Jim Bunning, R.I.P.

Your baseball-lovin' Peasant would be remiss if I didn't
pay tribute to Hall of Fame Major League Baseball pitcher,
United States Representative and United States Senator
Jim Bunning, who passed away on May 26 of this year,
aged 85. Bunning was a man of tremendous accomplish-
ments, which included being the only MLB athlete to
be elected to both the House of Representatives and the
United States Senate.

A star athlete in high school and at college, Bunning was
signed by the Detroit Tigers, going on to stardom with
the tigers as well as the Philadelphia Phillies and the
Pittsburgh Pirates. He retired from the sport with having
the second-highest total of career strikeouts among big
league pitchers (he is now 17th on the list), and pitched
the seventh perfect game (no hits, walks, hit batters or wild
pitches) in Major League history against the New York Mets
in 1964.

After his baseball career he began a career in politics, first
being elected to the Fort Thomas (KY) City Council, followed
by service in the Kentucky State Senate where he served as
Minority Leader, then was elected to Congress,serving in
the House and finally ascending to the Senate. A rock-ribbed
conservative, Bunning served six terms in the former
and two terms in the latter, retiring in 2010. He was succeeded
by current U.S. Senator Rand Paul.

Bunning was a friend to hardworking taxpayers, military
personnel and veterans along with their families, small business
owners, and was a champion of the unborn. Contatry to what
many Democrats and labor unions have long claimed, Bunning
was not at all hostile to unions; quite the contrary, he was active
in the Major League Baseball Players Association, the ballplayers'
union. Bunning was instrumental in gaining better pay, benefits,
and conditions for his fellow baseball players, including decent
locker rooms and per diem coverage, this at a time when team
owners could still impose their will on players, which included
providing a poor pension plan with paltry payouts to players,
most of whom didn't even qualify for the plan. Bunning also was
instrumental in establishing free agency for players to help them
shop their services around the majors for the best salary and contract
deals, as well as to veto trades to other teams. Although he didn't agree
with the ideas and plans which organized labor holds these days,
Bunning always recognized the legitimate and rightful need to
protect the basic rights of workers, and lived his convictions both
as a ballplayer and a member of government.

A most remarkable man, a fine athlete, a dedicated public servant,
a devoted husband and father, and an outstanding citizen. Not a bad
legacy. Enjoy your heavenly rest, sir. You have truly earned it.


MEM

Thanksgiving Thoughts and Wishes

Although one needn't wait until the fourth Thursday
of November to be thankful for all what you have,
as one can (and should) be thankful and give thanks
each and every day for all one's blessings, Thanksgiving
is a most appropriate holiday to formally give thanks
for all that is good and beautiful in one's life.

Here's just a few of the things that your thankful Peasant
wishes to express his thanks for this Thanksgiving:

*I was born in the United States, the most free, the most
prosperous, the most wonderful country in the world,
and have lived here my whole life to date, just about sixty
years. I have traveled abroad and enjoyed visiting other
nations, but always enjoyed coming home to be the best part
of each of my trips, returning to a country that has so many
wonderful things going for it which many people in other
places envy and dream about having for themselves.

*I have my health. Although I have hypertension (high blood
pressure) I have it under control with the help of wonderful
medicines and a careful but not overly restrictive diet.
And I have the usual aches and pains which come with the
advancing years, but they don't lay me up in bed. I am still
quite active, I own and run a business in which I perform
very physical work (I am a handyman) for my clients, and
I have an active social life as well.

*My music collection which largely consists of CDs and
cassette tapes of Irish music from great artists such as
the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. I love Irish
music, especially as it keeps me close to the Irish part of
my background (and by the by, I am related to the Clancys!).

*The Milwaukee Irish Fest. It's the largest Irish festival in
the world; if you want to sample even more of Irish culture,
you have to visit the Auld Sod itself! When I'm there I get
together with family and friends, some of each being performers
themselves.

*My song circle, which I founded in 2010 and dedicated to the
memory of my dear friend and co-founder of our Irish Fest
Chuck Ward. We sing the songs of the Celtic world, Ireland
and beyond, meeting to sing every few weeks at some of the
local pubs.

*All of my dear family and friends. I have cousins from Ireland
to San Francisco, and friends all around the world. I keep in
touch with and visit with them as best I can.

*I live in a country where I can speak my mind about anything
at all, including the political scene (hence this blog!). Although
the left-wingers want to take this constitutionally guaranteed right
away from me and others sharing my opinions they are fighting
a fight which they cannot win. We Americans cherish our rights,
do not shy away from our responsibilities, and will fight like
hell to keep and preserve our liberties!

*The historic election of Donald J. Trump as our president on the
heels of the eight-year nadir which our country had suffered with
extreme left-wing President Barack Obama in the Oval Office,
and the undoing of the damage he did with his cavalier dismissal
of our Constitution and our constitutional rule of law. Our liberties
are once again safeguarded, and we have regained our bearings
as a nation.

