This is a step away from my normal columns but I felt deserves some attention. I personally love Christmas. So much so I’ve had my tree up already two weeks ago. Crazy I know. But I can enjoy it for months, not weeks.

On December 20, 2019, Trump had officially created the new U.S. Space Force. It became the sixth branch of our U.S. military. On May 14, 2021, Vandenberg Air Force Base officially became Vandenberg Space Force Base.

It was soon after I noticed the highway signs in Santa Barbara County had been changed to reflect the new name.

Vandenberg has been a big part of Santa Barbara County for as long as I can remember. I recall my excitement many years ago being allowed to go on base and see the Space Shuttle strapped down on top of a 747 getting ready to fly out to Florida. I was thrilled. I was also amazed walking across the tarmac for what seemed an endless expanse. VSFB is huge.

Today we get to enjoy a rocket launch nearly every week. Sometimes two. Over 70 launches so far this year and at least 100 planned. I never grow tired witnessing the future of mankind and appreciating the national security some of those launches provide us Americans. All made possible by the men and women who work on the Base.

We all know the cost of living in a beautiful place like Santa Barbara County. Blessed with ocean, mountains and valleys filled with grapes, cattle, strawberries, avocado trees and lots of wine comes at a price.

It’s not cheap living here. Rent is high and homes for the most part are out of reach for many.

On average soldiers on VSVB earn between $24K to 30K a year.

When eligible to live off base, an airman can receive support to help with utilities and rent. That number is based upon their rank, where they’re located and if they have dependents or not. An upside it is usually tax free. There can also be food allowances of upwards to $500 a month.

These men and women who stepped into uniform aren’t doing it for the money. They are heroes who deserve our gratitude, thanks and support.

Enter Operation Vandenberg Secret Santa.

In 2024, Renee Condit launched her Operation Vandenberg Secret Santa (OVSS) and raised $7,400 in three weeks. That first year OVSS brought a little extra Christmas to 18 families and 33 children.

To initially get the program off the ground, Renee had contacted the base Chaplin as her liaison with Vandenberg to help make the program happen. To expand the program their second year, they approached the teachers and principal of the school and collected the names of over 100 families and 500 children. OVSS raised $24,000.

The program: In 2025, using the entire $24,000, Operation Vandenberg Secret Santa bought Walmart gift cards to give to the soldiers so they could buy gifts for their children and a proper Christmas dinner. The aim is to ease some of the stress the holidays can bring and make things just little bit easier.

The Chaplin acts as the go between OVSS and VSFB keeping the donations anonymous and the children have no idea where the wonderful Christmas gifts are coming from.

Renee says, “This year we are starting earlier and working harder to do even better.” She adds, “This Valley is magical, always has been.” She says they’ve received donations from as far away as Montana and Nevada.

I’m personally a strong supporter of our military and had a non-profit for 12 years, aptly named Santa Barbara County Veterans Foundation. Our group raised thousands of dollars over the years to support our local veterans. Therefore, I’m all in for organizations that support our military in any way we can.

OVSS is providing that something special to our military families who can always use a little extra Christmas cheer.

Your help and donation are tax deductible; 501c3 tax I.D. # 953169593. You can make your check payable to: S.Y.V. Community Outreach and put OVSS in the memo line. Please mail to: Renee Condit, P.O. Box 24, Solvang, CA 93464.

There are posters all over Solvang that have Venmo and Zelle codes on them. There is a poster along with a donation box located at S.Y.V. Real Estate on 1595 Mission Drive if you just happen to be in the neighborhood.

Help put an extra smile on the faces of not just the military soldiers who protect us but their children as well. They thank you and we thank you.

Merry Christmas.

Never in my wildest dreams, as they say, did I think fifty-nine years ago when I started my freshman year of high school would I be attending my 55^th year reunion this last summer.

I didn’t think I’d live the 55 years. I sure had challenged my survival odds.

I hated school. Not just dislike it. I truly hated everything about it. Forced attendance. Sitting inside a classroom all day; I needed to be outdoors. School rallies of which I could have cared less. I fought with teachers. I rebelled against any kind of authority. And when I was told to do something, I didn’t.

What I did like was smoking weed and surfing. And of course, girls.

I didn’t interact much with most of my classmates who didn’t surf. Limited my circle. Never got behind organized sports or football games on a Friday night. Didn’t think much of jocks. Car guys were a different world for me. And I’m sure those groups felt the same way about us long haired stoners.

My bad attitude, lack of enthusiasm and zero motivation caused me to flunk high school. My one class after lunch was on something called “computers.” Little cards with holes punched in them. To this day I have no clue what that was all about. The teacher told me he would give me a passing grade if I would just show up. Of course, I didn’t. He kept up his end of the bargain. He gave me my “favorite” letter of the alphabet, an F. No Disneyland for me.

Lest you think I remained diploma challenged; I attended summer school and took a typing class. Lo and behold, I loved it. And was good at it, on a typewriter! To this day it’s the one good thing I took away from my entire four years and have used it more than anything else. And it gave me my only A. And a diploma. Go figure.

I attended three or four reunions during those 55 years. I was given some well-deserved guff when some expressed their surprise to see me this last time. And I had still been hesitant to even attend it in the first place. After all, I really didn’t “know” that many people. As it turned out it was one of the best and most enjoyable days I’ve had in a long time.

The city of Santa Barbara changed over all those years and so did we high schoolers.

I had wonderful conversations with classmates; in many cases, conversations I never had with them my entire time in school.

We are all old now. Senior citizens. As we age our egos fade. High school clicks are no longer important. Today it’s clicks you get on FB or Instagram. The conversations are no longer focused on school gossip. Or who was the MPV of the football game or who liked who. Or who hated who. The conversations are now about who died. Trying to one up each other who has the worst aches and pains. Or how many surgeries we’ve endured. Talking about the weather is so passe.

And just when you think you have problems, boy you learn they’re nothing compared to some of your other classmates. My heart went out hearing all the painful stories and illnesses many endured. Spouses that were lost.

As I reflected what I was like at 16 and how I am today at 73, I wish I could have been different.

High school is like that. It’s the foundation for life and the grooming ground for our futures. It’s the marker I use for everything. But it didn’t permanently define us.

Most of us humans as we age grow wiser, become more attentive, more caring, take life more in stride.

There were moments during the afternoon I sat back and observed my classmates engaged in conversation. I thought about how we had all led different lives but were still connected by a common thread. A thread that kept us all as friends, albeit more so than others, but I found it beautiful to watch and be a part of.

High school could have been yesterday the time went so fast. A lot of life happened in between and it’s impossible to recount it all. Yet we can still remember our days wandering the halls, staring out windows; in my case anyway. And who didn’t like a good nap here and there. Our memories allow us to reflect on those short four years that took place literally decades ago.

Time ahead is short compared to the time we left behind. Statistically, without sounding glum, the seventies seem to be the age when we die off. Mostly for men. The obituaries have become choice reading to see if anyone we know moved on and make sure we’re not there yet.

The upside about getting old is we have something the younger generation doesn’t have; we’ve accumulated some good years. We have the time and wherewithal to travel. Spend some bucks on ourselves. Go out to dinner more. In short, we have the ability to live life on our terms regardless of the time we have left on the clock.

I can’t stress enough all that I gained from the reunion. It was a time machine of the mind. And if lucky enough, I look forward to the 60^th reunion.

Maybe I’m being big a sissy boy about all this, but I thank all my classmates for a wonderful day. And I especially thank those classmates, who because of that reunion and the reconnection, for making the time to attend my daughter’s memorial. That meant a great deal to me. More than you know. Thank you!

And thank you, high school. Something I never thought I would say.

I want to first thank everyone for all your kindness, support and love during a difficult time.

But I’m back!

The following barely touches the surface of all that’s wrong with California. It would take a thousand pages to list the mess and corruption of the state.

We all know the human brain is a fantastic and powerful thing. And yet word on the street says we only use about 10% of it at any given time.

I can’t imagine what it would be like if it were 100%.

I play a little game when riding my bike. There’s a relativity steep hill climb with switch backs on Ballard Canyon just before dropping down into Los Olivos. When I’m anywhere on the climb and I see a car coming from down below, I calculate, or rather my mind does, where will I be on the hill when the car reaches me. My guestimate is nearly 100% right within a few feet. How is that possible? My brain calculates the speed of the car, the speed I’m peddling, the distance it will take to reach me and be right without the use of any technology. Or my help. Just my little brain figuring it all out for me in a blink. Who needs SI?

Then why are so many people not using their brains?

It’s hard to believe we’re already at the midterms. For the sake of this column put aside the labels of who’s on the left or right.

Yes, gas is high, but California is the winner in that price category. And some things cost more than we like. But we’re being told it’s the worst it’s ever been. Under Biden gas hit over $5 across the nation and inflation reached 9%. Memories are short.

California has all its glaring ugliness staring right at us. And yet way too many of her “voters” ignore the obvious. They are determined to hang tough with the failed office holders of this state who are solely responsible for driving us into the cesspool of despair. I don’t understand if our minds are so powerful why do they imagine doing the same thing over and over again and continue soaking our feet in the septic tank.

California is the petri dish for stupid. It produced Adam Schiff, Kamala Harris, Gavin Newsom, Eric Swalwell. And even though I think Nancy Pelosi is about as corrupt as they come, I give her kudos. She’s shrewder and more cunning than all the above combined. Don’t like it, but it’s a fact.

I don’t need to state the political affiliation of the two men running for governor of California.

One has been in government for too long already and has still shown to accomplish nothing. He has made no effort to run a campaign because in his mind California already redistricted the state in his favor, has cheating dialed in and knows there’s enough Californians whose grey matter doesn’t care. They are content to continue with the same policies of corruption that keep his party in office. And most are doing so purely out of hate for the current president. Makes sense. Not.

This political inept puppet is perfectly happy using our money to pay for people who don’t belong here. Very pleased importing oil from foreign countries and is proud California gas is the highest in the country. Has no problem having our streets look like they belong to the poorest nations in the world while happening in the wealthiest nation on the planet.

Too many voters, despite having the ability to control their minds, don’t. Their brains can’t decipher what their eyes see and allow their “feelings” to be their guiding light.

The other candidate is running a hard campaign because he’s fighting against an entrenched political army. He’s going against a machine who pass laws to fine and arrest those who expose their corruption. Not fix anything, just shut people who get too close to the truth. That’s a system run by Kings or dictators. Both titles work.

This other candidate, with a British accent, wants to eliminate state income tax on the first $150,000 earned. Reduce utility bills by half. Stop with all the massive over regulation. Gas back to a normal $3 a gallon (which in my day would have seemed insanely high but is just below what the rest of the country is paying today). Get all the building regulations back under control, reduce all the fees and stop with the outrageous delays. Pacific Palisades, still a permitting nightmare after two years.

