I had no idea what the woman was trying to tell me, but then someone who had been in country explained it to me.  She was trying to tell me that the Cool Aid I made was the same as water.  (It seems that they like the stuff over there so much that if you turn you head a second or two it will disappear.)

At any rate, when I see what is happening over there in China, it reminded me of the incident.  It would seem that the Chinese government and business are the same, same.  To be sure, the more of us that realize that, the better off we’ll be.  To be sure, the line between private businesses and the communist government is non-existent.  It is simply an optical illusion that the communists would like us to believe in.

It would appear that President Trump knew this even before he was sworn in.  It would also appear there are many in this county who still don’t know it and they exists on both sides of the aisle.

The Admiral Knows

A number of years ago, I saw commercial on TV.  I only saw it once.  Maybe they received some flack over it.  On the other hand, maybe someone realized how ridiculous it was.

A retired admiral said that he knew what it was like to be in the military and spend long periods of separation from families.  (sorry, I don’t recall the exact words.  I’m sure you get the idea.)

At any rate, it is one of the biggest mistakes a leader can make.  When I went in the Marine Corps, I went in as a private.  I did not get my first stripe for months.  When that Admiral went in the Navy, my best guess is that he went in as an ensign.  If he was a pilot, he likely never stepped aboard a ship before getting his first promotion.

Guess what?  It is not the same.  Disregarding the difference in service, an O-1s and O-2s are officers.  Officers, regardless of service they never undergo the true riggers of us who went in as E-1s.  I would expect that it is even more true in the Navy.  I would expect that that admiral never knew what it was like to live like an enlisted man on a destroyer… or a sub.  My guess is that his first assignment was on an aircraft carrier, though I don’t know.  It just is that most admirals get their start as pilots.  Few pilots get orders to destroyers or cruisers.

For him to say he knew what it was like for the enlisted men is a bold-faced lie and is very inconsiderate especially if he was unaware of his error.  He owes us all an apology, or at least the enlisted men in the Navy.

What’s more, I know he just lost the respect of most enlisted in all services.  I have heard others make such speeches.  When I hear them, it is rare I believe them, especially an officer.

When I went over to Vietnam, I was assigned an 8 by 8 foot space to live in and, compared to those in the infantry, I had it good.  If that admiral ever went to Vietnam, I wonder just how rough he had it.

Oh, and by the way, I wonder just how many ports of call he had while he was on duty in Nam.  There are a few Navy officers that fought on land during the Vietnam war, but even they had it better than the enlisted that they commanded.

I get it.  It is a fact of military life.  R.H.I.P.  (Rank Has Its Privileges.)  However, don’t ever try to tell me you had it as bad as I did.  Don’t tell me you had to serve on mess duty.  Don’t tell me you had to walk a post in the rain after little or no sleep.  That sort of thing just doesn’t happen to officers.  It is the sort of thing I would expect a dummycrat to say.

Question For Bernie

You think maybe Bernie should have run as a third party in the first place?  Look at all he spent to come in 2nd place and you know the dummycrats aren’t going to let him have the nomination, even if they have to cheat as they did before.  It is the nature of the dummycrats.  Look at all the dead who have been voting in Chicago.  Look at all the illegal aliens they’ve been importing.  They have learned from their dearly departed leader, Karl Marx.  The end justifies the means, regardless.  To them, the only evil is that which impedes their conquest.  Lying, cheating and deceit are there normal way of life.

Looks to me as if the only people really benefiting from this race are those charging for the advertisements.

Success

Some people work hard for success.

Others, like the dummycrats, destroy others to succeed.  Ever since Mr. Trump became President Trump (and actually a little before) the dummycrats have done what they can to destroy him and his presidency.

In itself, that is bad enough.  The problem is that they have no reservations about also destroying the lives of virtually all who are around him.  At the least, they destroyed the lives of 4 good people, including a 4 star general with an impeccable record.  In addition, they have all but brought the workings of congress to a stop.  That is not right.

Even worse, in their effort to destroy President Trump, they have no qualms with causing harm to our nation and its citizenry.  This is true even to the point that they cheer when the stock market takes a downturn.  …and, this includes the corona virus.

Now tell me, just how dumb is that, to cheer when our country is potentially overrun with a disease that just might cost the lives of, perhaps 3 million.  Some of them just might be your grandparents.  One or two of them might be relatives or friends who have had transplants.  To be sure, anyone who has asthma or COPD is subject to being killed by the virus.

