From FISA to Obama to Trump to Where We Are Today

Barack Hussein Obama was our nation’s first black President.  He swept into office on the wings of a jubilant electorate that collectively felt a burst of optimism and possibility.  The significant achievement of a black American gaining the highest office in the land was momentous and a cause for celebration.  Never before in our nation’s history had a President come into the White House with a larger balance in his political capital account.  It was indeed a great moment for our nation.

Considering all of the possibilities that existed when Obama became President, it is tragic that essentially only the worst ones were realized.  Obama proved to be a lazy, incompetent, arrogant, partisan, and fundamentally dishonest President.  He wasted the greatest opportunity in history to address some entrenched problems faced by our country; choosing instead to pursue the ideological magical mystery tour agenda that he so carelessly assembled off his hip.  His shallow, irresponsible approach to governing and his undisciplined selection of key political appointees resulted in the unleashing of perhaps the most corrupt Administration in American history; the effects of which will stain this nation for generations to come.

It is easy to see why Obama came into office with such an approving glow from the people and from the media.  What is more difficult to comprehend is why that glow continued for so much of the electorate and the overwhelming majority of the mainstream media; even in the face of clear, objective proof that his façade of hope and change was little more than gauze wrapping on naked, personal aspirations.   How did this man escape the scrutiny of voters and media that his predecessors routinely dealt with and that his successor has been tortured by?

Donald Trump was cursed from the moment he became a serious candidate for President.  The Republican Party of which he was a part never accepted him as a bona fide member.  His Party had a long, established tradition of selecting their Presidential candidates from a list of those who had paid their dues to the Party in various ways; most notably by simply persevering in the Party for ages on end.  Trump had the audacity to come in from the private sector and claim that he was uniquely qualified to approach the Presidency with a fresh perspective.  This was anathema to the Republican Party leadership and they initially offered Donald Trump little or no respect and legitimacy.  Even after he won the nomination and became the only Republican option against Hillary Clinton, many in the Republican Party leadership did not openly or privately support this man.  It is a dirty little Republican secret that this sentiment still exists in the hearts of many long-time Republican leaders.  They manage to hide it away and keep it concealed simply because they love power and authority more than they despise their President.  But inwardly, they still look down on the President with a condescending air of superiority.  In this respect, they are not unlike the liberal elite that they so often demonize.

The mainstream media lives and works in a bubbly environment that they themselves perpetuate.  They do not write and report the news for me or you, the private citizens; they do so for themselves and to impress each other.  They are legitimately clueless about the real world in America today and are perfectly content to bath in their own self-professed wisdom while residing in their realm of imperial judgment.  In Barack Obama, they not only found an authentically historic President; but also one who was advocating the very policies that had been ingrained in them for their entire lives.  They were truly kindred spirits.  The liberal bias present in our nation’s collegiate institutions and the journalism industry rewards liberal group think, but ostracizes independent thinkers who may deign to disagree with popular opinion or wander over the political centerline.  This fundamental affection for Obama and all that he represented led most journalists to overlook the red flags that shot up from his Administration and led them to simply focus on those aspects of Obama that they deemed noteworthy.  They continued to glorify him in spite of clear indications that something was amiss.

I believe an aspect of the mainstream media’s irrational hatred of Trump is rooted in the fact that he defeated Hillary Clinton.  First and foremost, the mainstream media were exposed as incompetent and biased fools on the day that Trump defeated Clinton for the Presidency.  Not only had they guaranteed Trump’s obliteration at the hands of Clinton; they were simply unable to deal with the stunning miscalculation of Donald Trump’s victory.  They had really stepped in it and were too arrogant to admit it.  They have since spent their entire collective careers trying to somehow rationalize how they could have been so very wrong.   Part of this rationalization is the supposition that Trump is not worthy of the Presidency; that there is no way he should occupy the White House.  It must have been the powers that be who erred in judgment; certainly not them.  To them, the only reasonable explanation for Donald Trump is some kind of crazy, mixed up karma.

