THE RASCAL BEHIND THE TREE

When a tragedy such as the school shooting in Florida occurs there seems to be a need to place blame. Now I am fine with blaming the shooter, but the popular notion is to blame almost everything and everybody else except the shooter. It was reported just today that the blame should fall upon the JROTC program. This was denounced as a war machine. The group, “Code Pink”, has asked that the program be eliminated from our schools. They went further to state the shooter was trained to be a marksman by the US Army in the JROTC program. So then it must be the fault of the Army that this shooter killed all those people. No, morons, it is the fault of the shooter. Not his guns, not his mother, not some societal woe either real or imagined, and most certainly not a program designed to prepare young people for real life.

Why is it that some among us must find a boogie man in every tragedy other than the actual villain who perpetrated the tragedy?

Consider Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. They just sued several major pharmaceutical manufacturers because three hundred thirty-six people died of opioid overdoses in their county last year. Their thinking is that it must be the fault of the supplier of the drugs rather than the abuser of the drugs. Never mind that these drugs are produced to benefit individuals in pain and they are designed to assist in the healing process. No, because some idiots abused the product, the manufacturer must be punished. And subsequently then anyone who actually needs this medication for real pain.

This reminds me of the lawsuits against cigarette manufacturers. Millions of dollars were awarded to plaintiffs for damages real or imagined in an effort to make everybody feel better. Poor bereaved widows and widowers had to have justice. Somebody had to pay.  Here again the thinking seems to be that smokers have no choice but to be controlled by the producers of cigarettes. As a former smoker I can tell you I never had a cigarette jump into my mouth and light itself. No, I made those stupid decisions myself and have no one but myself to blame for it. I can also tell you that, while it took me several years to arrive at the decision, I quit smoking because I believed it was harmful to my health.

What we are talking about is of course, personal responsibility. It has become fashionable to place responsibility on everyone and everything except the actual perpetrator.

Let’s talk guns. I am a gun owner. I have owned guns for most of my life. I use them for hunting, target practice but mostly for protection. Owning guns is my right as an American citizen. How I use those guns could be an issue. I have to be responsible. I have to keep my guns away from children. I never play with them. They are tools for responsible adults. If I don’t use my guns responsibly, then I could and should suffer the consequence of poor decisions.

As a youngster I often heard, “If it wasn’t you and it wasn’t me, then it must have been that rascal behind the tree.” Of course there wasn’t a rascal behind a tree, the rascal was me. It was a way of teaching personal responsibility.

We, as a country, are facing many problems. Most of those problems could be fixed by our just taking responsibility for our actions or our inactions. People born into poverty don’t have to continue their lives in poverty. People who believe they were denied a proper education don’t have to live their lives uneducated. In the final analysis we are all personally responsible for ourselves. There is no rascal behind the tree. Perhaps it’s only thee.

Ron Scarbro

I THINK I WOULD GO WITH THE ALPHA MALE

I saw an interesting item last week. A publication known as The Hollywood Reporter published a piece celebrating the rise of the “Beta Male”. The item was accompanied by pictures of several very feminine looking men with their hands in each other’s pockets. I have no idea what that was all about, but the point of the piece was that masculinity is passé and “metro-sexual” types are taking over. No more aggressive war-like men. From now on everybody will just get along. And we’ll all be “drinking free bubble up and eating rainbow stew.” I’m not making this up.

That got me thinking. President Trump is about to sit down with the dictator of North Korea and negotiate an end of that little country’s nuclear power. The goal of this meeting will be the complete denuclearization of the entire Korean peninsula. Why do you suppose little Kim decided to have a sit down with Trump? Is it because he thought Trump was a weak beta male? Or maybe he got the picture that if he didn’t, his entire country would be turned into radioactive rubble.

