I GIVE UP

 “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can and Wisdom to know the difference.”

--Reinhold Niebuhr

I have been driven to change those things I can, personally, socially and politically and on realistic days I have the wisdom to know the difference between what I can change and what I cannot.  Where I have failed profoundly most of my adult life is the ability to accept the things I cannot change.

The first political letter I wrote was to George Murphy, a Federal Senator from California, in 1970.  I was 23 years old. The letter was long; it articulated all that I thought was wrong with the U.S. in 1970. The Viet Nam war protests were violent and intentionally disruptive and I despised any tolerance of civil chaos (To this day Spiro Agnew, Nixon’s Vice President, is one of my heroes.  Yes I know he died in prison from liver failure but he was the ONLY voice in the early seventies telling the revolutionaries to go to hell).  The letter to Senator Murphy is one of the few letters, to this day, to which I received a courteous, thoughtful reply. Senator Murphy said he intended to incorporate a few of my points in an upcoming speech to the senate. WOW!  That first letter was the apogee of my political involvement. Uninterrupted downhill slide over the next 50 years.  I did not stop trying -- likely hundreds of letters -- and through the years I have become much more acerbic, fully justified in my opinions and disdain for elected and appointed officials. Because elected officials correspond only with people who adore them I never receive a reply and no longer expect to. That is liberating because I have no barriers blocking my expression of disdain for these people. I don’t have to be “honey” to attract bees; I can be “vinegar” in disrespect. I can look at myself in the mirror after I have written a truly nasty letter to an elected official and I am proud of what I see.

I have blogged since 2008.  I once ran for a fire commission seat in1996 and lost badly to a union-supported candidate. I once volunteered to serve on a committee chartered to reduce county government costs (not selected).  I continue to write and the acid continues to drip.  I believe this country as I have known and prospered in it, has passed the point of no return on the road to Marxism. I have tried to make that case over the last few months to my faithful readers (maybe 2 or 3 at the most?).  Though I am not a Chicken Little; I certainly confess to seeing the dark before the light. I believe deeply that our country is finished as we know it.  The point of this blog is to declare my resignation from politics so I will comply by NOT elaborating on why I believe we are toast.  

I have not changed a political or philosophical opinion of anyone of which I am aware. Not one in 50 years. Don Quixote here, tilting at windmills.  My wife is a Libertarian, more than I on some issues but she always was; she was not aware there was a label for her beliefs.  So I did not change her thoughts on the problems of the day since we were already in agreement.  I haven’t the skill or the connections to be published.  I did hope FOX would call me one day for an interview but, smartly, I did not give up my day job waiting. Most of this country chooses to go about its daily business trusting that elected representatives are working for the benefit of the public. That is their charter but, tragically, nothing could be further from the truth and that will become evident to astute masses somewhere down the road.

I believe, deeply, that if one is not a part of the solution, s/he is a part of the problem, an expression coined in the 60’s.  Since the mid-70’s (my belief) it has become increasingly clear that the electorate must advocate for itself and be involved in politics, not necessarily as office holders, but as individuals interested in the well-being of the country.  I have imposed that obligation on myself for 50 years.  For 50 years I have taken what happens to this country seriously.  Only during the last 5 have I come to vote my best interests, not necessarily the country’s best interests.  At 75 I want my Medicare and social security (both for which I paid during my working years) to continue with no interruption or modification).  

I know well I can change nothing.  Very recently I have become a refugee from politics.  

My self-imposed obligation to be an active citizen has not been healthy for me (health prevails however because of some good habits; I exercise vigorously and drink alcohol...but only to wash the bad effects of exercise from my body, of course).  While my wife understands and accepts my rants, she reiterates what is now obvious to me:  no matter my efforts, I will never make a difference.  I have a super general practitioner; she is free with dispensing drugs and they are miracles. My doctor looked me in the eye and said “get out of politics.”  My wife has said the same thing for years, but heck, why would I pay attention to HER.

You(?) will read no politics, save a snide remark from time to time; I have a few ideas for topics but I hope to write of humor or my strong love of Maine.  This is not “poor me.” I will personally be better off for giving up my quest and the country will be none the poorer for my retreat.  What a shame.  People my age, give or take 20 years have lived during the best years of this country. I worked long and hard for retirement; I will no longer beat my head against the wall but will enjoy my years ahead.  God help the younger generations since these younger folks have no idea how or inclination to help themselves.

Say “good night” Gracie.