Regardless of what they might say, the mainstream media kinda…sorta…somehow…really likes an imperial Presidency.  They just demand that this Imperial President be a Democrat.  In spite of all his personal character flaws, John Kennedy was essentially deemed a Prince among men and King of America.  Jacky O was portrayed as a shining example of precisely what we all wanted in a First Lady.  The term Camelot was not applied to the Kennedys in jest.  That misplaced emotion was resurrected with Obama’s election.  The pomp and circumstance of all that was Obama was slurped up by his adoring minions and they never bothered themselves to even glimpse beneath the surface to see what gears were actually driving the Obama Administration.  And what about those gears?

Just as we are now seeing the exposure of the mainstream media’s complicity in the Trump Campaign/Presidency Russia Hoax; so is the interwoven fabric of deep corruption from within Obama’s Administrations coming to light.  Its historical significance notwithstanding, history will record Obama’s terms as President as one of, if not the, most corrupt Administration in our nation’s history.  Either Obama was a fool and incompetently asleep at the wheel; or else he was complicit in the gross abuse of power that occurred under his watch.  Either way, he is ultimately responsible for a group of unethical ideologues commandeering his Administration and trampling on their oaths of office.

There were several instances of the Obama Administration attempting to intimidate and influence journalists.  One of those instances involved ex-CBS journalist Sharyl Attkisson.  Ms. Attkisson now operates as an independent journalist and is one of the most objective and hardworking writers on the planet.  She brings an honest, factual, and refreshingly objective opinion to all that she writes about and is a true professional.  Here is a timeline that she has constructed on how the Obama Administration abused its Administrative powers: https://sharylattkisson.com/2017/12/obama-era-surveillance-timeline/ .  As a follow-up to this timeline, here is another article that documents the many times that the mainstream media demonstrated the willful ignorance that I have earlier referred to: https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/475364-six-ways-we-were-blind-to-screaming-red-flags-about-government . 

If spite of all that we now know about how these people conducted their business and abused their power, there still remain credible (?) representatives of the Obama Administration running about claiming that their tenure had no hint of scandal or controversy.  The incredible thing to me is that even though Obama treated the media with contempt and suspicion, they continued to behave like groupies towards him.  He treated them like the fools they were.  Here is an outstanding article on the unholy nexus that existed between the Obama Administration and the mainstream media: https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2019/12/we-now-know-perps-chumps-of-the-msm-pulitzer-prize-edition.php .

And if you are one of those still enthralled by the perceived magnificence of Obama and the detestability of Trump, just ask yourself this question:  All else being equal…what if Obama had come into office as a Republican and Trump had come into office as a Democrat?  Would Obama’s judgments remain infallible and would there be enough magazine covers in the world to hold Melania’s photos?

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I want to add a couple of quick comments regarding FISA.  The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) was signed into law in 1978.  It was primarily created to give our nation a new and improved method of defense against foreign-inspired and sponsored terrorism.  The Chief Administrative entity in FISA is the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC).  This is the body to which law enforcement Departments and Agencies present requests to spy upon foreign and domestic individuals in the effort to protect against acts of violence against our country.  Read more about the FISC here: https://www.fisc.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/MIsc%2019%2002%20191217.pdf .  Since its inception, it is widely reported that the FISC has approved over 99 percent of the surveillance requests it has received. 

In response to the Department of Justice Inspector General’s scathing report on DOJ/FBI conduct under the Obama Administration and leading into the Trump Administration, the FISC sent the following letter to the DOJ/FBI: https://www.fisc.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/MIsc%2019%2002%20191217.pdf .  It goes without saying that this letter reflects the FISC outrage at how DOJ/FBI officials handled their surveillance requests.  What is not reflected in this letter is the fact that the FISC was TWICE warned, prior to their approval, that the requests in question were questionable and without foundation.  These warnings came from Congressional Committees that were charged with the oversight of the Departments and Agencies making these requests.  And how did the FISC respond to these warnings?  They gave them a cursory brush-off and proceeded to approve them anyway.  The FISC assumed that the people making the requests were of good intention and were being honest about the details of their requests.   They were wrong.

