Enough is Enough

 For many years, the radical Left expressed the shameless falsehood that illegal aliens just want a choice at the American Dream. Regrettably reality paints a different portrait. But as California's Orange County riots confirm, the truth is in the pudding. This is an insurrection bankrolled by left leaning anti-America self-serving anarcho-nihilists, leftist’s groups, rogue media, craven politicos, paid malefactors’ anarchists all... many of which are themselves illegal immigrants. Enough is enough. It is time to drop the hammer on the rioting ingrates and those who organize and fund them. It is time to label all illegal immigrants and those who champion them as persona non grata and support our law enforcement, be they local, state or federal officers.

Degradation and Restoration of America's Armed Forces

Over the previous four years, our military service personnel have suffered an enervating shortfall in morale. Sorry to say, it is cyclical, because American voters, the vast majority of whom have never served our nation in any capacity have quadrennially elected leaders who were inept. Mercifully, they wake up and elect unpretentious genuine leaders whose tenure as commander-in-chief restores both military morale and readiness.

As a retired Army officer, I have seen the cycle of degradation and restoration multiple times. Under Lyndon Johnson and Jimmy Carter, there was degradation, followed by Reagan's restoration. Similarly, Clinton led to degradation, Bush restored, then Obama degraded, and Trump restoration. The Biden/Harris administration continued the degradation, which was again followed by Trump's restoration.

Recently, President Trump's Secretary of Defense delivered a keynote address for a Special Operations Forces event, and one line summed up the restoration of Department of Defense under Trump: "Everything starts and ends with warriors, from training to the battlefield. We are leaving wokeness and weakness behind. No more pronouns. No more climate change obsession. No more emergency vaccine mandates. No more dudes in dresses, we're done with that s_ _t."

It is by the grace of God that this 250th year of the founding of our Armed Forces, and next year's Sester centennial commemoration of American Independence, did not fall under the farcical, absurd, daft...  administration of the Harris/Walz duo.

The Democrat Party’s Missive

In today's tense political debate, Republicans claim Democrats lack a message to attract voters. Let's examine their messaging and determine if a clear strategy exists. Truth be known, by their words and actions the Democrats do have a message, which is this: Every policy of the Trump administration that is designed to make America safer, stronger, affluent... is a policy that must be resisted, sabotaged, obstructed... by any means necessary. Furthermore, its protagonists should be demonized and marginalized as extremists, fascists, enemies of democracy, Hitler’s aspirants... I ask you, the reader what does this look like in the context of the real world and America’s cold war with nuclear adversaries, totalitarian nemeses, Muslim jihadists and home-grown radical extremists who have made known their yearning to annihilate us? In this context, the Democrats’ divisive strategies weaken America, give comfort and aid to our enemies, and undermine our efforts to defend ourselves.

I again query to you the reader, was not some of Biden’s first acts as President questionable calls? Lest we forget, Biden illegally opened our borders to somewhere between 10 and 20 million unvetted immigrants. Did not many of them have long criminal records? We’re not many of them on the terrorist watch list? Rejecting the results of the 2024 elections showed that most Americans thought that Biden’s open border policy was in fact perilous, reckless, unwise... It is apparent Democrat politicos have dedicated themselves to impeding the Trump administration’s efforts to deport the criminals that Biden welcomed, sponsored, and funded on taxpayers’ dime. Does this not reflect badly on Democrats’ concern for the safety of their fellow American citizens and projects weakness to foreign adversaries and domestic terrorists seeking to infiltrate and ravage our nation? 

The long and short of it: The democrats do have a message. But it is a message so recognizable, caustic, and dark that it offends Republicans so profoundly they would prefer not to recognize it, so they don’t. It bears repeating; Democrats do have a message, every policy of the Trump administration that is designed to "Make America Great Again” is a policy that must be resisted, defied, sabotaged, incapacitated... obstructed by any means necessary. Worse, its proponents should be demonized and marginalized as extremists, dyed-in-the-wool fascists, enemies of democracy, and aspiring Hitlers.

What does this look like in the context of the real world and America’s cold war with armed nuclear adversaries and tyrannical foes, who have made no bones about their desire to destroy us? In this context, the Democrats’ divisive schemes diminish, weaken, undermine America, give comfort and aid to our enemies, and undermine our efforts to defend ourselves. 

