When Patriotism Isn't Cool

                             

  When it comes right down to it, young people have a lot on their plate. They are worried about things like college, student loans, paying rent, Facebook and Twitter, the list is endless. How can the average 25-30 year old have time to deal with things like patriotism? Patriotism? Isn’t that for old people?

  That seems to be the trending thought. And if that is the case, it does not bode well for America. There are some experts who will say that your brain has not fully developed at that age. Maybe, there is literally a lifetime of change that takes place between 25 and 45. Most young people just don’t pay attention to politics, and usually know just what Yahoo News will tell them about what is going on in the world, but why has being proud to be an American and being proud of one’s country become so unhip?

  Really the first and only place one needs to look is the American education system. With schools and universities filled with leftover hippies from the 60’s, it is not hard to figure out where the “America sucks” mentality comes from. Also, couple that with the racist, sexist, homophobic narrative that the mainstream media engages in daily and you have one nasty mix.

  Recently, some of my co-workers were asking another co-worker about his impending trip home to India in December. Like the curious Americans we are, they asked about food, holidays, and things of that nature. Through the course of the conversation, they determined that it had to be better than America, because well, America sucks and it is racist blah blah blah, especially with a president like Donald Trump. Did I miss something? Was Donald Trump elected president 7 years ago and that is why America sucks? Where have I been? The ease at which all responsibility and accountability that Barack Obama was relieved of in one sentence was astounding.

  So a bit later I asked him, what are his impressions of America? As a new immigrant 15 years ago, was it what he thought it would be? He said yes that he thought America was a good place with plenty of opportunity for all, and that Americans were good people. I asked about the strict class system in India, and he said that yes it was to an extent still in place. I asked about things like free speech and speaking out against the government. He said that yes some free speech was tolerated but that you could still get an unpleasant visit from government officials if your free speech was deemed just a little too free. Funny, all those “America sucks” folks didn’t think to ask those questions. The one question that I did not get to ask those youngsters was, if America sucks why is the line to get in so much longer than the line to get out?

  While proud of his Indian heritage, my co-worker seems genuinely proud to be an American as well. One of the most important things that immigrants like him can do is to talk to young people and try to convey to them why they came here, why America is the land of opportunity, and that they should be immensely proud of that. Many immigrants tell as many as they can about the horrors of places like Cuba, Russia or China. Those stories need to be told.

  Patriotism is a lot like religion. Sometimes it is the converts that are the strongest advocates.  

No Witches Need Apply

                                

  Well, here we are, my favorite month, October. It is my favorite for so many reasons, autumn, playoff baseball, and the most solemn of days on the Witches’ calendar, Halloween. I thought I would use this month as an opportunity for education, a chance to tell people about my faith, what it is and what it is not.

  What has happened however has been a little education for me. I realize that when I tell people that I am a Conservative Wiccan, heads spin in a Linda Blair-Exorcist kind of way, but I am usually offered a chance to answer a few questions and ultimately, whoever I am speaking with seems to be OK with it, and it appears that they have no fear of me turning them into a toad or whipping up a heavy dose of spells hurled in their direction.  

As Conservatives, we see practically every hour or so, a level of hatred and intolerance from Liberals that we just know cannot be matched, until we wait a few minutes, and then it is. We want the Republican Party and Conservatives in general to be a big welcoming tent for all. We have acknowledged that we at times need a bit of work in this area, always room for improvement right? But as someone who belongs to a minority religion, and one that is often misunderstood, I have found many an open mind and heart among Conservatives.

  In my role as a Blogger and Writer, I do a lot of promotion of my work on social media. I post my work on a lot of Conservative Facebook pages. It is so inspiring to see so many who are willing to stand up and fight to keep our nation the beacon of freedom and liberty that it has been from the beginning, and I am so proud to join in the fight with all of those folks. But not all are happy to fight alongside me.

  Recently, I was told by a Conservative Facebook page that they would prefer that I not promote my radio show there anymore. I was told it only for shows on the network, which I had never heard of, that’s fine. But I was also told they did not want me promoting my faith as well.

  Promoting my faith? It is a political talk show but OK, it is their website, and like a good little Witch, I will abide by someone’s wishes. I just have one question for them. Why do you have a website? OK, maybe two questions, and why do you just want to speak to like-minded people? Isn’t the goal of most Conservatives to get our message out to all? To dispel misconceptions about what we believe to folks who might not really know what Conservatism is all about? No one has said that you must agree with my choice of faith, but if I believe in smaller government, lower taxes, getting our economy back on track, a strong national defense, and an even stronger foreign policy, and backing it all up with Constitutional principle, how am I bothering you? How am I threatening you?

