Lynette Hardaway (Diamond of Diamond and Silk), R.I.P.

In very recent years your delighted Peasant discovered and became 

a HUGE fan of two sisters from North Carolina, both being black 

conservatives and quite outspoken, delivering their opinions on the

political news and newsmakers of the day delighting fellow 

conservatives and perplexing liberals and farther-left types; 

why, how can anyone who is black (and a woman to boot!) be 

politically conservative? That goes against the political color-

coding and pidgeon-holing by the establishment; people of a certain 

group must vote a certain way, i.e. this thingamajig can only fit into

that whatchamacallit. Well, these charming and courageous ladies 

Lynette (Diamond) and Henrietta Rochelle (Silk) would have none of 

that nonsense! And the conservative community has benefitted from

their sunny personalities, their boldness of presenting their opinions,

and their sharp-witted humor on their TV show and while guests on 

radio talk shows. 

Having started out making podcasts on their own, Dennis Michael 

Lynch of DML Podcast produced a podcast of the ladies, refined their 

presentation, and distributed copies to connections in radio and TV.

Newsmax put them into their talent lineup after that. And the rest was 

history ... until just a few weeks ago when Diamond suddenly passed 

away, aged 51, due to a health difficulty which was not clearly reported 

in the news of Diamond's departure. The famous and increasingly 

popular commentary duo is now forever down by one, and although 

nothing has been announced by Silk or anyone else close to the sisters

your favorite Peasant has a hunch that Silk will, at some point in the 

future, return to the TV and/or the radio and carry on solo. Whatever

Silk chooses for her next endeavor, a very grateful Peasant will 

respect, honor, and support her decision and her efforts. However,

I must confess that I hope she will indeed return, bringing her witty 

banter and special humor with her to help us be of good cheer during

the time and the political happenstances that lie ahead. 

In the meantime, rest soundly and well our dear Diamond. Thank you 

for making a difficult arena an informative, cheerful, and fun stage!

And God bless you and be close at hand for you, Silk, and all your

family.

MEM

On Deniers and Denialism

Good lord, many of the people who purport to be journalists

are such an imitative bunch! Whether on TV, radio, online,

or print, they all use the same words to describe certain events,

situations, locations, and people, giving the impression that 

they aren't capable of independent thought --- that they all use 

the same brain cell (no, this isn't a misprint; I meant "brain cell"

in the singular sense), all being somehow connected to it.

Their latest words du jour are "insurrections", "big lies" , 

"deniers", and "denialism". 

Paul Krugman wrote in the New York Times recently that 

"Election deniers are also economy deniers," meaning 

that the latter are people who don't think that the economy 

is doing as well as Krugman thinks it's doing. Who does

PK's shopping for him, getting his groceries, household supplies,

and so forth? He should consult with that person as to the actual 

cost of said goods at least once in a while. Those he calls 

"economy deniers" note these costs every time they go shopping.

Of course, to Krugman they are merely spreaders of "big lies".

And many other pundits and so-called reporters fall in line 

and repeat this tripe like parrots.

And of course there is the labeling of the riot by some of the 

crowd which came to President Trump's rally outside the 

capitol on January 6, 2021 to ask Congress to not certify the 

election which Trump claimed was tainted with widespread 

electoral fraud. As if a bunch of ragtag loonies and hotheads 

(remember the guy with the medicine man getup?) could 

possibly overthrow the government by breaking into,

vandalizing and stealing property? Funny how they didn't so

label the antics of far-left protesters who occupied the Wisconsin

capitol where our legislature meets and caused two million 

dollars in damage all because they were upset that Scott

Walker was elected governor. They also chased a few GOP

legislators outside of the building, sending them scurrying 

to their offices to escape likely mayhem, and assaulted in

various ways counter-protesters who came to show their 

support for the newly-elected governor. No insurrection 

there, according to these journos. No violence. No name-

calling. Nothing of the sort. 

Paul Krugman and others like him are opinion columnists,

so they have leeway to use such verbiage in their columns.

