CBA for COVID-19

For any endeavor of this sort begun at this stage, the words more to follow are essential.  This is a snapshot of our current situation that hopes to provoke further thought on what has happened and will likely happen.

It is a provocation to bring forth thinking and analysis not to assign blame.  Some are not equipped for such a process and are advised to rant elsewhere.

But the time is upon us to analyze what the past few months have cost us and what benefits we as a nation received.  Well-considered thoughts are welcomed in the comments in the hopes of advancing this dialogue.

Cost

Shut down much of the economy

Incredible unemployment

Major medical procedures and doctor visits canceled (or postponed) in large numbers

Reward for not working

Suspension of Constitutional liberties

Fear expanded rapidly on a large scale

Incredible spending on COVID-19 expenses

Incredible spending on expenses not related to COVID-19 but tied to expenditure measures

Essential service workers exposed at higher risk

Leveraging of national emergency for political advantage

Further exploration of national liberties to be suspended beyond the authority of the government

Loss of major events of social importance (graduations, proms, baccalaureates)

Educational structure lost or required modification

We saw the worst of people (hoarding) and government (overstepping authority)

Benefit

Kept contagion from exceeding national and regional hospital capacity

Saved many lives compared against predictive and stochastic models

Increased awareness and practice of hygiene measures

Contagion slowed (perhaps reduced) by social distancing

Many people had more family time

Creativity employed to continue education

We saw the best of people (generosity and helping) and of government (incredible logistics)

Analysis

Many practices of 2020 are not sustainable

Fear has too much of a grip on people in this age

Hygiene and distancing practices must be devised that permit continuation of commerce, liberty, and the republic that retains the idea that power emanates from the people

A declared emergency of this magnitude must not become commonplace

Constitutional authority usurped by the government at any level is returned to the people in smaller measures and presented as a new normal.  All must be on the lookout for subtle reductions in liberty

The press must return to its role as the watchdog of government, taking no sides on issues or personalities, reporting with integrity across the board

People must be able to trust the media again.

Distancing technology will likely become more commonplace

Balancing the role of government in promoting the general welfare and restricting the role of government to those powers granted it by the people (via the Constitution of the United States) must be a real dialogue in the year ahead.

Open by Easter?

Some are very critical of President Trump for wanting to get back to normal and setting a date.  He knows that this is an ambitious date and likely not possible for much of the country, but this date is not about medicine but liberty.

While the contagion that is sweeping the world is real and poses an existential risk, it’s spread is far behind the spread of another contagion—fear. 

Did anyone notice how quickly we surrendered our liberties in this country?  We did this believing they were for the greater good, but what about next time?

Having seen how easy it was to increase the power of government using fear as leverage, what comes next?  It seems that a third of this nation wants the government to be in charge of everything anyway. 

We have seen how half of our legislature used this crisis for political gain.  The very thing that the Founding Fathers thought to restrain with exceptional wisdom in our Constitution has been loosed.  Tyranny is alive and well in this century.

With most of the mainstream media sporting a liberal bias, the watchdog of government has been put on its leash.  The only guardian of a free society rests in the Second Amendment, and much of our nation wants to ignore the Supreme Law of the Land.

So where does that leave us?  Vulnerable, that’s where.  A Constitutional Amendment takes a lot of work and is not likely in our divided society, but fear has proved its worth to the one who has disdain for the governed and desires only power.

Why is it important to get out and back to work?  We need to kick fear to the curb.  Will there be medical casualties?  Yes.

There will be casualties whether we cower in fear or step out in courage once again, but the worst casualty imaginable would be the whimper of a free people surrendering their freedom.

Easter Sunday may or may not bring about some normalcy to our nation, but setting the goal is so important now.  Fear and government control must not become the new normal. 

Surely, there are parts of our nation that will not be close to normalcy by then, but many might be and they can be a beacon to the rest of the nation.  There may be some mitigation strategies required for some areas to begin this restoration process. 

Let’s do what our government asks of us knowing that the Chief Executive is on the side of liberty, but we must be vigilant and not become complacent.

There may be casualties as we fight to retain our liberty.  We are used to casualties on battlefields of bombs and bullets, but now we face an enemy that penetrates our lines across the nation.  That enemy is not a virus but fear.

The casualties incurred in preserving our freedom will be far less than those that we will bear to regain it. 

