Bobbleheads

I watched some of the speeches which took place at the Republican National Convention.  Some were very good and some not so good.  Some were interesting and some were boring.  Some were informative and some were controversial. 

What I found extremely annoying was the bobblehead political commentators.  One network calls it an “In-depth Analysis”. The commentators seem to think they are the news and not the person giving the speech.  They seem to think they are the only people with a brain.  I would rather make my own conclusions about a speech.

Much of their commentary is drivel or just plain wrong. They try to read things into every speech instead of listening to what is being said.  Sometimes they talk over the speech so they and the audience can’t hear what is actually being said. 

They pick at every word and make comments about how a different word would have been better.  They make a big deal about anything that might be perceived as being politically incorrect.  

Media commentators criticize every speech as to who it appeals to and who does not agree.  They are used to conventional politics where the politician flip-flops on every issue. 

The biggest mistake the commentators make is looking at everything the way politics used to be conducted.  That has all changed.  The public is fed up with traditional politics, and the media does not seem to have gotten the message.  This election is not about Democrats vs. Republicans.  It is the working people of this country vs. the established political elite. 

  

I did find Ted Cruz’s speech very interesting.  He refused to endorse Trump for President, but he did say anything would be better than Hillary.  It would have been better for him to stay away from the convention. 

Every Republican Presidential candidate made an oath to support the Republican nominee.  Ted Cruz and Jeb Bush have not kept their word.  This was not just a campaign speech.  It was an oath made to the American people on national television.   I don’t know how I could ever trust a promise made by either one of them.

Cruz tries to make a big deal about keeping his word.  He must think, like President Obama, that the public is naive enough to believe any lie.  Cruz reminds me of an elementary school kid who thinks he has been wronged.  It is pretty sad. 

I did hear the political bobbleheads make all kinds of speculation on why Cruz said what he did, but I didn’t hear any of them make a big deal of the fact that he broke his oath.  Some bobbleheads may have commented eventually, but I could no longer stand to listen to their commentary.  I recorded the convention so I could skip over most of the bobblehead’s comments.

Someone asked me if Trump sounded Presidential in his acceptance speech.  He certainly sounded qualified and competent with a firm knowledge of the problems that face our country and offered realistic solutions. But, if we are talking about what the media bobbleheads call Presidential, I certainly hope not.  I have had enough of the dividing, divisive, and destructive political correctness.

       

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5 Officers Dead - 7 Wounded

     This tragic event happened in Dallas on July 10, 2016.  Five officers were killed and seven were wounded while protecting the people in a Black Lives Matter rally. 

       I was not surprised by this event.  The only thing that surprised me was that it had not happened earlier.  I knew it would happen again, and it has with 3 officers dead and 3 wounded in Baton Rouge on July 17, 2016. 

      We had to expect this with the rhetoric of our top leadership.  President Obama and the last two Attorney Generals have verbally encouraged organizations like Black Lives Matter and individuals like Al Sharpton. 

      Black Lives Matter and Sharpton both openly and/or overtly encourage violence and the killing of police officers.  The new Black Panthers are even more open in advocating violence against whites.  This is beyond freedom of speech and must be prosecuted and stopped. 

       Some political leaders say we need an open conversation.  I agree.  We need to address the real problem of black crime, and stop aggravating the problem by listening to Black Lives Matter and Sharpton. 

        President Obama even used this event to bring up gun control again.  By blaming guns, he can avoid dealing with the real issues of Islamic terrorists and black crime.  Obama sympathizes with Black Lives Matter while ignoring thousands of black murders in Chicago, which has the strictest gun laws in the country.  Obama will probably ban trucks after the event in France - it makes just as much sense.

     Heather Mac Donald is the Thomas W. Smith Fellow at Manhattan Institute, and a contributing editor of City Journal.  On April 27, 2016, she gave a very interesting speech at Hillsdale Collage titled “The Dangers of the Black Lives Matter Movement.”  In this speech, she explains how the Black Lives Matter movement is killing blacks and police.  She points out how blacks are their own worst enemy, except for liberal whites.  Go to Imprimis.Hillsdale.edu for the speech.

         In the county where I live, we have a very proactive sheriff’s department.  Deputy Dave’s job is working with the schools in the county.  He talks about an elementary school student that seemed to be afraid of him.  When he asked her why, she said her parents told her that police killed people.  Can you imagine a child having such liberal morons for parents?

        The facts are that 95% of blacks killed are by blacks and only 1% by police.  One way to stop this is by having a more proactive police presence in high crime areas, but Black Lives Matter is opposed to this.  Their opposition puts both blacks and police in greater danger. 

      There are other groups that quietly endorse Black Lives Matter.  Gang bangers, criminals, and organized crime love Black Lives Matter.  If the police are stopped from being proactive, it will benefit street crime such as drug and gun trafficking.

      I think most people agree that to fix this problem, we have to have strong leaders at the top.  That is certainly not the case now.  I was not a supporter of President Obama, but I expected him to at least improve racial issues.  I’m sorry to say that I was wrong.  That is certainly not the case as race problems are worse now than any time in recent history.  We need strong, qualified leaders at the top. 

