HAVING BREAKFAST IN CLEAN CLOTHES

Every now and then my number one critic offers her “helpful” criticism of my columns. Now to understand, my number one critic also fixes my breakfast and does my laundry. I therefore can handle the occasional comments about my writing but doing without breakfast and laundry gets to be a bit more problematic. So, I decided to give her criticisms serious consideration.

Her most recent observation was that my columns had become too negative and that I should concentrate more on the positive things around us. She has a point. It is much easier to see the negative because there is so much of it. It turns out that there is much positive news too.

For example, our economy is on fire. Unemployment is down and wages are headed up. On a recent trip to our little town I saw many, many signs on businesses looking for help. The fact is that today jobs outnumber the people looking for them. That alone will cause wages to increase because employers must have employees and will pay more to get quality help. They also will try harder to retain the employees they already have, ergo more raises and benefits. This is just good news.

Dear Leader little Kim of North Korea has announced that he is getting out of the nuclear business and will denuclearize the Korean peninsula. Of course he has said that before and is a proven liar, but this time it is a bit different. He and President Trump are scheduled to sit down to a meeting. I believe Kim and his cohorts are coming to the realization that Trump isn’t someone to be played with and that they had better pay attention. The country they save may be their own. More good news.

Real estate values are recovering and headed up. That means that most Americans’ wealth is also headed up. The stock market, while gyrating up and down, will continue to be the right investment for almost everyone.

Taxes have been slashed for all Americans. Companies are sharing that windfall with their employees. Paychecks are getting bigger. Buying power is increasing which means better profits for business. The “trickle down” economy is alive and well. All of this bodes well for the country. Sorry liberals.

Trade agreements are being renegotiated. President Trump is insisting that fairness in trade is essential if we are to participate. China is getting the message. By the way, they need us a lot more than we need them. Their existing thievery of our intellectual property will no longer be allowed, period. China’s financial existence depends largely on their willingness to get on board.

More good news. The Iranian Nuclear Agreement is on life support and Trump is about to pull the plug. Illegal treaties, those without Congressional approval, will come to an end. We have laws and rules and even Presidents have to obey them. Sorry Obama.

Here’s some more good news. Colin Kaepernick is still unemployed. The NFL is smart to stay away from this poison pill. Perhaps he can get a job in Europe where he has been giving “hate America” speeches. Maybe he can play soccer or cricket.

Several California cities and counties are joining the Federal lawsuit against their own state to undo SB 54. This law forbids allowing law enforcement from assisting ICE or even informing them of illegal aliens having been arrested or from being released from jail. The polls in California show clearly that Californians are opposed to this silly law.

Most of the good news above is because Donald J.Trump is in the White House. Again, sorry liberals. Hopefully by writing this column I will still be able to have breakfast and enjoy it wearing clean clothes. It was worth a try anyway.

Ron Scarbro

THREE STRIKES AND YOUR'E OUT

Baseball season has begun so let’s look at baseball and how it might equate to what’s going on in the world. Everybody knows it’s three strikes and you are out.  While it’s no game, Syria certainly seems to be in the batter’s box.

A year ago Bashar al-Assad and the criminal government of Syria used chemical weapons on her own people. They killed or injured many. Women and children were suffocated in that horrendous attack. President Trump, along with his advisors, decided to punish Syria for this illegal and immoral act. Under the “Chemical Weapons Convention of 1997”, chemical weapons are illegal internationally. No country can manufacture, stockpile, or use them for any reason. Syria is a signatory along with 197 other countries. So, we elected to deliver a measured response. We fired missiles at the air base from which the attack originated. Twenty percent of Syria’s air force was eliminated by the attack. We didn’t wipe out Syria’s complete air force, although we could have, we just took out a portion. This was a warning. In baseball, if a batter gets too aggressive and stands too close to the plate, the pitcher might throw a pitch inside and tight. It’s called a “brush back” pitch. Most batters get the message and back up. A year ago we threw a “brush back” pitch at Assad. Apparently he didn’t get the message though. For the sake of this essay, we’ll call that strike one.

Well, he did it again. He attacked his own country and his own people with illegal and immoral weapons. He gassed women and children. Who knows how many were killed or will have lifelong side effects from the attack. The pictures were sickening.

What’s wrong with this sorry excuse for a human being? Bashar al-Assad is a college educated medical doctor. His specialty is ophthalmology. He took his residency in London. He’s not a complete idiot. Or is he?

When his older brother was killed in a car accident, his father, Hafez al-Assad, a butcher and a tyrant, decided that Bashar was to succeed him as President of Syria. He was recalled from London and rushed into job training for dictatorship. All indications are that he learned quickly. When his father died, he quickly took over the country. Some thought that this medically trained individual would be a modern leader with compassion for his people. How wrong we all were.