FISA did not set up the FISC to rubber stamp every surveillance request that came to them.  They were supposed to INSURE that the requests were essential and represented the only way to obtain the information sought.  They were supposed to establish and practice exacting standards that would require these intrusive surveillance techniques to be used sparingly and only as a last resort.  They were the ultimate firewall between our individual rights and overzealous rogues in our government.  They failed to do this.  They were lied to, misled, and hoodwinked by DOJ/FBI personnel with bad intentions.  They were played.  And now that they have been exposed as the fools they were, they send out this four-page letter of protest.  This…is…lame.

FISA should be eliminated.  FISC should not exist.  Our government should not be given this ability to infringe upon the rights of its citizenry.  The people that we elect, and the people that they appoint, will never have a sufficient degree of integrity to wield this degree of power and authority.  We have freely given away a portion of our liberty to a body that will unquestionably abuse that liberty.

Christmas Card 2019

A tribute to the eternal gift that our government annually gives to future generations; the perpetuation of an irresponsible, short-sighted, and debilitating national debt nourished through deficit spending.  Happy Holidays!!!!!

The WDC Night Before Christmas

Twas days before Christmas and all through the din, politicians were screaming like a hurricane wind.

Their whining and moaning rang through the air, seeking to find some publicity there.

Their staffs were like ants, composing what’s said…while visions of voters danced in their heads.

Trump with his wild hair and Nancy with her chew, had dug in their heels for the latest hullabaloo.

Then out on the south lawn, there arose such a racket…the Agents all scurried in a rush to attack it.

Out to the balcony Trump flew like a flash, half dressed in pajamas that hardly covered his…legs.

The twinkle of stars and the light of the moon, lit up the yard like the sunshine in June.

And what in the world should this evening reveal, but Mitch and Chuck in a red snowmobile.

With both of them laughing and holding a cup, old Donald just knew that something was up.

Hardly able to stand and stumbling about, the men left their ride and began to shout.

“Now Donald, Melania, Mike and Stephanie…Nancy and Nadler, Adam and AOC.

To the floor of the House, to the floor of the Senate…we’ll pass legislation like we really mean it.”

And as they staggered about all arm in arm, it became clear to those watching that they meant no harm.

So Trump called them in and having some doubt, poured them black coffee and said “What’s this about?”

They winced at each other, none too proud, and then asked the Donald …“Why are you talking so loud?”

Their eyes were all bloodshot, their hair was a mess…they could barely stay seated and needed a rest.

They pushed back their coffee and took out a flask, refilled their cups and set to the task.

They reached in their pockets and each had a list, a trade had been bartered and here was the gist.

Chuck slurred his words and started to mumble, tried to stand up and then took a tumble…

“You’ll get your wall and new ships and planes; we’ll expand Medicare and Amtrak trains.

You’ll get your Judges without an ordeal; and we’ll heal the planet with the Green New Deal.”

Chuck turned to Mitch and gave him a stare, wanting him to speak…but he was asleep in the chair.

“We’ll all get what we want in a new budget bill; but no talk of the deficit…that is the deal.”

The Donald sat back and it appeared he was thinking… “I like what I hear and want what you’re drinking.

Forget what we owe, budgets can be funny.  Just fund all the programs…’cause we print the money.”

Chuck rousted Mitch to wake him up, put his arm over his shoulders and refilled their cups.

They walked to the balcony without making a sound, climbed over the railing and fell to the ground.

They crawled to their Yamaha and struggled to sit, fired up the engine and down the road they lit.

And you could hear them singing as they careened around the Mall… “Ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall…..”

Never underestimate the Spirit of Christmas….Ho Ho Ho !

You and your family have a maaahhvelous Merry Christmas and Holiday Season…

                    May God Bless You All.

Unwrapping the Horowitz Christmas Gift

Let us unpack the Inspector General for the Department of Justice Report, recently presented in person by IG Horowitz to a Senate panel.  Here is the actual report: https://www.scribd.com/document/439020741/Office-of-the-Inspector-General-Review-of-Four-FISA-Applications-and-Other-Aspects-of-the-FBI-s-Crossfire-Hurricane-Investigation#from_embed .  Here is IG Horowitz’s presentation of the report to the Senate panel: https://www.scribd.com/document/439371125/Horowitz-Testimony#from_embed .  Now you do not need CNN, FoxNews, MSNBC, the New York Time, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, or anyone else to tell you what to think.  Read the report and the testimony; then decide for yourself exactly what went down.

