I was blessed with some excellent teachers. Miss Perlstein of the 1st grade, Mrs. Burdict of the 3rd grade and Mrs. Harris of the 4th grade stand out in my memory. Each helped me and gave me tools that I would go on to use throughout the time I was in school. each of these teachers, along with others, showed me how to think for myself. Each teacher, especially those in Junior High and High School taught me how to analyze and form my own opinions.

That was the 1950’s and 60’s; there have been a lot of changes since then. We started the day with the Pledge of Allegiance and a prayer, then the announcements for the day. We went on to learn the foundation blocks of reading, writing and arithmetic. We added to those blocks from grade to grade and we expanded the scope of what we studied.

It’s different now. Too many teachers are afraid of offending (if not being offended) to have a flag in the room, much less say the Pledge. We can’t say a prayer because, too many places have banned the Lord from schools and other public places. The basics, the “three R’s”, are no more, replaced by Common Core. Schools now aren’t interested in producing free-thinkers, preferring instead indoctrination over education. Unfortunately, that programming leans heavily toward socialism. The concept that people should rely on the state for everything runs rampant and goes hog-wild in college.

Students who are college-bound are now crying for “free” college. It was even a campaign issue for Bernie Sanders in the last Presidential election. There are two problems with that thought. First, the only money the Government has is that which it takes from us, the citizens of this country. Second, in true Socialist fashion, before the State does for the future college student, that student must prove his/her/its worthiness. The State won’t send everybody to college, and, when it does, it will be in a career direction to the most benefit for the State!

Like I said, I had a good education. I witnessed my kids’ struggling past indoctrination to get an education. Some students today aren’t even sure what bathroom to enter and detergent is for cleaning clothes as opposed to eating. Now, to be sure, there are teachers that still deliver an education and those should be greatly appreciated. There are student who manage to get an education, despite the effort to program them. to be honest, if I were a parent just sending a child to school, I’d have to consider homeschooling!

On this evening 243 years ago, 18 April 1775, silversmith Paul Revere set out on a ride that would become famous throughout the country (well, barring Common Core education anyway). The ride would gain fame in 1861 in a poem, Paul Revere’s Ride, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, although the poem wasn’t very accurate.

The Patriots knew the British would move against Concord to seize and destroy a weapons cache.  They also knew they wanted to arrest Samuel Adams and John Hancock. The only questions remaining were when they would leave and in which direction they would go.

On the evening of 18 April, the British made preparations to move across the river and go to the north of Boston. Paul Revere went to the Old North Church to instruct Robert Newman to signal Charlestown with two lanterns, indicating the direction the British were moving. Afterward, Revere was rowed across the river, where he borrowed a horse from John Larkin, a Deacon from the Old North Church and set out on his ride to Lexington and Concord. A second rider, William Dawes, set out from the south of Boston, as a precaution someone was captured.

Paul Revere went through Somerville,  Medford and Arlington warning patriots , saying,”The regulars are coming out.” Of course, the poem says he was yelling, “The British are coming”. At that time, all of the American colonials were British subjects; at least until 4 July, 1776!

Revere and Dawes met up in Lexington, where they raised the warning to Samuel Adams and John Hancock that they needed to leave. The riders took a break, probably grabbing something to eat and drink, before heading back out toward Concord, along with Dr. Samuel Prescott. Meanwhile, up to as many as 40 other riders rode off on missions to warn other patriots.

Shortly after leaving Lexington, the three riders ran into a British roadblock. Dr. Prescott was able to evade arrest and rode on to Concord, where he found that the weapons and ammunition had already been moved after Revere’s warnings of two days earlier. Dawes escaped returning toward Lexington, but fell from his horse and wasn’t able to complete the mission.

Paul Revere was captured and was being escorted back to Lexington. As Revere and the British troops approached Lexington, the first shots of the Battle of Lexington Green were fired. The troops took Revere’s horse and released him and went toward to the shooting. Revere went back to the house Hancock had been staying and found Him and his family still there, loading a wagon. Revere helped them load and got them out of town.

Thus ended the night of riding for Paul Revere. In the process, he helped keep the British from capturing two high-ranking patriots and foiled the British efforts to confiscate weapons and ammunition. Not bad for a midnight ride for Paul Revere.