He also promises to go after the homeless campgrounds on our streets. Pay attention to the wasted spending and stealing. Be more prudent and efficient with homeless dollars for more sober living homes and mental treatment.

Make sure students learn how to read. Less than 50% of high school students in the state can read proficiently. Get rid of teachers who can’t teach.

Get back to producing our own oil and gas. Make California self-sufficient again. What the heck are we doing bringing oil here by ship from other corrupt governments? What anti climate protection nonsense.

Stop paying illegals with our money for health care. End the complete nonsense of a sanctuary state. Go after the criminals and build the prisons to hold them.

All the above are pure common-sense ideas. And the other candidate is against them all. His brain and that of his friends don’t have the ability to compute the common sense from; it makes no sense.

How long can California put up with all the irresponsible and dangerous policies? Keep the money earners from fleeing the state? The money they want to steal is driving out the back door in U-Hauls leaving scratch marks.

Californian politicians are operating on a very small percentage of their brains. They use band-aids in an attempt to try and heal the deeps wounds they caused.

In the meantime, the Kings of California will be enjoying themselves marching in another nonsensical No Kings rally. Laughing how easy it is to control their serfs to do their bidding.

When I wrote my last column I had second thoughts about making it public. In fact, I told the publishers at SBCurrent to pull it from the que. They asked me to reconsider. After waiting a week and a few changes, I said OK. I was still apprehensive.

What happened after that was something I never expected. I’m not even sure my following words can express it all properly.

Out of the ashes of tragedy rose a world of love and understanding that powerful I never knew existed. It also opened the hearts of so many others who revealed their own tragedy’s. Some having endured similar situations or going through it right now.

My wife and I were so overwhelmed with such an enormous amount of love it was staggering. Though the pain my wife and I are dealing with won’t be easily lessened, some of it was eased by the volumes of love and tenderness that came our way. Not only from family and friends, but strangers. There are no words to convey our gratitude or thank you all enough. And by sharing your own stories, it was like ripples in a pond. It kept going helping uncounted numbers along its path.

We live in a world of turmoil, of differences, of multitudes of opinions and sadly a lot of hatred. But what came our way and what I saw bouncing back to others revealed there is so much good, and the gap of differences we’re told exists isn’t that wide. People still care deeply about each other.

There are no boundaries when it comes to mankind rushing to help, comfort or love when the need arises. We all meld together as humans who share the same air, walk the same earth and care about our fellow man, regardless.

I think I was aware of this on some level, but the passing of my daughter reinforced this knowledge to the umpteenth degree. And if my column allowed others to open up about something most of us want to hide and breathe a sigh of emotional relief and then share their own struggles, I feel blessed I played a small role in that.

The dozens of stories that were posted online brought forth many tears, but it expanded beyond that. I had people I’ve known for years suddenly tell me what they’re going through and all the same struggles. Stories that saddened me deeply knowing the pain for those who are trying to help their own loved ones but feel hopelessness.

I was sitting outside a doctor’s office and a woman came out and sat across from me. I struck up a conversation. Careful not to push myself upon her if she didn’t want to talk.
Something she said had me tell her about the recent passing of my daughter and why. She told me her granddaughter had just called and told her some good news that regarded a traumatic experience a few years ago. She didn’t have to testify. I didn’t push. She then told me her granddaughter was going through the very thing my daughter had been going through. This woman’s granddaughter’s addiction came about by something beyond her control and now this young girl is battling her own demons because of that and losing.

The woman asked if I could pray for her. I’ve written before I’m not entirely sold on prayer, but it does serve a much-needed purpose, and sometimes it’s all we have. I told her I certainly would. I went a step further and gave her my card. I said I know you don’t know me, and your granddaughter knows me even less, but I would be more than happy to talk to her. I won’t be judgmental, which of course I would never be.

I think it’s unlikely this young girl will call me. But if she does, my heart will be open and my ears ready to listen.

They say the country is polarized. Polarized by what? Differences of political opinions? When hearts are broken. Or when we lose a loved one, does any of that make a difference? Do we care what someone’s politics are? No. The human connection of emotions and understanding is what binds all our hearts together. Something AI will never replace.

The realities of addictions and other parents suffering through their own personal loss slap us in the face every day. For example, the recent deaths of the two college students at Ole Miss. They were young men just starting their lives. Their parents and family are grieving thousands of miles away right along with my wife and I and our daughter’s sister. Cindy Crawford’s son, a mere twenty-seven years old couldn’t win the battle either.

These are people in the news, it doesn’t account for the hundreds, thousands who we don’t even know about. Or the thousands of lost souls who die on the street and no one even knows who they are or care. They too are someone’s son or daughter, brother or sister or grandchild.

As a nation, as a people, we need to send our love to all those around the world who suffer. We can’t fix things, but Hewey Lewis summarized it all in a song, The Power of Love.

The power of love can go a long way.

Note: This is a very personal column and took me quite a while deciding if I wanted to publish. I even toned it down a bit. I have no words for the pain my wife are feeling but felt the need to get it out and hope it reaches someone out there to consider changing the course of their lives.

GOING BACK HOME

By Henry Schulte

The Demons of Addiction

To all of you who have been so supportive and have followed my writing, you’ll note I haven’t written in a while. I’ve been wanting to get my thoughts on “digital” paper sooner, but it’s taken a bit of time to collect myself.

If what you’re about to read could save one life, then my words and the wait have been worth it.

My wife and I have recently endured the ultimate pain, the passing of a child, our daughter.

I’ll be very candid; our daughter was a severe alcoholic. She didn’t want to be and certainly hadn’t planned on it. And as too many of us know, it is sadly more common than it should be.

If you are dealing with it yourself or know someone who’s caught in the throes of addiction you can attest to how powerful it is. It was about ten years ago when my wife and I finally left the denial phase and accepted the truth that our daughter had been taken hold by the addiction demons.

As the years passed, she became progressively worse. Her body was destroyed by something many of us do every day: have a glass of wine, beer, a cocktail with dinner. It’s legal but has proven deadly a million times over.

Barely a day goes by that we don’t hear about a celebrity, musician, or Hollywood actor, who has died of an overdose. There are thousands of others who die silently and become nothing more than ten-point type before fading away forever.

Not to their families, however.

Our daughter would have been fifty this year. The last ten years she was alive she didn’t live. Alcohol had grabbed her so fiercely, it was all that mattered.

As parents, we tried everything we could. We sent her to rehab. Got her medical help when she accepted. Eventually though, we ran out of ideas. The reality was, is, and always will be: it’s up to the addict. We heard this truth from everyone involved in the terrible world of addiction. Our daughter would tell us as much herself.

When I offered suggestions for help, she was determined to fix it herself. This angered me. I would step back and not talk to her for months at a time. I just didn’t know what to say or do anymore.

Then guilt would take hold, and I would reach out again. When she was sober, my heart was joyful. I loved talking with her about Disneyland and her plans to buy a new condo in Palm Springs someday. In the early years she lived with us for months at a time trying to work on herself and we were grateful for that effort.

Only to drive home and have the demons take over again.

Not hearing from her for days or even a week at a time sent up the red flags. The countless nights I lay awake picturing her suffering alone in her apartment. Thinking that tonight was the night it would end. I couldn’t ignore it. I would eventually call the police for a wellness check. She lived a hundred miles away and I had to rely on others.

Most times, she answered the door and told the police she was fine. The police were convinced she was drinking but legally couldn’t do anything. It’s not against the law. And then there were those times I had the police break in where they would find her clinging to life.

After numerous times in the hospital, I thought she had reached the bottom and hoped this was the point she could beat the demons back. After each visit though, when the doctors told her if you drink again you will die, the demons were too powerful.

I had lost all sympathy. I became emotionally numb.

I was angry at the alcohol. Angry at the liquor store that would deliver it to her front door. And furious at the reason why she became an alcoholic in the first place. A reason I don’t want to write about; it wouldn’t change things anyway.

My wife and I are struggling with the usual question. Could we have done more? Our answer is no. We exhausted all options. I have no guilt that we didn’t do all we could.

What is really taking its toll is knowing how much she had been suffering. The depression. The internal battle to stop. And how helpless we were in fixing that.

Our daughter was very educated. She had a PhD in clinical psychology. Ironically, she began her career helping addict veterans who were also fighting PTSD. A noble cause and we were so proud of her. She was super intelligent and maybe that played against her.

There aren’t enough adjectives to describe how my wife and I feel.

Our daughter died alone.

No friends, no family, not even her dog that we had been taking care of.

During one of our last conversations she said she would pick up her precious Bean at Thanksgiving. There won’t be another Thanksgiving for her. Bean is now our dog and our connection to our little girl.

For all of you who have suffered a similar loss or have someone close going through this, don’t give up. You must hang on to hope.

When word reached friends and family of her passing, there was such an overwhelming outpouring of love. It was powerful and wonderful. And it reinforced that all the things we think are important are not important all.

Mankind is full of good, beautiful, human beings and for that my wife and I will be forever grateful.

Whether you believe in God or are religious or not; at times like these you do need to find some solace somewhere when asking yourself why.

A long-time friend summed it up; God called her back home.

I’m going with that.

As we go about our daily lives; busy with work, shopping, paying bills. Our heads filled with news about the situation in Iran, interest rates, American cities being flooded with rainstorms, sad stories of shootings. There’s a lot of stuff keeping us occupied.

And many of us, likely none of us, are fully aware of the hundreds of thousands of young girls being groomed every day to become sex slaves. Hundreds of thousands are already suffering in this evil dark underworld. It could be happening to your own child at this very moment, and you wouldn’t even have a clue it was going on.

This new world where our entire lives are wide-open to everything, when every child has a phone and access to anything, strangers have a green light to target all children. Evil lurks like sharks who smell blood. These predators can move about unimpeded. They are extremely skilled how to reach young minds. Minors can be oblivious and naive with whom they’re dealing with in this digital age. All the while the hunter remains safely hidden in the shadows.

These predators are constantly prowling for easy prey. And there is plenty of prey to choose from when there’s nothing stopping them.

Groomers find vulnerable, primarily girls. They build trust, money, gifts, special attention. The groomer creates secrecy, telling the child it’s just between the two of them. Slowly things move in the direction of discussing sex, photos and increasing sexual behavior. The groomer has many tools to manipulate and make the child dependent on them: drugs, shame, death threats. If you’re a young impressionable mind, the predator knows exactly what to do.