Hitler's Ostriches

 I blog on controversial topics. Sometimes I am humorous but I see so little to laugh at now.  I have 12 - 13 people to whom I send the link to my blog via e-mail. To read or not to read is a perfect interpretation of the 1st amendment.  While I have the right (increasingly threatened) to speak, people have the right to NOT listen to me.

Having said that, I am surprised in the apparent lack of interest in my blog about black-favorable racism. On a larger picture the public is going on about its business, ignoring a potential time bomb. If Officer Chauvin in Minnesota is cleared of criminal charges in the death of George Floyd, I believe “war” will break out and that is how the blacks, ANTIFA and sympathizers will excuse the violence. Biden calls the blacks burning Wal Mart or Target a “movement” while Trump supporters storming the capital are called “insurrectionists.” This racist rhetoric enables the blacks, ANTIFA and liberal sympathizers, who often live nowhere near Harlem, Watts, Wyandanch, Detroit or Baltimore to destroy this freedom-loving country.  The American haters have not just a foot but half their body in the door thanks to Marxists Biden/Harris, Sharpton and republicans who have been too timid to call out black racist fueled cancel culture.  American whites, for the most part seem to be the frog in cold water with respect to blacks-as-perpetually-aggrieved-and-therfore-endlessly-entitled.

If you believe the blacks and their sympathizers are morally correct in tearing this white-supremicist/extremist, greedy, capitalist, gun toting  country down, I have no argument with which you will agree but if you believe that “God or ‘taking the high road’ will save us,” consider how he saved the Jews from Hitler or the Russians from Stalin or even how, currently, Myanmar is comitting genocide. Ah, yes our buddy Edie Amin in Ethiopia comes to mind.  I am too young to remember other than what I read in (unrevised) history books, of the European “model” of “appeasement” of Hitler in 1939. “If we just allow Hitler to take one more country, then he will leave us alone.”  How did that work out for the Europeans and the U.S.?  That is EXACTLY what the black, ANTIFA and “cancel culture” subscribers are doing to us now and middle-class, white Americans answer with, “well if they just burn one more WalMart, they will be pacified” or “at least it is not happening in my city.”

If the above did not offend you then the rest will:

I hope Officer Chauvin receives a fair trial   His attorneys best be pit bulls because the state recruited an exceptionally racist black former Minnesota rep, Keith Ellison, to prosecute Officer Chauvin because the local prosecutor “was not sympathetic to the black community,” not because the prosecutor was “not sympathetic to constitutional protection to which Officer Chauvin is entitled.”  Then there is Chelsea Handler, on Twitter, declaring Chauvin does not deserve a trial at all.  These people actually carry some water for this sort of hatred and deliberate disdain for the constitution.  If he is guilty, convict him but I am hoping there is sufficient doubt to convict him. I don’t want the country destroyed but believe that every time we escape the bullet we are closer to violence which will have economic and societal impact from which we can’t recover.  Simply, if we are going to “bring it on,” now is better than later.  We dodged a bullet with O.J. Simpson because he was deemed innocent (only because Mark Furman lied). At this point American frogs are going to be in boiling water. If I were a governor I would be meeting, right now, with the National Guard, the local hospitals, law enforcement, local business leaders, subordinate government officials -  anyone-but-Biden/Harris. In the meantime, the violence that I guarantee will result from his acquittal will cause America to wake up. We will survive.  But, we are at a crossroads in our history and if we allow the despots on the left with the passive assent of middle Americans and worthless republicans to take charge that is the end of the dance.  If I am wrong we all get to go along, singing Kumbaya.  I am not a chicken little; I am not Don Quixote; I believe a seriously long summer awaits us if Chauvin is acquitted. I believe this with every cell in my body.  I have no religious faith but for those of you who do, super; I hope your protection is in God’s plan.  My faith is in an assertive self-defense.

I don’t blog for flattery or to build a massive audience and be published.  I blog to practice my writing skills (seriously)  memorialize my beliefs and predictions and have been doing so since 2008.  I have embarrassed myself, like predicting McCain and Palin would win. If my messages offend you, or you disagree with my conclusions, you are welcome to comment in e-mail or directly on my blog.  I have editor rights but will remove only offensive, irrelevant or name-calling comments. If you ask to be removed from my distribution list, I will do so without comment.

Have a nice summer but stay tuned to the news. I hope Chauvin is exonerated.  Convicting him, if guilty and the conviction is thus proper, only forestalls the inevitable, either race wars or subservience to a Marxist existence.

Oh, the judge has ruled the jurors are never to be identified.  Still think I would want to carry a gun...not in the courthouse of course.

Grab your fiddle, Nero...