Motivation Monday

Impeachment...the Early Days

Just back from Hawaii and although we tried mightily, it was sort of difficult to ignore the whole impeachment fiasco that reared it's ugly head last week.  Of course it was everywhere on the news and the Internet, but we tried to keep the TV turned to places where we wouldn't get bombarded with it.  But it was difficult.

So even though I've not paid incredibly close attention, I have read and watched several sources today that shed some light.  Since impeachment is all encompassing on cable news and the Internet, it wasn't particularly difficult to get up to speed.  At least up to speed with the opinion that whatever and whoever you are watching.  It has struck me that when someone says they are up to speed on something in the news, that they are only as up to speed as the source they are watching wants them to be.  They are no longer providing information.  They are shaping minds.  And they know it and don't care.  Period.

But given my inclinations, I have formed a few opinions.  They are initial and maybe will change, but so far this is my take:

1. Trump had a normal head-of-state call with the new President of Ukraine.  According to the transcripts at some point they got into a discussion about Biden and his son and potential corruption.  It's known that the Ukrainians got rid of a prosecutor who was investigating these shenanigans and so Trump asked the President to look into it.  Rudy Giuliani was on the call.  
1. This could be interpreted as asking the Ukrainian President to help dig up dirt on Biden to Trump's advantage in the 2020 election.
2. Or it could be that Trump thought the Biden's skated from a serious corruption charge and wanted them held accountable.
2. These kinds of conversations happen all the time.  I'm as positive as can be that if every President's phone calls were evaluated by a partisan on the other side they would be found wanting.  There are likely a lot of things that are discussed that would be seen as appalling.  So the outrage here is tiring and stupid.  But it is what it is.
3. A "whistleblower" heard about this second and third hand and decided to report it.  The word is that he is a partisan who is against Trump.  There are a lot of details here such as the quality of the paper presented or the changing of the rules recently to allow second hand observations, but the bottom line is that the Congress now has it.
4. Based on no evidence Pelosi caved to the progressive left and ordered an impeachment inquiry.  
5. The piling on began and has not abated.  
6. Trump came out swinging (as did Giuliani) and went after his critics.  Hard.  After watching him for almost 3 years, that is no surprise.
7. There have been and will be more hearings held by the House Intelligence Committee.  Because the committee leader is largely seen as the partisan person in the House, many see this as nothing more than a witch hunt.
8. Most of the House members have made up their minds (no matter what they say).  The Dems are against him and most Republicans will not vote for impeachment.  At least today.  So the assumption is that it'll go to the Senate for trial.
9. It will be a fiasco.  But think about this.  The law of unintended consequences.  The President has some very, very smart lawyers.  During that trial they can open a huge can of worms and call a lot of witnesses who will have to testify under oath about the events of the last 3 years.  
10. The game changer is the media.  If they continue to tell a biased and one sided story, they could could change a lot of minds.  And they know it.  I've heard it said that there are Trump supporters and Trump voters.  Supporters will stick.  Voters can be wobbly.  (I'm more of a voter than a supporter, but I don't think I'll be wobbly on this one)  That is who the media are going after.  If they can create doubt, then they can influence the outcome.  
11. It's hard to imagine 67 votes to impeach in the Senate.  But you never know.  If he goes to impeachment trial and stays President, he will be hurt.  But how much?  Hard to tell.  If he's removed, well then the whole thing is blown wide open.  

Friday Funnies

Aloha

Spending a week enjoying all that is Hawaii with my sweetie.  We've been here many, many times but each time seems better than the last.  Don't expect much on the blog this week.  The way things are going, that may be a relief!  Aloha.

Motivation Monday

The Decline of a Religion

Religion, religion.Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpaMea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa
Where's the church, who took the steepleReligion's in the hands of some crazy ass peopleTelevision preachers with bad hair and dimplesThe God's honest truth is it's not that simple
It's the Buddhist in you, it's the pagan in meIt's the Muslim in him, she's Catholic ain't she?It's that born again look, it's the wasp and the JewTell me what's goin on, I ain't got a clue

Those are the words from one of the stanza's of Jimmy Buffett's "Fruitcakes".  It pretty much sums up what I think is happening in religion in the U.S.  The simple truth is that religion and church going is in steep decline.   I've seen the statistics and they are irrefutable.  And if you are connected with a church at all you see it.  There are some pockets of resistance or maybe persistence but there are also more and more examples of churches closing their doors or trying new ways (that ultimately don't work) to attract people.  There are a ton of reasons for it, some obvious and some not so obvious.  One of the characteristics of the modern age that gets quoted quite a bit is that millenials and genZ and genX and whatever are "spiritual but not religious".  Okay.  Maybe so but peel the onion a bit to find out why.  Why is almost always the key in any question.

I've mentioned on this blog several times that I'm an Episcopalian.  If you're interested you can type Episcopal in the search bar and read past posts.  From those you'll see that I've been frustrated and somewhat ashamed of the positions of my church as expressed by the national church, the local Bishop and from the pulpit.  I think that in the last several years the church has lost it's way.  In an effort to appeal to everyone they've lost focus on what makes a church attractive for many in the community.  And let's face it, people aren't going to do something they don't enjoy or are not in line with their principles, values and norms.  Notice I didn't say religion.  I said church.  That's where the "spiritual but not religious" comes in.  I think a lot of people are believers, but they can't stomach what is going on in the church.  As for me, I stay because I'm a believer and because of the people.  I get what I need from the worship aspects of the church and I have a lot of good friends there.  Simple as that.  So far, I've been able to ignore or put in a box the stuff that is objectionable.  But sadly I could foresee a day when it just becomes too much.