Traversing America's Fragmented Landscape

America is experiencing a transition, moving from a unified culture to one divided into various subgroups, or tribes. People now identify more with their political parties, professions, religions, sexualities, aberrant behavior ... leading to increased division, tension, aggression... Christianity's integration into America’s mainstream over the past century has intensified these divides, as Christians strive to maintain their influence. In this era of uncertainty and chaos, how should leader’s travers this fragmented landscape? More importantly how should we? How about confronting issues with a concerned, yet calm presence.

Our current cultural disarray results in several expected outcomes: greater variance, heightened apprehension, elevated anxiety... Various groups and political factions perceive events as pragmatic or existential challenges. Consequently, how do leaders guide society when it is experiencing anxiety and disorder? Isn't the current climate ideal for spreading the Christian message and for leaders and laypeople to lead with passion? I have heard it argued that this state of chaos and uncertainty is like a “seedbed for new growth.” Do you suppose as I do, that in these circumstances, dedicated soldiers of the cross will stand out?

Jesus called his disciples "the light of the world," so hiding this light causes metaphorical darkness. Living by God's teachings can inspire others to recognize our good actions and honor God in heaven. Compromising with negative aspects of society often means sacrificing beneficial outcomes for oneself and losing the ability to influence society positively. By distancing ourselves from harmful cultural influences, we gain the opportunity to guide others towards positive change. Rejecting societal issues allows us to embody the progress we seek to achieve.

 

Why Not Stand and Acknowledge Reality

 The questions we need to ask Congressional Democrats following President Trump’s first Joint Address to Congress: What do you stand for besides singing in unison “We Shall Overcome.” Word to the wise, denying the truth is a defense mechanism that today’s Democrat politicos often use to protect themselves from uncomfortable or unpleasant realities. However, denying the truth can have serious consequences, both on an individual level and for society. Congressional Representatives should pause, reflect, and reconsider the importance of facing reality. It all begins with acknowledging the reality at hand.

Why not stand for the announcement that military recruiting reached fifteen-year highs? Why not rise to acknowledge a young man who received news from the President about his acceptance to West Point? Why not pay deference and stand for a woman who lost her 12-year-old daughter to a couple of social deviant iniquitous undocumented immigrants? Why not stand and support a young female, volleyball player, who suffered a traumatic brain injury from a biological male masquerading as a female? Why not stand for a 13-year-old brain cancer survivor who was ceremoniously given honorary membership into the US Secret Service? Yes, the question must be asked of every single one of those Democrats who were the Joint Congressional Address: What do you stand for? Did you stand for the revelation of fraud, waste, and abuse of taxpayer greenbacks? Do the democrats believe themselves so above the law that they are no longer accountable and answerable to We the People? It seems evident based upon their refusal to stand and talk about what they do stand for.

Furthermore, do the Democrats stand for a strong military with increased recruiting? Do they really stand against Title IX and protecting women’s sports? Do they stand for more American girls and women to be victims of lawless undocumented immigrants? Do they stand for more human and sex trafficking? Why do the Democrats remain silently defiant following the capture of the ISIS terrorist behind the Abbey Gate bombing, which killed 13 American service members? So, we must presume that they stand for Islamic jihadists and extremists, just like with the transnational narco-criminal terrorists. We all know that the Democrats do stand for designating concerned parents and pro-life activists as domestic terrorists… not those who tear down American flags and replace them with Hamas flags. Are there any Democrats who will stand for the right reason, with the American people?

Straightforwardly, History Repeats Itself

Donald Rumsfeld once stated a truism that to this day rings as true as it did in the past and will continue to do so in the future. “There are known knowns: the things you know. There are known unknowns: the things you know you don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns: the things you don’t know you don’t know.”

The last-mentioned category can be the most perilous, in war and in life. Israel didn’t know that it didn’t know that Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islamist's military wing was preparing for the October 2023 incursion that killed more than a thousand Israelis and changed the course of the Middle East. Hezbollah didn’t know that it didn’t know Israel was weaponizing pagers to kill many of its pugnacious Hamas myrmidons and aspiring underlings. The U.S. didn’t know that it didn’t know al Qaeda would execute a massive terrorist attack on 9/11.

It's bad enough when we don’t know what we need to know. It’s worse when what we think we know turns out to be wrong, such as Israel’s certainty that Hamas did not have the capability to stage the October 7 invasion. And it’s even worse when we know parts of the truth and are therefore inaccurately but categorically convinced that we know the truth. 

