Boycotting Girl Scott Cookies?

Boycotting Girl Scout Cookies?  Really?

The View from the Middle

 

On October 27^th, Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed by the Senate with a 52 to 48 vote to become an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court replacing Ruth Bader Ginsburg.  Amy graduated #1 in her class at Notre Dame law school and had her academic work published in Columbia, Cornell, University of Virginia, Texas and of course Notre Dame’s Law Reviews.  She would teach at George Washington University, the University of Virginia and finally at Notre Dame.

Ms. Barrett clerked for Supreme Court Justice Anton Scalia for two years after graduation.  Then, after teaching for about 15 years, primarily at Notre Dame, she was nominated by President Trump to the 7^th Circuit Court of Appeals in 2017.  She is an extremely competent and well qualified jurist who would have received overwhelming support in the Senate if they were actually performing their role of “advise and consent” to the President. Scalia, for example, received 98 votes in the Senate in ’86 and Ginsburg received 96 votes in ’93 despite their extremely different personal ideologies, because they were, quite simply, well qualified for the court.  In today’s environment, where the minority party believes their role in the confirmation process has changed to “search and destroy”, her 52-48 vote reflects her absolutely superb qualifications.

So, as you might imagine, The Girl Scouts of America sent out a tweet congratulating her on this incredible accomplishment while also recognizing the other four women who have achieved the same position; Sandra Day O’Connor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.  For an organization whose purpose is to, “Prepare young girls for a lifetime of Leadership, Success and Adventure” Amy Coney Barrett is a shining example of what a woman can do!  Anything!!

But the vicious, crazy, out-of-touch, Marxist left had to say “how dare you”.  They attacked The Girl Scouts so viciously that they had to take down their tweet and apologize for sending it.  The attacks came from Ayanna Pressley, a sitting Congresswoman and celebrities like Actress Amber Tamblyn and Actor Zach Braff and even included threats to boycott Girl Scout cookies.  Really?  Now the left wants to punish and destroy little girls for having the audacity to congratulate a woman for being confirmed to The Supreme Court?  What’s next, fire-bombing a pro-life lemonade stand for having a different opinion?  

Can we all agree that this attack on The Girl Scouts is crazy and even dangerous?  For these lefties, freedom of thought is now unacceptable.  They now believe that other opinions have to be crushed.  People must be made to feel afraid to have a thought that conflicts with their ideology.  Even though their congratulatory tweet included Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, Obama appointees, it was deemed objectionable because it included the brilliant but originalist Justice, Amy Coney Barrett.  The message is clear, you aren’t a woman unless you are a progressive.  So much for women’s rights.

And one of the claims being made by the left, through their candidate for President, is that they will to “Unite” the country?  Bologna!  For them, unity only comes if all Americans totally submit to their wildly left, Marxist, platform.  For them, unity comes from eliminating freedom of thought and bludgeoning everyone, even little girls, into compliance.  As a country built on liberty and freedom, we must denounce this kind of totalitarian thought control.  If Ronald Reagan were still alive, he would tell The Girl Scouts to, “Put that tweet back up” and tell the hate-mongers that we will not be shaken by their depraved tactics. 

America Needs Unity, Not False Promises

 America Needs Unity, Not False Promises

The View from the Middle

 

The name of this great country was not chosen lightly.  Even before the Revolutionary War, each colony felt very strongly about maintaining its sovereignty as a free and independent “State”.  The founders also felt that it was important to send a message of strength to the world warning that if any country attacked any one state, it would be considered an attack on them all.  Finally, all of the colonies at the time, future states, were bound together by their signing of the Declaration of Independence.  In that document they all embraced the fundamental principles laid out in that proclamation, “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”  They knew that statement was true.  They also knew that it wasn’t being delivered at the time, but they were uniting behind the idea that this new nation would deliver that promise over time.  Thus, The United States of America was born.