I recall the time when a particular alpha male, Ronald Reagan, was elected President. For 444 days before his election Iran had held as hostages 66 members of our consulate in Tehran. Reagan’s inauguration was January 20, 1981 and on that day the hostages were released. All the time they were held, beta male President Jimmy Carter tried to gain their release. He negotiated, begged, pleaded, and even tried a military rescue attempt. Nothing worked. But, on the day of Reagan’s inauguration they were released. Now, why do you suppose that happened? Do you think maybe Iran thought they would get a better deal from Reagan if they just gave us back our citizens? Or do you think maybe if they didn’t, they might be looking down the barrel of weaponry the likes of which the world had never seen? Seems pretty clear to me.

When President Reagan told Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall, do you suppose he did so because Reagan was a “beta male”? I think Gorbachev looked into his crystal ball and saw the complete annihilation of several of his cities and thought better of the whole wall thing. Let’s face it. The world respects power and strength and nothing else.

If you had to get into a foxhole, who would you rather have in there with you, John Wayne or Johnny Depp? If you had to get into that same foxhole and had a choice of Donald Trump or Barack Obama, who would you choose?

These scenarios offer a clear choice between alpha and beta males. Personally, I think I would go with the alpha male. How about you?

None of us know how these meetings with North Korea will turn out, but at least we are giving that little punk an opportunity to survive. He either sees the light or he will surely see the darkness.

Last week President Trump announced tariffs on imported steel and aluminum. The main stream media had a fit. Many, some in his own party, screamed that he will just upset our trading partners. Maybe, just maybe, our trading partners will see the same light and come to the understanding that we will no longer be their floor mat. There is a new sheriff in town and he’s an alpha male whether liberal types like it or not. And like I said earlier, personally I think I will go with the alpha male.

Ron Scarbro

DO WE HAVE THE MORALITY TO LIVE AS FREE PEOPLE?

Can a free people govern themselves if they lack morality? George Washington didn’t think so. He went so far as to opine that for our government and our way of living to succeed, we need religion. He believed that without integrity/religion, free people would fail.

I want to talk about integrity. Do you think we have integrity in our politicians? Have you ever wondered how someone making $100,000 a year could wind up as a millionaire after just a few years in Congress? I have. Where did that money come from and what did it buy? What really is a campaign contribution? Is someone buying legislation or just access?

On a personal level, as a very young manager of a private company working in a state capital, I was called upon by the president of that company to deliver a check to a certain politician. I was told this check, a very large check by the way, was to insure that a piece of legislation which served no one but our company, would be brought to a vote and would pass. At the time I worked for a loan company and the legislation allowed us to raise our rate of interest.

The legislation was in fact passed and we did raise our rates and no one was any the wiser. And, no I would not participate in anything like that today. At the time I was very young and thought I was just doing my job.

Watching the news today is a real experience. We see the latest elected official who is being accused of sexual molestation, we see high powered bureaucrats lying to cover themselves for criminal acts. We see politicians lying trying to get elected in order to get in on the gravy train. Where is the integrity? And can our way of life continue to succeed without it?

We are well into a new year. There will be an election this year whereby the House and many in the Senate will face the voters asking for reelection. Have they earned your vote? Have they displayed integrity? Have they put the country first and their party second? Is there any new blood waiting for their turn at the gravy train? These are indeed tough questions and the answers are just as tough.

The voters gave this country a tremendous gift in our last election. We elected a Republican Senate, House, and President and we are just now beginning to see the fruits ripen from that election. We have a serious jurist now in the Supreme Court and the very real possibility of more vacancies in the near future. We have had a great reduction in the number of onerous regulations which has stifled business for many years. We finally got real tax reform. The Obamacare mandate has ended. People will have more money in their pockets. All the while the “anti-Trumpers” are holding nothing back in their efforts to try to de-legitimize this President. The all out attack on Trump and his family is unprecedented. And, so far, nothing has stuck. The Russia collusion fable is going nowhere.

Finally, it seems the entire country is getting a belly full. The constant investigations, bad press, innuendo, and the just outright lies are giving the country a headache. The sky is not falling. Trump is our President and will probably be for yet another term. Get used to it liberals. The people are in charge, not just a few so-called elites in Hollywood or in New York.

