Author: JD Pendry

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In honor of the men and women of our Armed Forces who served and sacrificed for our great nation, a poetry tribute from the Bunker Poetry page:

Russ “Poetrooper” Vaughn Poetry
That Ragged Old Flag

The ‘Eathen 

Dog Faced Soldier
In Flanders Fields 

The Ballad of the Green Beret
Fiddlers’ Green – GarryOwen

Charge of the Light Brigade
A Soldier’s Christmas

Audie Murphy – Warrior Poet
The Final Inspection

Visit the poetry page for original poetry from Serving Members, Veterans and others.  Take time to thank God for the brave souls who gallantly served us.

I had a dream not a product of hallucinogenic drugs.  In the dream, I was the major stockholder of multi-trillion dollar corporation.  As they are apt to say her in wild and wonderful, it was a biggin’.  Typically, however, that is said about the catfish that got away.

The corporation had global reach and influence.  People across the world depended on it.  It was intertwined with countless other businesses and touched millions of people.  Being so large and influential, making the wrong moves could destabilize some countries.  It could conceivably wreck the global economy.  It could destroy many businesses that were dependent on our success and ruin lives of countless employees.

The obvious was that it was mismanaged by directionless leadership for several decades.  These were leaders who lacked focus on core competencies.  They were directionless expending time, energy, and resources in directions unrelated to success.  Because of that they could not get to the root causes of problems.  This lack of focus on things fundamentally important made them unable to thrive in the present or plan for the future.  The leadership was ideologically driven not principle driven causing much internal conflict.  They lacked vision. No one seemed to know where they were headed.  They were leading the organization without a roadmap or a defined destination.  The result was lost influence and trust.  Those who relied on us to lead and provide direction were beginning to look elsewhere.  Clearly we needed new leadership and renewed purpose.  A search for a new chief executive officer began.  There were a number of applicants for the job.  Some were obviously not capable of leading a large and complicated organization while others had potential.  Following a long and tedious process, the applicants were narrowed to two possible choices.

Each of them was allowed to present their vision for the organization to the shareholders – those having the most to gain through success and the most to lose through failure.  The shareholders voted for the vision that most appealed to them.  It was the vision that provided direction and directly addressed how to correct the organization’s most pressing problems.  The vision placed success of the organization and welfare of the shareholders first noting that success of the business benefitted all – shareholders and their stakeholders like other businesses even other countries.  It was a tried and true vision.  One entity seeking wealth always produces wealth for others.  Putting the age old and well defined purpose of the organization first and pursuing the principle driven vision was the greatest benefit for all.

Across this massive organization was a passel of Vice Presidents.  Their staffs were filled with many loyal career employees.  Many of these VP’s had their own future vision that did not support or lead to the CEO’s vision.  They were loyal to self, loyal to their perceived power base of career employees, loyal to influential groups who did not hold to the new vision of the corporation, and they were fiercely loyal to an ideology on which a corporation of such magnitude could never succeed.  Some of them took to referring to themselves as the resistance.  They were desirous of holding fast to failed ideology while resisting any change that could better the organization, benefit the shareholders, and point out for all their past failed approach.

The shareholders were growing more vocal each day that the organization failed to move toward the vision.  The CEO reminded all of the VP’s that the shareholders voted for a vision and that it was their job to map out an acceptable course to reach it.  Still it was becoming clear that too many of the VP’s were beholden to things other than the vision of the CEO and were intent on delaying any progress ultimately painting the CEO as a failure.  A major shareholder’s meeting was called.  Following the meeting each VP received a letter from them.  The letter declared that if they did not show major progress toward achieving the vision during the coming months, they would be replaced – unceremoniously drop-kicked through the goal posts of life.  The shareholders were not going to let this biggin’ get away.