  The beauty of America is that there are as many different Americans as there are differing viewpoints among them. It might sound clichéd, but debate is in our DNA. If you are not interested in engaging in discussion, and God(dess) forbid a bit of correction on a topic that perhaps you don’t know as much as you thought you did about, then maybe social media is not the place for you.

  I don't wear flowing black robes, I don't sacrifice children, and I am definitely not a Devil worshipper. Oh I am a Witch alright, but I am also a proud Conservative, and an even prouder American.

   

Where Are The Conservatives?

                        

  If the beginning is any indication, the 2016 presidential election is shaping up to go down as one of the strangest in American history. General rules of thumb that have been followed for decades are being turned upside down, and there really is no such thing as “conventional wisdom” this time around. It is no holds barred, which means big fun for those of us who observe all the goings on, blog about it, and hope someone will read it.

  For Republicans of the establishment species, things are tough all over, and there is no indication they will get any better. These are the people who were just waiting things out, waiting for the presumptive Republican nominee Jeb Bush to accept from the Party faithful, and proceed onward to a crushing defeat. These are the Karl Rove types, the ones who decide for everyone else who the candidate will be. Their message to American voters, you will vote for Jeb, and you will like it!

  But something happened on the way to the nomination, something big. That something is Donald Trump. Love him or hate him, and there seems to be no in between, a movement has been born, maybe you could call it the Trump Party. Donald Trump has awakened average Americans who are fed up with government in its present gargantuan form, fed up with the politicians who perpetuate the monster that is government and the fact that there seems to be no difference in Democrats and Republicans. The message to the voters of both Parties appears to be, keep the money, the votes, and the power rolling our way, and we will continue to ignore you. At this early stage, it could be that Americans have an alternative plan.

  The divide between establishment Conservatives and Tea Party types is also getting wider. The establishment is not just the big money donors and consultants. It is also the pundits and commentators. These are the talking heads who jaunt back and forth between New York and Washington. They spend their days talking about conservatism on TV or writing about conservatism in columns or on websites. It is rumored that there are conservative politicians in Washington as well, but when they get there something happens, they cave to liberal Democrats and practically become one of them. This is known as “compromise”.

  So where are the Conservatives? They talk about it, they write about it, they are supposed to vote for it in Congress, but where it being practiced? Certainly not on things like the Iran nuke deal, repealing Obama care, or reigning in government spending. They told Americans they would need control of the House and the Senate in order to do what the voters sent them there to do. That is not what has happened. No one with an “R” after their name is willing to challenge this president, a select few maybe. No one wants to rock the boat, be a trouble maker, or be called a racist. Are the politicians just being covered for by pundits and writers who will talk and write about conservatism but not demand any displays of it?

  It is the outsiders who are determining where this election is going. The political class knows that average Americans are loving it and they know they have no control over it.

  Let the fun begin.      

Who Will Stand Up for You?

     Rowan County Kentucky is not a place used to being in the national spotlight. But that is just where they have been for the past several weeks. County Clerk Kim Davis, a devout Christian, someone who is steadfast in her beliefs, has refused to issue marriage licenses to gay couples, a direct violation, according to the recent Supreme Court ruling, of federal law. What did she get for her trouble? Five days in jail.

  There are a lot of obvious arguments to drag out here. She may have her own religious beliefs, but the law is the law, doesn’t mean you have to like it. If she does not want to fulfill this part of her job duties then she should resign. On the other side there are these, should someone be forced to go against their faith and do something that they do not believe in, in this case gay marriage? How about, whose rights are more important? Is it being suggested that one group’s rights trump the other?

  This is a pretty personal issue for this Blogger. I really have no strong feelings one way or another on gay marriage, the government really has no business in anyone’s marriage, but that is a whole other debate. And while I do not share Kim Davis’s Christian faith, I support her one hundred percent.

  Now that everyone has spit their drink through their nose, you can ask, “Why on earth would a Witch support a devout Christian woman?”

  It is really very simple. It is pretty obvious that the Obama administration, with once again, their willing media accomplice zombies, have decided that Christianity must go, and if they cannot eradicate it completely, they will make anyone’s life miserable who is a Christian. It is perfectly acceptable to discriminate against Christians in 2015 America. So the question is, if it is open season on Christians today, who is next tomorrow?