Trafficking isn’t just grabbing a girl off the street. Ninety percent of the victims are groomed from six months to a year. Girls are made to believe they’re okay with the situation. That nothing, whatever it might be, is their fault. In some cases, the parents become participants. Parents can even grow to like the person that’s “stealing” their child. Completely unaware with what’s going on.

How evil do you have to be?

A few weeks ago, my neighbors passed along the column I had written on human trafficking, primarily minors. They brought it to the attention of a local organization that helps young girls ages 12 to 17 who have been sex trafficked. The average age victims enter trafficking is 12 to 14. Which means some are even younger.

One of the most important things to help these young girls is safe housing. It’s hard to believe, but the stats say there are 325,000 kids in the USA at risk for sexual exploitation. That number alone is staggering but to make matters worse, there are only 511 beds, in the entire United Sates, to house and help these kids.

It irks me we had no problem finding billions of dollars, and continue to do so, to house, feed, provide medical care and clothe those who entered America illegally, and we can’t take care of our own children?

I had the great opportunity to meet with Chuck and Sally Cook. The wonderful couple who established the Hope Refuge Campus in 2013.

The Hope Refuge Campus nestled in the mountains near Santa Barbara offers a sanctuary for these young girls. It provides a place for healing and safety. It also offers education, counseling and tools required to reenter the outside world. And one thing I personally like, there are no cell phones.

The Hope Refuge Campus can house sixteen girls at a time. Up to 32 girls a year. They have space for more but thanks to California, that’s all that’s permitted for now. Through their program they say 75% of their girls graduate high school. Once they leave, they’re able to reenter the world again renewed. Rejoin family. Connect with old friends and live the life a young person should. Though their trauma and experience will last long after, if not the rest of their lives.

In 2022, Olive Crest acquired the Hope Refuge Campus and the Cooks remained on in Development and Community Engagement. Founded in 1973, Olive Crest has helped some 200,000 kids and families in the Western United States. Their mission statement is, “…dedicated to preventing child abuse by strengthening, equipping, and restoring children and families in crisis…One Life at a Time.” Olive Crest has been around for 50 years.

Most of the girls do not enter the program easily. Many have developed deep emotional attachments to their groomer, who has been positioned as their source of comfort, stability, and belonging. He’s their security. They’ve lost reality of what was, and many have embraced this sexually exploitive new life. Girls fall in love with their trafficker. They’ve been made to believe they’re the problem.

American men have become the largest “consumer” of children. Such a disgusting fact. Some go so far as to brand the girls. Even across the cheek. This is to let others know who they belong to. On the street the girl’s life expectancy is seven years.

Porn is rampant on the Internet. Things young minds should never be exposed to. It completely diminishes the beauty of meaningful relationships and only adds more fuel to a horrific sickness plaguing the world: predators of children.

There’s also the promotion by some politicians to push for the legalization of prostitution. Does anyone think that wouldn’t have a detrimental impact leading to more sex trafficking?

There comes that line in the sand, when enough is enough. We can’t afford to keep drifting further and further away from normalcy.

Organizations like Olive Crest and sanctuaries like Hope Refuge Campus are doing what they can.

More needs to be done. Evil swirls all around and never rests.

A common phrase that usually applies to other forms of danger can be applied here as well.

See something, Say something.

For further information contact Olive Crest https://www.olivecrest.org/santa-barbara/

I’m trying to make sense of this communist uprising infecting American politics.

Mark Twain has been noted as saying, “It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than open it and remove all doubt.”

This socialist movement are promising the world and saying things that are completely irrational. They’re not removing doubt they’re fools; they’re confirming it.

The timing of this wave of commies is also convenient. America celebrating 250 years of the constitution that got us here to a movement that wants to tear it all down.

And replace it with what?

The nonsense about abolishing the senate, the presidency and so forth is idiocy and they know that will never happen. Though my father always told me, never say never.

One of the big pushes by these crazies is the defunding of police and the abolishment of prisons.

The democrats and liberals have already made committing crimes mere annoyances by removing bail and “feeling” sorry for a pedophile or murderer because he/she had a rough childhood. Do you personally think you have what it takes to take the life of another human being? Whether planned or spontaneous, our creator didn’t design humans to kill each other. So, when someone does, wires got crossed. Would it then make sense allowing someone who is brain damaged to have free reign to keep killing? Raping? Or dealing drugs to kill your kids.

There’s no way this breed of wannabe policymakers has thought any of this through. This bizarre utopian lawless thinking is downright a brainless thing to even consider. And yet, the young minds who only hear free stuff don’t think past that.

Democrats and Republicans are in real trouble if they don’t change how they do business. These young voters don’t watch CNN or Fox. Or read anything if it isn’t on Instagram or TikTok. And it’s almost a free way to campaign for these loons. It’s a new world and the political geezers better get with the new program. These bizarre people have a big jump on how to do it.

Foreign countries have funneled hundreds of billions of dollars into our universities to indoctrinate. We’ve all heard the stories and yet we’ve allowed it to continue. We’re witnessing in real time this new batch of kids coming out of these schools hating America, supporting terrorists and now embracing communism. Their brains, along with the professors, are warped with a different perspective of America and life in general.

Do you think the Mamdani’s, AOC, El-Sayed and all the others even know they’ve been groomed to destroy the country that allows them to say stupid things? Or do they really think what they’re preaching will make America better? I guess the answer is, they don’t want to make America better. They want to get rid of America. What’s scary is this used to be secret, now they admit to it.

Let’s picture a quick summary if some of their ideas were to befall us.

Once the border was reopened it would make Biden’s four years look good. It would be impossible to stop the human mass migration. There wouldn’t be enough money to pay for 20, 50,100 million more mouths to feed, clothe, educate and medical services, even after taxing billionaires. America would run out of places for bodies to live. And with free rent landlords would have no choice but to walk away. Apartment complexes and condos would become slum havens overnight. With no one keeping up maintenance, water and power would cease. All these millions upon millions would need to eat but unable to pay for basic needs of survival. Without prisons and the police being defunded there’s nothing to stop national theft akin to an apocalyptic novel.

Homeowners would have to resort to violence to protect their properties, and the shooting would begin on both sides. And no one to stop it. Hospitals couldn’t keep up and eventually would fold under lack of income and burnout from doctors and nurses who would no longer be paid.

All the free stuff wouldn’t matter anymore because there wouldn’t be any free stuff left.

There’s a reason we have stop signs, traffic lights, speed limits, and all laws so we can maintain a civilized country.

Even though Mexico is a mess with cartels and they’re own share of lawlessness, they’re still a functioning country. In a blink not only the Mexican cartels, but the Chinese, Iranian and every terrorist across the globe would reinforce their buddies already here and create their own government. Then watch the real shooting begin.

For those with the wherewithal, they would flee to places around the world and leave Rome burning behind them.

The socialists will have buried themselves in a hell of their making. They didn’t think about asking themselves to be careful what they wished for.

Hyperbole? It’s already happening. Look no further than the summer of love when everyone was supposed to stay indoors, wear masks and die quietly. Liberals supported the rampages and burning of cities. The ensuing defunding of police took only a few years, even for liberals, to realize it was an irresponsible action. They too saw the rise in crime was a direct result of ridiculous decisions. It’s still going on in places like Seattle.

How do we put the brakes on this nonsense?

I wish I knew other than the voting booth. And despite 80% of voters want voter ID the democrats still fight it creating nonsensical reasons against why you have to prove who you are.

If we can’t be at least, let’s say, 80% (the bar should be higher) certain our election process isn’t corrupted then what’s the point?

I’ve been a staunch republican conservative since I watched Ronald Reagan at the Republican National Convention on July 17, 1980. That’s the moment when I realized I believed in common sense. One of my worst nightmares is to wake up some morning and realize I had been infected and reverted to not thinking for myself again.

So, the following words are going to throw a lot of you off.

I don’t like how the Iran war is going.

I’m 100% supportive of Trump preventing Iran from having nuclear weapons. No other president had the cajónes to do what the world knows needed to be done. Past presidents wanted to win reelections and were weak in taking decisive action. They all did the Iranian dance. Pretended they were trying. And they all got played.

Donald Trump is being played.

This “war” revealed so much more than trying to prevent fanatics from building nuclear bombs. It revealed the Iranian religious zealots are a very astute and calculating bunch. Much smarter than I would have ever given them credit for. Iranians are masterful manipulators.

In a couple years, Trump will fade into the memory books. All those who have made Trump hating part of their daily routine, will have to redirect that loathing to something else. Trump doesn’t have to worry about another election, but he does have to worry about not handing the next two elections cycles over to the democrats. That includes the rising communist movement.

If democrats win, the Iranians will restart their nuclear program, and Americans can begin to relive what Spain recently got a taste of during our own Biden border fiasco.

The Iranians know it’s imperative to ride out the bombing and endure the financial hardship no matter how much it hurts. The alternative isn’t good. They’ve had their way for nearly half a century and have been just cocky enough to think as long as they played the world while building up their arsenal, they were untouchable. Even the massive slaughter and executions of its people didn’t raise the ire enough for the world to step up. The Pope leaned their way.

Then along came Trump.

Just like most of you, we know the Iranians strategically stretched things out. They’re using our own country against us. Some republicans are siding with democrats. Iran is loving it. They’re using our media as their personal propaganda machine.

Having no idea what’s going on behind the scenes, what we do know is making me nuts. Trump initially said it was going to be an excursion of four to five weeks. Now it’s six months. I give it to those crazy mullahs. They have “negotiations” down to a science.

How much more bombing will convince the Iranian “leaders” to come to the table? I personally think Trump can turn Iran into rubble and the lunatics won’t budge. Just like Hamas. They’re all cut from the same keffiyeh. Their hate for America is in their DNA. They don’t care what your personal beliefs are about anything. They want ALL of us dead.

Maybe good things are going on behind the scenes, but Trump better hurry up with whatever that might be. And I DON’T EVER want to see boots on the ground. Not in this fight.

I also don’t like the amount of munitions we’ve used for this “skirmish.” Not just the cost but what it’s done to our stockpiles. I hope it hasn’t placed us in a weakened condition where some other nation(s) decide to test us. Again, I have no way of knowing where we stand but you can be sure the Chinese, Russia and others are keeping a running tally of how many bombs exploded.

The other thing we learned; the world is a bunch of cowards.

Europe allowed TDS to infect their decisions. Denying the use of airspace and bases for what reason? Didn’t want to get on Iran’s bad side? Or just slap Trump around a bit? Israel is about the size of New Jersey and has more courage than all of Europe combined. Of course, Israel has the most to lose and the most to gain as well. Based on Europe’s behavior and lack of support, I wonder if it’s also antisemitic? After all, Iran was only going to blow up Isreal. Right, they would never think of holding Europe hostage dangling nuclear weapons.

