THE FIRST AMENDMENT IS LAW. SORRY HOWARD DEAN

“Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

Does any of this sound familiar? It should because it is the first amendment to the Constitution. It is the first of ten amendments which are known as the Bill of Rights.

I am writing about this because of what is only the latest of a long line of idiotic pronouncements by the lame liberal left. This time it was infamous screamer and perennial loser, Howard Dean. Howie tweeted out that, using his words, hate speech is not protected by the first amendment. This all has to do with a speech Ann Coulter is due to deliver at the University of California at Berkeley. She has been invited, dis-invited and now re-invited to speak on campus.

According to Dean and morons like him, any speech with which they disagree, is not protected by the first amendment. I suppose in their world the only speech allowed, or religion allowed, or news media publication, would be speech they had previously approved. I don’t think you could get away with that even in Russia. Maybe North Korea, but few places in the world would permit that view.

A part of the greatness of America, though, is that morons, even millionaire morons like Howard Dean, can say whatever they want. They can demonstrate their idiocy for all the world to see and do it freely because they are protected by the same Constitution they would use to try and muzzle Ann Coulter.

I am told that Howard Dean has a constituency. He has people who agree with him. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t want to be associated with someone like Howard Dean. I put him in the same box as Elizabeth Warren. These are people who seem to want to change this great country into something else. They want a European style socialist utopia. They want this, however, only if they get to make the laws and establish the rules.

That’s where despotic dictatorships like the Soviet Union and Red China came from. Cuba became such a dictatorship under Castro. Look at these places now. Look at Venezuela. That country may now break apart completely.

When are morons like Warren and Dean and their ilk going to come to the understanding that Socialism doesn’t work? America is a right of center country with a strong work ethic and a strong sense of self-responsibility. Patriotism, love of country, and basic Christian principles are the guiding tenets of American life.

The same first amendment that guarantees Ann Coulter the right to speak, guarantees Howard Dean the right to make a fool of himself. The New York Times is also guaranteed the right to print whatever nonsense they want and call it news. I don’t have to buy it or read it. And of course, I don’t. In fact, I have said that I wouldn’t wrap my dead rotting fish in that newspaper for fear the fish would be contaminated by the process.

Freedom can sometimes be ugly. It gives every citizen the right to be wrong. One can obey the law or not. It is up to them. Freedom of speech gives Ann Coulter the right to say whatever is on her mind. You don’t have to like it or even listen to it. Howard Dean has the right to show his ignorance of our basic rights. Another thing  Howard Dean should understand though, is there is also a second amendment. That amendment serves also to guarantee the first one.

Ron Scarbro

I THINK I HAVE FOUND MY SAFE SPACE

The latest demand for the youth of our country is to have “safe spaces.” This is especially true on some of our college campuses. It seems the new order of the day is that no one is allowed to be offended. Now, that offense can occur in any number of ways from so-called micro-aggressions to all out attacks. So there must be safe spaces for these habitually offended persons to hide from the reality of life. The latest is the University of California at Davis where they have decreed that the American flag might be offensive to some students so it must be barred from campus. Remember now this university is supported by taxpayer dollars and wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for a strong military flying this same flag.

I recall when I was a young adult, maybe twenty something, if I had thought I needed a safe space, my First Sgt. would have told me to dig a deeper foxhole. If today’s youngsters think they are offended by micro aggressive behavior, they might want to consider what their parents and grandparents went through in their military service. I remember when I was ordered to salute a pine tree for an hour because I failed to salute some young second Lieutenant. It was my second day in the Army and I didn’t know a second Lieutenant from a pine tree but it made no difference. Trust me when I tell you, I knew from then on. Had I been offended, I would have been told to bundle up my offense and roll it in a round cone and find someplace to stick it.

I’ll tell you where I am going with this discussion. I sincerely believe we need to reinstitute the draft. Every youngster, male or female, should be required as the cost of their citizenship in this great country, to register and be available to be drafted into the military. Do you think things might be a little different then?

Those of you in my age group will remember when we all were looking just any day to be drafted and to then put our lives on hold until our obligation was completed. Some of the more cowardly, however, like a certain former President, ran away to other countries to escape the draft. Fortunately most stayed home and fulfilled their debt to America. Some, like me, even joined in order to have a little more choice in our service. Turns out that wasn’t to be. The Army took me and had their way with me and I became a better person for having had the experience. Even today I continue to be rewarded for my military service.

I have been told the military is opposed to the idea of a draft. They don’t want many of the young, self-centered kids of today. Many, if not most, probably wouldn’t even qualify on the basis of physical ability or intelligence. How sad is that?

I’ve been thinking about a safe space for my family and me. I think I found it. It is the United States of America. Imagine, if you will, life in Syria, or Libya, or maybe Cuba, Somalia, or even Venezuela. How about Iran or the Sudan? What would happen if the youngsters in those countries demanded a safe space? I suspect they would quickly discover the meaning of oppression.

We all take what we have here for granted. One of the main advantages of military service is that you get to see how other people live. You come away with a greater appreciation of life in America. If the youngsters of this country had to consider the possibility of being drafted, they might be a bit more aware of the world as it is, not as they imagine it in their fantasies.

