It is perfectly clear: no person is better suited than Ron DeSantis to challenge and conquer the hidden changes facing our nation, and no person will be a better steward of America in the years to come. Evil forces across our planet demand a great leader—someone strong but thoughtful; principled but inquisitive; and resolute in their belief in America’s noble mission.
DeSantis has proved to be an intrepid conservative in Florida. Under his leadership, Florida is bigger and more prosperous now than it was when he took office. There are more jobs; more people; more businesses; more morality; and less abortion; less grooming; and less tolerance for woke and CRT.
His leadership during the pandemic allowed Florida to thrive by keeping businesses open and kids in school, his economic policies have lowered taxes and brought prosperity and new business to Florida, and his unwavering commitment to standing up to woke ideology infiltrating our corporations and schools have distinguished Governor DeSantis as the one true leader American wants and needs, a man who never backs down from the needed fights to make our country better.
Florida has become the fastest growing state in the nation. But it’s not just that. It ranks #1 in education, and it’s because there is zero tolerance for ideologies which challenge White Christian morality, the very foundation of the U.S. Constitution.
Ron DeSantis has shown over and over again that he will protect and stand up for our children and grandchildren, young folks who are being hyper-sexualized at extremely young ages and maliciously influenced by radical activists. Donald Trump might provide lip service, but at the end of the day, he runs away from these challenges—or even joins the other side, whether it’s Disney’ Pfizer or Budweiser.
DeSantis will continue to fight for our values; our country; our children; our families; and for a bright future where America regains its position of righteous supremacy over the insidious forces of evil.
Make no mistake: Trump put on a good facade. He looked like a strong man, but he was unfocused and weak. He set the table for America’s enemies across the world to become more entrenched, allowing them to take Americans prisoner with no consequence. They’ve floated spy balloons over our airspace. They’ve launched full-scale invasions of other countries and toppled the democratic governments we spent decades building. All the while, America become more and more weak and complacent.
Governor DeSantis has proven himself to be the fighter America needs—from serving our country to taking on dangerous woke agendas. Trump might back down from battles against Disney, Pfizer and Budweiser, but not Ron DeSantis, and that is the big message for Republican primary voters.
Gov. Ron and his Feud with Disney
April 9, 2023
DeSantis: I’ll kill the Reedy Creek Deal
Vows to work Legislature to consider hotel tax, tolls for Disney World
Yes, Governor Ron, by the time they reach age 25, the majority of adolescent boys have experienced the transition to adulthood as their prefrontal cortex matures.
They experience emotional autonomy, where they become more skilled in their own self-governing behavior and independent enough to make rational, forward-thinking and impartial decisions on their own accord.
The great majority of post-adolescent boys age 25+ have moved on from impulsive behaviors which are often described as a lack of “cognitive control” by younger men moving out of adolescence into adulthood. Observed incidences of impulsive risk-taking behaviors generally fades into history once males reach the age of 25.
Governor Ron: You seemed to be doing OK until you assumed the role of Florida Governor. Perhaps it is the pressure of the job, or other factors. You have made some really impetuous decisions over the past 18 months, or so, but none more egregious and potentially damaging to the people of Florida than your War on Disney.
It seems to be quite clear that you are personally angry with some of the Disney management because they publicly spoke out in objection to the Florida “Don’t Say Gay” legislation enacted in 2022.
And, it’s OK for you to be personally angry, in private.
It’s not OK for you, as an elected official, to allow your personal biases, beliefs and emotional triggers to infiltrate your public actions.
The people of Florida deserve better leadership than what you offer today.
A true leader who inspires me is former president Jimmy Carter.
Despite his deep personal evangelical Christian beliefs, Carter was able to compartmentalize his own opinions and sublimate his ego to address the big picture. Carter was often criticized in the popular media because he favored deliberation and thoughtful compromise over autocratic or absolute mandates. In plain English, he didn’t try to impose his personal private beliefs onto the broader society.
And, history tells us that decisions made after careful research and deliberation, informed by a fully educated and diverse panel of professional advisors, are most likely to stand the test of time.