Fast forward to a week ago. Assad strikes again and kills his own people gassing them with chlorine and sarin gas. Our response to this latest attack was again somewhat measured. We fired about one hundred missiles or so and took out his ability to manufacture chemical weapons. Our efforts were limited so as not to create too much collateral damage. All indications are that our attack was a success.

For Syria and Assad, this was strike two. We brushed them back after their first attack, and for strike two we bombed a few factories. Will there be a strike three? That’s pretty much up to Assad. He should understand there is another pitch in some pitchers’ repertoire.  It is called the “bean” pitch. Sometimes it just makes more sense to throw the ball at the head of the batter. Sure, you might injure him. You might even kill him. But hey, that’s baseball.

Assad and his thug buddies, Russia and Iran, should get this message loud and clear. The world is tired of chemical attacks and we are not going to put up with them anymore. In fact all of the little tin horn dictators around the world should take notice. Are you listening North Korea? The game has changed. It is now reasonable to assume some countries might not even get three strikes. You could look up and see the dreaded beanball headed straight for your head.

Ron Scarbro

THE THREE Ds TODAY'S LIVING

I don’t know whether I am disappointed, disillusioned, or just disgusted. Maybe all three. I admit to being somewhat naive concerning the political climate of the country today. I thought everybody loved freedom. I thought every American loved our Constitution. I thought people would respect the institutions of our government and our elected leaders. I have always seen us as law abiding, law respecting people. I guess I have misjudged the climate.

To show how naive I am, I even thought the media would be truthful and report the facts. It truly never occurred to me that the “mainstream” media would editorialize the news to fit their own agenda. Boy was I wrong. Today what you believe depends almost entirely on what networks you watch or what publications you read. If you watch the alphabet networks, you get only an ultra liberal view of news and never really hear the truth. How sad. If the New York Times is your source of news, you never get to know the whole truth and are left with just their editorial idea of what truth is, or what truth you should hear.

Last November over half of the country decided they had had enough and elected a Republican President, a Republican Senate, and a Republican House of Representatives. That’ll fix the mess, we thought. Wrong again. While the President is doing everything in his power to fix it, he is constantly stymied by a few disloyal so-called Republicans who have no concern for anything but themselves. Of course the Democrats are never going to be on board because they are the authors of the problems in this country. From the “Great Society” to Obamacare, to all sorts of give-away programs which have virtually eliminated all incentive from a large portion of our citizenry. These are Democrat programs and they are leading to the destruction of our values and our way of life.

California is virtually bankrupt as are several other Democrat run states. California, as a way of dealing with their fiscal cesspool, decided to make their entire state a sanctuary for illegal aliens from all over the world. That probably will be the straw that will finally break their camel’s back. If the Federal Government withholds money from those lefties, they are doomed.

Hollywood has decided to alienate over half of their possible customers by taking a leftist hardline on everything. The decidedly unfunny comedians are soon going to be without any audience. ESPN is on the verge of losing everything because of their cowardice and “political correctness”. The NFL may soon be a thing of the past because of that same cowardice. The Senate has become an “old age” home.

Yes, I am disappointed. I truly never thought I would see such days as these. And yes, I am disillusioned. What has happened to the morality of our citizens? What has happened to patriotism? What has become of good manners? Oh, and yes, I am disgusted. I’m disgusted with the greed of those politicians who think only of themselves with no thought of the country they serve. I am disgusted that some of them grow obscenely wealthy at the taxpayer’s expense. They should hang their heads in shame as they are led off to prison to serve the sentences many so richly deserve.

Finally, I wonder, is it too late to fix this? Have we gone too far? Can Trump get any cooperation from the people we elected to help him? Or, will the swamp just continue until everything turns into swamp sludge? I have smelled swamps. They stink. Is that our heritage? Is this what we are leaving to our children and grandchildren? I truly hope not.

We need to add another D to our list. Defense. We absolutely must defend our American way of life before it is too late.

Ron Scarbro

ARE WE A COUNTRY OF LAWS?

Many years ago I was a resident of the former great state of California. I use the term former advisedly. Back then the governor was Pat Brown. He had a son who was by all accounts a little weird. His name was Jerry. He also had a unique nickname, “Moonbeam”. Jerry, at one point in his life, apparently wanted to be a priest and went to school for it. Later on he decided that the priesthood wasn’t for him. Then he started dating singer Linda Ronstadt. I guess that didn’t work out either. So, the only thing left for him was politics. He ran for and was elected to several offices. He even tried to become President of the United States. Fortunately the voters thought better of that notion and sent him back to California.

