During my hiatus so many news stories of great importance
and riveting in nature that upon my return I find myself badly
behind! But your faithful Peasant shall give each of them the
attention that they require so that we, my fabulous readers,
can be up to speed on the who, what, why, when, where and
how of it all.
We'll start with this thought-provoking item from California:
The mayor of Livermore, California, recently wrote a piece
in which he gave a very frank, matter of fact explanation as
to why President Donald Trump is so successful --- and so
popular --- as president. Writing about Trump's "lack of
decorum, dignity, and statesmanship", Mayor Marshall
Kamena pointed out that our most successful presidents have
relied less on propriety, collegiality, and niceness and more
on a direct approach in getting legislation passed and
international pacts agreed upon and enacted; they would
fight tooth and nail for what they wanted, even with
legislators in their own parties. Mayor Kamena, a conservative
who ran for office as a Democrat (reasoning that one couldn't
get elected dogcatcher, let alone mayor or any other higher
office in the super liberal Bay Area of very left-leaning
California), gave examples of GOP presidents and presidential
candidates who tried the "nice guy" approach only to be savaged
by Democrats who followed Saul Alinsky's playbook "Rules for
Radicals" rather than the ways of mannerly comportment to
decorum. President George W. Bush, John McCain, and Mitt
Romney were named as prime examples of coming to the
fight insufficiently armed, and the consequential results.
Kamena is correct in stating that we are in the middle of a
long and protracted culture war, whose origins can be traced
to the 1960s and the radicalism on the college campuses
across the country. The radicals of their day took over
their campuses, occupied the offices of the presidents and
deans, and forced through rule changes that they demanded
to have adopted; no ifs, ands, buts, discussions, or
debates. They shut up and shut out everyone who stood in
their way. Their ideological children, the leftists of today,
take that same tack with the political system at all levels.
And it's not just with politicians and government officials,
be they elected or appointed; today's radical lefties also
bully everyday people if they are wearing MAGA (Make
America Great Again) caps or T-shirts, or even buttons
with the names of conservative candidates for public
office. Some MAGA cap wearers have even been assaulted
in restaurants. Presidential Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee
Sanders and some other members of the president's staff were
even told to leave a restaurant in Northern Virginia, near
Washington D.C. because they work for President Trump!
And in this culture war, which is truly a war for not only
our culture but our government, our economy, our rights
and liberties, our very way of life. We need a leader in the
White House who understands this, and realizes that the
enemy's people in Congress and in the opposition party,
like their comrades on the college and high school campuses,
in the urban areas and indeed, some suburbs, in the unions,
in the media, and in the realm of entertainment (Hollywood
comes to mind) and will be willing to get his hands dirty
and his face bloodied in order to get his programs and
'initiatives enacted, and we now have such a leader ---
Donald J. Trump. He fights! He doesn't back down!
He doesn't stick to the Marquis of Queensbury Rules while
his opponents employ street fighting tactics! And, most
importantly, he gets things done!
Mayor Kamena cites as examples of such leaders two great
American generals who won wars by these means: Ulysses
S. Grant and George S. Patton. They weren't very big on the
protocols of Amy Vanderbilt either but they, like Donald Trump,
got results. Trump has a record of accomplishments in his
first thousand days in office which rival those of Presidents
Franklin D. Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan.
Furthermore, President Trump has no illusions regarding the
media. He knows that most of the media hates him with a
passion that you wouldn't believe, and they have done all they
could to undermine him ever since his presidential campaign
took off like a rocket and made him a serious contender for
the Republican nomination, and now want to find a way to
drive him out of office. While it was true that President
Reagan dealt with the media and the rest of his enemies
with a cheerful if wary countenance, they didn't exhibit the
unhinged hatred for The Great Communicator that Trump's
enemies are toward Trump. And once in a while, the media
actually reported favorably on Reagan's successes, giving
him credit for getting legislation he favored passed and
signed into law. Your scrutinizing Peasant has yet to see
any instance of the media doing that with President Trump,
and I'm not holding my breath waiting for that to happen.
So President fires back at his media detractors, calling
them out for their biased and dishonest reporting of his
presidency and related topics. He has even called CNN,
an especially rabid attacker, "Fake News". He later applied
this epithet to other news organizations and some reporters
as well, and sometimes even told them he wouldn't respond
to their questions in press conferences, because he knows
that all they'll do is lie and distort.
