Posse Incitatus

Sin Vida La Revolucion

I'm wrapping up 2014 with a commentary on Cuba, interjecting a bit of Spanish just for fun. The headline means basically, the revolution is dead (contrasted with Cuban communists' longtime slogan, Viva la Revolucion, (long live the revolution).

Perhaps my theme below, in español, should be, Viva La Evolucion (long live the evolution -- of Cuba's politics, government, economy, culture and psyche). Because an evolution is what I hope for and expect given recent developments.

The world continues to assess the fallout of President Obama’s decision to establish diplomatic relations with Cuba, end economic sanctions, promote free trade and encourage travel between Cuba and the United States. Call me naïve, but I do believe open trade, free markets and at least a rudimentary “marketplace of ideas” fostered by better Internet access will help the Cuban people shake off their shackles and achieve more freedom.

It may take a few years, as the ruthless dictators Fidel and Raul Castro are determined to maintain their iron grip on the long-suffering nation. But these two men are getting long in the tooth, and fortunately, both will be dead within a few years. Some sort of accommodation by their successor seems to be in the cards, and I will explain why momentarily.

I’ve heard the comments from pundits, seen the angry Tweets and read the letters to the editor and opinion columns from critics who say the president’s action only strengthens the Castro dictatorship and won’t help the common people. They cite examples of other countries where the United States opened up trade in the hopes of a human rights reciprocation. China, Vietnam and Russia are prime examples of countries still behaving badly despite U.S. overtures.

But these nations and our relations with them don’t necessarily extrapolate to Cuba. I suspect this could be a case of comparing apples and oranges. The sheer proximity of Cuba to the United States, and the similarity of its culture and primary ethnic groups -- Hispanics and Spanish-speaking blacks – with those of south Florida and many other regions of America, make Cuba more malleable.

The tiny island nation lives in the giant shadow of the United States and its formidable media, entertainment industry, financial markets and overall wealth. The Yanqui influence cannot be overstated. When Cubans who have been misled by communist agitprop for decades begin to see the REAL United States and communicate with its citizens, the game is up.

Russia and China, on the other hand, are different cultures with different traditions, and are halfway around the world. The immediacy of news, and the spread of technology in Cuba (smartphones will eventually proliferate), will really open up eyes, hearts and minds.

Who knows, maybe the dream of Havana’s streets being full of 21st century automobiles with air conditioning, mp3 and CD players will capture the imagination of scores of weary Cubans! It is not unreasonable to suggest that social media – expecially the likes of Twitter and Youtube – was a huge factor in unleashing the revolutions of the so-called “Arab Spring” in 2011. Similarly, I believe social media will hasten the demise of the despots in Cuba.

But in the meantime, untold numbers of political prisoners are being tortured in Fidel’s rat-infested prisons. The pervasive spider web of the Cuban secret police strikes terror in the hearts of men and women who would love to complain about the hellish misery they’re enduring, but fear for their lives, health, jobs and families.

I don’t think President Obama gives a whit about those being tortured in Cuba’s prisons; he only wants to appeal to liberals who have a naïve and romantic view of Cuba. Obama also is undoubtedly taking this action to help line the pockets of Democrat campaign contributors. But sometimes, even misguided policy can end up having some positive results. Methinks this might be a case in point.

2014 - the year of peak feminism

Looking back on 2014, I see several trends that have accelerated - government dysfunction, leftist agitation, American decline abroad due to poor leadership, but one stands out above the rest - feminism is starting to devour itself.

The notion that men and women are blank slates and can be reprogrammed once they enter a campus is so stupid that only an academic could believe it.   Their bright new idea of "affirmative consent" aka "yes means yes" is, like all ideas cooked up by the left, based entirely on theory with no actual real world application.

It is like something that came out of a 2 a.m. bull session in a dorm room with clouds of cannabis and empty wine cooler bottles lying about. 

The key questions:  How would it work?  What qualifies?  Give a specific example of its use - were totally ignored in the rush to demonstrate fealty to the Holy Cause of Feminism.

Like all leftist beliefs, implementation will fail, in turn requiring redoubled efforts and a spate of public excecutions/humiliations.  This is who they are and what they do.