Of course, they don’t care.  They don’t mind if businesses and travel all slow or possibly stop.  They aren’t the ones who will suffer.  They will always have the best of care and they will always have their access to transportation.

I wonder if they have considered what might happen when senators and representatives start showing up on the job wearing masks.  Think of how it might be like when that colleague next to him starts coughing and sneezing.  Will it become a requirement for representatives to be checked for fever before entering either chamber.

Regardless, the fulfillment of their wish might become  their worst nightmare.  Many of those, such as Pelosi are old.  If they are exposed, the best healthcare will do them little good.  There is only so much that even the best doctors and the best medicines can do.

Nonetheless, none of them, unless they become personally threatened by the bug will have any remorse for calling the president a xenophobe for keeping travelers from China out of the US.

 

It is why I call them dummycrats.  It is why I encourage the construction a wall from one coast to the other.  Presidents will come and presidents will go; but the wall will continue doing its job for decades or even centuries.  It is the only thing, which provides some insurance that, when a dummycrat becomes president, he won’t do something really do something dumb, such as open the flood gates.

Caronavirus

I’m sure everyone is just waiting on pins and needles to learn what I have to say about caronavirus.  Well, I have observed a thing or two.  I’m sure most of you won’t be surprised by any of them.

First, let’s look at the cold hard facts, as near as we know them.  There are roughly 300 million people in the US.  The virus has a fatality rate of about 2%.  I would suspect that it is quite a bit lower.  It is highly likely that there were many who contracted the disease who never reported it, which would throw off the calculations.  Nonetheless, let’s use the numbers we have.

That means that if everyone in the US caught the disease, roughly 10 million would die.  That would be a disaster.  It would be horrible.  However, our country would survive it.  It would leave 290 million people who would still live within our borders.

I strongly suspect that it will not be anywhere near that bad.  First, the bug kills only the old (that’s me) and those who have breathing problems to begin with.  (That’s me too.  I have COPD.)  Also, those who have compromised immune systems would be susceptible. By isolating such people, our losses would likely be less than a million.

Certainly, President Trump did a brilliant by keeping those who might be carrying the disease out of the country and he also isolated those who he permitted entrance.  Now we currently have 60 known people who were infected.  If our luck holds, it will be a long time before anyone slips into the US without our knowing it.  That gives us time, precious time.  If we can keep the epidemic at bay for about a year, it just might give those doing the research time to develop something to resolve the problem more permanently.

That means, the last thing we want to do, is to allow a swarm of people in the country who who might be carrying the virus.  That sounds like a really good reason to BUILD THE WALL!!  The last thing you want is for someone sneaking across the border and giving it to who knows how many.

That’s not the half of it.

He just might pass the virus to a few of his fellow travelers.  Even if we catch the original one, 5 or 6 of of his traveling companions could completely bypass all the efforts to keep the disease out.  Worse yet, he might have infected hundreds or even thousands.

There are dummycrats who think we should take money away from building the wall to treat those with the virus.  That’s stupid.  If the wall had been built already, it would drastically decrease the chances of anyone sneaking in.  Not only would that be effective against the caronavirus but many other diseases as well.

Please correct me if I’m wrong, but I think keeping diseased people out of the US is a good thing.

BUILD THE WALL!!

 

Motivate Teachers

Please permit me to become just a little radical.  Allow me to propose a literacy test before voting.  To be sure, it would be restrictive.  Some people would not be allowed to vote simply because they can’t read or write.

In truth, I don’t really suggest such a thing.  It would be wrong to restrict an American from voting because they can’t read.  That, to be sure, is true no matter what color their skin is.

However, consider the following, if you will.  Probably within a decade, the literacy rate would approach 100%.  The dummycrats would not like the idea of any of their voters being kept from the voting booth.  I have a feeling, given the right prod, the dummycrats would suddenly find a way to encourage the teachers.  Suddenly, all those excuses that they give us for their failures would disappear.

It is no secret that the dummycrats rely heavily on the African-American vote.  Yet, they stand in the way of every attempt for the Republicans to improve the schools.  I have my suspicions for this,; but I’ll let you figure it out for yourself.

The point is this.  We have bad schools and bad teachers because there is a lack of motive to improve them.  If we provide the motive, then the schools will improve…likely overnight.