Last Saturday morning, the United States government shutdown due to Democrat policies. The Democrats decided that illegal aliens were more important that American citizens, so, they blocked passage of a continuing resolution to further fund the spending. They misread the sentiments of Americans. The blame was fully placed on their shoulders. Even a couple of the Left Stream Media outlets  came close to blaming their own.

The Schumer Shutdown had lasted two and a half days before an agreement was made in the Senate. The agreement, basically, took them back to where they were Friday afternoon. The Democrats had refused that agreement then, but agreed Monday. The accord was to fund the government for three weeks and to debate DACA in the Senate.

During the shutdown, the Dems was pointing fingers at the GOP; the GOP was pointing back at the Dems. Afterward, most were recognizing it as a GOP victory. I’m old enough to have witnessed the GOP snatching defeat from the jaws of victory way too many times to be overly confident.

Three weeks from now, we could end up with another shutdown, if the Democrats don’t get their way. Of course, right now, there are two bills getting worked up, concerning immigration. One, with Sens Jeff Flake and Lindsey Graham, is really just a rehash of the “Gang of Eight” Amnesty. The other bill contains the Border Wall, the end of Chain Migration and mandatory E-Verify before any deal  on DACA, which is what President Trump said he wants. We’ll see.

One thing, however, is very obvious; this could mostly be alleviated if the Senate would actually do its job and produce a budget! Those Continuing Resolutions are killing us, on a lot of levels!

Over the last year, the Democrat National Committee has whined, moaned and cried. They’ve changed leadership and deflected scandal after scandal. Fundraising has declined. Yet, on Tuesday, they made some gains, including the governorships of New Jersey and Virginia. The GOP has to honestly take a look at what happened.

The Democrat Party is fractured. The Establishment and the socialists who backed Bernie Sanders went head to head and the socialists feel cheated. Across the country, there exists a racial divide and illegal immigrants feel they’ve been used as pawns. The coffers of the DNC are running very low. So, how did the Democrats do as well as they did?

Obviously, President Trump wasn’t on the ballot, but the angst of Democrats swelled. A lot of them, believing polls of a Hillary landslide, felt no need to vote and stayed home. Many of them came to the ballot boxes this time.

On the Republican side (just as fractured), Trump wasn’t on the ballot, so, many Republicans stayed home. President Trump made many promises last year on the campaign trail. Many of those promises have been held up by Congress, particularly the Senate. Republicans are frustrated. In 2012, we delivered the House to the Republicans. In 2014, we delivered the Senate and in 2018, the White House. Obamacare hasn’t been repealed. The wall is still waiting. DACA has been pushed back for six months. Things that were campaign issues for the last eight years, could be campaign issues in the next cycle. Eventually, their voters will stop voting!

The thing the GOP needs to learn: the American people are tired of the endless cycle of promising everything and delivering nothing. the only thing that flourishes is the unlimited government. The Republicans are as guilty of this as the Democrats. Republicans take pride in their pro-life platform, yet they still fund Planned Parenthood. In fact, the recently passed budget does more to please Democrats than Republicans. The Republican Establishment is much more vicious against Conservatives than Democrats. They certainly compromise with Democrats.

Two things are going to be the telling factors for the future of the GOP. First is the Alabama Senate race. President Trump and the Establishment both were adamantly against Judge Moore during the primary and neither group will back him now. Secondly is the tax reform bill Congress is working on. The House has passed a bill and the Senate is already watering it down to make it next to no real change. A democrat win on either of the two issues means a bad year in 2018. for Republicans and, ultimately, the United States.

Well, it’s that time of year again. Football season is around the corner. As a reminder, I received my bill for Sunday Ticket, due this month. Now, I love football. I love College Football. I love NFL Football. Sunday afternoon is pretty much reserved for Pro football.

That being said, last year was a bit of turmoil and frustration. As more and more teams members took a knee for the National Anthem, I felt no desire to watch those teams. In fact, I actively cheered for the opponent, unless they allowed team members to take a knee. Thing is, I boycotted those teams.

Now, I understand everyone has a 1st Amendment right to express their opinions, even if their opinion is not fact-based. That 1st Amendment doesn’t say the expressing of an opinion comes without Your agenda repeated this year, will definitely put more red ink in the balance sheets. cost. Say, for example, a store announces a policy allowing men to use the women’s bathroom, that’s their right. It’s my right to never go back into one of their stores again. If that store finds them losing huge amounts of money, I don’t feel guilty. In fact, just the contrary.