*Our great and brave people who serve in our military. They keep us
safe from our enemies from other lands who want to do harm to us
both home and abroad. They put their lives on the line every day
when deployed, and they train very arduously to protect us and
our great nation on land, on the sea, and in the air. They give so much
for us, and that is why your grateful Peasant thanks and praises them
frequently on this blog. What remarkable people!

*The abundance of food, clothing, shelter, and creature comforts
that I have and always have had, even when times were challenging.
When I think of the people in some countries where they are lucky
to have grass huts or wooden shanties to call home, have little food
and little money to buy food and to obtain medical treatment in
case of illness or injury ...

In summation, your faithful Peasant's cup runneth over! I am so
thankful for all of these blessings and for the many more which I have
neither the time nor the space to list here, and I am so very very
thankful and proud to be an American. And of course I am so
very very grateful for all of you, my dear, loyal and wonderful
readers! You are the reason that I keep blogging! You are what
keeps me going in my quest to defend and advance the conservative
principles of governance, finance, and living! Happy Thanksgiving
to you all and God bless!


MEM

Gratitude on Veterans Day

Folks, today is Veterans Day. If you value your liberty,
if you enjoy your freedom, thank a vet!

God bless all our veterans, living and passed, and all our
currently active military personnel. You're who made,
and keeps, our country the free and wonderful place that
it is!


MEM

On Piggery and Hypocrisy

Sexual harassment is a beastly thing. It debases and devalues
a person, reducing him or her to a thing, an object of misplaced
and/or misbegotten passion, a veritable toy. Victims' careers and
lives have been ruined by this shameful behavior, and laws have
been written and enacted to deter and to remedy such terrible
abusement in workplaces, in schools, in all public places.
But sometimes a situation will occur where the harasser holds
a position of considerable power, and therefore will be immune,
or nearly so, against charges from the harasser's victims.
This is certainly the case with Hollywood, the city where movies
are made, fantasies are enacted on the silver screen (and apparently
elsewhere), gorgeous people work and play, and power goes with
money like peanut butter goes with jelly ... and with Ye Olde
Casting Couch.

In that city, one of their most famous and powerful denizens,
movie mogul muy grande Harvey Weinstein has been the
subject of a nationwide discussion about sexual harassment,
primarily as he has been accused in recent weeks by many
women in his employ. Some prominent actresses have
revealed their unfortunate encounters with the movie mogul,
having stated that these incidents took place earlier in their
careers before they became established stars. Some of them
submitted to Weinstein's improper overtures because they
could get ahead in their careers faster, or at least not have
them abruptly ended by someone with the power to drop
them from his studio and perhaps get them virtually blackballed
in Tinseltown so that they would "never do lunch in this town
again". They filtered in, one at a time and then in greater numbers,
slowly picking up steam and increasing in numbers.

Now, pertinent to this story is the fact that Weinstein, as is many
(practically all) of Hollywood's most prominent figures, is a
die-hard Democrat. Very, very left-wing, in fact. He has thrown
fundraising events for President Obama and for Hillary Clinton,
and even acted as a bundler for them, gathering up donated
campaign funds from wealthy liberals in and outside of Hollywood
to transfer to the aforementioned candidates in big bundles.
The story grew to become nationwide news, appearing in print
and broadcast media throughout the country. At the same time
liberals in and outside of the Democrat Party have been trying
their damndest to hamper Republican President Donald Trump's
ability to govern, attempting to dig up dirt on him and to
manufacture dirt whenever they couldn't find anything (as has
often been the case), especially in terms of his interaction with
women. They have excoriated the president for past salacious
remarks he in fact made about some women, what some call
"locker room talk", and your faithful Peasant must say that
these remarks were indeed quite crude. But it is one thing to
make uncouth comments about women, and quite another to
behave in uncouth ways toward them. However, in the lefties'
book of social etiquette, it is only the non-lefties that have to
toe the mark, not the lefties themselves. Again, the left-wing
double standard rears its ugly head.

Obama and Clinton, as well as Democrat National Committee
officials have been called upon to return the funds that Weinstein
raised as well as personally contributed, and at the present neither
any response nor action has been forthcoming from these quarters.
Your watchful Peasant isn't holding his breath for either, to be sure!
But then, this is the same bunch that has given a pass, and even
praise to former Congressman Anthony Weiner, the politician who
lived down to his name (!) with his "sexting" mischief, as well as to
others in their sorry ranks, members of Congress, officeholders
at the state and local levels, wealthy donors to the Democrat Party
and causes of importance to the party as well as to the left-wingers
in general, entertainers of various sorts, and to Weinstein himself.
Always remember, folks: the Left tries to hold the conservative
opposition to the latter's standards, to the point of picking over every
detail, while never holding themselves to any set of standards but one;
Win at all costs, do whatever you must in order to win no matter how
down and dirty the means, smear whomever, destroy whomever,
rob whomever, just grab the prize (which is of course power)
and take the victory lap. Additionally, whatever money there is to be
had is icing on the cake.