Ron Scarbro

SOME STUFF THAT NEEDS TO BE SAID

In case there were any doubters, the events of the past few days should put to rest any idea that there wasn’t a new sheriff in town. The missile attack in Syria was more than an attack on Syria. It also served as a notice to Iran, China, North Korea and Russia that we are serious and that Barack Obama is gone. It will no longer be business as usual. The tin horn dictators of the world are, or should be, waking up to the idea that there will be consequences for bad actions.

Neil Gorsuch has been confirmed as Justice of the Supreme Court. That means the Constitution will once again be the law of the land. With any luck at all, there could be other vacancies on the Court soon. This means that a private bakery in Oregon or anywhere in the US can refuse to cater a wedding for homosexuals or anyone else they choose not to cater. Personally, I would have baked the wedding party a cake but I promise they would never hire me again once they tasted the cake.

The so-called mainstream media is once again making fools of themselves with their coverage of news events surrounding President Trump. They should be ashamed of themselves but that would require that they know what shame is. They are digging their own graves which is sad because I believe we need media. More importantly however, we need truth, not liberal leftist agenda.

Unless you live under a rock you have no doubt heard the Democrat’s latest line of garbage regarding Russia and the Trump Presidential campaign. This line of barnyard fertilizer reminds me of the carnivals who used to come to the small towns in rural America. They would set up their rides, and their games of chance. They would also set up a stage where scantily clad young ladies would come onto the stage and dance seductively to the music. While they were dancing and holding the rapt attention of the men in the audience, pickpockets would move among them relieving them of their valuables. The Democrats and their propaganda are the dancing girls. Fortunately, the girls are so ugly that most people are ignoring them. Sorry Senator Elizabeth Warren. I therefore have this prediction. The Russian story will soon go away in favor of some new wild eyed notion that they feel might help them explain how their miserable candidate for President lost the election.

I have this second prediction. Under the President’s new executive orders and policies, our economy is going to boom and the Democrats are going to find it increasingly difficult, if not impossible, to win any election. The farther they move to the left the harder it will be for them to survive. America is a right-of-center country and will continue to reject socialism.

There have been some other interesting tidbits in the news lately. California wants to secede from the union. I would vote in favor of that. That beautiful state has been destroyed by leftist policies and bad governing. Before they depart however, they might want to figure out how they are going to defend their borders and pay the bills for all of the non-citizens they have been caring for. I say let them go and in just a matter of months, when they are completely bankrupt, we go back in and take the state back. This time though we would require the laws of America be followed and enforced. Mayors or governors would not be exempt from jail for refusing to obey the law.

Over the next few days or weeks watch for our ships of war steaming into the waters off North Korea’s coast. We will also rearm those in the Mediterranean. Rex Tillerson is headed off to Russia to explain what we will be expecting from them going forward. If they are smart, they will pay attention. China has been told by now. It will be interesting to see how they respond.

Ron Scarbro

THE STRESS OF MEASURED TIME

Humans, we are told, occupy the highest level of intelligence in the animal kingdom. Humans are supposed to be the smartest of all the animals. If that is true, then how would you explain daylight saving time?

We just advanced our clocks one hour to daylight saving time. That reminds me of a cartoon I once saw that showed an Indian trying to explain the whole thing. He opined that white man was the only one on earth who believes you can cut a foot off the top of a blanket and sew it to the bottom and think you will wind up with a longer blanket.

Time is indeed a natural reality but the actual measuring of time is a human invention. Lesser animals tell time by daylight and darkness. They tell seasons by temperature. Mealtime is when hunger and opportunity meet and bedtime is when they are tired.

Humans are the only animals who know how old they are. And, I might add, the only ones who care. Think about this, humans and their pets are the only animals who die of old age. What if you were stranded in a mountain cabin with no electricity and no outside communication? You would have no clock. How long would it take you to figure out mealtime and bedtime? How about the seasons? If you were cold, you would figure out a way to get warm. If you were too warm, you would try to find a way to cool off. Mealtime again would be a meeting of hunger and opportunity and of course bedtime would come when you were tired.

In the natural world plants come alive in the spring. A combination of daylight and warmth causes them to start their annual growth process. They bear their leaves and their fruit. Within that fruit is the seed for the next generation. At the end of their growing season, they drop their fruit for the next generation to take root and ultimately replace them.

Most animals in the wild mate at such time as to have their offspring in the spring. That gives them the advantage of the warmth and the growing plants. Their lives are just that. They are born, they live for a period, produce offspring to replace them, and then they die making way for the next generation.

Sometimes I wonder what life would be like if we didn’t measure time. Imagine life without a clock. Imagine life without a calendar. What if you just ate when you were hungry and went to bed just when you were tired. Can you even wonder how much stress is caused by the need to adhere to measured time?

Most of us have to get up to go to work or school. We set our alarm clocks. We do that because to wake up when we are still sleepy requires another man made invention, the alarm clock. What if you could just wake up when your body had enough sleep? Many of us face commuter time going to work and returning home. Why? Because everybody else is on the same schedule. They all had to set their clocks too.

We do what we have to do to make a living, feed our families, and supply ourselves with the “necessities” of life. In so doing, we become slaves to measured time. Oh well, life is what it is.

Sometimes it is fun, though to just wonder about some things that have long been the norm, like the measuring of time. This all started because my wife mentioned the other day, it is already the end of March. Time is just flying by. We have both noticed that it seems to go much quicker as we get older. I also believe that time flies when you are having fun and we are both definitely having fun. We hope you are too.

Ron Scarbro