Autumn Reflections

Fall has Fell here in Kentucky and it is a great time of year.  While an objective analysis of my state will reveal it to be an imperfect province like all other states; I find it to be a real nice place to live and work.  One of the blessings we enjoy here is the annual reliance of receiving four distinct seasons.  Now the length and depth of each one is not always predictable; but we always know there will be a spring, summer, fall, and winter. 

Fall is my favorite and it is simply a glorious time of year for anyone who pays attention to nature.  One of the things I find appealing about the fall is that everything seems to slow down just a bit.  It is a time of reflection for the year past and a time of preparation for the winter to come.  In celebration of the fall, here are just a few current observations about the world we live in. 

Turning the Page.  One week ago, my home region in central Kentucky was suffering from a fairly serious drought.  My pasture fields would literally crunch beneath your feet when you walked across them.  Our ponds across the county were drying up on a daily basis.  The trees were prematurely shedding their leaves because of the dry conditions.  And then, as is always the case, the rain finally arrived this past weekend and it’s like someone flipped a switch.  The oppressive heat and drought is in the rear view mirror; the trees saved enough leaves to paint that glorious fall mosaic across the landscapes; and it is simply a joy to walk out on the farm and celebrate the season.  Without fail, I continue to marvel at the recuperative ability of Mother Nature and how our environment can rebound from severe conditions in a short time. 

Tragically, President Trump and the Democrats continue to exist like oil and water; permanently dissociative.  One has to wonder if a cleansing rain could wash across our nation’s capitol and create a fresh, new start for our political environment.  Oh well…..it doesn’t hurt to dream, does it? 

Three-Card Monte??  The Democratic Party and the Mainstream Media have adapted the old card trick Three-Card Monte into a new political tool.  The card trick is simply a con job that allows the dealer to control whether or not the player wins.  The unholy alliance between the Democrats and the Media is played out like a con job; but the opposition never wins.  First, there is the creation of a scandal.  It might be hyperbole with a kernel of substance at its root; or it might be manufactured out of whole cloth.  Secondly, this scandal is leaked to the media through the Deep State Network that exists between unscrupulous government employees sympathetic to the Democrats and their long-established contacts within the Media.  And finally, the politicians in government, either Congress or the Deep State, will officially announce the scandal using…of all things…media reports as a basis for the expose. 

This little charade has played out twice now in a major way.  First, it was the master plan for the Russia Collusion Hoax.  Now, it is being reprised in the form of the Ukraine Call Hoax.  What kind of bizarre logic supports this type of process?  People are now guilty until proven innocent and the reporters of deceit are the very perpetrators and originators of the deceit.  The Democratic Party and the Mainstream Media have such small regard for the intelligence of the public that they line up checkers in any fashion they find favorable and then claim that the rules permit such manipulation.  And unfortunately, at least so far, that attitude has been accurate.  As it currently exists, we can all simply bemoan the death of journalistic integrity and fervently hope for its revival.  The Fourth Estate is indeed in a sad state.

Foreign Policy Intrigue.  Several months back, I wrote about President Trump’s approach to foreign policy as it relates to military engagements: http://centerlineright.blogspot.com/2019/01/trump-takes-road-less-traveled.html .  This particular subject has now come to a head in the current issue of removing our troops (approximately 50-100 military personnel) from northern Syria.  As I have written before, it is near-heresy for the uninformed to comment on U.S. foreign policy.  That does not imply that the President or other government officials in charge of foreign policy are infallible and always make the right choices; they obviously do not.  It simply means that the world today is so interwoven and complex that it is a tremendous challenge for any one person to be in possession of sufficient facts and data in order to make fair and reasonable decisions in this arena.  It is simply impossible for those of us who have only a small portion of the pertinent facts to make rational decisions in this area. 

I have always said that choosing a doctor or lawyer for yourself has as much to do with trust as it does with vetting; I believe the same goes for our nation’s foreign policy.  The old policy of American politics ending at the water’s edge has obviously gone by the wayside.  This occurrence was not a Democrat thing or a Republican thing; it was simply an evolution of our all-encompassing obsession with all things politic.  It has made it nigh on impossible for our President, be they Democrat or Republican, to administer a credible foreign policy in this dangerous world. 

The Syria situation is so very layered and complicated; it is difficult to make sense out of exactly what is happening and why it is happening.  The overwhelming majority of the people commenting on this situation cannot even identify the players and their agendas.  I hear the logic that supports an American military presence in foreign conflicts and how imperative it is to preserve our allies’ confidence in our commitments.  I also hear the logic of bringing an end to the tragic loss of precious lives in these endless wars that seem to pop up across our planet like thunderstorms.  Like all other Americans, I pray that our leaders…all of our leaders from both Parties…can find the right balance to curtail U.S. involvement in these conflicts while preserving our country’s reputation as a reliable partner in foreign affairs.

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NBA, NCAA, and California…They Deserve Each Other.  I must confess to finding the recent conflict between China and the NBA delicious.  The NBA’s bald appetite for profit and their brazen hypocrisy has been so efficiently exposed by this turn of events.  And then of course, there is the move by California, in a direct challenge to the NCAA, to allow amateur college athletes to profit from their personal brand.  The NBA, California, and the NCAA; what an absolutely perfect Three Ring Circus! 