So the point of this post is to share what I consider one of the most excellent, spot-on, beautifully written essays I've read on the decline of the church.  I share because it makes me sad and mad and frustrated.  And when I see something done very well and aligns with my views, I'd like to share it.  It's written by a good friend and Epsicopal Priest who is a loving and brilliant man.  It gives him no joy to write these words and the courage that it takes to put pen to paper in this manner is refreshing.  But in the scheme of things, and like this post, it makes little difference.  The current leadership in the church seems to be talking in an echo chamber.  To paraphrase a famous actor in a quote that is widely known..."they can't handle the truth".

Why Does the Episcopal Church Continue to Decline?

If you are an Episcopalian, you have to be concerned about the downward spiral in the Episcopal Church. Annual data yet again indicates that domestic dioceses in the United States continue to decline in membership and attendance. In 2018 baptized membership was 1.68 million, down 2.1% from 2017, and down 18.5% since 2008. Average Sunday Attendance was 533,000, down 4.2% from 2017 and 24.4% since 2008.

In 1965 there were over 3.4 million Episcopalians in a population of 199 million. In 2018 there were 1.67 million Episcopalians in a population of 328 million. That means the Episcopal Church’s market share of the population has declined from 1.70% to .509%.

In addition to the decline of members and the loss of market share, 74% of Episcopal churches average 100 or less in Sunday attendance. Only 4% average 300 or more. The median average Sunday attendance is 53.

But it’s not just size that is the problem. You can’t worship on a Sunday morning and not notice all the gray heads (including mine) in the pews. Few Episcopal churches have thriving church schools or youth groups, and young families are at a premium. More than 55 percent of Episcopal clergy are over 55, with more than 40 percent of priests expected to retire in the next eight years. The average age of the average Episcopalian is anywhere from the high 50s to low 60s. The average age of the average American is in their mid- 30s. And the gap is widening.

Episcopalians have always thought of their church as the Cadillac of churches. That may be true, but the late Terry Fulham observed: “The Episcopal Church is the Cadillac of churches with three flat tires.” 

Despite the grim statistics, the Episcopal Church has much to commend it. The church has the second wealthiest membership of any religious body – only the Jewish community is wealthier. Because of an emphasis on tithing and proportionate giving, Episcopalians give generously. The average pledge in 2018 was $2,964. Even as decline continues, members remain loyal to their churches and give relatively sacrificially.

Add to this a charismatic Presiding Bishop who is an excellent communicator, diocesan bishops who increasingly reflect the gender diversity of the general population, parish clergy who, for the most part, are well-educated, and a thoughtful and caring membership.

The standard answer to church decline is to blame the changing culture – the movement from Christendom to post-Christendom, from modernism to post-modernism, from cultural homogeneity to a secular, pluralistic, materialistic, multicultural society. A recent Gallup survey reported that 50% of Americans polled in 2018 said they were members of a church, synagogue or mosque, compared with 61% in 2008 and 70% in 1998.

And yet, there are churches that are growing. Independent or loosely federated churches are being planted all over the country led by entrepreneurial pastors who are as attuned to the culture as to the Bible. Even the Roman Catholic Church, with all its many problems, continues to do relatively well, thanks to an influx of immigrants and new converts, the thousands of day schools and an excellent religious education program.

So, we need to move beyond culture to determine why the Episcopal Church is declining. Admittedly, it is a complex issue, and one could list many factors: failure to train clergy to minister effectively in a changing culture, the lack of appeal among Millennials and Gen Z for our style of worship, outdated and costly ecclesial structures, the failure to reach large numbers of immigrants, and the fact that the vast majority of our churches are small and are unable to provide the kind of need-meeting ministries to attract new members.

But with all that acknowledged, I think there are three crucial reasons for church decline.

First, the Episcopal Church has re-branded itself to attract the least reachable demographic. Since the election of Gene Robinson as the Church’s first openly gay bishop, and the subsequent departure of several hundred thousand traditionalists, the Episcopal Church has re-branded itself as a proudly and unabashedly progressive church with a target audience of attracting educated, secular liberals.

And yet, educated, secular liberals are the least likely to be attracted to organized religion. They are not just “spiritual but not religious.” They are “spiritual but secular.” They much prefer a quiet Sunday at home, or outdoors, or at their second home, or simply taking care of chores or shopping. Their highest values are autonomy and self-actualization. They find meaning in vacations, their children’s sports, their careers, yoga, politics, technology, accumulating wealth, the arts, and being supportive of causes they think will change the world. Many of them are active in Democratic politics, feminist organizations, or environmental groups. They see themselves as functioning perfectly well without religion, so why would they need or want it?

