Olivia de Havilland, R.I.P.

Olivia de Havilland, a very beloved actress from the Golden Age
of Film, appearing in classics such as Captain Blood,
Gone With The Wind, To Each His Own, The Heiress,
The Adventures of Robin Hood, and They Died With Their
Boots On, and the last surviving film luminary of her era,
went to join her friends and colleagues shortly after her 104th
birthday in July. Best known for her role as Melanie Wilkes
in the second of these aforementioned films, in which she
played a physically unimposing yet indomitable woman
with a blend of graciousness and quiet strength, and a
dash of courage. In real life, de Havilland exhibited these
same qualities during some tense times in the film industry.

In the 1940s de Havilland played a key role in thwarting the
Communist subversion of Hollywood. After having met
President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1940 as a 24-year-old
actress, she became an ardent supporter. Four years later
she joined the pro-FDR Independent Citizens' Committee
of the Arts, Sciences, and Professions, which had for its
members famous actors such as Humphrey Bogart, Gregory
Peck, and Bette Davis. British-born and having recently
become a U.S. citizen, she thought this a fine thing to do.
She would soon get more than she bargained for; the
ICCASP's membership had more than a few Communists
in its numbers. Its leader, Hannah Dorner, was a secret
member of the Communist Party. De Havilland soon
discovered that the Executive Committee of the group
always sided with the Soviet Union in foreign policy
matters and was always critical of the United States.
This was a dead giveaway to de Havilland; wondering
why this was so, some investigating on her part revealed
a small cadre of people controlling the organization made
these decisions without the knowledge of the majority
of the general membership.

De Havilland took immediate action by inviting a small
group of actors, writers, and producers to her home to
discuss what course of action to take to wrest control of
the ICCASP from the reds. One of the actors present was
a friend who would go on to have quite a career in politics,
future U.S. President Ronald Reagan. They drafted a
declaration to oppose the Communist control of the
group, with the latter using the FDR-supporting organiza-
tion as a front group. The declaration was roundly rejected,
and de Havilland soon after resigned her membership, followed
by Reagan and other Hollywood figures. But not much later on,
de Havilland and her allies would win out, as the
ICCASP consequentially folded and the communist threat to
the U.S. film industry would dissipate in the 1950s. She made
her Hollywood colleagues choose between being
advocates for liberal democracy and being stooges for the
Communism, spreading Soviet propaganda through the
industry and onto movie screens around the country;
for this Olivia de Havilland should be praised and
remembered for her courage and her patriotism even
more than for her wonderful acting and the films she
appeared in.

Oh, and she fought the Hollywood studios and their powerful
moguls for actors' rights; she won that battle, too.

Requiescat in pace, courageous lady. You have set both an example
and a standard on the silver screen, and more importantly,
in life. Thank you for your legacy.



MEM

The Democrats' Inclusiveness Does Not Include Pro-Lifers

Your favorite Peasant has commented here on the dwindling
ranks of the pro-lifers in the Democrat Party. Here is an update:
Some time earlier the Democratic Attorneys General Association
announced to the party faithful that they will from now on give
monetary and strategic assistance only to AG candidates who
publicly commit and adhere to the Dem's pro-abortion orthodoxy,
which includes opposing any restrictions on abortion. Those who
stand for the right to life for the unborn humans or have even the
tiniest qualm about eliminating the tiny humans awaiting their births
need not apply for said help, nor even run for their states' AG offices
(or any offices, period); the Democrat Party will even run candidates
more to their liking against them in the state Democrat primaries.

Now, in Louisiana pro-life Governor John Bel Edwards was re-elected
to another gubernatorial term; this after having signed a bill that
requires doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges
at a nearby hospital. There in the South, Democrats that win statewide
races largely do so by demonstrating their independence from their
party's predominant national left wing -- especially its stand on
abortion.

Your supportive Peasant commends these courageous Democrats for
their principled and unwavering stands. Whether they will ever make
a comeback in their increasingly extremist party, or one day exit
the party to join the Republicans, form a pro-life third party, or
take some different political tack is something that only the future
can reveal, but their party is making itself more and more irrelevant
to the mainstream voters in our electorate --- who are pro-life or at
least have serious questions and concerns regarding the morality
of abortion --- and just happen to be the majority of said electorate.
Something's got to give; stay tuned.


MEM

To Debate or Not Debate?

