Surprises
And who knows if perhaps you have come to the kingdom for a time such as this.
Esther 4:14
In the Myers-Briggs typology of personality, I am an ISTJ. These designations define me as slightly introverted, a careful observer who is logical and prefers to get his work done rather than delaying chores. Waiting until the last minute to produce a thousand-word essay is not my style.
Each week, the deadline for my column is Thursday, so after routine chores are done, I try to sit down at my desk on Tuesday – and for sure by Wednesday – and see what happens. I can identify with author Ray Bradbury, who said that he sits down at his desk, surveys his eclectic office and lets his imagination run wild to produce his stories.
I’m an essayist so my stories do not arise from the imagination, but from researching the world of events and thoughts. And since I’m now retired from medicine, I am better able to manage my creative time. I sometimes make notes as I read, watch and think. Sometimes I use these notes, but often I don’t because you never know when a bombing campaign in the Middle East may occur. Or you never know what may appear on your porch!
We live in the UT Hospital area and, yes, that is a young black bear on my porch in the above picture. We’ve had deer, turkeys, foxes and coyotes stroll through the yard, but a bear sauntering just twenty feet away is a bit disconcerting.
Last week I wrote of “Two Americas” metaphorically represented by the celebratory parade of the U.S. Army’s 250 years of service to the country and the No Kings hate-filled protest of President Trump. If the protesters knew any history, they’d realize we celebrate “no kings” every July 4th. (If you missed that essay, all of my columns are online in The Knoxville Focus archives.)
I write because I can. I write because it gives me (and others) a “voice” at The Knoxville Focus, which affords me a platform to express my thoughts. And I write because it gives me purpose and creative joy.
However, research and constructing an essay takes work. The creative joy actually comes from polishing the essay’s prose. And when finished, the sense of accomplishment arrives when I hit the send button linked to The Focus publishing staff.
Last week, as an experiment, I gave the principal topics in the “Two Americas” essay to Grok, an online AI (artificial intelligence) platform, and asked it to construct an essay for comparison to my own. It took me about ten minutes to scan last week’s essay, list the topics and send them to Grok. The AI spit out a pretty good essay in less than a minute.
Since Becky is my editress, thankfully proofing all my work, I asked her to read Grok’s essay and offer critique. She liked the concluding paragraph, but found the rest of the essay lacking the “human touch” which comes from an “author’s bias.” She said Grok’s essay read like a “sterile” newspaper article rather than a heartfelt opinion piece. My partner in life is obviously kind to her husband, but also sharp. “The Doctor is in” will not be replaced by “Grok is in” any time soon. The Fergusons still have job security!
Since the world was unaware of the bear on my porch, the big story last week was the destruction of Iran’s nuclear weapons program. Of course, loathsome Democrats, like bartender AOC and swivel-head Jasmine Crockett, were enraged that President Trump didn’t notify them of the secret mission. This would have endangered our pilots, planes and soldiers because the attack would have been leaked to the equally loathsome NYT, CNN and the media. Chuck Schumer was also upset because he will now have to eat the TACOs (Trump always chickens out) he’s been calling Trump for weeks. What a bunch of Democrat losers. Maybe Schumer should be working the window at Taco Bell.
The coordinated attack on Iran’s nuclear weapon facilities comprised seven stealth bombers, which flew halfway around the world to drop fourteen 30,000-pound precision bombs on weapon factories. The bombers were supported by more than 100 other aircraft, while our submarines fired dozens of Tomahawk missiles at Iranian radar and surface-to-air missile sites. What an impressive, coordinated, courageous mission. And the B-2 bombers are technologically amazing and look almost otherworldly.
I was proud to be an American whose armed forces were able to remove the terrorist Iranian regime’s nuclear threats. It may seem like a technicality, but Secretary Marco Rubio said, “We are not at war with Iran; we are targeting Iran’s nuclear weapons program.” But the media and Democrats’ vile hatred of President Trump causes them to hate everything he does, even making the world safer by eliminating Iran’s ability to construct a nuclear weapon. These Democrat losers are anti-MAGA, anti-American, anti-military, anti-ICE and anti-semitic.
Who knows what surprises await us tomorrow or next week? A radical Democrat socialist was just elected as the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York City, the epicenter of American capitalism. I have no sympathy for the liberal elites of Gotham whose “suicide empathy” vote will seal their own doom.
Despite what the media gutter snipes say, Trump was right again. And no, Mr. President, I’m not tired of winning. Patriots support you in the MAGA struggle. Democrats and their media stooges have become objects of ridicule. Inflation is down, real income is up. We are moving toward energy independence again. Illegal criminals are being deported. The judicial resistance movement will continue to fail, and hopefully, it’ll lead to the impeachment of rogue activist judges. And finally, tyrants around the world will forever think twice after the Saturday attack.
The prophet Elisha was trained for 10 years before his ministry began. And it has been 10 years since President Trump “came down the elevator.” I believe Trump was called for a time such as this.
I am thankful that Trump 2.0 is our president and truly the leader of the free world.