Branding is the art of surrounding an organization with a powerful and compelling story. Branding provides answers to the simple human need to differentiate one thing from another. Brands represent identity. The Episcopal Church has lost its identity because it has become synonymous with liberal secular culture. It doesn’t stand for anything other than what liberal culture stands for. “Observe the current state of the once-dominant Episcopal Church. Episcopalians committed an unforgiveable sin: they forgot their brand because they lost their story.” - James Twitchell, Branded Nation

The Episcopal Church has embarked on a growth strategy that is doomed to fail. It doesn’t matter that the Episcopal Church brands itself as being “inclusive” or practicing “radical hospitality” or being “LGBTQ friendly” or supporting the Green New Deal. The United Church of Christ has branded itself that way for many years, and it is in steep decline. Educated secular liberals find meaning and significance in ways other than church.

When Presiding Bishop Curry preached at the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, his sermon was widely acclaimed. Ed Millibank, the former head of the British Labor Party and an acknowledged atheist, said that the message almost persuaded him to rethink his faith. The key word here is “almost” – Millibank remains a committed atheist. Converting secular atheists or agnostics is extremely difficult, even for our Presiding Bishop. 

If the Episcopal Church is intent on reaching educated secular liberals, then it needs to think long and hard on this central question: How does the church help those who no longer need a God to encounter the living God of their lives? There is no easy answer to this question. Methodist theologian George Hunter wrote a book some time ago titled, How to Reach Secular People. It was an excellent attempt to build a bridge between Christianity and the secular world. More recently, David Zahl has written an intriguing book titled Seculosity: How Career, Parenting, Technology, Food, Politics, and Romance Became Our New Religion and What to Do About It. Zahl makes the point that there is no grace in any of these secular religions.

Grace may be a way forward for the church. After all, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is about God’s unconditional love for each and every one of us, a love which none of us deserves but God gives anyway. The church is supposed to be a place of grace for everyone willing to live with grace towards everyone in need of grace. The church is a community of wounded people, men and women with troubled minds and burdened consciences, all loved by God. The challenge for the church is to put into practice what grace means and how to live and witness to it.

The late church growth scholar Peter Wagner posited this principle: For churches to grow, they need to reach the reachable. The Episcopal Church is trying to reach the unreachable – the people least likely to attend church or have an interest in organized religion. 

Second, the Episcopal Church has failed to target the most reachable demographic. A second reason the Episcopal Church is in decline is that it is failing to reach the most likely demographic interested in attending church: families with children. This is where we see a sharp difference between growing churches and declining ones. Growing churches effectively reach

Growing churches, mostly independent or loosely federated, spend lavishly on children, youth and young adult ministry, provide programs for parents and even grandparents, and adapt their worship and ministries to attract their target demographic audience, though singles, seniors and people with special needs are not ignored. These churches are passionate about helping people experience God. They make belonging to church worthwhile with clear benefits to members and seekers. They add value to people’s lives. Yes, in some ways theirs is a market-based, consumer-driven approach to attracting members, but it works. Some would call it evangelism.

 Americans are having fewer children, couples are marrying later in life, and families are more complex and non-traditional than ever before. That said, families are still the most likely to attend church.

How different are most Episcopal churches! Few of them have anything to offer young adults, families, children and teens. In most Episcopal Churches, everything is geared around older adults, meeting their needs, adapting their preferences, shaping ministry and worship around their lifestyles. Like it or not, the Episcopal Church is “the old people’s church” with music, liturgy, language and spiritual practices many younger people (and even some older ones) find boring, bland, didactic, wordy, irrelevant and beyond comprehension. In other words, there is a reason why Millennials and Gen Z do not attend Episcopal Churches – there is nothing of perceived value that the church offers them.

The worship and ministries of most Episcopal churches are geared for introverts, but most Americans – 70 percent – are extroverts. In addition, 55 percent of Americans are judgers, but most Episcopal preaching and teaching is geared to perceivers – exploring the questions but not providing the answers. No wonder families in need of moral and spiritual guidance go elsewhere. Outside of a socially liberal gospel and nebulous and ambiguous theology, the Episcopal Church seems to offer families and others little support in their spiritual journeys. 

Episcopal churches need to do a better job of adapting to the lifestyles and needs of young families. This does not mean offering “Christianity light” but connecting Christian faith with the daily lives of members, many of whom come to church with burdens, problems and concerns. The challenge is to make Christian faith relevant and applicable to people’s lives, and to give them strength for the journey of living another week.

The church needs to do a better job of proclaiming Jesus as the way, the truth and the life, giving families solid values to guide them, offering clear biblical teaching and moral guidance, providing a framework for living and a positive, hopeful atmosphere to live and witness to the teachings of Jesus. And the church needs to do this in way that resonates with the people it wants to attract, offering the good news in terms and forms that relate to their situation, that speak to them in their language and their cultural style, addressing their existential questions. This means a willingness to meet people at their own level of need and understanding.

“A church’s music determines the kind of people it will attract. Tell me your music and I will tell you the kind of people who are in your congregation.” – Pastor Rick Warren 

Third, the Episcopal Church has narrowed its appeal to political and theological liberals and those attracted to traditional liturgy and music. There was a time when the Episcopal Church was deemed “the Republican Party at prayer.” That certainly is not the case anymore. When the traditionalists left the Episcopal Church after the election of Gene Robinson, there was a pronounced turn to the left, both politically and theologically. The leadership of the church became increasingly progressive, and even Presiding Bishop Curry’s commendable focus on Jesus makes him out to be a liberal Democrat.