Recently the Commission on Presidential Debates scheduled
three debates for the presumptive Democrat nominee, Joe
Biden and the incumbent President Donald Trump. But some
observers of our political scene think that perhaps the debates
should not be held at all. Elizabeth Drew, a liberal journalist
who was a panelist during one of the 1976 debates, declared
"The debates have never made sense as a test for presidential
leadership," because points get awarded for "snappy comebacks
and one-liners."

There is some truth to her argument, but in this uniquely weird
and unsettling year it is all the more important that the debates
are held, for the Covid-19 pandemic has forced the postponement
and/or cancellations of many political rallies, making for less
opportunities to see the candidates in the flesh. The conventions
will be almost totally online. Biden hasn't done any Sunday
shows since the pandemic arrived on our shores. Then, too,
one must note that Biden has been kept out of the public eye
as much as possible by his campaign team because of his increased
(and increasing) propensity for uttering more gaffes; a few years
ago on this blog your favorite Peasant called Biden "The Gaffemaster
General of the United States". With his seemingly diminished
mental facilities which has been increasingly obvious in recent
months Team Biden has been anxious to prevent further instances
of what has become the country's worst-kept secret.

The former Vice President, if he were to win the presidential election
in November, would take office at age 78 ---  making him the oldest
president American history. Biden has already confused Iowa with
Ohio on a campaign stop there a few months earlier, has confused
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson with the late former PM
Margaret Thatcher, and bragged about putting together the Paris
climate accord with Chinese head of state Deng Xiaoping ---
perhaps Biden enlisted the aid of a medium to do this, as Deng
has been dead since 1997. And these are but a few examples of
his increasing cognitive lapses.

The debates can certainly be overhauled so as to improve the quality
of the candidates' responses to questions and retorts to verbal jabs.
Better this than cancel the debates altogether, which will leave much
of the public out of the loop for getting a feel for the candidates and
their stands on the pressing issues of the day, thus helping them to
make up their minds as to whom to vote for. And since Biden likes
to rip on President Trump, calling him a racist, a liar, and inept as
our president from the safety of his bunker, as it were, he should
have the courage to face his target up close and personal and repeat
his slurs.

Let the candidates compete; keep and hold the debates!


MEM

How to Restore Order to Troubled Cities

After over sixty straight days of rioting and destruction,
Portland, Oregon has had a dramatic reversal in its
sorry fortunes. What happened?

Portland, like some other major U.S. cities, have seen
violent outbreaks after the death of George Floyd, the
black man who died when a white Minneapolis police
officer kneeled on his neck in order to restrain him,
but cut off his oxygen in the process resulting in Floyd's
death. Portland's mayor, Ted Wheeler, prior to the
violence there, had in effect given control of Portland
to radical groups not adverse to relying on violence in
order to get what they want, refused to let the city's
officers do their jobs and quell the rioting and looting.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown likewise refused to dispatch
the state's National Guard to Portland to restore order.
So President Trump stepped in, sending federal marshals
to Portland to do the work that the local police should
have done had they not been ordered to stand down by
Mayor Wheeler.

In the short time that the marshals were there,
they succeeded in preventing any further attacks on the
federal courthouse as well as any subsequent rioting
and general violence. After this episode the local
police were then freed up to do their jobs, and have
been keeping a lid on further mayhem. Acting Homeland
Security Secretary Chad Wolf hailed the relative calm,
tweeting that "stepping up and doing the right thing should
not take 60 days."

With President Trump's intervention in Portland, as well as
similar ones in some other cities (including your Peasant's
Milwaukee), he is letting city residents know that there is
nothing making shooting, looting, and burning unavoidable,
that it is the result of the horrible choices to let it all happen
by the mayors and other public officials who couldn't care
less about the safety of their cities' residents. These same
officials then criticize the actions of the president and the
feds sent to their cities instead of the rioters.

This summer has had some parallels to the summer of 1968
in which a riot broke out in Chicago, just outside the site
of the Democrats' national convention. There were riots in
other cities, Milwaukee included, in reaction to the Vietnam
War and to racial tensions. The American people reacted
by electing Republican Richard Nixon president, steering
clear of the Democrats and the view of what the country
might have looked like under their governance. One big
difference here is that Republican Donald Trump is the
incumbent seeking a second term, and the electorate is
seeing the contrast between President Trump's decisive
actions taken to restore and preserve order and safety in
our urban areas as opposed to the Democrat mayors and
governors enabling the forces of anarchy and attendant
crimes by sitting on their hands. President Trump
and the Republicans will reap a victorious harvest in
November, and history will have repeated itself.