As I said, I don’t really suggest removing the right to vote for any rightful citizen.  However, wouldn’t it be nice if the people voting would at least be able to read and write at a sixth grade level.  Wouldn’t it be nice if they had at least a basic concept of The Constitution.  Do we really want people voting who have no idea what the constitution is, let alone have a basic idea of the three branches of government.  Wouldn’t it be a good idea if they knew and understood at least the first 10 amendments, also known as The Bill of Rights.

To be sure, there are other problems besides teachers.  However, the teachers have the kids for at least 6 hours a day.  Shouldn’t they be required to do more than babysit?

Many, perhaps most of the teachers have master’s degrees.  Yet they are abject failures.  I have only a high school diploma and, if I were given 30 kids 5 hours a week for nine months, I assure, I would at least have them reading on a 3rd grade level.  Double that time and I they would have a good understanding of The Constitution.  If I can do it, they, with their degrees ought to be able to do it at least as well.

 

One more quick word.  At the beginning of the 1900s, most of our teachers had only 12 years of education.  They actually did a pretty good job.  Some would say better than today’s teachers.  It is the type of thing that happens when the federal government gets involved.  In the old days, the schools were, for the most part, locally controlled financed and controlled.  The schools didn’t have as much money, but what they did have were teachers who taught and students who learned.

Lines, Fences and Walls

My kids used jump the fence in the backyard all the time.  It beat going around the block.  On the other hand, most of us respect fences.  Well, actually they did too.  It just was that it was convenient and they knew it was okay.

Most of us cross lines all the time.  The state line is just a few miles from me and, when I worked, I crossed it at least twice a day.  The only way I could really tell were those signs alongside the highway.  However, those lines are very real.  Just ask the local police.  I am sure that, from time to time, they are frustrated by them.  When I was on grand jury duty, I got to see the results of them regularly.  People came down into Mississippi and committed small crimes and headed north.  Most of time, the state line protected them.

We don’t normally think much of it, but most of us respect property lines.  We stay on the sidewalks.  Even when there is no fence, we rarely go onto the property of others.  It is something we are taught from the time we learn to toddle.

However, some don’t respect the property lines of others.  I was reminded of this when a man walked into my house with a 45 caliber pistol.  Fortunately, I lived through that.  Not all of us do survive such things.

For decades, the US had no more than a border line between Mexico and the US.  Most respected the line.  Not so much anymore.  When they see no obstruction, they cross into the US, knowing that it is against the law.  They have no respect for those who immigrate legally.  They just decide to jump in the front of all those who seek to immigrate legally.

Then, of course, there are fences.  Most countries have fences on their borders.  Some even have walls.  Some of us have fences around our houses.  It discourages people from entering illegally with 45s.  Obviously, they don’t always stop people but they do discourage it. Without the fences, trespassing would be far more common.

For a long time, we had a fence along the boarder with Mexico.  I actually saw it a time or two.  It was all we needed.  Most who approached the fence realized they were supposed to respect it.  This is not so much anymore.  The fence will hardly slow them down.  By the way, that goes for fences on personal property too.

In the old days, when someone had no respect for the border, we rounded them up and sent them home.  Nowadays, it would seem illegal aliens are a protected bunch.  They must be handled very carefully.  After all, they now have more rights than legal immigrants.  They have more rights than citizens.

Walls are distinctive from fences and lines.  Mostly, walls, by definition, are more difficult to cross.  People confronted by a nice tall wall will generally give up, turn around and go home.  Some try to go around them.  That becomes impossible when there are no gaps in the wall.  Some try to go under them.  It is proof that they work.  No one would go through all that effort if the walls didn’t work.

Regardless, none of them work when we, as a nation promise open arms, free health care, schools and food stamps.  It is the nature of man.  Whatever behavior is rewarded, is the behavior you will get.

I am in strong favor of big walls, or deep trenches.  I don’t care much which.  However, none of it will work when we keep rewarding the illegal alien.

  1. When they cross over, we must do all we can to immediately return them.  It is a horrible thing to promise them paradise and then treat them like dirt.
  2. We must make sure they cannot find employment.  It is one of the biggest drawing cards.
  3. We must double down on those who commit crimes.  When we find someone committing a crime, we should put them in prison and then insure they go home after they finish their time.  This protects those living in the US illegally, those here with visas as well as us citizens.
  4. Anyone found crossing the border a second time should spend one or more years in prison before being sent home.  At first, this will crowd our prisons.  However, once they figure it out, they will stop coming north.
  5. The problem of visa overstays must be resolved.  When they arrive, they need to be made aware that they must live according to our laws and they must be clearly told that if they overstay their visa, they will be punished.  This must be enforced even for those who have lucrative jobs.
  6. Those who enter illegally must be prevented from ever becoming citizens or given visas.  This should also apply to those who overstay their visa.  If they won’t respect our borders, they likely will not respect our laws.  We already have enough people her who don’t respect the law.