       

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The FBI & Hillary

        The big news last week was that the FBI did not recommend prosecuting Hillary Clinton for her security breaches using her private server.  The Attorney General immediately announced that the case was closed. 

        This was very interesting since FBI Director James Comey’s statement listed dozens of violations by Clinton and her staff.  He admitted to Congress that the FBI did not take into consideration any of the statements she had made under oath to Congress, even though Comey confirms they were lies. 

        Comey then concluded that since there was no proof of criminal intent, he would not recommend prosecution.  However, the security laws violated state that no intend is needed to be guilty of the crime.     This was a nice way of saying she was so clueless and incompetent that she could not be held responsible. 

        The FBI’s role is to gather evidence and not to recommend prosecution.  Comey also said that if anyone working for the FBI had done what Clinton did they would be fired and have their security clearance cancelled.

        Attorney General Loretta Lynch fell in line with the inappropriate and incorrect FBI recommendation in spite of the fact she should have removed herself from the case after being caught in an inappropriate meeting with Bill Clinton.  The timing of the announcements by Comey and Lynch were suspicious considering scheduled campaign appearances by Hillary and President Obama. 

        Even loyal Democrats must admit that at the very least, Hillary is guilty of poor judgment, careless activities, and false statements under oath.  The Democratic Party insiders had promised her the Presidency, but cannot defend her.  Their only response is that Trump is worse.  What does Trump have to do with Hillary’s actions and record? 

        The worst case scenario is that foreign or even corrupt domestic powers did hack her server and gained access to those e-mails she was so desperate to hide.  I know Hillary considers herself above the law, but how bad were those e-mails for her to risk violating Federal laws, and hurting her reputation?  How badly could she be blackmailed by someone holding these e-mails, or did they show crimes involving the Clinton Foundation?  I don’t know, but both possibilities present a very scary scenario.    

        Many people think the FBI was paid off, and maybe they were, but it may hurt Hillary’s campaign.  A lot of people are fed up with the perceived corruption of the Washington establishment and see this as just another example of a corrupt federal government. 

       

If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and sounds like a duck.  It’s probably a duck.   

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Ottosen, Iowa

        I recently attended an Ottosen All School Reunion.  It was fun to see old friends and neighbors from the area, but it was also sad to see the changes. 

        I went to elementary school in Ottosen.  I was in sixth grade the last year for Ottosen Consolidated.  The next year Ottosen merged with Bode and Livermore to form Twin Rivers School.

        Ottosen is a small town located in North-Central Iowa.  It is surrounded by some of the richest and blackest soil in the world.  The town was probably never larger than 100 people when I was a kid, but it had a main street with a grocery store, restaurant, pool hall, gas station, and post office.  The largest building in town was a three story brick school which would have been 100 years old this year.  There was a feed store close to the school that also sold pop and candy.  I went there on Monday noon recess and could get a lot for my nickel.  There was a blacksmith and a Co-Op Elevator.   Ottosen businesses served the residents of the town and the area farmers.  Today all the businesses are gone except for the post office and Co-Op elevator. 

        There also was the Commercial Club which is now called a community center.  Local businessmen and farmers donated all the materials and labor to build it in 1948 with no government or taxes involved.  This building was a Quonset corrugated metal building which is shaped like a half of a metal cylinder with a concrete floor.  It was not fancy or pretty, but provided a lot of space for the money.  It is still functional today and is where the school reunion was held.

        I was raised on a farm a couple miles from Ottosen.  Our farm was 240 acres which was large at that time.  A typical farm was 160 acres or a quarter section of land.  Farmers rotated crops of corn, soy beans, oats, hay, and pasture.  Most farmers raised cows, pigs, and chickens.  There were usually four farmsteads with families on each section.

        Most of these farmsteads are now gone.  Single fields of 160 acres or more grow corn and soy beans.  There is very little livestock and the livestock operations that do exist are large specialized operations.  Some farmers do not even live on the land.

        The farming operations are very efficient and feed the world, but most of the people are gone.  We have lost the rural way of live.  I feel fortunate to have been raised in that environment.  Almost everyone worked for a living.  Nobody looked to the government for a handout, nobody had medical insurance, but no one lacked health care.  Little welfare was needed, and when needed, the county, towns, churches, and private neighbors provided the help.  There was very little government involvement. 

        When a farmer got hurt, the neighbors helped with the farm work.  Some farmwork, like bailing hay, was very labor intensive so several farmers would own a bailer together and work together. 

        A person’s word meant a great deal and most business was done on a handshake.  Dad rented the farm where I was raised.  He farmed it for sixteen years, but never had a written lease after the first two years.  A handshake was good enough. 

        I am grateful for the experiences and what I learned growing up in Ottosen.  It was a wonderful time and place to be a kid.  I wish today’s youth could experience it.   How do we rekindle that work ethic and community spirit? 

        The following is the dedication to my book, Business Fits.

This book is dedicated to all the small farmers and small town business owners that played a huge part in making this

country great.  Unfortunately, they are both disappearing.

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