This is how you restore order to the troubled cities;
you do the jobs of the local authorities in order to get
them to do their jobs themselves.


MEM

Herman Cain, R.I.P.

Another conservative luminary has passed; Herman Cain,
one-time Godfather's CEO who turned around
the restaurants' fortunes when it was on the brink of
closure after successfully managing Burger King franchises,
computer analyst, political analyst, Republican presidential
candidate, motivational speaker and author, died this
morning after battling cancer and coronovirus (a/k/a
COVID-19), aged 74.

Cain, a graduate of Morehouse College and a longtime
resident of Atlanta, Georgia, was an unafraid, unabashed
conservative at a time when black conservatives were
still oddities. His campaign for the Republican nomination
was thwarted by allegations of sexual misconduct made by
two women when he was head of the Restaurant Association
in the 1990s. Although he denied the allegations, calling them
"false and unproven", he made financial settlements with both
women. A third claimed that she had a 13-year extramarital
affair with Cain, who also denied the claim, yet still settled
financially with the woman.

Having had a radio show before launching his 2012 White House
campaign, Cain Returned to radio in 2013 for a spell.
In 2018 he would launch a TV show on Newsmax TV.

Cain was instrumental in breaking down the color and racial
barriers, demonstrating that conservatism can translate to all
people regardless of whichever groups they are a part of.
He would often call himself  "an ABC candidate"; American,
black, and conservative, tweaking the noses of many liberals.
Cain was also forceful and unreserved in standing up to racist
attitudes in the circles he traveled in, putting the boot to
Democrat party claims that he was no more than window
dressing for the GOP.  Cain was a powerhouse for social,
political, and economic good for blacks, and a force for
limited government and free enterprise benefiting all.
The Peasant does have to wonder, however, why Cain
paid money to the claimants of sexual impropriety even
though he strongly disputed their claims. A marring of an
otherwise stellar record of public service in both the public
and private sectors.

May Herman Cain rest in peace.


MEM

Charlie Daniels, R.I.P.

A few weeks ago, a legend in country music, a
true God and Country gentleman, and my very
favorite country music performer, Charlie Daniels,
took his fiddle and his clear, distinctive voice
up to heaven. Aged 83, Daniels had a hemorrhagic
stroke on July 6 from which he didn't recover.

Daniels, a member of the Country Music hall of Fame
as well as the Grand Ol' Opry in Nashville, Tennessee
was a singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist who was
also a farmer, a proud southerner who represented the
best of the south, the music, and the culture of the
region. With the Charlie Daniels Band, they de-
lighted audiences all over the country, including in
nearby Waukesha, Wisconsin, having appeared at the
Waukesha County Fair (Your admiring Peasant wanted
so much to go, but I couldn't get out of a commitment
scheduled for that very evening; it would be the only
opportunity to see Charlie in concert). Of their many
hits, a particular favorite with their fans was
"The Devil Went Down To Georgia" (also a favorite
of mine). Whenever Daniels, a stalwart conservative,
was a guest on Sean Hannity's radio show he and
Sean would break into that very song to the delight of
your favorite Peasant and the fans of both men.

Charlie Daniels and his band toured for forty years,
spreading their Southern rock blended with classic
country storytelling everywhere they played. Daniels
was also a tireless advocate of servicemen and women,
as well as a fearlessly outspoken champion of the unborn
and many other conservative causes. He said that although
he was a longtime Democrat and a supporter of President
Jimmy Carter, Daniels left the Democrats when they began
their leftward march. Charlie Daniels loved his country,
and his country loved him back! Even people who weren't
country music fans, many of whom hardly ever listened
to it, became fans of Charlie Daniels, his band, and country
music itself.

Your saddened Peasant misses Charlie not only for his music
but for his patriotism, his faith, his storytelling, and good cheer.
What a contrast to so many performers around in the wake
of his passing who take for granted or put down our wonderful
country, even though the success they enjoy would have been
difficult, if not impossible, to achieve in many other countries.
And what toe-tapping music! I bet right now that ol' Charlie
has the angels line dancing to his songs and tunes.

Rest well, Charlie. Yours was a life well-lived. R.I.P.


MEM

The Battles of President Trump

The three year drama over President Donald J. Trump being

president of our grand country has climaxed with the acquittal

by the United States Senate of President Trump of charges 

that he abused his presidential power and obstructed Congress. 

