July 7, 2018 – Charles Krauthammer – 1950 – 2018

         “You’re betraying your whole life if you don’t say what you think – and you don’t say it honestly and bluntly.”

         - Charles Krauthammer – said during his interview in 2013 of his Best Seller book, Things That Matter.

         I shall miss Charles Krauthammer.  Spinning my wheels in trying to make a living and living my life, I paid less attention to the news in my earlier years. However, from Carter years on, I started to pay increasingly more and more attention to the news and became more discerning of whom I listened to.

         My first presidential election was a choice between Carter or Ford in 1976, with an outcome of 297 to 240 electoral votes. Carter won.¹ [Side note – the electoral votes of California went to Ford – a Republican – recently those electoral votes of California went to Hillary Clinton, who lost against Trump in 2016.²]  The one issue that prompted me into action was Carter indicating he wanted registration of women for military service. 

Women registering for the military service even in times of peace were of serious interest to me as I was in my early 20s and unmarried at the time. [I suggest you look at two items ^{3 and 4} that discuss Israel women in their Defense Service.] I telephoned all my friends and urged them to get out to vote on that one issue alone.  But, Carter took office, 1977-1981.

[See Proclamation 4771-Registration Under the Military Selective Service Act, July 2, 1980.⁵]  This one item mentioned in the run for president cemented my closer attention to elections and politics.

Fast forward, 35 – 40 years and I am now retired and have ample time to pay attention to politics and research.

I suggest those that haven’t had the time to pay attention start to pay attention now.  There are things in the wind that everyone needs to understand deeply in order to combat or follow – whichever he/or she chooses.

Suddenly on the scene is “socialism” – not just Bernie Sander’s version – a younger candidate – Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez seems to have an expanded view .  I learned about socialism in high school along with communism – did you?  What version - the 1970s version or the 2016s version?  Much of history is being watered down and rewritten to make it more palatable.  

Now that there is a vacancy on the Supreme Court to be filled, everyone is howling about Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973) being overturned.  I suggest everyone research this topic before speaking.  Start at Wikipedia ⁶.  Please pay particular attention to the section entitled: Activities of Normal McCorvey, who was Jane Roe.  Even though she was an original party to Roe v. Wade, and sought to reopen the case, she failed at overturning this case in 2005. The Supreme Court refused to grant a writ of certiorari.

Before you debate the topic – whatever the topic is – be sure you know what the history is and/or the facts.

Another topic of interest in the news these long months since the election of President Trump in 2016 is the constant clamor for his impeachment.⁷ Several resolutions have already been introduced . . . and I imagine many more will be introduced.  It is interesting reading for either side of the Trump camp.

Again, I will miss Krauthammer.  Many evenings cooking dinner I’d often say to my husband, “Turn up the volume – Krauthammer is on.”  Charles’ eloquent discourse on all topics taught you how to debate rationally and fairly.  You need to know both sides and be able to talk about both sides in a civilized manner.

I refuse to be shouted down by someone else because they think MY VIEWS ARE NOT IMPORTANT.  They only want one side - their side with no debate.  I will not be quiet. I will use the phrase au contraire more often meaning a “polite way of saying I have an opposite point of view”.  Many may think it is a four letter word or consider it humorous, ironic or simply dramatic.  It will be my basis for civil discourse.  And, when all else fails and I am being shouted at or told that “you must be drunk” when I am dead sober I will use my proverbial shelf-method which is announcing  “We obviously disagree on this and will always disagree on this subject.  Let us say no more until after the election or after the current President it out of office.”  That will be my polite shut down. 

However, I will not abandon my view. I will vote my view – behind curtains in the voting booth and making sure I only entice similarly minded friends to go out to vote and never advise those that disagree to get out and vote. And, dancing in my head will be ‘I told you so’ when the pending crisis or conflict works out in the real world, not in the fanatical world of bullying loud mouths.

 It is time for conservatives to arm themselves and speak up and in the end vote for conservatism.