© 2017 J. D. Pendry

In 2013, President Barack Obama appointed James Comey as FBI Director.  I have had my experiences with Presidents and their appointments.  In my years of Army service, I learned and had it reinforced multiple times through service secretaries, defense secretaries, joint chiefs, and major command generals is that they closely mirror the President in ideology and worldview.  I certainly understand that.  If I was picking people for my team, I would certainly pick people with a similar worldview as mine.  At least we would be in the same neighborhood of thinking.  Following the Army, during federal government service, if I knew the President I never had to wonder about incoming Secretaries or, in Comey’s case, Directors because I knew them and I knew their views and policies would closely mirror the President’s.  One should not expect anything different.  For what other reason would any President select someone?  So my view of Comey does not differ from my view of any other administration Secretary or Director.  My view of Obama, by default, is my view of Comey.  Just as it is my view of Lynch, Holder, Clinton, Kerry, et al.  I know Comey is supposedly a registered Republican, but so are many others who would rather see Trump fail.  This is why President Trump needs to thank him for his service and send him on his way – and if Trump is to survive he is but one of many who need to be shown the door.

Comey’s recent work history puts him as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York from January 2002 to December 2003.  From there he was appointed as Deputy Attorney General of the US under Attorney General John Ashcroft.  In this capacity, he appointed friend Patrick Fitzgerald as Special Counsel to investigate and prosecute the Valerie Plame lie.  It was an almost endless investigation that failed to prosecute the person who actually leaked CIA agent Plame’s name.  It was common knowledge that Colin Powell’s man Richard Armitage leaked the identity of Plame and not anyone in the Bush Whitehouse.  At the end of this political fishing expedition, Vice President Cheney’s Chief of Staff, Scooter Libby was sacrificed for fibbing to the FBI. From there, Comey moved to a job as General Counsel and Senior Vice President at Lockheed Martin, a mega defense contractor who also likes to spread a lot of political cash including to the Clinton Foundation while Comey was there. He then became General Counsel at Bridgewater Associates, billed as the world’s largest (and maybe weirdest by some accounts) global hedge fund managing more than a $150 billion in assets.  His next adventure in public life, excluding his College Professorship, was a seat on the Board of Directors for HBSC Holdings also a Clinton Foundation donor during his tenure.  This Swiss bank gained much notoriety for laundering drug cartel money (Bloomberg, The Guardian, Reuters, Rolling Stone, Financial Times).  He held that position until July 2013 just prior to his appointment as FBI Director.

A September 2016 Breitbart article laid out Comey’s connections to the Clinton Foundation through his former employers and his brother.  This information was also placed into the Congressional Record.  Since Washington is big on demanding recusals these days, maybe the question should have been asked of the FBI Director relating to Mrs. Clinton.

To the legacy news media that most Americans still rely on these days, Hillary Clinton’s violations of federal law involving conducting government business and mishandling classified material on an unsecured private server is old news, except for their attempts to pin everything to Trump/Russian collusion.  The alternative media (Daily Caller, Huffington Post, Hot Air – Mark Levin) and others view it differently. The investigation was closed as nothing to see here by Director Comey.  Still most people, including legal scholars on all sides, but not the legacy media of course, believed and still do that Mrs. Clinton should have been held accountable for breaking federal laws but, according to Director Comey:

Although there is evidence of potential violations of the statutes regarding the handling of classified information, our judgment is that no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case.

I guess.  Maybe what he meant was that a reasonable prosecutor would appoint a Special Prosecutor to investigate a lie called a leak only to let the known leaker walk.  Amazingly, the FBI gave immunity to Clinton Aides, in return for nada which also amazed some legal scholars and prosecutors.  So Attorney General Lynch met with Bill Clinton (CNN, Washington Times) to discuss their grandchildren after which Director Comey schooled us on what a reasonable prosecutor would do.

It is not just the mail server and mishandling of classified information, but also questionable corruption of the Clinton Foundation itself.  It is the Uranium One deal and more cash to the Clintons (World Net Daily, New York Times) and we didn’t even make it down the bribe, or speech fee list.  Damn Russians have been working hard to make the Clintons look bad.  Sure would like to know how they did that.

And, make no mistake.  Comey is knee deep in the surveillance of Trump and associates as far back as July 2016.  How could he not be aware?  He would be an incredibly stupid FBI Director if he wasn’t.

Mr. President you have over 2000 appointments to fill.  Git jiggy widdit.

© 2017 J. D. Pendry

According to the Open Secrets website, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, insures over 80 million Americans and has a Federal Government contract to review and process Medicare claims.  During the 2016 election cycle, they made $6,346,640 in campaign contributions and spent $25,006,109 on lobbying efforts.

