Smart Talk #16

We’ll start out this edition with a verbal knock-out punch, best yet, one thrown by a Left-sider.  On his HBO program series, “Real Time,” host and liberal pundit, Bill Maher, was countering a law professor, who feels that a belief in personal responsibility is bad (!). Maher responded that, while there are clearly problems on the Right, “on the Left there is a rot, and it comes from academia, and it filters down (from there).”  While there are bound to be colleges and universities that have yet to be smothered by CRT and other woke foolishness and fables but, sadly, way too many institutions of presumed ‘higher’ learning (with higher tuition costs to match) have swallowed the Leftist jumbo-gumbo (or “rot”) without chewing, and then infecting and de-braining a generation or more of America’s young people.  We’re paying for the institutional “rot” every day, including of course the negative impact on the Red Wave, reportedly decimated in large part by single women, and 18-29-age voters in general, who have swallowed whole the Leftist-Progressive-Socialist Bravo-Sierra, spoon fed by Leftist professors and others.

It’s obviously going to take a while to flush the “rot” out of young minds (perhaps the reality of the competitive workplace, will help, when/if some decide to actually look for work).  Government assistance checks look mighty sweet when viewed from the un-demanding dreamland of the front porch.  Now, having said that, by no means are all of todays 18-29-year-olds hopelessly vaccinated with Liberal serum. Many have pushed the obviously poisonous propaganda aside, in favor of reality, as thankfully reinforced by caring conservative parents and equally well-balanced friends. And, by the way, as I wander here, another issue behind that vaporized Red wave, were the Republican voters who didn’t bother to vote because, as we were constantly reminded by the liberal media, the Republicans had this one in the bag, so no need to bother voting. All conservative voters need to get off the sofa and get to the run-off election sites this time in Georgia!  Anyway, thanks to Bill Maher for speaking frankly about the all-too prevalent Leftist “rot” being preached on all-too-many campuses.

And speaking of doing actual work, Mike Rowe, of “Dirty Jobs” fame, recently expressed his concern on Tucker Carlson’s program about too many open jobs across the nation and too few workers interested in filling them, labeling it a decline in America’s work ethic. Said he: “7-million able-bodied people between the ages of 25 and 40 are not only not working, but also aren’t even looking for a job.  That’s never happened in peacetime… ever.” Quoting noted economist Nick Eberstadt: “Never has work been so readily available in modern America, and never have so many been uninterested in taking it.” Tucker Carlson asked Rowe what young men are doing with their time instead of participating in the workforce: “On average, over 2,000 hours a year (spent) on screens.”  That gap between jobs available and people looking for work, and what that may be reflecting about our current society is “kind of hideous,” concluded Mike Rowe.

And now for some stark comments about America’s Mr. Biden as he turns 80-years of age. Powerlineblog’s Scott Johnson writes: “One can’t help but conclude that the troubled with Biden is not his age, but rather the malignancy and idiocy of the policies he has introduced and promoted since his first day in office. He has inflicted great damage on the United States every day since his ascension to the presidency. Biden’s mental unfitness is secondary to the unfitness of the policies that have become the controlling orthodoxy of the Democrat Party.” Well put, as the major, yet-to-be-solved-or-even-tried-to-be, really serious problems inflicted upon the American public by this administration, seemingly being run from behind the dark curtain, with Mr. Biden as the presidential hand-puppet, go on and grow by the day: Inflation / Crime / Border Insecurity / Education.  But those issues, all tied to the Democrat-Progressive-Socialist game plan are not being addressed because they are all being allowed to fester and grow even more serious by the day, because that’s the way this administration wants it.  This is all being allowed to occur, and conveniently overlooked, to the detriment of our nation…. on purpose !  More thoughts on that in the final piece below.

Meanwhile, using just one finger, in this case, as an effective salute to D.C. on behalf of liberty. And regarding liberty, the Republican Governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, has answered the administration’s complaint about Texas stepping in to slow or stop the continuing deluge of illegal migrants crossing its border, and that of other states, as well. Abbott upped his game considerably by invoking the Constitutional clause (Article I Section 10) which prevents states from military action “unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger.” This current administration may not be all that up on the whole Constitution thing, but no doubt they are looking at it far more closely now.

That’s because the Texas Governor is now deploying his National Guard, riding in armored personnel carriers, to key action areas along the Texas border, after earlier actually threatening to employ gunboats, if needed, to discourage and hopefully stop the stampede (invasion) of illegals along his southern border. Said the Texas Military Department:  there will be “increased aircraft flights and security efforts,” as the state takes “unprecedented measures to safeguard our border.” The recently re-elected Governor also wants to build a protective wall along multiple counties on the Texas border.  Last month, over 230,000 encounters occurred “between undocumented migrants and Border Patrol officers.”  Governor Abbott is adding the considerable weight of his state’s protective services, including his own National Guard troops, to better take control of his border for the protection of his citizens and the states assets.  Congratulations to the Governor for his aggressive stance that the feds simply and purposely won’t take.

And speaking  of state border protection, Arizona you’ll recall has taken the pressing problem of its border security into its own hands by double-stacking large metal shipping containers, topped with razor wire, needed to fill nearly 4,000 feet of gaps left in the border wall when the Biden administration immediately stopped the construction that President Trump had started.  That shipping container “wall” is mighty impressive looking and also effective.  The U.S. Department of the Interior complained and has ordered the container wall taken down citing various issues, including trespassing! Arizona has refused, indicating that “a lack of coordination” from federal agencies means that states like Arizona “cannot rely on the federal government to ensure its security.” Concluding that: “Sadly, the federal government doesn’t seem to be acting either with a sense of urgency or in good faith to deal with this problem.”  Good for Arizona, sticking up for the safety and security of its residents, when the administration will not effectively close that border.

Not closing the border, like too much of the ideologically-driven dictates coming out of D.C. these days, has to do directly with the desire of Progressive-Socialists for ever-increasing power and control over America’s citizens.  The author of this next piece of logic and wisdom, this next and, for this edition, concluding Smart Talk entry, comes from someone smart but unfortunately, unidentified, with his/her article entitled, “If you leave the gate open….” Here are some slices of that author’s wisdom: “If you cut back the supply of oil, gas prices will go up.  So, if you intentionally cut back on the supply of oil, you wanted gas prices to go up. If you print trillions of dollars without increasing the supply of goods, inflation will hit hard. So, if you intentionally print trillions of dollars without more goods, you wanted inflation to hit hard.  It is time to recognize the evil people behind the old man. They want crisis. They want chaos.  They want riots. They want conflicts in your town. Their stated purpose years ago with Obama was to ‘take the U.S. down a few notches on the world stage.’ You can feel the quality of your life going down with the country. These are not foolish or misguided people. They are intentionally and purposefully taking our country somewhere we don’t want to go.”

A scary description of our current reality, as it’s definitely becoming the federal government’s insatiable lust for control vs. the American people and our freedom.  No doubt an accurate analysis of what’s happening, and regrettably so.  Sorry again, after researching, that I could not provide you with an author and source. Hopefully, come mid-January, the slim Republican majority in the House can begin the deal with, and stop, some of these purposeful dictatorial excesses eating away at our individual freedoms and well-being.

(Maher quote via breitbart.com, Ian Hanchett, 11-19-22; Rowe quotes via foxnews.com, Ashley Carnahan, 11-18-22; Johnson quotes via powerlineblog.com, Scott Johnson, 11-20-22; Governor Abbott gets aggressive against the migrant throng via dailymail.com, Joseph Michalitsianos, 11-19-22; Arizona stands strong on border issue via foxnews.com, Adam Shaw, 10-19-22).