So, with my Sunday Ticket bill in hand, my question for the NFL- Is the NFL determined to further push their Progressive agenda. If so, I will have to pass on funding your agenda. Last year, the NFL lost a bunch of money. Just a few short months ago, you decided the reason for that loss was the unpatriotic display of some of your players. So, if you could, please inform the American people which option you choose, a Progressive agenda or the actual playing of football. I need to decide whether or not to pay for Sunday Ticket this year!

This morning, I was watching One America News Network for the news as I usually do. Staring back at me was the image of President Trump at a rally. The first thing out of his mouth was, “We’re here to solve problems”.  He was talking about the debacle from last week, the Senate’s failure to do anything about Obamacare.

Then, it hit me; wasn’t the whole existence of Obamacare the result of the Democrat Party trying to solve problems that didn’t exist or were caused by others in the government? Some people had insurance, so government made it more expensive to pay for those without insurance, who thought they didn’t need insurance, so government penalizes those without insurance so they would buy some. Reminds me of Ronald Reagan’s comment, ” The nine most feared words, We’re from the government and we’re here to help.” More often than not, interaction with the government rarely helps.

The Senate refused to repeal Obamacare, although 52 campaigned on that very platform. Efforts to repeal and replace were even further from passage. Efforts to just tweak Obamacare here and there never got off the launchpad!

However, why is the government involved in our healthcare at all? There is certainly no provision of the US Constitution allowing the government manipulation of our health needs. We have been failed by Congress, the Executive Branch and the Supreme Court for the last eight years while the assault on our health care thrives and grew.

The problem is deeper however. Government control has become intertwined in everything we do. That’s not the way government was set up by the Constitution. The Founding Documents established a few certain things the government is responsible. We need to return to those restrictions.  That way, when someone says that the government exists to solve problems, we will know it for the lie it is.

We just began a new year. Usually, it’s a time of putting the old behind us and turning our gaze upon the future, or, at least, the next 365 days. It would be nice to think we could start with a clean slate with the new year; nice and a bit naive, because it’s not going to happen.

Last year was a turbulent election year that revealed the splintering of both the Democrat Party and the Republican Party. On the left, the Socialist-leaning dynasty Democrats, led by Hillary Clinton, went head to head against the freebies for everyone Democrats headed by self-described National Socialist Bernie Sanders. The Republican Party was fighting amongst itself between the Establishment dynasty and the Conservatives, who were tired of being ignored, except at primary time, when (surprise, surprise) everyone campaigns on how conservative they are.

The weapon of choice employed by both sides was what became known far and wide as “Fake News”. Innuendo, unsubstantiated rumors and accusations, and blatant lies became  fact to the media.

Of course, this weapon has been used for years by the Mainstream (Lame stream) Media, in support of the Democrats. Actual journalists have been replaced by agenda-driven talking heads who start with a position, then manufacture stories supporting their position, even if they have to edit audio (NBC did it twice, at least) to accomplish that.

With this immoral culture of what passes for journalism now front and center, is it any wonder that it shows up on the Republican side? The dozens of click-bait websites purporting to be reporting the news were in full swing during the campaign, with no sign of let up afterward.

A few years ago, we were laughing at a generation or two getting their “news” from a show on Comedy Central. Imagine the damage done to Americans by the profiteers of the Fake News sites. Thomas Jefferson said,” If we are to guard against ignorance and remain free, it is the responsibility of every American to be informed.” If he was right, seems our freedom may be in jeopardy due to the Fake News travesty.

We are nearing the fifteenth anniversary of the attack on American soil resulting in the destruction of the Twin Towers and other buildings in Manhattan, damage to the Pentagon, and, most importantly, the loss of thousands of lives. Americans are preparing to remember those lost that day in their own personal ways. The service at the 9/11 Memorial will be full for the reading of the names of friends and family members who died on 11 September, 2001 in the terrorist attacks. Social media will be full of pictures saying “Never Forget”. The American flag will be flown at half-mast, or should be. Throughout the memories, the tears, of this Sunday, 11 September, 2016, one question should be asked. Are we safer now than on that day 15 years ago?