The problem is, the Democratic Party as it is constituted today, is rapidly becoming the party of secularists and the religiously unaffiliated. The Democratic National Committee recently passed a resolution praising America’s “religiously unaffiliated” as the “largest religious group within the Democratic Party.” The resolution states that “Religiously unaffiliated Americans overwhelmingly share the Democratic Party’s values.” The resolution goes on to state that one in three members of the Democratic Party are “religiously unaffiliated.” This compares with just 8% of Republicans.

It is hard to find much difference between the positions of the Episcopal Church and the Democratic Party. While there are longtime Republican members in the Episcopal Church – the remnant of a bygone era – it is difficult to imagine any committed Republican or conservative being attracted to the Episcopal Church today. Those attracted to liturgy, tradition and heritage tend to become Roman Catholics. There has been a movement of prominent conservative personalities who have joined the Roman Catholic Church in the last three decades. Bobby Jindal, for example, a former Hindu and Governor of Louisiana, converted to Catholicism because of its dogma, a belief system “time-tested and true” as he put it. While the Episcopal Church is not a dogmatic church, we need to reclaim the political and theological center where people of different political persuasions come together to worship in the beauty of holiness as a church of common prayer. We also need to consider if we are a truly inclusive church or simply a church of the like-minded. If the church is to expand its appeal, it will need to make greater room for different voices and viewpoints beyond standard liberal political and theological thought.

 The Episcopal Church is unlikely to reach moderate and conservative voters (70% of Americans) with its political and social positions and its liberal clergy. And yet, 40% of self-described liberals are non-religious and many do not believe in a personal God.

In addition to political liberalism, there is an even more serious problem for the Episcopal Church – a significant number of clergy and laity do not know how to talk about God in a way that people sense and recognize. There is an inability to talk about Jesus except as anything other than a social and political liberal. The supernatural aspect of Christianity is rarely, if ever, mentioned. Speaking about the miraculous, exploring the supernatural, talking about the Holy Spirit, affirming the mystery of the Incarnation, Redemption and Resurrection is difficult for many, and even an embarrassment for some. I have heard clergy admit they find preaching on Easter Sunday extremely difficult because of their own lack of belief in the physical resurrection of Jesus.

I have elsewhere argued that the Episcopal Church has no clear gospel message. The emphasis on inclusiveness has blurred what the Church believes about faith and morals. A belief in an implicit universalism has made any kind of evangelism unnecessary or even unacceptable. Episcopalians are more comfortable advocating for social justice than saving souls. They prefer a prophetic ministry of peace and justice to talk of any supernatural or miraculous encounters with God.

The Episcopal Church has forgotten that people need spiritual ecstasy, a sense of communion with God, a feeling of being caught in the hands of One who could sustain them in trouble and direct them in times of confusion. That is what people look for in churches today. Many have lives of “quiet desperation” and need more than socially conscious or nebulous sermons that leave them hungry for more.

The missional challenge of the church is formidable. With each passing generation, the culture becomes more and more unchurched. Many people today do not know the language of faith or even the Christian story. To onlookers, the Episcopal Church appears alien and strange in its life, worship and practices. Sadly, the church seems incapable of responding to this missional challenge in any effective way.

The United States is changing demographically with an influx of immigrants coming from Latin America, Africa and Asia. These immigrants tend to be socially and theologically conservative. If they are Christians, most end up either in the Catholic Church or evangelical and charismatic churches. The latter are particularly effective in attracting immigrants, and these churches are growing.

It may be that the Episcopal Church will continue to survive by attracting a small but dedicated niche of people who prefer liberal political and theological thought combined with sacramental worship and traditional music. Any new Prayer Book is sure to reflect a more radical theological and social agenda, and this may make it difficult for some members to remain in the church. A church of 1.6 million members could easily become a church of less than one million in five years, with no plateau on the horizon.

There is no easy turnaround. The decline in the Episcopal Church membership reflects losing our way as a church. We need to fall in love again with Jesus, who transcends all political and theological categories. We need a renewed confidence in the gospel that God’s love in Jesus transforms lives. We need to reclaim the theological and political center and draw the circle wide in welcoming people unlike us into the church. And we need to be more willing to change our methods of ministry while holding fast to the unchanging gospel message.

 “Never have Christians pursued relevance more strenuously; never have Christians been more irrelevant.” – Os Guiness

I love the Episcopal Church. I value the church’s Anglican heritage, spirit of inquiry, thoughtful holiness and open faithfulness. I want the church not just to survive but thrive in the years ahead. But for growth to happen, we need to begin by asking a central mission question: How does the Church best position itself to respond to what God is doing in the world? On that question depends the future shape of the Episcopal Church.

The Rev. Dr. Gary Nicolosi 

September 20, 2019

Farewell Letter

Saw this over on FB and thought it worth sharing.  A pretty great and simple message.

The following message from T. Boone Pickens was written prior to his passing September 11, 2019.

“If you are reading this, I have passed on from this world — not as big a deal for you as it was for me.

In my final months, I came to the sad reality that my life really did have a fourth quarter and the clock really would run out on me. I took the time to convey some thoughts that reflect back on my rich and full life.

I was able to amass 1.9 million Linkedin followers. On Twitter, more than 145,000 (thanks, Drake). This is my goodbye to each of you.

