Let There Be Peace on Earth

By Chuck Marshall

     Back when I first became a Presbyterian (originally was Southern Baptist and am now "non-denominational" Christian) we use to sing a song together at the end of services called "Let There Be Peace on Earth" while holding hands.   I really enjoyed that sentiment and love the song and I believe it is at the core of what was taught by Jesus.   I decided to post that  as a Christmas wish for all my readers and for the world over.    The song goes on to say "And let it begin with me", which hits home the fact that there will never be peace until each of us considers our own thoughts and actions and how it might steer the world towards more peaceful endeavors .

     After a contentious year between the two political parties here in the  US, I think it's also important to keep in mind that we are all after the same thing.   There is no "good guy" or "bad guy" as the bulk of both political parties are mainly interested in achieving peace and prosperity for themselves and their families.   Both sides want a healthy population, protected borders, opportunity for all, fulfilling work, effective infrastructure, safe transportation, freedom of worship, happy children, an end to unnecessary suffering, and a hopeful future for our posterity.

     So let there be no  name calling today, no opining, no posturing, no bragging and no inflammatory conversation., but let's focus on the concept of unrestrained love and understanding and passion for life and a higher calling.  Actually, I believe the highest calling for all of us is to strive towards something outside of ourselves,  something larger than ourselves.   So, let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.

"And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, 'Fear not:" for behold, I bring unto you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.' And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.'"

[Luke 2:8-14 KJV]

   Merry Christmas to All !!

All I am Saying.... Is Give Trump a Chance

by Chuck Marshall

     I've written a few nasty blogs about Donald Trump., so any reader should know I've not always been much of a fan of his.   I do have to admit I've grown to admire him for his tenacity and his grit and for what seems to be a sincere desire to help us. The guy has spunk and energy like I've never seen in my entire life - and he's 70 years old !  Although he can be coarse and egotistical I believe he truly wants to help the common man and get America back  to "making" things again.   And maybe after 8 years of eloquent, beautiful, speeches that lecture us rather than inspire us,  I've come to realize that talk is cheap in the grand scheme of things.   I believe Trump wants to help the downtrodden American worker who has been forgotten and ignored for nearly 20 years.  I believe he wants to limit the influence of large corporations and their lobbyist cronies from taking our government and our democracy away from us.  I believe that his heart is in the right place for America and I believe he is much smarter than anyone ever gave him credit for.   Most of all I believe he is going to actually do something and get Congress to DO something.  That in itself is reason to celebrate.  So,  I'm going to give him a chance to fix things and give him my support as a writer of an unknown blog.  He deserves a honeymoon for a few months so I vow to resist attacking the new President (at least directly)  for 100 days after his inauguration.  

       In the meantime, I've decided I've held back too much venom from the Democrats these past 8 years, so I'm going to beat up on them for a while.  Anyway, nothing entertained me more than seeing them squirm when Trump won in November.  It was truly exquisite.  Thank you for that Donald Trump, and thanks for your continued disrespect and open hostility to the leftist, arrogant media.  It is a guilty pleasure of mine.  

       I understand that change is a scary thing, yet sometimes it is necessary even though keeping the status quo would be much easier.  Americans were brave to elect Donald Trump.  The most vocal opponents of Trump;  the liberal media, the intellectual elites,  the spoiled- rotten Hollywood actors, college professors, doctors, lawyers, lobbyists.( in other words  all those who are "comfortable" with things) don't understand the American people.  They don't work in a day to day job that pays nearly nothing with horrendous medical insurance.  They don't live in fear of getting sick lest there be a need for a Dr. and the consequent $5000 deductible for any serious illness.  They don't struggle every day to keep their head above the waters of runaway credit card debt.   They don't have to risk every month between getting their water cut off or the electricity cut off depending on which is faster to react.  They don't lie awake at night considering how long the mortgage company will let them stay in their home as they slip further and further behind in payments.  How will it work?  Do they send cops ?  They don't know that fear, and anxiety and frustration of hard working Americans.  They don't understand how infuriating it is to hear a lecture from someone who "play acts" for a living earning millions of dollars for doing one damn movie or for hosting a stupid talk show or for tossing a ball around while they work their ass off doing something of substance- yet the income is not enough to support their kids through community college.  