Mayor Kamena knows that we are at war --- a cultural war
in which the soul of our nation is on the line, and he appreciates,
respects, and supports President Trump because he knows it too.
And even more importantly, he conducts himself accordingly.
A victory for substance over style.
MEM
Thursday, July 19, 2018
Thursday, July 5, 2018
Happy (Belated) Independence Day!
Well, the technical problems I had been experiencing
in attempting to access my blog have lifted, so I am
wishing you all, my grand readers, a belated Happy
Independence Day. A lot of you may have today off,
and will also be off tomorrow as well as we head into
the weekend, so you will be continuing to celebrate
our dear country's birthday right up until Monday
July 9. So for those who are so fortunate, and for all
the rest of you with more stringent work schedules,
The Peasant wishes you all a safe, joyful, fun-filled,
Happy Fourth of July --- Independence Day --- our
United States of America's birthday! I shall return
to duty shortly; thank you all for your understanding
and indulgence!
MEM
in attempting to access my blog have lifted, so I am
wishing you all, my grand readers, a belated Happy
Independence Day. A lot of you may have today off,
and will also be off tomorrow as well as we head into
the weekend, so you will be continuing to celebrate
our dear country's birthday right up until Monday
July 9. So for those who are so fortunate, and for all
the rest of you with more stringent work schedules,
The Peasant wishes you all a safe, joyful, fun-filled,
Happy Fourth of July --- Independence Day --- our
United States of America's birthday! I shall return
to duty shortly; thank you all for your understanding
and indulgence!
MEM
Saturday, June 23, 2018
Charles Krauthammer, R.I.P.
Leave it to a former liberal to have such piercing insight
into the rhetoric, the arguments, and the positioning on the
issues of the Left, and to be a formidable champion of the
Right, whose side of the political divide he once was
adverse to if not in fact scornful of. And he proffered his
arguments in a respectful, almost collegial manner, with
no malice toward his former political mates, showing good
will to all. Charles Krauthammer was such a person, and
he left a legacy of intellectual rigor, integrity, and
the aforementioned goodwill to everyone on both the
Left and the Right.
Having announced his impending death in his final missive
a few weeks ago, Charles Krauthammer left this world on
June 21, aged 68, after a long fight with cancer. A man of
many talents; a psychiatrist, journalist, political operative
on the Walter Mondale presidential campaign team in 1984,
an intellectual powerhouse who not only did not let a diving
accident which left him a paraplegic at 22 limit his life but
crammed even more living into his life afterward, Krauthammer
became almost as great a champion of conservatism and
guiding arbiter of how conservatism would establish its
arguments and proceed from there, living what he believed
and promulgated. When asked some years ago about whether
or not he would take treatment with stem cells from fetuses
in order to be able to walk again, he said that he would
rather bequeath to his son a world in which medical advances
would be made while adhering to a moral compass.
Moral clarity, fair and limited government, a muscular defense
policy for the protection of our country and her interests, and
good will for all make the legacy of Charles Krauthammer
which he leaves to us. Will we ever see the likes of him again?
Rest well, our dear Charles.
MEM
into the rhetoric, the arguments, and the positioning on the
issues of the Left, and to be a formidable champion of the
Right, whose side of the political divide he once was
adverse to if not in fact scornful of. And he proffered his
arguments in a respectful, almost collegial manner, with
no malice toward his former political mates, showing good
will to all. Charles Krauthammer was such a person, and
he left a legacy of intellectual rigor, integrity, and
the aforementioned goodwill to everyone on both the
Left and the Right.
Having announced his impending death in his final missive
a few weeks ago, Charles Krauthammer left this world on
June 21, aged 68, after a long fight with cancer. A man of
many talents; a psychiatrist, journalist, political operative
on the Walter Mondale presidential campaign team in 1984,
an intellectual powerhouse who not only did not let a diving
accident which left him a paraplegic at 22 limit his life but
crammed even more living into his life afterward, Krauthammer
became almost as great a champion of conservatism and
guiding arbiter of how conservatism would establish its
arguments and proceed from there, living what he believed
and promulgated. When asked some years ago about whether
or not he would take treatment with stem cells from fetuses
in order to be able to walk again, he said that he would
rather bequeath to his son a world in which medical advances
would be made while adhering to a moral compass.