The top organization recipient was the Cleveland 2016 Host Committee (Republican Convention) receiving $1,000,000.  They were followed by the National Republican Congressional Committee at $187,800, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee at $121,830, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee at $119,431, the National Republican Senatorial Committee at $111,000, and the DNC Services Corp (a Political Action Committee (PAC) extension of the Democrat National Committee) at $102,845.

This is redefining spreading the wealth around.

The top political candidates receiving Blue Cross/Blue Shield money were Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton at $256,101 (they thought she’d win too) followed second by House of Representatives candidate and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan at $60,850.  Way down the list, but there just the same, is Presidential candidate Donald Trump at $12,235.  The list of House Republican candidates receiving Blue Cross/Blue Shield money either through PACs or from individuals is long. Actually longer than the Democrat list and certainly, in my view, long enough to make suspect any potential Republican crafted health care legislation or vote.  You will also find “Republican Freedom Caucus” names on the list including past Chairman Jim Jordan (OH) and new Chairman Mark Meadows (NC), my very own Congressman Alex Mooney (WV) among others: Mick Mulvaney (SC), Ron Desantis (FL), Jim Birdenstine (OK), Trent Franks (AZ), Dave Brat (VA), Keith Rothfus (PA), Gary Palmer (AL), Jeff Duncan (SC), and probably some I missed, and the topper former Representative and now Health and Human Services Secretary, Tom Price.  Perceptions are hell, but it appears to me that insurance cash runs deep in Washington even through the “Freedom Caucus.”  Freedom from what?  In the words of that great philosopher Kris Kristofferson:

Freedom’s just another word for nothin’ left to lose,
And nothin’ ain’t worth nothin’ but it’s free,

Oh, the tangled web we weave.

I certainly do not have a problem with legal campaign contributions, but I get concerned when an insurance carrier as large a Blue Cross/Blue Shield spreads around this much cash and even more concerned when this many politicians elected and sworn to fix our looming health care disaster are recipients of it.  When that happens, what real chance does average Middle Class America have at getting legislation that favors them?

Well Mr. Trump, you were going to repeal and replace Obamacare.  That is one big reason why you were elected and why you have a Republican House and Republican Senate.  It appears however, that before you can do any of that, you need to drain the swamp. And another great philosopher once told me:

When you are up to your ass in alligators, it is hard to remember that the mission was to drain the swamp.

Mr. President, you were elected because Americans have tired of Washington as usual.  The Washington establishment is largely bought and paid for by corporate donors (Paul Ryan Major Donors 2016) (Mitch McConnell Major Donors). The two men most needed to accomplish your promised bold agenda are beholden to health insurance companies, investment companies, big banks, and Koch industries.

As your Rolling Stones campaign music says:

“you can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes you can get what you need.”

You are going to have to beat off a heck of a lot of alligators before you can pull the plug that drains that swamp.  To get “what you need” is going to require a coalition of decent men and women regardless of political persuasion willing to solve problems and serve the people before they serve their donors or their rigid ideology.  Only you can put out the call for these people to come forward and serve America.  That is why we elected you.  And to paraphrase the words of another Stones hit, time ain’t on your side brother.

© 2017 J. D. Pendry

My elementary education began in 1958 in a wood framed single story schoolhouse holding grades 1 through 6. I recall my first day. There is not much else readily available in my memory of that time, but I remember that as clearly as I remember the day President Kennedy was assassinated which also happened while attending the same school.

There was no kindergarten. I was enrolled into the first grade just shy of my 6th birthday. I had never been on a playground with swing sets, teeter-totters, and sliding boards. To me, the sliding board looked very high. At the first opportunity, I darted up the ladder for a slide. It was thrilling as I recall and to the displeasure of my Mom, left the seat of my new school britches dirty and rust stained – another emotionally significant event.