How many denizens currently dwelling on the swamp of Washington DC are showing integrity? And how many of those are there because of special interest money and power? And whose side are they really on?

The final question is, do we the people have enough integrity to elect honorable people and hold their feet to the fire? Will our way of living survive?

Ron Scarbro

I HAVEN'T HAD TO KILL ANYBODY YET

I am a gun owner. In fact, I have been a gun owner for most of my life. As a young teen-ager I often went hunting with my brothers and friends. There were times when we went hunting both before and after school. For convenience we stored our guns in our school lockers. The school administration knew and didn’t care. It was just no big deal.

Now I realize times were different then but what I’m trying to understand is how did we get to where we are? In fact I never heard of a “school shooting” until well into my adulthood. Does that mean that we didn’t have crazies back then? What has changed?

I entered the Army when I was seventeen. Among the first things they did was assign me a rifle. And yes, it was a real rifle. We had extensive training in weaponry. Because of my early introduction to shooting as a youngster and the intense training provided by the Army, I became quite proficient. I earned the classification of “expert” marksman. That caused the Army to put me into a competitive shooting squad. It was great duty. Later during my enlistment, we traveled all over Europe in matches against other Armies of different countries. I was qualified on several weapons and still retain that knowledge.

Even though I am a gun owner with extensive knowledge and understanding of weaponry, I have never had occasion to shoot anybody. I have never held anybody at gunpoint or even threatened anybody. I know how. I know what to do. But, I have never had the need to kill anybody, yet.

So, the question has arisen since this last school shooting. Should someone like me, a veteran, a gun owner, a sane individual with extensive training and knowledge in weaponry, be required by some liberal politician to forego my rights as an American citizen and give up my guns? Here’s my answer. Not only no, but hell no.

I am not going to rehash all of the mistakes that occurred in Florida with that particular nut job, but it is sufficient to say they were many. He should never have been allowed near a gun let alone buy five of them. Attempting to take guns away from someone like me would never stop nut jobs like the Florida shooter from doing his ugly deeds.

Florida’s Governor has suggested that the state should put an armed police officer in every school in Florida. This would cost several hundred million dollars. My solution is much simpler and considerably less expensive. Select a few sane teachers, preferably former military members who would be willing, and train them in close combat shooting situations, buy them a serious handgun, give them a conceal carry permit, and advertise to all the crazies that schools are no longer gun free zones. I promise you this deadly carnage would be greatly reduced. It is never going to end because there will never be an end to insanity. We always have to deal with our reality.

Guns are definitely weapons of destruction. Just like an automobile in the hands of a drunk driver, or a knife being held by a homicidal maniac, or even a stick being used by someone intent on killing or maiming another. Gun control laws serve only to restrict people who obey laws. Homicidal maniacs are not usually counted among them. Just look at Chicago with all their gun control laws. It is all just nonsense.

Finally this last word. Our courts are doing no one any favors by being soft on the bad guys. Punks who use guns to commit their violence should be punished and punished harshly. No more one or two-year sentences for armed robbery or attempted murder. No. let’s have them spend twenty or thirty years in prison. Murderers should never see freedom again. While that may not rehabilitate them, at least they wouldn’t be on the street.

Ron Scarbro

TOO MANY GUNS OR TOO FEW???

Because of the shooting in southern Florida last week, the anti-gun forces are out in force. One should expect that response. These are people who believe that the passing of stricter gun laws would have stopped the nut case who killed those innocent youngsters and teachers.

Of course no law of any kind would have stopped this event or others like it in the past or in the future. Let’s face it. It is already illegal to bring a gun into a school. It is already illegal to commit murder. So, obviously this particular murderer broke existing laws and would most certainly break any new law if it got in the way of his intent.