On the other hand, decisions made in the heat of the moment by individuals who see themselves as clairvoyant and/or omnipotent have rarely survived the test of time.
Governor Ron: You were endowed at birth with many gifts; you have accomplished much in your short lifetime and in your career in public service. We can only hope that you will step back, smell the roses, and realize that true leadership has nothing to do with autocracy.
True leadership begins with high standards of integrity. True leaders take full responsibility for their actions, and they don’t blame others for setbacks. They make decisions based on principle rather than on immediate gratification.
You have the knowledge, wisdom and ability to experience emotional autonomy and become a true leader.
Now is the time for you to step forward and show the people of Florida, the people of America, the people of the World — what true leadership is all about….
Legislative Leaders in Tennessee Clean House
April 6, 2023
Tennessee GOP expels 2 Black Democratic lawmakers for anti-gun violence protests.
Early on Monday morning, March 27, 2023, an assassin armed with two AR-style weapons, a handgun and significant ammunition, used force to break into a private Christian school in Nashville, taking the lives of three 9-year-old students and three adult school staffers.
Within days, mass protests broke out across Nashville and the entire state of Tennessee calling for stricter gun safety measures.
At the state capital in Nashville, several elected officials joined with citizen protesters to help amplify the need for immediate action on stricter gun control by the Tennessee General Assembly.
Tennessee Speaker of the House Cameron Sexton (R—Crossville) said that the actions of some of his colleagues inside the State Capitol were like that of an insurrection.
Today, April 6, 2023, a Republican majority in the Tennessee General Assembly – led by Speaker Sexton — voted to remove two Democratic legislators for participating in “an unauthorized gun safety protest” last week on the House floor.
22 years ago, it took an act of war orchestrated by insidious foreign nationals using aircraft to attack the American people in iconic American locations, to rally our country to solidarity and action.
Today, those same insidious and dangerous forces seem to have infiltrated main-stream America, poisoning our political structures, our institutions, our entire raison d’être.
This is 2023, folks.
The phrase, “United we Stand, Divided we Fall” is often attributed to Abraham Lincoln, and he did make it into a mainstream rallying cry. Yet, it has been used by great leaders since the dawn of time.
We have a choice. We can fight over petty differences, or we can unite around our common interests.
The train has left the station, and it’s well past time for America to stand up and demand that elected officials – at the local, state and federal level – stop creating divisive rhetoric; begin to listen to each other and the people they represent; return to the purpose for which legislators are elected to serve.
I do hope we can find a peaceable way to Unite.
Behind Closed Doors
April 5, 2023
Gov. Ron & Smiling White Men Out of the Sunshine
In a private ceremony in Tallahassee on April 3, 2023, this small group of villainous reprobates gathered in private to celebrate the signing of a new law which allows permitless concealed carry of firearms in Florida.
Some have said this new law will enable more Florida residents to carry their hidden weapons into schools, grocery stores, office buildings, libraries, shopping malls, houses of worship, and on the streets and parking lots in your town, in your neighborhood, wherever people gather.
One Florida lawmaker said,
“In the State of Florida, government bureaucracy will no longer stand between law-abiding Floridians and their freedom to exercise their 2nd amendment rights.
This bill recognizes that while the government has a duty to protect its citizens, its citizens have a right to protect themselves.”
Although many gun rights advocates are ready, willing and able to interpret and quote the 2nd amendment, they seem to have lost their ability to recall the Gospel of John:
“Dear children, don’t let anyone deceive you about this: When people do what is right, it shows that they are righteous, even as Christ is righteous. But when people keep on sinning, it shows that they belong to the devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. The Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil. Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, because God’s life is in them. So they can’t keep on sinning, because they are children of God. So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God.” [1 John 3: 7-10]
I am a strong believer of separation of Church and State, so I quote the Christian Bible just for reference.
My limited research led me to believe each of the major religions of our world generally takes a dim view of people bearing arms in a civilized society.
Based on survey data obtained from 60,000 respondents in 2018, researchers at Eastern Illinois University determined that 87% of American adults with an identified religious affiliation favor more restrictive gun control laws, led by Hindu (96%); Buddhist (96%); Atheist (94%); Jewish (94%); Agnostic (94%); Catholic (91%); Mainline Protestant (90%); Muslim (87%); and Mormon (86%)[i].
