ROAD TRIPS
Lois & I spent last WED in Grand Island, attending the Nebraska State Fair. We were volunteering at the Lutheran Hour Ministries booth. This was not a strenuous activity. We didn't have a lot of "traffic." Attendance seemed to be down, maybe because of the hassle of having to take shuttle buses to the fairgrounds, since on-site parking was closed because of mud. I also doubt that th typical fairgoer has a booth like ours in his sight.
We spent a little time wandering. It was Lois' first trip back to the Fair since years ago when the State Fair was in Lincoln & we took our kids. After we ended our shift, we went searching for food--a plethora of choices to consider--& settled on gyros & baclava.
This WED 9/4 we leave for Teddy Roosevelt & Glacier National Parks. Our first night will be in Rapid City. Our next two nights will be in Dickinson, ND, which is just outside TRNP. After one night in Havre, MT, we'll spend four nights in a cabin in Hungry Horse, MT, just outside GNP. Lots of driving, but we're looking forward to our adventure.
TRENDING
- "Micro-robot built to crawl through human brain tested for first time . . . " Drudge Report 8/29
- "Americans feel dread & doubts about 2020 race . . . ditto
- "Nation's progressives check news to see what they're boycotting today" Babylon Bee 8/29
- "FDA recommends pouring all pumpkin spice-flavored beverages down drain immediately" ditto
- "Chick-Fil-A installs confessionals so you can repent from eating at Popeye's" ditto
IGNORANCE OF THE PAST
When our schools and colleges do not teach unbiased economics and history, then millions of youth have no idea why the United States, Great Britain, Germany, and Japan became wealthy and stable by embracing free-market capitalism and constitutional government. Few learn why naturally rich nations such as Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, and Venezuela — or entire regions such as Central America, Eastern Europe, or Southeast Asia — have traditionally lagged far behind due to years of destructive central planning, socialist economics, and coerced Communist government.
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The handmaiden of failed socialist regimes has always been ignorance of the past and present. And that is never truer than among today’s American college-degreed (but otherwise economically and historically illiterate) youth. --Victor Davis Hanson, National Review Online, 8/29
WIT & WISDOM OF CAL THOMAS
Politicians become a god-substitute and politics their religion. Creeping secularism has affected theological truth to the point where people can believe whatever they want -- or nothing at all -- and escape correction. Heresy, even apostasy, has infiltrated many churches.
Then there is culture. Younger people are exposed to what we collectively call "media" more than any previous generation. Most of what constitutes culture proceeds from a singular worldview that denigrates, or does not promote, patriotism, belief in God and values previous generations not only took for granted, but instilled in their children.
Unrestricted abortion has cheapened how many young people view the value of human life. For growing numbers of the young, marriage has become passe' as children witness the pain of their parents' divorce and decide that living together without a formal, legal, or spiritual commitment is better than risking the cost and pain of ending a marriage. For some, children are viewed as a financial burden and an intrusion on adult lifestyles. --Cal Thomas, Townhall 8/29
REPUBLIC vs DEMOCRACY
The founders had utter contempt for democracy. James Madison, the acknowledged father of the Constitution, wrote in Federalist Paper No. 10, that in a pure democracy "there is nothing to check the inducement to sacrifice the weaker party or the obnoxious individual." At the 1787 Constitutional Convention, delegate Edmund Randolph said, "that in tracing these evils to their origin every man had found it in the turbulence and follies of democracy." John Adams said: "Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There was never a democracy yet that did not commit suicide." U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall observed, "Between a balanced republic and a democracy, the difference is like that between order and chaos."
The U.S. Constitution is replete with anti-majority rule, undemocratic provisions. One provision, heavily criticized, is the Electoral College. In their wisdom, the framers gave us the Electoral College so that in presidential elections, heavily populated states could not run roughshod over sparsely populated states. In order to amend the Constitution, it requires a two-thirds vote of both Houses, or two-thirds of state legislatures, to propose an amendment, and requires three-fourths of state legislatures for ratification. Part of the reason for having a bicameral Congress is that it places another obstacle to majority rule. Fifty-one senators can block the wishes of 435 representatives and 49 senators. The president, with a veto, can thwart the will of all 535 members of Congress. It takes a two-thirds vote, not just a majority, of both houses of Congress to override a presidential veto. --Walter Williams, Townhall 8/28
VALUES
As the sense of the importance of faith and religion diminishes, the values and behaviors that go with them -- marriage and children -- also diminish. --Star Parker, Townhall 8/28
MERITOCRACY
As high-achieving Asian students who are suing Harvard University over alleged discriminatory practices due to the “imbalance” of too many Asians qualifying for admission have discovered, even in America, the Land of Opportunity, there are limits to how far merit will be allowed to take you. We must be careful as a society when attempting to “help” one demographic at the expense of another. We should, to the best of our ability, allow merit to rise to the surface naturally. --William Marshall, Townhall 8/30
DRAMA
The media and the activist base of the Democratic Party want a lot of drama and ideological radicalism -- partly because both groups are well to the left of not just the average American but the average Democrat, and partly because drama makes for better ratings. But most voters are sick of all the drama, and they're turned off by calls for socialism and the like. --Jonah Goldberg, ditto