No bias?  The Democrats’ trumpeting the no bias claim is akin to a bank robbery scenario.  Sure, the bank door was unlocked and he did not break into the bank.  What is important is what did he do once he got into the bank?  He robbed it!  Any rational being who reads the Horowitz Report should understand that his finding of no bias is cursory at best and irrelevant at worst.  The bar that must be cleared to begin an investigation was so low that it is stupid, stupid and stupid to base the judgment of the entire episode solely on the opening of the investigation. 

Also bear in mind that Horowitz addressed the middle of this escapade; U.S. Attorney John Durham will address the beginning and the end…and everything in between.  In the beginning, exactly who started this whole mess?  What individual sat up one fine day and said they had a great idea to create a dossier from whole cloth and use it as a basis to investigate the Trump Campaign and the Trump Presidency?  And the end…how far up the food chain did this go?  One of two things happened.  Either there was a group of rouge ideologues in the DOJ that executed this elaborate hoax on their own, somehow managing to shield its contents from all of the spying eyes around them, including their supervisors.  Or else the approvals, either tacit or active, for this operation went as far up as the Obama White House…to the Attorney General…to the Vice President…to Valerie Jarrett…to President Obama.  If they knew, they were guilty as sin.  If they didn’t know, they were complicit with a wink and a nod or incompetently clueless to the extreme.  Stay tuned for Mr. Durham; the best (or worst?) is yet to come.

Watching the Democrats on the Senate panel questioning DOJ IG Horowitz and attempting to paper over the chilling abuse of power executed by Obama acolytes made me sick to my stomach.  Blind partisanship in this nation has reached epic proportions.  It is one thing for me to argue politics with my fishing buddy and another thing entirely for the members of the U.S. Senate to passively condone the political weaponization of the DOJ and FBI.  It has tragically reached the point to where I can actually conceive of CNN, MSNBC, the New York Times and Washington Post, and all the partisan Democrat hacks in our national legislature, actually applauding an assassination attempt, either successful or unsuccessful, on our President.  That is how completely obsessive and absurd this Resist Trump movement has become.  If a government can spy on a private citizen this easily in America, what is the difference between our nation and Russia?  At least the Kremlin is open and honest about what they are doing.  We have a bunch of hypocritical egotists attempting to foist their private agendas on our citizenry while using every power and tool available to them to cover their tracks and shift attention to their philosophical opponents.

Now for some professional commentary about where this episode stands at the moment.  A couple of summaries regarding the Senate testimony of Horowitz:

 https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2019/12/horowitz-in-review.php

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2019/12/michael-horowitzs-flawed-epistemology.php

If you are truly interested in a complete, succinct, fair, informed, and practical assessment of the Horowitz Report and Testimony, the wisdom of FISA, and the status of the ongoing House Impeachment effort; then devote about an hour and ten minutes of your time to Andy McCarthy’s most recent podcast here: https://www.nationalreview.com/podcasts/the-mccarthy-report/episode-67-examining-the-ig-report/ .   This alone will bring you up-to-date on this entire episode and put you on notice for what is yet to come.

And here is some more comment regarding the wisdom of the FISA process:

https://amgreatness.com/2019/12/10/what-about-the-fisa-court/

And now for a perfect example of exactly how dishonest the House Democratic leadership has been about this issue from day one:

https://thefederalist.com/2019/12/10/ig-report-confirms-schiff-fisa-memo-media-praised-was-riddled-with-lies/?utm_source=Javelin+Media+List&utm_campaign=c65e0bde57-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_31b468c027-c65e0bde57-83780789