Happily, many part of the republic still function and college remains an optional activity.

In addition, there is the undeniable fact that most men like being men and most women enjoy being with men.  They are therefore alarmed by the callous reaction of feminists to the likelihood that innocent men will be punished and their lives ruined:  "Can't make an omlet without breaking a few eggs."

This mode of thought comes naturally to leftists whose core belief is "the ends justify the means."  This is how Bill Clinton could smear women who credibly accused him of rape and sexual assault as "nuts and sluts" and have feminists cheer him on and join in.  You see "rape matters," but not as much as abortion.  That is the true sacrement of the Democrat party.

Feminism is now approaching its death spiral, which means that its adherents will attempt to outdo each other in professions of faith and the ranks will be purged ruthlessly of those who are found to have insufficient zeal.  I anticipate more strident demands for apologies from the weak and greater efforts to banish dissenting thoughts from the Temple.  All this will do is accelerate its collapse.

Remember, the greatest damage in war (and this is a war of idea) is usually wrought near the end, even after the fundamental issue has been decided.  How many deaths did France suffer after the doomed Russian campaign?  The bloodiest year of the American Civil War was the last, after southern defeat was assured. 

There is a notion - fed by optimists in the Pentagon - that a "tipping point" comes and one side loses heart.  I have no idea where this is found in history.  Germany and Japan fought to the bitter end in World War II, and Allied losses reach their peak at the same time.  Even in World War I, when German morale arguably collapsed, 1918 was a bloodbath for both sides - in part because of the desperate spring offensive that attempted to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

Pride, hatred, and despair make for a deadly mix and feminists have a surplus of all three.

The great irony is that the lot of women across the world is worse than it has been in my lifetime.  Women are being treated like cattle in an arc stretching from the Sahel to the Hindu Kush, and feminists are utterly silent.  When they do bestir themselves, it is to offer a tweet asking the terrorists to be nice - nothing like the hate the devoted to the University of Virgina gang rape hoax.

Women are being sold into sexual slavery and executed for refusing to please their slave-master husbands, yet American fraterities are the main enemy?

Lena Dunham may or may not have had bad sex at Oberlin and this is a big deal, but the fate of brown women does not even make the back pages.

This brings me to another point:  modern feminism is about status-seeking among upper-class white women.  Under the hierarchy of leftist victimology, these people are second only to upper-class white men in their culpability for evil.  The only way they can escape that is to be a victim of patriarchy, and that is why they are increasing desperate to define subway seating and frat parties as oppression.  (The news that underclass women who don't go to college are more likely to be raped took a bit of air out of the #rapeculture balloon, but these people are impervious to logic.)

That is why Dunham - elite child of the elite, graduate of an elite school, employee of the elite entertainment industry - had to come up with a sexual assualt in order to achieve some kind of street credibility.  Without it, she would be part of Them, the Privilaged.  With it, she is now a victim and can joyfully shout "smash the system" like the rest of the ersatz proletarians.

The year 2014 was when feminism's contradictions finally became insurmountable.  One cannot logically declare that women are strong enough to serve as Army Rangers on an equal footing as men and then claim that their accusations of sexual assualt deserve a wholly different legal procedure because of their inherent delicacy.

When feminism was confined to the ivory tower, these clashes with reality could be painted over by sympathetic colleagues and fearful provosts, but now real lives and fortunes are at stake.  Women who might be sympathetic are afraid their sons' lives will be ruined and mothers are famously protective of their offspring.

One would think a movement allegedly dedicated to women would have taken that into consideration.

(As an aside, I apologize for the paucity of blog posts.  I have been laid low by a nasty 'flu bug.  I can't wait for this awful year to end.)

 

 

Holy Harbaugh, Batman!

Christmas came a few days late for the legions of long-suffering MEEEEEEEEECHIGAN fans, as the University of Michigan today made it official that Jim Harbaugh is its new head football coach.

I work odd hours these days, and often am home during the morning hours listening to sports talk radio as I putter about doing chores or preparing for the day. This morning I was chuckling at the nonstop slobber-fest on Lansing’s 730-AM “The Game.”