I will leave my “hot topic list” with Krauthammer’s quote because he has given me the inspiration and impetus to speak honestly and bluntly about anything.

“You’re betraying your whole life

if you don’t say what you think

– and you don’t say it honestly and bluntly.”

- Charles Krauthammer

The Weekly Standard – Issue July 9/July 16, 2018 has a wonderful editorial about Charles Krauthammer. 

See https://www.weeklystandard.com/issue/23-42

Research Notes:

        

(1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_1976

(2) https://www.270towin.com/maps/2016-actual-electoral-map

(3) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_the_Israel_Defense_Forces

(4) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conscription_in_Israel

(5) http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=44697

(6)https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Roe_v._Wade&oldid=848464215

(7) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Efforts_to_impeach_Donald_Trump

December 3, 2016 – Pack Rat – Political cartons by Michael Ramirez        

          Yesterday I worked so hard in the garden, it reminded me that I am no longer “super woman” and can’t do 6 hours of heavy garden work at one time.  I’ve got to learn to cut it back.  So, I was pretty lame this morning and had to find something easier to do today.  Cleaning out stuff and more stuff – remember I am a Pack Rat.  There is always something to clean out or toss out.

          Lucky me, I unearthed a stash of The Weekly Standard magazine.  It is definitely a conservative Republican slanted weekly magazine.  It has few advertisements and is very slim.  It is just about all “reading” material.

When it arrives, usually on Thursdays, the first thing I do is read The Scrapbook and look for the Ramirez carton which always gives me a good chuckle.  Then, I push work of every nature aside so that I can inhale the contents.  My husband is used to my weekly “date night” with The Weekly Standard. In fact, he always puts The Weekly Standard on the top of the mail pile because he knows I enjoy it so.  He too, often flips inside to take a glance at the political cartoon.

I am not sure why I keep them unless it is the unholy price of the yearly subscription; that is probably what prompts me.  But, it could be the incredible writing skills of the various editors and contributing editors.  Often I find a story so “on point” with my philosophy I read it out loud to my husband.  [He loves that and hates it at the same time.]  It is usually a sentence or two that is a perfect “slice-and-dice” or a stunning touché.  The language is rich and the content remarkable.  However, since my husband doesn’t know the complete context I am pulling it from, it irritates him.

          Also, it is fun to read what my favorite pundits who visit Fox News have written in print.  I fell in love with Fred Barnes years ago. Now, I see Stephen Hayes more and adore him as well.  However, my all-time favorite is Charles Krauthammer.

          So, I flipped through each of the old issues and I cut out the cartoon and made a nice stack of them.  Then I snagged about a dozen articles that I loved.  Two examples are: The Divine Miss H, revisited, by Joseph Epstein and Goodbye to the Shade Tree Mechanic by Geoffrey Norman.

I had over 4 years’ worth in the stash and took the time to flip through them for several reasons.  We will be inaugurating President Donald Trump next month and the last several years I have enjoyed the Political cartoons capturing the Obama administration and all the “foolishness” in Washington.  During the presidential campaign it was even more fun with the caricatures of Hillary and Donald.

I now have a stack of just the cartoons which measure about 5 x 7 inches and one half inch thick that won’t take up much space.  They will give me great pleasure in the future when I flip through them for a trip down memory lane.  This little stack of cartoons boils down the essence of the last several years of political “news events” in a humorous or ironic way.  That is the right way to remember our political past – in a light hearted way then it won’t be so painful.

Now that we have a new President coming on board, it will be just as much fun to see how they poke at President Trump and his minions.  Perhaps this coming year once read I can cut the cartoons out each week and toss the magazine out instead of pack ratting it.  Hey, I am going for a New Years’ Resolution.  This one is doable.  It’s a plan; possibly it will ‘come together’.

If you are unfamiliar with Michael Ramirez, a conservative political cartoonist – you can visit him at his website:

http://www.michaelpramirez.com/index.html

He is awesome.