A true expression of freedom is not acting on self-seeking impulse but committing our lives to serving the greater good and standing up for what is right. Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what is necessary or appropriate.

Does not the Word of God lend credence that validate the mentioned truism? Looking through the lens of Ecclesiastes 3 and Ecclesiastes 1:9 we see an illustration that shows the breadth and depth of God's sovereignty over time and the events of life. To picture this more clearly, we must perceive time as a moving reality. It is as though it is coming toward us and moving away from us simultaneously.

Though time is involved in this statement, the emphasis is more on the events that happen within time rather than time itself. We can perhaps understand this verse better as saying that what is happening right now, already happened in the past, and what will happen has already happened. It is a way of saying that, in one sense, time cannot be broken into parts. Time and the events happening within it, of and by themselves are a whole. Thus, the Word of God is essentially saying, “Past, present, and future are bound together.” In what way is this so? Time and the events happening in it are parts of a continuous stream. Solomon's point is again that only God is in perfect control of both time and its events, and He can seek out and bring back into existence in the present what happened in the past. Thus, Solomon's comment in Ecclesiastes 1:9 is a parallel: “What has been, what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.”  Straightforwardly, history repeats itself.

A Reasonable and Natural Time to Contemplate America's Past, Present and Future

Two thousand years ago, the Apostle Paul was writing to a wayward congregation of Christian believers in Corinth, inquisitively enough, his words still capture the epochal change that may await us just over history’s horizon. “For now, we see in a glass, darkly,” he wrote. “Now I know in part, but then shall I know fully.”  Indeed, mesmerized by a present filled with spellbinding events ranging from elections to wars, we too gaze into a darkened glass unable to see how the future might soon unfold before our eyes. 

The end of 2024 and the beginning of 2025 is a reasonable and natural time to contemplate what happened in the recent past and could very well happen sooner than later.  I think back over the year that was. Like the seismic activity of an earthquake fault that too often opens itself and cuts loose with repellent force, a deep deposit of hate, anarchy, antagonism, one-upmanship toward a targeted political party’s leadership, ethnic group, religious faction...  The result of which was and remains absolute chaos manifested in the arise or emergence of the following: crushing inflation and spiking energy costs; facilitating the breakdown of law and order resulting in skyrocketing crime, to include an influx of foreign gangs and adversaries; facilitating the chaos of unchecked illegal immigration; empowering our enemies and alienating our allies; threats of terrorism on the Homefront, antisemitism protests, traditional and social media censorship, lawfare being used to achieve political objectives, racist hucksters peddling reparations for past wrongs, warfare in Europe and the Middle East, and multiple assassination attempts of prominent public figures... pushing gender ideology on children; sapping our military services and corroding our institutions  with Divisive, Extreme, and Intolerant (DEI) initiatives and Critical Race Theory; making LGBTQ evangelization a central aim of our foreign policy; deconstruction of our institutions; parents detained for speaking out for parental rights at school board meetings; Christians arrested for peacefully demonstrating and praying outside abortion clinics while the abortion clinicians dispatch the innocent unborn at the rate of nearly “one million” babies annually. And smearing political opponents as Nazis, book burners, and garbage doesn’t resonate with most Americans of any color, creed or gender. Who would have known?

Question! Is not America a nation, founded by Christians? Question! Has today’s America and much of its leadership somewhere along the line lost its way? Question! Is today’s America presently grappling with increasing polarization and a worrisome decline in trust in our governing institutions? Along with these issues, our nation’s global leadership is facing challenges from authoritarian regimes and terror organizations striving to shape a world that serves their interests.

God willing, we as a nation will let this year be an opportunity to recommit to one of the central principles that America’s Future stands for: to renew, revitalize, regenerate the role of faith in our lives, our communities and our country. More than ever, America needs all Judeo-Christian churches and their congregants to speak up and stand-up for the Biblical Judeo-Christian values that America was founded upon. If America’s future is to survive as one nation under God, it begins with faith and donning the Armor of God: the helmet of salvation, the shield of faith, the sword of the Spirit, and the belt of truth. Lest we forget, each piece of armor is designed to protect believers from the “wiles” of the devil and the spiritual forces of evil that threaten their faith and purpose.