Monthly Archives: September 2015

A Dictator By Any Other Name Wouldn’t Rule As Sweet

There is nothing more depressing than waking up on a Tuesday morning and learning that your favorite football team got hammered during a late Monday Night Football game.  Adding to the grief, you also learn that Kim Il-Sung has stated he was going to wipe out the United States with nuclear weaponry.  Don’t those North Koreans watch football?  Don’t they know it is depressing enough to have your team lose?  And now they want to wreck my day by threatening to incinerate us with his nuclear weapons.  Couldn’t they at least wait until tomorrow to hit our country with these threats?  Just how barbaric could these North Korean dictators be?

Well, the short answer is they can be pretty darn barbaric.  Everyone has heard the saying, ‘The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.’   And also the one:  ‘Like father, like son.”  In the case of North Korean dictators, that last saying can be modified to read, “Like father, like Sung, like grand-Sung.”  In other words, North Korea has had three generations of dictators since World War II.

The granddaddy of the current idiot was Kim Il-Sung.  He gained his fame by fighting the occupying Japanese during World War II.  After the war, through political intrigue and assassination, he gained dictatorial powers in North Korea.  One thing can be said about Kim Il Sung:  there wasn’t a publicity agent in Hollywood, New York and D.C. that could have polished and fabricated his image the way he had it done.  Later in his life, his publicity agent was his son and successor, Kim Jong-Il.  So, granddaddy Kim Il-Sung pretty much established his authority in 1948, and ruled with an iron fist until his death on July 8, 1994.

Granddaddy Sung’s other claim to fame is that he, deciding that Communism was the best choice of government, invaded the democratic South Korea.  That little action caused the Korean War, or, in the words of the North Korean dictator, the ‘Fatherland Liberation War.’  The word ‘liberation’ sounds very much like the word ‘liberty.’  Rest assured, Granddaddy Sung was not going to grant liberty to anyone if he had conquered South Korea.  That war ran from June of 1950 to July of 1953.  The United States suffered the loss of nearly 34,000 military personnel in that war.  (As an aside, there was never a formal peace treaty between the US and North Korea.  Technically, we are still at war with North Korea!) Clearly!  Hence, the speak of nuclear aspirations!

So upon the death of Kim Il-Sung, his demented son, Kim Jong-Il came into power.  Much like his father and grandson, he assassinated anyone that stood in his way of gaining power or disagreed with his policies.  He lived the lifestyle like that of a French king in Versailles, all while his people were starving.  He ran his country into the ground.  But alas, he did do one thing that creates his notoriety….he developed nuclear weaponry.

In December, 1985, North Korea became a party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).  On April 10, 1992, its NPT safeguards agreement entered into force.  In May, 1992, North Korea submitted its initial report to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and inspections began.  Not surprisingly, these inspections revealed discrepancies in what North Korea was reporting and what the inspectors were finding.  In April, 1993, the IAEA concluded that North Korea was in non-compliance with its Safeguards Agreement and referred this finding to the UN Security Council.  North Korea then announced its withdrawal from the Non-Proliferation treaty.

As can be imagined, this caused an international stir.  Though Kim Jong-Il may be demented, he was not stupid.  So in November of 1993, North Korea proposed to the United States that the two governments negotiate a ‘package solution’ to all of the issues dividing them.

Now we need to back off a step or two and access the political climate in each of the two countries.  Kim Jong-Il is the dictator of a starving country.  They can’t grow enough corn or rice to feed their people, but they have money to make nuclear weaponry.  Bill Clinton is on the hot seat concerning a certain White House intern.  In November of 1993, he is gearing up for reelection.  This would be a major feather in William Jefferson Clinton’s hat.  It would also be a strategic distractor from all those pesky women that keep coming out of the woodwork claiming that Bill was accosting them.  So the negotiations begin.

North Korea would allow one non-comprehensive inspection by the IAEA.  The US would suspend war games with the South Koreans.  There were many other provisions, but the end result was a pact that was neither a treaty subject to Senate approval, nor a legally binding executive agreement, but a non-binding political commitment between the two countries, as noted by the UN Security Council.  There you have it…a non-binding pact!  Most of you will remember the pomp and ceremony when Madeline Albright was at a banquet with Kim Jong-Il.  You also remember the notoriety the media gave to Bill Clinton for gaining such an international political coup!