Soon after the sliding board adventure, a loud bell rang. The teachers herded us together at the school’s entrance. As with other first graders, except for maybe a couple of repeaters, I did not know what was happening. Gathered up into the correct gaggle by our teacher Mrs. Davis, we were shown to put our right hand over our hearts and look toward the flag. It was the first time I ever heard the pledge of allegiance to the flag. At least it is the first time I remember. After that, we heard the older students sing the first verse of America. “My country tis of the, sweet land of liberty.” Over the next few weeks, Mrs. Davis would teach us the pledge and the song. In our classroom, it was how we began every morning followed by Mrs. Davis leading us in the Lord’s Prayer. The only other thing that comes to mind from that time was learning letters, numbers and reading.
Sometime beyond the first grade, we started learning about American history and government. Early, we learned the stark and frightening contrasts between American individual liberty Exceptionalism and dictators and Communism. We learned the evils of communism and they were imprinted on our young minds as something we should fear.

In my youth, I was as liberal minded as any other kid. Even with that, I never learned or experienced anything that would cause me to embrace communism. Hippies carrying and wearing communist flags, including the North Vietnamese flag during their anti-war protests only firmed my beliefs about communism. Our Soldiers were fighting, my brother included, and dying and these vermin marched under the flag of our communist enemy. One of the self-appointed leaders of their movement, Hanoi Jane Fonda, declared in 1970 to some University of Michigan students:

“If you understood what Communism was, you would hope, you would pray on your knees that one day we would become Communist.”

At other times, she also declared:

“I, a Socialist, think we should strive toward a Socialist society, all the way to Communism.”

The truth is if today’s undereducated and over indoctrinated American youth fully understood Communism, it would have no chance in America. Communism is the Godless antithesis of American Exceptionalism wherein freedom, what little of it there is, is parceled out by the government. It is an ideology with no qualms about mercilessly and abruptly ending your right to breath.

It struck me then and remained with me. In America, this desire for Socialism and Communism is preached by the wealthy and privileged and directed toward ignorant followers. This includes the poorly educated wealthy and politicians who wholly believe the government should supplant God and the individual. Followers of this idealism, excluding power wielding politicians, are willfully ignorant of the devastating effect Socialism and Communism have wherever practiced. Either that or they simply do not care. Anyone who could accept that Jane Fonda, or anyone like her, would forego wealth and redistribute it among the like-minded shows the level of their ignorance and dangerous naiveté. In Hollywood, Communism is not new and walks hand in hand with the dominant Hollywood political ideologies of progressivism and liberalism. Ronald Reagan battled it as a member and President of the Screen Actors guild. Ronald Reagan on Communism in Hollywood. This video about the beginnings of Communism in Russia, The Truth About Communism Narrated by Ronald Reagan, is also worth a listen.

A great source on the subject of Communism from its birth and beyond is the book, The Naked Communist (Political Freedom Series) (Volume 1) by W. Cleon Skousen. In the book, he listed the 45 Goals of Communism, a list first published in 1961. Another Skousen book well worth the time is The 5000 Year Leap.

As you peruse the list, take a minute to consider known examples – past and present – of these goals being met. Everything from removing prayer from schools, to promoting homosexuality and pornography, to fomenting riots and protests…. Examples supporting the goals are endless and it is plain to see that many if not most have been achieved – even evidenced in current events. The bought and paid for protestors we watch come straight from the Communist tool kit. This places freedom precariously clinging to the very edge of the Communist abyss. Communist tendencies and thought are prevalent in American politics making one seriously consider the goal to:

“Capture one or both of the political parties in the United States.”

And the goal to:

”Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda. (emphasis mine) Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers’ associations. Put the partly line in textbooks.”

