Next Week, I Promise!

Your favorite Peasant has to bow out this week, as I have 

more obligations than I have time! But I shall return next 

week, and we'll resume our weekly fun!

Thank you all for your patience, understanding and indulgence.

All is well, and shall get even better!

MEM 

No Wobbling Permitted!

All too often, Republicans in Congress have lost debates

which they should have won had they just shown a bit of 

backbone. Most egregious have been the debates over health-

care, and the consequences included, but aren't limited to, 

our healthcare system falling apart. 

But a rematch has come the GOP's way; the Congressional 

Democrats have chosen to shut down the government chiefly

for these two reasons: one, they want to line the pockets of 

the large health insurance firms and the K Street lobbyists,

and two, they want to make more health care, free of course,

to more illegal immigrants. The Republicans have begun to

fight back on the latter, to their credit, but they face another

related issue in the form of a question, the question being 

should Congress extend enhanced subsidies for ObamaCare 

which were granted temporarily during the Covid pandemic?

The obvious rightful answer is a resounding "no" since 

the pandemic is long over. The Republicans have to demonstrate

their advocacy for freedom in healthcare and opposition to

socialized medicine, with no compromising on principles.

If they give any ground via making wimpy concessions 

the voters will never take them seriously when the GOP claims

that they want to deregulate the healthcare market to promote

competition and to expand healthcare savings accounts. This 

would, of course, mean a tsunami-like shift in the electorate's

preferences at election time, and they would repeat that 

preference in subsequent elections for the foreseeable future.

At least the GOP is firming up their stance on many issues

these days, with President Trump being the shot of adrenaline

coursing through their veins. Let's hope that the adrenalin boost

carries the 'Pubs to a resounding victory on this matter.

MEM

New York Slides Into Socialism

New York's embattled mayor Eric Adams has ended his campaign

for re-election last Sunday, but he really should have done it before

now. The Big Apple would have had a realistic chance of defeating

the socialist, some would say communist, mayoral candidate 

Zohran Mamdani. He's so far left that he makes former mayor

Bill De Blasio look like GOP mayor Rudy Giuliani.

Mayor Adams had given his all in vying for another term, but has

polled dangerously low against the rest of the field of candidates.

He now is in single-digits (!) running as an independent, having

shed his Democrat party label. 

His best move as mayor was to appoint Jessica Tisch as police 

commissioner. She's worked to reinstate "broken windows"

policing; intolerance for minor crimes while also focusing on high-

crime neighborhoods. Voters are now left with former Gov 

Andrew Cuomo, also running as an independent; the Democrats'

nomination has been sewn up by Mamdani. Republican pick

and past mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa, founder of the crime

fighting group "The Guardian Angels", will need a miracle worthy

of informing the Pope about in order to win the general election.

A Mamdani victory will mean that New York, regarded as the financial

capital of the world, the home of Wall Street, and a mighty banking 

citadel, will succumb to frighteningly higher taxes, rent freezes, 

government-run grocery stores (no, really! Mamdani has promised

this, making it a plank in his campaign platform), and more crime 

aided and abetted by pro-crime, pro-criminal officials. 

And don't think he'll be any friend to the Jewish citizens of New York;

he's made his pro-Hamas sympathies well-known. He'll certainly be a

friend to the teacher's unions, as he is vehemently against charter

schools. 

There's an old saying in politics which states that in elections voters get 

the government they deserve. If New York's voters elect Mamdani,

and chances are excellent that they will, they're going to get precisely

that very government. Your head-shaking Peasant hopes they will be 

happy.

MEM

The Peasant's Sweet Sixteen Celebration!

No, my wonderful friends, I'm not now 16 years of age;

I left that milestone behind fifty-one years ago. But this

day is my 16th anniversary of publishing PWAP! 

We've now been together for these past sixteen years

enjoying each other's company and discussing the news,

especially that concerning government and economics, 

the financial state of our country, and sometimes checking

in on other countries and their political news. Examining

each story, picking out the good actors from the bad,

the adept from the inept, giving our praise and criticism,

our commendations and our condemnations, our welcomes

and our goodbyes, our appreciation and our opprobrium.

We've grown worldly but not not world-weary, wise 

but not wise-assed, older but savvier, and all the while 

keeping a positive outlook and looking out for the 

better and pointing the way to it. Doing our modest bit

to make for everyone a better world.

None of this would have been possible without you, 

my grand and loyal readers; Your grateful Peasant gives 

thanks for every single one of you! As of today The Peasant

is read and enjoyed in over 40 countries the world over!

And these past sixteen years have been sweet and a real 

treat! May we all have many, many more years together

enjoying this illuminating activity together, getting together

at this blog site every week! 

Many thanks everyone!

MEM

Happy Constitution Day!

Your ever-busy Peasant has nearly been remiss in

not mentioning until now that September 17 is Constitution 

Day. I nearly blew it re: giving this special day its due

here on this blog --- and I have first made mention of this

very day last year!

Constitution Day was officially recognized as such, for the 

delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia

signed the document on September 17, 1787. It celebrates

the birth of our foundation in law, and those who have become

U.S. citizens. 

Your chastened Peasant hopes this brief piece makes up for my

near oversight on the matter. God bless America!

MEM

Charlie Kirk, R.I.P.

Our country was founded on very bedrock principles of freedom,

among which is the freedom of speech, expression, and peaceful 

assembly. It is one of the features which make our country's 

exceptionalism, along with our Constitution which enshrines this

freedom for others. But today, these very freedoms are under the gun

--- literally --- especially the aforementioned freedom of speech. 

