Winds of Change?
I care about the reality of goodness, not the perception of it.
Elon Musk
Perhaps it’s just me, but I don’t remember so many salutations of “Happy Thanksgiving” as I heard this year. I found it infectious, so I responded in kind.
My family had a wonderful Thanksgiving gathering of “kith and kin,” as Clark Griswold would say. There was a cornucopia of goodies, the absence of politics and everyone was convivial. So, as I sit down to collect my thoughts after Thanksgiving, I consider us blessed, and I hope I’m sensing winds of change.
Becky and I love the late-night Greg Gutfeld show which, thankfully, is not on too late at night. Nonetheless, we aren’t night owls any longer so we just DVR/record the “king of late-night.” Gutfeld is quick-witted, has a good stage presence and has interesting guests as well as regulars Kat Timpf and Tyrus. And they all seem happy, something I don’t see on other talk show programs.
Recently, Gutfeld played a segment from the MSNBC Morning Joe show which got me thinking about happiness. As I watched Scarborough’s unhinged rant about President Trump, comparing him to Hitler, the Devil, et cetera, I wondered what it would be like to view the world with such bilious hatred. Apparently, the rant struck a nerve elsewhere because it was discussed in the commentariat. We’ve seen the Trump derangement syndrome, but Gutfeld envisioned Morning Joe as possessed with full-blown “Trump derangement disease.” Joe is not a happy camper by my observation.
Sympathy and empathy have different meanings. I don’t know Scarborough, and it’s risky to make snap judgments. I’m only commenting on what I saw in his rant. I might feel sympathy for the “deranged” Scarborough, but I would not try to project myself (empathize) into his hate-filled reality. Likewise, I can’t project myself into the dark souls of Hamas demons.
Philosophically and theologically I believe there is a right and a wrong, even though I acknowledge there exists a spectrum between those polar opposites. The ancient Hebrews were the first monotheists, believing that God was singular and supreme. However, during their captivity in ancient Babylon, they encountered dualism, a concept of polar opposites. The Babylonian religion of Zoroastrianism held that there was a cosmic battle between good and evil. This seemed to explain that bad things were not caused by God but by forces opposed to God’s ultimate goodness. This became the Judeo-Christian worldview and my own.
Herman Wouk wrote the marvelous WWII novel, “The Winds of War.” Apologies to the now-deceased Wouk for modifying his title as a trope for this essay. Wouk understood Nazis. And he understood right and wrong which have become so perverted in this current age. No longer is rape, kidnapping, torture and murder condemned as wrong. Everything and everyone has excuses, explanations or someone to blame other than themselves. However, because Wouk was Jewish, few in the Arab world or the Ivy League will read his prose.
As a Christian, I believe in an absolute good, and I believe that things will work out, but perhaps not in my time or for our country. Nonetheless, I remain optimistic. I see signs that people are waking up because Biden and the Democrats have made such a mess of the economy/inflation (Bidenomics), immigration/invasion and by sending mixed signals to Israel, our ally and the only democracy in the Middle East. Consequently, Biden’s support among Blacks and Hispanics is falling. And if Democrats lose Millenials, especially young women, they are toast.
But there are more signs. Oregon now wants to reverse its law decriminalizing hard drugs which led to drastically increased death rates. New Yorkers and people in Chicago now realize that illegals are a big problem because supporting aliens is affecting their wallets and increasing crime. Gavin Newsom was forced to clean the streets of San Fran-sicko when the Communist Chinese came to town. Windmills cause environmental damage and are inadequate. Even electric vehicles are found to be increasingly impractical. Why aren’t we doing gas/electric hybrids as a bridge instead of pushing full electric? Since “President Kamala” has a gas stove, she’s not taking mine! And Elon Musk has had it and is suing leftist Media Matters and a host of other corrupt media for billions. If you want to grasp why the left hates Elon Musk, reflect on the quote above. Finally, Americans are sick of the utterly worthless UN that even refuses to condemn Hamas savagery.
On the world scene, Hungary, Italy, Argentina and the Netherlands are renouncing the elitist world governance movement and returning to populist nationalism because of immigration issues in Europe and economic issues in Argentina. Spaniards are on the march against amnesty for Catalan separatists, and everywhere there is push-back against the dangerous digital currency.
Last week’s essay was about Cultural Marxism. If you don’t know what that is, you should, because it is everywhere, and far more important than the Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce romance. The definitive discussion of cultural Marxism is the interview with Victor Davis Hanson on PragerU, but the Cliffs Notes version is my essay in last week’s Focus.
Cultural Marxism presents everything as a battle between opposites: the oppressed and oppressors, exploited/exploiters, victim/victimizers, even de-colonizers/colonizers. Actually, it’s the Democrats who run big cities who are the oppressors.
I’m no sage. I’m just an optimistic fool who trusts the Lord and believes in America. I may be naive, but I’ve got an “itch” that we are about to see change because things are finally getting bad enough to impact American’s safety and pocketbooks from crime and illegal immigration.
But hey, maybe it’s just the winter itch that many of us deal with this time of the year. As I was scratching the other day, I thought about why we experience an itching sensation. My mind works that way, where segues aren’t necessary! In medical school, I learned that the neural impulse for itching is carried along pain fibers, so the brain interprets itching as a form of pain. Scientists think itching is part of the injury/inflammation/repair process. And it’s common knowledge that when a wound starts itching, it is healing.
Democrats rub me wrong and cause pain for everyone. But perhaps my itch signals healing and the winds of change!