What has government, that all-powerful entity the progressives love to run to, done to protect us? Well, Congress enacted the Patriot Act and reauthorized it over and over again. This law makes it easier for law enforcement to gather information on “people of interest” and potential terrorists. They can get data from the internet, phones, cameras and anything else they want just about any time they want, going completely around such things as Constitutional rights and search warrants, thus declaring everyone guilty until proven innocent. To make it easier to enforce, a cabinet-level agency, the Department of Homeland Security, was created and Congress funded it. The majority of federal law enforcement agencies were rolled up and placed under DHS authority, creating a huge bureaucracy and putting the country one step closer to a nationalized police force. At airports across the country, TSA officers physically assault men, women and children in “random searches” all in the name of security. To them, anyone could be a terrorist, even the four-year old girl or the 80-year-old grandma. Profiling is bad!

Has the social culture helped curb terrorism? The first social solution to come about was “If you see something, say something”. Of course, that was blunted by the fact that it’s politically incorrect to actually name your enemy. Fifteen years ago, nineteen Islamic terrorists hijacked four airliners. Two of the planes flew into the Twin Towers, one into the North tower and one into the South tower. Another aircraft flew into the Pentagon. The fourth’s destination remains a mystery, because a group of Americans overwhelmed the Islamic terrorists, causing the plane to clash in a field in Pennsylvania. Political correctness has gone so far, that recently, a Muslim group has sued to have the phrase “Islamic terrorist” from the plaque at the site of the plane crash honoring the heroes who fought the Islamic terrorists in the air! Let’s face it; it’s not like those nineteen hijackers were Jesuits!

So, on the fifteenth anniversary of 9/11, I’d have to say, we’re not safer. The government has reduced our rights, or too many of us have allowed them to do it, declared that veterans and Conservatives are potential terrorists (DHS Secretary Janet Napalitano in 2009), thrown open our borders to immigrants and more than 10,000 unvetted “refugees”, mostly male and of military age from Syria. The vast majority have been Islamic, much fewer than 100 have been Christian. The administration, when they DO acknowledge a terrorist is Islamic, claims just a small percentage are radicalized. If a vast majority of Muslims are against the Radical terrorists, why don’t we hear more of them denouncing terror attacks? Fine, with 10,000 Muslims resettling here, 1% radicalized translates to a potential 100 Islamic terrorists! The attacks fifteen years ago, only used nineteen radicals! How safe do you feel?

If I had told you in 1927 that I saw Eliot Ness secretly meeting with Al Capone, what would you think? Remember that Ness was an agent with the Bureau of Prohibition and Capone ran a large percentage of alcohol in Chicago. It would be natural for you to wonder if Ness was being bought off by Capone. He certainly wouldn’t be the first; Capone owned a number of cops in Chicago. You might look at Eliot Ness a bit differently, right?

On Tuesday of this week, the current Attorney General of the United States, Loretta Lynch was seen meeting with former President Bill Clinton, husband of the presumptive Democratic nominee for President Hillary Clinton. Why would the AG be meeting with the husband of someone the FBI is investigating? I can’t come up with any reason that would be proper. A private meeting aboard Lynch’s plane wouldn’t be an appropriate place to question Bill on anything. A random meeting between the two at an Arizona airport as AG Lynch implies. Not likely and why risk the appearance of something improper. Well, barring the plane being bugged and the release of the tape, we may never know what transpire, but let’s look at just a few things that have happened since that meeting.

Late afternoon on Wednesday, it was announced that a timetable for the release of emails from the Clinton Foundation requested by the FBI might begin about the time Hillary begins her 18th month in office if elected by as President. Well, that could certainly be a huge break for Clinton, knowing how well she handled the emails from the State Department.

On Thursday. it was discovered that the FEC was looking into allegations that Donald Trump regarding him asking high-ranking foreigners for donations for his run for the office of President. Anyone want to bet those same foreigners also donated to the Clinton Foundation? How curious.

This morning, it was reported that Hillary would be answering questions from the FBI this weekend. Could Lynch have passed on the questions she was to be asked, or just some minor coaching?

Like I say, we’ll never know for sure what went on aboard that plane, but I’m sure there is an appearance of impropriety in evidence!