European leaders do a lot of talking and chest puffing but stare at the floor, step back and let Daddy do all the hard work. They say it’s Trump’s war, but inwardly happy as heck having Iran taken off the terrorist table. And it didn’t cost them a thing. You go girls.

It’s so much easier to do nothing.

The short of it, Trump, get your business done and off the pot. Your cabinet and military are loaded with smart people. If it were not for a possible peace deal pending with Hamas, likely another stall tactic, I would say release the Kraken and let Israel finish it.

As I was submitting this column, Trump called for another pause for more negotiations.

At this point I don’t have a lot of faith but I’m an optimist and will keep my fingers crossed.

It was 53 years ago when my wife and I went to Las Vegas for our honeymoon. Not the most romantic destination, but the closest and cheapest since we had no money. My father knew someone and got a us a deal at the Dunes, a hotel that long ago has since been imploded. People under fifty, maybe older, never heard of. Just like the famous Rat Pack Sands Hotel. Stayed there a couple times too. Just a simple two-story place that would be considered a budget motel today.

My mother loaned us her huge V8 Pontiac to drive across the desert wasteland. Gas was .24 a gallon.

Of course, Murphy’s Law stepped in. Somewhere on the Pear Blossom highway the oil gauge went to zero. I pulled over and checked the dip stick. Dry. Looked underneath and spotted the leak. Not to be deterred from reaching out destination, I bought a case of oil. Every few miles I’d pull over and put more in.

After checking into an already tired hotel even back then, I tracked down a mechanic shop who picked up the massive vehicle for repairs. I called my mom and said it was going to cost $500. That was big money in those days.

Which brings me to one of the points of this column.

Las Vegas used to be cheap. Everything from lodging to food was a bargain. Gambling brought in all the bucks they needed. And if not, it was a corrupt city and probably still is. They made extra income in other ways.

For those in my age bracket we can all recall billboards advertising $2.99 breakfasts. Some even .99 cents. Lunch buffets were $5.00. Full blown dinner buffets with everything imaginable cost between $10.00 or $15.00. And it was good. Real food in those days. In downtown Vegas there was a place that for just a few bucks, you could eat all the shrimp you wanted. Big time shows were $20.00.

Elvis Presley was doing his Vegas schtick. It was sold out but I found my way to a side entrance and flipped some mafia looking guy in a tux $20.00. He looked down and laughed. Okay, I was only twenty years old, and I could gamble all night with that twenty. Legally I couldn’t drink or gamble. I did both and no one said a thing.

We ended up seeing Neil Sedaka I’m sure for some super low price. At the time I had no clue who he was. My wife did, loved him and it was a good show. I earned honeymoon points.

I recently went back to Vegas with my wife, daughter and granddaughter. We saw the Wizard of Oz at the Sphere. A must see. But even cheap seats for the Wizard are over $200.00.

Times have changed. Like everything tends to do.

We went to some “fancy” restaurant and one of the chef’s said he was going to prepare me a special fish. Made a big deal out of it. It was nothing special. I got my bill and as the saying goes, my jaw dropped. A tiny strip of fish, with bones, cost $103.00! Cocktails run over $25.00. You of course can find lower cost places outside the big hotels, but people come for the massive resorts and all the fufu.

After getting fleeced by the slot machines I walked over to watch a crap table. I used to play back in the day. You could bet quarters. Today it’s still 25, $25.00. I don’t know how all the people do it. Or why? Everyone knows the house always wins.

They say Las Vegas is in distress. That tourism is down; the city is hurting. I was there on a Tuesday in July at 105 degrees. The Venetian was sold out, and the casino was packed. If America is having a difficult time dealing with inflation and gas prices, it was surely not evident in Vegas.

You can easily spend thousands in forty-eight hours just on food, lodging and drinks. You don’t have to gamble to have your pockets emptied.

Are the costs today going to be looked upon as inexpensive, ten, fifteen, twenty-five years from now? Cocktails for a $200.00? Dinners $400 a plate. Gas a $150 a gallon. Well maybe in California.

Will a place like Las Vegas have AI robots run the blackjack tables? The crap tables? Machines already exist for those games. Could the casino floors turn into an exclusively non-human gaming operation? As it is they have machines where you type in the cocktail you want, and a robot mixes it for you.

Those things could, maybe, bring costs down. Would thousands of jobs be lost? Would Las Vegas return to sand and lizards?

The world of machines is beginning to happen the world over. We all see it in self-checkout. Self-driving cars. I have a friend who drives to LA and back every week. I asked him, doesn’t it bother you going down there all time? I personally don’t go past Garden Street. He said, Heck no; my Tesla does all the driving. He literally dials in the destination, kicks back and listens to books on tape and whatever else he needs to get done. The Tesla makes all the freeway changes and turnoffs. I’m not ready for that, but he’s very comfortable and has done it for years. That doesn’t mean I don’t love the idea of letting a computer deal with traffic. Hopefully it won’t curse the way I do.

Back in the day I loved Las Vegas. Not anymore. Today my granddaughter does. Especially when the credit card follows her around. Ironically, she’s the same age I was on my honeymoon. The circle of life.

If Vegas is hurting, I don’t know where the wound is.

It’s been said during the Civil War as many as 750,000 white men gave their lives in large part to end slavery. That’s the equivalent to the population of Seattle, Denver or Nashville.

Ancient Egypt, Greece, Africa, all throughout Europe practiced slavery. Still do. Brazil imported a larger number of African slaves than America.

There’s a form of “slavery” that continues today that bothers me the most, child trafficking.

Why do we seemingly ignore over 3 million kids, children who are used as slaves around the world as we sit everyday enjoying our morning coffee? And that number is likely much higher because how do you accurately count?

Place yourself in the mind of a child who is ensconced in some hovel, or a home, being exploited for sex and/or making a pair of Nikes. We can’t even imagine the horror and hell so many young people are living through at this very moment. No parents, no school, no freedom, no life. How many just die off or wish they were dead?

I saw a recent story about an Iraqi ISIS couple who had been sentenced to prison in Germany. They bought a five-year-old and 12-year-old-girl who they held captive and repeatedly raped and tortured for years. They made the purchase at a slave market in Mosul! We still have slave markets!

And it’s not just kids.

I have a nephew who recently visited Monaco with his girlfriend. They had ordered two cocktails at a bar. His girlfriend accidently tipped over her drink, so my nephew drank hers. He was roofied. Nearly took him down. I going to assume both drinks were tampered with. Had they drank both, they could have entered the European slave trade.

Closer to home, a female relative with her girlfriend left a bar in the Funk Zone at 10pm on a Thursday. They had just gotten ice cream. The street they were on was devoid of people. They heard footsteps and looked back. Two men were following. They started running and the men took up chase. This happened right in front of Helena’s Bakery. They ducked into a small business establishment. When they looked outside a car had pulled up and picked up the would-be kidnappers. What do you think the plan was for two young girls? This was in Santa Barbara!

These are two people related to me! How much more of this is going on? My granddaughter is staying with us for the summer. She told me she’s afraid to go downtown. It’s not the same.

When the Biden regime opened America’s southern border the obvious was staring in our faces. And yet the democrats and media kept deflecting and trying to make us look the other way. We need to be compassionate for the poor who are looking for a better life. Bull crap!

We witnessed how the cartels ran an organized, aided and abetted trafficking operation with the help of our own democrats and leftists who ignored the massive exploitation they were allowing to happen. Always pointing to the poorchildren being separated from their families. You bet they were. By the cartels.

Nearly half a billion kids entered the United States under Biden’s watch.

Over 300,000 just flat out disappeared. Since them Trump’s efforts have found about 145,000 of those unaccompanied minors. Again, all these numbers are fluid. No one really knows. What we do know, under the failings of the Biden’s administration, is hundreds of thousands of kids are likely still living in hell and/or dead already. Or have traded hands. Was that compassion?

We also know the new wave of socialists trying to undermine America, want to go back to the very same Biden practice by opening the border again and abolishing I.C.E. I can imagine the cartel’s sitting with lawn chairs on the border ready to line their billionaire pockets even more.

I just finished reading a trilogy of books (fiction) whose main character lost a daughter to child trafficking. He teamed up with a guy who invented a computer program able to utilize all the cameras around the world; CCTV, cell phones, satellite images, home security systems and stitch them together. Creating a digital time machine to the past. He then used those images to track down child traffickers to bring them to justice. Far-fetched? Maybe not.

The protagonist gives the parents the option to deliver justice on their own terms. Some choose to impose the ultimate sentence. Others don’t have it in them and turn it over to law enforcement.

What would you do if your child had been enslaved, sexually abused, turned into a drug addict and ultimately killed? Would you have the strength, the guts, the courage to impose the death penalty yourself? Knowing there is a good possibility the person(s) responsible in today’s crazy support the criminal climate that the scum bag(s) could walk or get a light sentence.

Governor Walz of Minnesota is the latest glaring example of protect the criminals run amok. He pardoned an illegal from Laos even after the guy admitted he sexually assaulted a ten-year-old for years. Walz could have been vice president.

Growing up, milk cartons displayed the faces of missing kids. I remember as a young boy eating my cereal and absently studying the faces wondering where they were. Today there aren’t enough milk cartons for all the children lost to the ether.

If you figure maybe 20 million illegals were allowed to flow into the United States, even at 1% there could be as many as 200,000 cartel members, gang bangers, Chinese spies, Iranian terrorists and human traffickers in America. We’re all not stupid and did not succumb to CNN’s propaganda. We saw with our own eyes how the migrants over time transitioned from families to young men. We have no idea who they were or where they are. We do know many have taken up the hobby of rape, murder, drug dealing and human trafficking.

Slave labor, prostituting children by these pieces of garbage is a hidden crime.

Searching for stats, even ChatGPT gets flustered. The United States blends forced child labor with human trafficking and can’t, won’t separate them. The last real numbers were in 2023 when over 2,000 child traffickers were “referred” to various U.S. Attorneys. Only about half were charged.

In 2026, you would think we could do much better than that.

About a quarter of a century ago a group of determined and courageous men wanted to keep their independence and not be part of a constitutional monarchy, ruled by a king (a real king). They voluntarily placed their lives on the line to do so. They fought against a country better armed, better manned and unflinching in their own determination to keep the new world to themselves. Or at least that’s what the king told them to do.

England was a formidable force in the world back then. Hard to imagine but England at one time dominated about twenty-five percent of the world and its people. Using today’s terms, it was a superpower.

