Another Navy destroyer tragedy: The USS John S. McCain's fate invites thoughts of possibilities, none of them palatable. The last thing we want to believe is that (1) incompetence or enemy activity aboard ship is the cause. The theory that (2) navigation electronics were hacked by ???, leading to abject failure resulting in multiple deaths and injuries is a terrifying prospect. The (3) hypothesis that bad actors aboard the tanker somehow caused the encounter, assisted by forces unknown, could predict a future of more collisions. Whatever the eventual cause -- should we "out here" ever learn the truth -- high-ranking military minds will not sleep easy this week.
Jerry Lewis dies at age 91: Beyond the comedy, beyond the acting and directing, he contributed substantially to the world of Hollywood film production, having invented new techniques to broaden a cinematic reach around the world. Anybody familiar with his brilliance and quick-on-the-draw wit might have been lucky enough to catch one of his appearances on Steve Allen's sixties TV show, where Lewis anonymously phoned an unsuspecting food shop owner, and in the course of several minutes subjected the man to an uproarious question and answer session. So commanding was Lewis's comedic approach, the bit ended up on one of Steve Allen's "Funny Fone Call" LP albums. All those years with Dean Martin (who lost an Air Force Reserve son in a plane crash), his decades with the muscular dystrophy telethon and the fact that his son and performer Gary served honorably in Vietnam instead of somehow attempting to trade in on his father's influence and status -- well, this is a little bit of Hollywood we can respect and feel good about, and we don't often say that. We'll miss him.
Charlottesville redux: Eagle-eyed folk reviewing videos of the event say its indisputable that members of the "other" side (the side opposing white supremacists who actually had legal permits to organize and march, unlike the opposition) did indeed contribute heavily to the violence, going on the attack quickly. The Antifa people allegedly, as the story goes, stand against fascism, but may actually be classified as violent fascists themselves, so beware of these folks at every opportunity. Is anything what it appears anymore?
It's not about statues: The U.S. strangles upon hordes -- small in number nationally, but hordes nonetheless -- interested only in destroying the country. Yesterday it was burning the American flag, today's it's taking down statues and obliterating history, tomorrow it's anything else the leftists and anarchists can do to destroy freedom while pretending to be freedom's friend. We must ask perpetually -- why now?
Sick to death, we should be, of the extreme leftists, communists, Nazi-wannabees, fascists and every other evil group of dangerous bastards dedicated to changing our lives, not theirs.
The statues? First of all, monuments serve a real purpose, since high schools barely teach anything about American history anymore -- and colleges and universities? Forget it! Second, any minority member who believes statue-goodbyes are a good thing might feel otherwise, should easily accessible history become hard to find and dependence upon images struck in bronze, cement or various other substances becomes almost essential to remember what used to be, good or bad.
However, there is something ironic and humorous about the statue take-down craze -- it's almost totally an activity of leftists taking down memorials to Democrats -- the same side demolishing its own! This, of course, begs the question of whether these ate Democrat sympathizers attempting to hide their own nasty history from young folk who have no idea that Democrats were significantly the racists, slave owners and -- exclusively -- KKK members in American history.
The biggest take-down of all? Oh, that's a no-brainer. This bunch wants President Trump out, and they have plenty of supporters, both within and outside of the government. Me? I'll keep Trump, thank you, especially because there's no way I want any possibility of re-Obama-izing the Executive Branch.
I am not Albert Einstein. However, I do have enough of a functioning brain to know what Trump meant when he spoke about Charlottesville. He did not say the words others wanted him to say because, despite his strengths, being a great orator is not among them. Once he uses up words like "great" and "win" and "very, very" in a speech, word-finding appears difficult for him. This is not a criticism, just an observation, and in that vein I believe he MEANT what others wanted him to say against white supremacists by using the terms available to his way of thinking as he spoke. Get over it.
Say what you will, but Obama and the Obama bunch are the monsters who mucked up any chances of racial harmony, as they constantly did things destined to be divisive. Diversity and divisive were the same word to that motley crew of jackals, who put into effect damned nearly any orders they wished because Obama's race -- yes, his race, and he used it -- gave him a free pass.
If the current Republican Congress knows what's good for its chances of re-election, its members need to stop avoiding, crying and experiencing nervous urination and work with Trump to get his agenda passed. The media, teetering upon mania and pure emotional collapse as Trump continues to do the unexpected, deserves what it gets, having been all in for everything the Obama Bunch perpetrated upon the nation, and large media entities should have little to no expectation of being believed or respected by now.
