John Glenn, R.I.P.

Your apologetic Peasant is most regretful for not mentioning
the passing of Astronaut and United States Senator John Glenn
sooner. John Herschel Glenn Jr., who was also an engineer
and a decorated U.S. Marine Corps fighter pilot who flew
missions in WWII and the Korean War, died on December 8
of last year, having attained the grand age of 95.

Born in Cambridge, Ohio, to a plumbing service firm owner
and a schoolteacher, Glenn studied engineering at Muskingum
(OH) College. For a credit in his physics class, Glenn earned a
private pilot's license, a portent of things to come for the then-
engineering student. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor,
bringing the country into the Second World War, Glenn quit
college, just short of graduation in order to enlist in the U.S.
Army Air Corps. Frustrated at never getting called to duty,
Glenn enlisted as a U.S. Navy aviation cadet three months
after the attack on Pearl Harbor. During his Navy training,
Glenn accepted an offer to transfer to the U.S. Marine Corps
to become a fighter pilot with that branch.

After serving in combat Glenn became a test pilot for the U.S.
Navy, and became an astronaut when the United States started
its space program. Glenn, then a colonel in the Marines, made
his famous flight aboard Friendship 7 in which he became the
first American to orbit the Earth, the third American in space,
and the fifth person in space. He became the latest testament to
the "can do" ethos of the American nation and its people;
the confidence possessed by her people that they can accomplish
any task, achieve any goal, and overcome any challenge as a nation.

During his 24 years of service as a United States senator from
his native Ohio, Glenn returned to space as a crew member of
the spaceship Discovery as its payload specialist. He was 77
at the time and became a hero again, this time to America's
seniors for his adventurous accomplishment. The "can-do"
ethos shone again with Senator Glenn as its shining star.
Glenn also ran for president in 1984,but lost his party's (Democrat)
nomination to former Vice President Walter Mondale.

In 1983, Glenn was portrayed as one of the Mercury 7  astronauts
that orbited Earth in the movie "The Right Stuff". It was a
tremendous honor which also made Glenn more of a real-life
hero in the eyes of many, rather than a comic book-esque
hero figure.

After an undisclosed illness, following a remarkably long and healthy
life of adventure, accomplishment and service, John Glenn
embarked upon the Ultimate Flight. Godspeed, sir. Your legacy
shall live for all time in our country's memory. You made us all
the more proud to be Americans.


MEM

School Choice Gives More Bang for Less Bucks

Your Beertown-based Peasant doesn't like to brag ---
oh, yes he does, when it's about something that puts
the Left's nose out of joint! Milwaukee's landmark
voucher program is not just the talk of my town,
but is on the minds and tongues of much of the country.
Liberal politicians and activists adamantly opposed to
school choice contend that vouchers and charter schools
deprive traditional public schools of money, but the fact
is that these charter, or choice schools, typically spend
less money per student. Moreover, a recent study
conducted by WILL (Wisconsin Institute for Law and
Liberty), a nonprofit organization that advocates for
educational reform and limited government, discovered
that students participating in Milwaukee's voucher
program will provide the city, state, and children
nearly half a billion dollars in economic benefits through
2035 thanks to more students graduating and less
of them getting arrested and sentenced to prison or
juvenile hall.

Basing their study on data from a crime and graduation
study by Corey DeAngelis and Patrick Wolf at the
University of Arkansas, WILL's study finds that through
2035 Wisconsin will receive a $473 million benefit from
higher graduation rates by school choice students.
More and better education makes for higher incomes for
the students when they are ready to begin their careers,
more tax revenue for Wisconsin's treasury, and a less
likely need for welfare, food stamps, or other payments
from government social programs. No wonder so many
Democrats and left-wing activists are chewing their
fingernails down to their knuckles! In addition, the
resultant greater economic opportunity also takes away
the urge for young adults to turn to lives of crime, which
WILL's study estimates will save Wisconsin $1.7 million
from decreasing misdemeanors and $24 million from
waning felonies over the same time period.

If the lefties were really concerned about the plight of the
inner city children trapped in the deteriorating public
school system's inept and ineffective schools and their
futures, given their propensity to spend our tax monies like
drunks in a bar on social programs which only promote
dependency rather than independence and economic
opportunity you would think that they would jump at the
chance to support school choice. But then, their intransigence
speaks volumes about their agenda and their true priorities.


MEM

The Peasant Regroups

Friends, I need a bit of time off in order to take care
of some personal business as well as to have some
down time so I can refresh myself and be back with
you in good repair.