If we don’t do these things, our immigration laws will mean nothing.  Still, we need to build the walls.  Lines and fences no longer work.  No one seems to have any respect for them.  It is important to stem the flow of illegal immigrants.  But it is also important to stem the flow of drugs prostitution and sweat shops.  By the way, it will also save us a bundle on the cost of feeding and educating them.  At this point, we could have built four walls 40 feet high along the entire border with what we would have saved just last year.  That is likely a low estimate.  Maybe we could have made a fifth wall.

The truth is that walls stop people from crossing the border.  Nothing else will.  More important, by not building the wall, there are armed conflicts.  That is bad for both us and them.  By keeping them south of the border, it might save their lives.  Indeed, it might save their lives by discouraging them from leaving their own countries to begin with.

 

BUILD THE WALL

Hope and Change

Obama promised hope and change.  As with so many of his promises, it was an empty promise.

Well, actually, that’s not totally true.  After the changes he and his cohorts made, the only hope I have are the changes that President Trump is providing.  Because of Obama care, my 401k has about been drained dry.

Tonight, I seek info on a nursing home in earnest for the first time for my wife.  If she doesn’t have Alzheimer’s disease, it still amounts to the same thing.  In essence, Obama has taken away the last few years I could have spent with my wife as she used to be.  It would have been nice doing some traveling, but while paying $1000 on insurance premiums, there wasn’t much left for traveling.

Now, at 72, I might have to go back to work to pay for the nursing home.  I don’t know.  It is a trip that I have been reluctant to consider and I don’t know much about it.

Regardless, that $35000 dollars I spent on Obama care (no) insurance premiums just might come in handy right about now.

As a side note, because of the downturn in the economy the dummycrats caused, I took a 10% cut in pay one year and then a few years later, another 5%.  During the last few years I worked, I had to stop contributing to my 401k.  That was the kind of change the dummycrats provided.  Now the economy is booming, no thanks to the dummycrats who continually stand in the way at every opportunity.  The problem is… will anyone out there hire a 72 year-old with a bad ticker.

Well.  I guess I’ll find out.  One more thing I found out.  As Pelosi said, now that Obama Care has passed, I definitely know what’s in it.  There’s no need to guess now.  I also have Sen. McCain to blame for prolonging the agony with his vote that permitted it to continue.

I sure would like 5 minutes face to face with Obama.  I don’t think he will have to worry about health insurance.  Our tax dollars provide him and his family with the very best.  It is the nature of socialism.

 

How Many Times?

The question I have now is, “How many times does it have to be repeated before the pattern is clear to one and all?”

The pattern:

If you are wearing a red hat, you get accused of everything, regardless of all the good you do.

If you wear a blue cap, you never get accused of anything, no matter how many are killed at your hands.

Some might say I am going to an extreme.  Yet millions were killed within days of Obama withdrawing from Iraq.  How many constitutional rights do you want to relinquish before you realize the ones with the blue hats that want to take on the role of royalty.  To be sure they want to take care of you, but they also want to rule over you, even to the point of telling you what to say.  (They certainly don’t want anyone wearing red hats, regardless what they say.)

The truth is that our current president has and is giving your rights back to the individuals.  Since he was elected, all the dummycrats did was to stand in his way and tried to remove him from office.  Meanwhile, day by day, the regulations fall by the wayside… especially the dumb ones that Obama put in place.

The truth is, the blue hats are seeking power with which to rule and the red hats are doing what they can to put the power back in the hands of the individuals.  The blue hats try to say they are working for the African Americans.  However, every time the Blue hats try to do something that stands a chance of helping the African Americans, the blue hats stand in the way.  By the way, you might want to look into the history of planned parenthood.  They have their origination in trying to annihilate everyone who’s skin is not white. (Try looking up Margaret on the internet.)

I can’t say.  I don’t have access to such info but I suspect that most of the planned parenthood abortion clinics are in Black communities.  I also suspect that most of the abortions are Black babies.  They just might still prefer that the African Americans fade away… and they say our president is prejudice.