With the vote count for conviction and removal from office 

far short of the 67-vote requirement, President Trump shall

remain in office to serve out his term, and will not be prevented

from running for a second term. Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT)

was the sole Republican senator to vote for conviction on either

charge, voting to remove the president on the first charge.
But this means nothing to the Democrats, nor to the Left.

Ever since Trump was elected, never mind being inaugurated, 

the Democrats and the far-left outside of the party have been

crying "Foul!", "Unfair!" and worse. They made countless 

attempts either to block him from taking office or to remove 

him from same. Regarding the former, they tried to sway 

members of the Electoral College from states which Trump

won to not vote for him. Concerning the latter, they have tried 

accusing and blaming the 45th president of and for a host of

nonsensical hogwash, including attempting to coerce a foreign

government (Ukraine) and entice another (Russia) into interfering

with the presidential election won by Trump. They even tried 

to get him kicked out of office over things which may (or may

not) have happened in Trump's pre-presidential past. They

tried to pin on the man everything, it seems, but being a serial

killer! The Democrat-controlled House of Representatives, 

run by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi who, by the way, has tried 

mightily to obstruct nearly everything President Trump tried 

to do by defeating or holding up legislation which would have,

for one example, fully funded the construction of the border wall

on our southern border to stop further illegal immigration, 

a project supported by a growing number of Americans, proving 

that the Dems and their fellow lefties have been trying to make 

the country ungovernable for the president. Finally, the House Dems

drew up impeachment papers in attempting to remove President

Trump from office, claiming him to be a threat to our democracy

and to national security. The Articles of Impeachment were 

delivered to the Senate, performed in theatrical solemnity by

Speaker Pelosi and some of her fellow Dems, putting on a show 

for both their supporters and for their own egos. 

Well, everything was hashed out on the House floor, with each

of the Pelosi cabal's charges found to have no factual substance,

no merit, and no credibility. One of their impeachment floor 

managers, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), looked more and more

desperate as he kept launching a charge, hoping it would give 

some weight to the two impeachment charges; they all went over

like an air force of lead balloons. When the Senate's turn came

the majority Republicans (except for not-a-team-player Sen.

Romney, more on his perfidy later) voted to acquit the besieged

president of both impeachment charges, thus bringing the sham

of a trial to its well-deserved end at last. Soon afterward, 

President Trump gave his State of the Union Address before 

Congress, and he listed his accomplishments, promises kept,

and the resultant upturn of the country followed by outbursts

of thunderous applause from the Republicans while the 

Democrats sat stone-faced, petulantly silent, and looking like

they each lost loads of money on a supposed "sure thing" at

a racetrack. At the end of the president's address to Congress

and the nation, Speaker Pelosi made an act that truly said it 

all for her sorry, corrupt, pathetic party === she tore up the copy

of the SOTU speech given her by President Trump. Now, it is

customary for the president to give a copy of this important 

speech to the Speaker of the House after delivering it to both

Congress and the people; its is a terrible breach of protocol as

well as an appalling lack of manners for the Speaker to destroy 

the copy, especially before all assembled in the House chamber

and all viewing it on TV. The act merely exhibited the pettiness,

petulance, spitefulness, and just plain immature behavior on

Pelosi's part. 

The Democrats in both chambers have stated, prior to the 

impeachment hearings, that there was no time to lose in getting 

the president impeached and removed from office, with the 

general election coming in just nine months and that it was 

imperative, so very urgent, in doing this deed rather than let

the people decide in the election. This signaled the Democrat's 

view of the American people as clearly as clear can be; let's 

not let the peasants decide Trump's fate as far as the presidency 

is concerned, for they voted for him in 2016 and would likely

do so again in November, for they don't have the smarts or the

good sense to vote for our candidate, the hayseed hicks!

They left no doubt as to their opinion of We the People and 

their fitness to choose whom they would have govern over them.

This entire story illustrates just how great the danger is of losing

our republic, our Constitution and constitutional rule of law,

and our freedom. It also illustrates our urgent need to get out 

and vote on Election Day this November. When one of our two

political parties embraces full-on statism, a complete disregard

for the Constitution and its restrictions on the activities of the

government, and an insatiable hunger for power driving said

party toward totalitarianism, that party must be brought down

--- not just at the ballot box, but in both the courts of law and

of public opinion, confidence, and trust. 

And now, the Democrats and the Left are trying to make political
hay out of the Coronovirus episode to get President Trump
hounded out of office by conning the people re: what he has
or has not done to deal with the pandemic. They will not quit,
they will never rest until Trump is gone, by hook or by crook.
They are relentless, and so must we be in supporting the
president.

MEM