What were the final results of this pact?  Well, Clinton gets reelected amid international accolades.  The conniving Kim Jong-Il?  He got millions of gallons of fuel oil, two light water reactors, and tons of food stuffs provided by the United States to feed his starving population!  How did Kim Jong-Il explain all the American boxes of food to his populace?  Simple.  He told his people that the United States was providing the food as war reparation for having invaded North Korea!   And it is now quite evident that the North Koreans have certainly never stopped the production of nuclear weapon materials!  Kim Jong-Il ruled North Korea until his death on December 17, 2011.

Now we have the grandson, Kim Jong-un.  There were some hopes for change, as he was educated in the west, but those hopes are unfounded.  Like his father and grandfather, he has ordered that those getting in his way or disagreeing with him be assassinated.  He had his own uncle put to death!    So here is what I woke up to this morning in addition to my football defeat:  North Korea said on Tuesday its main nuclear complex was operating, and it was working to improve the ‘quality and quantity’ of its weapons which it could use against the United States at ‘any time.’

Here we go again!   The three dictators?  Well, they all were heavy handed.  They all had unbelievable publicists to polish their images within North Korea.  They all resorted to torture and assasination without impunity.  They all loved and craved attention on the international stage and would do anything to get it.  Is this what Kim Jong-un wants?  International attention at any cost much like his father and grandfather?  No one knows for certain what this idiot will do to garner that attention.

So why have I given this history lesson about the three North Korean dictators?  Well, it is apparent that history is going to repeat itself.  Another democratic American president and another third world crap hole that is threatening world peace by using its nuclear capability.  That country would be Iran.

You are familiar with Iran.  It is the country that sponsors, either directly or indirectly, ISIS, ISIL, al Qaida and any other Muslim extremist terrorist group with an acronym.  And yet, our Secretary of State and POTUS are falling all over themselves attempting to come up with some sort of agreement to assure world peace.

My question is this, “Is it possible to enter into a mutually respected agreement with Iran that will prove to be beneficial to our country?”

I don’t believe it is possible for a variety of reasons.  Firstly, they are the sponsors of most of the terrorism going on in the world.  Whether we want to face it or not, they have declared war on our country in particular and Christianity in general.  The one thing that all these terroristic extremist groups have done is create thousands of refugees.  These refugees are spreading to Europe and the United States and creating a financial burden for many of these hosting countries.  For these extremists, its a twofer!  They are obeying Sharia law by spreading Islam, even to places that really don’t want it, and they are creating an excessive financial burden on the hosting Christian countries.  Make no mistake about it, unlike our immigrants in the early 20th century, these immigrants have no intention of assimilating into the culture of the hosting country.  Why aren’t those refugees running to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait or some other stable Arab country?

On September 10, 2014, I published a blog titled, “What Flavor of Islam Do You Like?”  In that blog, it listed some of the principle tenets of Sharia Law, the law that rules the second largest religion in the world.  Here is one of those tenets:  ‘Muslims should engage in Taglyya and lie to non-Muslims to advance Islam.’  Iran is ruled by a caste of religious fanatics.  You can bet they follow Sharia law to the letter.  Can we trust what they say or do, knowing that lying to non-Muslims is not only encouraged but also prescribed?

Our country, the United Nations and the European community have all had serious trade and commerce sanctions placed on Iran.  Some of this involved freezing their bank assets.  These assets are estimated to be about $100 billion.  What do you think Iran will do once it gets its hands on that money?  The liberals are saying they will spend about half on infrastructure and half paying back debts to the Chinese.  I am a lot more skeptical.  I don’t see Iran building roads, bridges, schools or libraries anytime soon.  I can see a large chunk of that money finding its way to sponsor more terrorism.

Do you think that a nuclear deal with Iran will work?  Did we not learn anything from North Korea?

Political Correctness – Boo Hoo, I’m a Victim!

The age of information, spawned by the advent of the computer, personal devices and social media, is truly a marvelous invention.  One can go on the internet and get instantaneous news, weather, sports, or buy parts for your weed whacker with just the click of a button.  You can earn a degree without leaving your home.  We can get instant videos of traffic crashes, riots, and sometimes even murders because of the capabilities of those personal devices.   But like all good things, these devices can be used for nefarious purposes such as child pornography, spamming or a membership to join Ashley Madison.