1. U.S Acceptance of coexistence as the only alternative to atomic war.
2. U. S. willingness to capitulate in preference to engaging in atomic war.
3. Develop the illusion that total disarmament by the United States would be a demonstration of moral strength,
4. Permit free trade between all nations regardless of Communist affiliation and regardless of whether or not items could be used for war.
5. Extension of long-term loans to Russia and Soviet Satellites.
6. Provide American aid to all nations regardless of Communist domination.
7. Grant recognition to Red China. Admission of Red China to the U.N.
8. Set up East and West Germany as separate states in spite of Khrushchev’s promise in 1955 to settle the German question by free elections under supervision of the U. N.
9. Prolong the conferences to ban atomic tests because the U.S. has agreed to suspend tests as long as negotiations are in progress.
10. Allow all Soviet satellites individual representation in the U.N.
11. Promote the U.N. as the only hope for mankind. If its charter is rewritten, demand it be set up as one-world government with its own independent armed forces.
12. Resist any attempt to outlaw the Communist Party.
13. Do away with all loyalty oaths.
14. Continue giving Russia access to the U.S. Patent Office.
15. Capture one or both of the political parties in the United States.
16. Use technical decision of the courts to weaken basic American institutions by claiming their activities violate civil rights.
17. Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers’ associations. Put the partly line in textbooks.
18. Gain control of all student newspapers.
19. Use student riots to foment public protests against programs or organizations which are under Communist attack.
20. Infiltrate the press. Get control of book-review assignments, editorial writing, and policy-making positions.
21. Gain control of key positions in radio, TV and pictures.
22. Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all forms of artistic expression. An American Communist cell was told to “eliminate good sculpture from parks and buildings, substitute shapeless, awkward and meaningless forms.”
23. Control art critics and directors of art museums. “Our plan is to promote ugliness, repulsive meaningless art.”
24. Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them “Censorship” and violation of free speck and free press.
25. Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio and TV.
26. Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as “normal, natural, and healthy.”
27. Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with “social” religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity which does not need a “religious crutch.”
28. Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the grounds that it violates the principle of “separation of church and state.”
29. Discredit the American Constitution by calling it inadequate, old-fashioned, out of step with modern needs, a hindrance to cooperation between nations on a world-wide basis.
30. Discredit the American founding fathers. Present them as selfish aristocrats who had no concern for the “common man.”
31. Belittle all forms of American culture and discourage the teaching of American history on the ground that it was only a minor part of “the big picture.” Give more emphasis to Russian history since the Communists took over.
32. Support any socials movement to give centralized control over any part of the culture – education, social agencies, welfare programs, mental health clinics, etc.
33. Eliminate all laws or procedures which interfere with the operation of the Communist apparatus.
34. Eliminate the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC).
35. Discredit and eventually dismantle the FBI.
36. Infiltrate and gain control of more unions.
37. Infiltrate and gain control of big business.
38. Transfer some of the powers of arrest from the police to social agencies. Treat all behavioral problems as psychiatric disorders which no one but psychiatrists can understand or treat.
39. Dominate the psychiatric profession and use mental health laws as a means of gaining coercive control over those who oppose Communist goals.
40. Discredit the family and an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce.
41. Emphasize the need to raise children away from negative influence of parents. Attribute prejudices, mental blocks and retarding of children to suppressive influence of parents.
42. Create the impression that violence and insurrection are legitimate aspects of the American tradition; that students and special-interest groups should rise up and use “united force” to solve economic, political or social problems.
43. Overthrow all colonial governments before native populations are ready for self-government.
44. Internationalize the Panama Canal.
45. Repeal the Connally Reservation so the U.S. cannot prevent the World Court for seizing jurisdiction over domestic problems. Give the World Court jurisdiction over nations and individuals alike.

In M. Stanton Evers book, Blacklisted by History: The Untold Story of Senator Joe McCarthy and His Fight Against America’s Enemies, you can quickly learn that, proven by Russian KBG documents, Senator Joe McCarthy was right and that Communist agents infiltrated the highest levels of our government. Do not make the mistake of believing there are none left. These days they call themselves Progressives. What is just as striking is the level at which the Muslim Brotherhood has been able to accomplish much the same. While the Washington establishment, fearful of being labeled racists or Islamaphobes have done little to stop it. Screaming racism, bigotry, and Islmaphobia is no different from the squeals of McCarthyism still bantered about by today’s media and progressives who were yesterday’s liberals who were yesterday’s communists. They have the same affect of shutting down debate and sending scared to death Washington politicians toward the hills and away from serious national security issues.

Another book that shines light on Communism or maybe more appropriately its methods especially used by the Russians is Disinformation: Former Spy Chief Reveals Secret Strategies for Undermining Freedom, Attacking Religion, and Promoting Terrorism by Soviet defector Lt. Gen. Ion Mihai Pacepa, the highest ranking Soviet bloc intelligence official ever to defect to the West.