Meanwhile, enjoy this fine online publication:

Blabber Buzz     blabber.buzz/       

Don't worry; the site has a goofy name but it is
a wonderful conservative news site that delivers
the very latest in controversial political, entertainment,
and lifestyle news. Your favorite Peasant has been
enjoying this website for quite a while, and I think you
will too!

See you all shortly!


MEM

Mary Black - Song for Ireland - Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Obamacare Continues to Slide Into Oblivion

When given the chance, many Americans will dodge and
have dodged ObamaCare's rules and limits. And who can
blame them.

The Affordable Health Care Act's mandates and regulations
are a big driver of higher health care costs. Happily, there are
health care plans that are not in compliance with the ACA's
rules that are very persistent. These rules were, of course,
created for two bad purposes: to make our nation's health
care industry serve politically progressive political goals,
and to squelch and minimize opposition from people who,
through this legislation, lost the health coverage that they
were quite satisfied with.

ObamaCare then "grandfathered" plans that existed before
March 23, 2010, when the legislation became law, making
this alternate coverage still legal as long as these insurers
made no major changes, such as decreasing benefits for
the policyholders. Then, in 2013, other plans in force that
year also were granted a regulatory commutation, so when
people were scheduled to be booted off of their non-Obama-
Care plans the regime waved through renewals. An extension
allowed these "grandmothered" plans to remain until 2017.

These plans are not required to comply with ObamaCare's
lofty "essential benefits" coverage floor, and are not required
to obey tight price controls which limit how much premiums
can differ based on pre-existing medical conditions. So, four
years into this health coverage program, over 8 million people
are still in these "grandfathered" and "grandmothered" plans.
Most of these plans are non-ObamaCare compliant, with
a majority of thus insured reporting satisfaction with their
plans, as opposed to those satisfied with their ACA plans.

So what we have here are a great many people opting out of
ObamaCare when given the chance. President Trump and the
GOP Congress should, with alacrity, deregulate this mess en
route to full repeal, ensuring Americans will retain the right
to upgrade to more generous benefits, while the ACA-banned
cheaper plans will have their ban lifted. These measures would
be wonderful first steps along the path to restoring a market-
based health care system, the likes of which we Americans
once enjoyed and was the envy of the world.


MEM

Some People Can't Handle Democracy

Since the inauguration of Donald J. Trump as our
45th president and the installment of our still-
Republican Congress, the lefties have gone beyond
ballistic in their response to it all. Starting with
Inauguration Day they, in the parlance of their
hippie forebearers, "let it all hang out", man.
Your angered yet amused Peasant has some of the
gory details:

On Friday, January 20, what began as a morning of
peaceful protests along with coordinated disruptions
of the inauguration ceremony had degenerated into
street violence. At least three people were taken to
the hospital, two of them DC police, with injuries.
Black-clad self-proclaimed "antifascist" protesters
destroyed bus stops and smashed storefront windows,
including those of a Starbucks coffeehouse (didn't these
geniuses know that Starbucks was founded and is owned
by Howard Schultz, a fellow lefty?), as well as those of a
limousine and several police squad cars, along with
pelting the police with rocks. Some of them even showed
up at the ceremony itself and the inaugural ball, attempting
to block entrances to the events to keep Trump supporters
out. And these people claim to be the champions of
democracy, pluralism, and tolerance.

Similar protests took place in some other major U.S. cities
as well, including Seattle, Portland, Dallas, Chicago and
New York. There were, however, protests --- including
parades --- which were in fact peaceful throughout, but
very, very bizarre. One such rally had a pop star, Madonna
(yes, she's still around), swear at her and her fellow
protesters' detractors, spewing "F*** YOU!" repeatedly
at them. Actress Ashley Judd, I think she was at the same
rally, ranted about President Trump in connection with her
"bloody sheets" (a remark regarding her menstruation; no,
really! She meant EXACTLY that!) and that Trump's election
is somehow rape (honestly, you CAN'T make this stuff up!).
I could say more, but I want to be respectful of those of you,
my wonderful readers, whose stomachs may be rather delicate,
and those readers who may be youngsters. Oh, and there were
radical feminists marching in a parade wearing (no blarney!)
caps on their heads resembling vaginas (!), and some others were
wearing (wait for it!) vagina costumes (!!). Yes, these "ladies"
were dressed up as their own sex organs! Rush Limbaugh hit
the bull's eye when he said on his show, and he has said this many
times, that the Left is at their wackiest when they are out of
power. Judging from what has transpired around the country
with this bunch, I'd say that Rush's assessment of them is
spot on!