Dear President Trump

Dear President Trump,

I am an advocate of liberty as we have come to know it in America.  I am what you might call a Reagan Republican.  I want smaller government and fiscal responsibility from my elected officials.  I believe in the continued viability of our Constitution. 

America is the greatest country the world has ever known.  Yes, Israel is great because they are God’s Chosen People but we have been a nation that took the light of our Lord globally in so many ways.  We are the best example of doing good that the world has ever known.

I have considered disdain for those who would destroy America because of their hatred for you.  We must vote them out of office.  The past three years have been nothing sort of a bill of attainder with your name on the death sentence.  The very thing outlawed in the Supreme Law of the Land is the goal of so many who would take you down to preserve their own power and privilege.

For those who broke the law or committed treason, the prosecution must be swift and the punishment for those convicted appropriate.  The members of a failed coup d'état must not go unscathed. 

And then there are the media.  This is a special group protected by the Bill of Rights.  The free press is essential to a free society.  But they have abused their status.

Mr. President, this one is completely on us.  We have tolerated their contempt for America and Americans because of their hatred towards you.  This is not acceptable. 

We must demand more accountability from them.  We must stop using all the products of the sponsors of tainted news.  Editorials are fine but weaponizing the media against you or any other person is unconscionable in our society.

We must no longer subsidize their sedition and cowardice. 

And now we come to this national crisis and increased intrusion into the lives of Americans by the government at all levels.  Were this done by your predecessor or those who seek to replace you, I would have considered that a power grab intended to bypass our Constitutional protections.

But I trust you.  I trust you not because you are a smooth-talking politician but because you are not.  Your lack of tact in some situations is somewhat irritating, but I can handle that just as the commander’s language might get a little spicy after his orders are to take the hill. 

I trust that you will do whatever it takes to combat the virus that has altered our lives so much and I trust that you will return this nation to the republic that brought greatness to the world with the same or greater passion that you are combating our present enemy.

I trust you to do this and pray that God sustains you through this. 

Take the hill!

Semper Fidelis,

Thomas R. Spence

The Man in the Arena

This is one of my all-time favorites.

The Man in the Arena by Theodore Roosevelt

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

National Emergencies Act here we come!!!

I think that we are very close to the President invoking the National Emergencies Act (1976) if for no other reason than to pay those being hurt by the shutdown and the failure of Congress to take any action.  This will create even greater controversy, but the intractable course that the left seems attached to may leave him little choice.  I can’t see the president content in hanging these folks out to dry.

We have only ourselves to blame for permitting hate for one man to govern the conduct of those who represent us—or at least should be!

Why I will vote Republican in this Age of Confusion

Not long ago, I asked online what the Democratic Party stood for—I had been reading a Hate Trump sort of post.  I got one vanilla reference to a third-party sight that at least mentioned some differences between the two parties, but I have yet to hear a Democrat articulate their objectives, save get elected and impeach Trump. 

I grit my teeth whenever I think about Americans of any party seeking to overthrow a legal election by circuitous and subversive means. There is a presidential election in 2 more years.  If you don’t like the president—even if you hate him—the Constitutional way to overthrow our Chief Executive is already in place in 2020.   I still ask for someone to state with clarity what the Democratic Party really wants for this nation.

Taking that into consideration, I thought I should hold myself to the same standard and enumerate what the Republican Party stands for.  This is my list, which is surely not comprehensive but at least hits 10+ main areas.  Some of these are less Republican Party goals as they are Donald Trump goals.  The latter are annotated below.

I will state in advance that I am not happy with the Republicans sticking to traditional values.  Too many have sold out, especially at the fiscal responsibility level.  At the national level, I still lean right of center on most issues, especially considering some of the anti-American rhetoric from the left, but I should be able to state why.

Here’s my list.

God is welcome

National Defense

Strict Construction of the Constitution

Value Individual Liberties provided in Bill of Rights

Value life from inception to death

Smaller Government

Fiscal Responsibility

Jobs back to America - Trump

Immigration Reform - Trump

Lower Taxes

Reasonable Health Care - Trump

American Uniqueness – Without the USA who will be a light unto the world?

Distinct Separation of Powers—Namely removing judges that usurp legislative and executive power

Civility and Statesmanship

Providing Opportunities for Success over Handouts

Free Markets over Socialism

The time has come

It’s been a while since I did more than like a stop hating Trump or Love America more than you hate the President post, but the time has come.

I love this nation and love having served as an officer of this most blessed country as a United States Marine, and I would truly love for the goodness that I have known for over half a century to continue to my children’s children and beyond.