One of the negative benefits of all these marvelous capabilities in the advancement of ‘political correctness.’  To me, ‘political correctness’ is an excuse to minimize the responsibility of an individual, turn that person into a victim, and then beat their cause over the heads of everyone else to prove they are a victim.  I am so disgruntled with all the crap that is being expounded in the name of ‘political correctness’ that it has turned my blue eyes brown!  Enough already!

This really hit home to me this summer.  While Grandma P and I were visiting our grandchildren, we got onto the subject of bullying.  I am aware of three types of bullying; physical, verbal and cyber.  If there are other types, I plead ignorance.

Unfortunately, as I was growing up, Polish jokes were common.  Why does a Pollock have a ‘ski’ at the end of their name?  Because they don’t know how to spell toboggan!  It went on and on.  As I was the token Polish person in a community full of Swedes and Norwegians and the only Pollock in our school, I was the target.  One day, I mentioned this to Big Daddy G.  Big Daddy G gave me some sound advice.  He said, “Son, if you can’t take a joke, you better become a good fighter.”  I chose to take the joke.  I took all of these jokes in stride and eventually the Polish jokes subsided.  I was being teased in a good-natured way and I oftentimes laughed with the joke.  Some of them were funny.  I heard most of them about a hundred times.  Was I a victim?

Back to the grandchildren.  The subject comes up about bullying.  My eight year old granddaughter, who happens to be cute as a button, friendly as can be and extremely personable says to us, “Grandpa, I have been bullied.”  What?  You just finished the second grade.  So I asked, “Did someone hit you?  Has someone verbally abused you?”  She did not have an answer.  I am positive that my granddaughter was being teased by some second grade boys to get her attention.  If I were in the second grade, that is what I would do.  Unfortunately, she is too young to know the difference between bullying and teasing.  I blame the internet sensation of political correctness in creating victims, even of  our youngsters.

LGBTQ

Never has such a small group of people, approximately 2.5% of our population, garnered as much media attention as this group.  A true case of the tail wagging the dog.

Over the years, I have known many gay men.  I did not agree with their lifestyle, but I tolerated it as their choice of lifestyle.  So be it.  I did not think that it was fair that they had to be ‘in the closet.’  What I am beginning to take offense with is that they have moved from the closet to the podium, and it doesn’t look like they are giving up the spotlight any time soon.

Last week, some actress of unknown merit, berated presidential candidate Ted Cruz while he was stumping in Iowa.  Her question?  “Senator, how do you plan on protecting gays and lesbians in the workplace?”  How do you answer that?  What would an appropriate answer be?  Are we going to hire armed guards to accompany every openly gay or lesbian in the workplace?  What about the BTQ’s of the LGBTQ organization?

Grandma P and I are both upset about all the displays of lesbian and gay affection on our TV shows and movies.  It is being injected even though it has nothing to do with the central theme of the show.  We are not so naïve to believe it does not happen, but do we have to watch it, too? Most of this is a deliberate Hollywood movement to desensitize us about same-sex affection.  Apparently it is working because in a recent poll, the under 25 crowd thought up to 50% of our population is gay, when in reality it is less than 3%!  (As an aside, we both do not appreciate any overt risqué sex scenes in any of our entertainment.  We are not prudes, we just don’t think it is appropriate.)

This week, an openly gay black man shot and killed two of his former coworkers while they were televising live in Roanoke, Virginia.  I will predict and it has already been intimated that he was distraught because he was discriminated against because of his race and because of other people being homophobes.  He will be made out to be a victim.  Never mind the two dead people that are the real victims.  Get a grip, America!  This guy was two bubbles off of level.

Black Lives Matter

I find this whole affair about ‘back lives matter,’ to be both offensive and ironic.

I find it offensive because I believe all lives matter regardless of race.  I find no reason other than because of political correctness or a liberal biased media to assume for one minute that a black life is more or less valuable than any other life.  However, by expounding this drivel, we can make the entire black race victims.  Why?  More government funding for social/welfare programs comes to mind.  Have we entirely eliminated the ‘quota system’ for minority hiring that was popular in the 70s and 80s?

The irony of this situation is that most of the murdered blacks are being murdered by other blacks.  That was prevalent last month in Baltimore when 43 black homicides were attributed to 43 black murderers.  A 25 year homicide record for the city.  So why is the black community holding vigils and conducting marches in ‘other than black communities,’ when the real problem is in the black community.