Of course, there are some outliers[ii].
[i] Data from the 2018 Cooperative Congressional Election Study (CCES), a national survey with 60,000 respondents. Analysis led by Dr. Ryan Burge, an assistant professor of political science at Eastern Illinois University.
[ii] Dr. Jenny Wiley Legath, the Associate Director of the Center for Culture, Society and Religion at Princeton University, has developed some research pertaining to carrying concealed weapons as a “religious practice” for some Americans, particularly white evangelical and Pentecostal Christians.
Wind Farms in the North Atlantic
August 26, 2022
Electric Power Generation v. Commercial Fishing
On August 26, 2022, Fox News (Jesse Watters Primetime) produced and broadcast over public airwaves an attack piece on offshore wind farms. It alleges that Democrats have conspired against the private commercial fishing industry to decimate historic fishing grounds; deprive them and nearby port communities of their legacy commercial activities; and potentially destroy entire regional economies.
Background:
Wind is one of the cleanest energy sources available, and some scientists insist the U.S. is sitting next to a gold mine. A study published in 2009, “Global potential for wind-generated electricity” (PNAS: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America) firmly established wind power as the most effective and efficient means to generate sufficient electrical power to meet both present and future needs.[1]
A subsequent study conducted in 2017[2] found that wind speeds over the oceans could allow offshore turbines to generate far more energy than land-based wind farms – with the North Atlantic, in particular, theoretically able to provide enough energy for all of human civilization.
In tapping into wind as an energy source, the U.S. has lagged behind the U.K. and Europe for decades. Two of the largest offshore wind farms in the world are the London Array and the Netherlands’ Gemini wind farm.
The U.S. is beginning to catch up. The first offshore wind farm in the U.S. began generating electricity in late 2016. It consists of five, 6-MW (megawatt) Haliade-X turbines supplied by GE Renewable Energy linked through a submarine transmission cable into the New England grid. Located about 3 miles off the coast of Block Island, RI, this wind farm will generate enough electricity to power 5,000 homes on the island and to meet around 90 percent of its total electricity demand. [3]
The Current Domestic Situation: The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management was created in 2011, and it is poised to review at least 16 offshore wind plans for potential approval in the next three years, up from two total approvals since the agency was created.
The Biden administration apparently has ambitious plans to open up vast swaths of coastline in order to generate 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030. Energy companies are stepping up: Six leases off the New Jersey and New York coasts sold for $4.3 Billion in February 2022, the most lucrative wind lease sale in U.S. history.
Among other cases, Oregon officials are asking BOEM to delay a planned lease sale next year over concerns about its potential impacts on commercial fishing.
The commercial fishing industry has real and legitimate concerns which need to be investigated and addressed, honestly and thoroughly.
Interim Conclusion: This is a very complex issue which needs input from cool heads; full transparency; and no further publicly broadcast emotional diatribes. Like most issues today, we need to allow real experts to develop and distribute a solid strategy which achieves optimum current and future outcomes for our society as a whole.
[1] This 2009 study was supported by National Science Foundation Grant ATM-0635548; the authors represent an international multidisciplinary team of scholars.
[2] “Geophysical potential for wind energy over the open oceans”; Carnegie Institution for Science, Stanford, CA 94305.
[3] Block Island Wind Farm has a peak capacity of 30 MW (megawatts) and is expected to produce around 125,000 MWh (megawatt-hours) of electricity annually.
First Amendment Rights
June 26, 2022
Hey, SCOTUS!
You just imposed the religious will of a small group of Fundamentalist Christians onto our entire nation.
Did you not know the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says that everyone in the United States has the right to practice his or her own religion, or no religion at all?
Nightmare at One First StreetWashington, D.C.
June 25, 2022
The Supreme Court of the United States (“SCOTUS”) was established in 1789 by Article Three of the U.S. Constitution, and defined in the Judiciary Act of 1789.