One question I was asked time and again: What is it that you will leave behind?

That’s at the heart of one of my favorite poems, "Indispensable Man," which Saxon White Kessinger wrote in 1959. Here are a few stanzas that get to the heart of the matter:

Sometime when you feel that your going
Would leave an unfillable hole,
Just follow these simple instructions
And see how they humble your soul;

Take a bucket and fill it with water,
Put your hand in it up to the wrist,
Pull it out and the hole that’s remaining
Is a measure of how you’ll be missed.

You can splash all you wish when you enter,
You may stir up the water galore,
But stop and you’ll find that in no time
It looks quite the same as before.

You be the judge of how long the bucket remembers me.

I’ve long recognized the power of effective communication. That’s why in my later years I began to reflect on the many life lessons I learned along the way, and shared them with all who would listen.

Fortunately, I found the young have a thirst for this message. Many times over the years, I was fortunate enough to speak at student commencement ceremonies, and that gave me the chance to look out into a sea of the future and share some of these thoughts with young minds. My favorite of these speeches included my grandchildren in the audience.

What I would tell them was this Depression-era baby from tiny Holdenville, Oklahoma — that wide expanse where the pavement ends, the West begins, and the Rock Island crosses the Frisco — lived a pretty good life.

In those speeches, I’d always offer these future leaders a deal: I would trade them my wealth and success, my 68,000-acre ranch and private jet, in exchange for their seat in the audience. That way, I told them, I’d get the opportunity to start over, experience every opportunity America has to offer.

It’s your shot now.

If I had to single out one piece of advice that’s guided me through life, most likely it would be from my grandmother, Nellie Molonson. She always made a point of making sure I understood that on the road to success, there’s no point in blaming others when you fail.

Here’s how she put it:

“Sonny, I don’t care who you are. Some day you’re going to have to sit on your own bottom.”

After more than half a century in the energy business, her advice has proven itself to be spot-on time and time again. My failures? I never have any doubt whom they can be traced back to. My successes? Most likely the same guy.

Never forget where you come from. I was fortunate to receive the right kind of direction, leadership, and work ethic — first in Holdenville, then as a teen in Amarillo, Texas, and continuing in college at what became Oklahoma State University. I honored the values my family instilled in me, and was honored many times over by the success they allowed me to achieve.

I also long practiced what my mother preached to me throughout her life — be generous. Those values came into play throughout my career, but especially so as my philanthropic giving exceeded my substantial net worth in recent years.

For most of my adult life, I’ve believed that I was put on Earth to make money and be generous with it. I’ve never been a fan of inherited wealth. My family is taken care of, but I was far down this philanthropic road when, in 2010, Warren Buffet and Bill Gates asked me to take their Giving Pledge, a commitment by the world's wealthiest to dedicate the majority of their wealth to philanthropy. I agreed immediately.

I liked knowing that I helped a lot of people. I received letters every day thanking me for what I did, the change I fostered in other people’s lives. Those people should know that I appreciated their letters.

My wealth was built through some key principles, including:

A good work ethic is critical.

Don’t think competition is bad, but play by the rules. I loved to compete and win. I never wanted the other guy to do badly; I just wanted to do a little better than he did.

Learn to analyze well. Assess the risks and the prospective rewards, and keep it simple.

Be willing to make decisions. That’s the most important quality in a good leader: Avoid the “Ready-aim-aim-aim-aim” syndrome. You have to be willing to fire.

Learn from mistakes. That’s not just a cliché. I sure made my share. Remember the doors that smashed your fingers the first time and be more careful the next trip through.

Be humble. I always believed the higher a monkey climbs in the tree, the more people below can see his ass. You don’t have to be that monkey.

Don’t look to government to solve problems — the strength of this country is in its people.

Stay fit. You don’t want to get old and feel bad. You’ll also get a lot more accomplished and feel better about yourself if you stay fit. I didn’t make it to 91 by neglecting my health.

Embrace change. Although older people are generally threatened by change, young people loved me because I embraced change rather than running from it. Change creates opportunity.

Have faith, both in spiritual matters and in humanity, and in yourself. That faith will see you through the dark times we all navigate.

Over the years, my staff got used to hearing me in a meeting or on the phone asking, “Whaddya got?” That’s probably what my Maker is asking me about now.

Here’s my best answer.

I left an undying love for America, and the hope it presents for all. I left a passion for entrepreneurship, and the promise it sustains. I left the belief that future generations can and will do better than my own.

Thank you. It’s time we all move on.”
-T. Boone Pickens

Friday Funnies

The Anatomy of a Wall

Saw an interesting piece on Fox this afternoon.   President Trump is in SoCal for fundraising and stopped down at the border for a show and tell.  Checked with the other news channels but didn't see it anywhere.  So If you've wondered about the border wall, check this out :

https://video.foxnews.com/v/6087542866001/.

Gun Violence: What Can We Do?

One of the most frustrating aspects of living in our world today is the rise of gun violence.  Over the course of the past few years, we've seen rising incidents of the use of guns in every crime from common burglaries to gang wars to mass shootings and everything in between.  Guns are everywhere be they hand guns, rifles, or shotguns.

