Butler

I've been reading, watching, and listening to Salena Zito for several years. I follow her because she is an old-school reporter who actually drives around the country on backroads and talks to people. She doesn't talk to celebrities; Salena talks to real people. Working people such as farmers, waiters, barbers, steel workers, and small business owners are the subjects of her columns and commentaries.

Because I knew that Salena Zito was a few feet from President Trump when he was shot in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July last year, I awaited the publication of her book, Butler: The Untold Story of the Near Assassination of Donald Trump and the Fight for America's Heartland with great impatience. The book is an immediate success, with a debut in the top slot of the New York Times bestseller list. 

When she predicted Donald Trump would win the 2024 election, I tended to believe her. Salena is a western Pennsylvania native who never left her roots. She has what she describes in the book as "a sense of place." This grassroots understanding, which she has called a "Midwest power," gives her a direct connection to the pulse of the country, its citizens, communities, and voters, that few reporters today possess or even comprehend.

I got my copy of Butler earlier this week and finished reading it today. It is hard to put down and educational in the best sense of the word. Salena Zito has an easy, comfortable writing style, and she imparts her observations and wisdom with simple facts stated plainly but not in a critical manner. That expressive finesse is no small achievement. If you want to obtain crucial insights into Middle America as well as a dramatic eyewitness account of the first assassination attempt on Donald Trump, I recommend Butler by Salena Zito most highly.

Flirting with Danger

"The difference between a welfare state and a totalitarian state is a matter of time." ~ Ayn Rand

What's going on in the primary elections is quite concerning, with major American cities such as New York City and Minneapolis considering socialist (read communist) mayoral candidates. This flirtation with tyranny is perilous to our way of life. Unfortunately, there is a regrettable lack of historical knowledge among the voting population today. Universities do not teach our national history or the story of Western civilization--at least, not in a positive way.

Critical thinking skills are in short supply, also. We have had it so good for so long in the United States. No one seems to see the harm in experimenting with our constitutional republic.

The people who escaped the horrors of communism have either passed away or are ignored. There is no way of explaining how bad it can get. As the wise saying goes, you can vote your way into socialism, but you'll have to shoot your way out of it.

I hope we won't have to learn that grim lesson the hard way.

Pots vs. Kettles

"Freedom of religion? Not in Donald Trump’s America. People now have to choose between their faith and their freedom."

~ Gavin Newsom, California governor

Oh, Governor. You are hilarious.

Aren't you the one who kept the bars open during the Covid pandemic but ordered all the churches closed? Nice priorities. Yet now you're suddenly worried about "choosing between faith and freedom." You're quite the dirty pot yelling at the kettle, Gavin. As if you care about either faith or freedom--not to mention honesty.

Also, the Catholic Diocese of Los Angeles is granting a dispensation to all parishioners who fear the federal authorities. Illegal immigrant Catholics don't need to go to Mass on Sundays, for fear that ICE agents might storm the churches and haul them off. I hadn't heard that Catholic churches on Sunday are a prime target for federal agents, but go ahead and make your point, Bishop Rojas. Too bad you weren't concerned about breaking the law when your diocese was assisting in those secret night flights resettling illegals all across the US. 

President Trump's administration is enforcing the law, which so many supposedly law-abiding leaders seem to have a real problem with--oaths of office notwithstanding. So, the pots will continue to object to the kettle's authority. But, as a dedicated tea drinker, I know that the kettle can out-whistle a pot any day of the week. It's time for tea.

Celebrating Independence Day

"Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."

~ John Adams

Evil, Uncovered

"This was a total ambush. These firefighters didn't stand a chance."

~ Kootenai County Sheriff, Bob Norris

I've discovered that it's quite difficult to find news about the sniper murders of Idaho firefighters, and I'm wondering why that is. Politics does not come close in importance to the atrocity that took place on an Idaho mountain this past Sunday afternoon. I shouldn't need to hunt down information about the deliberate murder of firefighters responding to an emergency, but I do. There just isn't much news coverage.

The murdered men were public servants who had dedicated their lives to helping, saving, and protecting others. Firefighters are unarmed and don't wear body armor. When on a call, they have about 60 lbs. of gear to handle in the midst of life-threatening circumstances. Firefighters on scene act as one, focused on a single purpose--do the job. 

There was a third firefighter, Engineer Dave Tysdal, who was shot and is recovering in the hospital following life-saving surgeries. If firefighters and other first responders now have to think about being shot dead by a sniper, in addition to all the other crucial concerns they must consider at a fire scene, then this country has much bigger problems that politics.

Battalion Chief Frank J. Harwood, Kootenai County Fire & Rescue
Battalion Chief John Morrison, Coeur d'Alene Fire Department
Died in the line of duty, shot by a sniper ~ Rest in Peace

 

Engineer Dave Tysdal
Coeur d'Alene Fire Department
Recovering following two surgeries