There are no explicit requirements in the U.S. Constitution for a person to be nominated to become a Supreme Court justice. No age, education, job experience, or citizenship rules exist. There is no requirement in the Constitution for a Supreme Court justice to have a law degree.
Supreme Court justices are nominated by the sitting President, and confirmed by the sitting Senate for a life appointment to the court.
None of this has been a concern to the viability of our nation until now.
We’ve recently witnessed some absolutely surreal SCOTUS decisions.
On 6/23, they gave permission for anyone and everyone to ‘pack heat’: Open season on concealed carry.
Then on 6/24, a majority of our Supreme Court judges eliminated what most of us believed was a Constitutional right to obtain an abortion, casting aside 49 years of precedent that began with Roe v. Wade.
The vote to overturn Roe v. Wade was 5-4, on a decision written by Justice Samuel Alito.
Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett joined Alito’s opinion. Chief Justice John Roberts did not join the opinion. He agreed with the majority that the Mississippi abortion restriction at issue in the case should be upheld, but in a separate opinion, he argued that the court should not have overturned the Roe v. Wade decision.
This decision employed fully twisted logic claiming the Roe decision was wrong ‘because the U.S. Constitution makes no specific mention of abortion rights.’
That’s not surprising. Back at the end of the 18th century — when we had just 13 states and the only people who had voting rights were White Men who were land owners — the Constitution also made no mention of television, airline travel or record-high gasoline prices.
And then, on the following day, June 24, 2022, “in a concurring opinion that raised concerns the justices might roll back other rights, conservative Justice Clarence Thomas urged the court to reconsider past rulings protecting the right to contraception, legalizing gay marriage nationwide, and invalidating state laws banning gay sex.”
Yet, Justice Thomas made no mention of a revisit to the controversial Loving v. Virginia decision?
Clarence Thomas has proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is a Genuine Sanctimonious Prick.
Only Franz Kafka could do this story justice.
Donald Trump Operates on one Simple Trick
June 17, 2022
A recent post by Mark Sumner on Daily Kos both caught my eye and stopped me in my tracks.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/6/17/2104655/-Donald-Trump-operates-on-One-Simple-Trick
I’m retired, so I have plenty of time to read, reflect and think about things. I try not to let the intensity of the moment get to me. I’ve found it’s better for me to stop, think and express my feelings in words. It may not change anything, but it does soothe me and help keep my blood pressure under control.
Here is my reaction to Mark Sumner’s excellent observations:
It seems that Trump has much in common with each of the historic figures (below).
They represent a rare but dangerous sub-species: Charismatic leaders who lack any social conscience, and are further devoid of the ability to empathize and identify with others on a genuine personal level.
In classic terms, these folks are narcissistic psychopaths, and most satisfy some of their urges by torturing and/or killing others. They are high-functioning individuals each of whom developed a rich repertoire of very effective coping mechanisms which allowed them to ‘fool some of the people all the time’.
Where Trump deviates from the rest of these folks is that he just isn’t very smart.
He refuses to read, study and listen to experts which limits his ability to develop a deep understanding of the world around him, thus leaving him incapable of originating, advancing and executing a productive and original strategy.
Trump is evil but shallow; he acts entirely on impulse. He treats his closest advisors like cannon fodder. Throughout his long career of grifting, pillaging and piracy, he never saw a bridge he wouldn’t burn.
I believe if Trump does live another 5 years, he will experience a precipitous fall from grace dwarfing even the saga of Bernie Madoff.
However the future unfolds, Trump will most certainly join this list of very bad actors for all of eternity:
Adolf Hitler; Joseph Stalin; Vlad the Impaler; Pol Pot; Heinrich Himmler; Saddam Hussein; Idi Amin; Josef Mengle; Ivan the Terrible; Genghis Kahn; Ayatollah Khomeini; Vladimir Putin; David Koresh; Charles Manson; Jim Jones. And the list goes on…
Flailing at the branches, or striking at the root?
May 25, 2022
Dozens of polls and studies reveal general agreement among American adults which favors sensible gun control reform legislation, incorporating a variety of strategies such as: (a) increased funding for mental health services; (b) universal background checks; (c) a national ‘red flag’ law; (d) training and/or licensing requirements; (e) more consistent rules across state lines.
