SAVE YOUR TOILET PAPER, YOU NEVER KNOW

You probably asked yourself, when is he going to write about the “coronavirus?” Well fear not. Today is the day. 

In my lifetime and with a study of recent history, I cannot find or remember any time when the entire world has been brought to its knees by the threat of an upper respiratory infection. This essay will not attempt to underestimate this virus and its potential deadly results. I am sure in the right situation it can and does kill. But it also seems most people who are infected recover with no ill effects. So far the ones in this country who have died from this disease have been older individuals who were otherwise compromised by existing preconditions and general frailty. 

What continues to confound me is the effort by the media all over the world to frighten people. Sporting events have been canceled. Movies, restaurants and bars are closing. Gatherings of any size are just not happening. At a time when people want to escape their homes after a long winter, everything is closed down. Schools and colleges are just shutting down. Events long in the planning are being summarily eliminated without regard to the millions being lost in the process.

Don’t even try to go to the grocery store. The crowds are massive and the shelves are empty. Traffic is unbelievable. It seems everybody is trying to stock up on toilet paper and anything else they think they might need. My question is, for what? Toilet paper? What’s that all about? 

The Stock Market has given away trillions of dollars in value as frightened traders bail out on their investment plans. Do they figure that the world is coming to an end? Millions of people will either be laid off or otherwise lose their jobs. Sporting events and their venues will face huge losses as this charade plays out. And for what?

Now, I am going to make some predictions. I’ll preface this by assuring you all that I am no expert on anything. I am not a medical doctor. I am not a prophet. What I am is just a normal man who is overwhelmed by the recent few days and the irrational response by our governments and our people. The sky is not falling and we are not all going to die. At least not from the coronavirus. The odds are more likely that an airplane will fall from the sky and hit you on your head. Far more people will die from the seasonal flu than will ever be affected by this new virus. In fact the numbers are not even close.

So, what’s this all about? This column is about the good news. In this country with a population of approximately 350,000,000, only 81 people have died from this new disease. If you were trying to calculate odds, you couldn’t even come up with a number of what the odds of dying from the corona virus could be. How many people do you suppose have been killed in car accidents in the last two months, which is how long we have been dealing with this virus? I heard recently 81 deaths is just a good weekend in Chicago. I would imagine more people would die from bee stings than from this virus. 

I am not making light of all this. I am just pointing out the silliness of the world wide panic. In a couple of months this “pandemic” will be behind us. We will turn on our television news and actually see news. Oh, and there will be other things to frighten us. That just seems to be the way things are. 

In the meantime, be safe. Wash your hands. Practice good hygiene. Don’t give in to the fear that is being spread. And, for goodness sake, guard your toilet paper. You never know.

Ron Scarbro March 17, 2020

IT HAS BEEN QUITE A WEEK

It has been quite a week. The Democrats have now seriously thinned down their candidates. Basically we are down to two, Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden. Elizabeth Warren finally saw the handwriting on the wall and pulled the plug. 

Just a few days ago the Biden campaign was floundering and on life support. Today it has found new life. A number of what they call establishment middle-of-the-roaders have endorsed him and jump started his bid. 

What does this all mean to Sanders? Well, it's not good. It is pretty clear the powers that be in the Democrat party also saw some handwriting somewhere. They know Sanders has absolutely no chance of ever winning a national election. This country will never actually choose socialism. Socialism can only occur in this country by a very bloody revolution and that is equally unlikely regardless of how many millennials try to make it happen. Based on all that has occurred in the last few days, it is obvious the Dems have picked Biden to be their standard bearer. It is also obvious to me that many, if not most, of Sanders supporters will probably sit this election out. That’s fine with me.

Some of you may recall a few months ago I wrote in this column that the Republicans had the goods on Biden but had hoped to hold off until he was for a certainty the Democrat choice. The impeachment fiasco interfered with those plans. Biden and his family were seriously harmed by revelations during those hearings and the mock trial. Those revelations pale however to what is coming next. Biden and his family are dirty and all the evidence proving that will soon be on full display. 

Also, in these past few days Chuckie Schumer showed the world his true colors again. He stood on the steps of the Supreme Court and threatened two sitting Supreme Court Judges by name. He has since tried to walk it back to no avail. Like Trump said, if Schumer was a Republican he would have already been arrested. His actions were dangerous and irresponsible. A censure resolution has been introduced in the Senate. I hope it gets passed. Schumer is an embarrassment to his party and to this country.

The FISA Court is also under investigation. Some very curious Senators want to know how unproven and unverified evidence could have been acceptable by the court who then issued warrants to spy on Americans. It is a little curious, isn’t it? A lot of people were put in compromising positions because of this illegal act by the FBI and the FISA court.