“During the Cold War, more people in the Soviet bloc worked for the disinformation machinery than for the Soviet army and defense industry put together. The bloc’s intelligence community alone had well over one million officers and several million informants around the world.”

Simplistically and in a nutshell, according to the General, dezinformatsiya built a false history (a past) then leaked information to spur the media into a feeding frenzy in order characterize a perception of the target. Boy, does that not seem too familiar? Then just at the appropriate time the “real” bombshell proof finally emerges verifying what most people have been conditioned to believe. It is more complex than that involving many real players and dupes, but that is the general picture. We are seeing something very similar every day, from our media, “Intelligence Sources”, and politicians.

“Specifically, the idea is to fabricate a new past for enemy targets in order to change how the world perceives them.”

“The truth is, The Western media are quite easily manipulated, for they often craft their stories from press releases and tend, on the whole, to be indiscriminate about the nature and reliability of their sources.”

One example of a Soviet/Communist disinformation operation almost everyone can recall is the black church fire hoax.

“The National Council of Churches (NCC) and the Center for Democratic Renewal (CDR), two secretly Marxist organizations headquartered in the United States, held a joint press conference to announce a “huge increase” in the number of arson cases against black churches in the United States.”

President Clinton recounted his own:

“vivid and painful memories of black churches being burned in my own state when I was a child.”

Afterwards two hundred federal agents were assigned to investigate black church fires.

“… accounts of arson against black churches snowballed, with more than twenty-two hundred articles appearing in the press to condemn what the CDR called “a well-organized white-supremacist movement.”

“Then the bubble burst. It was eventually established by a private group, the National Fire Protection Association, that in recent years there had been far fewer church fires than usual, and law enforcement officials in the South could not confirm any as having been racially motivated. No church burning had occurred in Arkansas during Clinton’s childhood, in spite of his “vivid and painful” memories, and the NCC was accused of fabricating “a great church-fire hoax.”

In a disinformation campaign, it does not matter that the information is false, it only needs a “kernel of truth” to proliferate. Besides by the time it is discovered that it is a hoax the political damage is already done. I do not recollect our media rushing to correct the record.

Well, it took some time to get here from there. Without putting on a tinfoil conspiracy hat, here are some things that bother me. Communism and the Russian way did not end with the fall of the Berlin Wall. I do not accept the premise put forth by the United States media and suspect and politicized “Intelligence Sources” that Putin – always a KGB man – preferred to have Trump as President. Why would he want to spoil a relationship with the person responsible for giving him 20 percent of our uranium? A person who has practically proven she could be bought? Or a relationship with a Democratic administration who told him not to worry we can be more flexible after the election? Why would Putin want an American President determined to rebuild the US military with full knowledge of the Democrat failures in that area? None of it adds up to me. Not one bit of it.

No one has provided evidence of collusion between Trump and the Russians and our outgoing politicized Intel bosses were the first to declare it. The media however, and politicians and the FBI are keeping the story alive bit by bit building that perception and spreading it across our country and worldwide. They breathlessly wait for that bombshell piece of evidence that seals the deal. Although they have yet to find it, the FBI must have an inkling it is forthcoming. What could cause them to believe such a thing?

There is little doubt that the Russians meddle in our affairs. That is what they do. We also meddle in theirs. But, from my country boy perspective if the Russians are colluding, it is not with the Trump Administration. They are playing as they have always played. Build the history, leak some information, spread the perception, lead investigators to proof….

I believe we are in a more precarious situation than most realize.

© 2017 J. D. Pendry

My concept of the world comes from the intimately small parcel of it I have seen and experienced coupled with social influences encountered at the most impressionable age.  It was the age at which my brain was programmed to encounter the world outside my bubble quiet often resulting in a grand detonation of the comfortable, safe place I and others carved out for me.  Here in the land of the free, the culturally enlightened and selectively ignorant we do not even know one another.  Worse yet, we have given up trying.

