Next Stop, Tyranny

It's bad enough that Joe Biden, a presidential candidate from one of our nation's two major political parties, has been exposed as the financial beneficiary of dirty dealings with foreign adversaries. The thought of such a corrupt individual at the head of our government is chilling.

But what is even more frightening is that no mainstream media outlet--except for the courageous New York Post, which broke the story--will cover any part of this earthshaking news. Social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter firmly shut down dissemination of any information that might negatively impact the election of Joe Biden--and the voters be damned.

This is exactly what Pravda did in the old Soviet Union, and what the Peoples Republic of China does to its news agencies today. It is what every dictatorship does to control the news and keep citizens in the dark. Now it's happening here, quite openly, defiantly, even proudly. The message is clear: Screw you, voters--we'll decide what you can see or hear. We'll make up your minds for you, whether you like it or not. We, the media and the political elites, know best.

This is flat-out tyranny, and the United States at this moment is on the brink of falling fully under its iron grip. Don't think it can't happen--it is happening. It has happened, and very quickly. Just as my in-laws, who fled Soviet Communism with the clothes on their backs and spent years as homeless refugees, saw it happen; just as my next-door neighbor, who fled Vietnamese Communism in a croweded, creaky boat that miraculously brought her and her son to America, experienced it--it happens in a flash. Tyranny's fist falls fast and hard, and those who thought it was a wild exaggeration suddenly find themselves forever trapped in its controlling talons.

George Orwell, a modern-day prophet, described our current peril perfectly in his classic dystopian novel, 1984. Read the excerpt below and decide for yourself if we are not now living in the same nightmarish reality of censorship and suppression:

“Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right.”

Welcome to our present and, if we don't turn away from the precipice immediately, to our tortured future. If only we Americans, as high school students, had not only read 1984, but also learned from it.

You Can't Always Get What You Want

It’s the Constitution that protects our right to happily, freely disagree. And that is why so many of the rising, radical left hate it. 

~ Jim DeMint

Former Senator Jim DeMint's article on the left's fanatical opposition to Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett sums up perfectly the core problem in America today. The left has highjacked the Democratic party. Much like the zealots of religious inquisitions in past centuries, left-wingers simply will not tolerate dissent from their own rigidly "orthodox" views. 

For how many decades have conservative Americans quietly tolerated a left-leaning Supreme Court? It's been for all of my adult life. Conservatives accepted it, we voted, and we waited. The pendulum is swinging back now, as pendulums do. But the radical left can't abide the very thought. They are fighting in a crazed, almost hysterical manner, against Coney Barrett's confirmation to the nation's highest court. The radical left is frantic at the prospect of losing their private boutique congress, the Supreme Court, where for half a century they have been forcing through their progressive ends through judicial fiat rather than legislative action. 

Why do left-wing legislative efforts so often fail? Simply because the majority of the American people do not support them. The Supreme Court has stood as the left's backstop in their rulings. That's about to change.

The judge herself is placidly impervious to the Democratic senators' persistent personal and professional attacks. The left has no ammunition against this stellar nominee, who is so poised, knowledgeable, and pleasant in the face of blatant hostility. Amy Coney Barrett will be the next Supreme Court justice. Deal with it, Lefties.

Hon. Amy Coney Barrett

Beyond Debate

I didn't believe it was possible, but this time the Democrats have actually nominated a less likable candidate than Hillary Clinton to their presidential ticket. Last night, during the vice presidential debate, America endured a 90-minute introduction to the charmless Kamala "I won't be lectured" Harris. I shiver to think of her in the VP slot.

All dressed up in her best sneers and snark, the senator from California--which in itself should be a warning to the country--grimaced smugly, laughed mirthlessly, shook her head constantly, and in general proved herself to be an unpleasant candidate not quite up to the task at hand. Harris specializes in deflection and evasiveness; she never gave a straight answer to any question. In short, she was dreadful. 

True, Vice President Pence interrupted. He had to in order to get some hard facts on the table, and facts he did have, such as Harris's left-wing record and her inconsistency on fracking and taxes. Even when it required an interruption to state his case, Pence defended President Trump on the completely false "white supremacy" meme that the dishonest media regurgitates every ten minutes, on Trump's economic achievements, and on the president's love and support of the military. He also nailed her on the crucial question of packing the Supreme Court--I'm so glad he didn't let that one go. She flatly refused to answer, just as Joe Biden always does--which is, of course, its own answer. 

Kamala "I'm speaking!" Harris did her share of interrupting Vice President Pence, which was of course tolerated by the "moderator." Pence actually ended up with over three minutes less total speaking time than Harris. He also ended up with a fly on his head that fascinated social media. We seem to have become a society that's easily amused.

What was decidedly unamusing was Harris's arrogance and condescension. She actually deigned to explain definitions of not one, but two everyday words. Now the great unwashed masses who were watching will understand the meanings of "debt" and "bounty." What a relief! I've always wondered what those words mean.

Power and Peace

In view of tumultuous events in the United States just over the past two weeks, and the stunning vitriol they have generated from elites and media, it appears that we're past human help. To put it bluntly--It's time to pray for our country.

I'm an advocate of the Rosary, the Catholic devotion to the Blessed Mother. To clarify, prayers to Mary are not "worship." She was as human as you or I. The prayers of the Rosary are requests, basically asking the Mother of God to put in a good word for us with her Son. As the gospel story of the wedding at Cana tells us, when His Mother asks, the Lord listens. The story also shows that even if He is reluctant, He acts upon her request. (Think about it; she might be able to help us, if God has lost patience with us--which would be understandable.)

My mother was a lifelong devotee of the Rosary, and she instilled in me a reverent respect for this powerful prayer. Throughout my life, Mom often mentioned to me that she was "making a novena," which is a nine-day commitment to recite the full five decades of the Rosary each day. When I asked what she was praying for, she would reply "a special intention." Many years ago, she told me about the 54-Day Novena. Three sets of petition Rosaries, totaling 27 days, plus three sets of novenas in thanksgiving--whether you think your intention is granted or not. Mom told me she had relied upon this quite time-intensive novena many times. She wouldn't say exactly what prayers had been answered, only that the 54-Day Novena was "very effective."

So after a summer of riots and violence across the land, the threat of socialism creeping into our politics, and over six months of a deadly and disruptive pandemic, I decided to join thousands of American Catholics by starting the 54-Day Election Novena for the USA. It began on September 8, which on the Church calendar is celebrated as the Blessed Mother's birthday; tomorrow will be my 27th day of petition. On Monday, I'll switch to Rosaries in thanksgiving until November 1st--27 days from now, just two days before Election Day.

I'm a practicing Catholic, not a religious fanatic. However, I firmly believe in the power of prayer. The 54-Day Novena is keeping me calm in the roiling waters of our current national climate. When Justice Ginsburg died and the political battling started immediately, I was unruffled; there's a sense of confidence that it's part of the answer. When Amy Coney Barrett was put forward for the Supreme Court, I had the same calm reaction to the fierce firestorm of criticism. Now, with President Trump ill with COVID-19, I'm able to remain grounded in the peacefulness generated by a daily prayer that I have faith is being heard and will be answered.

I may not like or understand the answer when it finally arrives after Election Day. But I do believe that, whatever the final outcome may be, I'll be able to accept that the resolution will be what should happen. That's the power, and the peace, of prayer.