Some more bad news for the Democrats but very good news for America is that over the next four years President Trump will have the opportunity to appoint at least two new Supreme Court Judges. He will name individuals who know how to read and understand exactly what is written in our Constitution. He will be less inclined to appoint based on quotas or gender or sexual preference. His appointments will be based on what is best for the country. If Schumer is upset by judgements by the Court now, imagine how he is going to feel when, instead of five to four decisions, we will see more seven to two. 

It occurs to me, as tornadoes tear through middle Tennessee and a new virus tries to overtake the world, that we have plenty of problems to deal with without spending so much energy on political differences. We have a perfectly good President and an election coming in a few months. When the voters in this country look out and see what they have versus what the Democrats are proposing, they will make the right decision.

Ron Scarbro March 8, 2020

WE, THE PEOPLE, MUST STAND UP

Do you remember when Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher got together and brought communism to its knees? Like most others, I lived in fear of communist Russia. We were warned that an attack could happen at any time. The Russians had the bomb and we had the bomb. It was just going to be a matter of who fired the first shot. I remember the bomb drills at school where we had to get down on the floor and get under our desks and cover our heads. As if that would provide any protection in the event of a nuclear bombing. The communists had a propaganda machine that kept pumping out scary stuff. 

During my early years we lived about fifteen miles from Oak Ridge, Tennessee. You may recall that was where our country was developing nuclear weapons and for a certainty the communists knew it. I even had silhouette cards of airplanes that we would watch in case Russian bombers flew over. We watched the planes as they flew by and were to report any unidentified planes. Kinda scary for a preteen kid. 

I served in the military and on one assignment we were bivouacked in a forest near the communist wall in Germany. It turns out that the Russians were also camped out on the other side of the wall. I figured this was it. We were locked and loaded with our missiles aimed and ready. I am sure those Russian kids were as scared as we were. That was the time when Kruschev had given us an ultimatum to be out of Germany or else. America chose or else and the communists backed down. Fortunately for both sides. 

It was soon after that Russia came to their senses and decided they really were no match for us and they would have been destroyed. The wall came tumbling down. 

So here we are now in the twenty-first century when most of the people living today have no memory of, or because of a seriously deficient education, any knowledge of communism or its harmful effect on people. Today many of these uninformed people are seriously considering a socialist, which is nothing more than a communist light, as a Presidential candidate. Sometimes I wonder when I will wake up from this ugly dream.

Bernie Sanders is not the benevolent grandfather as he is advertised to be. Sanders is a subjugator looking for subjects to whom he can dictate and many under- accomplished, over-educated individuals who seriously lack general intelligence are lining up to volunteer.

Over the years we have seen and heard silver tongued people orate their way into positions of power and bring countries down. Don’t think for a moment that it can’t happen here. As scary as it sounds, we are always only one election away from destruction if the wrong people are put into power. And the Democrats know it too. Over the next few months they will do everything in their power to bring the Sanders charade to an end once and for all.

What is truly frightening is that some thirty percent of voters in this country would vote for someone like Sanders. What does that say about their overall intelligence? I believe it is an indictment of our very liberal educational system along with a completely confused and dangerous liberal media. 

Somehow, someway, we the people have to get a handle on this crap. The difference between Republicans and Democrats used to be just different ways of solving the problems of our day. No more. It has become a class war for the souls of the citizenry. It is a pitting of the responsible against the irresponsible, the independent against the dependent, the accomplished against the wannabes. This battle devalues what it means to be an American. 

As the preacher said last Sunday morning, the time has come when we cannot stand aside or stand down. We, the people, must stand up.

Ron Scarbro March 4, 2020

IT'S TIME TO SEND THE HIPPIES HOME

Why are liberals always so mad? Take a look at Bernie Sanders. Have you ever seen him smile? Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren are always scowling and just visibly angry. Perhaps if you had the world view that they have, you would be mad too. It could be that they know in their heart of hearts that they are fighting a losing battle and it is just a matter of time until it is all over for them. Or it could be that they understand that Trump’s programs are working and their plans have proven time and again not to work. That’s enough to bring a frown to any liberal’s face.

I actually know a few liberals personally and even communicate with them. We don’t usually talk about the future however. Liberals seem to have a negative idea of the future. What a terrible way to live. 

Listen to Bernie. Everything is bad and getting worse, and he actually believes it. The same with Joe Biden. The problem with these folks is that they don’t want to be confused with any facts. They seem to prefer the world they live in. Where did all this thinking come from? This isn’t America. America is a shining city on a hill, not the pit of despair these liberals believe it to be.

Conservatives, on the other hand, seem to have a more positive attitude about the world in general. Look at Trump. Even with the entire Democrat party trying to come down on his head, he still smiles broadly. His world view is completely different from that of the Democrats. I think this comes from the confidence of knowing. 