     All that these elitist leftists can see or think about is "bigotry" and "misogyny" and "xenophobia" when the fact of the matter is most people don't give a damn about all that crap !   They want a government that DOES something and gets things done and listens to their concerns for the basics.   They want their dignity back.  So, with all due respect for the concerns and fears of these liberal elites, they need to get a grip and just stop.  They need to stop openly announcing their opposition to Trump taking his rightful place in the White House.  They need to stop their shrieking about a "rigged election" (and BTW the hypocrisy regarding this specific topic is gag inducing).  They need to stop blaming a  Russian conspiracy that apparently succeeded in pulling the wool over all our eyes in November causing us to blindly vote for Vladmir Putin's "bestie".   They need to stop trying to convince the electoral voters to switch their vote away from the will of the people.  They need to stop.  

     If there's anyone to be afraid of these days, it's the Democratic party  that seems to not respect free speech 'nor the will of the people.  They're all too willing to refuse freedoms from people who disagree with them and their "politically correct" and bigger hearts.   At the end of the day, they just know better than the rest of us, don't they ?  Thank God Donald Trump won.....In My Humble Opinion....

Bikinis and Burgers

By Chuck Marshall

"Enquiring Minds Wanta Know.....  I Want to Know ! "

     I read today in the Orlando Sentinel, the lead national story  news feed from the Washington bureau of the Chicago Tribune and it  trumpets the latest atrocity committed by Donald Trump.   "Fast Food Exec is Trump Pick to Lead Labor" it states, and then it announces underneath the headline "Andrew Puzder Opposes a $15 minimum wage and Obama's New Overtime Rules".   Implied in such a statement is that most people are in favor of the $15 minimum wage and that Obama's new overtime rules are "hands down" a better choice for all of us.   The article itself was detailed how he "turned  his company around with scantily clad women hawking oversized burgers in racy ads" (I believe that's an opinion not a fact- and BTW "no" the writer was not quoting someone).   This "bikinis and burger" line was repeated three times in the article complete with quotes from one horrified woman who is the VP for "National Partnership for Women and Families"  (I wonder if there's a "National Partnership for Men and Families" because I think I want to be their VP !)  The dramatically positive effects of Obama's policies were mentioned or alluded to three times including one paragraph that outlined why his initiatives were so important.  Trump's reason for his pick was given one long sentence from Trump himself.  There was also a bland quote from somebody at the National Retail Federation.  The rest was all horror stories of Andrew Puzder.   The only thing they missed was his tendency to feast on small children.

I don't know much about this selection by Trump, but I do know when I read a biased "news" article, and this was a textbook example.   This is the Chicago Tribune - one of the nations' leading newspapers-  not the National Enquirer.  The two categories are getting harder and harder to distinguish.   In My Humble Opinion.

Sanctuary Cities Make for Arbitrary Justice

 
By Chuck Marshall

      Its been only in the last year or so that we've all become familiar with "Sanctuary Cities" as they refer to themselves.  Most readers are familiar with these places where illegal immigrants can go to hide from the federal government.  It's an interesting phenomenon in response to Donald Trump's utterances that all illegal immigrants should be shipped back to their home countries.

     I'm sort of excited at the prospect of "Sanctuary Cities" because I would imagine they are not only willing to take immigrants who broke the law but the rest of us as well.    My intention might now be to go ahead and evade my income taxes, commit fraud against my employer, defraud my insurance company, and while I'm at it maybe rob a bank !  Now there are no consequences because I can go hide in a sanctuary city or a sanctuary university so the bad men won't come get me.  

     I jest, of course, but who decides what laws bring about "sanctuary" and which do not ?   If you're  going to hide those that break the law then who is empowered to wave their magic wand and "protect" those that are breaking the law.  Which people ?  Which laws ?   That's quite a bit of power you're giving civil servants that is not listed or outlined in the Constitution and is not sanctioned by the population in an election.  It's one thing to "not enforce" laws such as marijuana, etc... but it's quite a different thing when you are obstructing the law.  This seems like "common sense" to me.

     I have no idea what the solution is to  the masses of illegal immigrants we have in our country, but "In My Humble Opinion" sanctuary cities are violation of our constitution and an affront to our democracy,   These cities should receive the most severe consequences if they refuse to follow the laws set forth by the people otherwise we risk weakening all other laws as bureaucrats take it upon themselves to harbor those that break the law- whatever that law might be, perhaps laws that are troublesome to them personally ?     Invented justice as decided by individuals and governments and Universities and municipalities is not true justice, it is arbitrary nonsense and the individuals responsible  should be incarcerated for "aiding and abetting" or as an accessory to criminal behavior.  


In My Humble Opinion