Longtime local sportscaster Tim Staudt of WILX TV-10, aka “The Dean” of mid-Michigan sports, was babbling with giddy enthusiasm about the Harbaugh hire and what a game changer it is. His sidekick, a U-M fanboy named Brock Palmbos (pronounced PALM-BUSH) who serves as a radio jack-of-all-trades (doing play-by-play for high school sports, giving traffic reports, hawking products in 30-second commercials), was also waving the corn-n-blue pom-poms.

It’s okay to make a big deal out of this hire, because Harbaugh is a great coach and will make Michigan a disciplined, tough team that will achieve success (maybe not immediately, but within 2-3 years). He also is the first successful NFL coach to leave the league and take a college job.

Still, many other important sports events of interest to the people of Michigan are swirling all around us: The Detroit Lions will face the Dallas Cowboys in an NFL playoff game on Sunday; the MSU Spartans and U-M Wolverines opened their Big Ten basketball seasons today; the Spartans football team faces high-powered Baylor in the Cotton Bowl New Year’s Day; MSU and Michigan played each other in hockey Monday night… I thought it was ridiculous overkill to spend virtually the entire three-hour program slobbering over “Captain Comeback” and what he means to Wolverine Nation. But then, such grandiose B.S. is par-for-the-course when it comes to University of Michigan fans.

Make no mistake, Michigan will be competitive again, sooner than later. The Wolverines will be in the upper echelon of the Big Ten within a few years under Harbaugh, but Ohio State is likely to remain king of the hill.

Laughably, a considerable number of Michigan fans are so delusional they think the salad days of Bo vs. Woody will be back – that Michigan and Ohio State will rule the roost, vying with each other for the conference crown year after year and leaving all challengers in the dust.

But the landscape has changed dramatically since the era of Bo & Woody. Every season, teams not based in Columbus, Ohio --Wisconsin, Michigan State, Penn State and Nebraska, for example -- are talented and compete for the conference crown. Minnesota and Iowa are getting stronger, and other teams such as Maryland, Purdue and Illinois could challenge as time goes on.

The Big Ten is a perilous minefield, and even winning the tough East Division means facing another competitive team – the West Division champ – to win the conference. The number of scholarships each team is allowed is lower than it was 30 years ago, so Michigan and Ohio State cannot soak up talent and keep it away from other teams like in the old days.

Yes, Jim Harbaugh will be an excellent recruiter, but Michigan beats Michigan State in recruiting about 95 percent of the time (according to the so-called “experts” who are wrong so often with their analyses, it’s a running joke). Michigan State has throttled Michigan with a lot of two-star recruits going up against 4-star and 5-star athletes who often don’t live up to their billing. Methinks recruiting ratings are grossly overrated. (Was that a pun?)

If Harbaugh achieves great success at Michigan, you can bet he’ll have one foot out the door after 3 or 4 years as NFL teams and other colleges attempt to woo him with even higher salaries than the reported $5 million per year base salary (plus incentives) he’ll earn at Michigan.

Moreover, it’s not a sure thing Harbaugh will be the savior the fans hope for. Two names come to mind: Nick Saban, who was mediocre four out of his five seasons at MSU (1995-99) and got blown out of every bowl game the Spartans played in; and Steve Mariucci, who was successful as San Francisco 49ers head coach in the late 1990s and flopped royally as the Detroit Lions head coach from 2002 to 2005.

It's also worth noting that although Michigan does compromise its academic standards to admit talented athletes, it doesn't do so to the extent of other football factories such as SEC powerhouse Alabama or the defending national champion, Florida State of the ACC. The huge non-alumni portion of Michigan's fan base would just as soon throw academics out the window and sell the university's soul for a national championship, but the university's new president, Mark Schlissel, he of Ivy League bona fides, appears to want a greater emphasis on academics for scholarship athletes.

It’s been nice for long-suffering Spartan fans to see Michigan, so haughty and so arrogant for so long, get its ostentatious beak rubbed in humble pie for the past few years. And while the corn-n-blue team with the tire tracks on its helmets will be more competitive from now on, it is pure folly to think they will run the table while teams like MSU, Wisconsin and Nebraska will simply fall away and pay homage. That kind of fantasy happens only in the addled minds of Blue-Aid drinkers.