If Paul Revere, John Adams, George Washington and others could see what they gave their lives for, a bunch of girlie boys (not their military) England has become, they’d be slapping their palms against their foreheads.

They could have just waited them out. But then we would all be speaking with an English accent and driving on the wrong side of the road. I for one am grateful they pushed the redcoats back across the pond. Not that I have anything against England. They’ve always been our buddies and have fought valiantly with us side by side. Their leaders today are Biden on woke steroids.

Look to England, all of Europe for that matter, as a window into America’s future. If we don’t keep driving Wokeness and the growing communist movement back to the nether regions we will soon join the land of Woke like England.

In 1994 England took all the guns away from the citizens and placed their hands on their hips showing us what a great country they are. What they didn’t do, is take away what’s inside a man’s britches. More on that later.

The United States went through a period of “shut your mouth or else” the likes we’d never seen. When the democrats had a little power and used Twitter, Google, Face Book, nearly the entire media, universities; anyone who spoke against them was destroyed. Even their own kind. We’re getting it back under control. England however has gotten sucked into the black hole of cancel culture big time.

As we know, language is twisted in ways to convey what someone wants it to convey, not necessarily the full truth. In 2023 over 12,000 arrests were made in England over social posts. For some “convenient” reason they don’t give numbers anymore for 2024, 2025. In America, they shut you up, in England they lock you up. The argument is many of the posts were malicious, racist or any number of trumped-up reasons. The truth is the government doesn’t dissension among the ranks. My question is who has the authority and power to decide what someone says warrants an arrest? Do the woke police have guidelines they follow, or arbitrary decisions based on opinions?

When America was deep in the throes of our own cancel culture all you had to do was speak up against something the leftists worshiped and that was enough to bring you down.

Pelosi pulled off her fraudulent political trickeries when she launched her J6 war on anyone who remotely even breathed the thought about attending The Rally. You give someone power, and they’re guaranteed to abuse it.

England gave up on their borders years ago. They did so intentionally like Biden’s regime did here. The problem is England’s are still open. Like us, they have no idea how many illegals have filtered into the landscape, but their presence is changing that landscape. Similar to the U.S. these other cultures have wiggled their way into government. Trying to impose their beliefs and culture on a country that has done just fine the way it is for thousands of years.

Just like our own Ilhan Omar, Mamdani, and the recent socialists elected to office who were not born here and are so ungrateful to the host who’d welcomed them. They want to undermine their new home. In England their new “guests” are determined to mold the country to their likeness. And England is allowing it to happen.

In England as in most of Europe, leaders don’t want to admit they made a mistake. They’re too arrogant to allow the world to see the truth the devastating impact unfettered immigration has on their land. Their indigenous people.

England has so called “rape gangs” and “grooming gangs.” You can look it up yourself the horror so many young women are dealing with. England remains hushed about being invaded from Afghanistan, Sudan, Iran and Somali. According to police reports, there were over 200,000 “sexual offenses” recorded for the year ending March 2025. They keep it on the down low who are perpetrating these crimes. The government knows all about it. They encouraged it with their open borders but do the old chim-chimney sweep under the carpet.

England has 58 million people, by comparison, with a population of about 340 million, there were about 100,000 reported rapes in the U.S. The numbers are always much higher for those going unreported. We’ve seen the trend of these rapes (and murders) in America being committed by Biden’s illegals. Stories also swept aside and buried. Like England, for some insane reason the media and democrats don’t want to shed light on their failures. I wonder why?

Due to space limitations, I can only touch on two major problems England has imposed upon itself. The Parliament has fully embraced giving their country away and the impacts are self-evident what a mess they made.

No one gets to wag a finger at America. Even though we are dealing with similar issues we’re pushing back against the crazy people. We have millions of Americans with common sense who don’t buy what the loony left is selling.

Yet we can’t expect things will fix themselves. More and more communists will continue to brain wash our young. We still have time to avoid becoming England.

This November could be a big deal. We don’t want to let those who fought to make America great down. Especially on such a special birthday year.

As an old saying goes, “I’ve decided to throw in the towel.”

I’m going go all in and vote democrat and support their new socialist movement.

I got to thinking, how nice it would be to no longer worry about wanting to live the American dream. No more pressure.

For example, owning a home is overrated. I won’t have to worry about property tax, maintenance, mortgage payments, insurance. The government is going to take care of all of that. In fact, I might even be sharing my new government owned domicile, whatever it might be, with strangers. I can make new friends. Hopefully we speak the same language.

I will also enjoy shopping at the government run grocery store and get stuff cheaper, maybe even for free. It may not be the best selection but hey, we all need to make sacrifices for the benefit of all.

And since I eventually won’t be able to own a car, I have the luxury of taking government run buses. The smell might be a little bad, but I still have a few boxes of masks left over from the COVID days. I just need to avoid sitting on a needle and make sure I step over the poop. Not a big deal. We all know life has its challenges. Geez, another cliché. I also have the option of riding my bicycle to help the environment. It might be a bit challenging when it’s 100 degrees, raining or freezing cold. That’s when my government secondhand clothing comes in.

And who are we to boast to the rest of the world that we shot a rocket with four astronauts around the dark side of the moon and back. I mean, that money could have been better spent on supplying more needles and drugs to the homeless to help them out. We could have upgraded their tents and provided WIFI. Shooting rockets is a waste of money. Probably didn’t even happen anyway. A.I.

And what’s up with the stock market hitting an all-time high. By increasing in value even more people got richer. On second thought, that means more money the government can take to spread the wealth. A sweet bonus for the régime coffers. Even those pesky 401K’s can be squeezed for a few more bucks.

I also think we should just give Iran a ton of money like Obama did. He had the right idea. Give them the moola and they’ll play nice with us. It’s not our business if they want to make big bombs to melt millions of Americans. And maybe they’ll only charge a nominal toll to travel through the Strait of Hormuz. They’ll be reasonable. And all those executions of their own people, they’re probably justified. It’s important their citizens know their place.

I’m all in for getting rid of the police.

The socialists will take my guns, which is a good idea since most people don’t know how to use them anyway. Except for the poor criminals who need them to make a living. We all just have to plan accordingly when a criminal breaks into your house. Be creative and pull a “Home Alone” on them. You can have paint cans over the door and thumb tacks on the floor. There are all kinds of things you could employ to make the bad guys run away scared. Afterall you can’t call for help.

New York mayor Mandani could be on to something. What do Americans have to be patriotic about? Maybe he’s right when he says we’re all racists and only the white elitists get everything. Though I wouldn’t mind sharing the wealth with the likes of Beyonce, Lebron James or Tiger Woods.

Maybe it’s time we also stop funding new technology as well. Why should America always carry the burden? Let other countries try to improve their lives on their own and then we can just steal the ideas.

Speaking of marches.

I’m going to start attending every one of them I can. I need to get in more steps. It will be great exercise. If I add carrying a sign and shake it up and down, I’ll also get an upper body workout. I’m confident when hand painted signs say things like we don’t want kings or ICE are Nazi’s, it will make all the difference in the world. We’ll change tons of minds.

And ICE. Oh my gosh. They need to be abolished for sure. Borders schmorders. Think of being able to go into Mexico and Canada without a passport and buy all their pharmaceutical drugs. They’ll be so cheap. Canada is already a socialist country. They should be more than happy to meld us in for all their free stuff.

In that same vein, the U.S. needs to embrace the millions more of illegals who will be joining us, even the killers and rapists. They need love too. How cruel to want to send people back to their homes? Since we’ll be financially raping everyone and anyone who has any money, the U.S. treasury will be maxed out with cash. More than enough to feed, clothe, educate, house and pay the medical bills of our new residents. That’s what America is all about. We welcome the world with open arms and gratuities.

Everything will be free under the new United Socialists States of America. USSA, kind of has a nice ring to it. Also, a little familiar.

The planet will love us again. Though I’m not sure how those soccer players and recent world visitors will like the changes. They all seemed pretty happy and impressed with America the way it was.

As for those millions upon millions who joyfully celebrated Amerca’s 250^th birthday, they should all be ashamed. What were they so happy about?

Let freedom reign.

Peace out.

A recent poll shows pride in America has fallen off. Not something to be proud of for our upcoming birthday. It’s primarily the democrats, less than 30%, which is no surprise since many have veered so far off course from American values. Socialists are taking over their party and that crowd really hates America.

We’ve all been watching who would be proud to be an American, foreigners? Not the illegal kind sneaking in, but our invited guests for the World Cup. CNN around the world and the liberal press of Europe have always painted the United States with ugly colors. The soccer players are admitting they now know they’ve been lied to by their own media. I’ve been telling my German relatives that for years. Their view of America and Trump have been prejudiced like our own media has been doing to us for decades. The athletes were expecting something dreadful. Instead, we’ve witnessed how they’re all blown away what a great country and diverse land the United States really is. They can’t gush enough about it. From Brazilians to Aussies to Japanese. America is fantastic! The food. The stores. The beautiful landscape.

While the purple haired woman parading in the streets for some anti something march says America sucks. Or antifa burning their backyard down. Visitors from around the world sing our national anthem! I would be very happy to trade the American haters for example, with the young woman from England who said she was born in the wrong country. She said America feels more like her home.

When you raise a child, or are blessed with grandchildren, you are given the opportunity to view the world all over again through their eyes. You enjoy doing things you haven’t done in years. Watching the kids’ broad smiles and their faces light up when discovering something new. Things over time we have come to take for granted. That’s what we’re witnessing now.

Fans from around the world in America for the first time are showing us all over again how great we really are. Stores filled with a vast assortment of food, despite what we consider higher costs, are still cheaper and in more abundance than overseas. Chain restaurants and fast food may not be our finest dining, but the soccer players have found their gastronomic Eden. The size of our meals. And BBQ. You would be hard-pressed to find Texas BBQ anywhere else like you do here. If it exists, I’m sure someone will let me know.

There was a comedian on AGT from France who said a friend told him to visit Las Vegas. The friend said it was just over there. Turns out just over there was five hours! Five hours in Europe he said he would be in Turkey speaking a different language and using another currency. America is huge. Its landscape as diverse as any place on the planet. We have everything from giant mountain ranges to low deserts, to miles and miles of farmland, wide rivers and magnificent shorelines on opposite sides of this wonderful place we call home.

The joyfulness, the praise from our visitors has made me and so many others feel even more proud and more patriotic than ever. Perfect timing.

So why does a segment of our society and certain politicians continue to want to tear it down? What are they seeing that’s so horrible? Are they looking at the same America our world visitors are so enthralled with?