Of course, the mass shootings get most of the publicity.  It's usually some nutcase who snaps and takes out a bunch of people, and in the worst case kids, at a place that is a vulnerable target.  When this happens the outcries for taking some action against guns reaches a fever pitch.  And almost everyone can relate.  I mean, no one wants to see innocent people gunned down for no reason.

As is usually the case, there are other issues we're not being told about.  Even though the media doesn't cover it very much there is a crises in our inner cities regarding people being killed by hand guns.  Chicago gets some attention but it is happening all over.  But a hand gun is a harder target and are not as ominous looking as a rifle that, especially an AR-15.  So that is low hanging fruit and what the nut cases use, so that is what they are targeting.  And that is what this post is all about.

I've been thinking about all the solutions that have been put forth.  You've seen them.  Confiscate "assault rifles" (even though an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle) is not an assault rifle.  Tighten background checks and make them more comprehensive.  Apply background checks to every gun sale, not just commercial ones.  Require gun safes or trigger locks across the board.  Pass "red flag" laws that will try to identify the nut cases who might commit a mass killing, make sure they don't have guns and get them help. I'm sure there are others but those are the most prominent that you hear the most about.

I really thought that this time there might be some movement on implementing some of these things.  For me, I think there are probably some good ideas amongst all that have been put forward.  I believe in the 2nd Amendment, but I also think we could do some common sense things that would make it either more difficult or less likely that the crazies would commit mass murder.  There are zealots on both sides that will fight against it but I sensed that there was some wiggle room to have conversations that would result in something that we at least point to that our government was doing to try and attack the problem.

That was until Beto came out as an unhinged asshole.  I sorta always knew he was an asshole, but his latest rant against the AR-15 is beyond belief.  Have you heard him.  He has said over and over since the El Paso shootings, that the government should confiscate people's AR-15s.  And just like that...Beto the golden boy single-handedly torpedoed any chance at reasonable gun regulations that have been discussed at the highest levels. They just flew out the window.  Simply put, gun owners are very suspicious of liberals who want to work on gun control.  They think it's a smoke screen for gun confiscation.  And Beto just came out and proved them right.  I don't see any way that any significant faction of the gun rights groups would remotely agree to compromise while this guy is running around threatening AR-15 confiscation.  Now you might just say what's the big deal, he's just one guy.  No.  He's a candidate for the Presidency.  No matter how small the chance that he'll prevail is, they won't take a chance.  Neither will Trump.  Neither will McConnell.  Neither will a growing list of Republicans.  So if you want to blame someone, blame Beto.  So it's dead.  Sorry.  We'll just have to wait until he either fades back to a bartender job where he belongs or the next mass shooting whips up more outrage.  Of course, the next liberal genius who rants about gun confiscation can do an equally good job of torpedoing it.

For me, it's pretty simple.  First, it's not about the guns.  It's about the people.  So I was thinking about the model we have right in front of us regarding what to do if there is a threat.  How do we handle it?  If you go back to the early days of this country (and really it has been applied since civilization began) and look at how to protect decent, law abiding people from nut cases, it's really pretty simple.  Ready?  Here it is.  Create a safe haven and eliminate the threat.  Let me say that again.  Create a safe haven and eliminate the threat.  So what did we do back in the days of westward expansion.  When Americans were pushing west they faced a threat.  What did they do?  They created safe havens, otherwise known as forts.  They used forts as a place to organize and provide for settlers and people moving West.  The other thing they did was went after the threat.  There are some really ugly stories of what some Americans did to eliminate the threat of Indians.  One argument is that it was overdone, that it was genocide.   The purpose of this post is not to delve into treatment of Indians in the 19th Century but rather to identify a methodology needed to protect people.  Eliminate the threat.

So how does this have to do with today.  First, we must bite the bullet and fund the hardening of our schools, churches, malls and other targets of interest for the nut cases.  It's not cheap.  It's not easy.  But we have to do it.  There are a lot of technologies out there that would significantly decrease the chances of success of some crazy dude (and most of them are guys) with a rifle who wants to do harm to others.  Second, we need to eliminate the threat.  Here's where I'm in agreement with "red flag laws".  We need to identify mentally ill people and get them off the street.  We need to have a concerted effort to make sure someone who shouldn't have a gun, doesn't have a gun.  So we need education, the will to do it, and infrastructure to accommodate it.

All this would be expensive.  But it seems to me that it's a fundamental duty of government to protect the populace.  Or at least try to.  I know that protecting targets is happening in a lot of places and it is effective.  But we need much, much more attention to it.  The place we fall down is in eliminating the threat.  If we weren't failing at this, we wouldn't keep seeing these horrific incidents.  So this requires a lot more attention.  I know there will be rights activists who will scream bloody murder.  But we've got to figure out how to push through that.  And it can be done.  We just need to have the will to do it.

Motivation Monday

Friday Funnies

This is a bit of inside baseball, but Broadside always cracks me up...

"The Industry of Racial Grievance"

Saw this article over on The Federalist and it really resonated.  I've said for a long time and in several posts that the media is driving the "America as racist" agenda and I think the author hits the nail on the head here.  We need more of this and it needs to be spread far and wide.  I think that's the only way we're going to overcome the advantage that the "industry of racial grievance" has in controlling the message.  So many buy into this message that it becomes a self perpetuating prophesy.  I've seen many people I respect in everyday life, in government, in our churches that spout this bullshit  and expect us all to believe it like lemmings.  Well....not me.  I've still got a brain and will follow the author's advice at the end of the article, "So let’s cut ourselves a break. Think about where we want to go, but also appreciate and celebrate how far we have come."