We conservatives should point out this gross hypocrisy of our foes
at every opportunity, loudly and clearly. After all, we are in a war for
the very soul of America. This is a war being fought on the cultural,
political, educational, financial, and moral fronts. There are no Geneva
Conference rules of engagement and treatment of prisoners; it's
a nationwide street fight about the kind of society our country
is to have, the kind of government we are to have, and the rules of
behavior we are to have and to pass along to our children and the
coming generations. Some conservatives in Hollywood (yes, my
grand readers, there are actually some conservatives in that corrupt
and decadent citadel of radical chic; they didn't die out with the passing
of John Wayne) have been working to point out these disturbing stories
in that "anything goes" place, knowing that they are jeopardizing
their careers by doing so. And it appears that they are now being
joined by some of the Hollywood Liberal glitterati in exposing these
dark acts to the light of awareness and scrutiny. What happens there
in time to come will certainly have an impact on all areas of our
society and most certainly our politics. And liberals everywhere shall
suffer greatly from the fallout, for they will have to pay the price
for their double standards and double dealing; Hollywood's
compliance with and enabling of predatory behavior, Hillary's
philandering pervert of a husband and her destroying the names
and reputations of his victims, the cyber-pervert former
Congressman's sexcapades, the libs claiming there to be a speck
in the conservatives' eyes while they have a humongous mote
in their own, it's all going to drag them down.

Meanwhile back in La La Land, things are going to be rather
tense and even a wee bit dicey for the glittery gang; the mood will
be less festive at the Beverly Hills Hotel from here on in. But it's high
time for the afflicted to be comforted, and the comfortable --- who have
been afflicting the afflicted --- to now become afflicted. Let
the maelstrom commence!


MEM

Antifa: the "Fa" Among Us

In the wake of President Donald Trump's inauguration as our
president, our country's left wing has had not merely a cow,
but an entire herd. And they, along with their herd, have been
on a stampede ever since.

They have marched in the streets of Washington D.C. during
the week of the inaugural festivities, as well as in many other
major American cities. Sometimes they kept things peaceful,
sometimes not. Radical groups which as a matter of course
instigate violent scenes have stepped up their activity in reaction
to the ascendancy of our current president, i.e. Black Lives
Matter (and you thought that they only hated white cops!).
They hate everyone and everything that is at all conservative,
libertarian, even moderate; if it's not full-on radical Left, then
it must be destroyed, no ifs, ands, or buts with these buttheads.
But a more dangerous group has emerged and is going after
anyone and everyone who is not completely sympatico with
their very left-wing brand of politics: Antifa.

Antifa (Anti-Fascist) is a thuggish bunch that opposes everyone
and everything that they deem fascistic. On their hate list is
(naturally) President Trump, the Republican majority in the
House and Senate of our Congress (and the whole of the GOP
as well), the Constitution, wealth and the wealthy (although
they never raise a fuss over wealthy left-wingers, i.e. Warren
Buffet, Bill Gates, Tom Steyer and the like), and everyday
Americans who vote Republican (or for Libertarian and/or other
conservative or right-leaning candidates). These paragons of
leftism confront them whenever and wherever they can, and
aren't bashful about bashing a few people in the face.
Their latest escapade took place in Berkeley, California at the
University of California, a renown bastion of left-wing political
activity with a long history of radicalism. Conservative blogger
and activist Ben Shapiro was to speak there on September 14,
and the school girded for battle with Antifa threatening to raise
hell. To date, Antifa has cost the university over $2 billion in
security fees and damages from their past attempts to silence
and intimidate other speakers whom they regarded as fascists.
Last February, Antifa cost UC-Berkeley $100,000 alone for
"pre-protesting" a talk by provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos
--- and succeeded in getting the event cancelled. In August,
the school lost another 600 grand in security fees when Antifa
succeeded in getting a talk by conservative columnist and author
Ann Coulter cancelled. Cal-Berkeley is to be commended for
being willing to book speakers whose politics do not mesh with
that of the administration and faculty, let alone the student body,
much less Antifa. But if they had taken a stronger stand against
these totalitarian bullies back in February, they might have saved
themselves a fortune and a lot of effort to secure their scheduled
events.

The best way to deal with bullies, and this is exactly what the
Antifa goons are, is to stand up to them as soon as they begin
to menace anyone. Bullies have to be made to realize that they
are dealing with people and organizations which won't put up
with their bullying, and have the means to rebuff them and the
will to do so. For bullies are, first and always, cowards. They go
after those whom they think are weaker than themselves and can
therefore dominate. The fascists are, as all totalitarians have
invariably proven to be throughout history, bullies.

And Antifa is very much "Fa".


MEM