Michigan fans got what they've been wanting. Time will tell if it lives up to their expectations.

The No Accountability Zone

The grievance industry is going gangbusters in this country.

Recently, the Wall Street Journal featured a column by Holman Jenkins (“Finding racism Where It Isn’t”) that shined a light on Uncle Sam’s use of “disparate impact” to harass automobile financing companies for offering loans with higher interest rates to minorities than to whites.

“Disparate impact” is the legal principle that, while out-and-out racism perhaps was not the intent of a policy, discrimination ends up being the result. So never mind if a greater percentage of blacks and Hispanics have worse credit records, lower paying jobs, a less stable history of steady employment and the like. It’s all JUST GOTTA BE that ol’ bogeyman RACISM! Check your brains at the door; abandon all thought of critical thinking or reasoning. Just get that liberal knee ready to JERK! It’s the Obama way.

Jenkins describes how the feds use an Orwellian-like creation, the Bayesian Improved Surname Geocoding method, to classify individuals by ethnicity according to last names, census tract and zip code. Sounds like something Jonathan Gruber would have concocted.

This is the rubbish we get from arrogant, elitist left-wingers who’ve been germinating in the ivory tower and think the whole world is a faculty lounge. It is just maddening. And unlike in the real world, there are no market forces to banish this nonsense, nor is there any peer review of a deeply flawed process designed to keep the civil rights lawyers flush.

What this latest heavy-handed meddling underscores is that leftists who see a racist behind every rock don’t acknowledge how individual actions, choices and integrity affect – for better or worse – future fortunes. Martin Luther King would be appalled, as “content of character” has clearly taken a back seat to skin pigmentation in the minds of so many leftists.

The Michael Brown case in Ferguson, Missouri, is another example of an utter disregard for – or perhaps unawareness of – one person’s culpability in a tragic end result. White police officer Darren Wilson didn’t have it in for young black men. Nor do the vast majority of white law enforcement officials. They are not looking forward to gunning down a young black man. But Brown did engage in lawless behavior, use profanities against Wilson and resisted arrest to the point of struggling over Wilson’s gun. Brown’s irresponsibility led to his death. I don’t care how many mindless parrots march on the streets shouting the inane chant “HANDS UP/DON’T SHOOT”, personal accountability must be part of the equation.

In recent weeks we in Michigan have witnessed a furious pushback by left-wing social welfare types against legislation to demand drug testing for some welfare recipients. Once again, they pull out the tired race card and whine that those meanies in the GOP Legislature are demonizing poor people and discriminating against “people of color” (another inane, annoying liberalism).

The proposed legislation is not a comprehensive, sweeping initiative as the Michigan Legislature attempted about 15 years ago before being overruled by the courts. Rather, it is limited to a pilot program in three counties. Gov. Rick Snyder just signed the legislation last week. We'll see if the leftists attempt to strike it down it in the courts.

The fact is, millions of employees in the public and private sectors are subject to drug testing when they first are hired for a job, and in many cases regularly or randomly afterward. What makes welfare recipients so precious that they should not have to abide by the same rules?

Newsflash to liberals: The poor and uneducated are not any more moral or important than the rest of us. They do not deserve special treatment. It’s like this: Actions have consequences, and individual responsibility and accountability are cornerstones for future success. But a militant attitude, a grievance mindset, a woe-is-me/everyone is persecuting me obsession, are simply prescriptions for strife, polarization and frayed race relations. Sadly, our nation has gone far down this nefarious path under the current administration.

Perhaps radio talk show host Michael Savage isn't far off the mark with his latest book, "Stop the Coming Civil War." But while out-and-out civil war and riots in the streets from coast to coast may not be in the cards, a continued ragged nature to race relations is as long as militants like Eric Holder and Al Sharpton are given prominent platforms from which to project their twisted beliefs.

It's bad enough that NBC's "Meet the Press" -- respectable under the late Tim Russert but now a pathetic joke -- allows the street rat Sharpton a place on its panel of commentators. But the president of the United States regularly hosts and consults with this appalling demagogue! What if Ronald Reagan or George Bush had frequently consorted with David Duke or the lunatic pastor of the Westboro Baptist Church? Would the press be compliant?