I find it extremely frightening that the socialist movement is gaining traction. This new wave of communist thinking is a complete 180 on how America survived and thrived for 250 years. These socialists go against every principle, belief and freedom we stand for. Our younger generation look to these emerging communists like a Santa Claus. Give us free stuff because we don’t want to work for it and we deserve it. All you entrepreneurs who worked hard to achieve financial success should give us some of your fruits. You have too much.

Anyone with a modicum of common sense and gray matter has learned from history, socialism sucks. It’s un-American. And yet this truth is replaced with naïveté. I have my phone; all is right with the world.

Our guests get to enjoy a couple weeks, what they describe as holiday, traveling our amazing country. See new sights and enjoy foods they’ve never had. And relish in our freedoms. They don’t even want to go home.

They’re not aware of a new form of evil bubbling up into the mainstream to disrupt and change what they’re all enjoying on their work vacation. These socialist parasites are America’s real enemy.

The ongoing mental illness over everything Trump has been so hardwired. To the point where displaying the American flag is now considered showing our president support rather than simply a symbol of pride. Liberals know they eat their own kind if you don’t stay in lock step with their thinking. Borderline liberal “patriots” are afraid to give the slightest indication they could be supporting Trump. Even with just a flag. That’s not only sad but so very shallow and simple minded.

They lack the courage to embrace the land that affords them freedoms some countries can only dream about. Not even for a day.

When the fireworks go off and we stand saluting our flag, American patriots can do so with our hearts overwhelmed with delight. We don’t harbor any hate. We’re content because we know we’re blessed to be living in the greatest nation on planet Earth. That’s why everyone wants to come here, and hardly anyone ever wants to leave.

Happy Birthday America!!!

A part of America is changing to something ugly in real time.

Angry fellow human beings are saying things I never would have thought to be uttered so openly in public. They’re admitting they have no problem with murder. That it can be justified. They’re declaring it’s okay to execute someone or something they don’t agree with. They brazenly condone assassination if it advances their cause of insanity. Trump was nearly killed, and they were sad the shooter missed. Charlie Kirk slain and they said it was about time. How did we get here?

The murder of the high school track star took such a bizarre turn. The young black man admitted he did the stabbing. Yet people on the streets, family included, marched carrying signs saying he was innocent. How does a mind work to rationalize and justify the truth and twist it so radically into something entirely different from fact? We know if it was black on black, which happens every day by the hundreds, no one speaks of it. Had it been white on white, there wouldn’t have been signs declaring the killer innocent. There is so much wrong with this irrational reaction when race is used to change reality.

There was a time when you had respect for your fellow man with something as simple as your appearance. We’ve become a nation of slobs when you can wear pajamas on an airplane. I was ten when my parents put me on a plane to Germany to visit my grandparents. They dressed me in a nice light blue suit, with a tie. Today it’s sweatpants, ragged jeans, tank tops and flip flops. Everyone has headphones and air pods and stare at those damn phones full time ignoring those around them. No one looks at their fellow travelers. They all scramble to fill the overheads. The rudeness on planes and the fights is something you would never have seen thirty years ago. Now it’s become common place. Why? What is altering mankind’s sense of common courtesy?

I know I always get back to immigration but it’s a significant bone of contention in this country. For reasons beyond my understanding, the democrats and leftists have made it their obsession to defend killers and instead go after law enforcement. It was reported the other day there are still 300,000 missing children who were trafficked into America during Biden’s era. The left doesn’t want ICE or anyone doing their jobs looking for them. Democrats are so dead set on going against Trump, even if their irrational logic gets children killed. Girls of all ages were sexually assaulted and probably still are. Who has their back?

The left has shouted for years all women should be believed if they claim they’ve been assaulted in some way by a man. It’s always been up to the man to defend himself. It’s crazy to a see an “oyster farmer” in Maine whose history is well documented as antisemite, assaulting women and quite possibly participating online with the underage, receive some 80% of the votes to move him a step closer to becoming an American senator! Platner has a laundry list of things the democrats proclaimed to be against and yet, for the sake of gaining power they monkey around; see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. He’s practically a self-proclaimed Nazi, but that power grab Trumps it all. If you’re a democrat, Nazi is okay.

Teenagers are going on rampages across the country. Fighting, killing, destroying property. All around raising hell. Our worse offense in the day was to toilet paper houses. What the heck is this Lord of Flies thing all about? I realize it might be tough to blame the parents because for the most part many are coming from single mom homes. But that still doesn’t justify the outrageous behavior. We need to get a handle on this growing chaos.

Over the years our laws in the blue states and cities have become non-existent. Criminals are feeling pretty good in their skin these days knowing if they get arrested, they don’t have to post bail and in many cases be back on the prowl the next day. What do they have to worry about? The guy who killed the young Ukrainian girl, stabbing her in the neck, had been arrested fourteen times and he was still enjoying his freedom before slaughtering an innocent girl.

None of this makes sense.

California’s election was a farce. In Los Angeles four hundred homeless were registered in a shelter that only holds one hundred beds. I was discussing all this with my granddaughter and told her what needs to be done is cancel the election, clean up the roster, outlaw ballot harvesting and hold it again. And why does the media still cover for all the treachery?

You can wander naked on public streets and use sidewalks as your bathroom. Never, ever would I have thought that in the United States of America something like this could happen. Turning out cities into literal toilets and drug camps. It doesn’t happen in the UK, in Europe, Singapore and you could bet if you dropped your trousers in Abu Dhabi, you would never be seen again.

There are wonderful people on this planet. I had written about some of my own experiences.

We need to stop the teens gone wild, set some boundaries and rules when travelling, put the phones down and talk with a stranger so you can become friends. Politicians are elected to represent ALL their constituents and do so with integrity and honesty. We need to regain faith in our election process. Something that at one time set us apart from the rest of the world.

We must stop dancing around our ills, address them head on, allow law enforcement do their job and make parents responsible for their kids.

Be human again.

“Okay students. Settle down. We have a lot to get through today.”

The college professor was an AI image on a 50-foot Tron. The classroom comprised images of the students attending on screens around the perfectly coifed brunette instructor dressed in a dark blue pant suit. An image of human perfection.

The “professor” continued, “Thank you all for signing up for this all-important recount of a time in America’s history where; to put it bluntly, the country had lost its mind for about ten years. Four years in particular.” The female image transitioned to a male and added, “I have been programmed to insert some bias and emotion in my class to further advance my points. What I’m about to communicate is well documented and many who lived during those dark days are still shaking their heads in disbelief even today.”

The male image paused and watched everyone lean in to listen.

“It was the year 2020. No one could have foreseen how so many diverse forces would collide simultaneously. It began with a global pandemic. I’m sure many of you are fully aware of COVID 19 and when it made its first appearance. It started in China and spread around the globe in a raging fury. The political argument to hide its true source suggested it came from a bat, a pangolin. Nearly all reputable health organizations refused to admit it leaked from a Chinese lab. A lab the very person who had been given full power to decree American policy concerning the virus, was also involved to enhance the effect of the virus to make it more dangerous.”

The AI was female again, walking back and forth in front of a simple oak desk, hands behind its back. Then stopped and stared straight ahead. Boring her deep blue eyes directly through her students. “Anyone who disputed the story line were chastised, lost their jobs, cancelled and black balled. Their lives threatened.”

“Anthony Fauci kept preaching it was the science and demanded everyone take an experimental vaccine and guaranteed it was perfectly safe. Many refused. Thousands subsequently lost their jobs; including health care workers, military, first responders and those in multitudes of careers because it didn’t stop at the virus, it infected minds and removed all common sense.

“Politicians, nearly all what they called democrats at the time, used the virus as a Machiavellian weapon. You were not allowed to worship in a church, and in many cases not even outside, but you could watch women disrobe in strip clubs. Small businesses had to close their doors with no means of financial support while large box stores remained open with hundreds of people walking around. Masks became mandatory everywhere and quickly became a political issue.

You were forced to maintain six feet of separation from each other no matter where you went.”

A number of gasps emanated from the students.

“Yes, according to Fauci’s science, staying six feet apart would protect you. I know, stupid, right. Schools were shut down, in some cases for nearly two years. Health clubs were shuttered but democrat politicians would sneak off on vacations or out to restaurants while everyone else became prisoners in their homes.”

The image morphed into two, a Hispanic male and black female both speaking in perfect unison.

“If that wasn’t enough. A drug addict and small-time criminal was pulled over by police. When asked to step out of the car, the individual resisted arrest. That irresponsible action released a chain reaction of events that quite literally set the United States on fire. George Floyd was wrestled to the ground where he accidently died. The optics were not good and because President Barak Obama had reconstituted racism, a white police officer was charged with murder. Some in the black community along with anarchists, using the financial help of dark money, systematically burned down cities and murdered dozens. The chaos went on for months and became a license to attack anyone white. Even while eating in restaurants. A very biased media labeled the turmoil as “The summer of love.” The reverse racism was ignored.

“Democrat politicians made things worse by siding with the rioters and joined in taking a “knee” for the cause. The unhinged infection spread into sports, television and the media. And a new era labeled, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, DEI, cloaked the American landscape.

Merit no longer held any value. The color of a person’s skin, gender and sexual preference became the new measurement.

Children were having their genitals removed and you couldn’t inform the parents. Children were being mutilated. Parents were imprisoned because they merely wanted to retain their rightful authority over their children.”

The AI professor blended into a single Asian man. It stopped talking allowing the students to catch their breath and absorb what they had just been told.

“It didn’t stop there; it was believed men could have babies and there existed a multiple of genders. We’ll go into those another time. No longer was it just male and female. In fact, men were allowed to compete against women in sports. Obliterating science that men by nature are physically stronger than women.”

The image blended back to the original brunette and displayed a very subtle, what might be considered a touch of emotion.

“Class, these are just some of the highlights that had occurred during a transitional period for America. Over the coming weeks of this course, I will go into more detail how some Americans were unable to function properly because of a vehement hatred for President Donald Trump. And the divide it created.

Your assignment for next week is to research what impact the Biden administration had on the country when the southern American border became non-existent. Millions of people had been allowed to enter America, unimpeded. It cost taxpayers $150 billion a year to support all the illegal immigrants. A lot of money in those days. The subsequent attempt to send them back to their homes launched another abnormal period in American history.

“As an old saying goes, you ain’t seen nothing yet.”

See you all next week.”

The Tron went black. The faces around the screen appeared stunned.

It took 250 years of grinding, adjusting to growing pains, civil wars, world wars, racial unrest and America still stands strong. For now.

We’ve all seen the commercials of Veterans who have been severely wounded and the non-government run organizations who help them. If it wasn’t for these NGO’s who knows where they would be? Who knows how much more the government would be doing for them?