And the USA has done amazing things when we, its citizens, were united, when we acted as one American people instead of allowing our enemies to slice us up into a hundred disparate and even conflicting pieces.  Even before we were officially The United States, the colonies came together and defeated the most powerful military might in the world at the time, the British Empire.  We saved Europe (and the world) from fascism and Nazism during WWI and WWII.  We, together, developed the greatest economy and military might in the world and our united response to the attack on 9/11 was incredible.  ALL Americans, not just Democrats or not just Republicans, powered by our values of liberty and personal responsibility have made us a singular force for good in the world.  Without us, the world would be a much different and lesser place.

American exceptionalism is driven by the power of the collective efforts of ALL of our people and the values the undergird our labor, but maybe most importantly, by our unity.  President Obama gave a wonderful speech in 2004 where he stated that there were no blue states in America or any red states, but just a United States of America.  This is the kind of attitude that all of our Presidents should have.  He or she should honor and respect all Americans if they are going to lead them.  Unfortunately, President Obama began to show some contempt for Americans who didn’t share his ideology when he suggested that conservatives “cling to their guns and religions.”  Then, after he was elected, he made his famous, “elections have consequences” statement, which is a politician’s way of telling the other side of the aisle to drop dead.  He also said that Republicans could come along for the ride in his administration, but they would “have to sit in the back seat.”  So much for unity and a real respect for All of the people being governed.

Then, there was Hillary’s famous “basket of deplorables” statement, which I believe actually lost her the election of 2016.  How can you possibly expect to lead a people when you despise so many of them?  She was also asked, during one interview in 2016, who her worst enemy was.  Of course, the moderator was expecting to get an answer like Russia, China or Iran, but Hillary said her worst enemy was Republicans.  In other words, she considered almost half of America’s citizens to be her worst enemy.  How could she possibly expect to effectively lead them?

And now we have Joe Biden claiming to want to unite our country.  Don’t get me wrong, I think that “unity” might be the most important thing our next President will need to deliver to this country.  However, as Joe talks about unity out of one side of his mouth, he supports three of the most divisive policies imaginable out of the other side.  Court Packing (adding four more justices to SCOTUS), Senate packing (gerrymandering on a national scale) and the elimination of the Senate filibuster are designed to crush the conservative voices in this country, not unite us.  Those policies are designed to remove the conservative voice from the political landscape permanently and he would do so with the slimmest of majorities if we give him that opportunity.  He is proposing a one-party system, with one voice, one mind and no competition of ideas.  Sounds a lot like China or Cuba to me.

And, as if those policies aren’t enough to reveal his contempt for half of America, Joe and Hillary have doubled down on Hillary’s “basket of deplorables” statement of 2016.  At one of his rare, recent public events, Joe Biden was confronted by some Trump supporters outside the gates.  In his speech, he talked about being the President of all Americans, “even the chumps” outside.  Is he even listening to himself?  As he talks about uniting America, he reveals his actual disdain for anyone who disagrees with him.  And, of course, Hillary took a last-ditch effort to show her true loathing of the average American as she called Republicans “spineless, cowards”.  The message?  Don’t cross Hillary or the Democrat party or you’ll be labeled a spineless, coward and placed in her basket of deplorables.  How can you possibly expect to lead people you actually hate?

My point is, our country does need unity to make it great.  Joe Biden has ten days to reject his positions on court-packing, Senate-packing and the filibuster and to use some language of real respect for ALL Americans.  If he does not, I predict he will not win, but even if he wins the election, he will be a total failure as a President.  No one can effectively lead a people whom they despise.

Government Run Disney

 Government Run Disney

The View from the Middle

 

My wife and I just returned from a trip to Orlando and I wanted to report what we found. It seems that at Disney, the efficiency and absolute dedication to customer satisfaction has been replaced by social distancing overkill and mask shaming.  It amazed me that Disney could figure out how to only allow 25% of their park’s capacity but still manage to keep the time in line for its customers higher than average.  They were able to accomplish this by redefining social distancing.  Their new definition is, “if six feet is adequate, 20 feet must be better.”  On the Haunted Mansion, where the cars are already nine or ten feet apart and the back of each seat serves as a wall between the riders, they left every other car empty and sometimes put two empty cars between customers.  This made sure that, despite the reduced customer count, the line for the Haunted Mansion was still over an hour long.  Yah, keeping those lines long is part of the experience we all love about Disney.