The Christmas Truce and nature of war

The centennial of the start of World War I has placed this usually overlooked conflict back in the public eye.  The famed Christmas Truce of 1914 - the first winter of the war, has brought additional attention.

The story is told elsewhere in greater detail, but the basic facts are that the armies on the Western Front in 1914 still considered themselves Christian in character and, on Christmas Eve, it seemed appropriate for them to stop shooting one another.  (The Eastern Front armies had less in common, in part because the Russians still used the Old Style calendar so their Christmas was not observed on the same day as that of the Germans and Austro-Hungarians).

So it was that the enemies set aside their weapons and sang carols and even exchanged gifts.  It was hailed as a miracle then and ever since - a forlorn episode of humanity and faith in an otherwise grim and pitiless conflict.  Yet there is more to it than that.

For one thing, it was winter.  This seems self-evident but one must remember that the armies of the time overwhelmingly relied on draft animals to move just about everything - food, ammunition, reinforcements, weapons - they all needed horses or oxen to provide the muscle to get them where they needed to go.

Draft animals need a lot of food and in winter this is not easy to find.  Railroads enabled huge quantites of fodder to be shipped up to the front to keep the herds healthy but expecting them to move anywhere without grazing was out of the question.  Plus, its cold and wet, so the troops would get sick and the roads were impassable.  It was a good time to take a break.

For this reason, armies traditionally scaled back their activities in winter.  They even had a term for it:  winter quarters.  Historically a screen of scouts would cover the the enemy to see if they did anything while the rest of the army retired into temporary huts (if in the field) or took over local houses and inns.  An attack on troops in winter quarters could be devastating (as we demonstrated at Trenton and Princeton).  So much for the "Christmas Truce" of 1776!

At any rate, the armies of 1914 were cold, short of supplies and their ranks were depleted.  They had been fighting since August and all of their peacetime stocks of ammunition, weapons and replacements were gone.  The bulk of the next year would be spent in fully mobilizing their economies for industrial war and the fruits of this would be seen in the unimaginable slaughter of 1916.

Of course all of that was in the future.  The armies of 1914 therefore had reason to hope that the war might end short of total annihilation.  Remember that at this time, the war was also less savage.  Most of the features that define World War I in popular memory did not yet exist.  No one had used poison gas, heavy artillery bombardments were rare (most armies had light field guns that were criticaly short of ammunition), hand grenades were being improvised from empty tin cans and even combat helmets had not yet been introduced on a wide scale.

The trenches of the time were shallow and the barbed wire entanglements not very deep.  The armies dug in because that had nowhere else to go and the later elaborate systems that feature in so many movies and stories had not yet been dug.

I mention all of this because it is critical to understanding human nature - the one constant in history.

It was still possible in December of 1914 to imagine a war bound by civilized rules.  As the conflict deepened, those rules were cast aside.  The "Vials of Wrath" so memorably described by Winston Churchill would be filled to overflowing in the years that followed and the line between soldier and civilian almost completely erased.

This is what war does.  We should know better by now, but human folly is infinite.  Even as we watch atrocity after atrocity around the world, we still mutter about "human rights violations" and "international law," as if a bunch of police officers will descend from the heaven and issue citations to the Taliban and Islamic State.

The people of 1914 thought the same but by 1918 they knew better.

It is worth pointing out that though the war ended on Nov. 11, 1918, the victorious Allies kept the blockade intact on Germany and the Central Powers until the signing of the formal peace the following year.  Though America and perhaps Britain and France have forgotten, the Germans could not ignore that even after the firing stopped and their armies withdrew from France and Belgium, their people were still left starving.  Food imports were resumed only after urgent appeals came from the armies of occupation that the swarms of beggar women and children outside the game gates were demoralizing their men.

Thus if we speak of a Christmas Miracle in 1914, what can we make of the Christmas Cruelty of 1918?

The lesson should be clear, as it was articulated more than a century ago by William T. Sherman:  "War is cruelty and you cannot refine it."

It is a far more inhumane and callous thing to have a war waged on the margins, a war kept from the public eye where the price is hidden and the suffering is denied than to have one front and center.  Scores of people are dying every day and yet we in the West obsess over whether men should keep their legs together on the subway.  (No, really.)