All You Have To Do Is Take A Road Trip To Find Out America Isn’t Racist

As I traveled across America this summer, I found something that would surprise many in the media. I found a lot of racial harmony.

By David Marcus

SEPTEMBER 5, 2019

This summer, I’ve had the chance to spend a few weeks on the road, exploring the vast, forgotten America west of the Acela corridor and east of Hollywood. In June, I drove from Brooklyn to Arkansas and back, and just last week coursed through the whole continent, landing at a beach bar in Venice Beach. One thing I noticed everywhere I went, in the bars and restaurants I haunted along the way, was a level of racial harmony that belies the notion of our nation as a hotbed of racism.

The people I met along the way, and there were a lot of them, were white, black, brown, Asian, and Native American, and they weren’t self-segregated within the establishments I found. Much the opposite: they were mixing, mingling, laughing, and drinking together without even a hint of racial tension.

So how could this be in a nation that is purportedly teeming with racial strife? Was I to believe my lying eyes and the convivial conversations I witnessed and engaged in? Or was I to believe that somewhere underneath all of this good-spirited community life lies a bedrock of inescapable racism?

Overcoming Racism Starts With Individuals

What becomes clear very quickly is that for Americans who do not choose to center their sense of self on their demographic identities, a whole host of other interests and qualities animate their social behavior. Whether they were college football fans in a Barstow hotel bar, truckers sitting out front of a Greenville, Illinois, motel smoking and sharing beer and tales from the road, or more upscale denizens of a fancy Tulsa wine bar sniffing and swishing a new rosé, nobody seemed to care much about skin color.

None of this is to say that racism is dead in our society; of course it is not. Many, maybe all of us, sometimes make irrational assumptions about people based on their skin color. These can result in negative outcomes for certain groups in employment, education, and the criminal justice system.

This is why rooting out and unwinding these irrational assumptions individuals sometimes make is a better anti-racism method than attacking vague, massive concepts such as privilege theory or systemic racism. At the end of the day, after all, systems are administered by individuals.

We’ve Come So Far

But as far as America has to go to live up to the promise of equality for all, it is wrongheaded and even dangerous not to celebrate how far our country, as diverse as it can be, has come. That hotel in Barstow was hosting a wedding that night that told the tale of integration beautifully. An older Hispanic couple was getting married, and among the relatives and friends assembled, almost every racial group in America was represented. In fact, interracial marriage and positive attitudes toward it have skyrocketed in recent decades.

It is vital to remember that in some Americans’ living memory, segregation was the law in many places, and openly supporting such laws was acceptable in polite society. Something telling about those who suggest ours is a deeply racist country is that often the examples they cite are supposed backlash to genuine and constant progress.

The media wonders, for example, what the reaction will be to a black Captain America, when, in reality, basically nobody will care very much beyond maybe thinking it’s cool to have reached this point. But that won’t stop the media from chasing down stupid comments from a handful of Twitter accounts with fewer than 100 followers, who may or may not be foreign trolls, and pretending it’s some huge backlash. 

We Need a Vision

In part, this disconnect between those who insist that racism is America and those who live work and play with all manner of folks in the small towns and cities of lonely America is the result of an industry of racial grievance. This is not just the case on college campuses, which seem to have more diversity officers than math teachers. It is also true in corporate America, which spends millions to hire specialized companies to conduct training.

These diversity officers and “trainers” all hew to a single concept of what racism is and how everyone should battle it. By their own accounts, it isn’t working. They say the race problem is getting worse even as their anti-racism methods gain steam. Perhaps they think they must raise the fever to break it, but what if their entire diagnosis is wrong?

I have never been and never will be a person of color in the United States, and it is not my intention to downplay the very real and unique risks that still exist for people who are. But if we are to mitigate or even end these risks, we need some vision of what a country without irrational racial judgments would look like. We need something to aspire to, not just an endless cycle of forever racism and forever anti-racist training and education.

That something to aspire to exists. It exists in bars and eateries across the bulge of our land, in the stadiums and Little League games, on the golf courses and tennis courts, in book clubs and churches and concert halls. It exists in a mixed America where people enjoy each other regardless of race, an America that to people 70 years ago would appear shocking — to some in horror, to more in wonder and hope.

So let’s cut ourselves a break. Think about where we want to go, but also appreciate and celebrate how far we have come.

David Marcus is the Federalist's New York Correspondent. Follow him on Twitter, @BlueBoxDave.

Motivation Monday

On Trump...

Saw this over on FB and thought I’d share here.  I’m sure that if there are any Libs reading (unlikely) it’ll make your head explode.  Now if you’ve read this blog at all you know I'm not a die hard Trump supporter.  He can be an insufferable jackass.  And he exaggerates all the time.  His war with the press is unfortunate but understandable.  If he was better student of history he'd realize that press animosity is nothing new.  But he just eggs them on.  And I think that's part of his strategy.  Anyway, I'm not sure I agree with all that Tim Allen says, but I agree with most.  And he might not be a student of history, but he is certainly a master political strategist.  I've said this before  and I'll keep saying it.  His adversaries don't understand him and for some reason play into his hands.  Take the CNN 7-hour program on Climate Change with all the Dem candidates laying out their thoughts and plans.  That was the biggest gift to Trump so far in the campaign.  And they just don't get it.  But I digress.  Here's the bit by Tim Allen.  Food for thought!