Fair enough. But their newspapers and magazines also use

this language in their reporting of the news as well, making

them sites of out-and-out propaganda favorable to the 

establishment and hostile to conservatives and anyone else 

not in agreement with them. And these people have a dim, 

debasing, derogatory view of these dissenting voices and

their opinions. If they are not insulting and belittling them

they are shutting them out from their engaging the Krugmans

in any kind of discussion or debate. They obviously fear a

public being well informed about the news, and what they

may do in elections to come. 

So they attempt to whip up disgust and loathing for their 

political gainsayers, using their beastly little buzzwords, 

which all the rest of the hive pick up on. And, of course, 

they strenuously deny doing so.

So who, then, are the real deniers?

MEM

Pope Benedict XVI, R.I.P.

The year 2022 and Pope emeritus Benedict XVI 

left this world together on December 31; this day

was the final day for each. The former was born

on April 16, 1927 in Marktl, Bavaria, Germany

and was christened Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger.

He was ordained a Catholic priest in 1951, 

promptly embarking on an academic career 

which saw him become a highly regarded 

theologian and a professor at several German

universities. After many years in the academic 

world Ratzinger was appointed Archbishop of

Munich and Freising, then created a cardinal by

Pope Paul VI in 1977 despite his having had 

little or no pastoral experience. From 2002 until 

being elected elected pope he was Dean of the 

College of Cardinals, being a major figure on the 

Vatican stage all the while. 

The first non-Italian pope in several centuries,

Ratzinger, a former liberal cleric who became 

increasingly conservative over time, defended 

and reaffirmed Catholic doctrine, including 

teaching on topics such as birth control and 

inter-religious dialogue, much to the conster-

nation of liberals within the church as well

as liberal politicians that happened to be 

Catholics. The German-born pope was, 

before and after rising to the papacy, 

an unabashed, unapologetic advocate for the 

Catholic Church's traditional doctrine and 

teachings. Ratzinger went head-to-head against

modernism, relativism, secularism, and other 

vehicles of departure from traditional teachings 

of the Catholic faith. He found that relativism's

denial of objective truth, and of moral truths

in particular, to be the central problem of the 

21st century. Whereas Pope John Paul II was

the defender of freedom of and for the people 

of the countries of Eastern Europe, including 

native Poland, and his relentless opposition to

Communism, Benedict XVI was the defender 

of the foundational teachings and traditions of

the Catholic church and faith, relentless in his

opposition to the fashionable secular ideas of 

the moment.

As pope, Benedict XVI was castigated for what 

some thought was lenient treatment of clergy

guilty of sexual abuse as well as for his opposition

to condoms, especially in countries with high rates

of HIV transmission. However, his papal record was

one of transmitting God's redemptive love, including

toward sexually active people who had caught the 

dread disease. This did not, however, deter Benedict

in the least from zealously finding out the perpetrators 

among the clergy and punishing them in accordance

with the rules of conduct governing the clergy.

On February 10, 2013 Benedict announced his 

resignation, stating as his reasons "a lack of strength of

mind and body", making him the first pope to resign

since Gregory XII in 1415, and the first pope to resign

of his own accord since Celestine V in 1294. 

On December 31, that evening, Pope Benedict XVI 

quietly went to his heavenly reward a good, faithful

servant of God, to partake of His heavenly hospitality,

leaving a legacy of a fine representative, advocate, and

defender of the Catholic Church and faith. 

Requiescat in pace. 

MEM

A Brand New Year for Us to Enjoy Together!

Happy New Year my dear and wonderful readers!

Your Happy Peasant hopes that you all had a wonderful

time enjoying the holidays; the company of family and 

friends, loads of good food, wonderful drink, college

football bowls (and a few NFL games), and hopefully

warmer weather where you are (no more Arctic invasions!),

and singing "Auld Lang Syne" (those of you who like to

sing). 

We'll get down to business anew next week. In the meantime

let us be of good cheer and mark our having made it to 

another brand new year to enjoy! God bless!

MEM