The left-wing festivities included many of the usual suspects in
attendance: the Black Lives Matter crowd; the "Greenies"; the
hard-core Marxists, be they in a political group or not;  radical
gender-rights groups who, among other things, advocate for
there to be no longer two gender-designated restrooms, as
they discriminate against transsexuals and ... you get the idea.
And a headache to boot. Your exasperated Peasant could use
a few aspirin tablets about now!

So as to save you, my hearty readers, further shock, disbelief,
nausea, and various pains in the head and the abdominal area,
I shall now close this post with a few parting thoughts:
The lefties, who have been lurching more and more leftward,
are now on a land rocket ride to even farther-left territory,
and their main organ the Democrat Party has moved along just
a wee bit behind them. In fact, some Democrat members of
Congress have publicly praised the protesters in Washington
and in the other aforementioned cities. In recent years, every time
the Democrats lose an election, be it at the state level or national,
now including the most recent presidential election, they
actually believe that the overriding reason they lost was that they
didn't go far enough to the left. Never mind the fact that We the
People have, in each of these elections, made our preference
clear for the politics and governance of constitutionally limited
government rather than those of an all-encompassing statist regimen.
But hey, let the Dems and their pals keep moving along their
chosen path to political Palookaville; for that is where they will
eventually end up if they fail to learn the lessons of their failed
campaigns, the most important one being that we don't want
totalitarianism to any degree, in any form. Personally, I don't
think that the Left is smart enough to figure this out.


MEM

Alan Colmes, R.I.P.

A well-known and respected (on both sides of the political
divide) political commentator on television and radio
for many years, Alan Colmes, passed away after a brief
illness on February 23, aged 66.

A stand-up comedian as a young man, Colmes gravitated to
the media and the news for his career path. A staunch and
unapologetic liberal, Colmes could advocate for his political
beliefs and his favored candidates without being boorish
or bullying. He made as many friends among conservatives
as he had among his fellow liberals; one conservative friend
was television and radio talk show host Sean Hannity, with
whom Colmes made up the Fox TV news commentary duo
Hannity & Colmes. Although the two had spirited debates
on the political issues of the day, they always had the utmost
respect and admiration for each other, and were very close
friends. They maintained offices next door to each other at
the Fox TV studio right up until Colmes' untimely demise.
Hannity stated that Colmes was "one of life's most decent,
kind and wonderful people you'd ever want to meet."
Colmes once even went so far as to publically urge the
Democrats to spend less time attacking the Right, in the
2012 campaign season, to instead be positive and to share
specifics about their own plan for the country. Colmes
also said that they had to get better at messaging, because he
saw the Republicans doing a bettr job at it (which, your surprised
Peasant admits, is not what I saw and remember from that
election!). He could be as unsparing in his criticism of his
fellow Democrats and liberals as he was of the Republicans
and conservatives, for he wanted to see campaigns be conducted
to inform people more fully and to frustarte them much less.
In this way, Colmes advocated for the public to benefit from
their electoral experience in our elections, for the country would
so benefit.

Colmes' wife, Jocelyn Crowley issued a statement in tribute:
"He was a great guy, brilliant, hysterical, and moral. He was
fiercely loyal, and the only thing he loved more than his work
was his (family) life. He will be missed."

Other friends and colleagues paid tribute and respects:

Brit Hume: "So sad to hear of the death of Fox News colleague
Alan Colmes. He and I agreed on little, but I liked him immensely."

Megyn Kelly: "Heartbroken my friend Alan Colmes has died.
He lit up the Fox News Channel halls with his kindness and
humor ... prayers for his family."

Gov. Mike Huckabee: "Just heard of the death of Alan Colmes;
the kind of liberal I loved --- smart, witty and fair, never backed
up, but always backed up his views. RIP."

Ann Coulter: "WHAT? Alan Colmes passed away? Noooooooooooo!
Very sad. He was a good guy. Always surprised people that way."

And your faithful Peasant says: Alan Colmes was the sort of liberal
I would love to meet for a good, honest, clean political discussion,
a rarity these days. I feel sorrowful over never having had the
opportunity to meet Colmes, and I shall pray for him, his family,
and his friends and colleagues. God rest you, Alan Colmes. You
left our political scene a far better place, and you will be difficult
to replace. Rest in peace.



MEM