It bothers me saying that because I love this country and support it in every way. But even after 250 years of practice it still gets some things wrong. Well, quite a lot. The taking care of our veterans is one of them. June gets a lot of attention as pride month, but it’s also PTSD Awareness month. Hundreds of members of the Armed Forces die by suicide every year

Watching the commercials on TV of soldiers with lost limbs, blind and burn scars, we tell ourselves what a sad thing and then we move on with our day.

I’ve been visiting with one such man for about five years now. He was only 22 when he lost both legs up to the hips in Vietnam. Same age my grandson is now. I can’t imagine my grandson suddenly being robbed of limbs and then spending the next fifty plus years in a wheelchair depending on others for so many things. On my last visit, for some reason I became overwhelmed with sorrow for this man. I was able to look deeper into his soul, or at least I thought so. His eyes appeared to be revealing something more. He didn’t say anything, but I was flashing back in time with him. The injury, the years of surgeries, the pain he had to endure, the suffering, the mental battles to continue with his life.

As I’ve aged my body has taken on my own pains, from my back to the lack of feeling and pain in my feet. Looking at this soldier and seeing an empty spot where legs should be, I told myself at least I can use my legs. I can take pain meds to help with my back. It’s a common phenomenon; this soldier can still feel severe pain in his legs and feet when they don’t even exist. He will scrunch his face fighting a phantom agony.

I took one of my bike rides through the back roads of Solvang on Memorial Day and stopped in Los Olivos Park for a drink of water. As I looked around, I watched a young man open his wine tasting room. He emerged with a pride flag which he hung outside the door. I waited. And I waited. There was no American flag to follow. This isn’t about the pride flag. The thing was if he had the time to put up one flag, why, on this day of remembrance for our soldiers, could he have not, just for one day, taken pride in the American flag?

I then looked around the city and realized there wasn’t a single American flag hanging anywhere. I will concede, on my nest ride I really had to look and found two outside a couple wineries along with the town’s main flag and the post office.

As I peddled my way home on that Memorial Day, I paid special attention to the houses along the way. I spotted a flag about every twenty or thirty houses, if that.

If there’s anything that triggers liberals more, it’s the American flag. Maybe it doesn’t mean they’re anti-American. It could signify they’re intimidated by their die-hard leftists’ friends and don’t want to take the heat.

The left can’t get past cancel culture. Now they’re bullying musicians who were going to participate in the Freedom 250concert. The artists chickening out are allowing the Trump haters to win. When will this diseased breed let it go?

A veteran in Escondido was recently murdered for his display of flags and support for Trump. The killer will likely get off on a light sentence because it’s California. Had the veteran shot the killer first in self-defense he would have faced life in prison.

Everything is so ass backwards.

We still have democrat politicians who have joined the dark organizations behind all the protests and marches, going after ICE.

There is no way you could have a rational debate with someone who has political rabies. Their bodies tremble with such loathing, they’ve lost all sanity. They’ve become so brazen they openly shout they’re going to murder agents along with killing their families. Is that normal? Of course not, but it’s being normalized. They never give it a second thought about the soldiers who were maimed or killed that allow them to act stupid.

An Iranian terrorist had threatened to kill Ivanka Trump’s daughter. We must assume there could be hundreds of thousands like him in the US. They are very likely plotting some big-time murderous events. Just waiting for the word to unleash holy hell on Americans. Do you think it’s at all possible some of that enriched uranium by Iran could have been used to make some small bombs and smuggled into the US under Biden’s watch? Conspiracy? We have no way of knowing because they marched right across the red carpet.

At this very moment we have a lot of our military overseas, gone for months, from their families and the comfort of their homes. Prepared to protect all of us here so we can live safely thousands of miles away.

A simple act to show our support for our country and our military by hanging a flag may seem nit-picky, but it’s huge. To the soldier who lost his legs and to all the others who have given so much for us, I salute and thank you.

All Californians are morons. Me included.

On my recent journey across the country, I can firmly report California is viewed as one big nut case.

These common-sense states have something you will also never see in California, Trump stores. Retail stores filled with everything Trump, sweatshirts, hats, bobble heads, flags and more. Tons of things patriotic. And the stores are busy.

I told the store owner we had just traveled from California and her face lit up. She said, “Wait right there. I have something for you.” She returned with a red baseball cap that read, “Make California Great Again.” She handed it to me and said it was a gift. It was the sixth one she gave away that day. I said my home state can use all the help it can get.

When I left, I paid $8.00 a gallon for diesel. Three states over, diesel was in the low 4’s. The people I spoke with were complaining about $4.00 a gallon and I told them we would love to be paying that. We’ve been paying that and much more for years.

I encountered people who had never visited the loony state. They said they weren’t even interested. Peel away all the crazy environmentalists, the whacky woke, the progressive nut case leftists and one party rule that have plunged California on life support and it’s a very pretty place.

After driving for days when all you can see is well, nothing. No mountains, no hills and in many cases no trees, California is blessed with the largest trees on the planet, the highest mountain in the low forty-eight and the lowest point in the land. From beautiful beaches to magnificent mountains covered in lakes and pine trees. And yet people are fleeing what the first settlers thought to be paradise. And it can be again.

We have a slim chance to try and right the ship as they say. Two republicans are holding their own to become governor. The problem is they make sense and say things that a are logical and offering great plans to work toward healing the open sores of California. Democrats can’t get a handle on that. The morons on the left will continue to vote for rinse and repeat out of hatred while us morons with common sense, have always let them.

Can a republican governor go head-to-head with liberal legislatures who are determined to keep defecating in their backyard? We saw what happened to Arnold Schwarzenegger. He was stripped of his manhood trying to go against the liberal machine. Eventually he became one of them and a eunuch.

Maybe, just maybe a guy like Steve Hilton or Sheriff Chad Bianco can make the dramatic changes that need to be done to end the insane gas taxes, squander billions on homeless, startup oil production and become self-sufficient and powerful again. In other words, Make California Great Again.

We have the resources, and we have good bones.

The democrats have always claimed to be there for the little people. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Their policies are decimating the poor. I can afford to pay extra for gas. It’s another story for those who work at McDonald’s or a myriad of other lower paying jobs. Even a fireman friend who lives in Orcutt but works in Santa Barbara is now paying $80 to fill his truck every time to drive to work. It’s not a Trump problem; it’s a moronic California problem. All the taxes imposed on fuel have done squat. Our roads should be like glass, instead it’s a game of dodging potholes. Not all roads in the country are perfect but certainly much better overall and they’re not reaming the taxpayers almost an extra $2.00 a gallon to line someone’s pockets with false promises of saving the planet.

You would think California leading the country with the highest fuel costs would be an eye opener for the cultist climate clouded left, but no. Trump used federal authority to allow offshore oil drilling again and surprise, surprise, the hippies are suing Sable to stop from helping Californians. They couldn’t care less about the people; it’s their mind-numbing obsession against dinosaur goo that causes their brains to hemorrhage. They put their own lunacy ahead of the populace. And now the word on the ocean is the last ship from the middle east with California oil is unloading. That’s it.

I actually apologized to people east of us before I answered them when asked where I was from (tongue in cheek). Some of the Californians who have fled the crazy poop coop were infected with wokeness and TDS and feel the need to contaminate their new communities. You would think local residents would have none of it, and many places don’t, but then look at Texas. A state who had been blood red since forever has been infected with liberalitis and is swinging in the wrong direction. Morons, and I mean that in the kindest way.

The thing is the entire country is filled with morons. Again, I’m not excluding myself.

We’re celebrating 250 years by electing socialists and communists all across this great land. What the heck are we doing?

The men behind writing the constitution love them or hate them, because now days its vogue to turn on anyone for anything, were super smart and covered most of the bases. I don’t believe in 1776 Jefferson, Hancock or old Ben Franklin thought there would be politicians determined to undermine everything they tried to protect. That the constitution could be infected with political smallpox.

We morons better get our act together and stop these crazies from destroying what makes us the greatest country on the planet.

If the lunatics gain control of the house, and God forbid, the senate, the wheels on this bus are going to go round and round, in reverse.

I had written in a previous column when, at eighteen, I had driven across the country in a VW bug with no heater in the middle of winter.

My wife and recently completed a near full cross country journey from Solvang to Paducah, Kentucky. This time in a full-size pickup with heater and AC. Camping in our RV trailer. You may ask why? I did too. My wife is an avid and excellent quilter and Paducah holds an annual massive quilt event.

I swore I would never drive a long trip like that again, but she wanted to give it a go. Nearly three weeks of road-tripping for a two-day visit seemed a lot. Am I complaining? Well kind of. It’s one thing when you’re 18, quite another when in your 70’s.

And rather than fight the cold of winter this time, we had to dodge tornadoes. I’ll take my chances with an earthquake any day.

Always looking for the positive, I put together a montage of our encounters along the way. I call it tidbits because for the most part they were brief, but it opened windows to people across this great and vast land. And I’m only touching on a few of them.

When we pulled into our KOA campground in Albuquerque, we were exhausted. There was no place to eat within walking distance. I didn’t want to unhook the truck for our one-night stay. The campground suggested an Italian restaurant would deliver to our site. I called and the young man that answered was super kind and helpful. He said our meal would be delivered in sixty minutes. He arrived on the dot. He was very pleasant and cheerful. We talked for a bit, and I tipped him $25.00. You would have thought it was a thousand dollars. He kept thanking us and said it made his day. Their food made our day, it was fantastic.

Our next stop was in Amarillo, Texas. The campground shuttled us to their restaurant down the street. The Big Texan Steak House. Holy cow, and I mean cow. This place was the Disneyland of restaurants. The décor was right out of an old western saloon but massive. And the steaks were enormous. If you could eat their 72-ounce steak in under one hour it was free. I took a photo of that thing. It wasn’t normal.

Our waitress was a bit aloof, but I never let something like that go. I engaged her every time and asked where she was from. Before long she softened. She was from Las Vegas. Her parents moved to Texas, and she loved where she ended up.

I made a commitment to myself a few years ago to engage everyone I met. To leave a good impression, even if it was just a smile. We departed as friends.

One of our first experiences with spring weather in the Midwest was at a campground outside Tulsa, Oklahoma. Upon checking in I was told to keep my ears open for security in case we had to get to the shelter. Shelter! She said they were expecting “some” weather. I sat outside before it got dark and things looked okay to me. Holy poop stain! It wasn’t an hour later the sky unleased rain like I’ve never seen before. The wind blew so hard trees were laying sideways, and the trailer was rocking back and forth. Then the thunder and lightning arrived with a vengeance. I couldn’t sleep. I kept looking out the window waiting for security to make the call. There was enough rain that night alone to take care of California for five years. If California had a place to store it. Next morning, blue skies. Like nothing ever happened.