There is no question that some black men have been recently shot by white police officers.  Ferguson and Baltimore come to mind.  What got more media coverage, those two events or the 43 black homicides in the month of July in Baltimore?  Both of the Ferguson and Baltimore shootings by white officers of two black men in the conduct of a criminal act caused rioting.  The 43 homicides in Baltimore?  Hardly a newsworthy event.

To add to this situation, the POTUS and his former AG Eric Holder have come out to say that police officers need additional training while dealing with the black community.    It is not the police needing additional training that is the problem, Mr. President…its the black community itself.  Gosh darn if I just am not politically incorrect in saying that!

Christianity and the Muslim Religions

In Walton County, Florida, the sheriff patrol cars have bumper stickers that read, “In God We Trust.”  Recently, Sheriff Michael Adkinson received a letter from an individual representing a group called the Freedom From Religion Foundation requesting removal of the bumper stickers.  The letter said, “It is inappropriate for the Sheriff’s Office to display “In God We Trust” on county property,   Statements about a god have no place on sheriff cars.  Elected officials should not use their government position and government property to promote their religious views.”

Sheriff Adkinson’s response?  ” You are obviously unaware that ‘In God We Trust’ is the state motto of the state of Florida, and has been since 1886.  Additionally it is the motto of the United States.”

Bravo Sheriff Adkinson!  We have all heard about people wanting to remove the 10 commandments from government buildings, now bumper stickers….anything to erase God and Christianity from our country.  All of this in the name of the dreaded political correctness. It is refreshing to see someone make a stand for the silent majority than for the loud, boisterous, militant liberal minority.

I researched the Freedom From Religion Foundation.  I went to their website and the first thing to pop up was their ‘donate’ button.  They are headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin and claim to have 22,500 members.  If you want to picket them or join them, they are having their annual meeting October 9-11 at the Monona Terrace in Madison.  22,000 members?  Talk about the tail wagging the dog!  Apparently, it is not politically correct to recognize  our country as being founded on Christian-Judeo principles or to profess your belief in those principles.

So how is this for political correctness?

The shoe bomber, the beltway snipers, the Fort Hood Shooter, The underwear bomber, The U.S.S. Cole bombers, the Madrid train bombers, the Bali Nightclub bombers, the London subway bombers, the Moscow Theatre attacker, the Boston marathon bombers, the Pan-Am flight #93 bombers, the Air France Entebbe hijackers, the Iranian Embassy takeover, the Beirut U.S. Embassy bombers, the Libyan U.S. Embassy attack, the Buenos Aires suicide bombers, the Israeli Olympic Team attackers, the Kenyan U.S. Embassy bombers, the Saudi Khobar barracks bombers, the Beirut Marine barracks bombers, The Beslan Russian school attackers, the first World Trade Center bombers, the Bombay and Mumbai India attackers, the Achilles Lauro Cruise Ship hijackers, the September 11th airline hijackers………………..were ALL MUSLIMS!

And yet……….we are continually being told that the Muslim religion is a religion of peace!  Wow!  It is politically incorrect to say a word about or against this religion.  But don’t their actions speak much louder than their words?  All of this is before we even get to the atrocities being committed by ISIS.

Donald Trump (The Donald)

Many people are surprised by the recent popularity of Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump.  I am not surprised.  Why?  Because, the Donald does not seem to care about or be concerned about ‘political correctness’ and I think the silent majority is finding this appealing.  Do you know what Obama is thinking or doing other than to circumvent Congress?  Have you ever known what he was doing?  With the Donald, you know exactly what is on his mind and he is very outspoken about his opinions.  He is also appealing because he is not a career politician.

He is the antithesis of political correctness, and the diehard, lifetime Republican politicians are having a tough time dealing with that.

I have been asked what I think of the Donald.  While I am not ready to endorse him, my standard answer has been that, “Donald Trump may not be who you want for President, but he may be who we need for America.”  Our country has become so left-leaning and socialistic, we may need someone who rights the ship of state, balances the budget, seriously addresses terrorism, reduces the national debt, and restores individuality and responsibility into our lives.

Last September in 2014, I launched the Grumpy political party.  (See Grumpy -The Party that Dwarfs all Others)   Donald may not get the Republican nod, but he would be a great candidate for the Grumpy Party.

As you can see, I am very tired of political correctness. I am very tired of being branded a racist, a homophobe or a religious zealot because of my mainstream views.   We as a country have become so worried about not offending anyone that we forget about what is right and just.  Give me a break!

Common Sense: the ability to know the difference between right, wrong and stupid.