So, what do conservatives know that gives them such confidence? Well they know that the programs that have been put into effect by the Trump Administration work. They know that personal responsibility is necessary in a free society and they are capable of being responsible. They know that having a job beats being on the government dole. 

For years I have tried to determine the biggest differences between liberals and conservatives. Conservatives believe in personal responsibility. Liberals don’t. Conservatives believe in the rule of law. Liberals don’t. Conservatives believe there should be some restraint on one’s actions. Liberals don’t. I know some liberal folks who, given the opportunity, would lay on their sofa, smoking dope, drawing a government check, and never even think about getting an actual job. Conservative people would shudder at the thought of not being able to earn their own living. 

I lived in the California Bay Area during my early twenties. I watched the onset of the hippie movement. I remember seeing large groups of them in San Francisco standing on a corner and I could smell them from quite a distance. You see, they didn’t believe in bathing. This was the beginning of today’s liberal movement. They didn’t want any rules. They wanted to just travel through life doing whatever they pleased, whenever they pleased. Bathing was for other people. Jobs were for suckers. Besides it all got in the way of their preferred way of living which was total freedom with no restraints.

Fortunately, that way of living faded into the dust, but remnants have remained. Some of these hippies had offspring and some of these offspring grew up and became actual adults. The problem is they brought some of their parent’s thinking with them into adulthood. Today’s San Francisco is an example of what I am talking about.

I believe today’s liberals were spawned by hippie thinking. Bernie Sanders lived on welfare for most of his early adulthood. He is nothing more than an aging hippie and his thinking is dangerous to freedom loving people everywhere. 

This country needs responsible people to get busy and send these flakes back to their hippie pads and out of public life. Then we all can smile.

Ron Scarbro February 25, 2020

THE DEMOCRATS HAVE A DILEMMA

The Democrats have a dilemma. They know that none of their announced candidates for President can beat incumbent Donald Trump. Worse than that, they also know that if Sanders wins the nomination, he will split the Democrats beyond any means of recovery. Their original hope that Biden would be their champion has proven to be faulty. Biden’s age and lack of any real political skill is showing every day. They know that avowed homosexual Buttigeig cannot win a national election. Warren was always a joke. Billionaire Steyer is a political neophyte and it shows. Bloomberg comes off as a hateful old man who really isn’t gaining the kind of traction he would need to win any national election. Besides, nobody wants government to tell them how much salt they can use or regulate the size of their soft drink.

When you add to that the simple fact that under Trump our economy is exploding, unemployment is at historic lows, and confidence is growing more every day. For Democrats, this is a dilemma. 

Did you hear James Carville? You may remember Carville as the Democrat operative who was key to the election of Bill Clinton. He is the one who famously said, “It’s the economy, stupid.” Well he is going to be famous again. On a recent television talk show he said that some in the Democrat party seem to want to be in a cult. He was obviously referring to the socialist movement in the party and specifically Bernie Sanders. No doubt he was also talking about the “squad” and those who seem hell bent on taking over the Democrat party and moving it so far to the left that it goes over the cliff. Carville said he was not a cult kind of person. I’m pretty sure you are not alone, James. Bernie commented on hearing Carville’s thoughts that he was just a political hack. Politics is a tough business. 

Plainly stated, the Democrat party is in disarray.

I don’t want to think about it but, if Bernie Sanders even got the nomination to be President, the stock market would lose half of its value in a matter of days. Did you know that since Trump’s election it has gained over 11,000 points? Some say, so what. They don’t seem to understand that our entire economy as well as their jobs and way of life is directly affected by the stock market. The actual election of any socialist or even one who leans in that direction would put this country back to the dark ages. I could see real estate losing over half of its value and unemployment in double figures.

America needs to wake up. This leftist movement is designed to destroy this country as we know it. All the free stuff is nothing more than shiny objects meant to divert our attention away from the true motives of the socialists. 

The Democrats and their willing associates in the liberal leftist media have done everything in their power to get rid of this President. They have lied and continue to do so. They investigate, use special prosecutors, and even tried to impeach him. It didn’t work. 

Attention Democrats and the liberal media, in the last election sixty-three million people voted for Trump. I am sure some of those thought their vote was less than a ringing endorsement of Trump, but they voted anyway. Since Trump’s election and the almost miracle-like recovery our country has experienced, how many of those people do you suppose will vote for Trump in 2020? I’d say probably all those sixty-three million plus another thirty to forty million more. Who believes this country wants to return to the dismal days of Democrats in charge? Does anybody actually think this country would throw it all away for a moron like Bernie Sanders?

The Democrats know everything I just wrote is true and that’s called a dilemma.

Ron Scarbro February 15, 2020

I'M LOOKING FOR ORANGE JUMPSUITS

Everything they have tried has failed. From the Russian hoax to impeachment, nothing has worked. The reason is simple, it has all been a lie. No reasonably sane person actually believed Donald Trump conspired with the Russians to win an election. The Democrats pulled everything they could out of their dirty tricks bag and it all failed. 