Our next stop was Branson, Missouri where we slowed down for a couple days. I equate Branson to kind of like a mellow mid-west Las Vegas without the casinos. We attended a couple shows. One was a country comedy variety show. During intermission the actors made themselves available at the front of the stage. I engaged in conversation, as I always do. You can be in Montana, Florida or Missouri, the country is bursting with amazing people. During the second act I was called on stage to be roasted. The lead man told the audience we had driven out from California, and I must have lost a bet or something. When asked where I came from the second comedian looked at me and said he knew the place. As we were leaving the theater the comedian called out my name. He was from southern California and knew Solvang well. He and his wife used to always visit. We had an enjoyable conversation and departed as new friends.

At our destination, Paducah, Kentucky, there was a BBQ guy set up next to our camp site. First night I went over and sat on the bench with him. For the next three days we grew to know each other. He was a well-known local BBQ chef and was good! I ate three nights in a row; pulled pork, ribs, brisket. His wife would join him and along with my wife, as well as other campers, would sit with them for hours. I’m going to miss Mark and Nora.

The most fearful and yet most wonderful experience occurred on one of the most desolate roads I’ve ever driven in America; highway 57 from Dodge City, Kansas to Santa Fe, New Mexico. I’ll admit I was stressed out every day filled with what ifs. Well, the what if happened. Somewhere on Mars, the trailer had a blowout. As far as you could see there was absolutely nothing. No buildings, no trees, no shrubs. Just dry dirt. The tire iron from my truck didn’t fit the trailer lugs. I was stranded. The few cars that drove by just kept on going. Then a pickup truck swung back around. Two gruff looking men, dressed in well-worn dirty overalls approached us. I went on high alert.

“Do you need any help? They asked.

“All I can get.”

After assessing my predicament, they said they’ll be right back. And true to their word, some twenty minutes later they returned with a hydraulic jack and impact wrench. Five minutes later the spare was on. I pulled out cash; they said no. Pass it along.

If I never believed in angels before, Ben and Charles, father and son cattle ranchers, were truly angels. If it had not been for them, we could still be there. I’ve never felt more blessed and that lucky in my life.

Ben and Charles affirmed my belief America is a great land with great people.

Moral of the story. Love your country. It’s wonderful place to be a part of and is filled with wonderful people. I have sympathy for the marchers and America haters who need to remind themselves of just how good they have it. How good we all have it.

There’s so much to be thankful for and a lot of good people to be thankful with.

I just returned from a long road trip to from California to Paducah, Kentucky. I had wanted to post this before I left. So I’m cheating today. However, I am working a column about my journey to follow soon. Thank you.

Suffering Through the Biden Regime

The Twilight Zone (those old enough to remember) had a famous opening to the show. Rod Serling, the host, would say in his deep mysterious tone, (there were variances of the opening) “You are about to enter another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land of imagination.

“Next stop, the Twilight Zone.”

Just allow your imagination to go back to the Biden regime, the Twilight Zone of Torment.

Our southern border had thousands, hundreds of thousands, of humans hunkered across the border, under bridges, getting “processed,” ready to pour into your backyard. Many of which have proven to be exactly what we told you open-border nuts. Millions who didn’t have your best interests in mind. The Democrats lied and tried to a paint a picture that these were all virtuous people looking for work. Democrats continue to lie to this day and are fighting “tooth and nail,” as they say, to keep the hammer-, machete-wielding murderers, gun-toting killers, and rampant rapists to stay in your backyard.

There wasn’t a single march in support of the poor teenage kid who was ambushed and gunned down while pleading for his life.

Imagine if the Democrats gain power again. You will see millions more flood into America and ICE won’t be able to stop them because the Democrats will get rid of ICE. For reasons beyond any commonsense thinking, the Democrats have united proclaiming the protectors of our sovereignty are the bad guys and illegals are the angels. They never address, never admit, that there are truly some bad actors who were let in through our porous border. And they never address, again never show sympathy or concern, for those who would be alive today if the border had been closed. Americans have been slaughtered, and they’re ignored and shrugged aside as causalities of ideology.

Imagine Iran starts up its nuclear bomb-making program again. The Democrats would wave a finger and mimic Biden by whispering, “Don’t.”

Yeah, that’s not going to work.

Doesn’t work on a brat throwing a tantrum in a store and won’t work on a country that hates all of us. And once Iran gets a nuke, you can bet where that thing is going to be flying right after Israel is bombed.

Return of the Woke Monster

Imagine the festering cancer of woke simmering beneath our social landscape clawing for the surface again. Entering the schools like never before. Porn books in class, teaching that everyone is trans and that it’s okay to be stupid. It is written that about 2.8 million people over the age of 13 identify as trans, about 1% our population. Accepting for a minute that number is roughly correct (how would you really count that?), it’s a tiny number out of 350 million people nestled between the Pacific and Atlantic. Based on the news and the attention all this trans stuff gets, you would think it’s like fifty percent. With free rein under Democrat rule, the trans movement will be back in your face like never before.

Look to Canada. They’ve gone bonkers.

Imagine all the progress we’ve made becoming energy self-sufficient and then handing that back over to the loony climate goons who would gladly – and quickly – set us back to 2024 BJB (Before Joe Biden).

Imagine feeling sorry for the tariffs we placed upon all the countries who had been ripping us off for way too long and the Dems remove them. We would go back to losing billions and giving up our power yet again.

Imagine NATO being left off the hook. They would give us the finger, no longer having to worry about Trump.

Imagine going back to feeling sorry for all the criminals and returning to the defund-the-police nonsense again. The murder rate is the lowest it’s been in a century. That was accomplished in less than a year; the Democrats will reverse that in a week.

If you think we have communists running some of our cities and states now, just wait. It will give the Doctor Evils the green light to invest fortunes to place even more of them in power. It won’t take long before we go backwards, to a time the country was in abysmal shape and on the verge of leftist collapse.

Trump is a one-of-a-kind president. It will be a long time, if ever, before someone steps back into the White House with a set like his, male or female, willing to tackle all the critical issues in such a forceful and dynamic way. I liked Ronald Reagan, and he will always be one of the greatest presidents America ever had. Though admittedly he handled things with a bit more finesse.

Imagine how the liberal populace is going to behave should Republicans lose power in the mid-terms. I mean, really imagine it.

What are they going to march for?

What are they going to lose their minds over?

What’s going to make them angry?

How are they going to get through a day with nothing to bitch about?

What are they honestly going to do?

I worry about America going back to the era of woke.

I worry about that a lot.

It took Trump’s winning to tamp down the left’s suppression campaign. However, it did manage to destroy thousands of lives. That was and is so damned wrong, but it’s a social nuke that was very effective and would be reactivated.

I don’t want to go back to the land of nuts. They’re still out there but at least for now, only as background noise. Should the woke monster return to the forefront I think I’ll take up sleeping on a bed of nails. It would be less painful.

Long Live the King

I’m wondering when King Charles visits the Donald at the White House, will all the used signs be reconstituted and marchers gather yet again to protest “no kings?” Will the protestors march outside Christian places of worship on Easter as Christians celebrate the rising of the King of the Jews?

In some respects, we all live in our own bubbles. The No Kings, Free Palestine, Black Lives Matter, Climate Change, Abolish ICE protestors have their heads filled with so much absurdity they find comfort surrounded by like-minded activists. They think the rest of the country shares their views. Their vision is the right one and everyone must agree with them.

On the other side, there are millions more who think that what the marchers are doing is stupid, a waste of time, and none of it makes any sense. Yet the traditionalist viewpoint kind of lives in its own bubble of sorts as well.

Neither side is willing to waiver. The big difference is that the demonstrators chanting in support of the cause of the month are regulated to a loud yet small segment of society who all share some odd behaviors. I won’t disparage them because we’re all part of humanity, but they express themselves through bizarre dancing, crazy costumes and terrible singing. And for the most part, they’re members of the senior citizen crowd. Of which I too am part.

Most people still have to work, even if a protest is on a Saturday. After putting in forty hours at a job, why would you want to waste your days off screaming about something you’re not even sure what you’re screaming about?

The No Kings protests wouldn’t exist if the American Doctor Evils hiding in their lairs weren’t putting up the money and working the Trump haters into a lather. To witness the mind manipulation is somewhat amazing. If the communists funding all these various movements took away their contributions and guidance, the sheep would be running in circles unsure of what they’re supposed to do.

When put on the spot and asked what they’re marching for, none can provide a cohesive answer. It’s become more of a social gathering where they all work each other into a frenzy over one man out of the nine billion on the planet. It’s like trying to talk to someone who has just downed six shots of tequila; to a sober person none of what they say would make any sense, but the drunk person knows exactly what they’re saying.

I’ve become a renewed fan of American Idol this season.

I’m just some old guy and what do I know about what’s coming after I stop breathing, if anything? The last episode the contestants were asked to sing songs of faith. I was a bit surprised considering how the left, the media, and Hollywood, enjoy disparaging and going after Christians. My takeaway wasn’t so much what they were singing, though I will admit I drew some tears over the magic and beauty of their voices and some of the songs chosen. However, what I found more intriguing was watching the other contestants, judges, and audience, and their reactions.

It was heartwarming to see the young fellow contestants mimic the words, stand up, arms raised in praise. They represent America’s future and they’re going to be leading with a strong belief in God, lots of faith, and hearts filled with love.

I think it’s a pretty safe bet none of those kids are going to dress up like frogs and scream about hate. Even the judges were moved by the emotions the singers conveyed. Carrie Underwood makes no secret of her strong faith. She leads by example. When she sang her song, “How Great thou Art,” it took all I had to keep it together. That woman can not only sing but she also fills her words with powerful emotions and drenches them with an authentic love in what she believes.

After Charlie Kirk was murdered it also revealed how many Silent Majority youths had turned to God as part of their lives. The numbers were staggering. Here too, these clean-cut, clear-headed young kids didn’t have their hearts ravaged with revenge when Charlie was assassinated, they rose up and united and became even stronger.

Just like another guy did a few thousand years ago.

I don’t know what it’s going to take to steer the ship on the right course for all those who carry so much anger into the streets. I fear that even once Trump is out of office, they still won’t find peace.

America has become an us-against-them country. One side vocalizes their dissent and disrupts the country. The media loves to exploit and embellish the marchers because it advances their own agenda and draws more viewers.

The other side quietly goes through their lives trying to make things better. They don’t need to scream or march around to tell everyone how they feel. They’re at peace within themselves.

Easter is like the Super Bowl for Christians. It’s also a day many Christians bow down before their King.

I guess it would be safe to say, not all kings are bad.