Moral clarity, fair and limited government, a muscular defense
policy for the protection of our country and her interests, and
good will for all make the legacy of Charles Krauthammer
which he leaves to us. Will we ever see the likes of him again?
Rest well, our dear Charles.
MEM
Thursday, June 14, 2018
Time for a Respite
Your busy-almost-to-the-point-of-frazzled Peasant
is going to take a week or two off to recharge his
batteries, but I'm leaving for you some links to some
wonderful online conservative publications that I
know you'll enjoy. Thank you for your kind indulgence,
and we'll get back together very soon! God bless!
www.nationalreview.com/ National Review Online
www.newsmax.com/ Newsmax
MEM
is going to take a week or two off to recharge his
batteries, but I'm leaving for you some links to some
wonderful online conservative publications that I
know you'll enjoy. Thank you for your kind indulgence,
and we'll get back together very soon! God bless!
www.nationalreview.com/ National Review Online
www.newsmax.com/ Newsmax
MEM
Thursday, June 7, 2018
Announcement of a Big Bust
Well, friends, your busy Peasant will make my announcement
of something BIG --- but it didn't go the way I had hoped.
Since the start of Spring, I had lost my best customer of my
small business, Friendship House & Yard Service. An 84-
year-old gentleman and longtime friend to whom I had made
available my services for six years was informed by his doctor
that he is losing his eyesight, and it is irreversible. Upon getting
this grim verdict on his visual health, my friend decided to sell
his longtime home in Bayside, a lovely village north of Milwaukee,
and move into a retirement home which offers assisted living.
Anything that I had done for my longtime friend and customer
is now being dome by the house staff and maintenance crew at
the retirement home. Business is flat with my other customers,
and one of them is planning a move to Florida later this year.
So what to do? I joined a local temporary job placement agency
and have been working temporary office jobs. I have successfully
completed an accounting clerical assignment and a data entry
posting, making pretty fair wages at both. Next up was going
to be a long-term (3 months) assignment as a temporary
administrative assistant at the Waukesha office of the Department
of Health and Human Services (!), filling in for the regular
assistant while she is on maternity leave. My trusty placement
called me and asked if she could forward my resume to the HHS
people for consideration; I said absolutely. The job would pay
$14.07 per hour, and that for a start! My agent then e-mailed me
a skill assessment test to take and send back. Did that, got a near-
perfect score. Several days later, after what seemed like an
interminably long wait, my agent then called me to say that they
wanted to interview me; could I go in the following day at
10 AM? I said I'd be happy to. I made it this far, I wasn't going to
turn back! The interview was brief (about 15 minutes) but seemed
fruitful. I was then told that the HHS folks wanted to interview
some more candidates, some of them from my placement agency.
It didn't sound very encouraging, but I resigned myself to playing
the waiting game. After a week and a half, when I had given up
hope on being chosen, I asked my agent if she could find a
short-term assignment for me to profitably fill the time while
awaiting word from HHS. She didn't have anything, but next day she
said she was called by her contact at HHS telling her that they wanted
me after all. What joy! It was a long hiring process but I emerged the
winner! I was next instructed to report to their office and take the
U.S. Government background check, which of course I did ---
well, I reported. Upon being greeted by one of the managers in the
department in which the job was situated I was told sorry, I had to
report to my agent's office in downtown Waukesha for the background
check. I was told that I didn't understand, that I was told specifically
to report to HHS, their office located a 30-minute walk from downtown.
The manager called my agent and got everything straightened out;
I was to go to her office for the check and then wait 24 to 48 hours for
the results and the desired, necessary "all clear" on my info. I said that
if I left right away I could catch a bus that would take me practically to
her doorstep, so off I went. But to my dismay, I saw that very bus go
past the stop where I was headed to catch said bus! I looked at my
bus schedule for that route and saw that I had a 40-minute wait
for the next bus, so I figured that a 30-minute walk would save me
ten minutes, although it would cost me some shoe leather and some
energy.