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We live in a nation ruled by law.  We are blessed to live in such an environment.  The Attorney General is the chief law enforcement officer in our country. Attorney General William Barr is the right man at the right place at the right time.  With all of the idiocy that is going on with our Democratic and Republican leadership in WDC, AG Barr brings a voice of reason, logic, stability, fairness, and good old common sense to the front.  Here are two interviews he participated in following the release of the Horowitz report.  At a minimum, you should listen to first one.  It is only about 24 minutes long and really sums up the whole thing in a nutshell.  The second interview is about 55 minutes (dead air until about the 10 minute mark) and expands on the Horowitz report; but then covers the ongoing issue about addressing the power and influence of the big tech companies (Google, Facebook, etc.) in America and how that should be approached in a legal and legislative sense.  It is good stuff that impacts every one of us daily.  Keep in mind…this is the High Sheriff in our town; the Top Cop; the man with the Big Badge.  He is the one who decides who the government goes after and what they go after them for.  What he thinks MATTERS.  Pay very close attention; this might very well be the only sane person in Washington, D.C. and…his words provide a bit of insight as to what we might expect from Durham.

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2019/12/barr-is-on-the-case.php

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2019/12/barr-is-on-the-case-2.php

Here’s a great summary of the Barr interviews from one of the best journalists working today:

https://www.theepochtimes.com/william-barr-has-suddenly-become-chatty-and-hes-provided-quite-an-information-dump_3171471.html

And a final summary of the Report and Testimony with quotes from the indispensable Andy McCarthy:

https://www.theepochtimes.com/horowitz-gives-damning-testimony-of-fbi-conduct-during-investigation-of-trump-campaign_3172149.html

This entire case of investigating the Trump Campaign/Presidency by first the Obama Administration and then by its DOJ holdovers is the realization of fevered dreams by past Presidents and leaders (Nixon, J. Edgar Hoover ??) to possess unlimited power to spy on and control any citizen they might choose, for any reason they might deem.  If this dark and odious chapter in history is swept beneath the carpet by the Democrats and their allies in the mainstream media, it will undoubtedly set the stage for even more nefarious intrusions into our freedoms in years to come…by BOTH political parties.  Don’t think for one second that if the Democrats get away with this stuff, the Republicans won’t try it out in future administrations.

Imagine for a moment that you are Carter Page or George Papadopoulos.  You are a private citizen who has volunteered to work in a presidential campaign for a candidate that you support.  Out of the blue, the entire weight of the U.S. Government is brought to bear on prying apart your private life and then the details are leaked indiscriminately to the mainstream media.  Or maybe you are Michael Flynn?  You are a retired U.S. Army Lt. General who has spent a lifetime serving this nation in the military and have been highly commemorated for that service.  Now you are set up for a process crime, your family is threatened, your lifetime savings are raided, and you are branded as a criminal nothing short of a back alley child molester.  Or how about you are Donald Trump?  You ran against your own party and a stacked deck to compete for the Presidency; and against all odds and the conniving of the U.S. Department of Justice…you WON.  And now, as your reward, you get a continuing investigation into every aspect of your past, your family, and your associates’ private and public lives since birth.  Three years into your term as President and it still continues non-stop 24/7. 

And now…think real hard about his one…you are the President.  You have some of your hand-picked appointees come to you about a scheme to surreptitiously investigate the opposing party’s nominee for the upcoming Presidential election that will select your successor.  Knowing that their proposal is clearly anathema to everything this nation stands for, is clearly unethical, and is most likely even illegal…what is your response?  Hell No!  ....  or  ….  Wellllll…..?  It is now clear to all how The One responded.

Our government is a marvelous creation of freedom, democracy, and the Constitution.  But we forget at our own peril that our government is comprised of people just like us; people who are imperfect, prone to errors in judgment, susceptible to excessive pride and arrogance, and certainly not above being corrupted by greed, power, or money.  Since our nation’s inception, we have freely given away too many of the freedoms and liberties that our founders gave their very lives to earn for us.  The FISA system is a prime example of giving our government excessive power in the quest for good intentions.  I will close this post with some comments I have previously made about the perils of the FISA system, which has in my opinion been gloriously exposed by this recent WDC firestorm:

http://centerlineright.blogspot.com/2018/02/the-question-no-one-is-asking.html

http://centerlineright.blogspot.com/2018/05/the-very-real-threat-of-liberal.html

http://centerlineright.blogspot.com/2019/04/what-to-do-when-congress-comes-to-stop.html

http://centerlineright.blogspot.com/2018/02/the-sometimes-tragedy-of-when-ambition.html

http://centerlineright.blogspot.com/2018/02/the-stench-is-becoming-palpable.html

Stuff THIS in your Stocking

Do any of you reading this post have children in your life with their faces eternally planted in some type of electronic device?  I expect the answer is yes.  Most kids nowadays have cell phones by age 11 and the obsession with these devices is troubling.  Aside from the physical and emotional consequences that excessive use might entail, the simple fact is that these children are allowing a big slice of real life to simply pass them by unnoticed.  Here is a good article on the subject: https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/shocking-number-of-children-show-signs-of-smartphone-addiction .  One of life’s hard lessons is that everything has a cost.  We can only hope that the advanced understanding and motor skills gained by today’s technology will be worth the cost in missed opportunities.

At some point in the future, Americans will marvel at how a large part of our nation’s population was sucked into this whole Trump/Collusion Hoax.  The gross abuse of power by government officials; the abdication of ethics by the mainstream media; the hypocrisy and self-indulgence by the Democratic Party; the pure gullibility of our citizenry…all of these things will be subjects of much discussion for future political analysts.  How in the world did the perpetrators of this charade get by with such a colossal scheme?  How could we have been so utterly clueless?  Here is an article that partially pulls the sheet back on that question: https://apelbaum.wordpress.com/2018/03/17/the-mechanics-of-deception/ .

I am on record (repeatedly) as designating Barack Hussein Obama as the worst President in my lifetime.  His squandering of a rare legislative opportunity in quest of the Obamacare debacle; his shameful approach to race relations that exacerbated the social complexities of this nation; his narcissistic demeanor that cheapened the Chief Executive’s office and poisoned partisan differences; and his aloof and Machiavellian use of federal departments and agencies for political and personal uses…all of these will be indelible stains on his two terms as an American President.  Illustrative of his choice for team members is Samantha Power: https://spectator.org/the-amnesia-of-samantha-power/ .  She is the perfect example of Obama’s arrogant ends justify the means approach to governing and the blind loyalty of the ideologues that served this quest. 

An extension of this same Obama Administration approach to governing is being gloriously executed by U.S. Representative Adam Schiff (D/Cal).  In the footsteps of Lois Lerner politically weaponizing the Internal Revenue Service against conservative non-profits; Eric Holder ignorantly running guns to Mexican cartels in the Fast and Furious scheme; or the entire Department of Justice under Obama using every tool in the chest to investigate first the Trump Campaign and then the Trump Presidency…Schiff has astonishingly obtained through subpoena…and PUBLISHED…private telephone metadata from Rudy Giuliani, the President’s personal attorney.  His published House Intelligence Committee report selectively lists, among others, the metadata of U.S. Representative Devin Nunes (R/Cal) and respected journalist John Solomon.  Just to provide perspective for this action…a Presidential Administration must obtain a court order to execute this type of investigation.  Schiff has done it with no one’s approval but his own.  This is breath-takingly arrogant, brazen, and irresponsible.  Read here for more details about this outrageous action: https://nypost.com/2019/12/07/democrats-have-embraced-the-exact-surveillance-tactics-they-used-to-warn-about/ and also Adam Schiff Has Jumped the Shark | The American Spectator .  The desperation of Congressional Democrats to find the President guilty of something….anything….has truly reached absurd proportions. 

Along with the basic human rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness that is gifted to us in our Constitution; another pillar of our nation is the pure authority of the Supreme Court.  It is the linchpin that establishes an ultimate authority for what is legal in this country.  It is the final arbiter of legislative intent, Executive overreach, and essential freedoms for our citizenry.  In the last couple of decades; some of the luster enjoyed by this essential institution has been burnished.  There is a significant school of thought that the SCOTUS has become overtly politicized and several actions to address that perception have been floated to the public.  More than one of the current Democratic Presidential Candidates has endorsed the notion of expanding the membership of the SCOTUS to remedy this issue.  For what is worth (and that is certainly worthy of debate), here is another approach: https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/11/supreme-court-term-limits-have-bipartisan-support/ .