  Freedom of religion, the freedom to worship as one chooses is the reason we are here as a nation. We do not all belong to the same church, the same denomination, or even the same faith, but that is the beauty of this experiment we call America. Nations all over the world have had religious wars since the beginning of time. That has never happened in America.

  No I am not forgetting that many of my fellow sisters of Goddess worship were burned at the stake, drowned, and done away with in lots of other heinous ways at the hands of people who professed to be Christians. Yes my faith is often misunderstood and maligned by, yes, people who call themselves Christians. But more often than not, many more are just curious. They ask questions, they ask if this or that is true, and I am more than happy to answer their questions because it means I have a chance to educate someone about my faith. That is a gift we should all cherish.

  But the biggest reason I support Kim Davis? What if, in the future, I or one of my brethren is in the same boat? What if we are jailed for our faith? Who will come and stand beside me if that would happen? Christians who know what it is like to be persecuted for just living your faith I would hope. Kim Davis has made me ask the question of myself, would I be willing to go to jail for my faith? I like to think I would. 

  So Kim, you have the unlikeliest of supporters on your side. I realize having a Witch as your cheerleader may not go over well in church. That's OK. As you well know, God works in mysterious ways 

  

Virginia TV Shooting: A Liberal PC Production

              

Just when Americans think they cannot be horrified any more by innocent people just going about their lives being gunned down by nut jobs with an agenda and an axe to grind, here we go again. Two people, Alison Parker, reporter for WDBJ-TV in Roanoke Virginia, and her cameraman, Adam Ward, were shot last week by a former colleague at the station. The whole grisly nightmare played out on live TV as Parker and Ward did a story on area tourism.

  The usual sequence of events followed. Liberals, including presidential candidate Hillary Clinton trampled each other to see who could get to a camera the quickest to howl about gun control. Race pimps and their wannabes hoped beyond hope that the shooter was another crazy white guy who hated media. All of the common denominators were quickly ignored by mainstream media. There were a lot of disappointed people as the story unfolded.

  There are many things that people would like to lay the blame on for this tragedy. But perhaps the real reason behind this shooting? It is a textbook case of learned victim hood and the indoctrination of political correctness.

  So that these pages do not help him in seeking the notoriety he wanted, he will be referred to here as the shooter. If there was a poster child for the Left and all that they espouse, this would be the guy. As a student and occasional member of the media, he bought into the Party line hook line and sinker. By all accounts of people who came in contact with him, he longed to be offended. He had an extensive record of filing complaints against co-workers of discrimination and racist behavior. As someone who was black and gay, that is hitting it big in the lefty lottery. According to liberals, have at least one of those things going for you, and you will never get a fair shake in life.

  The shooter was employed at several television stations in various markets. The same story was told at virtually every station. No stone was left unturned in the never-ending quest for racists and anti-gay bigots. The shooter learned the lesson of chronic victim hood well.

  Political correctness, that mechanism that, for the Left, ensures that no one is offended and everyone gets a trophy, also gets a huge portion of blame. Plenty of people who dealt with this man suspected some mental imbalance. Yet no one tried to bring attention to it to the right people. Yes at times in a free society, things are messy, and it is hard to bring someone’s mental state to the attention of authorities if you are not a family member or a crime has not been committed. No crime was committed until the obvious and there was little family communication to be had.

  

  But the most glaring reason made a U-turn right back to victim hood. No one wanted to single this guy out for fear of violating all important PC rules. By all means, do not imply that the black guy or the gay guy may not have all of his marbles! In this case you could be next in the complaint parade. Who wants that? No, if he is not calling me a racist, I am not saying anything. Thus a clear case of mental instability falls through the cracks due to a severe case of PC paranoia. 

  No amount of blaming guns, mental illness, or anything else will bring back these two amazing people whose lives and careers were just beginning. But maybe we can take the Left’s own suggestion. It’s one they like to drag out when talking about terrorism. If you see something, say something.    

Ferguson One Year Later: What have We Learned?

               

  On August 9, Ferguson Missouri marked the one year anniversary of the shooting death of Michael Brown by former Ferguson police officer Darrin Wilson. The shooting sparked weeks of non-stop looting, rioting, and destruction mainly in Ferguson, but all over the St. Louis area. While there are passionate opinions on each side of the story, local Clergy and those who just want to bring about peace might hope that in the year since the shooting took place, Ferguson and the surrounding communities might have learned a few necessary lessons. But the lessons learned are most likely not the ones those interested in peace and healing were hoping for.