I arrived at the staffing office of my agent and announced myself
to the receptionist. She bid me take a seat while she in turn informed
the placement coordinator of my arrival. My agent came out with a
long face accompanied by a palid color, the reason being that she
heard from the HHS folks WHILE I WAS WALKING downtown
to her office, notifying her that they were cancelling their job order
--- meaning that they decided that they didn't need my services after
all(?!). Just like that. She had no reason given her for this sudden
change of plans on the client's part. It was like being informed that
I had won a contest and would receive the top prize, then being told
before receipt of said prize that everything was cancelled, scrapped,
tossed out, and that there would be no prize to be awarded.
I told my agent that we were thrown a curve which we never saw
coming and certainly never anticipated, and such was dealing with
the government; Uncle Sam giveth and Uncle Sam taketh away,
blessed be the name of Uncle Sam. If a business did anything like
this it would face opprobrium from the jilted job candidate, his
family and friends, and maybe --- just maybe --- the government
at some level, local, state or federal, would poke its nose into the
matter to ascertain if any illegal doings occurred. But since this is
Uncle Sam at the core of this tale, he will not have to answer to
anyone because he is at the top of the legal food chain; accountable
and answerable to no one, for who is bigger and more powerful than
the federal government?
So your spurned Peasant shall persevere, seeking other opportunities
elsewhere as well as looking for some new clientele for my little
biz. But I shall never vie for another federal government job, even
a temporary one. And Uncle Sam and his advocates wonder why
We the People are wary, cynical, and untrusting of the government.
MEM
of something BIG --- but it didn't go the way I had hoped.
Since the start of Spring, I had lost my best customer of my
small business, Friendship House & Yard Service. An 84-
year-old gentleman and longtime friend to whom I had made
available my services for six years was informed by his doctor
that he is losing his eyesight, and it is irreversible. Upon getting
this grim verdict on his visual health, my friend decided to sell
his longtime home in Bayside, a lovely village north of Milwaukee,
and move into a retirement home which offers assisted living.
Anything that I had done for my longtime friend and customer
is now being dome by the house staff and maintenance crew at
the retirement home. Business is flat with my other customers,
and one of them is planning a move to Florida later this year.
So what to do? I joined a local temporary job placement agency
and have been working temporary office jobs. I have successfully
completed an accounting clerical assignment and a data entry
posting, making pretty fair wages at both. Next up was going
to be a long-term (3 months) assignment as a temporary
administrative assistant at the Waukesha office of the Department
of Health and Human Services (!), filling in for the regular
assistant while she is on maternity leave. My trusty placement
called me and asked if she could forward my resume to the HHS
people for consideration; I said absolutely. The job would pay
$14.07 per hour, and that for a start! My agent then e-mailed me
a skill assessment test to take and send back. Did that, got a near-
perfect score. Several days later, after what seemed like an
interminably long wait, my agent then called me to say that they
wanted to interview me; could I go in the following day at
10 AM? I said I'd be happy to. I made it this far, I wasn't going to
turn back! The interview was brief (about 15 minutes) but seemed
fruitful. I was then told that the HHS folks wanted to interview
some more candidates, some of them from my placement agency.
It didn't sound very encouraging, but I resigned myself to playing
the waiting game. After a week and a half, when I had given up
hope on being chosen, I asked my agent if she could find a
short-term assignment for me to profitably fill the time while
awaiting word from HHS. She didn't have anything, but next day she
said she was called by her contact at HHS telling her that they wanted
me after all. What joy! It was a long hiring process but I emerged the
winner! I was next instructed to report to their office and take the
U.S. Government background check, which of course I did ---
well, I reported. Upon being greeted by one of the managers in the
department in which the job was situated I was told sorry, I had to
report to my agent's office in downtown Waukesha for the background
check. I was told that I didn't understand, that I was told specifically
to report to HHS, their office located a 30-minute walk from downtown.
The manager called my agent and got everything straightened out;
I was to go to her office for the check and then wait 24 to 48 hours for
the results and the desired, necessary "all clear" on my info. I said that
if I left right away I could catch a bus that would take me practically to
her doorstep, so off I went. But to my dismay, I saw that very bus go
past the stop where I was headed to catch said bus! I looked at my
bus schedule for that route and saw that I had a 40-minute wait
for the next bus, so I figured that a 30-minute walk would save me
ten minutes, although it would cost me some shoe leather and some
energy.