But we are facing a national identity crisis.  Who are we?  Who are these people who hold elected office?  Will we continue as a nation that has long been a light unto the world?

To answer these questions, I have to proffer what might seem to be politically motivated, but it is not.  It is motivated by patriotism and mercy.  What is?

This November, we must vote Republican at the federal level.  The Democratic Party must be decimated at the polls. 

Whoa!  That sounds very political.  I’m not reading any farther.  Let’s think this through first. 

I like the Democratic Party.  This was the party of my parents.  It was considered the party of the people.  Sadly, that party is dead.  It does not exist anymore.

It has become a party governed by a destroy Trump agenda.  It is a party that looks to its past failures instead of ahead to a good future for our nation.  It is a party that has abandoned the truth in search of overturning a legal election in which the outcome went contrary to the hopes of the party.

In previous years, a lost election was cause for self-examination, revision, and revitalization.  “Hey, we lost this one but will get them next time.”  It is a healthy model.

Sadly, today the Democratic Party seeks to overturn the constitutionally elected administration by any means necessary.  This is not healthy.  This is not American.  This is a third world model!

The Democrats must lose and lose big in November.  This does two main things.  It gives the country a chance to receive the benefits of the 2016 election results, something the Democratic Party has attempted to thwart by hook or crook, or both.

Here’s the kicker.  This will be good for the Democratic Party.  At least it will be an opportunity to reset.  Do most Democrats want socialism?  I doubt it.  They may want more government involvement in programs and problem solving than the Republicans, but I seriously doubt that more than a very vocal few want socialism.

The Democratic Party must take its November defeat and remake itself, much more in the image of the traditional party that was known as the Party of the People, not the party of things anti-Trump or anti- American.  Democrats are Americans!  I don’t know any who want to see our country dissolved by some of the current party’s agenda. 

The reformed Democratic Party needs to resume its place somewhat left of center and serve as a balance to the right-leaning Republicans.  This is healthy!  This is needed!  This is completely absent from the current party.

A huge Republican victory in November will preserve our republic for a bit longer and give cause to reform the Democratic Party closer to those who are tired of hating President Trump more than they love America. 

Sadly, the Republican victory will put the Republican Party on the slow track for reform, for this party has lost its way as well.  Fiscal responsibility was once a given for those leaning to the right.  That is no longer the case.  Smaller government and lower taxes have been the ideals of this party in past years, but even those goals are compromised. 

Republicans need to win in November because Democrats are seeking to destroy Trump and don’t care if they take down the country in the process; but Republicans had better get their act together and live faithful to the model which elected them.

Both parties have failed.  Elected officials grow wealthy in office instead of serving the people.  Bureaucracy thwarts the will of the people and rejects the rule of law.  We have taken a wonderful model of representative government, grown lazy, and let it mutate into a modern-day tyrant. 

Can it be fixed?  I pray it is possible, but we must be willing to put forth sustained effort at the electorate level to do this.  Here are my steps to returning to a government of the people, by the people, and most certainly for the people.

1.        Republicans must win in a landslide in November.

2.       Democrats must reform their party based upon a solid left of center vision.  All destroy Trump efforts must cease and be replaced by positive objectives.

3.       If Democrats lose and reform, Republicans will take significant losses in 2020.

4.       Republicans must reform into a solid right of center, fiscally responsible, strong national defense party once again.

5.       The American electorate must vote out career politicians for the next century. 

6.       The power of the American bureaucracy must be obliterated.  Amateur politicians—let’s use the term statesmen or representatives—are needed but must not be consumed by entrenched bureaucrats.

7.       All must be Americans first, and their party affiliation second.  Yes, this applies even and especially when you candidate did not win.

Balance is a good thing.  We seldom achieve it, but we witness the pendulum of political leanings sway back and forth so that we don’t go too far either way.  That is at risk today.  The Democratic Party—yes the party of my parents that perhaps was once truly the party of the people—is on a course to destroy things good and moral and patriotic.

Our liberty that we say we cherish will go next.  I am not willing to see what God has blessed for almost two and one-half centuries go down without a fight.

We need to return to a mindset where the good of the country took precedence over winning at all costs.

Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future.

John F. Kennedy

We must get back to this sort of patriotism.  I wish that we could do it overnight but believe it will be tougher course.  I pray that we will stay the course and preserve this Republic.  I want my children’s children to know its blessings and have their own opportunities to preserve them for their posterity.