The NBA and the rest of Corporate America that has mortgaged its moral and ethical soul to China in the name of profit deserve all the harm they might incur from their relationships with a communist nation that has demonstrated utter disdain for the rights, dignity, and freedoms of its citizens.  This is a no-brainer; if the NBA and all of its pieces have an ounce of integrity, they will tell China where they can stuff the basketball.  If the high tech industry and other bottom-line-driven companies have any conscience whatsoever, they will remove themselves from China and thus help to eliminate the blatantly unfair Chinese intellectual property theft devices…not to mention ceasing their passive support for China’s atrocities against its own people. 

FWIW…I previously addressed the issue of college student-athletes in a prior post: http://centerlineright.blogspot.com/2019/04/one-and-done-student-athlete-stipends.html .  If the NCAA remains intransigent and refuses to address this issue post haste, they deserve all the grief that idiots like California can heap upon them. 

Why No Rise of a Third Party?  I am an Independent.  Some people will criticize me for taking the easy way out and not committing to either major political party.  I am comfortable with my approach to officially disclaiming the context of either party and making my political decisions on the basis of the issues and the facts.  I am curious why there is not more enthusiasm for the Independent Party. 

With all of its lunatic fringe activities, the Democratic Party has undoubtedly disillusioned long-time party members whose heritages go back to Blue Dog roots or Union blue collar roots.  The Republican Party, led by President Trump’s big mouth and over-sized ego, has conveniently forgotten anything they ever knew about fiscal responsibility and resigned themselves to a game of defense against the Democrat’s perpetual and petty attacks.  Although Never Trumper is an exaggerative term, there is no doubt many Republicans will vote for Trump because no better option exists. 

Both national parties now exhibit a shameless lust for the acquisition and preservation of raw, political power.  The bottom line is that there is an abundance of disaffected Democrats and Republicans out there who are so disgusted by our political environment that they have literally checked out of politics altogether.  They cannot marshal up sufficient energy to challenge the rampant propaganda and disinformation that is continually hurled at them and thus make informed voting selections.  Instead, they are left largely to whim and whimsy; exposing themselves to the flavor of the month winds that breezily escorts them down the correct road of political reasoning. 

The time would seem ripe for the rise of an Independent third party that might take a non-partisan approach to today’s political issues.  Notwithstanding the immense democratic complications that a vibrant Independent Party would pose for our government, it offers a refuge for those like me who find strong disfavor with the leadership of either major political party.  It might also be an effective mechanism for calling the two major parties back to the reality of reason and civility.  When considering the absolute chaos we are now witnessing in our government, the bureaucratic challenges posed by a Three National Party circumstance don’t really appear quite as insurmountable as they once did. 

The Forgotten Farmers.  As the harvest of this year’s crops approach completion, our nation’s farmers once again face the challenges of weather, markets, and current events in order to survive a tumultuous industry.  I retired from a long career with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and I grew up in rural Kentucky.  More so than most, I have had an opportunity to see many of the prisms through which we view agriculture in America. 

The strength of America’s farmers is also the weakness of America’s farmers; they are an independent, stoic group of people who are doing what they do because they love it.  Long, long ago they realized that they will stand or fall on their own individual efforts and decisions and it is futile to look to the government, to the bank, or to the public for sustaining support.    Clearly, there must be accountability for the farmers and the business decisions that they make; but it is undeniable that farming is a unique enterprise.  It is the only business in the United States that I am aware of where all of the inputs are purchased at retail and the entire finished product is marketed at wholesale.  Think about that one for a moment.  The independence and diversity that sustains them as farmers are the very traits that prevent them from banding together as an effective, political entity.  The industries that support them…the insurance companies, the equipment companies, the multi-national grain and livestock companies that buy their outputs; they all have an abundance of political clout.  These segments of our economy stand astride Congress and have as much influence on legislation as anyone or anything. 

Agriculture continues to buttress our wildly fluctuating trade balances with its burgeoning exports.  Agriculture continues to contribute to our nation’s national security by not only providing a reliable and abundant food/fiber supply for ourselves; but by also propping up and addressing the food/fiber needs of the planet.  The ripple effect of a dollar spent in agriculture is unparalleled as it turns itself over time after time, working its way through the supply chain of business entities that support the farming industry.  Our nation was founded by people who not only sought personal freedom and liberty, but also had the intestinal fortitude to sustain themselves in an independent fashion. 

Agriculture is as much the fiber of this nation as any other element and the continued existence of the United States is conditioned on our ability to feed and provide for ourselves.  So as farmers across this great nation combine their corn and soybeans and deliver them to grain elevators for depressed prices; as livestock producers continue to raise their animals with ever-increasing expenses and low market returns; and as fruit and vegetable producers continue to grapple with exploding government regulation and increasingly effective foreign competition…let us not forget the essential contribution made to our culture and society by our farmers.  Agriculture is everybody’s business!