Both Churchill and Sherman have since been recast as "warmongers" thirsty for innocent blood, but the truth was that both men understood that in our fallen world, it was sometimes necessary for the side of right to use force to vanquish evil - and that when that time came, the force should be overwhelming.  Half-measures only extended the suffering.

It is unquestionably true that the United States has within its power the ability to inflict massive and likely fatal damage upon its enemies at minimal loss to itself, but we lack the will or the vision to do so.  And as a result, suffereing is increased.  Right now, they are mostly brown people who live far away and we can scroll past them but that will not go on forever.

When it changes, how many will ask why we did nothing sooner?

 

 

The gift of Christmas

Since I can remember, people have been lamenting the commercialization of Christmas.  We are now to the point where the day after Halloween marks the beginning of the retail push.  Similarly, some radio stations have moved to an all-Christmas music format starting before Thanksgiving.

For me this destroys the specialness of the holiday.  The Twelve Days of Christmas now encompass two months of jingles, sales promotions and schlocky entertainment.  It is just too much.

This year our family retrenched on Christmas.  No external lights and minimal decorations.  Like my co-blogger, gifts were also reduced - not so much due to economy but instead a desire to change what had become a commerical event back into a religious one. 

I like to think that if enough people of good will do the same, retailers will back off making such an all-out push. 

(It is ironic that one of the many voices raised against this trend was Dr. Seuss, whose "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" is now a major offender.)

At any rate, Merry Christmas to all our readers!

God Rest Ye Merry Posse Readers

We here at the Posse wish our readers a Merry Christmas (and, of course, Happy Hanukkah to our Jewish friends). The Christmas season, despite the stress it can cause, the very real financial pressures on many families, and the often unrealistic expectations we have, is something precious, special and beautiful.

At the heart of Christianity is the belief that humans are fallen, and Jesus Christ is the savior who bridges the gap between us and a majestic God. A savior was promised for thousands of years before Jesus was born, and Christians believe his life’s purpose was mapped out as part of God’s plan for our salvation.

Historians and biblical scholars disagree on the exact year and season Jesus Christ was born (some say between 7 and 2 BC; many say it was in the spring, not early winter). Indeed, early church leaders chose December 25 as the day to celebrate Christ’s birth because it coincided with a Roman pagan holiday -- “Saturnalia” -- celebrating the winter solstice. The hope was to refine the debauchery and convert the heathens to Christianity.

So, historically, there’s an excellent chance we’re off the mark. Yet somehow, it works out just fine. At the time of year when the days are short and dreary, when darkness and cold seem to envelop us, our spirits are lifted by bright, cheery lights, beautiful Christmas carols, and treats galore, from peppermint candy canes to eggnog to festive cookies and cheese balls. Children delight at department store Santa Clauses; trees and wreaths embellish home and hearth. The opportunity to get together with family and old friends is also special, and an exquisite Christmas dinner – often featuring turkey or ham -- typically caps off the celebration. The memories made over the years can be wonderful, but are occasionally painful. Taken as a whole, the Christmas season is a powerful microcosm of life itself.

My wife and I agreed many years ago to only buy each other one modest gift; in part because we can’t afford to spend a lot of material possessions, but also because we don’t believe in materialism. We were generous with my son when he was young, but he’s 22 now and knows the score. He certainly won’t whine if he only gets a couple of modest presents. I also don’t bother sending out a lot of cards as I did in the past. It seems traditional Christmas cards are fast going the way of the dodo bird, as everything seems to be gravitating toward technology, and millions of people just don’t bother with handwritten notes or snail mail anymore. No problem; I’m not a Luddite!

Music is one of my favorite things in the world. When it comes to Christmas music, I can’t get enough of it. From traditional Christmas carols – many of them centuries old – to Nat King Cole, Bing Crosby and other crooners, to contemporary arrangements by the likes of Manheim Steamroller and the Trans Siberian Orchestra – I soak it up for weeks each December.

