Occasional reflections on religion, culture, politics, and anything else that comes into my mind...
LEGAL MARIJUANA IS RUINING
A ONCE-CHARMING COMMUNITY
There have been some startling developments in the world during my two-week sojourn in Colorado.
Kim Jung Un has started playing his predictable games over the Trump summit. America opened a new embassy in Jerusalem, with predictable backlash from Hamas and other Arab extremists. And Mother Nature showed how unpredictable she can be by launching her volcanic re-conquest of Hawaii (of the “Big Island,” at any rate).
A CUDDLY NEW PLUSH TOY
MARKS TRUMP’S SUCCESS
Forget the ongoing pointless and contrived Mueller investigation.
Forget the Democrats’ empty threats of impeachment.
Forget all that fake news and the incessant carping from your liberal friends and coworkers.
Forget Stormy Daniels.
Instead, be assured, my friends, that Donald Trump has truly established himself as President of the United States.
How do I know this?
Because American business — the ultimate reflector of public sentiment — has said it is so.
Presenting: Trumpy Bear, a cuddly teddy complete with blond comb-over and comfy American flag lap robe.
TIME FOR STRONG ACTION
ON PROTECTING FREE SPEECH
College commencement season is at hand.
That’s the time of year when conceited actors, overpaid sports stars, and self-righteous leftist icons offer words of encouragement to young people who are about to discover that the world isn’t like those warped descriptions they’ve been hearing for the past four years.
This exercise in emotional uplift is especially challenging when messages must be couched in terms that avoid giving offense to even the most contrived identity group, and can’t carry the least suggestion that our nation and way of life hold any hope for progress, equity, or civic virtue.
Commencement season focuses my mind on a particular source of impatience with the Trump Administration.
WHO CAN SPEAK SENSIBLY
ABOUT SCHOOLS & GUNS?
I have never been comfortable with involving kids in political campaigns or politically tinged causes.
No doubt, the presence of apple-cheeked toddlers or clean-scrubbed, wholesome looking young people can add a certain moral luster — rather like when a candidate trots out the wife and kiddies for a campaign ad. Such gestures purport to show concern for the future and commitment to what’s best for those we love.
But whether it’s baby strollers at a protest outside a local abortion mill, or the spooky video that appeared early in Obama’s first term showing cute little black kids marching and chanting to demonstrate their pride in the new President, there’s always an element of exploitation.
This element is clearly on display in the “children’s crusade” that has emerged from the horrific school shooting in Parkland, Florida.
THE RAMPAGE BY NIKOLAS CRUZ
RAISES AN URGENT QUESTION
The February 14th attack at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School far exceeds the carnage of that 1929 hit job in which seven mobsters were gunned down amid a Chicago turf war.
So I assume it’s the horror of 17 dead bodies — most of them teenagers — plus numerous blood-soaked survivors keeping this appalling incident in Florida from being widely labeled as the “St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.”
But if such a designation seems too flip for the seriousness of this tragedy, there’s been no restraint in hyping last Wednesday’s murderous rampage into a demand for gun control, as well as, predictably, a criticism of Donald Trump.
STATE OF THE UNION SPEECH
WAS A TRUMPIAN TRIUMPH
You might have called it Reaganesque.
Surely, The Gipper himself couldn’t have delivered it any more effectively.
But we were hearing it in The Donald’s true voice, with all those resounding Trumpian flourishes and — blessedly — few of his typical emphatic asides (i.e. “so great,” “not good,” “very, very bad,” etc.).
It was a triumph.
The hour-and-a-half performance demonstrated clearly, visibly, undeniably that Donald Trump has taken command of his presidency.
PRUDENCE IS A VIRTUE EVEN
IF IT SEEMS LIKE HYPOCRISY
In a play I wrote some years ago* the ghost of Erasmus, a leading Christian Humanist and one of the great wits of the Renaissance period, comments on the subject of hypocrisy…
“Hypocrisy is like human waste. It’s obnoxious, but we suffer when it doesn’t come forth with a certain regularity.”
This line springs to mind amid the firestorm currently raging over that crude description of certain Third World countries attributed to Donald Trump. It’s particularly relevant in two ways:
First, of course, is the human waste imagery.
Second is its reflection on the role of hypocrisy (not to mention regularity) in easing life’s discomforts.
WILLFUL DETRACTION VS.
LEGITIMATE CRITICISM
Pontius Pilate is often portrayed as a hardened cynic for his remark at Jesus’ trial…
“What is truth?”*
In my novel, My Brother’s Keeper, I interpret his feelings differently. I credit the governor of Judea with a kind of wistful ambiguity. There he was, trying to govern according to the will of Caesar in the midst of dangerously shifting political currents and a lack of clarity as to what Caesar’s will might be on any given concern.
If my take is correct, then poor old Pontius was struggling very much like the rest of us: weary with the world’s hypocrisy and self-interestedness, trying to discern what’s true and act appropriately.
This I can understand. After the wearying vilification heaped on Donald Trump throughout 2017 — as discussed in my last post — I feel a bit wistful myself.
Unfortunately, there appears to be no letup in sight.
AWASH IN FALSEHOODS
WITH NO END IN SIGHT
Can you sum up 2017 in a famous quote?
I’m going with a line from Adolph Hitler. He’s the all-purpose stand-in for everybody you think is bad, and his enduring observation remains as fresh today as when first uttered…
“If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed.”
Lord knows, that’s the assumption behind pretty much everything that’s been said about Donald Trump’s first year as President.
Yes, The Donald is given to flights of wild hyperbole and intemperate criticism. And yes, such things can involve an element of mischaracterization (not to say untruth).
But, could anything Trump has ever spoken or tweeted beat this Newsweek headline for total disregard of fact and proportion?…
“How Trump and the Nazis Stole Christmas to Promote White Nationalism”
Now that’s imaginative.
CLINTON CORRUPTION MASKS
PARTY’S PERVERSE AGENDA
Well, no wonder Hillary Clinton is so upset about losing the election. She paid good money for the Democratic Party, and now she figures they didn’t deliver.
It’s like hiring a painter who promises you two coats of Dutch Boy, but only applies one layer using some glop from the bargain rack at Target.
Anybody would be steamed.
There’s no doubt that the Democrats have had enough of Hillary’s self-pitying and increasingly desperate efforts to blame everyone but herself for the death of her deepest longing. Former Interim DNC Chair Donna Brazile’s revelation of how the Clintons bought the party is a clear indication that Hillary and Bill are an embarrassment they want gone.
HALLOWEEN ATTACK LATEST
SKIRMISH IN RELIGIOUS WAR
At a press conference held about two hours after the Halloween truck attack in New York City, Governor Andrew Cuomo commented that this terror incident was intended to “break our spirit.” Mayor Bill de Blasio called it “cowardly.”
In short order, various news personalities were observing that the perpetrator was “sick,” “deranged” and or otherwise inexplicably unhinged. Even Donald Trump picked up that theme in a post-attack tweet.
I can appreciate that Governor Cuomo would want to acknowledge the resilience of New Yorkers who have experienced 911, the Times Square car bombing attempt, and other acts of planned mayhem.
Likewise, in the first hours after such an occurrence, when the authorities are trying to sort out what has just happened and are saying very little, I can forgive news reporters groping for any explanation in the absence of facts.
But the sameness of all these reactions is telling.