Each and all of these would likely contribute toward reducing senseless gun violence. Yet, the Root Cause of our present dilemma seems to center around one specific type of firearm, often called “AR-15 style”.
These are high-capacity military-style weapons which can be fired semi-automatically and/or have the capability of being easily transformed into a rapid fire weapon. There is no legitimate purpose for these weapons in a civil society, and the ultimate goal to remove this Root Cause from the equation ought to be a total and complete ban on the civilian purchase, sale or possession of such weapons.
The next critical variable is ammunition. There is no logical or defensible reason to support civilian sale, possession or use of military grade ammunition categorized as: hollow point; full metal jacket; armor piercing; green tip; black tip; or any other sort of ammo which is not used by regular gun owners for target shooting or which is appropriate for legitimate hunting purposes.
As painful as it might seem to Wayne LaPierre, Jason Ouimet and others at the NRA, these AR-15 style weapons and military grade ammunition seem to continually and disproportionally fall into the hands of a few people who have really bad agendas.
If we eliminate the very weapons and ammunition which seem to attract the interest of folks with bad agendas, we will be making some real progress.
Please listen carefully, NRA.
The great majority of us don’t want to take guns away from our neighbors; we don’t harbor animosity toward responsible gun owners; and we often are gun owners and NRA members ourselves.
We do believe there is a balance – a sensible equilibrium — which respects, supports and honors the American tradition for people to keep and bear arms in a manner consistent with a civilized 21st century society.
Let’s work together to find that balance.
SCOTUS & Reproductive Freedom
May 4, 2022
The Supreme Court of the United States is currently embroiled in one of the most divisive cases of the 21st century.
I offer some comments to them.
REF: Docket No. 19-1392: Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization
Honorable Justices:
I’m a retired man of European ancestry who has enjoyed a great life in America. I was raised in a family which celebrated equal rights among women and men; valued the importance of education; encouraged everyone to work to their potential; and gave our neighbors an opportunity to live their lives to the fullest.
I have lived in 3 states, and I’ve always thought that one of the great benefits to all who are residents of the United States is the breadth and depth of the 10th Amendment, which strives to ensure equal rights to all U.S. residents regardless of which state they were born in, or where they currently reside.
That said, I am extremely alarmed and disappointed by recent media reports which indicate a high potential for The Court to negate the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision (410 U.S. 113), in addition to reversing a subsequent and related decision from 1992 — Planned Parenthood v. Casey (505 U.S. 833).
A variety of research surveys over time have found that the majority of Americans believe that abortion should be legal in all or most cases. When religion has been included in the demographics of survey participants, the vast majority of white evangelical Protestants say abortion should be illegal in all or most cases.
The 1st amendment to the U.S. Constitution states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”
Whenever people bring their personal religious beliefs or values into any public debate, they risk imposing illegal, unwanted or restrictive religious practices and beliefs on others who have been granted the Constitutional right to pursue their own — perhaps different — beliefs.
The great majority of published public opinions opposed to open unrestricted access to comprehensive reproductive health care over the past 4 decades — including both contraception and abortion — center on personal ethical, moral or religious issues, with the loudest voices opposing open access generally emanating from a small minority of predominantly college educated white evangelical Christians, an economically privileged cohort.
Restrictions imposed on open access to comprehensive reproductive health care services have disproportionate adverse economic impact on — and directly deprive basic human rights to — young women; low-income women; and women of color. These are socially and economically disadvantaged women, frequently members of a protected class.
The longitudinal negative social and economic impacts on women who are denied access to a voluntary abortion — and to the children who are born as a result — are often devastating. The spillover of these social and economic impacts into our larger society is chilling.
I urge you to reject the religious, ethical and moral arguments embedded into the Dobbs case, and to instead codify the right of all women residents of the U.S. to unfettered access to comprehensive reproductive health care, regardless of current residency; education; economic status; age; disability; religion; national origin; pregnancy; race/color; sex, sexual orientation and/or gender identity.
walrus51 