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And finally, we will end on a lighter note.  One of the greatest counteragents we have to the partisan venom and personal certitude that has infused our culture is the fine art of satire.  Our ability to make fun of ourselves and realize that we are all subject to monstrous errors in judgment and deed is a key element to maintaining a firm grasp on reality.  If we can’t laugh at ourselves, we are wound waaaaaay too tight.  The Onion https://www.theonion.com/ and the Babylon Bee https://babylonbee.com/ do a great job of showing us all how completely foolish we can be at times.  There is quite often an extremely fine line between effective satire and irresponsibly cruel or insensitive commentary.  Both of these sites will occasionally cross that line; but I believe it is in error and not intentional.  If you read both on a regular basis, I can assure you that everyone’s ox will be gored at one time or another.  Here is a great example of how the Bee handled the recent Don’t Mess with Nancy moment: https://babylonbee.com/news/pelosi-clarifies-shes-not-one-of-those-anti-baby-murder-catholics .

Practicing Black and White in a Gray World

Along with many others, I have often addressed the issues of political incivility and compromise in past months.  The schism that lies between the far right and the far left seems to growing wider with each passing day and the language that flows between the two is becoming more and more callous and crude.  The image of either President Trump or Speaker Pelosi as victorious warriors regaled in armor and standing astride their bloodied opponent is pretty much accepted as normal these days.  Kill or be killed is the mantra du jour.

There is an old saying, which I cannot accurately attribute, that reads: Compromise on practice, but never on principle.  Apparently, all politicians these days are standing on principle.  NOT !  Principle has pretty much taken a backseat to self-promotion in our government and society.  Another old saying goes: If you don’t stand for something, you will fall for anything.  I fear that a good portion of our American voters are discounting the former part of that saying and exemplifying the latter.  They have proven to be easy marks for the agenda-driven campaigns of our media and political establishment. 

The world we live in today is far from being as simple as black and white.  The thorny issues, both domestic and international, that arise on a daily basis are typically complex and multi-dimensional questions bereft of simple and obvious answers.  They clearly reside in the gray area.  It is commonly not an issue of right or wrong; but more what is the best solution to the problem.  This is a rational approach in attempting to deal with diverse and pragmatic opinions regarding matters that impact many lives. 

But while acknowledging that many questions lie in the gray area and do not have simple black and white solutions; we must be careful that we do not allow the noble effort of compromising on the final action to drown out the importance of principled positions leading to the final agreements.  The element that makes lively debate over pertinent issues productive and meaningful is the fact that opposing sides stand on principles that are deeply held and respected.  This is an honest and transparent approach to debate that can help lead to good results. 

Just as these bedrock principles must be respected in the stages leading up to a final solution; so must the value of compromise be respected when arriving at an ultimate resolution.  If the allegiance to principle is held too closely, it can lead to stubborn intransigence that will eliminate the possibility of a final agreement with the opposition.  On the other hand, if the art of compromise extends backwards from the final agreement into the substantive debate that should precede it; the result of the whole exercise will be so diluted as to be useless and ineffective.  This is the outcome we have seen in recent years as a result of many legislative compromises…a meaningless bowl of mush.  It is not right or wrong; represents no position in a true sense; and is simply…there.

It goes without saying that there will be times when the primary question posed is so succinct and straight-forward that there is simply no room for compromise; when the entire subject can be distilled down to principle.  In these cases, we are simply down to a question of who has the stronger hand; what we might call raw politics.  However, instances of these types are rare and are typically driven by the desire of one side to foist their opinions upon the other side.  It is far easier to move directly to strongly-held beliefs than it is to seriously listen to other views with which you might disagree.  When one party in a disagreement reaches the point where they have absolute belief in their own wisdom, totally disregarding the ideas and rights of the opposition…well then, we are dancing around the edges of a totalitarian authority that is far removed from the ideals upon which this nation was built.  I fear that this is the territory our American government is now approaching. 