The gun control people would have you believe there are too many guns. I contend there are too few guns. Consider how last week’s event might have been different had that coach been armed. What if any other teachers or administrators had been armed and trained in the use of firearms? Maybe this little punk killer might have thought hard before launching his attack had he known that teachers were armed rather than the school being a “gun free” zone. Here’s a pure fact. The only way to stop a gun is with a gun. Why is that so hard for some people to understand?

Let me share a few more interesting little tidbits with you. Across this country there are probably more guns than people. No law intended to get those guns out of their owners’ hands would ever be effective. Gun owners are never going to give up their weapons, period. The Second Amendment to the Constitution guarantees Americans the absolute right to keep and bear arms. Guns are used for hunting, target practice, and general defense. The vast majority of guns in this country are owned by the good guys. A very small minority use guns for illegal purposes. Trying to stop the good guys who would never commit a crime from owning weapons of self-defense would do nothing to stop the very few bad guys from getting guns. Just like drug laws have had very little effect on illegal drug use or drinking while driving laws have had similar failure in stemming drunk drivers, these prohibition laws are basically feel good legislation and nothing more.

So, what are we to do. First let me just say that my heart aches for the victims and the family members of the massacre in Florida. Like all of you I hurt when these situations happen. I hurt when storms come and kill innocent people. I hurt when lightning strikes some victim under a tree. I hurt when a drunk driver kills some innocent family just out for a drive. But, these things happen and they are going to happen. In reality last week on Valentine’s Day, 329,399, 950 people in this country were not killed by a nutcase in a school shooting. To the people involved, this was the worst day of their lives, no doubt, but it needs to be put in perspective.

We will not change that result by emotionally reacting and trying to change laws which have been in effect for over three hundred years.  

We are now learning a lot more about this particular killer. He was reported to authorities many times and nothing was done. He was crying out for someone to stop him and those in authority failed. We are absolutely going to have to be more attentive to individuals who need our intervention. Parents are going to have to know what their children are doing and with whom they are communicating. This kid had an AR 15 rifle in his room and tons of ammunition. Who knew about that? He was practicing shooting. Who knew about that?

We live in a free society. We cannot arrest someone for having bad thoughts, but we can make certain crazy people are controlled in some environment. Parents and guardians need to do their jobs.

Ron Scarbro

WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

You realize, of course, that this entire Russian investigation of Trump and the ensuing dueling memos from both the Republicans and the Democrats are the result of a Hillary Clinton fabrication? This whole mess is the result of a lie which sought to explain why Hillary lost the election. A compliant media along with some in the FBI and the CIA got on board probably at the insistence of President Obama. So, what should we do now? What would you do if you were the President and had his power for just a few days? What I would do?

I think my first act as President would be to call the Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, into my office and give him the following instruction. Jeff, you are hereby instructed to bring criminal charges against everyone who has been criminally implicated in the Hillary Clinton, FBI, State Department, and Justice Department investigation and subsequent cover-up. You will start with Hillary Clinton and all her hangers on and continue until all of the parties have been brought before a Grand Jury. For the good of the country these people either have to be prosecuted or cleared. Former and current employees of the FBI and the CIA will also have to answer for their acts. If they are innocent of any crimes, they will be cleared and sent on their merry way. But if any of them are found to be criminally culpable, then they should be prosecuted to the full measure of the law. Let the evidence decide, not pundits and talking heads. No one is above the law. I would have no problem seeing former or current elected individuals regardless of how high that office may be, dressed in orange jumpsuits and doing the perp walk.

Now some will say that such an act would cause a “constitutional crisis”. Well guess what. We already have a constitutional crisis. We have a swamp full of individuals who are totally deaf or just indifferent to our laws and good judgement. The sooner we rid ourselves of them, the better. We need to get this mess behind us.