But this oasis isn’t immune to harsh realities. As a news addict, I am always aware of horrors going on in the world. Last week, depraved Taliban madmen slaughtered over 100 school children in Pakistan. Two fine New York City Police officers were gunned down in cold blood by an angry and deranged man on Saturday. My heart goes out to their families. In the Middle East, the atrocities of cruel Islamofascists continue unabated. And closer to home, another blot on Detroit’s ghastly violent crime reputation: Monday night, five suburban teens were smoking marijuana inside a parked car on a desolate east side street just a few blocks from the posh suburb of Grosse Pointe Park. A gunman pulled up, got out of his car, and opened fire on them with an automatic weapon. A 16-year-old girl was killed; three others are hospitalized with serious injuries. What was a festive season has suddenly turned tragic and devastating for these families.

The world has always been a veil of tears, but we push on. When the atrocities of World War I, the Holocaust and World War II went on, these did not stop people from observing the birth of Jesus with joyous celebrations. So too, today’s heartbreaking and gut-wrenching news must not cause us to forego our traditional observances and celebratory activities. The extreme dichotomy reminds those of us of faith to pray for those who are suffering and to give thanks for our blessings.

One of the powerful messages of Christmas is that of Charles Dickens’ legendary Ebenezer Scrooge: We can be self-centered and mean-spirited people if we want to, but most of us will suffer a nagging conscience, an obvious loss of friends and acquaintances, and frequently karma, as others return our behavior and attitude with gusto. In Scrooge’s case, it wasn’t a chronic conscience, but a vivid nightmare that pounded some perspective into his psyche. When he awoke and realized it wasn’t too late to change his ways, he was profoundly joyous. Perhaps this is a representation of the wake-up calls and second chances we all get. If we’re wise, we’ll take heed. Because not one of us knows when our last day on earth will be.

All right, off of my pedestal... The Chex party mix and cookies are calling.... Merry Christmas to all!

Money Talks -- Infidels Walk

Just a day or so after the horrific Taliban school massacre in Pakistan, the Obama administration announced it is fast-tracking diplomatic relations with Cuba, including ending economic sanctions and a trade embargo, and exchanging Cuban spies for imprisoned American Alan Gross.

Once again, the administration has made a major announcement (and suddenly embraced a drastic change of policy) completely out of the blue, as if to bombard us with so many new developments, we won’t be able to process the blizzard of incompetent fiascos coming our way courtesy of the Community-Organizer-in-Chief. Indeed, for many months now, it’s been such a nonstop shit-storm, my head is spinning. It will take decades to assess the damage.

I have mixed emotions about this move, and I simply don’t know whether continuing the embargo weakens the Castro brothers’ dictatorship or, as opponents of the embargo have long maintained, it only hurts the people. Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and Democrat Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey, both of whose parents came to the United States from Cuba in the 1950s, have lambasted the president.

My sense is that better Internet infrastructure, free trade and more consumerism will open the ignorant Cubans’ eyes and ears to how severely they’ve been deceived all these years, and once the brothers Castro kick the bucket, it may be impossible for the new Cuban rulers to continue with business-as-usual oppression (see the Soviet Union, 1989-93).

Of course, the natural reaction to something like this, given Barack Obama’s leftist track record, is to perceive him as sucking up to the commies and doing something to make America look weak. That may well be a factor, but methinks the almighty dollar and pressure from Republicans and Democrats alike prompted this move.

Politicians of both parties respond to big money interests. The Obama administration has been chock-full of Wall Street insiders from day one, and has done more than any previous administration to shovel trillions into the Wall Street money pit. The GOP is an arm of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and also could care less about human rights or making a deal with the devil (the Castro brothers) to line pockets and campaign coffers. Ending economic sanctions and opening up tourism in Cuba means big bucks for American hotel and restaurant chains, airlines and businesses such as auto companies seeking new customers in a new market.

Let’s make one thing perfectly clear: The American embargo and sanctions are NOT why Cuba’s economy has been in the toilet and its people living in squalor for 50 years. Many other nations have had free and open trade with Cuba since Castro took over. The economic misery is caused by Cuba’s bullheaded obsession with walking the socialist/commie line, aka, government command-and-control of the economy.