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The rights and liberties posed by the Democrats are, to them, inalienable and not open to discussion.  Likewise, the Republicans hold a certain list of rights and liberties close to their hearts and consider them to be likewise inalienable.  We seem to be in a situation where the principled part of the discussion continues ceaselessly and we somehow never arrive at the final stage where compromise kicks in.  The obvious solution to this impasse would be the willingness of either side to ultimately respect the fundamental rights of the other side to live their lives in a fashion that allows life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as long as it does not inordinately intrude on the life, liberty, and pursuit of others.  Live and let live, within reasonable parameters…man, aren’t those words for dissection?

Democrats demand tolerance for gender rights and familial choices.  Republicans demand tolerance for gun ownership and religious practices.  Democrats demand that their agenda include Republican support. Republicans demand that their agenda include Democrat support.  It seems to be insufficient that one side or the other might tolerate the other’s causes; the demand appears to be that the other side embraces these causes.  Both Parties are adhering to sincere principles that they believe to be right and proper for the people and the nation.  Both tend to overlook the fundamental rule of tolerance inasmuch as it must extend beyond what you personally hold to be true and dear.  Authentic tolerance is not the acceptance of behavior or practice that you somewhat dislike; it is the willingness to accept such a behavior or practice by others when you are enthusiastically opposed to it in your own life.  If tolerance was easy, there would be a lot fewer assault and battery cases in our nation.  It is easy to talk the talk; it is far more difficult to walk the walk.

This is the tricky part of political compromise.  How do we distinguish and determine when the opposing positions in the early debate stages rise to the level of principles that cannot be violated or are, in fact, differences of opinion that can be tolerated within reasonable limits?  Looking for simple answers to complex questions is indeed tricky business.  The quest for the remedy to this conundrum must begin with a clear and bipartisan agreement on the exact role of government.  Government cannot answer all of the questions that our society and culture begs.  Government is inherently inefficient and oftentimes ineffective when it chooses to address the needs of the citizenry.  At its best, it tends to be redundant, reactive rather than proactive, and it typically enjoys killing flies with sledge hammers.  Without a doubt, there are certain needs in our country and there are necessary prescriptions for those certain needs that the government is uniquely and best situated to perform.  And if our government can manage to focus its resources on a well-defined and necessary purpose; it can perform its function in a reasonable reliable fashion.  But the plain and simple fact is that our government has no business getting involved in a lot of these principled discussions.

If our nation is going to remain true to the ideals of our founders and if we are going to continue our role as the light of liberty and freedom on this planet, then we are going to have to agree to the limits of our government’s abilities.  The government must protect our nation.  The government must provide a mechanism to address those specific needs that they alone are able to address.  Beyond that, the government must pursue a path of creating a level playing field for all citizens; a playing field that features equal dignity, respect, opportunity, and accountability for all.  The ultimate answer and salve to the excessive political certitude that infects our democracy does not lie with the politicians that run our government; even though they may think otherwise.  The strength and future of our nation is in the hands of the individuals that comprise our rural areas, our towns, and our cities.  Let the people decide the proper role of tolerance in our society; do not substitute therein the wisdom of Congress.  If we could better apply this practice, I believe what would be discovered is that an overwhelming majority of our populace are basically good, principled individuals who are willing to be tolerant of others as long as they receive a commensurate degree of tolerance.

Meaningful tolerance must be multi-dimensional.  It cannot be tolerance for me, but not for thee. Tolerance must be principled, and yet reasonable.  It cannot be one group intrusively shoving social practices into the private lives of those who disagree with them…simply for the sake of tolerance.  It cannot be unreasonable restrictions on the lifestyles of some simply because they do not conform to the ideals of others.  At some point, even if our disagreements are locked into principled foundations, we must understand that the ultimate judgment for each of us lies not with our neighbors or our government; yea, not even our courts.  It lies with the Lord; and that judgment will be fair, focused, and unrelenting.  Our government needs to provide each of us the opportunity to live a decent life while demonstrating an appropriate tolerance for others…and leave the worries about that final judgment to the man above.