The multimillion-dollar Mueller investigation proved to be just a silly, expensive exercise in futility. This, you may remember, was originated by FBI agents lying to the FISA court to get authority to spy on the Trump campaign. You should also remember that the so-called evidence offered to the court was from a phony dossier paid for by Hillary Clinton which has since been proven to be all lies and made up from whole cloth by a disgraced British spy. 

All of this was clearly coordinated by higher ups in the Justice Department and the FBI. It may have even been run by the Obama Administration. 

When Trump refused to be intimidated by all this, the Congress decided to just impeach him and deal with it that way. We were treated to wild eyed drama from wild eyed Congressmen and women. All led by the most wide eyed of them all, Nancy Pelosi. The result? Complete exoneration, of course. This, their final act of desperation, also failed. Worse than that for them, it resulted in Trump’s popularity growing by leaps and bounds. 

Now any reasonable person watching all this would have to conclude that it was a wasted exercise and now it is time to get back to the real work of the Congress. I did say reasonable didn’t I? Apparently Democrats shouldn’t be considered as reasonable. 

They have now decided to start all over again with what they are calling “Impeachment 2.0”. I am reminded of the old adage, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. They have to know that they will lose this fight again and will come away looking like complete idiots. But, I guess that’s what idiots do. 

The real problem for the Democrats is that they think they represent majority- thinking regarding Trump. Nothing could be further from the truth. They look like a general waving a sword charging into battle leading his troops only to realize nobody is following him. 

So, how do reasonable, sane people stop this nonsense? Well I don’t know if this would stop it, but I guarantee it would put a serious dent in their thinking. We should immediately begin prosecuting all those who were involved with the attempted overthrow of our duly elected government. Hillary conspired with the Russians, not Trump. The FBI lied to the FISA court, not Trump. Adam Schiff lied to the Congress, not Trump. You would be amazed at what few well-placed indictments might accomplish, not to mention a few parades in orange jumpsuits in front of the cameras.

Those closest to me say this is just having wishful thinking. Probably, but all those folks involved in this attempted coup should go to bed tonight and thank God that I am not in charge. 

In the final analysis it is up to us. I heard talk today that if the Republicans wind up with control of Congress after the next election, they intend to expunge the record of Trump’s impeachment. So much for Pelosi’s belief that Trump will forever be stained by this impeachment. I don’t care. I never believed it was a legal impeachment anyway. It was always just a political dirty trick and the fun part is that it has blown up in the face of the perpetrators.

Ron Scarbro February 9, 2020

PETTINESS ON DISPLAY

PETTINESS ON DISPLAY

Every time I think I have seen or heard it all, something happens to blow my mind all over again. 

It has become the norm for Members of Congress to behave in certain ways during the State of the Union speech by the President. If the President is a Republican, the Democrats as members of the opposition party sit on their hands during applause breaks. After all one could not expect the opposition to approve of anything good coming out of the other side. It is all so predictable. Even when the very security of the country is discussed, Democrats can find no good reason to offer congratulations to a Republican President.

I have no problem with this childish behavior. Look at who we are dealing with. For the most part these are people you wouldn’t even allow in your house for a meal. Let them play their silly little games. The only message they offer is that they are trite little people who would be more at home on a school playground than in the halls of Congress. 

Last night’s State of the Union was no exception. It all went as planned until the very end. That’s when the Speaker of the House, the queen of the swamp, Nancy Pelosi decided to give pettiness a brand new meaning. In a dramatic display of disrespect, she tore up her copy of the speech given to her by the President after his remarks. She did it with an evil relish and a snarl on her face. She appeared to make sure that the entire event was front and center for the cameras. I am sure that in her tiny mind she was showing the world how disgusted she was with the whole affair. Well guess what. She miscalculated. This whole thing is blowing up in her face. People all across the spectrum and that includes members of her own party were disgusted by the spectacle. 

As it stands today, those torn up pages could well find their way to the National Museum where they would sit on display as a testament to the former party known as Democrat. 

If you are a Democrat is this what you expect from one of your leaders? Are you okay with such an expression of hatred for the duly elected President of the United States? If this is all okay with you, shame on you. Shame on Nancy Pelosi. Shame on the very few in the audience who thought this was funny. It was not.

I suspect this November, when Trump is reelected by a landslide and the Republicans take over both houses of Congress, that situation like Pelosi’s hissy fit might come back to haunt them. Many current Members will be looking for new jobs. I was just at a McDonalds. They had a sign up that they were looking for help. Don’t say I never helped people in need. 

In all my years on this planet I never thought I would see such disrespect on display. We are better than this. We have the right to demand better from our elected Representatives. They are our employees. Let’s fire them and start over.

Ron Scarbro, February 5, 2020