I arrived at the staffing office of my agent and announced myself
to the receptionist. She bid me take a seat while she in turn informed
the placement coordinator of my arrival. My agent came out with a
long face accompanied by a palid color, the reason being that she
heard from the HHS folks WHILE I WAS WALKING downtown
to her office, notifying her that they were cancelling their job order
--- meaning that they decided that they didn't need my services after
all(?!). Just like that. She had no reason given her for this sudden
change of plans on the client's part. It was like being informed that
I had won a contest and would receive the top prize, then being told
before receipt of said prize that everything was cancelled, scrapped,
tossed out, and that there would be no prize to be awarded.
I told my agent that we were thrown a curve which we never saw
coming and certainly never anticipated, and such was dealing with
the government; Uncle Sam giveth and Uncle Sam taketh away,
blessed be the name of Uncle Sam. If a business did anything like
this it would face opprobrium from the jilted job candidate, his
family and friends, and maybe --- just maybe --- the government
at some level, local, state or federal, would poke its nose into the
matter to ascertain if any illegal doings occurred. But since this is
Uncle Sam at the core of this tale, he will not have to answer to
anyone because he is at the top of the legal food chain; accountable
and answerable to no one, for who is bigger and more powerful than
the federal government?
So your spurned Peasant shall persevere, seeking other opportunities
elsewhere as well as looking for some new clientele for my little
biz. But I shall never vie for another federal government job, even
a temporary one. And Uncle Sam and his advocates wonder why
We the People are wary, cynical, and untrusting of the government.
MEM
Thursday, May 31, 2018
Monday, May 21, 2018
The Peasant Announces something BIG! (And Memorial Day Thoughts)
Friends, your always busy Peasant is becoming
even busier. Time is not being generous with me
even now, so I can't give all the details about
what I'm soon to be involved in, but I will say
that I'm going to undertake a lucrative
activity which will bring some very welcome
dollars into my coffers! My schedule will be
affected in that I won't always be able to bet
together with you, my fabulous readers, every
Thursday as has been our practice for quite some
time. Not to worry though; we shall get together
whenever I can wrangle some time for us to share
together for our visits. And I'll have time to be
more forthcoming about my wonderful opportunity!
And with Memorial Day coming up, please keep our
brave veterans, past and present, in your prayers;
for we owe them greatly for our wonderful country
and our freedom, our prosperity, and our way of life.
And take time to thank a vet for his/her service!
Whenever you see a vet selling poppies, flags, or
other patriotic items to raise money for one of
the wonderful veterans' organizations such as
the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American
Legion (to name but two), buy one of their
items and visit with them for a spell! Ask them
about their service, and thank them for it and their
sacrifice. This will give them --- and yourselves ---
such joy.
Meantime please enjoy these other wonderful
conservative online publications:
National Review Online
www.nationalreview.com/
Newsmax
www.newsmax.com/
See you, my treasured readers soon!
Thank you for your company and
your ongoing support!
MEM
even busier. Time is not being generous with me
even now, so I can't give all the details about
what I'm soon to be involved in, but I will say
that I'm going to undertake a lucrative
activity which will bring some very welcome
dollars into my coffers! My schedule will be
affected in that I won't always be able to bet
together with you, my fabulous readers, every
Thursday as has been our practice for quite some
time. Not to worry though; we shall get together
whenever I can wrangle some time for us to share
together for our visits. And I'll have time to be
more forthcoming about my wonderful opportunity!
And with Memorial Day coming up, please keep our
brave veterans, past and present, in your prayers;
for we owe them greatly for our wonderful country
and our freedom, our prosperity, and our way of life.
And take time to thank a vet for his/her service!
Whenever you see a vet selling poppies, flags, or
other patriotic items to raise money for one of
the wonderful veterans' organizations such as
the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American
Legion (to name but two), buy one of their
items and visit with them for a spell! Ask them
about their service, and thank them for it and their
sacrifice. This will give them --- and yourselves ---
such joy.
Meantime please enjoy these other wonderful
conservative online publications:
National Review Online
www.nationalreview.com/
Newsmax
www.newsmax.com/
See you, my treasured readers soon!
Thank you for your company and
your ongoing support!
MEM
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