On the new “Seven Dwarfs Mine Train” they inexplicably allowed cars that normally accommodate 10 to 12 people to go out with just two people in the entire car.  They also made it a habit to send entire cars out with no one in them at all.  As I stood in my 90-minute-long line I noticed multiple times where they sent four consecutive empty cars out that could have accommodated almost 50 people.  Gotta love those lines!

The piece de resistance, however, came on the Jungle Cruise ride.  In the past this ride had always been defined by the humor of your boat’s captain, but today it includes a heavy dose of “mask shaming”.  About half way around our little river cruise, our captain noticed that one of the passenger’s mask had drifted slightly below the tip of her nose, and I guess “mask drifting” is no laughing matter on the new Jungle Cruise these days.  The captain was forced to make an example of her in the middle of his tour down the Nile.  Yah, that’s another thing I used to love about Disney, public ridicule of the paying customers.  What’s next, walking the plank for sneezing?

I did find, however, that I now have a new favorite ride at Disney, and that is the Hall of Presidents.  They have either updated the little historical documentary that goes along with the presentation of the Presidents or I had forgotten how good it was.  It walked the audience through our great history, warts and all.  It talked about the genius of our Constitution and the tragedy of slavery and the civil war.  It took us through the misery of our two world wars and the depression but also through the explosion of our economy that has made us the most powerful and free country on earth.  It allowed the pride that Walt Disney had in this county to shine through and gave us all hope that this great country will continue to get better, stronger and freer tomorrow.  They even did a nice job on Obama and Trump.  With all the bias coverage of our current President, it was nice to see him treated with respect as he gave a short talk that made me feel better about the country.

The other real positive about our trip to Orlando was the short drive we took to see the Kennedy Space Center.  Despite the fact that there were a few exhibits that were closed down, it was an awesome experience.  From John Kennedy’s inspiring goal to send a man to the moon and bring him back safely in the 60’s to the shuttle flights from 1981 to 2011, to a look to the future and the mission to Mars, it was a fascinating tour.  And just when we thought it couldn’t get any better they unveiled the actual Atlantis Shuttle in its spectacular splendor.  It really helped me appreciate all of the hard work and genius that went into those efforts.

The Atlantis exhibit included a nice little review of the qualities it takes to actually become an astronaut.  It included kiosks that talked about the courage, determination, integrity, goal setting and unselfishness it took to become a successful member of this exclusive club.  I did notice, however, that they didn’t have a single kiosk devoted to safe spaces, victimhood or intolerance.  In fact, there was a display of a quote from Ronald Reagan that I had never heard before.  President Reagan said, “The future doesn’t belong to the fainthearted (those seeking safe spaces, added by me), it belongs to the brave.”  I believe that Americans will eventually reject today’s call to demonize anyone with a differing opinion and blame anyone else for our own circumstances and return to the spirit of hard work, cooperation and personal responsibility that has made this country the greatest place to live on this earth.  Put me in the Ronald Reagan camp of optimism in America.  We will embrace a love for each other and reject the tactics of hate and continue on the path of success that has delivered us to be this, “Shining city on a hill.”  God bless you all, and God bless America.

The Destruction of Our Republic

The Destruction of Our Republic

The View from the Middle

 

As I have watched the confirmation hearings of the very gifted and qualified Amy Coney Barrett in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee, it has reinforced two things to me.  First, this kangaroo court, where the minds of the members were made up before the hearing even began, reminded me of the duplicity, depravity and hypocrisy that runs rampant throughout the people who govern us today.  Second, it confirms to me the wisdom and even genius of our founding documents, The Declaration of Independence and our Constitution.