I have always been amazed that a state like California, which has beauty and resources like none other, would do everything in their power to destroy their own state. Today they are among the most highly taxed and expensive states in the country. Many of their residents cannot afford to live there anymore.

That would be bad enough but another problem has surfaced for California. The uber-wealthy and the well-to-do are also leaving the state in droves. They are flocking to lower tax states like Texas, Nevada, and Florida. And, they are taking their wealth with them. Not only is California’s wealth disappearing but so is the tax base for the ultra liberal policies of their lefty governor and their legislature.

To add to the joke that California has become, Governor Moonbeam just pardoned five felons who were also illegal aliens. This was an obvious effort to poke his finger into the eyes of any who would question him as supreme dictator of California. This is on top of California’s proclamation that they are a “sanctuary state” whose laws supercede federal law. Something tells me that once great state is about to learn a huge lesson about who is actually in charge.

Finally, our own government has sued California and their legislature to overturn their so-called sanctuary status. Several cities and counties in California have either joined in the suit or filed separate suits of their own. This nonsense will finally come to an end.

I am sure you have heard by now of a large group of Central Americans who are travelling through Mexico with the goal of entering America illegally but with such force of numbers as to overwhelm our border security. This group is being funded and encouraged by another lefty group known as “countries without borders”. Excuse me, but a country without a border is not a country.

If our government doesn’t stop this latest assault on our southern border, we absolutely must fire everyone who is responsible and replace them with people who will do their jobs. We cannot continue to open our doors to every individual in the world who wants to live here.

I hate to keep harping on this but the only way to successfully deal with illegal immigration is to take away the incentive to enter illegally. If there was no job, no healthcare, no free schools, no welfare, no food stamps, and no other free goodies, these trespassers would have to find another country to invade. This is as simple as requiring evidence of legal residence for any of the freebies mentioned above. And, punishing any employer, welfare organization, medical facility, school, or state who violates the law. And I mean seriously punishing them. No silly fines. I am talking jail time.

We are either a country of laws or we are not.

Ron Scarbro

RAISING BOYS? OR RAISING MEN

Recently there have been a lot of articles and opinion columns published about how to raise boys. Apparently girls can raise themselves but boys require extra assistance. As a boy myself I can understand. In addition I also participated in raising a boy. I know we often need additional care and feeding. These published items seem to be in response to the shooting in southern Florida.

I looked at some of them. They seem to hold the opinion that boys are raised as fighters and that is the reason we have problems in this world. My wife concluded that the authors of these pieces seem to think if we didn’t raise fighters, we wouldn’t have fights. The alleged studies that were done come to the conclusion that we need less competition. We shouldn’t have winners and losers, just all winners. Participation trophies for everyone. Nobody loses. All outcomes must be equal regardless of the effort or talent exercised. The need to compete, they conclude, is the reason boys become fighters.

Let’s look at this. Sports teams are taught to fight to win. Aside from sports teams, how about spelling bees? How about science fairs? Then there’s the whole grade thing. Studying hard to earn an A is competition, isn’t it? If we just didn’t have this ugly competition thing we could all be winners, right?

What these authors seem to want is for us all to just “live and let live.” We can all just sit around and sing “Kum Ba Yah.”

Well, I have some harsh news for these authors and their conclusions. To survive in the world, we must be willing to compete. To be successful in any business venture, we must be willing to go the extra mile. Some are going to win, and some are going to lose. Those are the facts.

Beyond business there are any of a number of ways we must be willing to be better than everyone else. Consider North Korea, or Iran. Or how about the entire Muslim Islamist movement. Then there’s Russia. Do you suppose these countries and movements are willing to just throw away their weapons and sit down for a civilized conversation? The reality of the world is that some win and some lose. In many cases the losers just die. In some cases entire countries die.

America was born out of revolution. Courageous individuals were tired of foreign interference and foreign rule and decided to create a country of their own.

These founders wrote a constitution. They made laws to govern this new country. They established a military to defend this new country. The whole thing was a giant gamble, but it worked.

Over the years we have had to defend our country and her principles. Often we have had to remind our own citizens of what is expected of them. From time to time we have even had to remind our own government of the guarantees provided to us by the Constitution and the restraints that document puts on the government.

All of this requires people willing to stand up and sometimes even fight. Success is never guaranteed. People who are educated to believe that they are winners regardless of the situation will surely wind up on the losing side of everything. I’m not just talking about boys here. All Americans have a stake in this country. Successful women are just as important as successful men.

So then, contrary to the opinion of these writers, we should not be raising boys but instead we should be raising men and women. Strong, self assured and self reliant, freedom loving, and prepared to fight for what is right. America is not an accident. We are where we are because people have sacrificed and fought for us. We must all be prepared to take up that fight at all times.

Ron Scarbro

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