Regrettably, our nation has moved more in this dysfunctional direction under the “leadership” of the celebrity-in-chief. There are far too many people in this world who actually believe that elites from academia or lifelong government servants are smarter, wiser and more perceptive than the average rube, and know what’s best for us.

They honestly think the unwashed masses are too stupid, ignorant and simple-minded to know how to run their own lives. Their ilk has succeeded in permeating our K-12 schools and higher ed, teaching distorted "history" and failing to inform of true horrors perpetrated by governments. Consequently, millions of dunderhead 20-somethings think it’s cool to walk around wearing Che Guevara T-shirts, totally unaware that Guevara was a bigoted, mean-spirited, violent thug who executed gays, Catholics and Jehovah’s Witnesses.

The United States has no qualms about trading with China and Saudi Arabia, among other nations with horrible human rights records. So the notion that we ought to steadfastly oppose open trade and relations with Cuba because of the torture and tyranny advocated by the scumbag Castros really rings hollow.

I don’t know if there is a good way to hasten the demise of the vicious, heartless Castro regime. Perhaps the passage of time will help this sick nation heal after its monster leaders have gone on to their judgment. Let us hope so.

Bipartisanship: Be Careful What You Wish For

I’ve stated in the past that bipartisan efforts of Republicans and Democrats often seem to result in bad legislation – campaign finance “reform,”  the Patriot Act, No Child Left Behind and its Common Core wasteland… The same principle applies for budget deals. When leaders of the two major political parties work out a budget deal, it ends up being a bloated Christmas tree full of pork barrel goodies and simply an extension of out-of-control deficit spending.

Last weekend, critics from far-left Sen. Elizabeth Warren to Tea Party firebrand Sen. Ted Cruz bitterly denounced the so-called "CRomnibus" budget bill (Continuing Resolution + Omnibus = CRomnibus). Figures who usually are allies opposed each other—e.g., House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and President Obama. And foes-under-normal circumstances -- e.g., Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and his soon-to-be successor Mitch McConnell, teamed up for passage of the pork bill. Ditto for House Speaker John Boehner and the Obama administration, playing nicey-nice with each other all weekend long.

This bad spending bill does nothing to address the illegal amnesty of 5 million illegal aliens, nor does it defund the continuing calamity of Obamacare, which is wrecking what once was the world's best healthcare system. It worsens the national debt as we continue to steal trillions from our children and grandchildren. And, to co-opt a phrase of the gay left from the 1980s, "The band played on."

The coward Republicans were deathly afraid of prompting a “government shutdown” (MISNOMER ALERT!) if they dug in their heels, and having the corrupt media dumping on them 24/7.

Never mind that a so-called shutdown only affects about 15 percent of the government (all sorts of nonessential programs, people and agencies); and forget about how the media’s credibility is so miserably low, their blaming the GOP for a shutdown doesn’t really amount to much. No, let’s put an even bigger burden on future generations so we can show the people how well we can get along and achieve something for the American people! What utter rubbish.

If the travesty that transpired this past weekend is any indication of what’s to come, it seems the American people are in for a huge disappointment once the GOP assumes full control of the Congress. This isn’t what we voted for, and we need to send a clear message to the go-along-to-get-along GOP hacks that Democrat Lite won’t cut it.

 

 

The legacy gambit

Today's "breakthrough" with Cuba is a harbinger of things to come.  The lame-duck Obama White House is essentially powerless to effect events in any meaningful way.  With Congress about to pass to the GOP and any possibility of cooperation destroyed by the executive amnesty, there isn't much the president can do.  Budgets will be written without any executive input, no appointees will be confirmed and there is a high probability of joint select committees digging into the IRS and other matters.

The one thing the administration can do is offer diplomatic recognition.  In a way, it is almost meaningless in this day and age.  Instant telecommunications have made ambassadors meaningless - it is a post reserved for heavy donors with no local knowledge rather than savvy diplomats who represent the national interest as the personal representative of the president.

Iraq is in ruin, Afghanistan backsliding, North Korea defiant and both China and Russia are increasingly willing to challenge the status quo.  The US economy continues to sputter and race relations are at the lowest ebb in my lifetime.

But at least he opened Cuba.  At least that's something.

Iran will be next - if they want it (it is not clear that they do).