I also think as a nation we need to reexamine who and why we elect some people to high office. Consider Bill Clinton. Clinton, a very minor player from a little town in Arkansas who was a draft dodger and a consummate liar as well as a womanizer, rise from obscurity to the highest office in our land. When some of his proclivities were discovered, he was impeached and disbarred. Then his wife, undeterred by her husband’s bad acts, decided she also wanted a piece of the power pie. Fortunately for this country the people decided that maybe they had had enough of the Clintons and she was defeated. Hooray for the voters.

But the question remains. How did this guy get to Washington in the first place? And how, after all we have now discovered, is he still looked up to by Democrats and liberals? The next question is how is it possible that anyone with any common sense would ever have voted for Hillary Clinton? She is nothing more than Bill Clinton, part deux. Maybe without the womanizing part.

Our world has become more dangerous than ever. We have punk dictators with nuclear bombs who are crazy enough to use them. We need serious adults in office. Today our Congress looks more like a fifth grade classroom playing with water balloons than a serious governing body. They would rather play politics than do their job. Got a budget anyone?

We all need true leaders to serve in Congress and then drain this swamp once and for all.

Ron Scarbro

THEATER OF THE ABSURD

Like most of you I watched the State of the Union speech last week. Over the years I have seen many. Most of these speeches are good, but for the most part they are predictable. The President, as required by the Constitution, addresses Congress and gives his account of how things are and again, according to the requirement by the Constitution, asks Congress for consideration of legislation to improve anything that needs improvement.

Lately with the advent of televised proceedings, these speeches have become “political theater.” The party in power stands and applauds while the opposition sits. It has all become quite predictable.

This last one was, however, anything but predictable. In fact, it was embarrassing. It was theater alright but it was theater of the absurd.  If I were a Democrat, and thank God I am not, I would be both embarrassed and ashamed. In all my years of observation of these events, never have I seen something so despicable.

I don’t expect the opposition to approve of the party in power but I do expect them to remain the “loyal opposition.” What we all witnessed was a group of overgrown children having a tantrum. I watched as Nancy Pelosi tended to her brood, the Democrats, and basically dared any one of them to stand or applaud anything the President had to say. They dutifully obeyed.

I am sure the Democrats think this is a winning philosophy. I am sure they believe their “resistance” to all things Trump is a winning tactic. Sadly for the Democrats the numbers tell a different story. Polls released after the speech found that the country approved of both the speech and President Trump by 75%. Another poll which had previously showed the democrats with a 14% lead over Republicans in the coming midterm elections has dropped to just 2%. And all of this is just in the wake of the State of the Union speech. If the Democrats aren’t scared, they should be. Pelosi, Schumer, Ellison, and Maxine Waters are the face of the Democrat party. That should frighten anybody.

This week all Americans who work for wages are seeing increases in their paychecks as the tax reform package kicks in. Many millions have or are receiving bonuses because of the tax break their employers received.

The punitive Obamacare mandate penalty has been eliminated, thereby giving another financial increase to millions across the country. Many of America’s great companies have announced increased spending, growing, and building right here in our country. Thousands of new jobs are being created. Billions of dollars which have been “hidden” offshore are being repatriated. Consumer confidence is higher than it has been in decades while unemployment is at all time lows for all of our citizens. This is the real “state of the union.” In other words, the times they are good.  

What amazes me is that the Democrats plan to use these facts to campaign for office in the midterm elections. Pelosi and Schumer have called the tax reform act armageddon, atrocious, crumbs. Pelosi has said that the tax bill was the worst piece of legislation she had ever seen, etc., etc., ad nauseum. As usual the Dems are on the wrong side of this issue.

As a “traditional American” who loves this country, I hope the Democrats do what their leadership wants. I hope they campaign on their desire to return to Obama style hopelessness. Wouldn’t that be great. To quote one of the most quoted lines from the movies, “Go ahead, make my day.”

Sadly though I don’t think the Dems are that stupid. They know that’s the wrong strategy and will quickly understand that they either have to get on the train or watch their own train wreck. As has been clearly enunciated time after time, it’s the economy, stupid. Nothing has changed. Political theater aside, reality runs the show.

Ron Scarbro