I believe that forces mortal men and women cannot begin to comprehend battle for our souls.  I also know that because I express that belief some will label me as a weak minded nitwit who believes in myths and fairy tales of supernatural beings warring for souls.  On the other hand, I cannot fathom that our world just happened.  That something came from nothing.  I have faith in what I believe.  I believe I am in this world, but not of this world.  My beliefs do not make me any more special than anyone.  They are just my beliefs.  I endorse the golden rule – “Love your neighbor as yourself.”  That does not mean that I must accept what my neighbor believes or what my neighbor does only that within the law he is free believe and do as he chooses.  It only means that I wish the same good life for my neighbor as I wish for myself.  I entered this world with nothing and will leave it the same way.  I am just passing through here, barely a blink in the breadth of human history.

E Pluribus Unum. In our country, hailed as the place where many views, cultures, religions, colors and creeds can come together and form one exceptional nation of free people we are failing.  It is something each of us need ponder because our failure to come together as the one exceptional place – the only one – on this great ball hurling through space we will experience the loss of the place offering the last great hope for humankind.  We have already partitioned ourselves into regions, rigid thought and thought blindly beholden to groupthink.

Why is it we cannot come together and live up to our national motto?  Out of many, one.  There are a myriad of reasons, but the most obvious is right before us.  Some who read this will not attempt to understand how I believe or the principles that guide my life or even care for that matter.  Instead, they will choose to denigrate me for my beliefs and most of them will never know me as a man.  They have been programmed to believe a certain way and simply cannot accept that anyone should view the world differently.  More disheartening than that are people who profess to share my beliefs and react the same way toward others.  How can the great many become the great one if instead of attempting civil discussion we set out to denigrate, silence and destroy anyone who does not believe as we do?

At our institutions of higher learning we see people rioting to shut down a speaker who refuses to sing to their choir – anyone who dares offer a different view.  How can one consider himself learned if he is unable to use the gift of reason or critical thought to even consider a different view?  Every day in our government, we witness people trying to destroy one another, stifle ideas, crush political opponents and it is all because of their childish driven need for it to be their way or no way.

I know.  That is how the world and democracy works.  Right? No.  That is how it fails.

© 2017 J. D. Pendry

If you’ve ever participated in competitive sports, you know the losers lament.  It was the umps, the refs, the other team cheated, it was deflated balls… . Never is there a look in the mirror to determine how bad you or your team actually sucked on a particular day or for the whole season.  There is a loser’s mindset also.  Its view in the mirror says I am so much better than everyone else, so much smarter, so much more talented, everyone loves me, and wants me to win, so it is very unlikely that I will ever lose unless they cheat.

There is also the bench warmer’s prayer.  If the game is tight and the battle tough, the benchwarmer prays, “Lord, please don’t let them hit the ball to me.”  Sort of reminds me of the Republican side of Congress.  A note to them, winners want the damn ball and they aim to deliver when they get it.  Otherwise they become tomorrow’s losers.

Ronald Reagan skunked Jimmah Carter.  It was a landside of epic proportions.  If you scan the news and polls, Reagan was not supposed to win – had no chance.  The media and pundits did not give him a chance and establishment Republicans didn’t want him either – many of them blamed him for Ford’s loss to Carter.  The third party candidate was blamed for the loss although analysis showed that had Carter picked up every vote, highly unlikely, he would have still lost by 100 Electoral College votes.  It wasn’t the third party.  It was a bad economy, double digit inflation, the Arab oil embargo, turn your thermostat down and wear sweater speeches, and poor handling of the Iran hostage crisis not to mention Jimmah and his crew ushering in a “moderate religious leader.”  Jimmah lost because he failed at being President – a leader.

Most memorable in recent times, Al Gore lost to George Bush.  When the Supreme Court ended the never ending Florida recount, Bush became in the eyes of the press and Democrats “selected not elected.”  Although recounts completed afterwards demonstrated even if every vote was recounted again Bush still won.  Still the meme of an illegitimate presidency spread far and wide through the media and hourly attacks across the liberal media were common – and it continued right up to the end. Bush never pushed back against the media.

Next up, Vietnam War hero John Kerry and his trusty sidekick John Edwards lost to Bush.  Kerry wanted to concede and Edwards wanted to do a Gore 2.0.  Bush lost this one because of the Swift Boat Veterans attack on the war hero.  Because it was clear that Bush was not a brilliant and sophisticated as John and John, he could not have possibly won unless the Swift Boaters exposed in their view his less than stellar service record.  So for the next four years, the implied label of illegitimacy still hung around the neck of President Bush – and the media cried endlessly about swift boating among other attacks resulting in his approval rate being in the toilet.