TIM ALLEN - ON TRUMP ...

Whatever your feelings for Trump, these are some interesting points that Tim Allen makes. Put your hatred aside and think about these observations.

Tim Allen is credited with writing this.

Here are some interesting points to think about prior to 2020, especially to my friends on the fence, like moderate Democrats, Libertarians and Independents and the never Trump Republicans and those thinking of "walking away" from the Democratic party.

Women are upset at Trump’s naughty words -- they also bought 80 million copies of 50 Shades of Gray.

Not one feminist has defended Sarah Sanders. It seems women’s rights only matter if those women are liberal.

No Border Walls. No voter ID laws. Did you figure it out yet? But wait... there's more.

Chelsea Clinton got out of college and got a job at NBC that paid $900,000 per year. Her mom flies around the country speaking out about white privilege.

And just like that, they went from being against foreign interference in our elections to allowing non-citizens to vote in our elections.

President Trump’s wall costs less than the Obamacare website. Let that sink in, America.

We are one election away from open borders, socialism, gun confiscation, and full-term abortion nationally. We are fighting evil.

They sent more troops and armament to arrest Roger Stone than they sent to defend Benghazi.

60 years ago, Venezuela was 4th on the world economic freedom index. Today, they are 179th and their citizens are dying of starvation. In only 10 years, Venezuela was destroyed by democratic socialism.

Russia donated $0.00 to the Trump campaign. Russia donated $145,600,000 to the Clinton Foundation. But Trump was the one investigated!

Nancy Pelosi invited illegal aliens to the State of the Union. President Trump Invited victims of illegal aliens to the State of the Union. Let that sink in.

A socialist is basically a communist who doesn’t have the power to take everything from their citizens at gunpoint ... Yet!

How do you walk 3000 miles across Mexico without food or support and show up at our border 100 pounds overweight and with a cellphone?

Alexandria Ocasio Cortez wants to ban cars, ban planes, give out universal income and thinks socialism works. She calls Donald Trump crazy.

Bill Clinton paid $850,000 to Paula Jones To get her to go away. I don’t remember the FBI raiding his lawyer’s office.

I wake up every day and I am grateful that Hillary Clinton is not the president of the United States of America.

The same media that told me Hillary Clinton had a 95% chance of winning now tells me Trump’s approval ratings are low.

“The problem with socialism is that sooner or later you run out of other people’s money.”— Margaret Thatcher

Maxine Waters opposes voter ID laws; She thinks that they are racist. You need to have a photo ID to attend her town hall meetings.

President Trump said — "They’re not after me. They’re after you. I’m just in their way."
Read that again.

Pass along these truths!

Friday Funnies (Kid Edition)

Here's a string of meme's that are related to raising kids.  They crack me up...

The Boy Who Cried Wolf

I guess that title is not in keeping with the current PC world.  It should be "The Person Who Cried Wolf".  Whatever...

Anyway, last night CNN had 10 Democrat Presidential candidates on for 7 hours to discuss climate change.  Can you imagine?  Needless to say, I didn't watch it.  It would have been too painful.  But I have read several accounts from both sides about the claims, the plans, the terror, and the warnings.  Generally the left, the democrats, the socialists, the communists, the loonies (they are all the same) are trying to make their point by scaring people to death.  It's all about blaming industry and republicans and conservatives as being non-caring, money grubbing neanderthals who don't really give a shit about the rest of mankind.  Simple as that.  And of course on the other side, the right, the republicans, conservatives, libertarians etc. get frustrated by this nonsense so their defense mechanisms go up and they tend to be in the deny mode.  It's like someone accuses you of heinous crimes and you have a tendency to put up a defense that starts with denial.  So both sides are generally wrong.

I don't think you can be a rational human being and not believe that the presence of 7 billion people will NOT have an impact on the planet.  To think otherwise just doesn't make sense.  It's true that there is too much plastic crap everywhere, especially the oceans.  It's true that we seem to be having more severe weather (which is not climate) recently.  Whether that just a natural cycle or not is open to debate.  It's true that there are finite resources on Earth.  It's true that the population (especially in third world countries) is growing rapidly.  It's true that the U.S. does more by a long ways to combat climate change than anyone else and that largely has to do with education and standard of living.  It's true that some traditional technologies are more difficult than others to make cleaner and more acceptable to people who worry about the pollutants that results from their use.  So there are a lot of things that, at least to me, are undeniable.  There are problems and issues that need to be addressed, but they will not be addressed as long as the loonies are voicing outrageous proposals.

So at the risk of sounding extremely rational and with the caveat that I'm not an environmental scientist, I think there are some fundamental things that could be done.  I won't list them here because I've done it previously.  You can read the most recent article here.  You can also go to the search bar for the blog and type in "climate".  You will see several articles on the subject.  And they all say the same thing.  The same thing I'm saying here.  Until the hysteria stops, until the outrageous claims stop, until the zealots stop trying to scare people, nothing will get done.

Now These are Tree Houses!

Motivation Monday