Every American should study the Constitutional Convention of 1787 to appreciate the very difficult issues those men grappled with and the compromises they all made to protect the individual rights of American citizens.  They had just left a monarchy and they never wanted this new country to return to the tyranny that comes with a too big, too powerful or too one-sided government that could run roughshod over its constituents.  They were worried about “the tyranny of the majority” and concerned about protecting even the minority from the potential abuses of big government.

This is why we have two houses of congress and the electoral college.  Many of the founders were concerned that if we had just one house of congress, the House of Representatives for example, then the big states would overpower and ignore the needs and desires of the rest of the states.  Thus, the Senate was born with equal representation for all states (two Senators per state) and longer terms of office (six years).  Legislation had to pass both houses so, in theory, this protected the interests of the smaller states.  This bicameral congress was designed to encourage and even force compromise.  

The fact that ALL legislation had to pass both Houses of Congress and be signed by the President was a deliberate element in the structure of our government.  It was intended to slow things down, force debate and encourage, even demand, compromise.  And, as if this wasn’t enough to incent accommodation, the Senate used the filibuster as yet another tool to do so.  That rule became official over 100 years ago when the Senate required a 60 vote super-majority to bring cloture (end debate) on any bill.  Compromise and protection of the minority has, until recently, been the expectation of our government.

The separation of powers was another aspect of our Constitutional government whose intent was to protect us all from an overzealous government.  The legislative body has had the duty to create laws, but the executive branch has the power to veto such laws and the duty to enforce them once signed into law.  The judicial branch has the responsibility to interpret those laws and insure that they comply with the constitution.  It is particularly important that all laws comply with The Bill of Rights since it was designed to limit the power of the government and protect the freedoms of the people. 

But all of this wisdom and genius is at risk in this election.  There are questions that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will not answer, because they know that their intent is to violate the very spirit of our Constitutional Republic.  The first question they will not answer is whether they intend to “pack the Supreme Court”.  

If the Democrat Party would achieve even the slimmest majority in the Senate or even a 50-50 split with a Biden-Harris Whitehouse (hardly a mandate) they can change the rules of the Senate and pass any legislation they want, as long as they control the House, which they do now, and of course the Whitehouse.  They could pass a law requiring the addition of four new Justices on the Supreme Court. Not because this is right or needed, but because it would allow Joe Biden to select four new liberal judges whose intent is to create law, not interpret it.  They can then confirm all those judges, again with the slimmest of majorities, not because it is right or beneficial to the country, but simply because they can.  They can, and would, tell the minority party (nearly half of the country) to go to hell, pound sand, stick it wherever (You pick the insult).

I suggest, with complete confidence, that there is not a single sitting Justice on the Supreme Court who would agree with such a move.  Even Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg supported a court of nine Justices.  She reminded us all that we have had nine Justices for over 150 years and she felt that was the right number.  She also suggested that adding Justices to the court would only politicize it beyond recognition.  Her exact words were, “If anything would make the Court look partisan, it would be one side saying, ‘We’re in power and we’re going to enlarge the court so that we would have more people who would vote the way we want them to.’”  That is a pretty straight forward statement, and from probably the most liberal Judge on the Court before her recent passing.

Democrats have also suggested that they will try to “pack the Senate” by making Washington DC a state and thus awarding them two Senate seats, which they believe will be reliably Democrat.  They also will try to turn California into four different states or offer statehood to Puerto Rico.  None of these moves are supported by good logic, but by a drive to give them a permanent majority in the Senate, even though it violates the very principles on which our country was founded.  It is gerrymandering on a national scale.

It is amazing to me that Joe Biden could even suggest that he intends to “unite” this country in one breath and then embraces these divisive policies in the next. Unless you want a tyrannical, heartless and ruthless slim majority defying the very principles on which this country was founded, then we must all demand that he and his party reject these divisive, power-hungry tactics.  We cannot accept him saying he’s, “not a fan of court-packing”.  He must REJECT it and explain what that means.  If these policies are ever enacted, we will become just another China, Russia or Cuba.  A one-party system that can ignore the will of the very people they are supposed to represent.