“The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it” George Bernard Shaw.

Maybe I am a cynic.  You be the judge.   A confessed  curmudgeon I am not considered to be very positive in my outlook but being a contrarian at heart I know that I am absolutely positive in my belief that right will win out and evil will be vanquished; that America will return to her natural state of liberty; that common sense will once again be part of our national character.  Between then and now there are issues to be observed and hopefully these observations will cause the reader to think and sometimes smile.  You may wonder what a Christian Libertarian Teamster and die hard Capitalist can offer in the way of common sense but you shouldn’t be so cynical to think it isn’t possible.  Experience is the greatest of all teachers and what opinions are based on and like most Americans I have a variety of experiences that continue to either re-enforce my beliefs or create questions about them.  Agree or disagree, as long as you think.

It would be easy to kick off my inaugural issue writing about the President and how inept he has been but why would I want to be redundant?  Besides, he is not the problem but a symptom of the illness that affects America.  I have been in a long running discussion with a friend who I call Lefty, for obvious reasons to anyone who knows him, about words, meanings and intentions.  Lefty is as politically correct as I am not so the conversation was as entertaining to me as it was frustrating to him. Lefty, like too many Americans have bought into the belief system that words are given their power by the orator or writer and not by the listener or reader.  It is just the opposite.  It is the receiver of the communication that gives the power to the message or messenger.  As the receiver I can continue listening or reading or I can leave it if I do not like it.  It is up to me, period.

Our most important and sacred right is the right to free speech. Lefty believes that speech should only be as free as it isn’t deemed offensive to the listener.  He would rather have society silence the person deemed offensive through government imposed restrictions on what is said and how it is said as if that action will extinguish the ideas or thoughts that is communicated.  It is my contention that all that does is to drive underground ideas and philosophies that would shrivel and die if given the exposure of free expression.

Free speech allows for dissenting points of views to be expressed.  The whole purpose of the left or “political correctness” is to curtail free speech and to control what is communicated.  If someone is offended by anything said then it is imperative to silence the offender.  Lefty is always calling me either a racist, sexist or homophobe.  It does not bother me because I know that first I am none of those labels and secondly I know that by labeling me as one of “those”  people is the only way the those on the left can make themselves feel adequate.  They attack the words and not the idea.  They like to insist that respect is shown to others while not understanding that the ultimate respect is allowing free speech and thought.  That is why I know I am not any of the labels that Lefty likes to toss my way.

The left is comprised of two different groups.  The first is the hardcore Socialist / Communist / Fascist. These are the drivers who lead the other larger segment.  They are the Saul Ailinsky’s who developed the roadmap for the rest to follow.  The second group is by far the largest group and they are the idealist but ignorant and those who have become wards and given up any hope of improvement.  My friend Lefty is in the second group.  He is a by-product of what will prove to be the worst decade in American history – the Sixties.  Maybe it was the proliferation of drug use but it is evident that the function of rational thinking ceased with the vocal majority of that generation.  They have not evolved in thought but instead have convinced themselves that because it makes them feel good about themselves it is good.  Results do not matter, because they have moved on like locusts. I have concluded that Lefty, as nice a guy he is and I do consider him a good friend,  is just not that smart.

It is not that Lefty is stupid he is far from it, but he has been affected by the disease called liberalism.  It attacks that section of the brain where common sense is stored.  It creates the delusion that  as long as something makes them feel good then it is the right thing to do.  The road less traveled is non existent to them and history is only used in the present not something to learn from, in fact nothing is concrete.  Words are a tool they use and when the need arises they abandon the word or change the definition.  Two contemporary examples are “man made global warming” and “homosexual”. Man made global warming has been sold as a real threat.  It is being taught in the schools to children beginning in kindergarten and continues through college.  It has made lefties like Al Gore very rich while poisoning the minds of countless boys and girls.  As the exaggerated claims grew they brought more attention from reputable investigators which discovered the fraud and lies being perpetrated on the trusting and unsuspecting public.  Public opinion turned and all of a sudden “man made global warming” disappears and a new term “climate change” is the new catch phrase.  It has the same meaning and goals but is considered more user friendly.

The campaign to do away with the term homosexual is just getting underway.  Liberal polling show that homosexuals feel that the term “homosexual” is a code-word used by closet homophobes and haters.  They opt for the happier “gay” moniker.  Again, just changing terminology to make what is a deviant, depressing and unsafe lifestyle something more acceptable to society.   We are a tolerant people and that tolerance is used against us by the liberal left.  With the left, actions do not speak louder then words.  There is not a respect for individual thought unless that thought meets all the standards set by the group.

The most recent examples of such leftist antics are Mozilla, a technology company whose CEO was forced out due to his private contribution to California’s Prop 8 which concerned the definition of marriage.  It is unfortunate for him that he chose to donate to the  side that represented his personal beliefs and not the politically correct.  Again, these were personal donations not corporate donations.  There was nothing proving that he discriminated against homosexuals or any other group in fact Mozilla operated with a very welcoming attitude towards their employees.  None of that mattered to the fascist left who do not have any tolerance for anybody who does not follow lockstep their policies.   There are numerous cases in the corporate and entertainment world where people have been intimidated to remain quiet about their beliefs.  This allows a false sense of acceptance to grow within the society.

Clive Bundy is a more recent example of the leftist attempt to destroy our First Amendment.  The rancher who stood up to the Federal governments land grab scheme has now been painted as a flat out old time racist because of remarks he made in a talk to some group which the NY Times through creative editing has made this man and anybody who stood behind him suspected of Klan activity.  As usual it turns out after the fact that his remarks were not racist (and even if they were – so what?) But the hit piece has done what it was designed to do – discredit the movement to roll back the Federal government and anybody who aligns their beliefs with that philosophy.   The number of people who backed Bundy and quickly backed off were not many but some of the names disturbed me.  Rand Paul was the most notable.  Instead of relying on a publication known for its lack of veracity he would have been better served to reserve comment until all the facts of Bundy’s talk were released.  When a politician allows media manipulation to dictate their message that political figure is immediately suspect. Both of the aforementioned cases were created by the left’s strongest protagonist on the two coasts – The LA Times and The NY Times.

There is power in words and we should always be suspect when words are used to silence.