  One lesson that has clearly been learned all across the country, but has its beginnings in Ferguson, is that it is now acceptable, and in some cases encouraged to not only disrespect law enforcement and their authority, but to attack, and in extreme cases, kill them. According to the Nationwide Law Enforcement Memorial Foundation, the number of cops killed while on duty has risen 40% over this time a year ago.

  In the aftermath of the Brown shooting, a group calling itself “Black Lives Matter” was born. This group’s main goal was to apparently float the idea that more black people were shot by police, thus making it appear that blacks are being intentionally targeted. Which brings us to lesson #2, facts don’t matter. Aside from statistics that report that in 2012, 123 blacks were shot by police compared to 326 whites. Facts don’t matter was learned within minutes of the incident. Witness stories were changed to fit the narrative that Officer Wilson gunned down Michael Brown for no reason. Later it was learned through a report from Breitbart.com that not only did witnesses lie about what they saw, they were also intimidated by some in the neighborhood if they cooperated with police and actually told the truth. This also led to the real story of the rallying cry, “Hands up don’t shoot” for all those “peaceful” protesters coming out. It never happened. But as for the hard-core supporters, facts don’t matter.

  Lesson #3, and perhaps the most illustrative of why the crime rate in predominantly black neighborhoods continues to skyrocket, “snitches get stitches”. It was explained very clearly when it was spray painted on the wall of a now non-existent convenience store that was destroyed in the rioting. It continues to be the rule for anyone, Ferguson or anywhere else in black communities, that knows who committed the crime, and talks to the cops. After all, they have to live there right?

  It is one year later in Ferguson. Were these the lessons that would lead to peace and understanding that you had in mind?

Is Conservatism a Mental Disorder?

                      

  It is a description we conservatives love to assign to liberalism, that it is a mental disorder. What else could possibly explain such things as extreme political correctness, appeasing America’s enemies abroad, and encouraging in general the idea that America is the source of all of the ills of the world, and that America just plain sucks.

  But imagine someone in a position of authority, a Judge perhaps implying that because of your conservative beliefs, there is something not right about you mentally. Imagine that it happens to someone fairly well known, an author or film maker. And if it can happen to someone like that, what are the chances it just might happen to you?

  Enter Conservative Author and documentary Film Maker Dinesh D’Souza. D’Souza entered a guilty plea in May of 2014 to finding “straw donors” to make campaign contributions to the Senate campaign of a college friend. In September 2014, he was sentenced to detention for eight months in a work-release center, five years’ probation, a $30,000 fine, and community service.

  Recently at a hearing, a U.S. District Judge, who happens to be a Bill Clinton appointee, declared that by violating campaign finance laws, Dinesh D’Souza displayed signs of further “mental illness”. So what exactly qualifies Judge Richard Berman, in addition to being a Judge to be a mental health expert? Well he was a Psychology major you know.

  Here we go another liberal who took some classes in college and thinks that automatically makes him an expert. The scary part is that he is someone who is in a position of authority.

  So if it can happen to a guy like Dinesh D’Souza, can it happen to your average Joe? Well, we know that liberal indoctrination is beginning earlier and earlier at your local public school. We also see more stories of children being taught one thing at home, then go to school and talk about what they learn from their parents. Faster than you can say Heather has two mommies, the parents are asked for a meeting with the principal and the implication is that regardless of what he learns at home, little Johnny will have his mind made right at school.

  Fast forward to little Johnny entering college. He will be subjected to liberal brainwashing that you are paying top dollar for. He will also be subjected to failing grades from lefty professors if he questions said lefty professor or does not give the answer in class, a.k.a. the liberal answer that lefty professor is looking for. If little Johnny engages in his first amendment right to free speech on campus anywhere but in the “free speech zone”, he will be labeled racist sexist bigoted homophobe, and be ostracized by everyone but others slapped with the same label.

  Go beyond the college campus to real life. The Obama administration has attempted numerous times, mostly in a covert manner to implement things like the Fairness Doctrine and Net Neutrality. The thin skin of this president and those around him is becoming legendary. Then there are the businesses like the bakeries, florists and photographers who are threatened with being shut down if they do not get in line with the liberal program. The examples go on and on. They may not seem related, but make no mistake it is all part of the liberal agenda to make conservatives the freaks, the kooks, the mentally unstable.

  What Judge Berman may not know, is that his sentencing has back fired. While at the work-release center, Dinesh D’Souza has begun writing a new book, and says he has become very attached to the students he has been teaching English to as part of his community service and has thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

  Will the conservative internment camps be opening soon? Maybe not, but Average Joe may not fare as well as Dinesh D’Souza.