And that gun was fired. It was fired at a courageous and tireless

advocate for that very freedom who practiced this precious freedom 

by visiting college campuses around the United States, inviting 

students to take him on in debate on a wide variety of topics, 

especially politics. Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA,

an organization which brings young Americans into politics,

to advocate for conservatism and its tenets of a free market, limited

government, and individual liberty, was assassinated while speaking

at an event hosted by Utah Valley University. Twenty minutes into his 

presentation Kirk was shot by an individual with a high-powered gun

at about 200 yards away, poised upon a building's roof, and died

not long afterward. Charlie Kirk died doing what he loved doing,

getting students to open their minds through open discussion and 

healthy debate without rancor and reprisals. Although Charlie had

his detractors, some who outright hated him, he had many

fans among his student audiences who loved him and hung on his

every word when this God and country activist spoke. 

The 31-year-old conservative activist and influencer left behind his 

wife Erika and their two very young children. His children will know

of his legacy but will never more be cuddled by Charlie, kissed

goodnight while being tucked in, nor be watched by their loving 

father as they grow. And the country will be left with one less spokes-

man for Charlie's cause, the right enshrined in the Constitution's 

First Amendment guaranteeing the right of free speech and the related

rights which accompany it. Struck down for practicing this right. 

Killed for supporting this vitally important freedom which helps 

make life in our great and grand country, and our country itself 

exceptional --- much to the consternation, the frustration, the 

anger, and the hatred of the likes of Charlie Kirk's killer. 

Charlie was a magnificent debater; one of the best I've ever seen. 

Many left-wingers challenged him --- Charlie had a banner 

that he displayed at all of his debating appearances which says

"Change My Mind!" --- and he always had a very cheery disposition,

as he was a happy warrior in his efforts to win students over. And 

all the while his lefty challengers tried their best to trip him up,

but to no avail. Finally, since none of the radical vanguard could

neither out-debate nor outwit Charlie Kirk, one of them silenced 

him forever. They figured that if you can't beat 'em, kill 'em. 

The more radical elements of the political Left have tried for years,

decades in fact, to transform our country into a totalitarian hell

in which, among other things, they would proscribe expression of 

certain thoughts and ideas under the threat of imprisonment and/or 

death. As your mournful Peasant writes these words many of these

radicals are cheering the murder of Charlie Kirk, saying that "He had

it coming!" and "This is what happens when you say offensive things 

in public!", along with their classic putdown "They were punished 

for their 'hate speech'!" This all illustrates how the far the lefties try  

to shut up anyone who dares to disagree with them. 

Even elected officials (Democrats, of course) are cheering the bloody

silencing of the talented Mr. Kirk. Don't be shocked; remember Rep.

Maxine Waters (D-CA) exhorting her constituents to "get in the faces" 

of their political opponents? And more recently, Sen. Charles Schumer

(D-NY) bellowing about how the GOP  "released the whirlwind" 

re: the rulings on some cases near and dear to the Dems, i.e. abortion, 

and that they would "pay the price!". Now what do you think Schumer

meant by that? Your favorite Peasant has many more examples for  

you, but I must get back to the heart of this blog post, the recently 

fallen Charlie Kirk. 

Charlie's widow Erika made a public statement saying that she will 

continue her husband's work, championing the cause of freedom of

speech on college campuses and everywhere in our country. Those

who hate Charlie Kirk for what he said during his short lifetime will

realize that one can kill a person who comes up with a thought or an

idea, but cannot kill the thought or idea. This has been demonstrated 

through the ages the world over, including here in the United States

(several presidents, a war hero or two, other activists i.e. Dr. Martin

Luther King) and here it shall be so once again in the wake of 

Charlie Kirk's murder. 

Thank God for people bold and brave enough to think and act outside 

their assigned and mandated boxes, risking their careers, their 

reputations professional and personal, even their lives. If some of us

are not free to speak their minds, then none of us are. And if none of us 

are thus free, then we don't live in a free country. And if we don't live in

a free country, we are not citizens but subjects. We owe a great debt to

the Charlie Kirks out there! May this one CK not have died in vain.

Requiescat in pace. 

MEM

Capitalism Saves Again!

Bolivia, another South American country ensnared by the empty 

promises of socialism like Venezuela, is now more than ready to

chuck it out and go with a political and economic system based

on the marketplace rather than the dictates of dictators or dictatorial

bureaucrats. Evo Morales, Bolivia's socialist president from

2006 to 2019, proclaimed "Capitalism is the worst enemy of

humanity!" while socialism took Bolivia down from being one

of South America's richest to one of its poorest countries with

price controls making constant shortages of goods and services 

and 25% inflation, causing mass hunger and unemployment 

along the way. The citizenry decided that Morales was wrong and 

that capitalism just might not be as bad as it was billed by 

Morales, and now they have picked the top two finishing 

candidates in their presidential election's first round --- 

Rodrigo Paz Pereiera and Jorge Quiroga, both market reformers

who couldn't have come along at a better time. The socialist party

candidate? He gained all of 3% of the vote. Paz and Quiroga will 

be on the ballot in the runoff come October, and regardless of who

wins Bolivia will be taking an important step toward free markets

and shedding government domination, leaving empty store shelves 

and food scarcities behind.

Senator Bernie Sanders and Rep. AOC, are you paying attention?

MEM