Month: November 2023

The Truth is Out There

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Every man has a different version of the truth.  We, each of us, look out at this world through different eyes.  And each of us only can discern a small piece of the truth.  The old story of the six blind men and the elephant is a folk tale that illustrates this idea.  And that is why we band together and try to come up with a consensus account of how things “really” are.

And that was why when the country was essentially united after World War II the news networks were highly respected and at the same time took seriously their responsibilities to appear objective.  Well, that’s a different planet than the one we live on now.  Can you imagine trusting the version of the news that was read by a “reporter” from ABC or NBC, never mind MSNBC or CNN?

Now you might say, “What does it matter if the news is accurate?  There’s nothing we can do to change what goes on around us.  Why not just go with the propaganda version?”  And sometimes, I almost feel the same way.  Why bother?

But there is a good reason to scratch out the facts.  In the Bible it says, “The truth shall set you free.”  And this has a very specific meaning that relates to the soul of the believer.  But the statement is also true in the broadest sense too.  The truth is another way of saying objective reality.  It is a claim about the nature of the universe we live in.  It is the belief that if we could know definitively the truth of a particular claim then that truth would define reality for anyone and everyone.

So, if you lived in Hiroshima or Nagasaki and even if you did not believe in the atomic theory of matter, sometime in 1945 you would still have been constrained by that objective reality to experience the onslaught of the atomic bombs dropped on those cities.  And if you had believed in the reality of those weapons, you might have gotten out and survived.  And if you lived at ground zero and stayed you would have died even though you did not believe in the possibility of those weapons.

Now granted, being aware of things like the motivations of RINOs or the willingness of the FBI to use their agents to instigate incidents to harm their political enemies is hardly equivalent to knowing that an atomic bomb is headed for your location.  But the difference is one of degree not of kind.  Always and everywhere having or lacking accurate information is the difference between rational planning and blind luck.

All those people who listen to Fox News and NBC and hear what a great candidate Nikki Haley would make in the general election and believe it, will never understand why she would be John McCain or Mitt Romney in a dress.  They haven’t bothered to educate themselves on the facts concerning Haley and the positions she espouses.  And they don’t understand that whether she wins or loses we lose if she is the candidate.  Because if she is the Republican candidate then all the candidates are leftists.

And the same goes for the other facts that are out there.  People claimed that Paul Ryan or Mitch McConnell wanted to enact a conservative agenda but even when a conservative president was in office, they did nothing.  This should have been enough to prove these claims false.  Bill Barr assigned a special prosecutor to investigate Russia-gate and after four years not a single person was convicted of a felony.  That should have shown that the Deep State doesn’t allow its people to be subject to normal justice.

So, this knowledge is mostly of a negative type.  It mostly tells you what won’t happen.  But sometimes it’s the opposite and in those cases, it could also save your life.  I’d say the January 6th event is one of the best examples of that.  Ashli Babbitt probably never imagined that a federal agent would shoot and kill her for trespassing in the Capitol building.  She was unaware of the truth.

As discouraging as the current reality is, understanding the important facts is crucial to surviving and thriving in this complicated and deceptive environment.  But don’t despair.  There is plenty of ignorance of the facts on the other side too.  And one day it will have its consequences.  So, hang in there.

Guest Contributor – War Pig – 19NOV2023 – Female Empowerment the Old Fashioned Way

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My late wife never voted. She said they were all corrupt and voting was about the same as choosing which buzzard is going to dine on your carcass.

She did her politics through volunteerism. At the local hospital, making cookies for on-duty deputies, firefighters and EMT/rescue crews. Her oatmeal raisin cookies were notorious. She plumped the raisins in red or white wine depending on which raisin she used. She cooked and served at the local soup kitchen. I often donated venison as I always filled my limit. It served more than soup but my wife’s ham and mixed bean soup was always a big hit. And her cornbread (scratch, not a mix) was beloved by southern transplants. She got me to go down around Mardi Gras and make jambalaya, shrimp etoufee, gumbo, and red beans and rice.

Et Tu Camera Girl?

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The woman to whom I am married, the mother of my children and the one who serves me splendiferous food every day is not a conservative.  By this I don’t imply that she is a progressive.  Far from it.  She’s a traditionalist who saw her career as raising children, grandchildren and various creatures like dogs, birds, hamsters, lizards, turtles, frogs and hermit crabs.  But she knows nothing of politics and doesn’t want to.  She also refuses to vote.  Ever.

She claims to be an Italian American peasant woman and nothing else.  And after years of trying to explain to her why the country is going to hell in a handbasket and failing to interest her in any of it, I gave up.  Other than uttering expletives about Biden and company in her presence I’ve let things be.

So, I was caught off guard today when she asked me, “What is woke?”

I was sort of dumbfounded, for a minute I was speechless.  But then I took the opportunity to capitalize on South Park’s handy-dandy formulation.  I said, “You know how recently Disney decided to remake “Snow White” with a Snow White that isn’t White?  That’s what woke is.”  I then explained what diversity, equity and inclusion means and summed it up as basically anti-white hate.  I told her the theory is that because of past injustices we can’t treat people all the same but must discriminate against white people.  And just because I love listening to it I, I played her the video of Cartman endlessly saying, “Put a chick in it and make her gay and lame.”

And afterward she said she understood.  I started to expand on how things like Drag Queen Story Hour and pediatric transgender affirming surgery were also the fruits of “woke” but at that point she had heard enough and moved on to other activities that were more pressing to her like getting the dogs out for some exercise.

So, I reflected on this strange situation.  Had the revolt against wokeness reached such a dominant place in American life that even an apolitical soul like Camera Girl had been exposed to it in her daily on-line routine which mostly revolved around basset hound and cooking videos?  I had to assume it was the case.  And now the outrage over the obvious idiocy of the policies being applied was no longer stoppable.  Powerful companies like Disney were being mocked openly and regular people were aware of the worthlessness of these policies.  Even the staunch defenders of the woke ideology have a hard time defending some of the transparently awful results.

Maybe we have finally reached the tipping point.  I thought the straw that broke the camel’s back would be the pediatric transgender clinics.  I assumed anything that dystopian and monstrous would wake up the masses and have them grab the torches and pitchforks and storm the barricades.  But if South Park and the race swapping of Jake from State Farm have to be the trigger then I say why not?  Is it any stranger than the Boston Tea Party?  Give me liberty or give me death or maybe put a chick in it and make her gay and lame.