McCain and Romney lost to Obama and for a myriad of reasons including Bush’s low approval rating.  The bottom line however, is that they were poor candidates.  Truthfully, both were hold your nose votes for me and millions like me stayed home.

And now, present day.  Proven is the adage that no matter how much things change, they remain the same.  Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, oh my, what an election year it was.  This may sound familiar.  According to the media, the pundits, and the political consulting class Trump had no chance.  It was a foregone conclusion that Hillary would win.  Establishment Republicans also did not believe he could win nor did they want Trump.  Along came election night and Hillary along with all of those talking heads and establishment Republicans got a whuppin.  There was wailing and gnashing of teeth.  Panic across America.  Trump could not have possibly won the election.   It had nothing to do with the failed Clinton candidacy.  As we all now know, the Russians did it.

©2017 J. D. Pendry

Not mine.  I stopped having those years ago.  No, it’s the President learning how to play the Washington, complicit media, political hack game, and rope a dope.  He’s also proving he is decent body punching brawler.  He not only exposed the danger to freedom presented by powerful and misused intelligence agencies, but more importantly he exposed the willingness of some members of the American political class to use those powerful capabilities against American citizens – and against their own government.  These communists are more than willing to use police state tactics while calling everyone else a Nazi or communist collaborator.  This threatens the freedom of every American even the nitwits cheering on the Soros funded Obama led attempts to subvert the new administration.

Subversive: tending or intending to subvert or overthrow, destroy, or undermine an established or existing system, especially a legally constituted government or a set of beliefs.

What’s happened really does require some thought.  We know that General Flynn’s telephone conversation with the Russian ambassador was monitored, transcribed, and released to the public.  Supposedly the monitoring was of the Russian which is perfectly fine.  But and it is a big but.  As I understand the law, conversations of American citizens in these cases are kept private and releasing the transcript in any manner is a felony.  Then we learn that Attorney General Sessions while performing his duties as a sitting Senator actually met with the Russian ambassador once at a function and once in his office.  In other words what Senators do every day.  We also know that because of his involvement with the Trump campaign, he recused himself from involvement in investigations of the campaign.

The picture then becomes clearer.  Those trying to undermine or subvert the Trump administration put forth the narrative of collusion with the Russians.   The FBI declared there is no evidence of this, yet the media and Obama surrogates continue to push the story.  A false narrative, drawing the conclusion of Trump campaign involvement with the Russians, is locked in.  The media and those wanting to undermine Trump set out to prove their pre-conceived conclusion, but they cannot produce even a scintilla of evidence supporting the claim.  So the political hacks and the media demand an “independent” investigation and a “special prosecutor.”   This is just perfect for them since Sessions is now recused from investigations involving the Trump campaign and the Senate has not confirmed the new Deputy Attorney General leaving an Obama appointee in charge of any such investigation.  In the catbird’s seat they were.

President Trump alleges that the Obama administration wire tapped Trump Tower prior to the election – searching for evidence to show Russian collusion – we know they were monitoring General Flynn.   Let’s add that if they found such evidence, impeachment proceedings would have already started.  Multiple newspaper accounts indicate the surveillance happened.  You just need to think on that for a bit.  A sitting President (and anyone who thinks he would have no knowledge of this is nuttier than squirrel turds) likely through his weaponized justice department requested FISA court orders to monitor communications of a presidential candidate from the opposing party.  In comparison, this makes Watergate look like the boy scouts. It should cause every American to pause.

Now, there is going to be another investigation into the wire tapping allegation.  Attorney General Sessions has not recused himself from any wire tapping investigations.

Obama and Hillary surrogates put forth a false narrative of Russian collusion, but had no evidence to support the allegation.  It appears that on a second attempt, the Obama Administration got a FISA court order to monitor communications of the Trump campaign treasure hunting for evidence to support the false narrative and apparently there is none.  Now a backfire has put the Obama gang and their media lapdogs on the defensive.

Round three should be exiting.

© 2017 J. D. Pendry